Proverbs 17:15……  He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous,

   Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.

   I have been thinking a lot about this passage lately.   How is it that God can justify the wicked(us) through faith (Romans 3:22), and still be just? 

   How can we be seen as righteous before a just and holy God?  It is clear that those who are unrighteous will not see the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9).  Being justified means that we are declared righteous.  It is a legal term that describes how a just God can declare a sinner perfectly righteous before Him.  God forgives, but also justifies.  To forgive means that someone must accept the cost of an offense.  If you were to visit a friend and break a lamp that he has at the house, he can forgive you, but that means that he must absorb the cost of a new lamp.  The cost of the offense does not disappear into the air.  Someone must bear the responsibility of paying for the offense done.  But God does more than forgive us, He DECLARES US RIGHTEOUS through faith in Him.  As believers, we are seen by God as perfect and never having any offense before Him.  Jesus Christ, who was perfect and righteous, became sin for us(2 Corinthians 5:21), so that we can become the righteousness of God.  As believers, we are seen by God as perfect before Him through the substitutional atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross, who bore our sins and took upon Himself the penalty of death that we deserved.  He satisfied the righteous and just wrath of God for our sins, and thus God can be just and the justifier in our salvation. 

God would be still good and just if He never saved anyone.  Our sin is so vile before Him that we deserve hell.  We have offended Him and who He is, by our sin.  But because of His mercy and grace, we can still be saved.  It is because of Him and not us.  It is by grace we are saved through faith, and this is not of ourselves but a gift of God, and not by works, so no one may boast(Ephesians 2:8-9).  God is holy and righteous and He hates all those who sin (Psalms 5:5).  Christ died on the cross to save you from God Himself.  His holy, righteous and just wrath was appeased(propitiation, Romans 3:25) on the cross so His righteousness and justice be displayed. This is not about us, but about Him.  It is all from Him, through Him and to Him (Romans 11:36).    As Paul says in Ephesians 1:6, “to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in  the Beloved”.   Glory be to God.