as we have taken our text in
dealing with the first aspect of justification from Romans
8, verses 30 and 33, especially the 33rd verse. It is God that
justifies. Now today we look at the second
aspect of justification. Justification is freely given. We're looking at the 24th verse
of Romans chapter 3. Before we read the text you will
notice as we read that the first part of verse 24 states that
salvation is free, being justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Now notice as you view
the last part of the text we have demonstrated by Paul the
cost of that salvation. Salvation is free in the first
part of the text and the cost of that salvation is demonstrated
in the last part of the text. You can now see why that we're
going to deal today and the Lord willing next Sunday morning with
justification being freely given, showing that salvation is free,
and then we will follow with a third point, or the third aspect
of justification, showing the cost of that salvation, and the
cost being the death of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son
of God. Let us read verses 24 through
26 for our scripture reading. We will only be dealing with
three words this morning, actually in the first phrase of verse
24, or just the first part of verse 24. Being justified freely
by his grace. That's as far as we will get
in our study this morning and next Lord's Day morning. 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 are 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. The freeness of our
salvation. If I have a title for the second
major division of our lengthy series on the subject of justification,
it is the elect are justified freely by God. being justified
freely by his grace. There are so many interesting
things involved in our subject this morning that we will not
be able to do justice to any one of them. We will, however,
try to touch upon some of the high points, not only of justification,
but also the word freely and the word grace. We will be spending
more time, I think, on the second word, the word freely. This is an interesting word.
It is a word that if you were to take the time and have the
material at your disposal, I'm talking about Greek lexicon,
you could spend hours studying the word translated freely in
Romans 8 and verse 24. There are some things, however,
that I want to say before we get into the free salvation that
we enjoy in Christ Jesus. Let us look, first of all, at
the word justification. at the word interpreted freely,
and finally, briefly, at the word grace, being justified freely
by his grace. That's enough. That's enough
to hold us for hours. We have already said a lot on the subject of justification,
but I assure you we have not covered every aspect of it. We'll
try to bring a little additional information each time that we
come face to face with the word justification or its equivalent. We could say this morning that
justification by faith is free. Why? because both justification
and faith are free. Is there any doubt about that?
Being justified freely, that means that justification is free.
Being justified by faith, faith too is free since faith is the
gift of God. Ephesians 2.8 and Philippians
1.29. Justification and sanctification
are not the same. I have given you seven distinctions,
seven different distinctions, the other Sunday night, between
justification and sanctification, but I want to carry it a little
bit further this morning to amplify a truth that needs to be discussed
every time we come together, to some extent, of course. Justification
is something done for us. Sanctification is not only something
done in us, but it is something done through us. Now when I use
the word in and emphasize that preposition, when I emphasize
the word through, Why was I emphasizing those two
words so much? I said justification is something
done for us. We've already discussed the fact
that it is the declarative act of God, declaring us just before
God, and the ground of that justification is the finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But sanctification is not only
something done in us, but something done through us. In emphasizing
the words in and through, I am stressing the difference between
righteousness being imputed and righteousness being
imparted. Righteousness is imputed in justification
and righteousness is imparted in sanctification. But there
is a difference between righteousness being imparted to us in the sense
of our position before the Lord and being sanctified progressively
as we grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
sanctification is not only something done in us as far as our position
before the Lord is concerned, Hebrews 10, 10 and 14, being
sanctified once for all by the death of Jesus Christ or by the
offering of Jesus Christ, but it is something done through
us and this stresses practical holiness, our progressive sanctification. I like to stress something at
this point. Last Sunday we had a person visiting our services,
and I made reference to the subject of sanctification. And this person's
head was just going like that almost everything I said. And
when I got on positional sanctification, he didn't know, I guess, the
difference between positional and progressive. His head was
going like this. It was quite obvious to me and
I was quite amused. Beloved, it pays for us sometimes
to listen to what's being said. We need to say yes to the right
thing and we need to say no to the wrong thing. And sometimes
a person might think that he knows when he doesn't know. So
we need to think through. Now the tragedy was, I quoted
a verse of Scripture and that person had in mind only, only,
progressive sanctification. But I was showing that we are
positionally sanctified before we are progressively sanctified. And evidently he had not made
that distinction. So I want to stress it again,
since we're talking about justification. Justification and sanctification,
like regeneration and conversion, are two different things. Did you observe what I said?
I said justification and sanctification, like regeneration and conversion,
are two different things. As we do not work out our regeneration,
neither do we work out our justification. But now the same cannot be said
for sanctification. There is a sense in which we
do work out our sanctification, not our positional sanctification,
let me stress that, but progressive sanctification as we grow in
grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. What do you think
the Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Philippian
church? And he said, it is God who worketh in you to will and
to do of his good pleasure. But he also said, in a statement
preceding that verse, that the Philippian saints were to work
out their salvation with fear and trembling. They were not
to work out their position before the Lord. That's free. That's
of God. but they were to work out their
salvation, the salvation which had been wrought in them by the
Spirit of God, they were to work it out as what? As Christians,
as believers, not as unbelievers trying to work out their position
before the Lord. But having their position secure
before the Lord, by virtue of the gift of God, they were to
work out their salvation in progressive sanctification. Now think of
that for just a moment. And go back to the very first
part of Philippians 2 if you're familiar with the first part.
We're to have the mind of Christ. And we can see from the study
of the first verses of Philippians 2 in what sense Paul means that
we are to work out our salvation. So as the principle of life is
infused in regeneration, so the righteousness of God is infused,
as it were, in us in imparted righteousness, but there is a
sense in which we are to work out our salvation. How? With
fear and trembling. With fear and trembling. So as
the principle of life infused in regeneration enables the recipient
to both repent and believe. This is the best analogy I know
to use to illustrate this great principle. So, beloved, a free
justification through the redemption of Jesus Christ wrought in the
heart by the Holy Spirit enables the believer to work out his
salvation in practical sanctification. Now, I can't make it any clearer
than that. As conversion is the fruit of
regeneration, So sanctification is the fruit of justification. I'm talking now about what? Progressive sanctification. As
God does not repent and believe for the regenerated person, neither
does he work out our salvation progressively. But He gives to
us the power by which we work out our salvation in progressive
sanctification. Now isn't that clear? That ought
to be as clear as a crystal to the Christian. It's in the power
of the indwelling Spirit that one works out what the Lord has
wrought in by grace. By grace. As I continue to progress
in the discussion of this subject this morning, I think it will
become clearer to you. Sanctification follows justification
by faith as a consequential necessity. However, distinction must be
made between positional and progressive sanctification. I want you to
turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. and read with me verses 9
through 11. We're going to use three statements
that Paul gives us in the 11th verse to illustrate a great principle. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 beginning
with verse 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkard, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of
God. Now verse 11, and such were some
of you Such were some of you. Now, three things, will you mark
them? But, but, number one, ye are
washed. Number two, but ye are sanctified. And number three, but ye are
justified. Notice the order, please. Washing,
Sanctification and justification. We will discuss the tense of
the verbs because the tense of each verb is the same in just
a moment. Now notice the last part of the
verse. Our washing, our sanctification,
and our justification all taking place in the name of the Lord
Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. you will observe from this
text that all three persons of the Godhead are involved not
only in our washing, but in our sanctification and in our justification. So Paul used three terms to express
what Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit had done for the Corinthian
believers. The Holy Spirit had applied to
the Corinthian believers the redemption that Jesus Christ
had purchased for them, thus reconciling them to the righteous
and holy God. Now let's look at each one of
these statements. Number one, ye are washed. The statement ye are washed is
in the first ariest middle blocks in the Greek, and it could be
interpreted like this. You got yourselves washed. You got yourselves washed. Now, beloved, that will help
you to better understand that difficult verse of Scripture
to you, which we do not have time to discuss at length this
morning. Acts 22, 16. One of the favorite
texts used by persons who believe in baptismal regeneration. It
is the same tense. You got yourselves washed. It is the kind of washing we
see in Titus 3 in verse 5. The washing of regeneration and
the renewing of the Holy Ghost. It is the same kind of washing
that is spoken of by John in Revelation 1.5. The Lord having washed us, having
cleansed us. So the Corinthians, regardless
of what they had been, some of them had been adulterers, fornicators,
thieves, and on and on. Notice the catalog that he gave.
But now, such were some of you, but now ye are washed. You have gotten yourselves washed. That doesn't mean that they washed
themselves. That means they were washed how? Paul explains how. By the application of the redemptive
work of Jesus Christ in the heart of the Spirit, thus reconciling
those persons to the righteous and holy God. So the prefix before
the word in the original points to the complete washing away. This is important. Apah, washing
away. And the Arius refers to what? A decisive action on the part
of God. Beloved, as I give you comfort,
it ought to. as in a decisive action on the part of God. And
your sins have been completely washed away. Now look at the
second. But ye are justified. Ye are
justified is in the same tense. They had been positionally set
apart to be God's. That's what it means. The life
that is begun in regeneration or positional sanctification
will manifest itself in what? In practical holiness. I believe that with all my heart.
I said I believe that with all my heart. Thus, sanctification
follows justification. When one has been declared just
before God by the righteous, holy, sovereign God. He has the
principle of life and he hears the truth. He recognizes the
principle of truth and he follows Jesus Christ. You see, I believe
in persuasive preaching. I don't think it is enough for
the preacher to just get up and just give the truth. with the
attitude that, well, you just take it or leave it. No. Paul
preached the gospel with a persuasion. You see, I do not know when the
Lord will regenerate, when the Lord will touch a person's heart
in grace, when the Lord will give him the disposition of heart.
And I am to preach with persuasion. And every man of God is to preach
in that manner. But I do know this. that when a person is justified,
and by faith he recognizes that he is justified, he embraces
the truth, and there automatically follows in his life the embracing
of truth, and he doesn't count the cost. I know it from experience,
and beloved, you do too. You do too. Believers are not
only purified, but they're set apart as a peculiar people to
God. And that's what sanctification
means. Having been washed, you got yourselves washed. You not
only got yourselves washed, but you have been sanctified, you've
been set apart unto God as a peculiar people. Now let's look at the
last. You're justified. Don't be confused
with the order here. The Apostle Paul is using three
expressions to talk about what has really taken place in the
application of redemption to the heart by the Spirit as is
proved by the last part of verse 11. Now he says you are justified. This as well as the other two
statements is in the same tense. It looks back to the declaration
of their acceptance as being just before God. Thus, all three
persons of the Godhead are mentioned in connection with washing, sanctification,
and justification. Progressive sanctification follows
justification by faith. Justification, we could say,
is by faith alone. But progressive sanctification
is not by faith alone, as the Higher Life Movement would have
us to believe. My wife and I sat the other night
and listened to a man on KHCB with the Higher Life Movement.
It's called the Keswick Program. And I cannot accept the principle
that this particular person is portraying not only to the English
public, he is an Englishman, but also to the American public.
Sanctification, in its progressive sense, includes a working out,
as I've already stated, what God has wrought in the heart
of the believer. In justification by faith, we
learn what Christ's redemptive work has accomplished for us. Progressive sanctification, according
to the first part of Philippians 2, is to have the mind of Jesus
Christ. And its work is a continual mortification
of the members which are upon the earth. So we are not sanctified in order
to be justified. from the standpoint of positional,
I mean progressive sanctification. But we are positionally sanctified
that we might be progressively sanctified. And actually you
can say that positional sanctification and regeneration are synonymous
terms. Now we come to the second word. Justified freely by his grace. Justified freely means to be
justified without a cause. The word freely means without
a cause. Now I want to stress the words
without a cause, and then I'll give you some scriptures that
will be a blessing to you. And if you have Fayer's Greek
Lexicon, you can look this up and check me out. You can even
find it out by looking through Strong's Concordance. So I'm
trying to be of help to you in case you might doubt what I'm
saying. You can check me out to see if it's true. But let's
show you the beauty of this. First of all, I said that justified
freely means to be justified without a cause. I'm talking
about without a cause in you. I'm talking about without a cause
in me. Now let me prove that from five different points of
view. Will you please take these down?
We're not justified by our repentance. By our repentance. I got the
idea from the study of the Word freely. And then having read
one man who has some very commendable things to say about justification,
it caused me to get into another vein of thinking on this particular
subject. This person was talking about
So many people today, not avoiding the heresy, that salvation is
the reward for faith. He said it's heresy to think
that salvation is God's reward to the individual for his faith. I agree with that. That's heresy. He told about some conversations
that he had had with different persons. He said after he had
finished a sermon on one occasion, on this very subject of being
freely justified, he was attacked by a fellow and this fellow started
asking some questions. He said, now we're justified
by faith and faith is the ground, it's the basis, it's the cause
of us being declared just before God. And so he started asking
the person some questions. He said, well, what do you believe
about faith? Is faith something that every
man has? Or is faith that we're talking
about, is it a gift of God? And the person didn't really
know. He said, well, for your benefit, turn to Ephesians 2, 8, read
it. For by grace, he said, read it. So he started out, for by
grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it. is the gift of God. He said,
what? Even faith is the gift of God. And so he said then the
person had to resort to something else. Now let's look at five
things, will you please? Repentance is not the cause of
our justification. As important as repentance is
in the life of a person, it is not the cause of justification.
How can I prove it? Listen to these verses, Acts
11, 18, it is God who grants repentance. So repentance is
not something that a person can do without being enabled to do
it by the power of God. Again we read in 2 Timothy 2.25,
Paul in giving some very important information to Timothy, a young
minister, talks about less peradventure, God grant them repentance unto
the acknowledging of the truth. God granting repentance. Less
peradventure that God grant repentance. Then we find in Jeremiah, you
want to go to the Old Testament to get a great passage of Scripture
on the subject? Verses 18 through 21. And we find beginning with
the 18th verse through the 21st verse, turn thou me and I shall
be turned. It is God who turns us, thus
enabling us to do some turning. So justification is not caused by repentance. Number two, justification is
not caused by faith. Why? Because faith itself is
the gift of God, Ephesians 2.8. I've already covered that. Someone
might say, well, what about the person who seeks God? We find in Romans 3, verse 11,
that seeking cannot be the cause of justification, for the apostle
says, there is none that seeketh after God. Well, what about works? Well,
what about them? There are many who believe that
works are the cause of one being justified before God. That's
not what Romans chapter 4 and verse 2 says. What if Abraham
were justified by works he had were of the glory, but not before
God? Abraham could not be justified
before God by his works. The Christian is justified by
his works before men, James 2, but he is not justified by his
works before God. Well, let's look at another.
There are a lot of people today who believe that a person can
be justified by some religious rite or ceremony. In other words,
being baptized would justify a person before God. And that's
why many people believe in baptism or regeneration. Well, let's
use this. Let's use the rite of circumcision.
And some, you see, substitute baptism today for circumcision. We find in the fourth chapter
of the book of Romans that Abraham was justified by faith before
God before he was circumcised. So no religious rite or ceremony
is the cause of one being justified before God. Now listen to these
things for a moment. I said justified freely means
to be justified without a cause. Repentance is not the cause.
Faith is not the cause. Works are not the cause. Religious
rights are not the cause. And finally, the deeds of the
law are not the cause. Where do we find this in Romans
3 in verse 21? Therefore by the deeds of the
law, Paul said, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. If a man lived all the days of
his life without sin, and this is a hypothetical statement and
I hope you realize that. I said if a man were to live
all the days of his life without sin, and then when he stands
before the judgment of God, God would be obligated to justify
him. But beloved, we've all sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Thus one is justified freely
by God's grace. by God's grace. You see, if,
hypothetically speaking, a person were to live all of his life
without sin, God would be obligated to justify him before the throne
of God, but that would not be free justification. That would be earned justification. But we've all sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Now I want us to look at the
word freely. Being justified freely. Freely. I said the word freely
means without a cause. Now this is interesting. I hope
you will take some notes. And when you have time it will
mean more to you to study it out for yourself if you have
the means by which to do it. The Greek word that is translated
freely in Romans 3 and verse 24 comes from the Greek word
Durea or Durean. Now the word is translated freely
in the following passages that I will give you. Romans 3.24,
2 Corinthians 11.7, Revelation 21.6 and Revelation 22.17. I said the word is translated
freely in those places. Secondly, the word is translated
gift, gift in John 4.10, Acts 8.20,
Acts 11.17, Romans 5.15, Well, there are too many to give
you. I can't give you all. The word is used 18 times in the
New Testament, so I can't give them all to you. I'll just give
you a few. Now, finally, the word is also translated without
a cause. The Greek word doryon, doryon,
or doryon, really should be pronounced, epsilon, rather. Turn with me,
if you will, please, to John chapter 15. John chapter 15 and
verse 25. There is no greater illustration
of the meaning of the word freely than that given in John 15 verse
25. You wouldn't see it by reading
the King James Version. Let's begin with verse 22. The
Lord Jesus Christ was talking about the Jews. He said, if I
had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin. But now they have no cloak for
their sin. He that hateth me, hateth my
Father also. Now, was there any justification
for their hatred? I'm asking you a question. Was
there any justification for the hatred on the part of the Jews
for the Lord Jesus Christ? Was there any justification for
the hatred of God the Father? Absolutely none. There is no
justification for hatred on the part of any person today, even
though every person outside of Jesus Christ literally hates
the Lord. Now he wouldn't say that he does,
but all you've got to do is to show him what the will of God
is, and he will demonstrate his hatred by saying, oh no, no. And by rejecting the will of
God, he demonstrates his hatred. Because you cannot separate the
will of God from the character of God any more than you can
separate the character of God from God's essence. Now notice
what he said, verse 24. If I had not done among them
the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. But now have they both seen and
hated both me and my Father. Verse 25, But this cometh to
pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in
their law, the very law to which they give men less sin. Now the
last phrase. They hated me. Did you know the
last three words of this verse, without a cause? The translator,
it took him three words to translate the one Greek word, dureion. Three words without a cause. It is the same word that is translated
freely. as the Jews hated Jesus Christ
without a cause. I want you to see the beauty
of this. You and I have been justified before God without
a cause on our part. If that isn't enough to humble
you before God, then there isn't anything that will. I want to give one other reference. where it takes two words to translate
the one Greek word, doreion. Will you turn with me to Galatians
2 and verse 21. Galatians chapter 2. I could
quote it, but I want you to turn and read it because while you're
reading it, you may want to make a note in the margin of your
Bible. You can't trust your memory on all the things that we give
from time to time. I'd like for us to read the last
two verses. I'm sure that those of you who
are familiar with the content of Galatians chapter 2 will know
why the Apostle Paul is drawing the conclusion which he does
in the last two verses. He said, I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. and the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. Paul had been showing in the
previous verses the fallacy of believing that a person can be
justified by the deeds of the law. Now notice what he says
in verse 21. I do not frustrate the grace
of God. For if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead. Now the last two words, in vain. The two words in vain are used
by the translators to translate the one Greek word, dureion,
in vain. Now there could even be a better
translation in the English. I personally believe it would
be better to say, without cause. Now look at it. I do not frustrate
the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead without cause. In other words, if you and I
can be justified by works, why did Jesus Christ die? Why did
he shed his precious blood? If we could be justified by the
deeds of the Lord, then Jesus Christ died without cause. That's what he's saying. So when the Apostle Paul makes
a statement in Romans 3 verse 24, being justified freely, freely,
that means without cause, without cause, no cause. on your part, no cause on my
part. No, not even repentance, not
even faith, not words, moral words, not by
the deeds of the law, not by any religious ceremony, but freely
declared righteous. by the sovereign God who loved
us and gave himself for us. Now we come to something else,
and it too is very important, being justified freely by his
grace. Justification is by the grace
of the sovereign Grace is not merely favor. It is true that
the word grace means favor, but it is not merely favor. It reveals the divine character
of God. I want to show you something
here, and I'm afraid it's misunderstood by too many persons today in
professing Christianity. It isn't enough for you and me
to talk about, oh, I've been saved by the unmerited favor
of God. In other words, Christ died for
me. That's great. That's wonderful.
But, beloved, we cannot separate the person of Jesus Christ from
the work which he accomplished. Therefore, I say, grace is not
merely favored, and I'm emphasizing the word merely. It reveals the
divine character of the one who suffered that we might not have
to suffer. It isn't enough for a person
to talk about the blood of Jesus Christ. He must focus his eyes
upon Jesus Christ who performed the work. You cannot separate his work.
from his blessed person. And that's why the Apostle Paul
in 1 Corinthians 2 verses 1 through 5 makes it plain that when he
preached, he preached the gospel in fear and with trembling because
he preached not only the work accomplished by Christ, and he
referred to that work as crucifixion. but he also proclaimed the blessed
person who performed that work. We praise God not only for what
he does, you see, but for what he is. That's why I do not believe
that a person can accept Jesus Christ as Savior and not embrace
his Lordship. And there are many today who
say, oh, you can receive Him as Savior and it may be years
before you'll ever really embrace Him as your Lord. Beloved, that's
putting salvation on this level. Kind of like a
cafeteria, you know. I get in the line and I go down
and I see something I want and I take it and something I don't
want and I just leave. So here I walk down the line
of salvation, so to speak. Now, I want to accept Jesus Christ's
death. I want to believe that He died
for me. He shed His precious blood for me. But I don't want
His Lordship. Now, too many things I want to
do. I want Him as Savior now. I want
Him to save me from the penalty of sin. I don't want to go to
hell. But I don't want His Lordship. I don't want Him to be the Lord
of my life. Beloved, that will not stand
the test of Scripture. When the Philippian jailer asked
the Apostle Paul what he must do to be saved, did Paul say,
Believe that Christ died for you, receiving the Savior. You
can trust his Lordship later. Just get that ticket now. Reach
out there and get that ticket. They'll give you a guarantee
of heaven. No, that's not what Paul said.
Paul said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved. So we do not pass down the assembly
line, as it were, and take part and leave the other. Now it is
true that as we grow in grace, we come to realize the meaning
of lordship more and more. But every person who embraces
Jesus Christ in saving faith accepts his lordship. accepts
His Lordship. Now let us not forget that this
grace that we're talking about, being justified freely by His
grace, this grace reigns through righteousness. Will you look
at Romans 5.21? I said this grace reigns through
righteousness, and that is a very important point. You see, righteousness
fulfills the law of God. Righteousness satisfies the justice
of God. Righteousness displays the holiness
of God. Thus, the grace of God reigns
only through righteousness, which has fulfilled the law, satisfied
justice, and displays the holiness of God. Let's go further than that. Grace,
unlike justice, is not a necessary attribute
of God. Are you following me? I said
grace, unlike justice, is not a necessary attribute of God. It is optional. It is optional. It includes, therefore, an eternal
choice. I said that to say this. Grace
finds in the best of men nothing to attract, and he finds in the
basest of men nothing to repel. If you and I had been choosing
some people, do you think we would have chosen some of those
in Corinth? Do you think we would have chosen some of those idolaters,
those whoremongers, those adulterers, those fornicators, those thieves? I said in the best of men there
is nothing to attract God. In the basest of men there is
nothing to repel. So you see, grace, unlike justice,
is not a necessary attribute of God. Let me illustrate it
further. If God had treated all men like
he treated the fallen angels, there wouldn't be any hope for
any of us. But he did not treat mankind
like he treated the fallen angels. Now had he treated mankind as
he treated the fallen angels, he would have been just in doing
so, but while being just in doing so, many of his other attributes
would never have been manifested, and it would have been contrary
to his other attributes, such as mercy and love. Are you following
me? Thus, in dealing with mankind
as he has, He has chosen some, chosen some, and in that we have
a manifestation of grace. We have a manifestation of mercy.
We have a manifestation of love wherein he has chosen some and
passed by others. Those whom he has passed by he
leaves to be dealt with in justice. You can't deny that. Now let's go even a step further.
The longer it gets more precious the further we go. Did you know
that grace and love for the elect. Notice now, that prepositional
phrase is very important. For the elect. I don't want you
to misquote me. I know how easy it is to misquote
someone. I said grace and love are. for the elect, essentially the
same. Essentially the same. What do
you mean? Grace is love manifesting itself and operating under certain
circumstances. Grace, in other words, is love
humbling itself. Grace is love humbling itself. God humbled himself in order
to reach down and extend mercy to you and me. Is there any doubt
about that? Thus God's love to sinners is
always grace. Now notice what I'm saying. I
want you to get the picture. This is gospel and anything short
of this is not gospel. I said grace is love manifesting
itself and operating under certain circumstances. Grace is love
humbling itself. Thus God's love to sinners such
as you and such as this preacher is always grace. And that means what? Unmerited
favor. Now let's go a little further.
in illustrating this great principle. Love not only exists between
equals as in the persons of the Godhead, but it flows down to sinners
through grace. Now let me illustrate it. A king's love to his equals Notice
what I'm saying now. A king's love to his equals is
love. But love manifested to his subjects
is grace. Let me run that by again. A king's
love to his equals is love. But his love manifested to his
subjects his grace. Do you see the picture? I said that love exists between
the persons of the Godhead. The father loves the son, the
son loves the father. They love the spirit, the spirit
loves each one. But when that love humbles itself to you and me.
It's grace. It's grace. It is not grace when it exists between equals. It is not grace as it exists
between the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. But it is grace
when it humbles itself and flows to you and me. So grace has from its nature
only one direction. One direction. It always flows
down. Always. Now love that has come
to you and me, the love that has been shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Spirit can go up in adoration to God, but it also
can flow down to sinners beneath us. You see, we've been raised
up and made to sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,
but grace can only flow in one direction. It is always down. Being justified freely by His
grace, by His grace, The greatness of grace cannot be explained. I can't explain it. The only thing I can do is illustrate
it. And that's what I have sought
to do to some extent this morning. But I'm going to take one entire
message on that one point next Lord's Day morning. I said grace
cannot be explained. It can better be illustrated.
Did you know that is exactly what our Lord did? He didn't
try to explain grace. He illustrated grace. That's as far as I want to go
this morning. Now, some concluding statements. You and I can never learn the
true meaning of grace by looking at persons to whom it has come. I can't learn grace by looking
at you to whom it has come. I must look at the one from whom
and by whom it has come. Does that make sense? You can
look at me even though I am a recipient of God's grace. You'll never
learn the meaning of grace by looking at me to whom grace has
come. There are too many imperfections
in my life. There are too many inconsistencies in my life. Oh,
you'll see manifestations of grace, certainly, but you'll
never see grace for what grace is by looking at individuals
to whom it has come. You must look at the one from
whom and by whom grace has come. you must look to the Lord of
all grace. I close with this, and this is
enough to make you shout. What does grace teach us here
on earth? Grace teaches us about Jesus
Christ while we're here on earth. That's the function of grace.
Titus 2, 11 through 13 proves what I've said. I said grace
teaches us about Jesus Christ while we are upon the earth. Oh, but when we get to glory,
throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity, now I'm going to
reverse it, Christ will spend the ceaseless ages of eternity
telling us and teaching us about grace. Do you get it? Can you prove that? Oh, yes, surely can. Ephesians
2, 7, we've been raised up and made to sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come he'll make known
unto us the exceeding riches of His grace. What does grace
teach one now on earth? He teaches one now on earth about
Jesus Christ, His blessed person and His work. But when we get
to heaven, we'll be in the presence of Jesus Christ. And then Jesus Christ will spend
eternity teaching us about grace.