"It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification." (Romans 4:24, 25)

We can only be justified because of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. Jesus was only raised 'because of our justification' (4:25). Even then, it does not guarantee us a sure justification, since it is THROUGH faith that we are justified. Therefore, we must take the initiative to have that faith which leads to justification. This is likened to applying for college. We are accepted through an application. Therefore, we must take the initiative to fill out that application. Failure in taking the initiative to fill it out will deny us any chance of acceptance. Not having that faith will deny us any chance of being justified.

First, let us clarify the purpose of being justified. Even though the discussion of sanctification hasn't been mentioned, we all know that justification leads to sanctification. In layman's terms, the purpose is to enter the Kingdom of God, to be sanctified as one of the heavenly inhabitants, and live eternally. With that said, how can we achieve that goal? In hopes of trying to explain the path to salvation, the story of the man born blind from gospel John can be used as an analogy.

"Now as Jesus passes by, He saw a man who was blind from birth...When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam". So he went and washed, and came back seeing. Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"...they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight." (John 9:1,6-8,10,11)

A simple passage such as this shows us the clear steps toward receiving the blessing from God, which can be extended to the obtaining of salvation.

1) Humble acceptance - He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay (The man heard Jesus spat but never said to Jesus, "What are you doing putting your nasty saliva on my eye," he simply let Jesus do His thing even though it was out of the ordinary.)
2) Followed without complaint - So he went and washed (The man never complained to Jesus, "Why are you making me walk, haven't you noticed that I'm blind?" He simply did as he was told without a word.)
3) Glorifying God - A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes (When asked what happened to him, he proclaimed the Name of the His benefactor without hesitation.)
4) Blessed Result - So I went and washed, and I received sight (By accepting the way of Jesus without a word, the blind man was able to receive sight.)

The journey from having faith to receiving eternal life can be summarized in the four steps mentioned above. It is only with humble acceptance that we are even able to get glimpse of who God is. With that initial step, we give ourselves the chance to understand the ways of God. Through further digging, we come to realize that God's ways don't always synchronize with human ways, such as the way of receiving the Holy Spirit. It is only by following without complaint that we are able to really experience God.

To know something and to act on it are two totally different things. Knowing the way of receiving the Holy Spirit doesn't mean accepting it. To actually kneel down and pray for the Holy Spirit, however, means that someone believes in it enough to try it. It takes a lot of humility and trust in order to kneel down without question and pray in a silly way. After knowing that God is true through the experiences we have with Him, we are able to share it with others. We must never be ashamed to proclaim His Name and His blessings. To deny Him His glory is like taking credit for someone else's work. It is not only degrading, it is shameful. In all things, we must give glory to the One above.

In order to have faith in something, we must understand the purpose of our belief. We can build our faith toward God through 1) accepting Christ, 2) studying God's Words to better understand Him, 3) following His commandments without question, and 4) giving all the credits and glory to God. It is only when we truly have faith and understand what faith encompasses of, are we able to be justified through faith.