Paul wrote of Abraham's faith, stating, '. . . This comforting doctrine bears testimony to the grace, mercy and justice of our God in relation to lost and guilty sinners. This fundamental Biblical truth, 'justification through faith alone' became the keynote of the Reformation and has been a central tenet of God's true church till the present day and will continue 'until he comes'. To understand this doctrine we need to visualise the guilty sinner standing before the just Judge. From this passage of Scripture it can be seen that when a judge 'justifies' a man, he simply declares the man to be righteous.
Justification is a declaration made about a person.
God pronounces the sinner to be legally righteous in His sight. The answer to this question is found in the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Bearing the sins of His people, Christ suffered the wrath of God in their place. Our sins put to his account and Christ was punished as if He were the sinner. The first point to note is that our sins are pardoned by God - because of the saving work of Christ upon the cross.