Okay, now we're coming back again.
Romans chapter 3. And I want to take a close look
at verse 23 down through verse 26 of Romans 3. 23 through 26. And I repeat what I said last
week about these verses from verse 19 down through verse 28
of Romans 3. No clearer or plainer declaration
of the gospel of Christ is found as what is found in these verses
here in Romans chapter 3. It is a clear, plain declaration
that we are sinners and that God justifies the ungodly by
His grace alone. Now, let's go back and take a
look at verse 23. All have sinned. All have sinned. Now, in Adam all sinned. But
we also individually have sinned against God. All have sinned. That includes you, that includes
me, that includes all men. And all have come short to honor
God and to glorify God. We've come short. Now, verse
23 declares why we need to be justified only by Christ and
only by His grace, because we are sinners. Remember in the
preceding verses in Romans 3, verse 9 and verse 10, all are
under sin, there is none righteous, no, not one. All have sinned. So, we are sinners. That is what
the Law of God declares and reveals. That's what the Word of God says
as it is written. There is none righteous, no,
not one. We are sinners and that's what
the Law of God reveals and declares. All have sinned that come short
of the glory of God. The Law of God declares we are
guilty before God. His verdict on every sinner is
guilty before the holy justice of God. All have sinned." And
then it says, all have come short. We've fallen short to honor God,
to obey God, giving Him all the honor and glory and rejoicing
in Him. We've come short. We've come
short, far short, fallen short. How short? Destitute, empty of
any and all righteousness. Now, if I picked up a baseball
and threw that baseball as hard as I could throw it toward the
North Pole, It doesn't matter how far I might throw it, it's
going to come short. And all of us have come way short
to glorify God. destitute, void, empty of any
righteousness whatsoever. The best we have at our best
state, our best time, he said it's vanity. Away with it, it's
filthy rag. We have all failed of rendering
him that glory that was justly his. We have failed to honor
Him and to worship the true and living God. That being so, that's
what we are. We are sinners. Now, sin is a
problem, right? What is the solution? Well, there's only one solution.
And it's not, do the best you can, everything will be alright.
All have sinned. What is the solution? being justified
freely by His grace. Sin is a problem, what we are,
born in sin, shaped in iniquity. Now the Lord gives us the only
solution to our pollution. There's just one solution to
our pollution, and here's what we see taught in the Word of
God about the Bible doctrine of justification, being justified
freely, being justified freely, that is, without a cause, reason,
or merit found in us. Is there any reason that God
would show mercy to such a one as we are? Now if you think you
merit His grace or you've earned your grace or earned His mercy,
then you don't have any grace or mercy, you have just works.
We don't merit His favor, earn His favor, earn His mercy, or
earn His grace. We're justified freely without
a cause or reason that's found in us. Now what's the reason
for grace? Of His fullness have we all received
grace for grace. Remember John chapter 1. The
only reason for grace is His grace. He is gracious and He
is merciful. So the cause of grace is not
found in us. The cause of mercy is not found
in us. The cause is found in Him, justified
freely by His grace. You see that? Being justified
freely by His mercy, His love, His grace. Now, what does it
mean to be justified? What does it mean to be justified?
It means to be declared by God without guilt, without sin. Justified. Justified without
guilt and without sin. That is, declared by God Almighty
in the court of God's holy law, not guilty. Now think of it. Not guilty in the courts of God's
holy law. That is being justified, being
made righteous in Christ. And it's all by His grace. His
grace, His grace alone. God who spared not His own Son,
this is Romans 8, 32. God who spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall not He with Him also
freely give us all things? Justified freely by, and notice
it's by His grace. His grace. Now there's just one
kind of grace that's taught in the Word of God. It's sovereign
grace. He will have mercy on whom He
will have mercy. God who saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace given to us in Christ. before the foundation
of the world. The cause of our justification
then is found in Christ. His grace, His righteousness
alone, His eternal purpose alone, given to us in Christ before
we were born. before the foundation of the
world. Now that excludes boasting, doesn't
it? It excludes merit, doesn't it? It excludes righteousness
on our part. We have none. Justified freely
by His grace. Now notice this, through, through,
now it doesn't say through your good works. It doesn't say through
your baptism. It doesn't say through your righteousness. Through the redeeming blood in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Being justified freely through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Now that word redemption
there means deliverance. We're delivered by a ransom.
Deliver them from going down to the pit. God says, I have
a ransom. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. It says over here in Romans chapter
5, if you want to turn one page and look at it, verse 9, much
more than being now justified by His blood. You see, we're
justified by His grace, we're justified by His blood. We shall
be saved from wrath through Him. The means God has set forth to
justify the ungodly is the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are redeemed, we are delivered
and set free because the Lord Jesus Christ took our sin, suffered
under the wrath of God. He bare our sin in His own body
on the tree. The just suffering once for the
unjust, We are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin according
to the riches of His grace, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We know that He obtained for us, for His people, eternal redemption. It's not a temporary amnesty.
It's not an amnesty program. It's eternal redemption through
the Lord Jesus Christ, eternal deliverance. He appeared once
in the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself. And this redemption is not a
general amnesty, it's a particular deliverance for a particular
people. We call that particular redemption. He laid down His life for the
sheep. The messenger from heaven said,
call His name the Lord Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sin. The old timers called that limited
atonement or definite atonement. That is, the Lord died exclusively
and only for His covenant people. Particular redemption. I love
it. Because that's the truth of Scripture.
We cannot say that the Lord Jesus Christ died for all of the sins
of all men everywhere. That's the common notion in religion
today. As a matter of fact, if you would
confront your dear friends or your family members on this very
issue and tell them that Christ only died for the elect, they
will look at you in a most puzzled way and eventually if you press
the issue, they'll get mad and they'll get upset. But God's
people don't get mad over God's truth, do they? The Lord Jesus
Christ stood as the surety of that eternal covenant. And when
the Lord Jesus Christ came, He came as a representative man,
representing all that the Father had given to Him. And when He
died, He died exclusively and only for their sin. Therefore,
the conclusion of that is, Those for whom He died must be set
free. And that's what happened at Calvary.
Justified freely by His grace. Now, read on in Romans chapter
3 verse 25. Now, who's the Redeemer? The
Lord Jesus Christ is our Redeemer. Whom God hath set forth. Now notice as I pointed out in
the reading, if you have the Cambridge I have, or you can
look those two words up, set forth, the marginal reference
is on the original word has a meaning of foreordained. for ordination. Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge for ordination
of God. He is set forth, the Lord Jesus
Christ, in that eternal Council of Grace. We read in the Revelation
of Jesus Christ, in Revelation 13, 8, He is a Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. God set Him forth and He ordained
Him before Adam ever sinned, before Adam ever was created.
the Lord Jesus Christ stood as the surety and Savior of those
covenant people, whom God hath set forth. He foreordained the
Lord Jesus Christ to be our propitiation." Now, that's a big word. It's
a big word, but it has a very plain meaning. It means the Lord
Jesus Christ, this same word is rendered in other places,
mercy-seek. He is our mercy-seek. He is our
propitiation. Now remember, the blood on the
Day of Atonement in the Holy of Holies was put upon the mercy-seek,
covering the Law of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
our covering. He is our mercy seat. He is our
atonement for our sin who reconciles us unto God. Now, you remember
from our study in 1 John 4, verse 10, where it says, Herein is
love, not that we love God, but that He loved us, and that He
sent His Son to be a propitiation, a sacrifice, an atoning victim,
a substitute to satisfy God for us. The Lord Jesus Christ is
our propitiation. Now, we've read many times in
the book of Luke chapter 18 where the publican cried, Some of the old writers think
that that same word could be used there. Lord, be my propitiation. Be my atonement. Be my substitute. God setting forth from all eternity
to be my substitute. The just dying for the unjust
that He might bring us unto God. Now isn't that a beautiful truth?
God set him forth to be my sacrifice for sin, to be my substitute,
to satisfy God's holy justice. Now watch this. Whom God set
forth to be the propitiation for our sin through faith in
His blood to declare His righteousness, for the remission of sins that
are past, 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 the Lord Jesus Christ." Now,
through faith in His blood, we read in the book of Hebrews,
without the shedding of blood, There's no remission, there's
no redemption from sin without the shedding of blood, no atonement,
no deliverance from the curse of the law, no reconciliation
unto God without His blood atonement through faith in His blood. When we talk about His blood,
we're talking about the Lord Jesus Christ who shed His blood. God bought the church with His
own blood. You see, it's just not that blood
was shed. Whose blood was shed? Whose blood? God bought us with His own blood. Through faith in His blood. Now watch this carefully. Through
faith in Him, who shed his blood. Now, there's a saying that's
been around in religion for a long time, and it goes something like
this, well I'm trusting the shed blood of Christ, or I'm trusting
the finished work of Christ. Well, that's not a totally good
statement to make. Because we're trusting the Lord
Jesus Christ who finished the work. We're trusting the Lord
Jesus Christ who shed His blood. You see, I mean, I'm trying to
draw a distinct line. We're just not trusting His blood. We're just not trusting His work,
although we are, but we're trusting much rather, we're trusting Him
who finished the work. We're trusting Him. You see,
faith has to do with a person. It's looking unto the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the author and finisher of our faith. It's not
looking to a doctrine. It's not looking to an experience. It's looking to a person. Faith looks to Christ, to faith
in Him who shed His blood. Now, how do we receive this glorious
propitiation? How do we receive this glorious
atonement for our sin? How do we receive redemption
through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? How do we receive
all this? By our doing? Well, certainly
not, but rather by believing Him. by believing Him. Now, you see the importance of
faith. Where do we get saving faith? We know from the scripture that
teaches that faith is the gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast. Faith is the sovereign gift of
God. By Him, turn back just a few
pages, turn to back in the book of Acts, Chapter 13. True faith excludes all boasting
in the flesh, and looks to the Lord Jesus Christ alone, who
put away our sin. Acts chapter 13, verse 38. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sin. Through this man. Who is this
man? Well, he's the God-man mediator.
By him, all that believe are justified from all things, which
you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Now stay right
here in the book of Acts, same chapter, now look at verse 48. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, and as
many as were ordained to eternal life, Those people believe the
gospel. You see, faith is the sovereign
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. True faith
excludes all boasting and looks to the Lord alone. Notice in
Romans 3, 28. Romans 3, 28. Therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith. without the deeds of the law. Look again to Romans chapter
5 verse 1. Therefore being justified by
faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's why faith is called the
precious gift of God that's obtained by the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. All of this atonement and redemption
by the blood of Christ is to declare, look what it says back
in our text, Romans 3, 25, whom God has set forth to be the propitiation
through faith in His blood, faith in His blood for the remit, to
declare rather, faith in His blood to declare His righteousness. for the remission of sins that
are passed through the long-suffering or forbearance of God." All this
blood atonement and blood redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ is to
declare His righteousness. Now this is the righteousness
of God that's revealed in the Gospel. If you look back again
at verse 21, Romans 3, but now the righteousness of God without
the law is manifested or revealed being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Turn back to Romans chapter 1
verse 16. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believe it to the Jew first and also to the Greek for therein
is the righteousness of God revealed to the Jew and to the Greek,
everyone that believeth to the Jew and to the Greek, for therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is
written, the just shall live by faith. All of the Lord's people
of the past, Old Testament believers, and all believers of this present
day, The Lord has only forgiven sinners because of the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham, he was justified by
looking to Christ, going back to Noah, Moses, David, all those
Old Testament saints looked to the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ and that glorious sacrifice He would make for their sin. The Lord is long-suffering because
He delights to show mercy based on the atonement that the Lord
Jesus Christ has made for us. To declare His righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past Now that's talking about
Old Testament believers through the long-suffering of God. And
God forgave their sin based upon the sure atonement the Lord Jesus
Christ would make for their sin. To declare, verse 26, to declare,
I say at this time to declare And again, he talks about his
righteousness. Now, not only his essential holy
character, but the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel.
To declare, I say at this time, his righteousness. Now, here's
a key phrase that he might be just, holy, righteous, and the
justifier of those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to declare. Now this is what the gospel of
Christ plainly says. God is just and holy and righteous
in his character and in his way of saving sinners in Christ. The Lord remains just and at
the same time not violating His holy character, His holy justice,
and yet show mercy. His mercy is magnified, His justice
is magnified, because the Lord Jesus Christ has died, honored
the law of God, and magnified the law of God on our behalf.
That the Lord may remain just and the justifier, just and merciful. show mercy, not at the expense
of his holy justice, while he justifies the ungodly. Now that's
the mystery of the gospel. And that's the question that
nobody is asking today. How God can be just, and yet
justify the ungodly. And he does, he saves and justifies
sinners in such a way that his justice is magnified, his love
is magnified, his mercy is magnified in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
hold your place there and find the book of Isaiah. And the book
of Isaiah has the same message, Isaiah 45, Isaiah 45. He says in the last part of verse
21 of Isaiah 45, "...there is no God else beside Me, a just
God and a Savior. There is none beside Me." Now,
He is just, but He is also merciful. He is just and He is also the
Savior. He is just and the Justifier. And there's none else. Look unto
me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God,
and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word
has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto
me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely shall
one Say, in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. Even to Him shall
men come, and all that are against Him shall be ashamed. In the
Lord shall all the seed of Israel, the elect of God, be justified,
and shall glory only in Him." Now, look back to the text. To declare, I say at this time,
God's righteousness, the righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel,
that he might be just and the justifier of him which believe,
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the faith of God's elect,
and this is what the faith of God's elect understands and declares
those who are of faith look to Christ exclusively And only as
all of our righteousness before God, He is the justifier. We're going to see that in chapter
4, that He justifies the ungodly and He does it in a just way.
And that's the beauty and power and mystery of the gospel.