Would you turn back to Romans
chapter 8. I pray that the Lord will use
this to teach us what it is to rest in what He has done. Romans chapter 8, beginning in verse 28. And we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are thee called according
to his purpose. whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called and whom he called,
them he also justified. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that by your grace, We would be in this glorious group that
you've saved, glorious because of what you've done, that we
might be in that number who love you and who are the called according
to your purpose, the ones you foreknew, the ones you did predestinate. the ones you called, the ones
you justified, the ones you glorified. Now, Lord, bless us, speak to
us in power from your word for Christ's sake. Accept our thanksgiving
and forgive us of our sins for Christ's sake. In his blessed
name we pray, amen. Verse 30. Whom he called, them he also
justified. Whom he called, them he also
justified. Now, the first thing that I notice
is that in the divine order here, calling is mentioned before justification. whom he called, then he also
justified. And some have used to teach that
you're not justified until you respond to the call. Now, that is a denial of what
justification actually means. You see, if you are justified,
That means you have no guilt. That means you have no sin. That means you stand before God
as righteous, perfect, never having been guilty. You can't go from a state of
being guilty to being not guilty in God's sight. God said, I will
by no means clear the guilty. Under no circumstance whatsoever
will I ever clear someone who is guilty. You've heard me say probably
quite often about Justification being just as if I never sinned,
how that is a poor way of stating justification. And I don't know
if I thought about this. What would you say about a judge
who said to a criminal, I'm going to treat you just as if you never
committed that crime? What would we say about that
judge? He's an unjust judge. He's not
a righteous judge. He's not doing what is right. You see, justification, and this
is one of the things you just know by faith, justification
is eternal. When God foreknew these people
spoken of in our text, did He know them as justified? Of course
He did. When God predestinated these
people, Were they justified? Yes. When God called these people,
were they justified? Yes. Now somebody says, well,
why does it put calling before justification? Well, I know this,
no man has the right to even suspect that he's justified until
he believes the gospel. That's why it's put there first. Don't think, well, maybe I'm
justified even though I don't believe. Don't even think anything
like that. You have no right, I have no
right to believe that I'm just before God if I do not hear and
believe and bow to and embrace the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Whom he did call, then he also justified. I love what the Lord says about
that publican who went down to his house Listen to the way the
Lord said this. Verily I say unto you, this man
went down to his house, what? Justified. Not merely forgiven. Not merely shown mercy. And I
hate using the word merely because what a glorious thing it is to
be forgiven. What a glorious thing it is to be shown mercy.
But this man went down to his house justified. Sinless. without guilt before
God. Now, turn with me to Proverbs
17, and this is so important for us to understand this. I heard a preacher recently say,
God exploded his wrath on the innocent Christ. Now, what does
that say? God exploded, excuse me, his
wrath on the innocent Christ. Now in Proverbs chapter 17, verse
15, he that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just,
even they both are abomination to the Lord. God did not explode his wrath
on the innocent Christ. My sin became his sin so that
he became guilty of that sin. And God in justice exploded his
wrath on the guilty And it's scary saying something like that,
but that's why he said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Now, this is what justification
is. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? There's
nothing to lay to their charge. Isn't that amazing? There's nothing
to lay to their charge. God justified them. Now, I wanna give you Five things
the Bible teaches with regard to justification. Whom he called,
them he also justified. And here's the first thing, and
these are all critical if I don't believe these things. I don't
really believe what the Bible says about justification. Martin
Luther made this statement. He said, a church is standing
or falling is based on what they really believe with regard to
the justification Christ accomplished. And I would agree with that.
When we say wrong on the fall, you're wrong on it all. That's
true. Wrong on justification, wrong on it all. That's true
as well. This is how critical this is. Whom he called, then he also
justified. Now, first, justification is
by grace. Well, that's the only way it
can be, because me and you are sinners. So justification must
be all together by grace. being justified, Romans 3.24,
being justified freely by his grace. Titus 3.3, being justified
by his grace. Now, turn back to Genesis chapter
six. Verse five. You know, it's amazing
how often you have to go back to this passage of scripture
and preaching the gospel. I mean, there's not a more important
passage than this passage in Genesis chapter six, regarding
man and regarding grace. Look in verse five, and God so. How God sees things is the way
they are. Men, you don't see things the way they are. We really
don't. God does. And God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil nonstop. Now that's God's testimony. Look
in verse eight. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Now, Noah is included in verse
five. He wasn't cut above these people.
This is Noah, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of
Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect. Somebody says, well,
they didn't have as many temptations to deal with back then and they
could live better than we can today. No, that's not what that's
saying at all. It's saying Noah was a justified man, perfect. That word is without blemish.
before God. Now, that is God's justification. It's because justification is
by grace. Second, justification is by blood. First justification is by grace.
being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus. Second, justification by blood. Romans chapter five, verse nine
says, well, let's turn there, I want you to look at it, so
you can see. Romans chapter five, verse nine. Much more than, Romans
five, nine, much more than being now justified by his blood. Now, here's the gospel. Romans 4.25. He was delivered
for our offenses. and he was raised again for our
justification. Now, when Christ died, he died
because of our sins. That's why. The moment he died, He didn't
go through the process of decay the way you and I do. Thou shalt
not suffer thy holy one to seek corruption. Why? Because sin
had been put away. It had been made not to be. He
put it away and he was raised again for our justification. Now, what peace God is satisfied with. Everybody that Jesus Christ shed
his blood for. They're justified in his sight. Justified by blood. His person and work, he was delivered
for our offenses, raised again for our justification. Therefore, being justified, literally
having been justified, By faith, we have peace with God. Now,
it's not our faith that gives us the peace with God. It's because
he was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. So every believer stands without
guilt. Somebody asked me recently, if
our sins are all forgiven, why do we have to confess it? Well, because he said to. When
we pray, the Lord teaches us to pray, forgive us our sins
as we forgive those that are indebted to us. The fact that I'm justified before
God doesn't mean, in my own experience, I'm not a sinner. I am, and I'm
to confess my sin, and I don't want to sin anymore. These things
ride to you that you sin not. Every believer wants to... To
be free from sin, we're looking forward to being free from sin.
We desire it greatly, but still the fact of the matter is, I
don't have any sin if I'm justified. No sin. Sinless before God. Now here's the third. Justification's
by grace. Justification is by blood. and justification is by faith. You see, if someone takes the
truth of eternal justification And they use that as, well, I'll
find out in the end whether or not I was justified. There's
nothing I can do. Well, you're right, there's nothing
you can do, but you've totally misunderstood and twisted the
glorious doctrine of justification. There is no justification apart
from faith. Look in Romans 3. Verse 28, therefore, we conclude, that's
a strong word, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. Now what is the evidence that
I stand before God justified. And remember justified means
sinless. It means without guilt. It means perfectly righteous.
That the God of glory who sees all looks straight into me and
there is nothing but righteousness. What is the evidence to me of
that? Because when I look within, when
I think of myself, I see somebody who is just as sinful as they've
ever been. Do you believe that about yourself?
I'm just, you know, when I was 17, 18 years old, I'm just as
sinful now, just as corrupt now as I was then. And somebody says,
I'm not. Well, congratulations, I'm glad. Don't believe it. It's just because
you don't see. You see, I still have the same
sinful nature. I've got a new nature. I've got
a holy nature. I've got a nature I didn't have
when I was first born. The nature when I was born again
that I was given. I've got a new nature, but I
have the same old nature of sinfulness. That's just the fact. And if
I look at myself, sinless? What is the evidence that I stand
before God without guilt? What is the evidence? Faith. And let me show you this in the
scriptures. You're there in Romans, look in Romans chapter four. Verse four, now to him that worketh,
It's the reward, heavenly glory, perfection before God, not reckoned
of grace, but of debt. If there's anything you do to
enable you to go to heaven, that means God owed it to you. He's
paying his bills to you. Verse five, but to him that worketh
not. You see that salvation by works
in any way, in any measure, to any degree is futile for you. That's how you see yourself.
You're somebody who can't work. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him, that justifieth the ungodly. Now don't miss that
word. Not that forgives the ungodly.
Not that gives grace to the ungodly. Not that has mercy on the ungodly.
All those things are true. But the word God the Holy Spirit
uses is to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that, what? Justifieth. justifies the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness. Now, here's what that means exactly. Anybody who relies only on him
that justifies the ungodly, that's the evidence that that person
is righteous before God. Are you relying only on him who
justifies the ungodly. Faith. There's no salvation apart
from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are personally, right
now, you are right. This is everything. You don't
have anything else. You're relying wholeheartedly
on Him who justified the ungodly. That's what Christ did by His
work on Calvary's tree. He justified the ungodly. There is no justification apart
from faith. So here's three things. Justification
is by grace. Justification is by blood, and
justification is by faith. Now turn to James chapter two. Probably in my life, I'm almost
62, and I bet several hundred times people have said to me
when I've tried to talk to them about the gospel, What about
James chapter two? Why would they say, what about
James chapter two? Well, look in verse 14. What does a prophet, my brethren,
though a man say he hath faith and had not works? Can faith
save him? If a brother or sister be naked
and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them,
depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding you
give them not those things which are needful to the body, what
doth it profit? What good did you do? Be warmed,
be filled, but you don't give them anything. What good does
that do? Verse 17, in the same manner,
even so, faith, If it hath not works, is dead,
being alone. Yea, a man may say, thou hast
faith and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works. I'll show thee my faith by my works. Now, is he saying,
I'm gonna prove the reality of my faith by the good works I
perform? by the life I am living. I can see where somebody would
take it that way. Let's go on reading. Thou believest there's one God
thou doest. Well, the devils also believe and tremble. But
wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified
by works? Now, do you hear what that says?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works? When he offered Isaac
his son upon the altar, seest thou how faith wrought with his
works? And by works was faith made perfect, and the scripture
was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God, and was imputed
unto him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.
You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by
faith only. As I said, many people have taken
that passage of scripture and they said, well, what about James
chapter two? You say faith only? Well, James says it's faith and
works. What about that? How do you explain
that? What does that mean? Well, Abraham
believed God. Amen? Abraham believed God. When God said the Messiah is
going to come through your seed, Abraham believed God. That's in Genesis chapter 15
when it says it was counted to him for righteousness. Abraham
believed what God said. Now, God comes along and says,
you take that boy that I have promised to bring the Messiah
through and kill him. Offer him up as a burnt offering
to me on a mountain that I'll show you. What if Abraham would have said,
I can't do that because then your
promise would not take place. I would mess up your program. If I kill that boy, what you
say will not take place. I can't do that. What would have
Abraham demonstrated if he did that? He didn't believe God. Because God promised the Messiah
would come through him. Well, I can't mess that up, therefore
I can't kill him. All he would have proven by that
is that he did not believe God. But in Genesis chapter 22, verse
five, he said to those people, I and the lad will go yonder
and worship and come again to you. You see, he knew that he
was going to slay his son. God promised the Messiah would
come to that son. And according to Hebrews chapter
11, he believed that God would raise him from the dead because
he knew what God said must come to pass. Now do you see Abraham's
actions demonstrated that he really believed what he said
he did. He believed the Messiah would
come through His son, even if he killed him, God would raise
him from the dead because what God said must come to pass. Now, where there is faith, there
will be proof that you really believed what you said you believed. Every time I think of what John
said in Revelation 14, 13, blessed are the dead that die in the
Lord. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. Yea, saith the Spirit. They're
gonna have rest from their labors and their works. Do follow them. And this is talking about the
same thing James is. They don't come out in front
as the cause, they don't walk along the side as evidence, but
they're behind as proof. What proved Abraham believed
God? He offered up his only son. And that's what is meant by justification being by works,
there will be proof that you really believe what you said
you believe. Every time, without exception,
there will be proof. Finally, turn to Matthew chapter
12, verse 37. Matthew 12, verse 37, by thy
words. What comes out of your mouth? By thy words thou shalt be justified
and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Now, your speech, You say, I believe what that
man's saying. I believe it's what the Bible
teaches. I don't believe it just because that man's saying it.
I believe it because the Bible teaches. That's what I believe. By your words, you'll be justified. Somebody says, I don't believe
that. By your words, you'll be condemned. You see, what you
believe, what you say, is gonna line up with this glorious truth
of that man. The publican who beat upon his
breast saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And the Lord
said, I say unto you, that man went down to his house justified.
And I love the way the Lord doesn't make any comment on it. He doesn't
explain how that can be. He uses the rest of the Bible
to do it. The whole Bible is telling us how God can be just
and justify the ungodly. Now, your words, my words, will
line up with justification. What God has done for me, if
he has done it, and I'll be justified. And if my words are contrary
to justification, I will be condemned. I'll prove I don't really believe
justification. But what a glorious chain. Whom he did foreknow, them he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called, whom he called,
them he also justified. And we're gonna consider this
next week, Lord willing. whom he justified, them he also
glorified. And just chew on this. It doesn't
say he will glorify them. It says he glorified them. And that's what we'll consider
next week, Lord willing.