Question
Is justification and condemnation the same?
Answer
No, because there’s a difference between justification and condemnation as well as a parallel. That difference is seen in Romans 3:22: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Both justification and condemnation have declarative aspects to them, but this shared declarative quality doesn’t negate the more fundamental distinction between them. Condemnation is earned as the “wages of sin,” whereas justification is received as a gift from God through faith in Christ.
In as much as both justification and condemnation are declarative, the foundation on which they are received is not the same (condemnation is earned; justification is freely received). We can’t end it, based on the declarative nature of justification and condemnation, that if God makes one righteous by declaring him so this means he must make him unrighteous when he pronounces him so.
