Time with Abba, Singing Praising 親親爸父，唱詩歌頌

     Within the lawcourt setting, 'justify' is what the judge does at the end of the trial: he declares that one party in the lawsuit is 'in the right'.  The case has gone their way.  The judge has found in their favour.  They have a new status as a result of the court's decision...so when the judge says 'I find the defendant innocent'...that declaration creates a new state of affairs, in which the vindicated person enjoys a new standing, a new status.  He or she is 'in the right'.  That is 'justification'.

     Paul, remember, has his eye at the moment simply on the future day of judgment, and on the fact that God will judge impartially.  He is facing the question: surely Jews will have an advantage, because they possess the law?  His answer is No: God will judge everyone according to where they are, not according to where they are not.  Those outside the law(Gentiles, in other words) will be judged that way; those inside (Jews) will be judged by the law they possess.  What matters, after all, is doing the law, not just possessing it.  

N.T. Wright. Paul for Everyone, Romans: Part One. Louisville,KY:Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, p.34.