If you have attended church for a time, you may have heard the doctrine of justification phrased as “Just if I’d never sinned”. As well intended as this catchy phrase might be, this not only is a very poor description of justification, but I would also suggest that it contradicts the core message of the gospel.

What The Bible Says: (please review Romans 1:18-3:8)
*God is holy and righteous (Rom. 1:17)
*Man is sinful and his heart is evil (Gen. 6:5; 13:13; Jer. 17:9).
*All people know that God exists (Rom. 1:21)
*All people have sinned (Rom. 3:23a)
*All people are guilty before God (Rom. 1:18-3:8)
*Judgment is self-induced (Rom. 1:18-23)
*Sin dishonors God and contradicts His Holy character (Rom. 1:17)
*God will judge every person, Jew and Gentile (Rom. 2:5; 2:12-16)
*God never forgives any sin without full payment of the penalty for that sin (Rom. 3:25)
*Propitiation is the only saving solution to the fact of God’s wrath against sin. Propitiation is the appeasement of divine wrath by a sacrificial offering. Sending Christ to die for our sins was God’s amazing solution to the problem of how He could remain just (punish all sin) and still justify us (declare us perfectly righteous in His sight) (Is. 53:4, 5, 10, 11; Rom. 3:25)
*The gospel of salvation is a free gift that cannot be earned (Rom. 1:16, 17; 3:20, 23, 24, 28, 30; 4:5: 6:23)
*Saving faith can only come through hearing and believing the Bible’s message about Christ (Rom. 1:16; 10:14-17)
*Justified means to be declared righteous in God’s sight (Rom. 3:24)
*God imputes (imparts) righteousness to those who believe (Rom. 4:3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24)
*Believers, who have been freely forgiven of sins because of Christ’s work, will be given degrees of reward in heaven according to their actions in this life; heaven is the eternal home of born-again believers (Rom. 3:21-26; Mth. 16:27; 25:31-46; John 5:29; Rom. 14:10-12; 1 Cor. 3:10-15; 2 Cor. 5:9, 10; Rev. 7:15-17)
*Those who reject Christ will be judged for their sins. The consequences of willful disobedience are horrible indeed. The Bible speaks of an endless, conscious torment in hell (Rom. 2:6; Rev. 20:10, 15)

To teach that justification is the same as “Just if I’d never sinned” would infer that God treats man as if he were not a sinner. As has been briefly presented, all men have sinned and can only obtain salvation by understanding and placing faith in Jesus Christ (a genuine reliance on Christ). It must be understood that:
*God is holy and righteous (Lev. 19:2; Ex. 15:11; Is. 57:15; Ex. 28:36; Is. 57:15; Ex. 3:1-15; Josh. 5:13-15; Is. 6:3; Rev. 15:3-4; Ps. 33:5; 5:4-6; 47:8)
*Man is sinful (1 John 3:4; Gen. 2:17; Rom. 3:23; Ps. 51:5; Rom. 7:7-21)
*God hates sin and that the righteousness of God demands that sin be exposed, judged and punished (Ps. 89:14; Rom. 1:17)
*The wrath of God (Rom. 4:15; John 3:36; Rom. 1:18; Rev. 6:16-17; Ps. 78:31; 79:6; Rom. 2:5-8; Eph. 2:3; Rev. 14:9-11; 15:1; 16:1; 19:15; Ecc. 8:11; Rom. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9; Rev. 2:21)
*God sent His Son Jesus to die for sins (1 Cor. 15:3-4; Is. 53:3-5, 10; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18; Rev. 13:8; 1 Pet. 1:18-20; Acts 2:22-23; Luke 24:27; 44-45; Mth. 5:17-18; 11:13; Mark 10:45; Heb. 2:9, 14; 9:26; 1 John 3:5; Mth. 20:28; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; Rom. 5:5-10, 12-21; Luke 9:30-31; Rev. 5:8-12; Mth. 16:21-25; John 3:14-15; 12:24; Rom. 3:25-26; Mth. 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22; 17:25; Acts 17:3; 1 Pet. 3:18; Mth. 20:28; 26:28; Luke 22:19; 1 Tim. 2:6; 2 Cor. 5:14; 1 Pet. 2:24; Heb. 8:28; 1 John 3:5)
*It is only by grace through faith that it might be an entirely free gift of God and not dependent on any merit of man (2 Tim. 1:9; Rom. 4:16; John 1:12, 13; Eph. 2:8). The heart of man is wicked and to infer that I had never sinned would make the Cross of Christ unnecessary.

I must fully understand and acknowledge that I am a sinner. God must deal with me as a sinner. God will never deal with me as if I had never sinned. I believe in Christ, but now I am a redeemed sinner. As a believer, God saves me from the wrath that is due me, but I do not cease to be a sinner. The Bible says that we are made new, but the sinful remnant of our flesh still remains in us battling against the Spirit which now also dwells in us (Rom. 6:1-7:25). This is why we are repeatedly told to mortify or put to death the deeds of the flesh: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13; Col. 3:5; 1 John 5:8). Redeemed sinners are still that, redeemed sinners. We are exhorted and commanded throughout the Bible and as born-again believers empowered by the Spirit of God to live lives pleasing to God.

Additionally, to place Biblical justification on the same plane as “Just if I’d never sinned” exalts man to a status not presented in Scripture. Before we were justified we were lost, sinners, and on our way to hell. After we were justified we were saved, but we remain redeemed sinners. Even in heaven, as the redeemed, we will remember what Jesus did, “And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9). In heaven, we will never sin again, but we will remember.

Jesus died to redeem sinners. To say that justification is “Just if I’d never sinned” contradicts the Cross of Christ. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.” Jesus’ sinless work in keeping the Law allows His perfect sacrifice to be acceptable before God. So, for those who believe, sin is imputed to His account and He takes on our punishment for sin, and His righteousness is imputed to our account and we are reckoned righteous because of His work. To believe that justification is on equal footing with the phrase “Just if I’d never sinned” makes the Cross of Christ of no value or consequence. Jesus died to redeem sinners.

Further, if justification is reduced to the simple phraseology “Just if I’d never sinned”, the New Testament exhortation to live a holy life is unnecessary. For instance, 2 Corinthians 7:1 states, “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” There would be no need for ongoing purification (growing in Christ likeness) if the concept inferred in the phrase “Just if I’d never sinned” was equal to Biblical justification.

We are not reckoned as if we never sinned, but we as believers are reckoned, accepted and justified only on the basis of Jesus’ redemptive work on Calvary as those who are in need of a Savior.

As briefly discussed here, the phrase “Just if I’d never sinned”, though seemingly innocent, is totally inadequate, inaccurate, misleading, and breeds all kinds of misconceptions. It maligns the Cross of Christ.

In its most simple form, justified means to be declared righteous in God’s sight, but certainly not “Just if I’d never sinned.”

Grow in grace and truth,

Doug Morrell

CORE Notes From Doug