Justification - just as if I had never sinned.
I am a sinner! Scripture tells us that sin earns death. I woke up in the middle of the night convicted of a sin from yesterday. I felt bad and convicted of this sin. Yet I was able to pray, confess it to God, repent, and be forgiven. After this I went back to sleep no longer under conviction but in peace. Not because of the things I just mentioned but because of the mercy and grace poured out through Jesus. Because of that mercy and grace that Jesus poured out and I received I have been JUSTIFIED. I did not have to lay awake all night concerned about the wages of sin. So then why did I pray, confess, and repent? I did it because I felt extremely bad for disappointing my Father (conviction)! I talked to Him about it. I confessed I had messed up. I made a conscious effort to not do it again. Then I thanked Him for His love and forgiveness which I am so secure in that I was able to fall back to sleep in peace. Does that mean I take His justification upon me lightly? Absolutely not! This is why I am making an effort not to do this sin again. It simply means I have read His unchanging Testament and I know He is Truth and it says, Titus 3:5-8a NASB1995 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy statement.
My God has taken me, a straying son who had turned my back on Him and went away to sin having disavowed Him, and He paid my debt (mercy). He adopted me back and gave me a promise (Holy Spirit) of His riches (Grace) washed me of my filth (justification) and brought me home for ever (eternal life). So even though I am a sinner, after talking with my Father I went to sleep in peace assured of justification in Jesus.
Now ask me why I talk about Him so much.
Praise the Lord, He is my Father!
Is He yours?
He can be!
Romans 10:9-10 NASB1995 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Love Bro. Scott