…and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Acts 13:39

When does justification take place? In one sense, the redeemed were justified in the mind of God from before time began. In another sense, justification took place when Jesus died and rose again 2,000 years ago. But in the strictest sense, we are justified when we believe.

We believe when God gives us the gift of faith.

1 Timothy 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

God’s gracious gift of faith is given and received when a person is born again by the Holy Spirit of God. This fact brings yet another biblical truth that is misunderstood, even by many who are born again. When asked, most believers say they are born again because they believed. This is not true. We believe because we are born again. This is not a semantical “glass half empty or half full” matter. It is supremely important for two reasons.

First, if we are born again because we believe, our belief is from us instead of a gift of God’s grace, in which case we we can “boast” that we saved ourselves by our faith, That is disallowed by Ephesians 2:8-9.

Second, if we are born again because we believe and not because of God’s grace, God’s glory in our salvation is diminished. All praise and glory for our salvation belongs to God alone—not to us, even in the slightest way.

Third, because God’s Word teaches that we believe, are justified, and therefore saved because by God’s grace alone, we are born again!

Soli Deo Gloria! To God alone be glory!