The Justification of God

The reformers doctrine is that God legally declares us not guilty. It's like a legal pardon and this doesn't immediately affect the moral character of the person pardoned. Think of a criminal who's been pardoned by the president. When he's pardoned his crime is gone, it's expiated. He doesn't no longer have to pay the punishment. That's what the righteousness of God does in Paul's thinking. But we mustn't interpret this as some sort of an emotional relational thing. This is a judicial thing.