All Christians should know well the three step process of salvation referred to as justification, sanctification and glorification. The heart of the gospel message is that we can be saved through faith in Christ. God saves us by His grace through our faith alone. This is a free gift of God that can’t be earned. Jesus Christ died a substitutionary and atoning death on the cross in our place and on our behalf.
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The moment we believe in Jesus and place our trust in Him to be our Lord and Savior our eternal destination changes from hell to heaven. This is what we call “justification”. Through the spiritual truth of imputation the sins of all men were transferred, or imputed, onto Christ while He hung on the cross. Jesus bore the wrath of God for our sins.
Romans 5:1 – Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:7 – In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
Once we are freed from the penalty of sin, eternal death, we are regenerated by our new birth in Christ. We are “born again”. Justification is a one time instantaneous event through which we are saved. At that point our walk with God is just beginning.
2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
In return, Jesus Christ, the sinless one, the Son of God, imputed, or transferred, His righteousness onto us so that when God looks upon us He sees only the righteousness of His beloved Son. Our sins have been wiped clean. We have a God that loves us that much.