Jesus’s justification is important to the Christian for several reasons. The first is salvation. As already noted, justification removes sin and allows a person to be in a relationship with God.
Another reason deals with God’s punishment. When Jesus justifies a person, he removes every sin (past, present, and future), which means he takes the punishment for all sin upon himself. (The theological term is substitutionary atonement.) Therefore, God does not punish the believer.
He does, however, discipline the believer (Heb. 12:6), but God’s discipline is not punishment. Punishment is meting out penalties in payment for sin. Yet, Jesus already paid that price. So, what is discipline? Discipline is God guiding a person back to himself to continue molding that person into Christ’s Image.
Justification also means freedom. Someone might commit a sin that he or she feels cannot be forgiven. Justification wipes that sin away and allows self-forgiveness. Not doing so declares a person’s standard is higher than God’s standard. Therefore, forgiveness of self and others is a necessity.