Turn with me to the book of Romans
chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. I'm going to begin reading in
verse 19. Read through verse 26. Before
we read, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our Father this morning, We ask
You that You would bless the preaching and the hearing of
Your Gospel. We ask You to forgive us where
we have failed You. We ask You to speak even now
through Your Word by Your Holy Spirit. Truly, we pray. The words of our mouth, the meditation
of our heart may be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength,
our Redeemer. For Christ's sake we ask these
things. Amen. Romans 3 verse 19, Now we know
that what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and that all
the world may become guilty before God. 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. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested. That is, set forth, being witnessed
by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God,
which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that
believe. For there is no difference. For
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God has 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, to declare,
I say, at this time His righteousness that he might be just and the
justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." Now, as I read that, and every
time I read it again, I am absolutely taken away with the wonder of
what Paul the Apostle set forth, declared in those Scriptures. He is setting forth, speaking
of the blessed truth which I'd like to deal this morning for
just a few minutes. And even as I began to say the
things that I'm starting to say, I'm going to tell you right now
that wonder, the blessedness of the subject this morning.
Justification is such that I am taken away at the majesty and
the grace and the mercy of Almighty God. Justification. Job chapter 25 and verse 4, Job 25. The Scripture says, Job 25. How then can man be justified
with God? Or how can he be clean that is
born of a woman? even to the moon, and it shineth
not. Yea, the stars are not pure in
his sight, how much less man that is a worm, and the Son of
Man which is a worm." How? How? This is a grand question. And the biblical answer to this
question is one that settles the believer's mind, that sets
his heart aflame, one that prompts him to praise the God of all
mercy. The answer to this question,
I'm going to tell you right now, is a man justified before God? The answer to that question,
how you answer that question, I'm going to tell you right now,
sets forth what you know, believe concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. The answer to that question is
the difference between life and death. How is a man just before
God? Of a certainty. We know there
is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Now that's
true. You know that's true. No condemnation. Just. Right. The reason that there is no condemnation
is because they are just before God in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's the reason. Now, before
this blessed truth gives us any comfort, we must understand what
it means. Justification. That's a word. We've heard it. You've heard
it. I've heard it. Well, Scott's
preached it here years and years. I've preached on it. Different
men come here and preached on it. But let me tell you what
goes through the heart of a believer when they hear these blessed
terms. Justification. Their heart, the
ear of their heart is made to tune. And they say, I want to
hear exactly. I want to hear it. Tell me one
more time. I want to hear exactly what you're
talking about. Justification. Justification is to declare one. It is a declaration. That's what
it is. It's a declaration. To declare
one to be just or righteous And that is before Almighty God,
not by my own personal innocence, because we have none, but by
the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ to us. It is a declaration. Thereby, by the imputed righteousness
of Christ, we are considered righteous in Him alone. Justification, the declaration
by God's free grace toward those that He has everlastingly loved,
those that He has chosen, those for whom Christ died, those who
believe, accounted righteous, not again
by anything done by them, but by the perfect obedience and
full satisfaction of the Lord Jesus Christ to the law and that
charged to them. Let me give you an example. Let's say, that I have stolen
something, anything, a car, a coat, a TV. I stole it. I stole it. And I am guilty. I am guilty. Personally, I am
guilty. I am apprehended. I am brought
before the court. All of the evidence is brought
forth but there's not enough evidence to pronounce me guilty." The jury has listened to everything. Judge, we find the defendant
to be not guilty because of a lack of evidence. The judge rules
in the case and says, justified. on the fact that there is no
evidence, not enough evidence. Now let me tell you something.
That judge's ruling of justified did not make me in myself personally
innocent. Do you understand that? Justification
is the declaration, the pronouncement of innocence Not based on my
own innocence, but on the innocence of another. On the innocence,
the righteousness, the perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Justification. If a man or a woman ever gets
hold of what it is to be just before God, based on the imputed
righteousness of Christ, he's got some peace. and some comfort
and some joy. Justification. Justification. Remember, the pronouncement of
that elect, believing sinner freed from the penalty of the
law and fully restored to divine favor, declaring that justified
sinner to be conformed to the law totally on the merit of Christ's
imputed righteousness. I will not give you or anyone
else, especially myself, any ground of hope based on what
you have done. Well, I have believed. I gave
my heart to Jesus. I've been a member here. I've
been baptized. I'm a Baptist. I'm a Methodist.
I'm this. A man is just before God one
way. the imputed righteousness of
Christ to him. Christ alone. Christ alone. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. I am well pleased. To condemn by a judge is to pass
sentence upon one who is truly guilty. If a judge rules guilty,
it is because the proof is there. Therefore, when a judge rules
me guilty before law, I'm guilty. If a judge were to rule me justified,
it is because before the law. The evidence is not there to
condemn me. Now the first thing, we've got
to understand that it is Almighty God who justifies. And those
that God justifies are just. Here's the point that sets my
heart at rest, because it is before Him that I stand. Now
listen, let me tell you something. We're not fooling Him this morning.
I mean, you may think you're sitting there, and I'm on this
row right here, and I'm just by myself, and nobody really
sees me. And I'm not really a spectacle, and nobody really understands
exactly what's going on. But turn with me to Psalm 139.
139. And we might as well just get
real honest about this and understand a few things. Psalm 139, verse 1, O Lord, Thou
hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting,
mine uprising. Thou understandest my thoughts
afar off. Thou compassest my path and my
lying down, and art acquainted with all of my ways, There is
not a word in my mouth, O Lord, but lo, O Lord, Thou knowest
it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and
before and laid Thy hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It is high. I cannot attain it."
Listen, let me tell you something. Almighty God is going to deal
with every man one way or the other. Absolute grace and mercy
for the sake of His Son are in absolute judgment according to
that man's works, man's attitudes. The regenerated sinner, now knowing
the One with whom he must deal, perceiving something of the high
demands upon him and realizing how completely he has failed
in obedience, rejoices in the blessed truth of justification.
How can a man be just with God? There's basically five things
that I want to say about justification. Lord willing, I'll get through
them all this morning. If not, I'll finish it tonight. Justification. What's the source
of it? What is the source of justification? The source of justification is
the free grace of God, God's grace. Therefore, Paul said,
we read that just a few moments ago, Romans 3, 24 says, being justified
freely by His grace. Justified freely without a cause
in you. No cause in you. No cause. Remember, I don't want to waste
time and go over redundantly, but I want you to understand
something. There is not one thing that you
can do to justify yourself before God. To have Almighty God pronounce
you just. Just. All have sinned. and come short of the glory of
God. The source of justification is
God Almighty, His free grace alone. He told Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. Isaiah 61.10 says, I will greatly
rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He
hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. I will rejoice,
Isaiah said in him. Romans 4, 6 and 7, David also
describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered." The first
thing that I want us to consider about justification, we are justified
freely by His grace, freely, freely, with no cause in us,
freely. 2 Corinthians 5.21, we've quoted
that and we've read it so many times, you know it by heart.
But 2 Corinthians, He hath made Him to be sin. He hath made Him sin. The to
be is in italics there. He hath made Him sin, who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That Scripture sets forth in
the clearest light justification. How is a man justified before
Almighty God? God Himself has made, as you
will, a divine exchange. Our sins, that is, the sins of
God's elect, those that He has everlastingly chosen in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ, those that God has been pleased to
show mercy to, has charged our guilt, our sin, to Christ's account
and His righteousness to ours. Our sins to Him, judicially,
was the grounds of His suffering. He was innocent. personally innocent. And God charged Him with our
guilt, thereby making Him with the imputed guilt, made Him answerable. Our sins to Him, His righteousness
to us. Galatians 3.13, Christ hath redeemed
us bought us back, paid for us. He hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law being made a curse for us. The law says the soul
that sinneth is going to die. It is going to die. Man is a
sinner before Almighty God. Every man, every woman. He is
a sinner. by the imputed guilt of Adam. And Adam all died. He's a sinner
by birth. He's a sinner by practice. He's
a sinner by choice. You call it whatever. Man is
an unclean thing. Every man, every woman is a rebel
against God, born in sin. How? Now, you remember this. Justification is the declaration
by the judge himself that says, justified. No guilt. No guilt. How can a man be just
with God? David said, you know all things.
You see me. You know me. If I make my bed
in hell, you're there. If I send up to heaven, you're
there. Where am I going to hide from you? How are you going to
be just before God? How am I going to be just before
God? Well, the first thing I can tell you is that we are justified
freely. So let that be the basis of everything
that is said. Here is the foundation of justification,
freely, without a cause in you. So everything that you think
of today during this message, on why you think that you're
just before God. I'm telling you. Just forget
it when you walk down the aisle. If you came up in this church
right here, you didn't, I know. But if you were in another church,
another denomination or something, walked down the aisle and gave
a preacher your hand You remember clearly, I gave Him my hand and
prayed the sinner's prayer, and He quoted it, and I repeated
it back and forth, and then, you know, I'm telling you, if
you think that you're justified before God because of twenty
feet, you're deceived. We're justified freely. No cause
in you. Who are the objects of justification? It's the elect of God. It's God's
elect. Romans 8.33, if you want to look
this up, says, Who shall lay any charge? Do you see what he
says? Who shall lay any charge? Who
shall lay any charge to God's elect? It is God that justifies. I'm telling you, the justification
of a sinner justifying the guilty, presents a problem which none
but the omnipotent God could justly solve. We are speaking
of absolute justice, and we are speaking of absolute mercy, justification. God alone can pronounce as righteous
a personally guilty transgressor of His law, God, I'm telling
you, can justly pronounce, one, to be righteous, number one,
without challenging or bringing a charge against His honesty.
No one is going to say, you justified a man and you weren't right in
it. You weren't right. I know what
happened. Got you a good lawyer. Somehow,
now that may stand in this court, in a court in this world. That
may stand as far as man coming in, he's got him a real good
lawyer. Real high profile case. Somebody can say, well, I know
that guy. I knew he murdered her. I know
he did. But he got him some highfalutin' lawyers. Man, all that mumbo-jumbo
stuff, and back and forth, and they made this an issue, and
they made that an issue. The next thing you know, they
got it so cloudy, the judge just said, alright, not guilty. Ah, forget it. Just go on. No? We're dealing with God Almighty,
who can pronounce as righteous. Righteous! a person that is personally
guilty and not challenge or bring a charge against his honesty
without staining or defiling his holiness or without ignoring
the claims of absolute justice, justification. He does this in
such a way that all his perfections are absolutely displayed and
magnified and the Son of His love, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is glorified. How? I told you a moment ago. He has to, first of all, that
sinner has to have his sin debt paid. I'm going to tell you something. How can a man, now you think
about it, how can a man be just with God? Number one, his debt
has got to be taken care of. If I stole that car before I
could justly be pronounced justified or not guilty before court, justly,
I'm not talking about mumbo-jumbo, I'm talking about justly, I have
to have no guilt, really. Man's court may justify or be
ruled justified through ignorance, but not in God's. And secondly,
I have to have before Almighty God, I have to have a perfect
righteousness that will stand before His law. Then two things must again take
place. God must not impute to the sinner his sin. He must not charge it
to him. And He must impute righteousness. These two things can never be
separated. I must have no sin, no chargeable
guilt. And I must have a perfect righteousness to justify, to rightly set forth
this matter of justification. We must set it forth in the light
of Holy Scriptures What does the Word of God say? Now, I'm
telling you, I will tell you something right now. It doesn't
matter what you've heard before. It doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter if it's not right. If it's right, it does matter.
But I'm talking about what you've heard before. That is not scriptural. That's not right. What does the
Word of God say concerning justification? The source, the basis of justification
is the free, pure, sovereign grace of God. Don't ever forget
that. Don't ever. That is being justified
freely by His grace. What is grace? Being justified
freely. I told you what justification
is. It is the declaration. It is the declaration justified
based on no guilt and a perfect righteousness. It is the declaration
of it. I'm a sinner personally and you
are too. Justified. Justified. Justified freely by His grace.
What is grace? Some say grace is the offer. It's the offer. God graciously
offers salvation. Grace is the unmerited and undeserving
favor shown to a hell-deserving sinner. I will be gracious. What is there within a sinner
that would win the favorable regard of Almighty God who is
of purer eyes than to behold evil. God's grace is set forth in the
blessed Gospel, the Gospel. For by grace, by the undeserving,
unmerited favor. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." You lay
this to heart. If a man is ever saved, it is
by the sovereign grace of God. Sovereign grace. You didn't earn
it. You didn't deserve it. You didn't
merit it. You didn't procure it of your own work, of your
own will. Forget it. You stand before Almighty
God and claim your own work, and you claim your own ability,
and you claim your own will, and you claim whatever you want
to claim. But I'm telling you, we are saved by grace. Nothing added on man's part or
it's not grace. It's not grace. Someone says,
but I believe that God offers salvation to all men and that we have the responsibility
to accept it or we can reject it if we desire to. Therefore,
God's grace is offered and by my will, now you remember this,
there is none good, no, not one. There's none good. There's nothing
good in you. So therefore, that means that
since there's none good, that you will be spoken of as the
Scripture speaks of, leaven is what's set forth in Scripture
as being a symbol of sin, impurity, leaven, leaven. And man says,
well, all I did, all I have to do is just accept it. And here's the grace of God offered
to me and by me accepting, by me giving, by my free will, my
acceptance. Well, let me ask you something
now. Did that free will come from you? And you will say yes. That was my free will. I freely accepted. And so therefore,
what I did was I added what I did to what God offered. Well, a little leaven leavens
a whole lump. I'm telling you, if a man is
justified, he is justified, the Scripture says, by the grace
of God. God of all grace. God's grace. By grace, God has
chosen us. By grace, we are redeemed. By
grace, we are saved. By grace, we are called. By grace,
we are kept. By grace, are you in Christ Jesus. By God's grace. If a man is going to be justified,
if a man is justified before God, He is justified by the grace
of God. Isaiah 43, 25 says, I, even I,
am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not
remember your sins. The first cause of justification
is His wondrous grace, unsought, uninfluenced, unmerited, Undeserved? Titus 3, 5-7 says, Not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy.
He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly. Through Christ
Jesus our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Grace to you, Paul says in Ephesians
1, 2, and peace. Ephesians 1, 4, God, the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, chose us in Him before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame justified
before Him in love. The Scripture sets forth that
we are justified by grace, justified freely by His grace. But the
next truth that I shall set forth in the Scripture is that we are
justified, the Scripture says, by His blood, by His blood. God commendeth His love. This is Romans 5. 8 and 9, God
commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us, much more than being now justified by His
blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. But you said, I thought you said
that we were saved by grace. We are. That is the foundation
truth upon which justification is truly, truthfully set forth
by grace freely. But let me tell you, the grace
of God is never in Scripture. Never is it set forth at the
expense of God's justice. Man by nature is a rebel against
God. And God Himself says, I will
by no means clear the guilty. Justification is to be declared
righteous, not guilty, no sin. 1 John 1.7, if we walk in the
light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us. from all sin. We are justified freely by His
grace. We are justified by His blood. These two do not contradict. Justification set forth in the
Scriptures, sets forth. This is how God Almighty justifies
His people. By His grace, by the blood of
Christ, We are justified by His substitutionary death. What we
owed, He paid. Christ's blood is the payment
of our justification, if I can say it like that. God has dealt
with us graciously and has dealt with our covenant head justly. Once He, that is the Lord Jesus
Christ, satisfied justice for us, paying our guilt, paying
for our sins by the sacrifice of Himself, He was raised from
the dead because our justification was accepted, completed, finished. He said, is finished. It. What is? He redeemed us. He paid us. Almighty God justifies
freely. He justifies us by the blood
of Christ. It is by grace, grace that Almighty
God provided a surety, one that He had found. He said, deliver
them from going down to the pit. What? I found a ransom. I found
a payment. I found Him. It is by Him, the
Lord Jesus Christ, our surety. You know what a surety is? A
cosigner. That's the easiest way for us
to understand it. One that will make good on the
debt. Sign a note at a bank for somebody. Maybe some of you have. If they
didn't make good on the debt, did the bank come after you?
Yes, if they didn't, they will. The surety, the cosigner, our
surety, it is by Him, our surety, our Redeemer, that His blood
has put away our sin. And we are justified before Almighty
God. The Scripture says we are justified
freely by His grace. We are justified by His blood.
The Scripture sets forth that we are justified by faith. Romans 3 verse 26, same Scripture
that we read. to declare, I say at this time,
His righteousness, that He might be just, and the justifier of
him that believeth in Jesus." Faith is not the reason that
we are justified before God. That's what Arminian doctrine
sets forth. I am justified before God because
I exercised my faith. James 2.14 says, can faith save
him? Let me ask you this. Is Christ the One that died for
you or is your faith the One that died for you? Were you chosen in the Lord Jesus
Christ or were you chosen in your faith? Now you think about
this. What am I putting my hope in? My faith? Or in Him? Christ said, I am the way. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the light. What then is
set forth in justification by faith? Faith is the means by
which Almighty God grants, applies. It is by which we have received
our justification. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. Faith is the substance of things
that are hoped for. It's the evidence of things that
are not seen. It is not my faith that saves
me. God Almighty saves me. But without
faith, No man is going to please God. Faith. Faith is that by
which Almighty God applies justification. Without faith, if saving faith
be not found, then God Almighty has not granted that faith, which
is the evidence of justification secured by the blood of Christ
and it is impossible to please Him. Turn with me to Romans 4. Romans 4, verse 1, What shall
we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the
flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For
what saith the Scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was counted
unto him for righteousness." What it? What it? Look at verse 23 of Romans 4. Now, it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom
it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised
again for our justification. The object of our faith, the
Lord Jesus Christ, His blood, His blood, the imputed righteousness
of Christ, those that Almighty God has purposed to save. He justified in His mind in eternity,
justified freely by His grace. He justified them in the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He justified them by faith, granted
them faith. We are justified not because
of your faith, but through faith. by faith, freely justified. I want to be very careful. I
want you to understand, it is not your faith by which God justifies
you. You are justified freely by His
grace, by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, by His righteousness
charged to you. How do I know? How do I know? I know that so. How do I know
that I might have some interest in that? How do I know? I know that God justifies freely. I know that He justifies by the
blood of Christ. How do I know that I can enter
into that? Abraham believed God. Abraham believed God. God granted
him faith. And he was justified by faith. I cannot enter into the book
of life and see my name there. How can I have some assurance
of being justified? Faith is the evidence. of things that are not seen.
Faith is not your justification. You're not justified by your
work of faith. But Almighty God does not set
forth this justification by any other means except by faith. God saves. If a man is ever saved,
faith is there. Faith. For by grace, let's say
it again, for by grace are you saved. Alright, now that's a
truth. Is that a truth? For by grace,
through faith, you're going to go out and water your garden.
You're going to water your garden. And I ask you, Did you water
the garden? Yes, I did. Well, what did you
water it with? I watered it with a water hose
or a hose pipe. Well, let me ask you this. Did the hose pipe water it or
did the water in the hose pipe water it? Well, you say, well,
the water in it is what actually watered the garden. That's where
the benefit was. It was in the water. Oh, then
really it wasn't the hose pipe. then that watered the garden.
It was the water in it. That's correct. Uh huh. For by
grace are you saved through faith. God's means of application, of
justification. Faith. Faith. Faith. This is the evidence. It is the way by which you receive
it. Justification by faith. An Arminian preaches that he
is saved by his faith. The Scripture says that he is
saved by grace, by the blood of Christ, imputed righteousness. How is it applied to you? God
Almighty grants you faith. He grants faith. Faith is God's
means of justification. Did I make that perfectly clear?
Please don't think that I said that a man is saved by his faith.
I think I made that clear. By grace, by the blood of Christ,
by faith. James 2.21 says, Was not Abraham
our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his
son upon the altar? Whoa! Wait a minute. You said
that a man was justified by grace. That's right. By God's grace.
And you said that a man was justified by the blood of Christ. That's
right. You said that a man was justified by faith, that it is
the means, the divine means, by which Almighty God applies
justification. James 2, verse 24, you see then
how by works. A man is justified and not by
faith only. Verse 25 says, Likewise also
was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received
the messenger and had sent them out another way? You say, well,
now I can see right now that the Bible is contradictory. Oh,
no, it's not. Oh, no. How is a man justified? By the free grace of God. The
source of justification. Secured by the blood of Christ. Secured by the blood of Christ.
Applied by faith. What then is the evidence of
justification? Works is not the cause of justification. God's grace is. But works is the evidence of
true faith. James says, without works is
dead, not the fulfilling or the obeying of the law. By the works,
Paul says in Galatians 2.16, by the works of the law shall
no man be justified. But James just said without works.
A man is vain. Works. A man is empty. A man is a tinkling cymbal and
a sounding brass. Good works are the fruit, the
evidence of true saving faith. Works. Works is not what justifies
you. I'll go back. We're saved by
the grace of God. Justified freely by His grace. Source. Secured by His blood. Paid for. Paid their debt. Justified is to be declared not
guilty. Christ paid the debt. He earned
a righteousness applied, charged to His people. What then are
we speaking of when we say that we are justified by works? In a sense then, before men,
we justify or declare our profession of faith in Christ by our conduct. Conduct. Evidence. Any faith that does not produce
evidence or obedience in conduct to Almighty God is a false faith. It is not the faith of God's
elect. Somebody says, well, I tell you what, I believe everything
you say. I believe this. I believe in salvation by grace
and everything. But I just kind of prefer to
just not show it. I believe it. I believe what
you're saying. I had a man tell me one time,
he said, a preacher, he said, I believe everything you're preaching.
I believe everything you're preaching." But if I preach that, he said,
they'll run me out. They'll kick me out. He said,
I wouldn't have a job anymore. I said, you don't believe it.
You don't believe it. This thing of saying, I believe
exactly what you're saying, I believe that, and then you can faithfully
support a place that does not preach this, you're not telling
the truth. You don't believe it. Faith without
the evidence of faith It's dead. Faith without works. Free grace
is not opposed to good works. Free grace promotes good works. And the Holy Ghost does not leave
us to guess what good works we're talking about in the reality
of true faith. Turn with me. I'm almost done.
Galatians chapter 5. Galatians 5. 22. The fruit of the Spirit. The evidence,
the manifestation of the Spirit. Let me say that. The fruit of
true saving faith. Love. Love toward Almighty God
as He is set forth in the Scriptures. Sovereign, saving, distinguishing
God Almighty. Love, joy, true joy. Peace. Peace with God, not based
on anything that I've done, but based on what He has set forth
done. Peace. Long-suffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance. Against such, there is no law. Works, apart from faith, or faith
apart from work, is dead. Somebody says, I believe that,
I just don't show it. No, you don't believe it. The
Scripture says that we're justified. It's the evidence of faith. Certainly, our works are not
the basis of our justification. For it is the imputed righteousness
of Christ. But this statement sets forth
that there isn't evidence. Lastly, the Scripture says in
Matthew 12. Last Scripture. Matthew 12, verse
37. Matthew 12, verse 37. The Lord Jesus Christ. Let's
read verse 36. All right, let's read 35. I'll get it right in
a minute. Matthew 12, 35. A good man, a man made to be so totally on
the imputed righteousness of Christ, out of the good treasure
of the heart, bringeth forth good things. An evil man out
of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say
unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
give account of in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou
shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
What is he saying? Out of the abundance of a man's
heart, his mouth speaks. That's what he says. Justification. Justification. That declaration
of innocence. Righteousness before Almighty
God. is by the righteousness of Christ
applied. It is by grace in the mind and
purpose and will of Almighty God eternally. By grace. By blood through Christ
who is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world and was
in time actually slain for the redemption of our souls. It is by faith, in time, Almighty
God shall apply, faith, grant, faith, justify, believe God,
the means, the avenue, the conduit by which justification is received,
by works, the evidence of true faith and by His words. Justification. If a man ever,
by God's grace, is made to see by the Spirit of God what he
is by nature, and he knows it, he knows it, he is a sinner by
nature, by practice, by choice in himself, and to have Almighty
God declare that man justified. How can a man be just with God? One way, by grace, by the blood,
by faith, by works it's evidenced, by works he speaks. By grace,
the foundation justified by grace.