The original source, or moving cause of justification, is God's love. Had God not "_loved the world_" there would have been no divine planning or counseling for man's justification. Truly it required a divine mind to originate a scheme by which God "_could be just and yet justify the ungodly_." All the wisdom of the world could never have answered the question: "_How can mortal man be just with God_?" Man stood, in the sight of God, as a rebel against His divine authority, a transgressor of divine law, guilty, condemned, and wholly unable to justify himself, or to answer for one in a thousand offences. God had given His word that, because of guilt, there must be punishment and suffering. This word was given before sin was committed, and was repeated a thousand times afterwards. There must then be obedience to an infinite law, or _infinite_ punishment for transgression. How could this gulf be bridged, and man saved? There was only one way. "_God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son._" That Son, "_the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person_," "_in whom dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily_," came into our world. He came to take the sinner's place--to be his substitute. Though Lord and giver of the law, He put Himself under the law. He fulfilled it in every jot and tittle. He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Thus He worked out a complete and perfect righteousness. He did not need this righteousness for Himself, for He had a righteousness far above the righteousness of the law. He wrought it out not for Himself, but for man, that He might make it over and impute it to the transgressor. Thus then while man had no obedience of his own, he could have the obedience of another set down to his account, as though it were his own. But this was not enough. Man had sinned and was still constantly sinning, his very nature being a sinful one. As already noted, the divine Word was pledged that there must be punishment for sin. The Son, who came to be a substitute, said: Put me in the sinner's place; let me be the guilty one; let the blows fall upon me. And thus, He "_who knew no sin was made sin_ (or a sin-offering) _for us_." He "_was made a curse_," "_bore our sins_" and "_the iniquity of us all_." He, the God-man, was regarded as the guilty one, treated as the guilty one, suffered as the guilty one.