Open your Bibles again to the
second chapter of the book of Romans. And I'll read verses 12 and 13
of that second chapter. Verse 12, For as many as have sinned without
law shall also perish without law. And as many as have sinned in
the law shall be judged by the law." Verse 13, "...for not the hearers of the
law are just before God." Let me read that again. For not the
hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law
shall be justified." The great question is what I want to try to answer. here this morning. It's a great
question. On what basis, this is the question,
on what ground, on what platform, on what basis does God accept
a man? Now, this is the most fundamental. of all religious questions. Several answers have been given,
and I'll give you two answers, two answers. There's many more
answers. About every one that you talk
to has an answer to the question, an answer of their own, conceived
and concocted in their own understanding. But I'll give you two answers
to the question. And the first answer to the question,
you remember now, the question is, on what ground, on what basis,
does God accept a man? Now, the first answer to the
question is, a life of complete obedience to the law. That is
the first answer. A life of complete obedience
to God's holy law. Second is faith in the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the second answer. Remember
now, the first answer is a life of complete obedience to the
law of God. The second answer is faith in
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this question is
the most important, not only religious question,
it is the most important question that a person can be asked. I
know of no other question that will take precedent by way of
importance over this question. How or what is the basis of acceptance of a man before God? Well, a
clear answer must be given. We must be clear
in our own minds as to this important matter. It is the most fundamental
question that plagues the human heart. How can a man be just
before God? On what basis does God accept
a man? It's the root of all the problems
in our society. The only ground—I'll give you
the right answer—the only ground now upon which any person is
accepted by God is a life of perfect obedience to his law. That's the only ground whereby
a man may be accepted with God and before God. It is a life
of perfect obedience to God's holy law. Now, most people select
answer number two, which says faith in the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you why most people
make number two their answer. It is because they do not want
to appear to be legalistic. Most of the twentieth century
religionists believe that faith is the basis or the ground of
acceptance with God. Most any religious group that
is meeting this morning here at 10.30 in our area and in surrounding
areas and from Maine to California, most of them, religious fundamentalists
will tell you that faith is the basis of our acceptance with
God. Now, all of the attributes that
God implants in the human heart, faith stands right at It is the
gift of God. Faith is the gift of God, and
it is the root of all virtues, faith. But irrespective of the
nature of faith, irrespective of the princely nature of faith,
it never is the ground of acceptance with God or the ground of a man's
salvation. Though it is the noblest gift,
stands at the top, it is never the basis of acceptance for a
man with God. Never is. big danger, I think,
of the modern religious scene. This is the power, this is the
danger. That is, they say they've got
this idea in their head that a man's accepted on the basis
of their faith, They say, if you would ask them that question,
they'd say, it is because of my faith. They would say, it
is, if I would ask them the question, on what ground does God accept
a sinner? They'd say, on the basis of my
faith. They'd say, on the basis I'm
born again. They'd say, because I'm born
again. of my faith, or because I trust in Jesus, then God will accept me. That's
the basis, they say, of my acceptance with God. It's my faith. It's because I'm born again.
It's because I trust in Jesus that God accepts me. Now, listen
to me. To say that faith is the basis
of acceptance with God, to say that, watch out. We're going to be legalistic.
And I'll tell you why we'll be legalistic. Because it offers
to God. If you say, I'm accepted on the
basis of my faith, then you offer to God something which is in
you as the ground of acceptance. That God gives faith... Now, I've already said that God
gives faith and faith is a gift of God. That God gives faith
now makes no difference to the principle Because faith is still
a quality of me. All that hold that faith is the
basis of their acceptance with God. That faith is a work that
we do, a quality that we have, That makes us acceptable to a
holy God. Now look back at Romans chapter
2, verse 12 and 13. It says, For as many as have
sinned without law shall also perish without law. and as many
as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law." Now watch
it, "'For not the hearers of the law are just before God,
but the doers of the law shall be justified.'" Well, the Bible
is unequivocal here in this declaration. None but the doers of the law
are accepted by God. None. I'll say it again, read
it for you here again. None. The hearers of the law,
for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the
doers of the law are justified. That is, None but the doers of
the law is accepted by God. That is an eternal principle
with God, and he will not turn from it. He never has changed
his mind. A life of perfect obedience,
that is to say, a life of Righteousness is what God demands and is what
God will accept. Now, the trouble with most modern-day
evangelism is that God is presented, or let's not use the word God,
let's use the word gospel. The trouble with what we hear
today that's under the name of evangelism is that the gospel
is presented as a smart way of going around the law. It has
come to mean a smart trick. whereby we can jump over the
claims of God's law and land straight into the presence
of God. We think, for the most part,
that the gospel means that God is less demanding than He used
to be. Now, God demands. I oftentimes say require, but there's something more forceful
about the word demand than require. God demands a life of perfect
obedience to his law. That's what God demands. No lame,
imperfect, halfway, partial obedience will satisfy His holiness. The doers of the law shall be
justified, the Bible says. James says that if we offend
in only one point of God's holy law, we are lawbreakers. Our problem is that we have neglected
to preach the holiness and the majesty of God himself. And God has been presented in
this so-called twentieth-century religion and evangelism as an
easygoing, benevolent, frantically running around heaven seeking
how he can please ungodly and worldly people. We need to know
what is the holy demand of God himself. What is this holy requirement
of God? We need to know the standard
of God. We need to preach the standard
of God in such a way that men will cry out, How? If this is what God demands,
how then can I be saved? If this is what God demands,
how can I be saved? We must not get the idea now
that faith is against God's law. Look over here in Romans 3 and
31. Paul argues here that faith honors
the law of God. It says here, do we then make
void the law through faith? God forbid! We establish the
law. Paul argues here that the way
of faith is not against the law. Faith honors the law of God.
Faith acknowledges that it, that is, the law of God, is only on
the… or acceptance, acceptance with God, the basis on which
God will accept us. The only ground of our acceptance
is on the complete obedience to God's holy law. And God will
never accept a man apart from complete, holy obedience to his
law. Now, I told you at the outset,
and I read a few verses from Romans chapter 3, but I told
you from Romans 1, 13 to chapter 3, verse 20 to 21 probably, Paul,
from the first chapter to the third chapter, seeks, does, under
God, he is dead level fast, to hammer with unsurpassed clarity
and with an inspired force, the message
that the whole human race is lost before God. From chapter one to chapter concludes
by saying, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The whole human race, every man,
every woman, every boy, every girl, is in such a terrible,
awful predicament. Why? Because here's why we're
in the mess that we are. is because we have not been able
to give God what is God's due, which is a life of perfect conformity
to His law. That's what God's due is, perfect,
perfect, absolute, perfect conformity to His law. That is, nothing less than a
perfect righteousness. Now, the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ honors the law of God. Faith honors the law of God. And since faith always depends
and takes its value from the object of faith, then faith will
always give this answer, that the only ground on which a man
is accepted by God is a life of complete obedience to the
law. That's what faith says. True
faith says that. Now it says, but now the righteousness
of God. God intervenes. into our awful calamity, our
awful predicament. What is meant, really, by the
righteousness of God? Well, the righteousness of God
is that which is measured by the character of God himself. It is that which is commensurate
with the holiness of God. It has God as its measure. It is His holy, spotless character. That's the righteousness of God.
And that's what God demands. God will not, cannot accept anything
less than what He is. And that's what He is. The righteousness
of God is the demand of God. His justice demands it of every
man, every man, Bob and Mitch and Ben and this brother and
this brother and this brother and every boy and every girl
that's in here under the sound of my voice. I want you to know,
don't you leave this place here this morning until you get it
in your head that this is what God demands out of you. His justice, His inflexible,
inalterable justice demands of every man, every woman, every
boy, and every girl a life of perfect conformity to His law. That has been always what God
has demanded, and this is what God will always demand. a life in perfect conformity
to his law. Why? He could never demand anything
less than his own perfect being. This is what men have struggled
with down through the years, when this has been presented
to them, and when, with an ear to hear, they've heard what God
demanded. a life of perfect obedience. When they hear that, they struggle
with it. What makes them struggle? Well,
they say, they say, well, have I done enough? Have I done enough? They say, have I done it well
enough? They say, how can I be sure? They struggle with that which
God demands. Now listen, the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ only makes sense against the backdrop of God's uncompromising
demand, a life. of perfect obedience to His holy
law. Listen, He demands a full and complete
and total righteousness. That's what He demands. He demands
a life of perfect conformity to the law as the only basis
of acceptance with Now, when a man or a woman or children,
when they become distressed and disturbed as to how they in themselves
can meet that demand, then—listen closely—then and then only Will
the gospel make any sense? Up until this point, the gospel
will make no sense. I'm sure that there's some here
this morning that the gospel makes no sense to, simply because
you've never struggled with what God demands out of you. And if
you ever see it, if you ever hear it in your soul, what God
demands out of you, you'll start crying out. How then can I be
saved? And you'll, if you ever hear
the gospel, then you'll see that the gospel makes sense. See? Ah? The religion of this day,
they're not asking any theological questions. They want to know,
how can God please me? That's what they want to know. They want to know how, well,
I'm sick. Is God going to heal me? I want
to be healed. They want to know, how can I
raise my self-esteem? They want to know, how can God
make me happy and make me successful? But the real question is this,
how can I please God? That's the real question. That's
the real one right there. Now listen. The real question is, how can
I please God? Only when this question is an urgent necessity, only when this takes a hold of
you, when it becomes urgent, only then will the righteousness
of God make any sense to you. Only then. The righteousness of God is that
which God himself provides. You've got to have a life of
perfect conformity to his law. God demands it. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, what he demands, he provides. What He demands out of every
woman, every boy and every girl here, He provides. Jesus Christ, God's Son, Jesus
Christ is both the demand of God and the provision of God
in one person. What He demands, He provides. If you want to see what God demands
of me and what God demands of you, look, if you will, at the
perfect life of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was truly man as man
was meant to be. Look at Him. Don't look at yourself. There's no help in looking at
yourself. You're rotten and full of dead men bones. You're dead
in trespasses and in sins. There's nothing you can do. If you look at the whole stream,
listen to me, this is tremendous. If you look at the whole stream
of human history, from the fall of man to the end of the world,
You'll see only thirty-three years of all our history that
God will accept. That's all. That's Him. That's
the Lord Jesus. He came to give the perfect sacrifice. God will only accept that which
is perfect. Halfway, partial, Lame? He'll have nothing to do with
it. God has never changed His mind.
He has not appealed His demand. It's still the same now as it
was then. A life of perfect conformity, a perfect righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ came to give this perfect sacrifice. to give this substitutionary
ransom for the failure of you and I. Live that holy life, perfect
life, from the cradle to the grave. No sin in him. No mistakes. Not once did he alter in that perfect, pure, spotless,
sinless life. Not one time. Perfect, perfect. Gave himself. He loved us and
gave himself for us, the Bible says. He died, and He is buried, and He rose
from the dead, and He's at the right hand of
God right now, in the presence of God, as our representative, as our
substitute, as our Savior. And he is right now before God
on God's right hand as a perfect man. Now, that's when the gospel story
makes sense to me. He's there as a perfect
man to represent all those that trust in him. what the holiness of God demands,
the Lord Jesus Christ provided. God the Son had to become a man
in order to provide for us what God the Father's holy, self-consisting
self-demand He provided for us. God help us to see it, huh? He provided the righteousness
that God demanded. But listen to me now. He provided. He gave Himself. And in the giving
of His pure, spotless, sinless Self, He bore our sins. Now, he just did not bear, in
the sense that my ungodliness, my wicked thoughts, my obscenities
of heart, my blasphemous ways, he just did not bear them as
I would I would take a piece of paper
and lay it on another object, and the other object would burn
away. That's not the way he did it. He, when he bore my sin, he bore
the penalty due me against my sin in his own pure spotless
perfect self. It was not a by proxy, He actually
bore the punishment, as do me. Not for just one of my sins.
Not for one of my sins when I was two years old or three years
old or six years old or ten years old, but He bore all of my sins
from the time I was born until the time I died. He bore all
the penalty that was due me. And He provided me with perfect
obedience to His law. God demands perfect obedience
to His law. What God demands, He gave. He gave unto God. Every breath
that he took, every step that he took, every word that he said,
was in complete conformity to God's holy love. And at the end
of it, God could say, I'm well pleased with this man, and raised
him from the dead. He provided that righteousness
that God demands. But we are still obligated to agree
with God in order to be justified. That is, we've got to trust Him.
Whosoever believeth in the Son hath life. And he that believeth
not hath not lies. When I say we're obligated to
agree with God, that's what I'm talking about. We're obligated
to trust His Son, and His Son only, and quit going around saying,
me and God worked out this salvation. You didn't work nothing out.
The only thing you done was lied and sinned, and if you continue
to do that, you'll go to hell. That's all you can do. You can't
save yourself. You can't render unto God what
God demands. What God demands, God provides. Christ's obedience to the law
will not help you unless you agree to the transaction. unless you agree to it, unless
you can be able to say in your heart, prompted by the Spirit
of God, He only is my rock and my salvation. He only is my righteousness. He's all that God requires out
of me and ever will require out of me. He only will I trust. You can say that. That's what
it means. It don't mean, it don't mean,
Yes, I believe in Jesus, but I think I've got to hold out
faithful to the end. That don't mean that. You can't even start,
much less hold out. Me and Jesus will do this. No,
you leave the me and the I out of it. It's Him and Him alone. You agree to the transaction
that God, who demands righteousness, provided it in the person of
His Son. And that's the gospel. That's
the good news. that what God demands, God provides. He demands a life of perfect
righteousness. He provided it. Can I make it
any simpler than that? Can I make it any clearer than
that? Can I force it with any more force than that? That's
where it's at. It's not in you being born again. That's not the basis of your
acceptance. You're born again. Because of God! Not because of you. You believe
because you've been born again. To be born again is a sovereign
act of God Himself. To deposit grace in your heart. And when He deposits grace in
your heart, then you'll agree with God and the transaction
that what He demands, He provides. And you'll trust in Him and Him
alone. It comes about, see, disagreement,
disbelieving. It comes about through faith. Listen now. It comes about through
faith, not because of faith. The difference, Dr. Carl, it comes about through faith. Faith is a gift of God. Not because
of faith. Faith is what? It is an assent
to the solution that God has provided for the predicament. that we're in through our first
father Adam in the Lord Jesus Christ. Before God now can reject
a man who trusts in his son, he would first have to become
unjust and unrighteous in himself. God saves us in a way that affirms
and declares that he is just. He has not been inconsistent. He has not repealed his law. God has never changed his mind. He has always demanded perfect
obedience of his law. Christ met the demand. in our stead, in our place, and
in our room as a man, as a man. Now, when he looked out, when
God looked out from the battlements of heaven and looked
down upon the children of men at this utterly desperate situation. He came Himself when God looked down. Not that
He did not know about this Mass, but for the sake of understanding,
I say, when God looked down. Because He said He looked down,
but I'm not saying that God had to look down to find out what
the situation was. He knew the end from the beginning,
but he looked down to see this desperate situation in which
I was in. And you know what he did? He
came himself. God himself in the person of
his Son came. Think of this for a minute. in a donkey's feed box in that
nature. God, they said there's no room
in this place for you. No room for you. No room in the
end. Might find a place out there
in the donkey's feed box for you. Ah, faith acknowledges the law
because Jesus Christ himself acknowledged the law. Faith always
chooses the perfect conformity of the life of the Lord Jesus
Christ as the only basis for acceptance with God. My only
hope is based on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness
and what God demands, God provides. And that's the good news. That's
the good news. You can't find any good news.
And the gospel only makes sense to your ears and to your soul. when you understand that what
God demands, he provides.