Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Galatians. Galatians 2. Thank you, Brother
Jeff. Galatians 2. Last week, you just hold your
hand there to Galatians 2. I referenced this scripture in
one of the messages that I preached in Ashland there at Hurricane
Road. It was James 2.25. The scripture says likewise also,
was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received
the messengers and had sent them out another way? And as I thought on that verse
of scripture, the word justified, kept coming
back. And I kept thinking on that.
Justified. Justification. And as I thought on it, I looked at Galatians 2, verse 16, knowing that a man
is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith
of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that
we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the
works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh
be justified." Now listen, I'm not going to say anything, Lord
willing, today, that I've not said before. But this glorious truth, this
doctrine, and when we say doctrine, when I say doctrine, the proclamation
of truth, this glorious doctrine of justification is one that
needs to be heard often. We need to be reminded. I'll bet you, I'm talking about
myself, if I had not just looked and studied and somebody asked
you, said, now, tell me this. The truth of justification. Explain that to me. I'll bet you that the majority
of the people sitting in this room today would say, okay, justification. Alright. I know, I think I know,
I'm pretty sure I know. That's okay. Explain it to me. We need to hear this often. Justification. Justification. I need, you need, a believer
needs to hear afresh about his state before God Almighty. And that state of being justified,
justified is that state whereby a man shall eternally Praise
God Almighty for His mercy and kindness, will and purpose to
show compassion before Himself, before His law. What is justification? You know, I looked it up. Mr. Webster looked up justification
in the dictionary. Here's what it says. To prove
the justice of. To vindicate. To excuse. I thought, well, okay. I know that those are good words. I understand that. And I can
truthfully say that I agree with it. I agree with those words. But I would rather take God's
Word on justification and find out what Almighty God has to
say about this blessed subject and pray that the Spirit of God
would reveal to me, to my heart, what is it to be justified before
God? How is it? What is it? Why is it? How is it? And who? Who are justified before
God? Now listen, I know this. First
of all, justification, I'm going to get to what it is in just
a second. Justification is not something. that I can personally do. I cannot personally attain justification
before God. I can not do it. Galatians 2.16 says, knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law. Now, I know that about justification. I know that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, by doing. When we say the works of the
law, this means this. Anything that you can do. Anything
that you can personally do. Well, that pretty well ends it
right there. Okay. If I cannot do anything,
then that ends my ability. What can I do? I can't do anything. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law. Do and live. Now, I know that truth from the Scriptures,
because I just read it. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the law. Because here's what the law demands. Here's the demand on my doing. Whatever I do, here's what the
law demands of what I do. Galatians 3.10, Cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things which are written in the book
of the law. Now here's the reason that I
can't do it. I'm not saying I can't do something. I mean, I can come
to church, I can read my Bible, I can pray. But here's the thing. The law of God demands absolute
perfection. It demands absolute holiness. It demands, without any wavering,
ever, from the time of my birth until I leave this world, it
demands absolute obedience. Not even a waver in my thought. And the Scripture says, all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. So here's the thing.
I know it. I know from this Word right here,
based on what that Word says, that I cannot justify myself
by doing something because I've broken the law of God. I know
it secondly from experience. Now let's just get on. Romans
7.18, For I know that in me, Paul says, that is, in my flesh
dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me. I would desire. I don't think
that there's a believer sitting in here that would not admit. I would desire to be obedient. I want to be. I do want to be.
The will is present, but how to perform that which is good. I don't find that in me. I find
not. It's not in me. So I know it
from experience. I know it from the Word of God.
I know it from experience. So justification is something
that's got to be done for me. Because I cannot do it for myself. The proclamation of being justified
before God. I read back there where Rahab
was justified. She was justified. From the receiving
of the spies to the sending them out again. Everything in between. When they came and she talked to them, she told
them, she said, we know, we heard. We heard how God opened the Red
Sea for you, how Sihon the king, Sihon and Og, when the nation
of Israel tried to... Well, they wanted to go through
the land there, and the kings wouldn't let them, so they were
going to circumvent around, and Sihon went out there and picked
a fight with them, and the Jews didn't back down, and God gave
deliverance to the Jews and destroyed Sihon, and Rahab said, We heard.
We know. And I know that God is God. So
she hit them. Some men came over from the king.
The king says, tell us where the men are. And she said, I
don't have any idea. I don't know where they came
from. I don't know where they went. If you're hurried, you
can get them. She hit them and lied and lied. And God said she was justified.
Well, I know this. Justification must be something
that's got to be done for me, because I can't do it for myself. Okay, here's my question then. How is justification accomplished? Well, back in Galatians 2.16,
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but
by the faith of Jesus Christ. Not faith in Christ. That's absolutely... Brother
Jeff just read it. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. But whose faith justifies me? Whose faith is it? By the faith
of Jesus Christ. We believe by faith that it's
His faith. that justifies us. By the faith
of Jesus Christ. Not my faith, God looks at, without
believing on Christ, I'll never please God. But whose faith do
I look to? His. His. Justification. Now listen, I'm going to tell
you what it is now. What is justification? Justification is the declaration
of God according to the absolute standard of His holy law through and only through the
merit of the Lord Jesus Christ and that being found in him,
that no charge is laid to me." Justification is Almighty God imputing the righteousness of
Christ to me. and based upon His faithfulness,
His obedience, His walk, His honor, His glory, His praise,
being imputed, charged to me. Now, here's a good explanation
of justification. I told you what Mr. Webster said.
Here's what God says about justification. Romans 4, is the man to whom
the Lord will not impute sin. Blessed is the man to whom God
will not charge sin to them. Why? Because He's charged it
to His Son. From before the foundation of
the world, God Almighty is going to deal with sin. As I've said
before, this thing is just sweeping it under the rug. God's just.
God's not going to sweep it under the rug. Almighty God is going
to deal with sin. And the Lamb slain from before
the foundation of the world. How was Rahab justified? Rahab
is back in the Old Testament, before Christ ever came into
this world. And Rahab was justified. In herself? Absolutely not. That
woman, she was born in sin, lived in sin, and absolutely had nothing
of herself to count worthy of God saying that she was justified. How was she justified? By the grace of God. Almighty
God took the sin of that woman, charged it to His Son, And Christ
answered for it, paid the debt of it, and God Almighty robed
her in the righteousness of His Son. He hadn't even lived yet. The Father trusted in Him first. He will. He shall. God who is
eternal saw the eternal Son obediently. walking before Him. Look at Psalm
32, 1 and 2. Psalm 32, 1 and 2. Here is where Paul was quoting
in Romans 4, 8. Psalm 32, 1 and 2. Blessed is
he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, Blessed
is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in
end whose spirit there is no guile." Now, I want you to notice
what we just read. Scripture does not say that we
are without blame. Justification, the mere truth
of justification, sets forth that we have sin with us and
transgression with us. When we talk about a man being
justified, it does not mean that he is without sin. That means
without sin. Christ Jesus came into the world,
Paul says, to save sinners of whom I am chief. A justified
man or a woman is not one who is without sin. But blessed is the man whose
transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered, paid for,
paid the debt of, atoned for by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. But the blessed truth of justification
is God Almighty doesn't impute the guilt of it to you. He doesn't
charge you with it. He charged it to Christ. Where
did it go? Why is it not imputed to me? Christ put it away. How far is behind God's back? How far as the east is from the
west? I'll tell you how far it is. It will never be brought
up again against you. Not against those Christ died
for. It will never be brought up again. Is not the soul that sinneth surely
going to die eternally? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And He put away the eternal death
of all that the Father had given Him. Where is it? It's gone. The dead of it is gone. There's
where 2 Corinthians, we bring this up all the time, 2 Corinthians
5.21, "...he hath made him sin." Our sin. Sin of his people. Sin
of his elect. According to John 10.15, those
that he died for, lay down their life for the sheep, He has made him sin. And there's the guilt of it right
there. There's the totality of what is owed to Almighty God,
to His law. And God Almighty dealt with the
Lord Jesus Christ. And He died. He died. Put away that guilt. made Him to be sin for us, He
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Christ was truly made what we
are, and the Fathers forsook Him. Forsook Him. Why did He forsake Him? Because
debt was there. Sin was there. And he put it
away. And all of the rebellion and
the guilt of his people was his. And he bore our guilt in his
own body and put it away. The totality of what was owed
to God Almighty, put away. And the law was served. It's satisfied. And that's not all. I was telling
you about that righteousness. For me to be just before God,
I have to have no guilt. No guilt. No guilt. No guilt. Sin? I have sin. Those in Christ Jesus don't owe
for it. They don't owe. There's no condemnation. There's no debt. Not only does
God's people not have any debt, they do have sin. But that sin
is pardoned. It's pardoned. Can God do that? Absolutely. Can God Almighty
charge my sin to somebody else? Only in the Gospel can true guilt
be charged to another. You can never say in any other
sense that what I did was really made to be somebody else's, and
I'm scot-free, only here. Only here. The absolute guilt,
the debt put to Him, and God Almighty put it away, the debt
of it. No more owing. What do I owe
for obedience to God's law? What do I owe for obedience to
righteousness to God's law? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. I owe no debt of obedience
to God's law for righteousness before God. Christ has paid the
debt by one sacrifice. He hath perfected forever. One sacrifice. Perfected forever. Them that are set apart, sanctified. Now, I owe no debt. I have no
debt. But I must be as righteous as
God. I have to owe nothing, Mike,
and I have to be as righteous as Christ. Robed in His righteousness. Robed in Him. The law looks upon God's people
and says, No charge. Justified. No guilt. Holy in Him. In Him. The law says I've already exacted
the punishment that's due them, or that was due them, at Calvary. And they're perfect. robed in Christ. Right now, believer,
your standing and acceptance before God is not in yourself. You haven't done anything to
stand before God justified. You've not done anything to stand
before God and be able to say, I have obeyed God's law. No, you haven't. I've earned
a righteousness that will stand before God's scrutiny. No, you
haven't. You were cut out of the same
lump as everybody else with all of the frailties and wanderings
and failings and sinfulness that you feel and see in yourself,
believer, and you grieve over it. You do grieve. There's not
a believer that truthfully will admit anything other than, oh,
wretched man that I am. The presence of sin grieves me. But this is what God says. No
charge. No debt. No penalty. Oh, my soul, may the Lord Grant
me to lay hold upon this truth. Can it be that I am perfect in
Him? Accepted in Him? Complete in
Him? As holy, robed in His righteousness,
as holy as God Himself in Christ? Yes. Oh, what grace! What mercy! Now, let me ask you this. Who
shall lay any charge? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercession for us. And in closing, I've got two
quick things to say. Why? Why does God justify anybody? Why? I want you to turn a couple
of pages to Ephesians 1 verse 5 and Ephesians 1 verse 9. Here's the reason why. Here's
the reason why. I've told you what it is. Justification. It has nothing to do with you. Justified before God part, nothing
to do with you. Why? Here it is, Ephesians 1.5,
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to Himself. Here it is. Here's the reason
why. to the good pleasure of His will.
Look at verse 9. Here's the reason why. "...having
made known unto us the mystery of His will according to His
good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself." Why? Why? Why would God Almighty choose to show mercy to one and
justly Leave another to himself. Why? Why? He said, I will have mercy on
whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. So then, it is not of him that
willeth, or of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Okay, I told you I was winding
this down, and I am. I'm going to ask you this question,
and I'm going to be quiet. Can a man or a woman have any
indication whether or not he's justified before God? Can I have any assurance? I know
what it is. It's not of myself. It's not
justified. I know what it is. I know why
it is. Because God chose to show mercy. I know how it came about. Here's how man was justified
before God. By grace, by the blood, by faith,
by works, by words. I'll deal with that another time. He took my guilt, paid for it in blood of Christ,
robed me in His righteousness, and declared me in Christ. Justified. No charge. Non-imputation
of guilt. I know what it is. I know why
He did it. Because He chose to. Now, can
I have any hope of knowing whether or not God's justified me? Acts 13.39. Here's how you can
know. Here's how God said it. I'm thankful for what Mr. Webster
says, but here again, I'd like to know what God has to say about
it. Acts 13.39. Let's read 38 and 39. Be it known unto
you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man, Christ,
It's preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And here's the Scripture
I want to read. And by Him, by His work, by His obedience, by
Him, by Him, all that believe are justified from all things
from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. By Him,
all that believe. Believe what? Here's a question. All that believe that they were
not justified by the works of the law. All that believe that they were
not justified by their own doing, by their own will. All they that
believe that they were justified by the good pleasure and will
of Almighty God. All that believe that they were
justified by their guilt, by their sin, being atoned for,
covered, covered, paid for by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ who laid down His life for His people, for His sheep. All that believe that their justification
is wrought by God Almighty, robing them in the righteousness of
Christ. By Him, all that believe are
justified from all things from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. Justification. A believer is one that knows that sin is present
with him. But according to God's Word,
he is justified. God's law looks and says, perfect. Well done. Well done by good
and faithful servant. Me? Well done. In Christ, God Almighty looks
at His people, sees His Son and them in Him. No charge. Perfect. Accepted. In the Beloved, accepted. Now I can go back and read about
Rahab. Was not Rahab the harlot? The harlot. Justified. Justified. from the receiving
of the spies to the sending of them away. In herself, see, I know she's a liar. I know
it sometime. Sometime. She was a harlot. God saved her. I'm convinced
saved her out of it. But Almighty God justified her,
not by anything she did, but by the grace of God. her guilt,
her sin not imputed to her. I need to hear this often. I
need to hear this afresh. Lord, bless our hearts to the
glory of Christ for His sake and our good.