Justification
For most of my life, justification felt like one of those “churchy” words that people threw
around—something pastors, theologians, or the “smart” people in Bible study seemed to
understand. 
Growing up in a Christian household, I went to church every weekend, but hearing
the word over and over almost made it feel empty. It was one of those words I assumed I should
just “know,” so I repeated what I heard without really understanding it for myself.
If someone asked me back then, I would have said justification meant “to be justified with God.”
But even as I gave that answer, I couldn’t explain what that actually meant to me personally. I
even looked up a definition online, but all it said was “the state of being justified by
God”—which didn’t help at all.
I turned to Scripture and some articles that pointed me to Romans 3:21–28 and Romans 4. As I
read, things started to click. Romans 3 reminded me that all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God (3:23), and Romans 4 explained that even Abraham wasn’t saved by his works, but
by faith (4:2–3). 
That truth began to hit me personally: there’s nothing I can do—no amount of
works or effort—that can put me in right standing with God. Justification isn’t something I earn.
Instead, Romans 3:28 says it clearly: “a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
That shifted my whole perspective. Justification is an instantaneous and irreversible legal act
of God’s grace—where He forgives my sins and sees me clothed in Christ’s righteousness. It’s
not about me cleaning myself up or controlling my way into God’s good graces. It’s about
trusting that Jesus already paid the penalty for my sins.
Around this same time, I was also assigned Jerry Bridges’ The Gospel for Real Life for Campus
ministry, and in chapter 3 he described God’s justice in a way that really stuck with me. He
compared it to someone serving a prison sentence: once the full time is served, justice has no
further claim on that person. In the same way, because Jesus bore the full penalty of my sin,
God’s justice toward me is satisfied. That picture gave me a sense of relief and assurance—my
sins are no longer held against me, because Christ fully paid for them. It helped me to continue to
grasp the idea that it is instantaneous and irreversible.
Studying justification hasn’t been easy, but it has been deeply freeing. 
It reinforced the idea that
salvation isn’t about my works, but about God’s grace. It gave me the confidence to live
knowing I’m forgiven, righteous in Christ, and no longer condemned. And through it, God has
been teaching me what it means to depend on Him instead of holding on to control in my life,
trying to prove myself through my works. It’s still something I struggle with daily, but
justification reminds me that I don’t have to strive for His approval—I already have it in Christ.
-Wesley Pak
