Author's Note: "Justify means to pronounce free from guilt or blame, or to absolve." Elder Harold B. Lee (TLDP:332)
To justify, as defined by Marvin R. Vincent, D.D., is "[T]he act or process by which a man is brought into a right state as related to God." He also defines justification: "Justification aims directly at character. It contemplates making the man himself right; . . ." (Word Studies in the New Testament, 3:39)
392. When a person righteously performs the ordinances and duties necessary for exaltation, those acts may be accepted (justified) by God.
What, then, is the doctrine of justification. . . . To be justified is to be made righteous and therefore to be saved. Men are justified in what they do when their deeds conform to divine standards. Righteous acts are approved of the Lord; they are ratified by the Holy Ghost; they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise; or, in other words, they are justified by the Spirit. Such divine approval must be given to "all covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations"—that is, to all things—if they are to have "efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead." (D&C 132:7) Such a requirement is part of the terms and conditions of the gospel covenant.
. . . . In the eternal sense, Israel consists of the members of the Church who keep the commandments and are thereby justified in this life and saved in the life to come. The wicked, of course, are not justified. (Alma 41:13-15(The Promised Messiah, pp. 344-45) TLDP:333
I want to comment about this one statement: "by the Spirit ye are justified." Now I've struggled with that statement, and I have found a definition that seems to indicate to me what I'm sure the Lord intended to convey. The definition that I think is significant says: "Justify means to pronounce free from guilt or blame, or to absolve." Now if the Spirit, the Holy Ghost, is to pronounce one free from guilt or blame, or to absolve, then we begin to see something of the office of the Holy Ghost that relates to the subject about which we are talking: what it means to be born of the Spirit.
I shall inject here another phrase that is oft discussed (and I think is misunderstood) and to which we try to attach some mysteries. This phrase, where the Lord directs that all of these things are to be eternal, is: "must be sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise." Let me refer first to the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. Speaking of those who are candidates for celestial glory, the Lord says:
"They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial. . . . That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands. . . . And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true." (D&C 76:51-53
In other words, baptism is only efficacious, and the initiatory ordinance is applicable, when it is sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. We have that same phrase repeated in section 132, verse 19, for the Lord is speaking now of celestial marriage.
". . . if a man marry a wife by my word . . . and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of Promise . . . they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things. . . ."
And with reference to the priesthood, when the Lord discusses in the 84th section the oath and covenant, exactly the same principle is implied. By the laying on of hands we get the promise of power and authority, but it will not be ours—worlds without end—unless we keep our part of the covenant. (Stand Ye in Holy Places, pp. 51-52) TLDP:332-333
receiving the Word of the Lord
For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world.
6. And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fulness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God.
7. And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this law are these: all covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the holy spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead.
8. Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion.
9. Will I accept of an offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in my name?
10. Or will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed?
11. And will I appoint unto you, saith the Lord, except it be by law, even as I and my father ordained unto you, before the world was?
12. I am the Lord thy God; and I give unto you this commandment—that no man shall come unto the Father but by me or by my word, which is my law, saith the Lord.
13. And everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God. (Revelation relating to the terms of the new and everlasting covenant, July 12, 1843) D&C 132:5-13
Baptism is not merely a door into the kingdom, which entitles us to enter, bringing with us a trail of sins unrepented of. It is not that at all. We must not enter that door until our hearts are humble, our spirits contrite, and we give the assurance that we will serve the Lord in faithfulness and righteousness to the end.
Again: "And we know that justification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true;" [D&C 20:30]
That is, if we come into this Church with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, with a determination to forsake all our sins and live faithfully to the end, then we are justified, and the sanctification of the blood of Jesus Christ is efficacious, and we receive the blessings.
"We know also, that sanctification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true, to all those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength." [D&C 20:31] CR1941Oct:93-94
The vision of Joel has been fulfilled wherein he declared: ¶ “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: ¶ “And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. ¶ “And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. ¶ “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. ¶ “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call” (Joel 2:28-32. (CR 2001Oct; Living in the Fulness of Times, Ensign, November 2001, p.4)
Related Witnesses:
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our God. (Paul writes to the Church at Corinth, Greece, about A.D. 55) 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
And we know that all men must repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ, and worship the Father in his name, and endure in faith on his name to the end, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.
30. And we know that justification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true;
31. And we know also, that sanctification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true, to all those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength.
32. But there is a possibility that man may fall from grace and depart from the living God;
33. Therefore let the church take heed and pray always, lest they fall into temptation;
34. Yea, and even let those who are sanctified take heed also. (Revelation on Church Organization and Government, April 1830; laws governing repentance, justification, sanctification are set forth) D&C 20:29-34
And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center. (Nephi answers his brothers, 600-592 B.C.) 1 Nephi 16:2
quoted by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith
To be justified before God we must love one another: we must overcome evil; we must visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction, and we must keep ourselves unspotted from the world: for such virtues flow from the great fountain of pure religion, strengthening our faith by adding every good quality that adorns the children of the blessed Jesus. We can pray in the season of prayer; we can love our neighbor as ourselves, and be faithful in tribulation, knowing that the reward of such is greater in the kingdom of heaven. What a consolation What a joy Let me live the life of the righteous, and let my reward be like his (Epistle to the Saints scattered abroad.) (Messenger and Advocate, June 1835) TPJS:76; DGSM:50
translating the Book of Moses
For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified; (The record of Moses : Enoch recounts God speaking to Adam) Moses 6:60
quoted by Joseph Smith,
translating Romans
Therefore ye are justified of faith and works, through grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to them only who are of the law, but to them also who are of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all. (Letter to the Church in Rome, about A.D. 55) JST(Romans 4:16 fn. a)
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. . . .
9. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (Letter to the Church in Rome, about A.D. 55) Romans 5:1,9
And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they.
14. And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you, nay. But he condemneth you, and if ye persist in these things his judgments must speedily come unto you. (Jacob denounces the love of riches among the Nephites, 544-421 B.C.) Jacob 2:13-14
Author's Note: A short-hand way of stating justification might be, as paraphrased from Bruce R. McConkie: Whatever the Holy Ghost endorses is justified.
393. Being born again (being quickened by the Spirit and receiving a change of heart after baptism by water and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost) justifies a person before the Lord and starts that person toward sanctification.
Baptism is not merely a door into the kingdom, which entitles us to enter, bringing with us a trail of sins unrepented of. It is not that at all. We must not enter that door until our hearts are humble, our spirits contrite, and we give the assurance that we will serve the Lord in faithfulness and righteousness to the end.
Again: "And we know that justification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true;" [D&C 20:30]
That is, if we come into this Church with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, with a determination to forsake all our sins and live faithfully to the end, then we are justified, and the sanctification of the blood of Jesus Christ is efficacious, and we receive the blessings.
"We know also, that sanctification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true, to all those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength." [D&C 20:31] CR1941Oct:93-94
The first effect of true faith is a sincere, true, and thorough repentance of all sins. . . .
. . . . What does Paul mean when he says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ?" He means that faith is the starting point—the foundation and cause of our repentance and baptism which bring remission or justification; and being the cause which leads to those results, it is not improper to impute justification to faith. . . . All will admit that to believe with the heart leads to and includes repentance. ("True Faith," in Lectures on Faith, pp. 76-77) TLDP:178
The gift of the Holy Ghost confers upon a person the right to receive, as he may desire and need, the presence, light and intelligence of the Holy Ghost. . . .
The gift of the Holy Ghost remains inoperative unless a person leads a blameless life. Worthiness determines whether a person shall enjoy the privileges promised when the "gift" is conferred. It is useless to expect this high official assistance unless there is daily conformity to the laws of the gospel. Faith and prayer, out of the heart and unceasing, will fit a person for the presence of the Holy Ghost, and to such a life he will respond in power.
Latter-day Saints have received, under the hands of those divinely empowered, this inexpressibly glorious "gift," which will lead them if they are fitted, into the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and win for them intelligence and power to win joy in life and exaltation in the world to come. Those who have been so blessed have not always understood the greatness of that which has been given them, or have not earnestly sought its help. So powerful a gift, with such boundless promise, justifies every attempt to cleanse body and soul. Certain it is, that only with the aid of the Holy Ghost shall we be able to rise to the heights of salvation of which we dream and for which we pray. (Man and the Dragon, pp. 150-51) TLDP:276-77
translating the Book of Moses
For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified; (The record of Moses : Enoch recounts God speaking to Adam) Moses 6:60
Related Witnesses:
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our God. (Letter to the Church at Corinth, Greece, about A.D. 55) 1 Corinthians 6:11
"Justify means to pronounce free from guilt or blame, or to absolve." Now if the Spirit, the Holy Ghost, is to pronounce one free from guilt or blame, or to absolve, then we begin to see something of the office of the Holy Ghost that relates to the subject about which we are talking: what it means to be born of the Spirit. (To seminary and institute teachers, June 1962) (Stand Ye in Holy Places, pp. 51-52) TLDP:332-33
And we know that all men must repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ, and worship the Father in his name, and endure in faith on his name to the end, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.
30. And we know that justification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true;
31. And we know also, that sanctification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true, to all those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength. (Revelation on Church Organization and Government, April 1830; laws governing repentance, justification, sanctification, and baptism are set forth) D&C 20:29-31
This understanding of the promise to Abraham places a heavy responsibility upon all who accept the gospel. As children of Abraham, they are under obligation to do the works of Abraham. The waters of baptism carry with them the promise on the part of the candidate that he will conform his life to the gospel of Jesus Christ, which of course was the gospel given, accepted, and practiced by Father Abraham. (Evidences and Reconciliations, p. 400) DGSM:58
The special purpose of baptism is to afford admission to the Church of Christ with remission of sins. What need of more words to prove the worth of this divinely appointed ordinance? What gift could be offered the human race greater than a sure means of obtaining forgiveness for transgression? Justice forbids the granting of universal and unconditional pardon for sins committed except through obedience to ordained law; but means simple and effective are provided whereby the penitent sinner may enter into a covenant with God, sealing that covenant with the sign that commands recognition in heaven, that he will submit himself to the laws of God; thus he places himself within the reach of Mercy, under whose protecting influence he may win eternal life. AF:111
If you will read in the eighteenth chapter of Mosiah the account that took place at the waters of Mormon, you'll read what members of the Church do when they come in by baptism. They covenant to do certain things; for instance, one of the list of covenants there listed, recited is this: I covenant to stand as a witness of Christ, at all times, and in all places, and under all circumstances that I may be in even until death. That's one of the covenants we make. Now the overall covenant that we make is to keep the commandments. And the Lord, on his part, covenants with us that if we do what we there and then agree, he will pour out his Spirit upon us more abundantly, and he will give us eternal life in his kingdom. In other words, we in effect sign the everlasting covenant by the ordinance of baptism, and we make its terms and conditions binding upon us, and this is what makes us different from the generality of mankind. We receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is the right to the constant companionship of that member of the Godhead. And if we are guided thereby, then the sanctifying, cleansing, purifying, perfecting processes begin to operate in our lives, and in literal reality we become the saints of God, a peculiar and distinct people. That's what happens to us, at least if we keep our covenants—the covenants made in the waters of baptism. ACR(Brisbane)1976:15
We need to be born again, and have new hearts put in us. There is too much of the old leaven about us. We are not born again as we should be. Do you not believe that we ought to be born again? Do you not believe that we should become new creatures in Christ Jesus, under the influence of the Gospel? All will say yes, who understand the Gospel. You must be born again. You must have new desires, new hearts, so to speak, in you. But what do we see? We see men following the ways of the world just as much as though they made no pretensions to being Latter-day Saints. Hundreds of people who are called Latter-day Saints you could not distinguish from the world. They have the same desires, the same feelings, the same aspirations, the same passions as the rest of the world. Is this how God wants us to be? No; He wants us to have new hearts, new desires. He wants us to be a changed people when we embrace His Gospel, and to be animated by entirely new motives, and have a faith that will lay hold of the promises of God. CR1899Oct:50
