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account of the claims of justice, but is rather a divine declaration that, in the case of the sinner
under consideration, the demands of the law are met. The sinner is declared righteous in view
of the fact that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to him. In this transaction God appears,
not as an absolute Sovereign who simply sets the law aside, but as a righteous Judge, who
acknowledges the infinite merits of Christ as a sufficient basis for justification, and as a gracious
Father, who freely forgives and accepts the sinner. This active justification logically precedes
faith and passive justification. We believe the forgiveness of sins.
2. PASSIVE OR SUBJECTIVE JUSTIFICATION.
Passive or subjective justification takes place in the
heart or conscience of the sinner. A purely objective justification that is not brought home to
the sinner would not answer the purpose. The granting of a pardon would mean nothing to a
prisoner, unless the glad tidings were communicated to him and the doors of the prison were
opened. Moreover, it is exactly at this point that the sinner learns to understand better than
anywhere else that salvation is of free grace. When the Bible speaks of justification, it usually
refers to what is known as passive justification. It should be borne in mind, however, that the
two cannot be separated. The one is based on the other. The distinction is simply made to
facilitate the proper understanding of the act of justification. Logically, passive justification
follows faith; we are justified by faith.
F. THE TIME OF JUSTIFICATION.
Some theologians separate active and passive justification temporally. The active justification is
then said to have taken place in eternity or in the resurrection of Christ, while passive
justification takes place by faith and therefore, it is said, follows the other in a temporal sense.
We shall consider successively justification from eternity, justification in the resurrection of
Christ, and justification by faith.
1. JUSTIFICATION FROM ETERNITY.
The Antinomians held that the justification of the sinner
took place in eternity, or in the resurrection of Christ. They either confounded it with the
eternal decree of election, or with the objective justification of Christ when He was raised from
the dead. They did not properly distinguish between the divine purpose in eternity and its
execution in time, nor between the work of Christ in procuring, and that of the Holy Spirit in
applying the blessings of redemption. According to this position we are justified even before we
believe, though we are unconscious of it, and faith simply conveys to us the declaration of this
fact. Moreover, the fact that our sins were imputed to Christ made Him personally a sinner, and
the imputation of His righteousness to us makes us personally righteous, so that God can see no
sin in believers at all. Some Reformed theologians also speak of justification from eternity, but
at the same time refuse to subscribe to the Antinomian construction of this doctrine. The
grounds on which they believe in justification from eternity deserve brief consideration.