Alright, if you take your Bibles
now and turn with me to Romans. Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter
8. Romans chapter 8 and our text will be found in verse
33 and verse 34. Romans chapter 8, verse 33 and
34. And I've entitled this message,
A Foundation and Four Pillars of Justification. A foundation
and four pillars of justification. Now, to tell you the truth, I
hope I get through the foundation. I hope I get through the four
pillars of justification, but I don't know. We'll just see
where the Lord leads us and pray that He would be magnified through
this message. Now, in this chapter, this beautiful
chapter of Romans chapter 8, we have infallible proofs given
to us of the love and favor of God toward us who are in Christ
Jesus. Paul declares the firm truth,
this firm truth, and its consequence in verse 31. of all He said before
concerning the children of God. He says this, what shall we say
then to these things? What are we going to say to this?
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are... What are
we going to say to that? What are we going to say to this?
That as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
of God. What are you going to say to that? What are you going
to say to this? He says in verse 28, We know
that all things work together for good to them that love God.
What are you going to say to this? Here's what we're going
to say. Here's our conclusion. If God
be for us, That word if is better translated since. Since God is
for us, who then can be against us? If God has decreed to save
us, if Christ has redeemed us, if the Spirit has quickened us
and called us, if we are in Christ glorified already in the mind
and purpose of God, then who can oppose God? Who can oppose
God or stop God from doing what God purposed to do? to which the apostle answers
this argument, verse 32. He says this, he that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him freely give us all things? If God spared not
the crown jewel, if God spared not his most prized possession,
his son, and if his son has accomplished all these things, for us. The question then remains, how
shall he not freely give us what he purposed to give us? Who's
going to stop God from giving us what Christ earned for us? Which things are what? Eternal
life. Peace with God. the kingdom of
heaven when Christ returns. Jesus said this, listen, it is
the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Now if
that's true, then what shall stop Him from giving us what
He freely purposed to give us? Nothing. Which things we are to expect
and wait for by faith, having good hope and confidence. Not
in ourselves, not in our merits, there's no confidence there.
We have confidence and our confidence is in God. God is our confidence,
Christ. The Apostle tells us in Hebrews
12 verses 1-3, he says, seeing we have this great cloud of witness,
all of those who went before us, remember all those before
Christ, what were they waiting for? They were waiting for the
redemption. They were waiting for His coming.
And they waited by faith. Even so now, he says this, we
too are waiting for something. We are waiting for His return. We are waiting for His coming. And then he says this, run with
patience the race that is set before us. Now listen, I know
this. I am guilty of this. Looking
at my brother's race and envying his race. You ever envy someone
else's race? Man, they got it good. Look at
that. If I had that, boy, I tell you,
I would just be the best Christian person. No, don't envy someone else's
race. He said, run with patience the
race set before you. God has set our race. And how
do we run this race? With patience. We run this race
with patience, the race that is set before us. And we do this
looking unto Jesus, He said. That's how you run this race.
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. So then, in your trials, in your
afflictions, consider Him. Consider Him. Often times we
feel like fainting. We feel like quitting. We feel
like leaving. The trials are too much. The
difficulties are too much. The pain is too much. And we
feel like leaving. We faint. In order to stop fainting,
he says, consider him, consider Christ, consider his offering,
consider what he endured. And as we consider him, we know
this, that we're always in trouble. You know, I've often thought,
you know, if you're not in trouble, troubles, I've said that to you.
If you're not in trouble, just wait a minute. No, you're in
trouble. You don't have to wait. You may not recognize it, but
you're in trouble. Man is born unto trouble as the
sparks fly upward. It's just natural for you and
me to be in trouble. We are born in trouble and all
our days are full of trouble. Man is born of a woman is of
a few days and full of what? Trouble. Trouble. We have troubles
within, right? Troubles with conscience, troubles
with doubts and fears and sins. We have troubles outside ourselves,
don't we? We have difficulties. And I'll tell you what, my difficulties
expose something about me. It exposes how weak I am. My
trouble exposes that I'm weak. I can't fix it. I can't do it. I can't overcome it. That's what
it shows me. It's impossible for us to ever
be able to overcome or endure our afflictions unless we, you
know, the outward afflictions, that's one thing. But you know
what really magnifies the outward afflictions is the inward ones.
The inward one. The inward struggle magnifies
the outward struggle. Go to Romans chapter 5. Romans
chapter 5, look at verse 1 here. Paul gives us two things here.
In verses 1 and 2, he deals with the inward struggle. He calms
our souls concerning the inward struggle. And notice the second
in verses three through five, he, he shows us then the, um,
the necessity and it, and, um, result of outward afflictions. So the apostle deals with the
first one. Look at this. Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
by whom we also have access into this grace wherein we stand and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. What does he first magnify? To help our inward struggles.
What does he deal with? Justification. Therefore being justified, we
have what? Peace with God. Doesn't that
settle all inward struggles? Inward conflicts are settled.
You're justified. being justified. You have peace
with God. That's not a question. That's
a statement. That's a truth. That's a fact being justified
by the faith of Christ. We have peace with God and we
have access to this throne of grace where we stand. We are children of God by his
love and grace and favor. And what does this do? This gives
us help concerning the outward afflictions. He says this in
verse 3, not only so, but we glory in tribulation. Listen,
if you got the first one, you can do the second. You can't
do the second. You can't glory in tribulations
without first understanding your justification. And so now, going
back to our text, going back to our text, I want us to see
In these verses, first of all, a foundation for our justification. What is the foundation upon which
we stand to declare that we are justified before God? I tell
you this, it's not my simple declaration of it. My foundation
of this is not just because I'm saying I'm justified. That's
not my foundation. Anybody can say that, right? I'm going to
give you a foundation for your justification. And second of
all, we're going to see four pillars upon which our justification
rests. Four pillars. It's like a house. A house has a foundation and
it has four corners, four pillars on which this root holds over
our head and doesn't come down on us. Alright, let's see the
first. The first is our foundation.
Look at this in verse 33. The scripture says, Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. And then there's the foundation.
Now the pillars are found in verse 34. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. There's
one. Yea, rather is risen again. There's
two. who is even at the right hand
of God, there's three, whoever liveth to make intercession for
us. Four. There's the pillars. There's
the four pillars. So now let's deal with this first
one, our foundation. Believers in this world have
troubles, but nothing shall prevail against us, and we are assured
by the apostle that nothing then shall separate
us because of this foundation, because of these pillars, because
we are justified. Nothing then is the conclusion
that nothing will separate us from God. So here's the first.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Listen,
believer. Here, Paul, by the Holy Spirit,
reminds us of our election. You want to know what the foundation,
the source of our justification? It is the election of God. We who believe on Jesus Christ
have not done so by chance. Not by accident, but according
to the sovereign will of God the Father. Our election is not
ascribed then to our merits. It is never based on anything
we have done, anything we are doing right now, nor anything
that we shall do. I do not rest my justification
based on anything I have done or will do or can do for God. You see, my foundation, the source
of my justification began in eternity and not in time. The foundation of our being justified
and free from all charges of sin is rooted in the election
of God. It was God who chose us and put
us in union with Christ. Listen to what Paul says, but
of God are you in Christ Jesus. And here's the foundation, God
hath made him to be wisdom righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. In order to be justified, you
have to have all of those. And God, in eternity, made Christ
all of those for us. This is our foundation. The election
of God makes all then, the election of God makes all the accusations
of Satan, the world, and conscience empty. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? What he's saying is, who's going
to make the first accusation? Who's going to accuse you? If God justified you, who's going
to accuse you? All the accusations are empty.
seeing we were chosen in Christ before the world began. Before there was sin to accuse
us of, we were already justified in Christ, already justified
before the eyes of God. The election of God then abases
and destroys all boasting, doesn't it? If I don't have anything to do
with my justification, then what do I have to boast? Nothing. It destroys all boasting. It destroys all hopes of self-righteousness. It destroys all freewill works
religion. And so we are made to lay all our peace and joy upon Christ. There is nothing in this world
that religion hates more than election. They despise it. They do. They despise that God
made choice among his creatures. That God determined to save some
of Adam's race and not all. Why do you suppose they hate
that so much? I'm going to tell you why. Because they believe
they deserve it. somehow being God's creation
that God is somehow obligated to save us. How arrogant, but that's just
a natural man, a natural man. And I know this, we who are saved,
we know that we were dead in sins. We had no spark of life in us. to save ourselves or make choice
of God. We would have never come to Christ.
If God had not chosen us, we would have never come to Him. Jesus said that, and I don't
care what other men say, Jesus said, no man can come to Me.
That's a powerful statement that negates all free will works religion. It just does. No man can. No
man has the ability to come to me except the Father which has
sent me draw him. That's all. You know, if Christ accomplished
all our salvation and left it up to our choice, none of us
would be saved. None of us would have hope. Sin
is mixed with all we do, but the confidence and comfort of
the believer is that God chose us for Himself. That God chose us not based on
anything in us, but of His own sovereign will and love, and
justified us by putting us into union with Christ. We in that
eternity past, we were put into a vital union with Christ. Was there anything wrong in Christ? Was there any sin in Christ when
we were put in Him? Of course not. So what? You were innocent of all charges
the moment you were put into Christ. Matter of fact, you were
given all spiritual blessings. You weren't neutral. You were
given all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. And consider this, that you were
chosen of God and that our justification was founded upon an eternal,
unchangeable, immutable purpose of God. When God purposed, I
say this, how can I even say that when God purposed? Just
the language even doesn't begin to understand. When God purposed to save His
people, it was an unchangeable purpose.
Why? God says of Himself, for I am
the Lord, I change not. And what's the result of this
immutability? Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Why are the elect not consumed? Because of the immutable, unchangeable
will and purpose and love of God. It's immutable. It's unchangeable. We shall not be consumed because
God chose us and ordained that we should be holy by Jesus Christ. And He does not change. His will
is immutable and His love is eternal. But how shall we know
our election? We know this, that the elect
were justified, put in Christ before the foundation of the
world. Now the question is this. Am I his or am I not? Am I one
of these? I know that's true of Israel.
I know that's true of the elect. What is the evidence that I am
his? God, God has not chosen all men
without exception. We know this. He's chosen some
of Adam's race and his purpose to save them. In 2 Thessalonians 2, And verse 13, the apostle says,
we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you
to salvation. Through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth, God purposed our salvation. But the manifestation of this
election is what? What is it? It is simply this,
faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. We believe on the Son of God. We believe totally, completely,
and absolutely we are sold out to Christ. Do you believe on the Son of
God? How is it that you believe? You
believe because you were called. Paul says that in verse 30 of
our text. Of our text in verse 30, he says that those that were
predestinated were also what? Called. Called. I know this. I call men to repentance
by preaching the gospel. If you're outside of Christ,
you listen. Come to Christ. Come to Christ. Come to the water
and drink freely. Abundantly, without measure,
as much as you need. How much forgiveness you need?
Well, come and drink it. Christ is all the forgiveness
you need. He's all the salvation you need. Come, turn from yourself
and come to Christ. And I know this, that when it
comes to Christ, they come because they are called. Only those called
with the Spirit will come to Christ. And the only ones that
come in faith to Christ are those who were chosen by God. Isn't that what our Lord says?
All that the Father giveth me, what? Shall come to me. Without a doubt. Now there are
many of God's elect walking around right now without faith. There
are many of them. I don't know who they are. They're
out there. You know I know that? Because
He ain't come back yet. The moment he comes back, I know this, the
last one's been called. But until then, I know that there
are many out there right now without faith. But I know this,
they shall come. They shall come. Why? They were
chosen to come. They were ordained to come. Christ
died for them, and they will believe. And I tell you this, I know God's
justified His elect, but I have no right to claim justification
except I have faith in Christ. Faith in Christ does not justify
me, but it manifests the justification that Christ has accomplished
for me. And so we are called, we are
quickened. I like this in Ephesians 2. It
says this, but God who is rich in mercy. For His great love,
wherewith He loved us. His great love, wherewith He
loved us. even when we were dead in sins. What did He do when you were
dead in sins? Hath quickened us together. Hath quickened us together with
Christ. You see where your justification
is? It was when God quickened you together with Christ. After Christ had accomplished
our redemption, after he accomplished our righteousness, God raised
him from the dead and all that he had merited, we merited in
him. And when he ascended to God's
right hand, all of the elect ascended in him, in union with
him. What's the conclusion then? By
grace, you are saved. And then you know the evidence,
for it is by faith. He says, it is by faith. And
that faith, not of yourself, it is a gift of God. Not of works,
lest any man should boast. You see, brethren, we were justified
of God in Christ. Therefore, God purposed that
our sins be imputed to Christ, and as He has paid them with
His blood, God seeing no more sin. raised him from the dead
with all of his elect in him. Thus we are justified by God
in Christ. But we had no claim on it or
joy in it or experience of it until we were called. And so
then I ask you this evening, are you a believer in Christ? Do you trust Christ? And you may understand this is
the foundation of your justification, that God chose you in Christ. And Christ merited your salvation. And then in an act of divine
grace and power, he gave you life. He gave you faith. He manifested this justification
by giving you faith in Christ. And so you can say this without
hesitation. Who shall lay anything to my
charge? It's God that justified me. God
justified his elect. Who's going to lay anything to
the charge of the elect? That's everyone who believes in Christ.
That's all I know. Everyone who believes in Christ.
No one is able to lay anything to the charge of the elect. Why?
Because our oblection hath obtained the righteousness. Go to Romans
chapter 11 and look at this. In verse 7 he says, This is the conclusion of what
he just said. Israel hath not obtained that which is seeking
for. Talk about righteousness. Israel tried to seek righteousness. How? By obedience to the law. And what's the conclusion? What
then? They didn't get it. You try to come to God and justify
yourself by the law, you'll have the same conclusion. You will
not obtain it by works. Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for. But, listen, the election hath
obtained it, and the rest were blinded. You see, who obtained
righteousness? The elect. By God's sovereign
election, the elect hath obtained righteousness. But this is the hope then and
comfort of the elect. This is my comfort this evening. My comfort is that God justified
me. What good would it do if a man
justified you? What if some man came on in big
robes and a big funny hat, he just waved his hands and said, What would that do? Nothing. Nothing. What a clown show. That's all that is. Religion
is nothing more than a clown show. You might as well have
a little car running around and a bunch of popes jump out of
it. Why? Because man cannot forgive
sin. You want to know why? Because
we don't sin against man. Our sin is against God. Therefore,
only God can forgive. Only God can justify. I'll tell you this. If you were
to come and murder my children, it would take great grace for
me to ever forgive you. I imagine, I don't even imagine
that would be possible. I don't imagine that'd be possible
for me to forgive you. But would my forgiveness do anything
against your guilt before God? Even if I could, what would that
do? It would do nothing. It wouldn't
do anything. Therefore, only God can justify,
only God can pardon sin. He said, I, even I am he that
blotteth out thy transgression. Now why in the world would he
do such a thing? Not for your sake. For my own name's sake. And I will not remember thy sins. See what justification is? Justification
is God blotting out your transgression and then forgetting it. How perfectly does God forget
our sin? When God says, I will remember
them no more. How perfectly is that? Is that
forgetfulness? When he blots them out, how blotted
out are they? How blotted out are they? They're
so blotted out that God cannot see them anymore. David said this, against thee
and thee only have I sinned. It is God alone who can condemn
and it is God alone who can justify. And if God has justified His
elect, then friends, they are justified. They are justified. So then now, going back to this
conflict within, does your sin trouble you? Are you troubled by your sin?
Is your conscience laying anything to your charge? Daily. Constantly. Every moment of every
day I feel condemned within myself. I feel guilty for my sins. Constantly. My conscience lays
anything and everything to my charge. But Paul says, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect since God alone can
justify and He has justified by His sovereign grace? He has blotted out our sins.
Who then can lay the charge? Nothing! No one can lay a charge. Look, believer, the elect of
God, our justification is not unjust. That's important, isn't it? What
good is a justification that's not just? Our justification was just. Because God cannot do anything
unjust. See that we cannot be charged
with sin even because God's justice has been satisfied. has been satisfied for all our sins. Therefore,
what I'm here to do tonight is to comfort you. I'm going to
comfort you. Listen to this. Your warfare
is over. Your warfare is over. God's judgment, justice that
was against you is satisfied. There's peace. I don't feel peace. Who cares what you feel? Who
cares what you think? Who's going to lay anything to
the charge of God's love? It's God that made peace. It's
God that justified you. He said this, For you have received
of the Lord's hand double for all your sins. To charge us with
sin is to oppose the justice of God. It is to say the justice
of God is unjust. God who is holy and spotless,
who cannot overlook sin, who's strict in justice, yet he declares
this, you are justified without sin. The only one who's able to do
this You see this in the next verse. Look at this. Look at
the verse 34. Go back to your text now. Look at verse 34. The
next question in verse 34. Who is he that condemneth? Consider,
if no one can lay anything your charge, how in the world can
they condemn you? You see that? Let me illustrate
it like this. Somebody comes and arrests you
and takes you before a judge. And what is the first thing the
judge is going to ask? What's the charge? And the man says,
I don't have a charge. I just want to condemn him. Case dismissed. If there's no
charge, how can there be any condemnation? There is therefore
now no condemnation because God justified it. There can't even
be a charge. There can't even be an accusation.
They can't even accuse you of sin. I'm just going to give you this
illustration. You remember the high priest Joshua? He came before
the Lord and he had that filthy garment on. And the Scripture
says this, Satan was at his right hand ready to accuse you. But before he can make an accusation,
Christ says, is this not a brand plucked from the burning? Is
this not mine? Did I not choose this one? Did
I not purpose to save this one? Did I not die for this one? Did
I not provide righteousness for this one? Where's your accusation? There is none. Take off the filthy
garments and give them the right. Give him the linen garments,
the white robes. That's what he says. There's
no act. He can't even accuse us, much less condemn us. Who can dare condemn us seeing
there is no charge to be laid upon us? It would be both impossible
and unjust to do so. But how can this be knowing that
we have sinned? And you go look in the mirror
and what do you see? Believer, what do you see? You see sin. You see unrighteousness. You see someone who has multiple
charges that I lay on myself. Daily, constantly, we feel the
guilt of breaking God's law. How can God be truly just? and declare us to be righteous? How can he be just and say we
are free from all accusations and condemnations? I'll tell you, here's a foundation
you can lay on. It's God that chose us. It's God who put us in Christ. It was Christ who died. It was Christ who satisfied the
justice of God. It was the Spirit who gave us
such faith to believe on Him. And in your trouble, the best
thing you can do with this foundation is lay on it. Rest it. Trust it. It's immovable, immutable. It doesn't change. You change. This justification, since it's
of God, it is forever. Forever. Now, I told you I wouldn't be
able to get to the four pillars. But I think we've laid a good
foundation God's election. Foundation is my union with Christ. That's my foundation for justification,
is my union with Christ. And because of this, because
God justified me, there is no accusation that can be laid against
me, and there is no condemnation that can be put on me. Because
in Christ, we are justified. I'll close with this. What does
it mean to be justified? Go to Jeremiah chapter 50. What
does this mean? To be justified before God. What does it mean? God tells
us in Jeremiah chapter 50 in verse 20. In those days and in that time,
sayeth the Lord, The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be, how many? None. The sins of Judah and they
shall not be found. Why? For I will. Here's the foundation. will pardon them whom I reserve. Whom I've chosen I will pardon
and they are justified. That's it, you are justified. I'm not talking about the future,
I'm talking about right now, you are justified, free from
all guilt. And can it be that I should gain
an interest? Is it possible in a savior's
love? Died he for me who caused his
pain? For me? who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be that Thou, my God,
should die for me? Justified. The foundation is
what? The election of grace. Your union
with Christ. Therefore, there is no condemnation
to us who are in Christ Jesus. Lord willing, I want to pick
up where we leave off here. I'm going to pick up on the pillars
next week. So, Lord willing. Let's stand
and be dismissed in prayer.