Justification: A Process and a Condition
Justification is both a condition
being a lifelong process of obedience.
As a condition, justification
means to be cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ and to stand before God
forgiven, spotless, blameless, and guiltless as a result of claiming faith in
Jesus Christ and baptism unto repentance. All the covenants we enter into
through ordinances must be ratified as eternally valid and binding by the Holy
Spirit of Promise.
As a process, justification is a
lifetime of enduring to the end — retaining a remission of sin and remaining in
right standing with God. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that to be justified
before God, we must love one another, overcome evil, visit the fatherless and
the widow in their afflictions, and keep ourselves unspotted from the world.
Justification is not only
acquittal from guilt but also being regarded as righteous in a future day of
divine judgment. To conclude: justification is a journey, a direction, and a
process, as well as a condition and a state of being. (Keith C. Warner, Infinite
Atonement: Jesus Christ’s Atonement, 3 vols. [Kirk Jotter Publishing,
2026], 1:414)
Compare:
Simply put, justification means
being forgiven of our sins through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ and
through the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit. . . . Paul described
justification with the God verb dikaioo, meaning “to make righteous.” He
summarized it in these words: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Therefore, being justified only by his grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus . . . that he might be just and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus.” (JST Romans 3:23-26) (Keith C. Warner, Infinite
Atonement: Jesus Christ’s Atonement, 3 vols. [Kirk Jotter Publishing,
2026], 3:352)
