Gospel Guidebook: Getting and Keeping It Right 
한국어 日本語
Romans 4:25 as Proof Justification Was Accomplished at the Cross
by Robert P. TerryUpdated July 14, 2025
Romans 4:25 is one of the plainest statements that justification was accomplished (efficaciously) at the cross. However, because theologians have not understood how to harmonize what happened at the cross with justification by faith, they have often explained away the plain words of Romans 4:25. The reason for their inability to understand what Christ accomplished is due to their viewing faith as an appropriating instrument, as opposed to being solely the faculty of the mind to which God reveals His righteousness (Romans 1:16-17, 2 Cor. 4:3-6). Simply put, for the vast majority of Christian theologians (regardless of whether they be Reformed, Free Grace, or Arminian), an unapplied Christ is no Christ at all. In this article, I will defend the plain reading of Romans 4:25.
In a literal translation of Romans 4:25, we read, "who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification" (NASB). The past tense verbs coupled with the causative subordinate conjunction "because" naturally lend the clauses to being interpreted retrospectively. However, some theologians have interpreted the second clause "raised because of our justification" prospectively. They say it means "raised in view of our justification." The problem is that the Apostle Paul carefully created a parallel between the first clause "delivered over because of our transgressions" and the second clause "raised because of our justification." To interpret one clause as retrospective and the other as prospective creates disharmony in the parallelism. Furthermore, Paul uses the Greek preposition dia (subordinate conjunction "because") followed by an accusative noun to indicate causation. This means that the translation "because" is lexically and grammatically correct. Moreover, we have somewhat of a parallel passage in Romans 8:10 where we read, "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness" (italics added). In Romans 8:10, dia undoubtedly means "because." The construction parallels Romans 4:25 where we have "delivered because of our transgression and raised because of our justification." In both cases we see death placed alongside sin and life placed alongside righteousness.
One verse used to object to the plain interpretation of Romans 4:25 has been 1 Corinthians 15:17. In that verse we read, "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins." The argument goes that forgiveness of sins (which is an aspect of justification according to Romans 4:5-8) depends on the resurrection. However, this argument is reading too much into this verse because it could likewise be interpreted as Christ not being raised due to his failure to accomplish justification (i.e., failure to accomplish what was necessary for the forgiveness of sins). In other words, His resurrection was dependent on Him successfully accomplishing justification. The resurrection demonstrated His own personal vindication as the Son of God (compare Rom. 1:4 with 1 Tim. 3:16).
Another objection to the plain interpretation of Romans 4:25 is that both clauses are prospective. This argument says that Romans 4:25 should be interpreted as "who was delivered up in order to atone for our sins and was raised in order that we might be justified." However, this interpretation handles the underlying Greek text too loosely. If the Apostle Paul meant "in order to" instead of "because," then he very well could have used the subjunctive conjunction hina (in order that, so that), or the preposition eis or pros (for), or some other Greek word that would have indicated his intention. If he was thinking prospectively, it doesn't make sense that he would use the Greek preposition dia, since this preposition would only obscure his argument and give his readers the wrong impression. By using dia, he certainly knew that some of his readers would have interpreted the two clauses retrospectively.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, efficaciously justified His people at the cross. It is amazing how hard Christian theologians fight against this truth. The pride in man knows no bounds.