Justification

[juhs-tuh-fi-key-shuh n] /ˌdʒʌs tə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən/

noun
1.
a reason, fact, circumstance, or explanation that or defends:
His insulting you was ample justification for you to leave the party.
2.
an act of :
The painter’s justification of his failure to finish on time didn’t impress me.
3.
the state of being .
4.
Also called justification by faith. Theology. the act of God whereby humankind is made or accounted just, or free from guilt or penalty of sin.
5.
Printing. the spacing of words and letters within a line of type so that all full lines in a column have even margins both on the left and on the right.
/ˌdʒʌstɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
noun
1.
reasonable grounds for complaint, defence, etc
2.
the act of justifying; proof, vindication, or exculpation
3.
(theol)

4.
(Protestant theol) Also called justification by faith. the doctrine that God vindicates only those who repent and believe in Jesus
5.
(printing, computing) the process of adjusting interword spacing in text or data so that both right and left margins are straight
6.
(computing) the process of moving data right or left so that the first or last character occurs in a predefined position
n.

late 14c., “administration of justice,” from Late Latin iustificationem (nominative iustificatio), noun of action from past participle stem of iustificare (see justify). Meaning “action of justifying” is from late 15c. Theological sense is from 1520s.

a forensic term, opposed to condemnation. As regards its nature, it is the judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, i.e., as conformed to all its demands. In addition to the pardon (q.v.) of sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied in respect of the justified. It is the act of a judge and not of a sovereign. The law is not relaxed or set aside, but is declared to be fulfilled in the strictest sense; and so the person justified is declared to be entitled to all the advantages and rewards arising from perfect obedience to the law (Rom. 5:1-10). It proceeds on the imputing or crediting to the believer by God himself of the perfect righteousness, active and passive, of his Representative and Surety, Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:3-9). Justification is not the forgiveness of a man without righteousness, but a declaration that he possesses a righteousness which perfectly and for ever satisfies the law, namely, Christ’s righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 4:6-8). The sole condition on which this righteousness is imputed or credited to the believer is faith in or on the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is called a “condition,” not because it possesses any merit, but only because it is the instrument, the only instrument by which the soul appropriates or apprehends Christ and his righteousness (Rom. 1:17; 3:25, 26; 4:20, 22; Phil. 3:8-11; Gal. 2:16). The act of faith which thus secures our justification secures also at the same time our sanctification (q.v.); and thus the doctrine of justification by faith does not lead to licentiousness (Rom. 6:2-7). Good works, while not the ground, are the certain consequence of justification (6:14; 7:6). (See GALATIANS, EPISTLE TO.)