Yes — God is just in justifying believers because the work of propitiation, His shed blood, and redemption fully deal with sin, so His judicial declaration is righteous.
Les teaches that God can never be unfair and is totally just in all His dealings (Clip 4). Justification is a judicial act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner just as if he had never sinned (Clips 1, 6). Because the work of propitiation, shed blood, and redemption has been accomplished through Christ, God is both just and just in justifying any child of Adam who believes in Jesus (Clip 4).
Romans 3:26 — This verse states the very question at hand — God is 'just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus' — showing that His justice and His act of justification are not in conflict.
Romans 5:19 — It contrasts Adam's disobedience, which made many sinners, with Christ's obedience, which makes many righteous — the basis for God's just declaration.
Romans 3:24-26 shows that God justifies believers 'freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.' God set forth Christ 'to be a propitiation through faith in his blood' in order to declare His righteousness. The purpose is stated plainly: 'that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.' Scripture also explains why justification is necessary: in Adam, all were made sinners, and by one man's offence judgment came upon all men to condemnation (Romans 5:18-19). The remedy comes through the obedience and righteousness of one — Jesus Christ — so that 'the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life' (Romans 5:18). The Bible's answer to why God is just in justifying believers is therefore found in the redemption and propitiation that He Himself provided in Christ. God's justice is not set aside; it is satisfied.
Les Feldick's answer is built on the courtroom picture of Romans. He says justification is 'that judicial act of God whereby He declares the sinner who believes just as if he'd never sinned' (Clip 1). God, as Judge on the bench, looks at the guilty sinner and declares him just as if he had never sinned — not because the sinner has earned it, but freely and by grace (Clips 2, 3, 6). Les stresses that God can never be unfair; He is totally just in all His dealings. The reason God can justify guilty sinners and still be just is the finished work of Christ — 'the work of propitiation, the work of his shed blood, the work of redemption.' Through that work, God ends up being both just and just in justifying — declaring just as if they had never sinned — any child of Adam who simply believes in Jesus (Clip 4). Les also grounds the need for justification in Adam: the whole sin dilemma began in Adam, and every one of us was in Adam (Clip 5). But through one man's offense death reigned, while those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life through Christ Jesus (Clip 0). The first step of faith is believing what God says about us — that we are sinners — and resting on what God has done, because nothing we do can get us to heaven (Clip 7).
Les defines justification as 'that judicial act of God whereby He declares the sinner who believes just as if he'd never sinned' (Clip 1). He pictures God as the Judge sitting on the bench and, from that position, declaring the guilty believing sinner just as if he had never sinned (Clips 2, 6). Even after we are justified, we are still prone to fall and sin, yet God tells us we are justified and sees us as if we had never sinned (Clip 3).
Les emphasizes that God can never be unfair — He is totally just in all His dealings (Clip 4). The answer is the work of propitiation, Christ's shed blood, and redemption. Because that work has been consummated, God is both just and just in justifying — declaring just as if they had never sinned — any child of Adam who simply believes in Jesus (Clip 4).
Les says the whole sin problem began in Adam, and every one of us, so far as God is concerned, was in Adam (Clip 5). That is the beginning of all our trouble. But in contrast, through one man's offense death reigned, while those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life through Christ Jesus (Clip 0).
No. Les teaches that God justifies freely, without a cause — not because the sinner deserved it (Clip 1). Salvation is prompted by the power of God; it is nothing that man can do (Clip 2). Salvation is not something to attain or work for; it is laid out in front of every human being (Clip 0). The first step of faith is believing what God says about us — that we are sinners — and claiming what God has done rather than what we do (Clip 7).
The Gift of Righteousness in Christ
Les teaches that through one man's offense death reigned, but those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through Christ Jesus — the basis of justification's gift.
Justification Defined
Les defines justification as the judicial act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner just as if he had never sinned — freely, without the sinner deserving it.
The Judge's Declaration
Les pictures God as Judge on the bench declaring the guilty believing sinner just as if he had never sinned, and shows that salvation is not man's doing.
The Judicial Act of God
Les repeats that justification is God's judicial act declaring the sinner just as if he had never sinned — God's verdict, not human achievement.
God Is Just in Justifying
Les teaches that God can never be unfair and is totally just; through the work of propitiation, shed blood, and redemption, God is just in justifying any child of Adam who believes in Jesus.
The Sin Problem Began in Adam
Les traces the whole sin dilemma to Adam, explaining that every one of us was in Adam — which is why the entire race needs God's justifying declaration.
Justified Freely by Grace
Les shows justification as a free judicial act of God's grace — God as Judge declares the believing sinner just as if he had never sinned, with no cost.
Faith Rests on God's Verdict
Les teaches that the first step of faith is believing God's verdict that we are sinners, and that justification is declared freely with no strings attached.
Romans 3:24: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
The basis of justification is the redemption that is in Christ Jesus — a gift of God's grace.
Romans 3:25: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
God set forth Christ as a propitiation through faith in His blood — the just ground for declaring righteousness.
Romans 3:26: To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
This is the key verse: God is just and the justifier of the one who believes in Jesus.
Romans 5:17: (For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Through one man's offense death reigned, but the gift of righteousness brings believers to reign in life through Christ.
Romans 5:18: Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Adam's offense brought condemnation; Christ's righteousness brings the free gift unto justification of life.
Romans 5:19: For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
The disobedience of one made many sinners; the obedience of one makes many righteous.
Les teaches that God can never be unfair — He is totally just in all His dealings (Clip 4). Because the work of propitiation, Christ's shed blood, and redemption has been accomplished, God is just in justifying the child of Adam who believes in Jesus (Clip 4). God's justice is not compromised; it is the very basis of the believer's justification.
No. Justification is a judicial act of God — a courtroom declaration, not an escape from justice (Clips 1, 6). Because the work of propitiation and shed blood has been accomplished, God declares the guilty believing sinner just as if he had never sinned, and He remains totally just (Clips 2, 3, 4).
No. God justifies the sinner freely, without a cause — not because he deserved it (Clip 1). Salvation is prompted by the power of God, and nothing that man can do brings it about (Clip 2). The first step of faith is believing what God says about us — that we are sinners — and resting on what God has done (Clip 7).
Watch the Teaching: Why Grace Always Wins Over Sin — Romans 5:15-20 Explained