Justification

Justification is our legal standing with God. Because Jesus Christ suffered for us and is willing to bear our sins our legal standing with God can be changed, or justified (Mosiah 14:11).

This change is triggered by faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:28). The change will not be permanent unless we allow the Holy Spirit to work on our hearts so that He may guide us (3 Nephi 9:20).

Our justification can be lessened with God unless we act on the temporary protection we have been given from our sins.

President Hinckley has said:  

“That article of our faith [Articles of Faith 13] is one of the basic declarations of our theology. We ought to reflect on it again and again. Then, whenever we might be tempted to do anything shoddy or dishonest or immoral, there would come into our minds with some force this great, all-encompassing statement of the ethics of our behavior. There would be less rationalizing over some elements of our personal conduct which we try to justify with one excuse or another.” “‘Fear Not to Do Good’,” Ensign, Jan 2000,  2 Template:Stub