Verse 24, being justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that have
passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Verse 28, therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law. Verse 30, seeing it is one God
which shall justify the circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through
faith. Now verse 5 of chapter 4, some
of these verses we've already read. But to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness. The last verse of the chapter,
who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our
justification. Chapter 5, verse 1, Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 9, Much more than being
now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through
him. Verse 16, And not as it was by
one that sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one the
condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. Verse 18, Therefore, as by the
offense of one judgment came upon all men the condemnation,
even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon
all men unto justification of life. Chapter 8, verses 30 and
33. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called them he also justified,
and whom he justified them he also glorified. Verse 30, Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifies. We have read to you the verses
in Romans 3 beginning with verse 24 through chapter 8 and verse
33 that deal with the subject of justification. I am sure that
you have already noticed that most of the adverbs which we
have given you are found in connection with some of the verses that
we have read from Romans 3 through Romans 8. Now there are some
other references to justification, but we are not going to read
those to you this morning. I only want to keep the subject
of justification before you. Last Sunday evening we spent
most of the time giving a brief history of some of the major
objections to justification by faith. During the message we
gave seven distinctions between justification and sanctification
because with many people today there is not the proper distinction
between these two great biblical subjects. I've already stated
briefly to you that justification is a legal term. I'll state it
again. And listen to this brief explanation
of justification. And we're going to enlarge upon
this this morning. And during the time that we will
be discussing this, I have seven things concerning justification
that I want to mention to you if I have time this morning.
We'll spend most of the time discussing justification is a
judicial act of God. Now what do we mean by justification
being a judicial or legal act of God? Justification is a judicial
act of God in which he declares the acceptance of the elect on
the ground of imputed righteousness, that is, the righteousness of
Jesus Christ, not the righteousness of the believer, even though
the believer does perform righteous deeds. He is not declared by
God to be righteous on the basis of his righteous deeds that he
performs after salvation, but he is justified on the basis
of the righteousness of Jesus Christ which is imputed to him and also imparted in sanctification. But it is the first to which
I refer, declared righteous on the basis of the imputed righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So justification is the legal,
or it is called forensic, side of one's salvation. It is the
declarative force that appears in sharp contrast with the causative
force. Now, I use two words and you
must remember them. The declarative versus the causative. I said the declarative versus
the causative. So the term justify must be determined
as to its meaning by its scripture use, not by the etymology of
the word merely. Now why did I say that? Not by
the mere etymology of the word. Well, let me give first of all
the meaning of the word or the verb justify. We're not going
to go back into the Greek words because that isn't necessary.
We'll give you what they mean. And if you have any doubt about
it, then you can check us out. And there are source materials
by which you can do so. Now, the word justify can have
a twofold meaning. I said it can have a twofold
meaning. Number one, to declare and number
two, to make. Now I will illustrate that. Take
for instance the words glorify and sanctify. We'll look at the
first word for a moment by way of illustration. The word glorify. If I use the word glorify in
reference to God, it does not have the same meaning as if I
use the same word in talking about glorifying my Bible. Are you following me? When I
use the verb glorify in relation to God, it does not mean that
I make God righteous, but I simply declare God to be righteous.
Now that's easily understood. Now when I use the word glorify,
for instance, in reference to my body, then that refers to
make, to make the body glorious. So it has a different meaning.
you can illustrate the same principle by the use of the word justify
or sanctify, I mean. So we will not go into that because
it isn't necessary to carry it that far. Now I said first of
all it means to declare. I want to give three illustrations. I want to give three biblical
examples of this. Now each one of these things
I'm giving, beloved, is very important in the steps to the
proper understanding of the subject of justification and its legal
or forensic meaning. For instance, in Luke chapter
7 and verse 29, the statement is made that all who were baptized
by John's baptism justified God. Now how and in what sense did
those who submitted to John's baptism justify God? They simply declared God to be
righteous by submitting to John's baptism. They didn't make themselves,
they didn't make God righteous. No one can make God righteous
because God is inherently righteous. God is inherently just. So all
who submitted to John's baptism simply declared God to be just. Now let me give a second biblical
example. In 1 Timothy 3, verse 16, a reference
that concerns the Incarnation. We're told in that passage of
Scripture by the Apostle Paul that Jesus Christ, that is, he
was made flesh, he came into the world, made flesh. And then he goes on to say that
he was declared what? Justified by the Spirit. In other
words, Jesus Christ was justified by the Spirit. Now the Spirit
did not make Jesus Christ righteous. The Holy Spirit simply declared
Jesus Christ to be the righteous one. Jesus Christ was and he
is inherently righteous. Now let me give the third example.
Go back to Luke chapter 7 and verse 35. We're told in the 35th
verse of Luke chapter 7 that wisdom is justified in all her
children. Now, wisdom is justified. That means that wisdom is declared
to be righteous or to be just by all of her children. So in each one of these three
illustrations which I have given you, justification is understood
only in its legal sense. In other words, God is declared
righteous by all who submit themselves to scriptural baptism. That simply
means that God is respected, that God is honored, that God
is declared to be the person that he really is. The same thing is true concerning
Jesus Christ. in being justified by the Spirit
in 1 Timothy 3.16. The same thing is true by wisdom
being justified by all of her children. Now that's simple enough. So there are two things that
we can consider in such declarative justification. Number one, a
clearing, first of all, of all wrong conceptions. Now let's
go back to the justification by all who submitted to the baptism
of John. The Lord God of heaven was cleared
by these persons of all wrong conceptions which they had concerning
him. In being justified by the Spirit,
in 1 Timothy 3.16, the Holy Spirit through men of God has cleared
away all false conception that anyone can have concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now take the third, wisdom. What does it mean? Wisdom is
justified by her children. That means that her children
will clear wisdom of all the false ideals. that any person
can have concerning the subject of wisdom. Wisdom, of course,
as it pertains to God. Now let's look at the second
part. Not only does it mean a clearing from false conceptions, but it
means to be declared who and what each one really is. God the Father is declared to
be who he really is, Jesus Christ is declared to be who he really
is, and wisdom is declared to be who she really is. Justification now of the ungodly
is different from the justification of the just. And it is the justification
of the ungodly, Romans 4, 5, that you and I are concerned
about. So in the case of the ungodly,
justification supposes evil. Justification of the godly could
never suppose such a thing as evil. Do you see the difference
between the justification of the godly and the justification
of the ungodly? the Son and wisdom were justified
declaratively because they were all inherently just. But when it comes to the justification
of a sinner, and you and I are sinners, how can God, who is
just, who is whole, Declare an unjust and ungodly person and
remain just in his justification. You see, that is the big problem. And yet it has an answer. We
have already touched on it briefly, but we will continue to dig into
it deeper and deeper. And as we do, the subject will
become more meaningful to each one of us. You see, the father
could never be made righteous. The son could never be made righteous. Wisdom can never be made righteous. But the sinner must be first
made righteous before he can be declared righteous. Now the question is, how is a
sinner made righteous? The answer to the justification
of the ungodly is found in the righteousness wrought out by
Jesus Christ, explained by the Apostle Paul in Romans 3, 24,
25, and 26. And we'll have some further things
to say along that line later. So imputed righteousness is the
basis for a judicial or legal declaration of the acceptance
of the elect of God. It is just that simple. Now,
it's not an arbitrary act. What do you mean by an arbitrary
act? God does not, in his benevolence, just arbitrarily Say to a sinner,
you are justified without regards being paid to the righteousness
wrought out by Jesus Christ and imputed to the believer. Now there's a lot of discussion.
If I had time this morning, I could spend 30 minutes or an hour giving
to you arguments pro and con concerning the arbitrariness. of this subject. But, beloved,
he did not act arbitrarily. He did not act without regards
being paid to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And this
was all in the eternal covenant of God. You see, in the secret
counsel of God, when the eternal covenant was established, Jesus
was the one chosen by the Father to be the means of justifying
ungodly men upon the basis of the finished work of his Son,
which was to be achieved, which was to be accomplished when Jesus
Christ came into the world. Now, the word justified. does not mean making just is
proved by its antithesis condemnation. You see justification is always
in the scriptures set in opposition to condemnation. Now this is
true in the first chapter of the book of Romans. We have first
of all all men condemned because all men are sinners. We've already
seen this as we observe the mopping up process of the Apostle Paul
in the first part of Romans chapter 3. And that is the reason we
spent the time we did in the study of the first part of Romans
chapter 3. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Coming short is in the present
tense. which simply denotes not only
has the sinner come short, but he continues to come short. He
will ever continue to come short of the glory of God. Therefore,
provision must be made. But now, Paul says, the righteousness
of God, apart from the law, is made available. And this righteousness
is the righteousness roared out by Jesus Christ. And that righteousness
is explained by the 24th verse, being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus our Lord,
whom God has set forth to be a propitiation or a mercy through
faith in his blood. Yes, it is important that Jesus
Christ come. It is important that he die. It is important that he shed
his blood. For the life of the flesh is
in the blood, and God has given it to make an atonement for the
soul. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission, which means the forgiveness of sin. So the word justified. does not
mean making just is proved by its antithesis, condemnation,
but it is also proved in other ways. It is proved by its equivalence. Now, what do you mean by equivalence? If you'll look at verses 6 through
8 of Romans chapter 4, you will see what I mean. First of all,
there is the imputing of righteousness, and secondly, there is the non-imputation
of sin. Now there are two things that
are very important in those verses 6 through 8 of Romans chapter
4. Number one, the imputation of
righteousness, and secondly, the non-imputation of sin. Beloved, it is not enough for
the Lord to just impute righteousness to us. That's great. But you
see, in that righteousness, provision has been made for all sins that
the believer will commit for all time. I said for all time. You mean provision is made for
the sins which I commit as a Christian? In that righteousness which is
imputed is included the non-imputation of sins to the account of that
individual to whom righteousness has been imputed. Recently I heard a statement.
I didn't like it because it was heretical. We'll be dealing with
it more and more as we progress. in the study of this great subject
of justification by faith. I heard a person say not long
ago, hold on to your faith because there is the possibility of salvation. In the first place, what kind
of faith was he talking about? Human faith? must have been. You see, the
faith by which we're justified is not human faith. It is divine
faith. It is the gift of God. And, beloved,
it holds us. It holds us. Hold on to your
faith because there is the possibility of salvation. You see, we're
talking about justification this morning. It's a legal term. But
when God justifies a person, that person can never become
unjustified. Are you following me? This justification is permanent. Let me now mention, because I'm
afraid I won't have time to get to these, so let me mention the
other things that I won't do in connection with legal justification. We have been discussing thus
far, and I want to spend the remainder of our time this morning
illustrating legal justification. But I want you to know that when
God justifies a person, when God declares a person just on
the basis of imputed righteousness, he can never become unjustified. And I challenge the religious
world to refute that statement. Now secondly, justification is
something external to the subject of it. That's another very important
point in connection with justification per se. It is something external
to the subject of it. It is something which takes place
in the tribunal of God. And when God says something,
he can never unsay it. I think you can understand that
language. So God has declared every person to whom righteousness
has been imputed as just before the great tribunal. So you see
its legal connotation. Now the third thing, justification
means more than the forgiveness of sin. Yes, forgiveness of sin
is included. But it means more than that.
Now, here's what I mean by that. In the eyes of the law, I'm talking
about the law of God, beloved, and you can't separate the law
of God from God Himself. God and His law are one. So in the eyes of the law, the
believer is esteemed judge. Therefore, he has no debt to
pay. What did I say? He has no debt
to pay. We'll discuss that more in detail
later. I'm only mentioning them this
morning. You see, a debt to God cannot be paid by man. The debt has been paid by God
Himself, as we said last Sunday. So he has no debt to pay. And
the believer has no penalty to fear. There is therefore now
no condemnation, Romans 8.1, to those who are in Christ Jesus. So no condemnation, no penalty
to fear. So once the penalty has been
paid, justice is satisfied, and cannot demand another payment. I like what Augustus, top lady,
said more than 200 years ago. The ransom has been paid. God
cannot demand two payments, one at his hand and one from mine. Great statement, biblically true. God cannot demand two payments,
one at his own hand and then one at mine. So the person who
is justified is justified for eternity. There are no degrees
in justification. This is important. I said no
degrees in justification. You cannot be more justified
tomorrow than you are today. You can be more sanctified tomorrow
than you are today, and I hope that you are, as I certainly
want to be more sanctified tomorrow than I am today. But even though
I am more sanctified tomorrow, I cannot be more justified, because
I have been declared just, legally, before the great tribunal. That's number four. And number
five, justification is immutable. Immutable. Number six, justification
is not the same as righteousness. Oh, now this is important. Let
it all you have to do if you want to study what I gave to
you before the service began this morning and give your own
explanation of those texts of Scripture. If you will simply
remember what you've been taught, if you will simply apply the
principles that you have already, I hope, have learned to some
extent, you'll come up with the right conclusion if you will
apply the principles which you have learned. I said justification
is not the same as righteousness. You see, the believer is constituted
righteous. by virtue of the imputed righteousness
of Christ, and he is declared righteous by virtue of the imputed
righteousness. And now the seventh. And I don't
have to elaborate on this because I gave seven points on this one
last Sunday evening. Justification and sanctification
must be distinguished. Now, that brings us for further
development of legal justification. God is himself the lawgiver. Is there any doubt in your mind
about that? Since justification is a legal
principle, then it applies to persons who are related to the
law. I'm standing before you this
morning to tell you every individual is related to the law of God. There is not an unrelated person. There never has been, there is
not now, and there never shall be an individual who is unrelated
to the law. As a sinner you are related,
but the law says you are condemned. And God cannot declare you just
apart from the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So you better
begin to think about what Jesus Christ did. You better begin
to think about the person of Jesus Christ. Whose son is he? You better begin to contemplate
about what he did. What did he do? He died on the
cross. He shed his precious blood. He
tasted death. He became a substitute. He became
the surety of every person who shall be declared just before
the great tribunal of God. I said that God is himself the
lawgiver. And since justification is a
legal principle, then it applies to persons who are related to
the law. The person who is justified before God is given standing
before the law. It does my heart good this morning
to know that I have standing before the law in this sentence.
No penalty against me. It has already been paid. The
law does not demand from me the payment of the penalty. It has
already been paid. I have no penalty to fear. Why? Because the penalty has been
paid. Therefore, I can walk through
the valley of the shadow of death without any fear of evil. Why?
Because the penalty of death has been paid. And Jesus Christ,
who is my surety, will walk through that valley experienced with
me. Beloved, does that mean something to us? Does it mean something
to us? God is the lawgiver. Now, I do
not know of a better way to express this than to use a human analogy. But I'm going to show the fallacy
of human analogies before I'm through this morning. Human analogies
are good to a point, but too many times human analogies lead
into error rather than leading into truth. Now let's use a human
analogy. If one could conceive of all
the laws upon all the statute books as being incarnate in one
judge, you would get a little glimpse of the laws of God being
incarnate in God himself. You see what I'm talking about?
Now just think about that for a moment. There are a lot of
human laws. I said there are a lot of human
laws, but just take all the laws on all the statute books and
just visualize all of these laws that have been brought into being
by men. If all of those laws were to
become incarnate in one judge, you would have a glimpse of the
laws of God in association with God himself, who is his own law. Now, God's laws, unlike man-made
laws, are holy and just and good, Romans 7 and verse 12. of the man-made laws today are
contrary to the laws of God. We see this on every hand. I
appreciated what one of the members of our church said here the other
Sunday night. Some statement was made about the woman's lib
movement and what has taken place recently. And all of us have
seen some news on television and in the paper about the one
woman who is now in the fire department. And I won't go any
further than that. That's enough, beloved. No special
place for her to sleep. She'll have to sleep in the dormitory
with all the men. And of course, the wives of these
men, they're upset and they have a right to be. And so somebody said, well, that's
the law. But let me ask you a question, just as this man said. Whoever
said that all the man-made laws are right, Now let me give you
another illustration. I could go on and on here this
morning, but I just want to use two by way of illustration. How
many of you saw the case of abortion in Denver, Colorado that was
in the news recently? The little baby that as a result of abortion
that lived for some time after the abortion and the nurses who
had a part in it were sold scared and won't even call the doctor.
And the doctor said, well, won't live very long anyway. And so
one nurse quit her job. You see, the law says that a
person is not really a person. I get, I really get amused about
this word person the day it has being thrown around. I guess
the, I guess the embryo is just a non-entity until a certain
point. You see, I don't believe that
rot. Did you hear me? I don't believe that rot. From
the very moment of conception, there is life. And there is a
vivid illustration of a man-made law being wrong. Now I want to
ask you, what do you feel about it? Well, somebody says, well,
we have to observe the laws of the land. Hogwash! Let me tell
you something. You're looking at a fellow this
morning. I'm not going to observe any man-made law that is in contradiction
to God's law. How about you? You say, well,
what's the answer? The answer is given in Acts 5.29,
when God's men said, we ought to obey God rather than men. That's what the Bible says, I
believe it. Yet I must be willing, and you
must be willing. When you obey God's law, if it
contradicts the law of man, you must be willing, as I must be
willing, to pay the consequences of disobeying a human law in
order to be obedient to the divine law. And I don't know what those
consequences might be, and you don't either. Greater men than I am have paid
the supreme sacrifice. the sacrifice of one's life,
physical life, for his obedience to God while defying a man-made
law. Now, I use that as an illustration.
You see, there's a difference between man-made laws and the
laws of the sovereign God of the universe. God's law is holy,
just, and good. Why? Because you cannot disconnect
God's laws from God himself. In nature, they are the same. They are righteous. Yes, it is
possible for God to justify an unjust person on
the basis of the satisfaction of his divine law. It is not
only possible, he does do it. And it is impossible for God
to act unjustly or without regard to the principles of law. The
law demands death as a penalty for sin. And Jesus Christ is
the one who paid that debt. He died in my stead. John Owen
has a great work. It is entitled, The Death of
Death and the Death of Jesus Christ. That's no tongue twister. The death of death in the death
of Jesus Christ. Think about it. That's a great
biblical principle. Now suppose a human judge had
such sympathy for a prisoner who had committed a heinous crime
that he said to him after the verdict of guilty had been handed
down by the jury, you are guilty. But go, I forgive you, go and
commit this crime no more. Now just suppose that someone
broke into your home and committed a heinous crime against one of
the members of your family. And I'll go to the extent of
say maybe rape one of the members of your family. That individual
was apprehended. He was brought before the court.
He was tried and found guilty. And you were sitting in the courtroom.
And when the sentence was handed down by the jury, guilty, the
judge said to the prisoner, the guilty one, the jury has found
you guilty. But I forgive you of this. I
feel sorry for you. Just go and don't commit this
sin anymore, this crime anymore. How would you feel? I know exactly
how you feel. You would rise up in indignation
and rightlessness. You would say that the judge
has no right to act like that. That's an arbitrary act on his
part. He is acting in contradiction
to the law of the land. Beloved, God does not act in contradiction
to his law. God acts in harmony with His
law. The penalty of sin is death.
And Jesus Christ died for all whom He shall declare just. Why? Because Jesus Christ is
our surety. He's our substitute. divine law differs from human
law. Thus, we must beware of the plausible
and distinguish between things that differ. Human analogies,
as I've already stated, do not always illustrate biblical principles,
but too often lead persons astray. Man has come up with several
ideas, for instance, about the atonement, the death of Christ.
all of which come short of the satisfaction of divine justice. I can't deal with these, but
I want to mention four that are very popular today in the realm
of professing Christendom. For instance, there is the example
theory of the atonement. Christ died to give us an example
Then there is, secondly, the moral influence theory of the
atonement. It is very similar to the first
that I mentioned, with a few minor points of difference. There
is, thirdly, the governmental theory of the atonement. And
finally, there is the identification theory. All of these come short
of any recognition of the necessity of the payment of penalty, except
the governmental. Now follow me, and I will discuss
this more with you when we get into the redemptive work of Christ. Justification meritoriously provided
in that aspect of justification. But I said they all come short. of expressing the necessity of
the payment of penalty, except the governmental. And that view
does not find its necessity in the moral nature of God, in the
holy character of God, but rather finds its reason in the necessity
of maintaining law and order in the world. Do you see what
I'm talking about? But that which satisfies God
involves the holy character of God. God is holy and He cannot
look. in mercy upon an ungodly person. He cannot declare an ungodly
man just before the law of God without the satisfaction of that
law. I'm going to illustrate it in a moment
with a biblical principle. You see, sin is antagonistic
to the very nature of God. I want you to see it this morning.
You who are outside of Christ, listen to me now. This is for
you as well as for Christians. Every sin you commit is against
God. Every sin is against God. And you're going to have to answer
to God for your sin. Or someone will have to answer
for you. Now, you say, well, I don't want
anything to do with Jesus Christ. Then you don't want to have anything
to do with a penalty that has been paid for sin. You're going to have to stand
before God whether you believe it or not. And every deed you've
committed, every thought you have ever had will be brought
to light that day. What a day. What an awful day. And you will be judged to determine
the degree of punishment that you will receive throughout the
ceaseless ages of eternity. To all of us who are in Christ, we don't have to stand before
that great five-throne judgment. Christ has already been judged
for us. The penalty has been paid. Do you know the greatest example
of this in the Scriptures? It is typically set forth in
the study of the tabernacle. Are you familiar with the Ark
of the Covenant? Are you familiar with the mercy seat, which was
the covering for the ark? Do you know what was placed inside
the ark? One of the items was? One of
three. One of them was the law of God,
the holy law of God. Now, what do you think Paul meant
when he said, Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth as a
propitiation, that means mercy seat. Mercy seat, a covering for sin, just as the
mercy seat of pure gold and upon that mercy seat the blood of
the slain animal was applied, so it was the slain animal's
blood that provided mercy and protected the Israelites from
the holy law of God. Who is it that comes between
you and me as Christians and the holy law of God? It's Jesus
Christ. If you can't see that, if that's
not gospel to you, then you'll never know gospel. Jesus Christ
stands between you as a believer and the Holy Law of God and protects
you from the Holy Law of God. I want to use in closing an analogy
which I've used in the past, but I'm going to have to modify
it some. It is an illustration that has been used many times
by men of God. You'll find it in many works
of men on the subject of justification. It's a great illustration up
to a point, but I want to see if you detect the flaw of it
as I relate it to you. In closing now, my message on
forensic legal justification. I think most of us are familiar
with the story of the French captain who was tried after World War I, sentenced
to serve many years on Devil's Island because they thought that
he had sold military secrets to an enemy whom they believed
to be Nazi Germany. The man's name was Alfred Dreyfus,
D-R-E-Y-F-U-S. Alfred Dreyfus. He was tried by military court. At the conclusion of the trial,
when they pronounced him guilty, he had to stand erect. Some of
the men in the military went up to him, snatched his bar from off his tunic, all of
the Citations that he had received
from his work all were stripped from him and he was marched off
to prison. The story goes that there was
a novelist by the name of Emily Zola. Some of you may remember
this. She believed that he was innocent
of the crime for which he had been charged. And she kept making
investigations and it caused a lot of static in France. You know, the news media does
do some good sometimes, and novelists sometimes do bring to light some
things that ought to be brought to light just as we have experienced
that very thing in the United States of America in our own
lifetime. And so finally, it got to the
point that they gave him a new trial. So he was brought back,
given another military trial, And he was found innocent of
the crime in his second trial, but see if this recalls anything
to your mind, for the sake of the honor of the French army. They said, you're guilty. You're
going to have to go back to prison. Notice what I said, for the sake
of the honor of the French Army. Now the evidence proved him to
be innocent, but for the sake of the honor of the French Army,
you're still going to have to go back. Your guilt is for the
Army's concern. Our honor is at stake. The next day after the verdict
was handed down, the President of France, granted Alfred Dreyfus
a pardon. When the pardon was handed to
Alfred Dreyfus, he handed it back. He said, I refuse to accept
it. I am not guilty. And I want it to be known in
France that I'm not guilty. I want it to be known in the
world that I am not guilty. And I want to be restored to
my rank in the French army. I want to have my bar and my
marks, my citations restored in honor. I will not accept the pardon.
I'm innocent." So this created a lot of confusion and he was
tried the third time. brought back to trial again the
third time. And then it was declared that
Alfred Dreyfus was innocent of the charges brought against him. Now, that is used as an illustration. It is true, beloved, that you
and I, as Christians, stand before the Lord just as if we had never
sinned. because Christ Jesus died for
us and paid the penalty against us. But what's wrong? There is a fault in that illustration.
Some have said, and I've read it, no greater illustration of
declarative justification than the incident of Alfred Dreyfus
being declared innocent by a court of law in France. Beloved, you and I were not innocent. You and I were guilty. You and
I were ungodly. But by virtue of the death of
Jesus Christ, His substitutionary work on the cross, His shed blood
became our mercy seat, and He stands between us. and the holy
law of God. God's law has been satisfied,
justice has been satisfied. So I stand, you see, not in my
righteousness, I stand in the righteousness of Christ. I'm
accepted in Him and I am declared just before the great tribunal. That's as far as I want to go
this morning. Are you in Christ? Have you been declared just?
Do you stand before the Lord today, accepted in Christ? Or are you standing in your own
strength? If you are, you're standing in
your own rags. And your rags are filthy. And
filthy rags can never justify you before God. I'm not admonishing
you to hold on to your faith because there's a possibility
of salvation. I'm here to tell you that faith
is the gift of God and faith which is the gift of God leads
you outside of yourself to embrace Jesus Christ who is the object
of saving faith.