Justification #11
δικαίωσις(dikaiosis)GreeknounStrong's G1347
Justification (dikaiosis) — the Greek word for being declared righteous, the New Testament's legal term for God's verdict that a sinner who trusts in Christ is acquitted and counted righteous.
Dikaiosis and its more common verb form dikaioo are courtroom words, borrowed from the vocabulary of ancient legal judgment. To “justify” someone in this sense is not to make them morally better but to declare them righteous — to issue a verdict of “not guilty,” or more precisely, “righteous,” in a court of law.
Biblical Usage
Paul roots the concept squarely in the cross and resurrection: Christ “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification [dikaiosis]” (Romans 4:25). Having been justified, Paul writes, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1) — justification is the legal basis for that peace, not merely a feeling of it. Galatians 2:16 states the means plainly: “a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”
Theological Significance
Justification became the central doctrine of the Protestant Reformation, expressed in the phrase sola fide (“faith alone”): the conviction that God’s declaration of righteousness comes through faith in Christ’s finished work, not through the sinner’s own moral performance, and that this legal verdict is granted immediately and completely rather than earned gradually.
Key References
- Romans 4:25
- Romans 5:1
- Galatians 2:16