lazarusJustification is the central doctrine of the Christian faith.  It is the teaching that God declares us righteous, “right” with him because of the suffering and death and resurrection  of Jesus.   The above depicts Jesus calling Lazarus from the tomb.  God creates life out of nothing and brings back from the dead and also creates faith.  When considered from the perspective of faith, justification is the teaching about everything.

God is not obliged to create and preserve the world nor forgive sin. Everything that exists is the result of pure goodness, and all this is purely out of fatherly and divine goodness and mercy without any merit or worthiness in me at all”. When that is grasped and finally understood, “Then it becomes clear that justification is neither merely an event in the interior of the believer, nor one among many ways to express what Christian faith is all about”.  – Oswald Bayer