Here's that verse from Romans
chapter 8, it's verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect, it is God that justifies. It is God that justifies. Now, in Revelation 13 and 8,
and they that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose
names are not written in the book of life, slain from the
foundation of the world." True story. After we had finished
our little messages at the funeral and people were passing by viewing
the casket, a preacher that I've known for a long time walked
up because the preacher had spoken about God writing your name in
the Book of Life when you believe and so forth. And this preacher
walked up and said out loud, Brother Bill, why don't you tell
him when those names were put in the Book of Life? And I looked
at the floor and snorted. All right, in Romans chapter
8 and in Revelation chapter 13, we're about to jump off into
the deep end of the pool here with some wonderful and mighty
things concerning the Word of God and justification. And that
is we want to look today and examine when justification takes
its first rise in or toward the elect of God. Was it before the foundation
of the world, or is it when Christ died, or is it when we believe
and are converted? Now, these things we will return
to later, but it is probably best that we lay a good and a
proper foundation, work our way under that subject of the morning,
and that by reasoning about something. That is, that rather than always
using Those general terms in the scripture, like salvation
and saved, which are general terms and nothing wrong with
them, they're there hundreds of times and they are wonderful
truths of the scripture. But in addition to that, the
general term that we also consider the various terms and aspects
of the great salvation that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. I'll say it this way. The things
that make up the totality of that work of God called salvation
in general and saving in particular. Things like the Ordo Salutis,
and of all the things that God has taught me, one of the most
blessed is the Ordo Salutis, how God applies the great salvation
that is in Jesus Christ. process that is worked out from
start unto finish, started before the foundation of the world,
and will consummate in our glorification in the presence of God, that
in an orderly fashion they are manifested, they are realized,
they are applied unto the elect of God in God's due time and
work. Now these works, though they
form a unified whole, are nonetheless distinguishable in themselves
one from the other. For example, I want to illustrate.
Regeneration is distinct from and is not the same as conversion,
and of course vice versa. They're not one and the same. Justification is not one and
the same with sanctification or vice versa. And yet they may
be tied together and they have a definite link and a definite
relationship one unto the other. Now adoption is not the same
as reconciliation and vice versa. These all, if I may say, are
fitly framed together and they grow into what Paul called the
house of salvation. Now, we hone in or we focus today
on that great aspect of God's saving work, justification. We want to look at it from start
to finish. And it does seem a stretch that
this is today a, quote, lost doctrine, unquote, in that there
are not many today that make a big deal out of the doctrine
of justification. We don't hear a lot expounded
about this great doctrine of justification, though it is one
of the most important in regard to the scripture and to our salvation
and our standing before God. And even in some Calvinistic
circle, one might not hear it traced all the way back unto
its beginning in the mind and the purpose of God. There does
not seem to be, therefore, a lot of preaching on the doctrine
of sanctification, of the doctrine of justification, and therefore
this is a great loss unto the church. Now, because of that,
the ship has a hole in the hull and is taking on water, if I
may illustrate. So when the doctrine of justification
is left out or is reduced or is ignored in the Christian message,
then there is a giant void in the things of God and the work
of God toward our salvation. John Gill, of course, as you
might realize, has written some of his great works on the doctrine
of justification. The justification by the imputed
righteousness of the Son of God is one of the great doctrines
of the scripture. And he said this about it, it
is a fundamental article of the gospel, and so much so, some
have called it the basis of Christianity, unquote. That is justification. For this is the thing, that men,
that sinners, are justified in the sight of God, they are recounted
as just, their sins are forgiven, they're not imputed to them,
and they stand as righteous in the sight of God. Now, this doctrine
is like a vast ocean of truth. And the question is, where do
we put our vessels in? Where do we begin to take hold
of this great doctrine of justification? Well, let's begin this morning
by defining the term justification. When you think about justification,
exactly scripturally, what is justification? What is it to
be declared just in the sight of God? What is justification,
and what does it mean to justify, and how is it done? Now, these
are terms that we often meet with in the scripture, just,
justify, and justification. He would know the meaning of
these words, therefore, is much edified. It is generally conceded
by expositors, good expositors, that these words are forensic
terms, that is, they are legal terms. They're terms that you
might hear in a court of law with regard to guilt or not guilt. Legal terms that might be heard.
It is the pronouncing of a sentence. Justification is the pronouncing
of a sentence. It is a verdict that is rendered,
and it is rendered in this case by the Almighty God. And Witsius wrote in his writing,
it is ordinary use in a declarative sense so that it signifies to
account, it signifies to declare, to prove that one is just. And that's the meaning of justification. Now in this sense, justification
is not, and listen carefully, it is not a work necessarily
wrought in the center when you think of justification. It is
not an inward renewal as is regeneration and is sanctification. It is
not what changes the inward life. Justification is not itself the
change in the inward life. It is not an infusion of righteousness
or of holiness. It is not what gives a new heart. It is not what renews the mind. Now that may sound strange, so
I'd like to follow up on that and give some proof. This is
confirmed, I believe, by examining several places where the word
and the thing is used in the scripture in regard to man and
even in regard unto God and that is important. We find that at
time this word justified is applied to God. We read they justified
God. Now what does that mean and how
did they do it? It means not to make one righteous
It means to put righteousness into one, not, but it means to
declare one to be so. Consider Luke 7 and verse 29. And all the people that heard
and the publicans justified God justified God. The publican and
the people that heard justified God being baptized of John the
Lord was. Now, how did they justify God? They did not make him righteous.
They did not deliver him from sin, or he had not that. In 1st
Timothy 3.16, we see it again, where it is written that God
was manifested in the flesh. That is, the Lord Jesus was justified
in the Spirit. 1st Timothy 3.16. Jesus was justified
in the Spirit. And then there's Luke 10 and
29. where we read of certain lawyers
who were, quote, willing to justify themselves. We read of that,
of self-righteous men in the scripture. Luke 16 and 15. Jesus said to some Pharisees,
ye are they which justify yourself before God." Now, not really. They didn't really make themselves
righteous or free themselves from their sin, so how is it
you? Again, in Romans 3 and 4, quoted
from Psalm 51 and verse 4, that you said David in his prayer
of contrition unto God, might be justified when you speak,
and be clear when you judge. Whatever sentence you pass, that
you might be justified, and he speaks to and of God. Now in all these places, and
there are more in the scripture, the meaning is not to make one
righteous, but to declare or to pronounce that one is righteous. So when the people justified
God, Luke 7, 29, they in no way conveyed righteousness to God,
only they declared Him to be so. They approved of Him as being
so. Likewise, when the Pharisees
and the self-righteous justified themselves, they were falsely
declaring or announcing themselves as righteous, which justification
was only a figment of their imagination. They had pronounced themselves
so, but it was their verdict. It was not a divine verdict. and it was a false estimate unto
which they held themselves, and they falsely presumed to pass
the good sentence upon themselves because of the things good that
they imagined that they had done. However, Paul said in our text,
it is God that justifies, Romans 8.33. None other can, none other
does, none other will. So we seek to get a grasp on
justification And we find that scriptures speak of this justification
that we're studying in more than one way. And what might give
us the idea that it has more than one cause or more than one
source. And by the way, we are indebted
to the Apostle Paul and the systematic study of the doctrine of justification,
particularly in Romans and in Galatians. For example, in Romans
3.24, Paul said this, being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, freely,
gratuitously, graciously, without any cause, without any cause
in the one whatsoever. Romans 5.1, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. So we have justified by grace
freely and justified by faith. Romans 5 and verse 9 again being
now Justified by his blood that is by his death and his suffering
we shall be saved from wrath through him So we have that here
that we are justified by grace. We're justified by faith We're
justified by the blood of the redemption of Christ but now
let's get down to where the rubber really meets the road and Let's
trace our justification back to its origin and its first cause,
and that's where we want to go this morning. What does it take,
or where does it take its rise? Where first will we meet with
justification in our salvation? When did it first appear? Was
it in time or was it in eternity, and I'm speaking about in the
mind, and the purpose of God. John Gill referred to justification
as an imminent act of God taken up in the mind of God from eternity. In other words, he's saying that
justification originated in the mind and in the will and in the
purpose of God, not after the race fell, nor when the son became
incarnate, nor when he died upon the cross, but as old timers
used to put it, justification is a sentence conceived in the
divine mind as a decree before the foundation of the world. Another I read held that justification
is an essential part of the covenant established with and in Christ
and that between the Godhead and before the world began. Now, you may raise the question
in your mind, many have, and it's a stumbling block unto them,
how can justification be before the fall, and before we sinned,
and before we existed, and before we believed? How can we say that
there was justification before Christ died? There was justification
of some. We should ask of them in return,
how is it that Christ is said to be slain from the foundation
of the world, as our text in Revelation 13 and verse 8 has
said. Or as 1 Peter 1 20 declares,
for ordained before the foundation of the world. For ordained to
die as the Lamb of God without spot and without blemish. For
ordained before the fall yea, even before the creation of man,
before the creation of the world in which people would live. And
lest we forget, there was at that time, in that covenant,
a union formed between Christ and the elect, before the world,
before or from the beginning in the eternal purpose of God. And from that, the elect are
viewed by God as being in the Son and in vital union with the
Son. And then and there, before the
world, he pledged to become our surety, to be the surety of the
new covenant, Hebrews 7 and verse 22. Now, a surety is one who
mixes himself up together with others to answer their debt and
to become responsible for them, so that all that is required
of the debtor is given by the surety, even life for life. as you see in the book of Genesis
chapter 43. The first mention of suretyship,
Genesis 43 verse 8 and verse 9, where Judah pledged himself,
not money, not gold, not silver, but pledged himself as surety
for his little brother Benjamin. And Christ became surety for
all of God's little Benjamins whom he would bring home unto
him safely. However, it is interesting that
this is so important in our salvation that the wise Solomon counsels
us against becoming a surety. Don't do it. You're smart for
it. You'll be sorry. Especially for
a stranger. You'll find that in Proverbs
6, 1 through 6. You'll find it Proverbs 17 verse
18. Don't become surety. If you have,
go deliver yourself because you will smart from it. Because when
the debtor defaults that you have been surety for, The surety
must pay, must answer all of the debt, for the creditor will
look to you for the payment of the debt. And Solomon said in
Proverbs 11 and 15 again, you will smart for it, you will hurt
for it, for becoming a debtor. And Christ smarted as the surety
of the covenant. That is, he suffered the just
desert of the sins of all of the elect. for he was their surety."
I love John Bryan. He wrote in the 1700s, so soon
as Christ became the surety of the elect, so soon were their
sins to be imputed unto him, and so soon as they were imputed
to the surety, they were not imputed unto the elect for God
will not require the debt twice. God will not require the debt
at double hand. He would not have a double price
to be paid for our sin. First, at my bleeding surety's
hand, and then again at mine, as we sometimes sing. Dr. Chauncey put it this way, Christ's
atonement bearing sin was in the eye of God from eternity,
and was, as if it were already done, for he counts those things
which be not as though they were. So being viewed by that, in Romans
4 and verse 17, God calls those things which be not as though
they were. Thus God could call Abraham the
father of many nations when as yet he was childless and his
wife was barren. When Sarah was barren and they
were childless, he called Abraham the father of many nations. And Paul speaks of what Mary
called determinate certainty in regard to these things, that
because God determined or wielded, he can call them being, as being
certain. The accomplishment is sure because
God willed it to come to pass. It is his eternal decree so that
God's will to elect is election. God's will to save is salvation. God's will for Christ to die
is his will to die. God's will to adopt is our adoption. Just as God's will to justify
is our justification in the sight of our great God. Now, one of
the most frequent objections, perhaps, that you'll hear raised
by the Armenian goes something like this, in opposition to the
doctrine of justification before the world or before time, or
if you prefer, justification in its aspect from eternity. And their argument is this, and
they think it's solid. that none can be justified before
they actually exist or before they have actually sinned their
sin. And we should remember this is
the same argument that the remonstrants That is that the Armenians made
the opposers of sovereign grace raise centuries earlier against
the doctrine of election. The Armenians said none can be
elect before they are or before they exist or before they believe. They contend that none can be
elect before they have actually had their existence. But Paul
said, we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world. Romans 1, 3 through 5. And he
tells the Thessalonians much the same thing. 2 Thessalonians
2. 13 that he had from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth and he told Timothy in 2nd Timothy 1
and verse 9 that we were given grace in Christ and before the
foundation of the world. We did not then actually exist. We had not yet actually committed
our sin. And if any are minded to carry
on this argument against justification from eternity on the same ground
that one cannot be justified before they have being or before
Christ died or before they have faith or believe on the Savior,
then let us reason with them upon these two points, if we
might. Number one. Is this true or not? The Old Testament saints were
justified before Christ came and before Christ died, were
they not? Abraham would be the greatest
case of that. They were justified before their
sins were actually died for and atoned for by Christ upon the
cross, before the great sin bearer lay down the perfect and the
everlasting sacrifice for sin. Abraham is the best example of
that in Genesis 15 and Romans chapter 4. No, there was not
another way to be justified in the Old Testament other than
by grace and by faith. Noah saved by grace, Abraham
justified by faith. For Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. So there's an irrefutable argument.
Old Testament saints were justified before Christ died, before he
came into the world. And number two argument, in the
other side of the cross. On our side of the cross, Jesus
died for us, and he died for our sin before we actually had
being and before we had actually committed those sins. This is irrefutable. So let's
see if this makes any impression upon the Armenian who try to
hang everything upon the love of God and that only. And then we ask them the question,
when was the love of God fixed upon those that God loves? When did God begin to love them?
After they had been, after they were repentant and sanctified
and believed and trusted in Christ. When they were born into this
world, did God then begin first to love them? Scripture declares,
like Jeremiah 31 and verse 3, I've loved you with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn you. He loved his own, Jesus did,
John 13 in one, with an everlasting love, and he loved them unto
the end. With loving kindness have I drawn
you. Therefore, he loved his people
as they were in Christ. So he acquitted his people as
they were in Christ on the merit of the coming death of our blessed
Savior for our sin. and for justification takes its
rise in the mind and the will and the purpose of God, finds
its substance in the death of the Lamb of God, slain before
the foundation of the world. Now, justification has in it
these two blessed articles of the gospel. Number one, that
the sins of the elect have been imputed unto Christ. They have been put to his account.
He's the surety. We can answer. He does, and he
must. So the sins of the elect were
imputed unto Christ. Romans 4, 2 Corinthians chapter
5. They were imputed unto Christ. They have been made to light
upon him. Isaiah chapter 53. He made the
iniquities of us all to light upon him. And the Lord paid the
fullness of our debt. He answered our debt as our surety. And can you give me another reason
why Christ is obliged to die for our sin other than he's the
surety and by surety ship is answerable unto the debt. Now,
the second thing that we make is that the righteousness of
Christ is imputed unto those that were chosen in him and appointed
to eternal life. Their sins are imputed to Christ. His righteousness is imputed
unto us. And by the way, the argument
that we must have actual existence in order to be justified, I would
have you to consider the case of Adam and of the race, that
his sin passed upon the race before they ever had beginning,
or before they ever were, and that all that are born in sin
physically die so that that sin of Adam is penally visited upon
all of the human family. And Paul, in the end of Romans
chapter 5, ties the knot between Adam and the race. I'm looking
at verse 18 and verse 19. Therefore, as by the office of
one, judgment came upon all to condemnation. Verse 19. By the
offense of one man, disobedience, many were made sinners. Now this too was before they
personally existed or actually or personally had lived and had
sinned. And it is a truth that whatever
is done by a federal head is put to the account of those for
whom the federal head is acting. Thus, Paul teaches our connection
unto Adam. Now by the same token, what is
done by Christ who is the federal head of the election of grace,
is reckoned unto the elect so soon as it is done by the federal
head. Therefore, for justification
from eternity to stand, it must be that Christ, in the decree
of God, had our sins imputed unto Him, was ordained to be
slain as Revelation 13 and 8, 1 Peter 1 and 20 have declared. And we can see how this can give
rise to objection and a question. How justification can be from
eternity if the condemnation of the sin of Adam came after
we were justified in Christ. Would the latter not nullify
or supersede the former? This does not nullify the fact
that Christ was slain from the foundation of the world and that
their secret justification, as I might call it that, would be
manifest in God's time and in God's way, in the death of Christ
and in the application of it unto the elect. There's another
illustration. There was a secret election,
a secret election of Gentiles, which did not appear in the older
ages. Ephesians 3 and verse 5, and
it was hid in God from the beginning of the world. And in Ephesians
3 and verse 9, though it was not made manifest for centuries,
prior to being manifest by their calling because they continued
to worship and to serve idol. But the secret election of God
of the Gentiles stood invulnerable nevertheless. And a man may live
a pauper's life. He may live a pauper's life not
knowing that he is about to inherit a great inheritance and become
a wealthy person. He's secretly rich before he
comes to the knowledge of it. and it is put into his actual
possession. And he lives as a poor man until
he learns and receives his great inheritance, if that is an example
for our mind. And no doubt some would hear
this sermon and say, you have ignored altogether. The heavy
emphasis which the New Testament puts upon the doctrine of justification
by faith, by believing, which they would contend that none
are justified until they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, until
they exercise their faith and actually act in faith to receive
Christ. I think such a will has more
to do with free will than with free grace in their mind, in
their eye. But we must consider what is
meant by justification by faith, which is spoken of freely in
the New Testament, without it being cause or effect. Now, as John Bryan put it, justification
by faith is the knowledge or perception of justification. We need to get that. Justification
by faith is the knowledge or perception of justification. In other words, it is a revelation
that is made unto the elect. Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 11,
by his knowledge, shall my righteous servant justify
many." Have you thought of that? I know you've read it. We've
read it so many times. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. What knowledge is that? Well,
the knowledge of his saving work being made known revealed unto
them. Our justification is not secured
by our believing, but it is manifested to us by faith, by the faith
which God gives, by the faith which God works. It is the gift
of God. So the regenerate elect receive
the comforting knowledge or perception of that gracious privilege when
God opens their heart, regenerates them, illuminates them, and reveals
unto them Christ in the gospel. The old timer called it a gracious
privilege, and it is. And we must bear in our mind
that faith is not of man. It's not of ourself. So therefore,
we cannot attribute the fact that our faith is the procuring
cause of the justification from God. It is the gift of God, faith,
Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. It is by grace, Acts 18 and verse
27, that we believe. It is the power of the operation
of God, Colossians chapter 2 and verse 12. And Paul said in Romans
4 and verse 16, it is of faith that it might be of grace. Can I say it again? Just for
emphasis, it is of faith in order that it might be of grace. If it were not of faith, if it
were works or law, it would not be grace. But it is of faith
in order that it might be by grace. Gill makes the same conclusion
on adoption as on justification. He wrote this, quote, Faith is
not the cause, but the fruit and effect of justification and
adoption. Justification is antecedent to
the act of believing." And again he wrote, the reason why we're
justified is not because we have faith, we are justified not because
we have faith, but the reason that we have faith is because
we are justified and we are adopted in and through Christ. And faith
is given by God, is created for the express purpose of believing
the testimony concerning the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel. No man hears discerningly and
understandingly until they are granted this faith. Now, the
elect are justified in Christ as their federal head, and that
justification is then confirmed in his death and applied to the
conscience of believers in regeneration and conversion, and the assurance
of our justification is sealed up in the heart and the consciences
of the elect by the Holy Spirit, by which we cry, Abba, Father,
when grace has enabled them to believe, Acts 18 and 27. So they are justified, and that
justification is then applied to them by a revelation. And consider this as we draw
to a close. Justification must be absolute. entire, I'll add, perfect, we'll
add. All of those things mean that
justification must be absolutely and fully justification. There should not be a part missing,
not one part at all. And this point, Faith is never
perfect, that is, not in this life. So with that strong connection
between faith and justification, if it took its rise and rested
on our faith, then justification would never be perfect because
our faith is never perfect. And justification would ebb and
flow and come and go and be stronger and weaker, and that cannot be. Justification is full and entire
at all time. Thus, we view justification from
three aspects according to the scripture, I believe. A, as decreed
by God. It is God that justifies, and
that decree and purpose is in His mind. before the foundation
of the world, and that means that it had a view to the fall,
and that's why I'm a superlapsarian. B, it is manifested in the death
and the resurrection of Christ. What we read last Sunday, I believe
in the last verse of Romans 4, He bore our sins and was raised
for our justification. And then see, this justification
is revealed, manifest experience known in the grace of faith. God declared to justify Christ
died, that God is just in putting away our sin, taking them away
and giving them to his son. And then he quickens us, opens
our heart, gives us faith, and we receive the testimony justified
freely by faith, by the grace of God, through the redemption
that is in Jesus Christ. None of it, none of it taken
out, but we reason from faith back to redemption, back to the
eternal decree of God, moving forward and unfolding in that
very order. So I think that it is scriptural
to look at justification as having an eternal aspect as well as
a temporal and a experimental.