Justification is presented in Romans as a punctiliar act; that is, it happens at a point in time. One moment the sinner is outside, unrighteous, and unaccepted; the next moment, following justification, the person is inside, accepted, and righteous.

The person who is in Christ looks upon justification as a past act, one that took place when he or she surrendered himself or herself fully to Christ. “Being justified” (Rom. 5:1) is, literally, “having been justified.”

Of course, if the justified sinner should fall away and then return to Christ, justification would occur again. Also, if reconversion is considered a daily experience, there is a sense in which justification might be considered a repeating experience.

Of course, if the justified sinner should fall away and then return to Christ, justification would occur again. Also, if reconversion is considered a daily experience, there is a sense in which justification might be considered a repeating experience.

Using another metaphor, God is like a suitor who has proposed repeatedly to his sweetheart. For a long time he has wanted to marry her, but she has refused his marriage proposals. One day she does accept, and she becomes his bride. Their marriage depended on her decision, not his.

In the same way, justification by faith does not depend primarily on God’s decision. Like the suitor, He has for a long time wanted to justify and redeem every sinner. But an acceptance of God’s proposal by the sinner is also needed. As the suitor, God would long ago have accepted the sinner as His bride if the sinner had been willing to respond to His overtures in love, faith, and trust. The ground of justification by faith is God’s love for the sinner, manifested in the death of Christ for his salvation. But the sinner is justified unto salvation only when he accepts God’s gift of love and chooses to believe in Him and commit himself to Him as his Saviour.

Like a marriage, justification by faith is a union of two parties on the basis of their free choice. We who are married got married by our own volition. And before we married, we gave our intended mates our hearts. The same is true of our marriage to God—justification by faith. Therefore God’s generic plea to every person is: "My son, give me your heart" (Prov. 23:26). "God requires the entire surrender of the heart, before justification can take place."1 Personal justification is justification by faith in contradistinction to universal temporary (or forensic) justification, which is impersonal.

By accepting the repentance granted by God (see Rom. 2:4) and believing in Jesus as our personal Saviour, you and I as sinners actively participate in justification by faith. We must be personally involved in order that salvation might be ours. We respond to Jesus by trusting ourselves to Him and personally and voluntarily accepting His love to us through the Holy Spirit. By doing so, we personally accept His righteousness as His free gift. By our own choice, we invite the Holy Spirit into our hearts and make the decision that we will no longer follow capricious, sinful impulses and fleeting desires. Rather, we will think and act in accordance with God’s will at all times.

In this way, we are dressed in the garment of Christ’s righteousness. Many suitors have bought and presented dresses to their lady loves, particularly after they have accepted their marriage proposals. Suitors generally do not present dresses to girls who turn down their marriage proposals. So also Jesus, the heavenly suitor, clothes in the garment of His righteousness not those who spurn His marriage proposal but only those who accept Him as their Saviour. He does not give the garment of His righteousness to rebels and enemies.

At the Passover feast Jesus said to the disciples, "You are clean" (John 13:10). And everyone who accepts Jesus is clean. "If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ’s character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned."2

Through justification by faith, the sinner is both accounted and made righteous. It is just like a poor person marrying a rich person. After their marriage they are both rich. Through their marriage the riches of the one become the riches of the other. This richness lasts throughout their marriage.

Through our justification by faith—our marriage to Jesus —Christ’s righteousness becomes and is our righteousness. His riches are now our riches. Our sinful poverty is left behind. As Christians we are rich through Christ’s riches; we are righteous through His righteousness. "The moment we surrender ourselves to God, believing in Him, we have His righteousness."3

I wouldn't express things this way. Every day, and at every sin followed by confession, justification is renewed, not repeated.

There is a positive necessity for a daily conversion to God, a new, deep, and daily experience in the religious life. {CH 402.3}

Daily we need the converting power of God, or we cannot walk in the footprints of Christ. As the mind is enlightened in regard to what is purity and sanctification, and the heart responds to the strivings of the Holy Spirit, a daily conversion will be the result. {UL 269.5}

All who have received the engrafted word will be faithful in giving that word to others. They will speak the words of Christ. In conversation and in deportment they will give evidence of a daily conversion to the principles of truth. Such believers will be a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men, and God will be glorified in them. {HP 67.5}

Daily we need the converting power of God, or we cannot walk in the footprints of Christ. As the mind is enlightened in regard to what is purity and sanctification, and the heart responds to the strivings of the Holy Spirit, a daily conversion will be the result. {UL 269.5}

None are living Christians unless they have a daily experience in the things of God and daily practice self-denial, cheerfully bearing the cross and following Christ. Every living Christian will advance daily in the divine life. As he advances toward perfection, he experiences a conversion to God every day; and this conversion is not completed until he attains to perfection of Christian character, a full preparation for the finishing touch of immortality. {AG 291.4}

Genuine conversion is needed, not once in years, but daily. This conversion brings man into a new relation with God. Old things, his natural passions and hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong, pass away, and he is renewed and sanctified. But this work must be continual; for as long as Satan exists, he will make an effort to carry on his work. He who strives to serve God will encounter a strong undercurrent of wrong. His heart needs to be barricaded by constant watchfulness and prayer, or else the embankment will give way; and like a millstream, the undercurrent of wrong will sweep away the safeguard. No renewed heart can be kept in a condition of sweetness without the daily application of the salt of the Word. Divine grace must be received daily, or no man will stay converted. {OHC 215.2}

The Lord requires us to be submissive to His will, subdued by His Spirit, and sanctified to His service. Selfishness must be put away, and we must overcome every defect in our characters as Christ overcame. In order to accomplish this work, we must die daily to self. Said Paul: "I die daily." He had a new conversion every day, took an advance step toward heaven. To gain daily victories in the divine life is the only course that God approves. The Lord is gracious, of tender pity, and plenteous in mercy. He knows our needs and weaknesses, and He will help our infirmities if we only trust in Him and believe that He will bless us and do great things for us. {4T 66.4}

When true conversion takes place in the heart, it is made manifest in a transformation of character, for those who are converted become Christlike. Pride no longer lives in the heart, sin seems abominable. The converted soul hates the thing that depraves his moral sensibilities. He hates that which crucified the Lord of life and glory. Those who are truly converted grow in the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and as knowledge of Christ increases, they see more clearly where their own weakness lies; they realize the deep depravity of their natures. They understand the strength of sin, and know the power of their old habits. . . . They have daily a sense of their entire inability to do anything without the help of Jesus Christ, therefore they say to Him, "I cast my helpless soul upon Thee. 'In my hand no price I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling.'" {TMK 62.2}

There is no such thing as an instantaneous sanctification. It is an every-day work. Says Paul, "I die daily" (1 Cor. 15:31). He received a conversion daily to God. As the truth and Spirit of God revealed to him the defects in his character, he put away his wrong, died to self, and cleansed himself "from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1). {UL 231.3}