person to justification. We do not justify ourselves; it is God who justifies us. Something else is true: Justification is unchanging. Once God has declared that we are righteous through Jesus Christ, the sin question is settled once and for all. Justification is not the same as regeneration. (We will be talking about regeneration in a later chapter.) Regeneration means being born again. Regeneration gives us new life; justification gives us a new standing before God.