Let's read Romans 8 first of
all, and then Revelation chapter 13. There's one verse here that
I want to read. Let me tell you what I'd like
to speak on this morning. We're going to fly high today. I want to speak on the subject. Justification from eternity,
or eternal justification. The case for eternal justification. Let's read our two texts, first
of all, in Romans chapter 8, and it will be verse 33, and
there is a clear, clear declaration here for us to consider. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies, or
literally said, God that justifies. Now, how can he do that? Revelation
13 and the 8th verse, all 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. And that last phrase will come
importantly into play this morning, slain from the foundation of
the world. It is clear that we are about
to jump into the end, the deep end, of the pool this morning
with such a subject and purpose as has been set before us today,
which is that justification takes its rise, justification has its
beginning, not when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
not even when Christ died upon the cross, but before the world
in the very eternal counsel of the Almighty God, and the covenant
there established between the Holy Three, when before the world
began. Some were then chosen in Jesus
Christ. and they were predestinated to
the adoption of children. That's clear in Ephesians 1,
verses 3 through 5. And even before the world began,
Paul says in 2 Timothy 1 and verse 9 that we were given grace
in Christ Jesus. And then, of course, we were
viewed in Christ And we had that union with our Lord Jesus Christ
from everlasting, and this union with Christ is therefore the
ground of the conveyance of every saving benefit which is received
by the elect and bestowed upon them. We have nothing in the
way of saving mercy but what was proposed and declared before
time, and that includes justification. And also, we're purposed to us
not on the basis of any personal merit or worth that might be
in us, not in any action on our part, but strictly in, with,
and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, these things we will return
to later in our study. But it is probably best that
we now attempt to lay a foundation deep and wide and work our way
gradually up to the subject by reasoning about something that
we find it in the Scripture. That is, that rather than the
Scriptures always using the general terms salvation and save, which
are good words in scriptural, by the way, we also want to consider
the various aspects of salvation, the parts that make up the whole,
the things that make up the totality of God's saving work toward the
elect of God. And we also want to make some
distinctions that are very important. lest all things run together
in our mind. Things such as the ordo salutis,
or the order of salvation, which has regard to that process by
which the salvation purposed in Christ before the foundation
of the world, wrought out in Christ in His death upon the
cross, is then in an orderly fashion manifested and realized
and applied unto the elect sinner. Now, these works, though they
form a unified whole, are nonetheless distinguishable as we meet with
them in the Scripture. For example, regeneration is
distinct from conversion. and that distinction ought always
to be made. They're not one and the same. On the other hand, justification
is not the same thing with sanctification. They are not one and the same. In these, one may lead unto the
other. Sanctification is not glorification,
though it goes before it. Adoption is not the same as reconciliation
by Christ. Now, these all fitly frame together,
groweth into a holy house of salvation by the ordering of
the Lord, if I may paraphrase Paul to that extent. Now, we
want to hone in, or we want to focus, on that one great aspect
of God's saving work. Justification, as I announced
in the beginning. And it does not seem a stretch
to say that this is the, quote, lost, unquote doctrine today. It is the one today, perhaps
more than others, that is hidden under a bushel. When they visit
here and visit there in many churches, it is doubtful that
they would hear this grand and glorious doctrine of justification
expounded upon in the hearing of the worshipper, at least not
at any length and not at any depth. And even sometimes in
the Calvinistic circles, as we might call them, one might not
hear it traced back to its origin or its beginning before the foundation
of the world. Now, there does not seem to be
a lot of preaching today on this very important doctrine. And may I remind you that when
this doctrine is left out of the Christian message, it is
like a ship without a rudder. It is like a bushel with a large
hole in the bottom, so that it is taking on water and is in
danger of sinking the whole ship. Even so, when the doctrine of
justification is left out of the Christian message as a part
of the gospel and the part of the great salvation of God, A
giant void is left in the Christian message. John Gill wrote in one
of his many articles on the subject of justification these simple
words, quote, the doctrine of justification by the righteousness
of Christ is one of great importance. and the apostle spoke of it as
if the essence of the gospel lay in it." In other words, is
there a gospel and could there be salvation if justification
be extracted from the mix? John Gill said again, it is a
fundamental article of the gospel. and so much so that some have
called it the basis of Christianity, that this great doctrine of justification
is the very basis of our great salvation. Now, this great doctrine
is a vast ocean, and the question is, where exactly do we put our
vessels in to this ocean that has neither bank nor bottom,
then we might visit every port. and carry ourselves along. Let's begin by defining the term. What is justification? Should the question be asked,
what is justification? And what does it mean to justify? Now, these terms we meet with
so often in the Scripture that it is incumbent that we qualify
them in our understanding. We would know the meaning of
these words, justify, justification, and such like. Now, it is generally
conceded by expositors of a sounder nature that these are forensic
terms. Forensic terms meaning they are
legal terms which one might hear in a court of law, legal terms
of a sentence that is pronounced. And as Witsius wrote, it is ordinarily
used in a declarative sense so that it signifies to account,
to declare, to prove that one is just. Justification. In this sense, justification
is not a work wrought in the sinner inwardly. We need to keep
that in our mind. It is not an inward renewal such
as regeneration is. And sanctification is the change
of our inward part by the power of God. And then again, justification
is not an infusion of righteousness or holiness. Justification is
not what gives us a new heart. or renews our mind before our
Almighty God. I think that this can be confirmed
convincingly by examining several places where the word is to be
found and is used in the scripture. And do not let it surprise us
that we even find that at times this word, justified, is applied
unto God as well. Therefore, it cannot mean to
make one righteous as it is applied to God, and I'll show you that
in a moment. It does not put righteousness
into one, but it declares that they are righteous, and that
is the declaration. Consider, for example, Luke 7. And listen very carefully to
what is said and of whom it is said. And all the people that
heard and the publicans justified God being baptized of John. Now, it cannot have the meaning
of to make righteous or to put righteousness into one. Listen
to 1 Timothy 3 and verse 16 of the God-man incarnate. where
it is written that God manifests in the flesh, that is, Jesus,
was justified in the Spirit. Listen again to Luke 10 and 29. We read there of certain lawyers
who were willing to justify themselves. Luke 6.15. Jesus said to some
Pharisees, you are they which justify yourself before men. Listen to Romans 3, 4, taken
from Psalm 51 and verse 4. that you," saith David, in the
time of his prayer and contrition, praying to God, he says, that
you might be justified when you speak and be clear when you judge. Now, in all these places, we
could find some more, the meaning is not to make one righteous,
but it is to declare or to pronounce one as righteous. When the people
justified God in Luke 7 and verse 29, They in no way conveyed any
righteousness unto God, only they declared Him to be so. They justified God. He is righteous. Likewise, when the Pharisees
and the self-righteous justified themselves, they were but falsely
declaring or announcing themselves to be righteous, declaring that
they were righteous in themselves, which justification was only
a figment of their vain imagination. They had pronounced themselves
so, but God had not. It was not a divine verdict that
was passed upon them. but it was the false estimate
which they held of themselves, and thus they presumed to pass
the good sentence upon themselves, that they were men that were
righteous. It is God that justifies, Romans
8 and verse 33. Now, when we seek to get a grasp
on justification, it is then that we find that the Scriptures
speak of this justification in more than one way or from more
than one aspect or angle. and it had several causes, it
would seem, as we read the scripture. By the way, we are indebted to
the Apostle Paul more than any other for the systematic study
and outlining of the doctrine of justification. But even he,
the Apostle Paul, speaks of justification from several standpoints. For example, in Romans chapter
3 and verse 24, being justified freely by his grace through the
redemption which is in Jesus Christ. Now, the word freely
is the word gratuitously, without any cause, none on the part of
the individual being justified. Again, in Romans 5, And verse
1, Paul said, being justified by faith, we have peace with
God. Later, Romans 5 and verse 9,
being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath
through him. But now let's get down where
the rubber meets the road. Let's trace justification to
its origin and back unto its first cause, asking the question,
where does it take its ride? When does it first appear in
reality? In time or in eternity? John Gill referred to justification
as an imminent act of God taken up in the mind of God from eternity. That is, it originated in the
mind and the will of God, but not after the race fell, nor
when the Son became incarnate and died. But as one old-timer
put it in his writing, justification is a sentence conceived in the
mind of God as a decree from eternity. Another held that justification
is absolutely an essential part of the covenant of grace established
in and with Christ before the foundation of the world. Now, you may ask, or some may
ask, how can justification be? How can there be justification
before the fall and before we have sinned, before Christ had
died and before we have believed? We should ask of them, how is
it that Christ is said to be the Lamb of God slain from the
foundation of the world. Herein is a great connection. Slain before or from the foundation
of the world. Revelation 13 and 8. Peter says,
1 Peter 1 and verse 20, for ordained before the foundation of the
world. For ordained to what? For ordained
as a lamb without spot and without blemish, and not foreordained
after the fall, but before the fall and even before the creation
of man, before the world was created in which man was to dwell
and was to live. Lest we forget, there was at
that time a union formed between Christ and the elect before the
world from the beginning in the eternal purpose, and the establishing
of the covenant of grace and redemption was from that time. From then and that, the elect
are then viewed by God as being in the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it was then that the Son
became our surety, as it is said in Hebrews 7 and verse 22. Now,
a surety is one. The word means to strike hands or to mix oneself
up together with another, basically is the meaning of the Old Testament
word surety. And a surety is one who mixes
himself up with others in order to answer their debts and be
responsible for them so that all that is required of a debtor
is then given by the surety even life for life. For the first mention of suretyship
studied the matter from Genesis 43, verse 8 and 9, when Judah
pledged to be surety for Benjamin. If I bring him not again, let
me bear the blame. Christ became surety for all
of God's little Benjamins to be brought safely. You know,
the wise Solomon counsels us against it. He said it's not
good to become maturity, and especially for a stranger. In Proverbs chapter 6, 1 through
6. Proverbs 17 and verse 18. Solomon
counsels against it. Why? Because when the debtor
defaults, the surety must pay the debt and answer all. The surety must pay. He shall
suffer, he shall smart for it, is the way that Solomon put it. In Proverbs 11 and verse 15,
so soon as their sins were therefore imputed unto him, so soon as
they were imputed unto the surety of the Lord, they were not imputed
unto the elect, for God will not require a double debt. first of the surety and then
also of the elect. One hymn writer puts it in a
wonderful way, payment God will not twice demand, first at my
bleeding surety's hand and then again at mine. As Dr. Chauncey put it, Christ atonement
and bearing our sin. was in the eye of God from eternity
and was, as if it were, already done. By the decree, it is as
if it is done. And if that be the case, then
all intended by the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ may
be viewed then by God as being absolutely sure. In that 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, even when he was childless and even
when he had a barren wife. the father of many nations, and
with a barren wife. But Paul speaks of what Murray
called, quote, determinate certainty, unquote. That because of the
power and the decree of God. That because God determined it,
or because God willed it, therefore it is as if it had a being. The accomplishment is sure and
is certain and cannot fail because God willed it to come to pass
in his decree. So that God's will to elect is
election. God's will to save is our salvation. God's will for Christ to die
assures that he will die in the fullness of time. God's will
to adopt is certainly our adoption. Then God's will to justify is
our justification. Now, one of the most frequent
objections raised by the Armenians goes something like this, of
those who oppose the doctrine of eternal justification, or
if you wish, justification from eternity. Their argument is this,
and they think it a sound one. that none can be justified before
they actually exist or before they have actually committed
sin. We should remember this is a
very same argument. which the remonstrants, that
is, the opposers of sovereign grace, raised centuries and ages
ago against the doctrine of election. They said none can be elect before
they have a being. None can be elect before they
are inexistent, before they believe. We remind them Paul teaches the
Ephesians. that they and we were chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world. Again, that's Ephesians
1, 3 through 5. He tells the Thessalonians. that
they were chosen unto salvation from the beginning. That's 2
Thessalonians 2 and 13. And he told Timothy that the
Lord has saved us and given us grace before the foundation of
the world. 2 Timothy 1 and 9. And if any,
therefore, are minded to argue 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
upon the Lord, then let us reason with them upon two points that
we want to make. The Old Testament saints, all
of them, were justified before Christ came and died upon the
cross. They were justified before their
sins were actually, literally, really atoned for in the death
of the Lord, before the great sin bearer. laid down the perfect
and everlasting sacrifice for sin. Abraham is a good example
of men being justified in the Old Testament in Romans 4. No,
there was not another way for any to be saved during the Old
Testament dispensation other than by the grace of God. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Genesis 8 or 6 and verse 8. Divine favor he had in the eyes
of the Lord. The second point is this. On
the other side of the cross, Jesus indeed died for you. and died for your sins before
you actually had a being and before your sins were actually
committed. The Lord died before those two
things occurred. Now, let's see if this makes
any impression upon the Arminian who tried to hang everything
upon the love of God. We ask them then, when was the
love of God fixed upon the sons and the daughters of men? Was
it when they were born? Was it when they believed? Was
it when Christ died? Was it when they believed or
were baptized? Was it when they loved God that
God set His love upon His people? Scripture declares, Jeremiah
31 and verse 3, "'Yea, I have loved you with an everlasting
love, Therefore, with the cards of love have I drawn you." They
said they are accepted in Him, in Him said Paul in Ephesians
1, and said love was manifested in Christ giving Himself for
us upon the cross. Therefore, as he loved his people
as they were in Christ, so he acquitted his people as they
were in Christ on the merit of his coming death for their sin. For justification takes its rise
first and foremost in the mind and in the will of God, and finds
its substance in the Lamb slain before the foundation of the
world. Justification has in it two blessed
articles of the gospel, two blessed parts that are considered and
contained in the gospel. Number one, that the sins of
the elect, all the sins of all of the elect, have been imputed
to our surety, the Lord Jesus Christ. They have been made to
light upon Him, and He made full satisfaction in their behavior. Secondly, the righteousness of
Christ is imputed to those who were chosen in Him and appointed
to everlasting life. By the way, let's consider a
moment, if we might, and that is the argument we must have
actual existence in order to be justified. Consider the case
of Adam and the race, that his sin was imputed to the race as
seen in two facts. that all are born in sin and
that all are subject to physically die. And Paul, in the end of
Romans 5, ties the knot between Adam and the race. In verse 18,
therefore, by the offense of one came judgment on all under
condemnation. In the first half of verse 19
of Romans 5, By the offense of one man, or the disobedient,
many were made sinners." Now, this too was before they personally
existed or actually and personally had sinned in person. And it is a truth that whatsoever
is done by a federal head is put to the account of those in
whose behalf he acted. Thus, Paul teaches us that we
sinned in Adam, Romans 5 and verse 12. By the same token,
what is done by Christ, the head of the election of grace, is
reckoned unto the elect, and 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 before the world had our sins imputed to him, and he was
ordained to be slain." We can see how this could give rise
to this objection or to this question. How can justification
be from eternity if condemnation by the sin of Adam came after
that? and in time. Would the latter
not nullify and supersede the former? Does this not nullify
the fact that Christ was slain from the foundation of the world
and that their secret justification, however, would be manifest in
God's time? And it does not nullify it as
an illustration There was a secret election of Gentiles which did
not appear in older ages or times. Ephesians 3 and verse 5, and
that secret election of Gentiles was hidden in God from the beginning
of the world, Ephesians 3 and verse 9, though it was not made
manifest for century after century prior to the manifestation in
the calling of the Gentiles by the gospel. Before that, they
worshiped idols. and they served all manner of
false gods, but their election stood because it was of God. Now, a man may live as a pauper,
thinking not to have a dime unto his name, though that man will
inherit in time a fortune. He is secretly rich. before he
comes to the knowledge of it. And he lives as a poor man until
he learns of that inheritance. When does he have the inheritance?
It's when the rich heir sits down and makes out his will and
puts it down that it is to go to so-and-so. But it is actually
not realized until it is conveyed and the knowledge of it is given. No doubt some would hear this
sermon and say, you have ignored the heavy emphasis which the
New Testament puts upon justification by faith. by believing which
they contend would show that none are justified until they
do and actually believe, until they exercise faith in the Lord
Jesus. Such a view has more to do, I
fear, with free will than with free grace. But we must consider
what is meant by justification by faith. whether it is cause,
whether it is effect. Justification by faith. Is it
cause or is it effect? I love to read John Bryan's book
on eternal justification. He put it like this, justification
by faith is the knowledge and the perception of justification. It is the knowledge or the perception
of it imparted when the Spirit of God has quickened us and has
enlightened us. You hear a little phrase from
Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 11 in that wonderful, wonderful
prophecy of all prophecies. It says this, By his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many. Not the knowledge that
he possesses and exercises, but the knowledge of himself that
he imparts or manifests or reveals unto him. The knowledge of his
saving work, therefore, being known and revealed. Our justification
is not secured by our believing, but it is manifest to, by, and
in faith. by the faith which God gives
us. The regenerate elect, one receives
what Brian called, quote, the comforting knowledge or perception
of that gracious privilege, unquote. It comes when our hearts are
opened by God and our minds are enlightened. We must bear in
mind, too, That faith is not of men. It's not our contribution. It's not our part. It is the
gift of God, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. It is a work of God, Colossians
2, 12. We believe by grace, Acts 18
and verse 27. And Paul said in Romans 4 and
verse 16, to sum it up, he said, It is of faith that it might
be by grace. So that salvation by faith is
nothing more or less than also salvation by the grace of God. Gill makes the same conclusion
on adoption as on justification. He wrote, and I quote, faith
is not the cause but the fruit. and the effect of justification. Justification is antecedent to
the act of believing." And again, he wrote, the reason why we are
justified is not because we have faith, The reason we have faith
is because we are justified. Faith is given by God. It is
created in us for the express purpose of believing and espousing
the Lord Jesus Christ and the testimony of Christ set out yonder
in the Gospel. The elect are justified in their
federal head, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that justification
is applied to the conscience of believers. And then the assurance
of it is sealed up in our hearts when grace enables us to believe
the testimony concerning Christ. Consider, if you will, this justification
must be absolute, and righteousness must be perfect. I'll say it
again. Justification must be absolute,
and righteousness must be perfect, that is, full and entire. And faith is never perfect, and
if faith were the essence of our justification, then justification
would be imperfect, and so our righteousness. Thus we view justification
from three aspects, we believe, biblically. A, as decreed by
God before the world. B, in the death and resurrection
of Christ, Romans 4, 25, raised for our justification, or some
say, on account of our justification. And then C, in the grace of faith. We believe, and that justification
is sealed up in us. But it took its rise in the eternal
counsels of the Almighty God. He decreed it before the world.
He made provision for it. Christ the Lamb slain before
the world ever began. When our sins are put upon Christ,
As soon as they are imputed to him, so soon may he impute righteousness
unto us and declare justification. Consider these things. This is
a glorious aspect of it, I believe. All right, thank you, and let's
rise for a word of prayer, please.