Will you turn with me in your
Bibles to Romans chapter 3? Romans chapter 3. And we'll begin reading in verse
20. Therefore, By the deeds of the law, there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Nothing that you and
I can do to justify ourselves before God. We're pretty quick
and pretty accustomed and pretty good at justifying ourselves
to one another, aren't we? Not before God. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. But now, but now, in light of
the gospel, the righteousness of God without
the law is manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
Everything in the scripture points to Christ. In the volume of the
book it is written of me. So the prophets, the Psalms,
The apostles are all declaring one message. How can a man be
justified with God? If the Lord Jesus Christ is the
message of the Bible, then justification is the theme of the Bible. Job
asked that question, how can a man be right with God? How
can he that is born of a woman be justified in the sight of
a holy God? The answer to that question is
the answer of life. It's the answer of salvation.
And if the Lord's pleased to give us light on how it is that
a sinner can be justified with God, all is well. Look at what he says. Verse 22,
even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all them that believe, for there's no difference
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And
to me, that just is the clearest definition of sin that there
is in the Bible. Ask yourself one question, what
in your life falls short of the glory of God? The perfect, holy
glory of God. What in your life falls short
of that? And whatever you come to, that's sin. And if you have
any understanding at all about the glory of God, you have to
say everything. Everything. Verse 24, and here's our text.
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. Being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. There's the answer to the question. The doctrine of justification
is the central theme of the gospel. I so don't want to stand before
you this morning and preach this as a doctrine. We preach Christ and him crucified. You can have doctrine and not
have Christ, but you cannot have Christ without
doctrine. You can have some truths, small
t, plural, and not have the truth, capital T, singular. And I don't
want us to leave here with just acknowledging some truths and
having some doctrine. But you cannot have the truth
without truths. See, doctrine is a means to an
end. You can have facts without faith, but you cannot have faith
without facts. And so doctrine is not a bad
thing, it's a good thing, but it is a means to an end. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the end of our faith. I pray the Lord will enable us
to see that as we consider this question, how can a sinner be
justified with God. We've been looking at Acts chapter
16, at Paul going to Philippi and the earthquake that the Lord
sent and delivering Paul and Silas and the other prisoners
from the prison and the prison keeper almost killing himself. And Paul stopped him and you
remember what he said? Sirs, what must I do to be saved? It's the same question. Sirs,
how can I be right with God? What must I do to be saved? You
remember what Paul said? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, he's, he's the only means of salvation. He's the only hope
of, he is our salvation. And we're going to be looking
at several passages of scripture In the book of Romans, I don't
know of a clearer or more comprehensive declaration of the doctrine of
justification than the book of Romans. And I pray that as we
look at these verses, that the Lord will give us faith in Christ
and give us hope of knowing that through Christ, in Christ, we
are justified. with God. Romans 3.24, we just read it,
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. What does it mean to be justified? It means to be found just or
right in the sight of God's holy law. The law has no claim to make
on those who are justified in its presence. The perfect, inflexible
law of God can find no reason. The holy law of God can find
no reason. It's been silenced to condemn
those who are justified before God. The law has been fulfilled
and the law stands silent. That's why Paul said in Romans
chapter 8 verse 1, there is now therefore no condemnation to
them that are in Christ Jesus who walk after the Spirit, not
after the flesh. What does it mean to walk after
the Spirit, not after the flesh? Well, to walk after the spirit
means that we are looking with spiritual eyes to the one who
justifies us before God. We're not looking with fleshly
eyes. You see, the natural man will look to his life, what he's
doing and what he's not doing and what he's done and what he
hasn't done as the means of his justification. That's walking
after the flesh. Walking after the Spirit means
that we have no confidence in the flesh, that we rejoice in
Christ Jesus, we worship God in the Spirit. And for those, there is now therefore
no condemnation. The law cannot condemn those
who are justified. Jude put it like this in Jude
24. It means to be found faultless
before his holy presence. Now, how can a person who everything
about them falls short of the glory of God? Everything about
them is sinful, and yet they are found faultless in the very
presence of a holy God. That's what it is to be justified. Paul put it like this. He said
it means to be presented, Colossians 122, holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in his sight. How can a sinner stand in the
presence of a holy God and be found holy, unblameable, and
unreprovable in the very sight of God? It means that when God,
with whom every creature is manifest in his sight and are open to
the eyes of him with whom we must do looks at those for whom
Christ died and sees them in Christ and counts them as holy
as Christ. That's what it means to be justified. It doesn't mean just if I'd never
done it. It's better than that. It's better
than that. It means that as he is, so are
we in his sight. And it's the only hope that we
have is to be justified. I want to look at five different
passages of scriptures in the Book of Romans that tells us
what the source of our justification is, what the supply of our justification
is, what the ground of our justification is, what the evidence and proof
of our justification is, and finally, what the means of our
justification is. The Bible in the Book of Romans
answers all those questions. So let's turn to Romans chapter
8. Romans chapter 8. Verse 31. This is the source. of our justification, the one
and only source of our justification. We cannot add anything to this
source. And if we're to be justified,
we cannot take anything away from this source of justification. Most men find the source of their
justification in themselves. What does God say about the source
of our justification? Romans 8, verse 31. What shall
we then say to these things if God before us Who can be against
us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth." What
is the source of justification? God Almighty. God Almighty, He's
the only one that can justify us. You offend somebody or injure
someone, it's up to them. It's up to the
offended party to justify you. You can't justify yourself if
you're guilty. Men want to justify themselves
before God. Well, God, I'm gonna let you
forgive me, and I'm going to do this or do that. And that's
man justifying himself. It is God that justifies. Look
at the next verse. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. Yea, rather that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us, who shall separate us from the love of God. The love
of Christ. Oh, it's God that does the justifying,
brethren. And notice in verse 33, those
of you that were here the first hour, these words in the Bible that
have an E-T-H after them, particularly when it applies to the work of
God, It is not just a past work or
a present work or a future work. It is an eternal work. It's a
continual work. It's a work that never had a
beginning and never had an end. What does God say? It is God
that justified, is justifying, will justify. No, it is God that
justifieth. When were we justified? Well,
in time we were justified at Calvary's cross, but in eternity. in eternity were justified in
the purpose and heart of God who put his people in Christ
before the foundation of the world in the covenant of grace. It is God that justifieth. You see, this work of justification
that God has done is an eternal work. It's not something that
he's waiting on us to give him the permission to do or something
that he's waiting on us to add to in order that he can do something
for us. No, God's people are justifieth. It is God that justifieth. Any attempt that you and I make
with but God we and fill in the blank remember there's some that
are going to stand before God on the day of judgment and they're
going to say but God we Did many wonderful works in thy name.
We cast out demons in thy name. We preached in you. We did all
these wonderful things. And what does God say to them?
What is the response to anything that man offers God for his job? That's what they're doing. They're
justifying themselves before God. And what does God say? Depart
from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. The very things
that you thought you were doing to justify yourself are the things that have condemned
you. I shared this illustration a
long time ago. I'll share it again. A man works
all his life and makes deposits to the bank for his retirement,
and one day the day comes for him to retire. And he proudly
goes down to the bank to draw out his retirement. And he identifies
himself to the clerk, and the clerk calls the bank manager
over and confirms that that is who he is. And the bank manager
immediately turns to the guard and says, lock the door, call
the Secret Service. They're the ones that, this is
the guy that's been sending us counterfeit money all these years. That's what's gonna happen to
those that think they've been making a deposit in their retirement. And God says it's counterfeit
money. It will cause your incarceration
worse than you've never done anything at all. It is God that
justifieth. There's only one legal tender
before God, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ and His redemptive
work. He's the precious, priceless
blood, and He's the pearl of great price. And anything we
do will result in our eternal incarceration before God. It is God that justifieth, and
oh, how near He is. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
50. Isaiah chapter 50. Look at verse eight. Isaiah chapter 50. He is near that justifieth me. Who will contend with me? Who
can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifieth. Let us stand together. Who is
my adversary? Let him come near to me. The
Lord has justified me. Behold, the Lord God will help
me. Who is he that shall condemn
me? Lo, they all shall wax old as the garment. The moth shall
eat them up. There's no condemnation. No condemnation
when God justifies. Those whom God says are justified
are justified. Amen? So God himself is the only
source of justification that is true. Turn with me to Romans chapter
3, verse 24. We've read this already twice,
but I want to read it again because it tells us what the supply of
our justification is. God himself is the source of
our justification and grace is the supply of our justification. Being justified, verse 24, freely
by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Turn
with me back just a few pages to the next to the last book
in the Old Testament, the book of Zechariah. Zechariah chapter
four. It's all of grace, brethren.
It's all of grace. For by grace are you saved through
faith, that not of yourself. It's a gift of God. It's a gift
of God. It's a. It's a free gift, and
it's a gift. We call grace unmerited favor,
but it's so much more than that. In Romans chapter five, the scripture
says a man might lay down his life for a righteous man. And that word in Romans chapter
five is speaking of those who are self-righteous. Think about
it. And peradventure, he would lay
down his life for a good man. But then the Bible says, but
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And here's
the picture. No, you're standing outside of
a burning building. You're standing, he's a fireman.
You're standing outside a burning building and there's a man in
that building that's self-righteous and he's going to die. You have
an opportunity to save his life, but in doing so, you're going
to die. Maybe you would, maybe you wouldn't.
There's a good man in the building. And the scripture says, peradventure,
you would go in and give your life for that man. And then it goes, but why were
we yet sinners? Christ died for us. Suppose with
me for just a moment that the man in that building murdered
your only child. And you're standing outside the
burning building, and you know that going in to save him is
going to cost you your life. Are you going to do that? Nah. Nah. That's what God does. That's
grace. You see, it's more than just unmerited favor. It's demerited
favor. It's God leaving the glories
of heaven, coming down and saving sinners that are at enmity with
Him. It's all of grace. Look what
the Lord says prophetically through the prophet Zechariah when he
begins in verse 6, Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This
is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel. Now, Zerubbabel here,
historically, is the man that brought the children of Israel
back from Babylon and began the construction of the temple, the
rebuilding of the temple. But the word Zerubbabel means
born in Babylon. And the Lord Jesus Christ was
born of a woman born under the flesh. He was made flesh. He was born in Babylon. That's what this world is. And
so Zerubbabel here is a picture of Christ. And he answered and
spake unto me, saying, this is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel,
saying, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. Not by your will, not by your
running, not by your determination, not by your prayers, not by your
works, but by my spirit, by my spirit. This is all of grace. Who art thou, O great mountain
before Zerubbabel? You see, if God gives you faith,
you can say unto this mountain, be ye cast into the sea, and
it's gone. The mountain is a picture of separation, and God is speaking
here, and he's saying, who art thou, O mountain, before Zerubbabel? The Lord Jesus Christ, who has
perfect faith, can say to any mountain, be thou cast into the
sea. And that's where he hid our sins, in the depths of the
sea. What the scripture says, he put them away. Who art thou, O great mountain
before Zerubbabel? Thou shalt become a plain, and
he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings and cryings,
grace, grace unto it. The building of this temple is
all of God's grace. It's not just free unmerited
favor, it's demerited favor. It's God showing mercy towards
his enemies. Moreover, the word of the Lord
came unto me saying, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation
of this house, and his hand shall also finish
it. For the Lord has sent me to tell
you so." Wouldn't you love that? It was the Lord Jesus Christ
that laid the foundations of his church in the covenant of
grace before the world began. It's his death on Calvary's cross
that laid the foundation, did all of grace. And it's his hands
that will finish it. What he began, he will finish. Oh, what a glorious God we serve. The source. Remember, we're talking
about you and me standing in the presence of a holy God and
being completely innocent of any infraction of his law. Being completely acquitted, being
completely holy, whereas by God is able to look at us and say,
justified. How can a sinner be justified
with God? Number one, God's got to do it.
And number two, if he does it, it'll be all of grace. And number three, it won't be
without blood. God cannot Well, the scripture says that
he cannot overlook sin and he cannot disregard it. He's got
to pay for it. It's got to be paid for. And
there's only one sufficient payment for the putting away of our sin.
And that's the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
the ground of our justification is the sacrifice that Christ
made of himself, the shedding of his blood for the putting
away and the covering of our sin. That's the ground of our
justification. Look with me, if you will, to
Romans chapter five. Romans chapter five. This is that passage I was speaking
of a moment ago. Where the Lord says, verse six,
for when we were yet without strength, It doesn't say when
we were, well, you know, we had a spark of strength, we had a
little bit of ability. No, we were completely without
any power, not of him that willeth, not of the flesh, not of the
power of man, but of the spirit of God. When we were without
strength, Christ died for the ungodly. Look at the next verse. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. When we were yet without strength,
verse seven, this is the verse I looked at a moment ago, for
scarcely for a righteous man, and that word righteous means
self-righteous, rarely would someone lay down their life for
a self-righteous man. Yet peradventure for a good man,
you might lay down your life. But God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more than be now justified by his blood. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ went
into that holies of holies in glory. When the veil of his flesh
was rent, he took as our high priest his own blood and he put
it on the mercy seat, the atonement. And he said, there, I'll meet
with you. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sins. We dare not come into the presence
of a holy God without the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. The death angel's coming, just
like he came through Egypt. And those that are not behind
the blood, well, you know what happened there. Not just any blood, and certainly
not your blood or my blood. Some people think, well, you
know, if I just, if I just make a big enough sacrifice, you know,
that will justify me before God. No, it won't. No, it won't. The
precious blood of Christ is the only blood that God's looking
to as a covering for our sin. It's the ground of our justification.
He is, the scripture says, our propitiation. Look back with
me to Romans chapter three. Again, at verse 25, whom God
hath 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. This
word propitiation, it means that all the wrath of God has been
appeased. There's no more, there's no more
fire. There's no more anger. There's
no more, No more justice. God's sword of justice has been
sheathed in the heart of his son, and the fire of his wrath
has been quenched, and Christ's blood is the one that did that.
His blood is the ground and the only ground of our justification
before God. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
9. Hebrews chapter 9. This word propitiation also translated covering or mercy
seat. Look at Hebrews chapter nine
at verse five. And Paul says, and over it, the
cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat of which we cannot
speak specifically. Oh, there's so much to be said
about the mercy seat. Paul said, I just can't, I can't
deal with all that right now. But here it is, this is where,
and when these things were thus ordained, the priest went always
into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. He's likening
what the Lord Jesus did on Calvary's cross to what those Old Testament
priests did on the day of atonement, when they went into the tabernacle,
into the holies of holies, and they put the blood of that sacrificial
lamb on the mercy seat, and God overlooked their sins. for another
year. What they're saying here, what
the Lord's telling us is that blood didn't put away your sin.
It just, it just put them off. It didn't put them away. But unto the second went the
high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which
he offered for himself for the errors of the people, the Holy
Ghost, this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was
not yet made manifest while as the first tabernacle was yet
standing. So as long as that tabernacle built by the hands
of men was standing, then that blood never put away sin. which
was a figure for the time then present in which were offered
both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the
service perfect as pertaining to the conscience, which stood
only as meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances
imposed on them until the time of Reformation. But Christ, being come a high
priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of bulls and goats, but by his own blood,
he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. When the Lord Jesus Christ ascended
back into glory, He took with Him the names of those for whom
He lived and died. He took His rightful seat as
the priest made forever after the order of Melchizedek and
sat down at the right hand of God, having finished His work. God saw His blood. God said,
Justify. The only source of our justification
is God. The only source. The only supply
of our justification is grace. The only ground, I mean, yes,
is grace. The only ground of our justification
is the sacrifice and shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
the only evidence. I said, well, how do I know if
I'm justified? What's the evidence of my justification? Turn with me to Romans chapter
four. Romans chapter four. Verse 25. Who was delivered for our offenses raised again. Now I pointed this
out to y'all before, that little preposition for F-O-R can also
be translated because. and would give a better, clearer
understanding of this passage if we use the word because there.
He was offered up for our offenses and raised again because of our
justification. The resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ wasn't to justify us. The death of the Lord Jesus
Christ on Calvary's cross was to justify us. The resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ was the positive proof that God was
satisfied with what the Lord Jesus had accomplished on Calvary's
cross. What is the proof, the evidence
of our justification? The resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's why our Lord said to Martha,
when she said, Lord, I know that my brother will raise again in
the day of the resurrection, and our Lord said, Martha, I
am the resurrection. I am the resurrection in the
life. He that believeth in me, though he die yet, shall he live,
and he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die, shall
never die. And then our Lord asked Martha,
believest thou this? And what did she say? Yea, Lord,
I believe that thou art the Son of God, the one that should come. Her hope for the resurrection,
for her resurrection, and for her brother's resurrection was
that the Lord Jesus Christ was the firstborn among many brethren. That's his resurrection. There's
the hope that we have. We're looking to the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what our Lord said when
the Pharisees said, show us a sign and we'll believe. Give us some
evidence. Give us some proof that what
you're saying is true. And what did our Lord say? A
wicked and perverse generation seeketh after a sign. No sign will be given unto you
except the sign of Jonah, who spent three days and three nights
in the belly of the whale. So must the son of man spend
three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And then
he'll be resurrected. That's what, when Peter preached
on the day of Pentecost, he concluded his message with the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the scripture says that they
were cut to the hearts and said, men and brother, what must we
do? How can we be justified? We've killed the son of God. You're telling us he's been raised
from the dead. You see, faith is believing that
God is completely satisfied with what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished.
It's us being satisfied with what God's satisfied with. The resurrection is the proof,
is the evidence. It's the only proof that God's
given to us. And when Paul spoke of that in the book of Corinthians,
he said, he appeared unto Cephas and then unto me as one as born
out of due time, and 500 other brethren, he appeared unto them. If God raised the Lord Jesus
Christ from the dead, then God must have been completely satisfied
with what he had accomplished. And if God's satisfied with Christ,
oh, how can I look anywhere else? Our Lord told those Pharisees,
he said, the men of Nineveh are going to raise up in judgment
against this generation. And one greater than Jonah is
here. And then he said, the queen of
the south will raise up in judgment against this generation. And
one better than Solomon is here. Oh, what hope we have. If Christ be not risen, then
our preaching is in vain and we're still in our sins. And
I've proven out to be a liar. That's if Christ is not raised
from the dead. It's the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ that
gives us hope. in our justification before God. It's the proof. It's the evidence
that God has given to his people. And that if there be no life
after death, there be no resurrection. Let us eat, drink and be merry
for tomorrow we should die. First Corinthians 15, Paul said,
if in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most
miserable. We're just a deceived, miserable,
sad group of people. If in this life only we have
hope. The hope of being justified before
God is the accomplished work that Christ did, and the proof
of that is His resurrection. One last passage. Turn with me
quickly, if you will, to Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5. What is the means? What is the
means by which we are justified? Is this just all going to happen
apart from our knowledge outside of us? And it did happen in the
covenant of grace, but are we going to be engaged in this in
any way? Yes, we are. The means by which
God justifies us in His presence is faith. Look, here it is. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. For by grace he is saved through
faith. And that faith is not of yourself,
it's a gift of God. If we're gonna be made willing
to come to Christ, he's gonna have to make us willing, isn't
he? He's gonna have to give us faith. When the Philippian jailer asked
the apostle, sirs, what can I do to be justified, to be saved?
The apostle didn't say to him, you know, just go home and wait
and see if God does something for you. No, he said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, well, how do I know
I can believe? The warrant for you believing is the command
to believe. You've been issued a warrant.
Come, the Spirit and the bride say, come, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. If you're able to come, God's
giving you that ability, you know that. No man can say, well,
you know, I wasn't, no, God commands all men everywhere to to repent
and to believe, and we're responsible for our unbelief, and God's responsible
for our belief. What a glorious gospel. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. For they that cometh to him must
believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. Come. Come. It's the means to
justification. There will be no justification
without faith. Without faith. Lord, give me
that faith. Lord, make me Make me to believe
I need to be justified before God. Our merciful heavenly Father, thank you for thy dear son. Thank
you for his accomplished work of redemption. Thank you for
your purpose in salvation. and how we are justifieth from
eternity past to eternity future, or give us hope in Christ, cause
us to believe that you are the only source of justification
that Grace is the only supply of justification, that the blood
of Christ is the only ground of our justification, that the
resurrection of Christ is the only proof we need. Lord, give us that faith that
we might find all our hope in thy dear son. We ask it in his
name. Amen. Number 224 in the hard back tendon. Let's stand together. Number
224. I know not my God's wondrous
grace to me yet