True Justification

“Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
Job 42:8–9
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True Justification
Job’s friends, in an attempt to comfort Job, completely messed up the doctrine of justification. The doctrine of justification is the foundation on which the church is built. Everything that Christ is and does is declared to be ours! In a great exchange, we get Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection attributed to us, while He gets our death, sin, and hell.  This righteousness is delivered to us by means of the Word and Sacraments and solely depends upon God’s mercy, not our work, and is received only in faith. Because justification is completely Jesus’ doing, it is never in doubt. We need never doubt God’s attitude toward us. Our righteousness in Christ is certain.  And what Job’s friends missed was that we can even rejoice in the midst of suffering. God is not working against us. He has declared us just. Therefore, what Job’s friends needed to hear, and what we too, often need to hear, is that we are forgiven on account of God’s grace through faith alone. And as they were instructed on where to go to receive this forgiveness so too are we led by the Holy Spirit through the Word and Sacraments to seek forgiveness at the foot of the cross knowing that because of Christ we receive forgiveness, life, and salvation.