And I'm sure we're aware of the
significance of the year that we're in, 2017. As we said before,
it marks the 500th anniversary, of course, of the Protestant
Reformation. It was on the 31st of October
in 1517 that Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church there
in Wittenberg in what was then Saxony in Germany and that is
said to mark the beginning of the Protestant Reformation and
yet that's not altogether true surely we have to recognize that
the Reformation had already begun and it began in the soul of Martin
Luther and it was as he was reading this particular book from whence
we have read the epistle of Paul to the Romans and was so struck
by those words in chapter 1 and verse 17 that the just shall
live by faith that God began to deal with him and to show
him the great doctrine of justification by faith therein chapter 1 and
verse 17 the Apostle is of course quoting from the Old Testament
the words that we have in the prophet Habakkuk in chapter 2
and verse 14 and those words are not only quoted by Paul to
the Romans but also when he writes in the Galatian epistle he refers
to that same scripture and again writing to the Hebrews so three
times Does the Apostle make that statement concerning the just,
the justified man? The just shall live by faith. Luther then came to see that
great truth of the doctrine of justification by faith and he
said it was the article by which the church stands or falls in
that sense the Church of Rome is no true church because it
denies that doctrine that fundamental doctrine of justification by
faith and I want us to come to say something about it tonight
we've spoken on the subject it's a great doctrine we've taken
it up on previous occasions But directing your attention now
for a little while to the words that we find in that chapter
previous to where we read, we read in chapter 4, but turning
to chapter 3, and there at verse 24, being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 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
past through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus, particularly the words
of verse 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. First of all to consider how
this justification is accomplished. And when we come to consider
justification, we need to think in terms of the law, in terms
of a law court. The American Presbyterian theologian
R.L. Dabney says the Holy Ghost by
justification intends a forensic act. It has to do with a matter
of law and a person standing before that law. When we come
to the Scriptures we see that quite clearly back in the Law
of Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 25. And verse 1, we have mention
of the work of the judges. If there be a controversy between
men and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them,
then shall they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked." We're
to think here then in terms of justice, we're to think in terms
of God as the great judge and the third homily of the Reformed
Church of England says that justification is the office of God only. Belongs to God as that one who
is the judge of all the world. And remember the language of
Abraham, who is the father of all them that believe, when he
says in Genesis 18, shall not the judge of all the earth do
right? Well, God is that one who is
the author of justification. Here in Chapter 8 of this Roman
Epistle, and the words that we have, verse 33, "...who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect, it is God that justifieth, who is
either condemneth, it is Christ that died, yea, rather He is
risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us." God then is the one who is the author
of justification. He is the judge, and who is the
person that he declares to be justified, declares to be righteous. Well, the amazing thing is, as
we have it in chapter 4 and verse 5, that chapter that we read,
there we see that God justifieth the ungodly. God justifieth the
ungodly. In Deuteronomy 25, the judges
were to justify the innocents, and they were to condemn the
guilty. How is this, then, that God justifieth the ungodly? It is because of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is because Christ is that
One who has come and stood as the surety for His people and
standing as their surety, he has also died as their substitute
in their room and in their stead, bearing in his own person that
punishment that was their just dessert under the law of God."
All we read of Jesus in Hebrews 7.22, Jesus made surety of a
better testament. Now remember the work of a surety.
and again we see what it is from the scriptures if we turn back
to the book of Genesis and there in chapters 43 and 44 we see
Judah standing as a surety for his brother Benjamin when those
Brethren had betrayed Joseph and he'd been taken and sold
into slavery in Egypt and there he had been greatly advanced.
He was next to the Pharaoh. We're familiar with the history
of Joseph and how there are those years of famine followed, those
years of plenty followed by the years of famine. and because
Joseph was the man who had interpreted the Pharaoh's dream and given
counsel as to what provision was to be made during those years
of plenty. Corn was to be laid up in Egypt
and not only provision made for the Egyptians but also for the
peoples round about Egypt and Jacob had sent his sons in the
famine to obtain corn They did not recognize Joseph who was
that important man but he recognized them and he made it plain that
should they return they must bring their younger brother with
them. He had inquired concerning their
family and ascertained that there was this younger brother and
the younger brother must be brought, or they would not see them, and
they would not receive any corn. And when, after they've returned,
and what they'd taken has run out, Jacob will have them return,
and they must take Benjamin. But poor Jacob, he'd lost his
beloved son Joseph, and now He's fearful that he will lose also
his youngest son. He's so reluctant to let the
lad go. And we see how it is Judah who
comes forward in verses 8 and 9 of chapter 43. He would have said unto Israel,
His Father, send the lad with me, and we will arise and go,
that we may live and not die, both we and thou, and also our
little ones. I will be surety for him. At
my hand shalt thou require him, if I bring him not unto thee,
and set him before thee. Then let me bear the blame for
ever. And so Benjamin is permitted
by Jacob to go, and then when they come, and they see the man,
they see Joseph. And again, before Joseph, we
see how that Judah repeats the words that he had spoken to his
father in chapter 44 of Genesis. There at the end, verse 32, Thy
servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If
I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my
father for ever. This is the work of a surety.
He becomes responsible, he bears the blame. If a person stands
surety today in a law court and pays a bond, a guarantee that
the accused will come at the appointed time. If the person
does not appear. Well, the bond is lost and the
surety must bear that cost, that burden. But not only in the Old
Testament, we also see something of suretyship in the manner in
which the Apostle speaks up on behalf of Onesimus. Remember
in that lovely little epistle that Paul writes to Philemon. Philemon had lost his slave,
Onesimus had run away, but then, in the goodness of God, Onesimus
had been wonderfully saved, converted to Christ. And here is the apostle,
and he will now send this man back. And he wants Philemon to
receive him, not now as his slave, but as his brother. And if there's
anything owing, Paul will stand assuredly on behalf of Onesimus. There in Philemon, in verse 18,
if he hath wronged thee or oweth thee aught, put that on mine
account. I, Paul, have written it with mine own hand, I will
repay it. Albeit I do not say to thee, Thou owest unto me even
thine own self besides. Paul was prepared to be a surety. And the Lord Jesus is that one
who is the great surety of his people. That one that Job long
ago inquired after and cried unto God for, he says in Job
17.3, put me in a surety with thee. He wants someone to stand
on his behalf and to answer before the Holy Lord of God on his accounts. And surely that prayer of Job
was not in vain. When he asked that God would
put in a surety for him, is it not answered in the New Testament,
as we see there in Galatians chapter 4 and verse 4, when the
fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law. Oh the Lord Jesus is that one
who has come to stand in the lower place of all his people
and he was obedient. Obedient as we read in Philippians
chapter 2 and verse 8, obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. This is what we are to understand
then as we come to this statement that the Apostle is making in
Romans 3.24, being justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Christ, made of a woman,
made under the law to redeem them that were under the law. He was obedient. and he is obedient, as we've
seen, unto death. And that reminds us in the first
place of what is often referred to as his passive obedience.
He's under the law, he's subject to the law on behalf of those
that he stands as a surety for. And what does the law demand
concerning the sinner? Who has sinned, the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. And so Christ, you see, is that
one who was answered and paid that great redemption price,
that ransom price, as we see here at the end of this verse
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Well, Christ
has endured what the sinner deserved, cursed, is everyone that continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law to do them. Christ has borne that curse.
He has redeemed us from the curse of the law, says Paul, being
made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. All this office of the Lord Jesus
is that one who stands as the surety. What does the wise man
say in the book of Proverbs, in Proverbs 11 and verse 15?
He that is surety for a stranger, shall smart for it." And the
Lord Jesus Christ has done that. He has stood surety for a stranger,
for those who were estranged from God, those who were alienated
from God, enemies of God. And now the Lord Jesus has smarted
for it. Why? As we say, sin does deserve
death. We've seen that. The soul that
sinneth it shall die. says the holy law of God the
wages of sin is death and Christ has died he was obedient unto
death you are the ones that he has died for even those that
the father gave to him all that he died for are to be justified
he has paid the redemption price here we see quite clearly that
if he has paid that redemption price and has died for all, then
all must be justified. But we know that that is not
the truth. There are those who are not justified. There are
those who are yet dead in trespasses and sins. They will be condemned
if they die in that sad condition. The Lord Jesus made a redemption,
an atonement that is clearly definite. We see how that what
he did was a particular work for a certain people, even those
that the Father had given to him. We're familiar with the
language of Toplady in the hymn, payment God cannot twice demand,
first at my bleeding shortest hand and then again at mine. Or if Christ has paid the price
for all, it would be most unjust of God as the judge of all the
earth to demand another payment if it is for all then all must
be saved but all are not saved. All the Lord Jesus is that one
who has shed his precious blood even for those that the Father
has given to him. Justified by his blood we read
here in Romans chapter 5 and verse 9. Justified by His blood,
by the shedding of that precious blood, pouring out of His soul
unto death. In the language of the Westminster
larger catechism, it says, God accepteth the satisfaction from
a surety. Christ is that surety who was
stood in that low place for all His people and answered all the
demands of that Lord of God that they were the transgressors of.
He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him." And there we
see it, you see. It's not only what is called
His passive obedience, His obedience in dying, but there's also His
obedience in living, what is called His active obedience,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. It's not enough that the guilt
of sin has been removed and the atonement has been made. No,
the Lord of God requires a positive righteousness. As we see at the
end of Deuteronomy chapter 6, it shall be our righteousness,
says Moses, if we observe to do all these commandments before
the Lord our God which he hath commanded us. There's got to
be a doing of the law. If a man do, says the law, he
shall live in them. And the Lord Jesus Christ has
come and he has done. Oh, he has done the deed. How this doctrine of justification
exalts the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at what Paul says here in
chapter 5. and verses 18 and 19. Therefore, as by the offense
of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, he's speaking
of the first man, the first Adam, even so by the righteousness
of one He's speaking now of the second man, the Lord from heaven,
the last Adam. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Or as Isaac
Watts says, in him that is in Christ the sons of Adam boast
more blessings than their father lost. And so Paul has that great
desire, or that burning desire that was in the heart of the
Apostle to be found in him. He says, not having mine own
righteousness which is of the law but that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. It is the Lord Jesus Christ then
who has accomplished that righteousness by the obedience of his life. How that in all of his life,
from the manger right through to that cruel death that he had
to endure on the cross, he obeyed. He honored and he magnified the
law 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 of the
past through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness, that He, that is God, might be
just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." God
justifies the ungodly, the believer in the Lord Jesus. So, in the
second place, let me say something with regards to the application
of this justification. How is what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done as that one who has stood in
the law place of his people and honored God's law both in respect
to its terrible penalties, its punishments, but also in respect
to all its precepts and commandments. How is all that work of the Lord
Jesus Christ applied to sinners? Well, two ways. Firstly, what
I would call the objective method, the objective method. God, remember, is a holy God,
and a righteous God, and a just God. And when we think of this
doctrine of justification, we are to think in terms of God
as the judge. The very doctrine belongs to
law, law courts. And what do we read of this God
who is a just God? Well not surprisingly it says
in Exodus 34 7 that He will by no means clear the guilty. If
the judges as we see in Deuteronomy 25 are to do their work properly
they are to condemn the wicked and they are to justify the innocent.
Well, if that's what God requires of human judges, surely God himself
will not clear the guilty. He will condemn the guilty. How
is it then that God can justify sinners? How can God be the one
who justifies the ungodly? Well, here is the method. It
is by imputation. It's by imputation. Now, in that
chapter that we read, chapter 4, You may have observed how
that the word impute is used repeatedly. Verses 6, 8, 11,
22, 23 and 24. In verses 6 to 8 we find Paul quoting
from the book of Psalms from David in Psalm 32. Look at verse
6, Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without work, saying, Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Impute literally means to reckon
to a person's account. And here is the man, instead
of God reckoning sin to this man's account, Declaring him
to be a sinner, he reckons righteousness to this man's account. He is
accounted righteous. Remarkable, is it not? Instead
of being condemned, which is what he really deserves, this
sinner is accounted righteous and he's acquitted. Now, from
whence does this righteousness come that leads to his acquittal? Well, it comes from God. It comes
from God. Again, we have to observe the
language. Verse 21, Now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, 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. He speaks here then of the righteousness
of God twice, both in verse 21 and again in verse 22. This is
the righteousness that belongs to God. This is God's righteousness. And it's that righteousness that
is given to the sinner, that's accounted to him, that's imputed
to him. Now how, how can this be? How can God's righteousness be
imputed to the sinner? Well, God himself must become a man
and God himself must be subject to his own law. And that's of course what we
have in that verse in Galatians 4 that we've already quoted.
When the fullness of the time was come God sent forth his son
made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law. It's the Lord Jesus Christ who
comes and comes into that law place of his people. If there's no incarnation If
God does not become a man, there can be no imputation. All these great truths, all these
great doctrines that we have in the gospel, they are all interconnected. If you deny one, you lose another. Each and every one of them is
dependent upon the other. Where there is No incarnation
then, except God becomes a man and is subject to the law and
fulfills and obeys that law. There can be no righteousness
of God that can be reckoned to the account of the sinner. It
is Christ in that sinner's place. He's not only made of a woman.
That's a great verse, is it not? Galatians 4.4. It reminds us
of the ancient promise that is given in Genesis 3, the history
of the fall, and what the Lord God says to the serpent, the
instrument of Satan, concerning the seed of the woman who will
bruise Satan's head, and Satan will bruise his heel. The Lord Jesus is that one, He's
the seed of the woman, but He's not only made of a woman, he
is also that one who is under the law. He is under the Lord
of God, that's what it says in that verse. God sent forth his
son made of a woman, made under the law. Now, all who are descended
from Adam and Eve of course are sinners. all are born dead in
trespasses and sins. The question is put back in Job
14 and verse 4, who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
Sinful parents, fallen parents give birth to fallen sinful children. Again in Job 25.4, how then can
a man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean that he's
born of a woman? There must be one who comes who
is free from every taint of that original sin, who is not only
holy and righteous in his own life, but there's nothing of
the sinful nature of Adam in the man. And this is the Lord
Jesus in the incarnation. We also have that great mystery
of the virgin birth. He is preserved from every taint
of original sin. As the angel says to Mary, the
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, the power of the highest shall
overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing
that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And he comes as that righteous
man and it's that righteousness of the Lord Jesus that he accomplishes
in his sinless, obedient life that is reckoned to the accounts
of the sinner, imputed to him. But with regards to the application
of this justification, I said we need to take account of two
things. First of all, there is what we call the objective method,
imputation, Christ's righteousness, impute it, but then also, secondly,
there's what we might term the subjective means. This justification,
how is it experienced? It is by faith. Verse 28, Therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. without his own doing. It's all
done by the Lord Jesus. Oh yes, God is the one who justifies
the sinner. He justifies the ungodly. But
let us not lose sight of this blessed truth that God as a people
from all eternity, a people that he has set his sovereign love
upon, a people that he has chosen in Christ and committed to Christ,
the ones that Christ comes to be surety for, the ones that
Christ comes to live His life for and to die His death for. And as we read in Acts 15, known
unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world. There
is that sense in which we have to say that Justification is
an imminent act of God. That's what Dr. Gill says. He
speaks, therefore, of justification in that sense being an eternal
justification in the great purpose of God. But then, you see, those
who have been chosen in Christ, they must surely come to an experience
of their justification. it must become a reality in their
souls. This is a great message, is it
not, that we find being preached by the apostles in the Book of
Acts. In his preaching at Antioch in
Pisidia, in Acts chapter 13, there at verse 39, Paul declares
concerning Christ by him all that believe are justified. from
all things that they cannot be justified from by the deeds of
the law. Paul is clearly there preaching
the great doctrine of justification by faith. By him, that is, by
Christ. All that belief. How the apostles
constantly preach Christ as the great object of faith. And that's what we see. in that
chapter that we read in chapter 4, there at verse 3, the Apostle
asks, What saith the Scripture? He's speaking of Abraham, who
is the father of the faithful. What saith the Scripture? Abraham
believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now
to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of
debt. but him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Now when
he says here, at the end of verse 5, his faith is counted for righteousness,
we are not to imagine that it is his faith that justifies him. Because that would be to contradict
what he has said previously. That is to make faith a work.
And faith is not a work. What he is saying here is that
the important thing is the object of that faith. It's the object
of his faith that justifies the sinner. And what is the object
of his faith? Well, the Lord Jesus, as he comes
to say at the end of the chapter. Again, he's speaking of Abraham.
Verse 20 it says, He staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being
fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also
to perform. Now what was it that God had
promised? Well, look at the context. It's the seed. It's the child
that's going to be born to Sarah. It's the promised son. And Abram is fully persuaded
that what God had promised he was able to perform. All this is the object of Abram's faith.
Therefore, it says in verse 22, it was imputed to him for righteousness. Oh, it's the seed. And what is
Isaac? He's a wonderful type of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We see it in Galatians. where
he says, Thy seed concerning Abram, thy seed which is Christ. Seed not of men, but as of one,
unto thy seed which is Christ. Christ says to the Jews, your
father Abram rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was
glad. Oh, Abram's faith was justified
in faith because it centered in the person and the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the great object of faith. We have to look
to him and believe in him. Here is justification being justified. freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It's not of works. There's
a certain repetition here at the beginning of verse 24. For
grace to be grace, it must always be free. We often speak of God's
sovereign grace or God's free grace. In a sense, that's tautology.
We don't really need to use adjectives like that. Grace must be sovereign,
otherwise it's not grace. Grace must be free, otherwise
it's not grace. And so here, there is really
a repetition. Justified, it says, not simply
justified by His grace, but justified freely by His grace. How the truth is emphasized,
if by grace, then is it no more of works otherwise grace is no
more grace it is all together by the grace
of God by grace are you saved through faith and that not of
yourselves it is the gift of God that faith that is of the
operation of God and I say this is that great doctrine that was
burned into the very soul of Martin Luther and was really
the beginning of what we know as the Protestant Reformation. And look at the language that
we have here in verse 26, to declare, I say at this time his
righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus. The just live by faith. And that faith centers in Christ. And Christ, therefore, is everything
to the justified sinner. It's in Christ that we see God
to be a just God. He is a just judge. And yet,
in Christ, He is that one who also justifies the ungodly, that
one who is believing. in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well,
the Lord grant that we might be those who are truly the possessors
of that justifying faith, that we might walk by faith and not
by sight. The Lord bless. Do us His Word.