I often have conversations with people who struggle with their past. They can’t forgive themselves, and this carries over into their doubt that God has forgiven them. Paul addresses a great truth in Romans 5: the subject of justification. Understanding this will make a difference in our lives.

 Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

From the spiritual perspective, justification is an act of God where those who accept Jesus as their Savior are seen as righteous, or free from the penalty of sin. It is sometimes expressed that God sees us, “Just as if we had never sinned.” An extension of that is that we should also be freed from the guilt of our past sins, although Satan tries to bind us to our past.

God is the author of justification. We are not justified based on what we have done, but on what Jesus has done for us. Just as we accept salvation by faith, we accept justification by faith. It is God’s grace that makes salvation possible, and it is God’s grace that extends justification to us after we repent. The fruit of justification, or the proof of justification, is that we have peace with God. We can turn loose of our yesterdays and embrace our todays and tomorrows because we have been reconciled to God and born into the family of God. That’s a good reason to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God that we now possess.