What does being justified freely by his grace mean (Romans 3:24)?

Through the redemption — the releasing — that is in Christ Jesus, there is a gratuitous justification for sinners; a justification freely bestowed in a grace that is vindicated against any charge of unholiness or unrighteousness.

Great pains have been taken by the Holy Spirit to impress upon us the important fact that the blessing of justification comes unto men as entirely of God. It does not come to them because they deserve it; it is by grace, which supposes absolute demerit in the objects of it. God has found no reason in men why He should approach them with this blessing, He has needed none, for the cause of it all is found in His own heart. He blesses men because of what He is Himself and not because of what they are. This is the meaning of the words, “ Being justified freely of His grace .”

Great pains have been taken by the Holy Spirit to impress upon us the important fact that the blessing of justification comes to men as entirely of God. It does not come to them because they deserve it; it is by grace, which supposes absolute demerit in the objects of it. God has found no reason in men why He should approach them with this blessing, He has needed none, for the cause of it all is found in His own heart. He blesses men because of what He is Himself and not because of what they are. This is the meaning of the words, "Being justified freely of His grace."

"Being justified FREELY by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:23), means this, for the word "freely" might be translated "without a cause"; indeed, it is so translated in John 15:25. There was no more cause in us why God should justify us than there was in Jesus why men should hate Him. God has found the cause in Himself, it is entirely of His grace.

Justification is by the grace of God. It comes to men according to His desires for their blessing, and not according to their deserts, because of what He is and not because of what they are. God looks for no reason in them why He should bless them, He has found all the reasons in His own heart. He justifies freely by His grace.

Justification is by the grace of God. It comes to men according to His desires for their blessing, and not according to their deserts, because of what He is and not because of what they are. God looks for no reason in them why He should bless them, He has found all the reasons in His own heart. He justifies freely by His grace.

Thus the utter sin of man makes it an absolute necessity that, if he is to be justified at all, he must be justified gratuitously by God's grace. The question of desert or previous fitness is excluded. This suits the grace and majesty of God quite as much as the abject need of man. His grace moreover does no dishonour to His holy and righteous character, but the very reverse; and all through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. What is the ransom He purposed and has found? Christ a propitiatory through faith in His blood whom He set forth for a declaration of His righteousness. For God passed over the sins of believers in Old Testament times, looking forward to Christ's blood to vindicate Him, and forbearing all the while. But now it is not a matter of forbearance. The debt is cancelled, the blood is shed, His righteousness is no longer in prospect, but brought in and manifested, and God is proved to be just in justifying him that believes in Jesus. (Ver. 26.)

(V. 24) While all have come short, those who believe are "justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus". It has been pointed out that this word translated "freely" is, in John 15:25, translated "without a cause". Men hated Christ without a cause, as far as He was concerned; and God justifies the believer in Jesus, without a cause as far as the believer is concerned. While it is an act done in absolute consistency with God's nature; it is an act of pure grace towards the believer. The believer is justified righteously and freely.

"Being justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Christ has met all, He paid for all our sins. If we believe on Jesus we are justified freely by His Grace, that is, as a free gift. And justification is acquittal; we are acquitted from sin and from any charge of it. "It is divine righteousness that acts in justifying; righteousness is just that attribute of God which is concerned in it. It is like a broad, effectual shield stretched over the believer, and for all like a house that with its open door invites men to take shelter from the coming storm of judgment." The redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ has satisfied every claim forever. Christ has paid the price and all who believe are fully acquitted from every charge and penalty. "Whom God hath set forth a mercy seat through faith by His blood." On the day of atonement on the mercy seat, overshadowed by the Cherubim, the blood was sprinkled. And now the better blood, that which alone can take away sin, is upon the mercy seat, and God is faithful and just on account of that blood, to justify the believer.

But only thus could the love of God be shown toward us in perfect righteousness. Only the cross can fully display the depths of the love of God, and the perfect purity of His righteousness. And at the very throne of God, grace takes the place of law,-bringing justification in place of condemnation. Simple, concise, plain, yet marvellous beyond thought are the words of verse 24,-"Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." The soul that believes in Jesus Christ is fully and freely cleared of every charge of guilt, by the grace of God, in virtue of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And the clearance is a perfectly righteous one, for the guilt has been fully met and atoned for on the cross. Blessed relief for a soul once bowed down with a sense of shame and distress on account of sin, who sees such a refuge in God! There is nothing like trusting entirely to the grace of God and the work of His Son on the cross.