Now, we're looking back at this
very, very vital, vital portion of Scripture. And I don't mean
to set one portion of Scripture against another, because all
Scripture we know is given of God. All Scripture is inspired. But these verses that are found
here in the last portion of Romans 3,
especially from verse 19 down through verse 31, They give us
a very clear declaration of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, one of the most important
questions any sinner should consider, and here's a question I want
you to personally consider in your heart right now. How can
I be justified before God? Have you ever considered that
question? How can I, a sinful man, a guilty man, be justified
before the holy law of God Almighty? How can I be justified? Now,
that is the essential question of the gospel. How can he that
is born of a woman be made clean? Remember Job's friend Bildad
asked that question, it's recorded in Job 25. He said, how then
can man be justified with God? Well, how can he be clean that
is born of a woman? Now, we're born in sin, shapen
in iniquity. Now, how can a sinner that's
born of a sinful woman be justified before God? That is the essential
question of the gospel. Now most people, especially religious
people, and I've met a lot of religious people, a lot of religious
lost people, religious folks think that they can be justified
by what they do, by what they do. They compare themselves to
others and think, well, I'm not like that guy. I mean, I'm not
a drunk. I go to work. I work hard. I
pay my bills. I go to church. I do this. I
do that. If that's your righteousness,
you're lost. You don't know God. You don't
have a justifying righteousness before God. See, most religious
people think that they are justified by what they do. As we had on
the radio this morning, They are always going about to establish
a righteousness by the deeds of the law or by something else. Usually, the standard of a lost
man's righteousness is his morality, his morality. Now, the Pharisees,
who were very self-righteous and very religious, and those
who justify themselves before God by their works, will certainly
be Now this scripture I always quote, if I can quote it again,
in Luke 16, 15, our Lord said to those Pharisees, you are they
which justify yourselves before man, but God knows your heart. That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination in the sight of God. And then one
other scripture I always quote in this thing of being justified
is this. You remember in Matthew chapter
7 when those religious came up before the Lord, the religious
men came up before the Lord and said, Lord, we preached in your
name. We've done many wonderful works in your name, and we've
even cast out some demons, and we did it in your name. And the
Lord said, well, he didn't say, well, you've done a good job.
Remember what he said? Depart from me, you workers of
iniquity. You see, the best we have, offered
to God, he said his filthy rags away with it. We need a righteousness
outside of ourselves that would justify us. We cannot, and I've
tried to emphasize this in the years that I've been here, going
on almost 24 years, that you cannot be justified by what you
do, what you think, what you give, or who you are. were only
justified, as we read in Romans 3, 24, justified freely by His
grace. And grace is always sovereign
grace, almighty grace, electing grace, fetching grace, bringing
grace, eternal grace. We know from a close study of
the scripture and by the revelation of God Almighty that sinners
are only justified and made righteous only in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why Paul said, Saul of
Tarsus, self-righteous and religious before he met the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, being a Pharisee, that
he said before the law, he said, I'm blameless. But when the Lord
taught him the gospel, he said, I count everything lost, dung,
and ruined that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having
my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith in Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, to the believer,
He is our righteousness. Now, how good do you have to
be to stand before God justified? You gotta be perfect. You gotta
be as good as God. Well, preacher, I can't do that.
Exactly right. That's why Christ came, to establish
a righteousness for us. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believe it. Now, with that
introduction then, verse 27, where is boasting? Where is boasting? Seeing that sinners are justified
only by the grace of God, through the blood atonement of the Lord
Jesus Christ, where is boasting then? Can you brag before God
about what you have done to justify yourself before God? Where is
boasting then? It's excluded. It's excluded. It's excluded altogether. We
have no room to boast not in ourselves. Now we boast in Him. But not in us. It's excluded
by what law? And this word here can be rendered
by what rule? Or by what principle? Or what
law? Of works? No, sir. It's excluded
by the principle of faith. Now, saving faith gives all the
honor and glory to Christ alone. Saving faith always boasts only
in Christ. Remember, Paul said, God forbid
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, we are justified in Christ alone, excluding all boasting
in the flesh. The gospel of Christ excludes
all boasting in the sinner and gives all the glory to Christ
alone We only rejoice and boast in Him. We are the true Israel,
the true circumcision in the heart, the operation of God. We rejoice in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We worship God in spirit. We
rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have no confidence in
the flesh. Jeremiah 9, 23 says, Let not
the wise man Glory in His wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory
in his might. He that glory, He said, let him
glory only in the Lord. I am the Lord. Beside me there
is no other. Now, in the Gospel, all boasting
of the flesh is excluded. Now, where is boasting then?
It's excluded. By what rule or law of works? No, the law of faith or the principle
of faith. Now, the principle of faith,
the law of faith. The Lord has so designed the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that it is exclusively received
only by faith in Christ. Four times we read in the Scripture,
the just shall live by faith. We live by faith. We walk by
faith. Faith looks to the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord has so designed the
gospel of Christ to be received by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
it excludes all boasting in the flesh, doesn't it? All boasting. Faith, we know, And we're talking
about saving faith. Saving faith is a gift of God.
Faith is the sovereign, precious gift of God that always looks
to the giver, the giver of faith. Now, where does faith come from?
Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from God. We know
that faith is a gift of God, for by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, not of works, lest any man should boast. This gift of
faith, Peter calls it precious faith. Why is it so precious? Because it is obtained by the
precious blood and righteousness of Christ, and it is freely given
to God's people. The faith of God's elect, how
do I know if I have saving faith? The faith of God the elect always
acknowledges and loves the truth of God, the truth of His sovereignty,
the truth of salvation by grace, the truth of salvation in Christ
alone. The Lord Jesus Christ, we often
say, is the object of faith. Saving faith doesn't look here. That would be subjective faith. It's what I think. No, saving
faith doesn't look in here. Saving faith looks out of ourselves
unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that Scripture I always
quote. In Hebrews 12 verse 2, looking unto Jesus, the Lord
Jesus Christ, exalted, enthroned, the sovereign Christ, looking
unto the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the author and finisher of
faith. Now, how necessary is faith?
He says in that same book, Hebrews 11 and 6, without faith, It is
impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder to those who
diligently seek him. Now, the object of faith is the
Lord Jesus Christ. What would be the foundation
of faith? What does faith rest upon? A
lot of people think, well, my faith rests upon my feelings.
I know why I believe, because I just feel a certain way. A lot of times people who think
they have saving faith look back to an experience or a time. But
my friend, saving faith is based upon the promise of God, the
Word of God, the foundation of faith and it's not my feelings.
Do you remember what Martin Luther said 500 years ago? Feelings
come and feelings go and feelings are Deceiving, my warrant is
the Word of God. Nothing else is worth believing. So the foundation and ground
of faith is the Word of God. Abraham believed God. We're going to see that in chapter
4. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. He believed God. Now, therefore
we conclude, verse 28, Romans 3. Therefore, we conclude, now
whenever you see that word, therefore, my pastor used to always say,
look back to what has been said before. Why is it there? Therefore, looks back to all
that has been said, all the way back to Romans 1.1, It talks
about the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore
we conclude, now here's the conclusion of the whole matter, that a sinner
is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Now, is that clear? One of my
favorite scriptures in Galatians, the book of Galatians, and Galatians
deals a lot with this thing of grace and law, law and faith,
faith and works. But one of my favorite scriptures
is found in Galatians 2 verse 21 where it says, For if righteousness
is by the law, then Christ, he said, I don't frustrate the grace
of God, for if righteousness is by the law, then Christ is
dead and dying. You see, if I can establish a
ground of justifying righteousness by the deeds of my hand, what
I do, no need for Christ to come. I mean, no need for Him to die.
If I can get it done, no need for Him to come. But the plain
fact of the matter is, we're dead in sin and guilty, and if
the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't come, and obey the law of God,
we're going to perish forever in our sin. Therefore, we conclude
that a man, a sinner, is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law. Without the deed, without the
works of the law. Now, just in a way of refreshing
our mind, look back to Romans 3 verse 20. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law
is the knowledge of sin." What does the law do? It reveals sin. It doesn't remove it. It exposes
it. But now, verse 21, the righteousness
of God. Now this is not talking about
His essential character. This is talking about the righteousness
of God provided in the gospel. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by the faith of, underscore those two words, of, of, of,
Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe, there's
no difference. God justifies the Jew and the
Gentile the exact same way. The act of faith, now listen
to me carefully, because a lot of people, especially religious
folks, get very confused on what Paul says there about being justified
by faith. Now listen carefully. The act
of faith does not justify. The act of faith does not justify. It is the object of faith that
justifies us in Christ Jesus. Saving faith, again, I repeat,
looks to Christ. Faith is given in the new birth. And the fruit of the new birth
is looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ who is the author and
finisher of our faith. True faith looks to the one who
gave it. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Now I found this statement here
and it is very good about faith. Now listen carefully. I'll put
this in a bulletin next week if I can remember to do so. Faith
in Christ does not cause God to justify us. The obedience
of Christ has done that already. By faith, resting upon Christ
alone as Savior, obtains peace with God, the peace of perfect,
complete justification in Christ by His grace. Faith does not
merit justification with God, but faith receives justification. Faith is not the basis upon which
we are justified, but faith is the instrument by which justification
is received. Faith is essential, but it is
not meritorious. Faith receives Christ, but it
does not merit Christ. Faith receives forgiveness of
sin, but it does not merit the forgiveness of sin. See, a lot
of people have made faith into a work. They've made repentance
into a work. Both faith and repentance are
the sovereign gifts of God. Faith receives grace, but faith
does not merit grace. Faith receives justification,
but it does not merit justification. We are justified in the court
of heaven by the decree of God and by the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Then in the experience of grace
we are justified in the court of conscience by the declaration
of God the Holy Spirit that we are justified by faith in Christ. You see, saving faith simply
receives Christ. Saving faith does not accomplish
salvation, does it? Saving faith receives the Lord
Jesus Christ who did accomplish salvation. That's what this book
teaches. Therefore, we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Now, here's
a conclusion. How are sinners justified? Let
me give you five things. How are sinners justified? By
God as its source. Remember Romans 8, 32, God who
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely giveth all things? Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Now, who's the source of our
justification? It's of the Lord, isn't it? Secondly,
by God's grace. How are sinners justified by
God's grace as a fountain and spring? We say with the Apostle
Paul, I am what I am by the grace of God, justified freely by His
grace, by the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ as the
ground of our justification. Right across the page in Romans
5 verse 9, much more than being now justified by His blood, we
shall be saved from wrath through Him. Fourthly, by God raising
up the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. It said here, look
at Romans chapter 4 verse 25, "...who was delivered for our
offenses, and raised again," raised again, and that word therefore
can be better rendered, "...who was delivered for our offenses,
and raised again, because He justified us." You see that? His resurrection declares that
all He said and all He did is accepted of the Father. When
He by Himself purged our sin, He sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God. And how are sinners justified
by God-given faith as the means to receive Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ, as all and in all? Now, therefore we conclude. Now
what's your conclusion? If I'm justified, God did it. God did it by His grace, by His
grace alone. Now, look at verse 29, Romans
3 verse 29. Is He the God of the Jews only?
Is He not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. Now,
we do not believe, now listen carefully, we do not believe
in what is known as a universal fatherhood of God. Now a lot
of people, in the religion that I was raised in, and a lot of
religious people still teach this, they teach that God is
the universal father of all men. That's not so. That's not so. We do not believe in the universal
fatherhood of God. He's not the father of all men.
He's only the father, the God and father, of His covenant children. He's only the father of His covenant
children. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called sons
of God. Has anybody ever asked you, do you believe in the universal
fatherhood of God? Absolutely not. He is not the
Father of all men. Now, having said that, however,
we do believe in the universal sovereign rule and reign of God
over all men. Now, He is the God of all men,
but He is not the Father of all men. He is the Father of His
covenant people. If his own will beget he us with
the word of truth. He is the God and Lord of all
men. He is the God of all creation
and the God of all men and all men are under his rule. Now who
rules this universe? The Russians think Putin does.
Us in the USA think that Trump does. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. He turns it wherever he pleases. God is the absolute
God of all men, president or peon. He's the God of all men
everywhere. He's the God of heaven and in
earth. Now, seeing that is so, verse
30, seeing that there is one God, We are not what is known
as polytheistic. Polytheistic. Believers are monotheistic. That is, we believe in one God.
One God. One God manifest in three persons,
Father, Son, Holy Spirit. These three are one. Seeing it
as one God which shall justify the religious Jew, the circumcision,
by faith, or the pagan Gentile through faith or by faith saying
the same thing. I remember one day when I was
quite young, believing the Gospel, I spent a whole day meditating
on this thing of by faith or through faith. And I finally
came to the conclusion after looking at that for a whole day
that it's saying the same thing. We're justified by Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Seeing there is one God, one
God. It's true and living God. We
read in Isaiah how many times? He said, I am God, beside me
there is no other. This one God who is holy, holy,
holy. This one God who is absolutely
sovereign over all things. He rules and reigns everywhere.
Who is the eternal God from everlasting to everlasting. Thou art God.
Therefore there must be A necessity of just seeing there's one God,
there must of necessity be one way of salvation. Is that right? The Lord Jesus Christ declares,
I am the way. He didn't say a way. He's the
way. Definite article. The way, the
truth, the life. No man comes to the Father but
by and through me. There's just one way Almighty
God justifies the ungodly. He justifies the ungodly. We're
going to see that in Romans chapter 4. Now, if anybody ever asks
you, especially after what we've just looked at, and being rooted
and grounded in the Scripture, how does God justify sinners? By His grace. Scripture plainly
teaches by His grace. Christ is the only way of salvation. Matter of fact, He says, I am
salvation. I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm
the life, I'm the resurrection, I'm the door, I'm the water,
I'm the bread, I'm the light, I'm the resurrection. He's everything. Christ is all and in all. by
faith and through faith. Being justified by faith we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now having said
all that, look at this very important question that is posed here in
verse 30. Do we then make void the law
of God? Do we just boom cancel the law
of God? God forbid! Yea, he says, we
establish the law by faith, by faith. Now, we're going to see
in Romans chapter 6, Paul makes a big deal about our believers
then under the rule of the mosaic law. We're going to see that
in chapter 6. The answer to that question is
no, under the rule and reign of Christ. Now, here's the question. Do we harm or make void the holy
law of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we do violence
to the law of God? Do we make void the law of God
through the gospel of Christ? The answer is no. No, not at
all. Yea, rather, we establish the
law. I hope you see this. We establish
the law. That is, we honor the law of
God in precept and in penalty. How? Through faith. We establish the law. How? Through
faith. Now, again, what's the foundation
of faith? The Word. What's the object of
faith? The Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here's
what he's saying. We establish and honor the law
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Through His obedient life, He
honored the law of God. He said that in Matthew 5, 17.
He said, I didn't come to destroy the law, I came to honor the
law of God. Now, how does this vile sinner
honor the law of God perfectly? So much so that it justifies
me before God. only in Christ. He's my substitute. He's my representative who honored
the law of God perfectly. We're going to see in Romans
5 verse 19. For by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. Right? So by the obedience of
another, shall many be made righteous." Now, the Lord Jesus Christ not
only honored every precept of that law, but also he honored
the penalty of that law. What is the penalty of that law?
You remember? The law says the guilty must die, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on the tree, Why was he cursed? That's what the
law of God demanded of the guilty. The curse and judgment and wrath
of God fell on my substitute. Now, therefore, there is no condemnation
to those who are in Christ. You see, we honor the law of
God. We establish the law of God through
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We establish the law. I love
that scripture. In Romans 10-4, we had it on
the radio this morning, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes it. Don't ever get deluded thinking
in your mind that I'm going to produce a righteousness by this,
this, this, or this. I'm going to stop doing that.
I'm going to start doing that. Therefore, I'm going to work
out a righteousness before God. Don't ever go there. Because
that's the ground of sure condemnation. We are justified only in Christ
freely by His grace. Isaiah 42, 21 says, The Lord
is well pleased for His righteousness sake. He will honor and magnify
the law of God For us. And that's what he did. And then
that verse in Isaiah 42 verse 4, same chapter, says he cannot
fail. He cannot fail.