Now in this passage that Brother
Mark just read, I had him read verses 11 through 24, but actually
today I'm going to deal with verses 11 through 18 and then
next week, Lord willing, I'll finish up that portion. But I
want to talk to you about being justified and being sanctified. The title of the message, justified
and sanctified. I have two points in the message.
The first point is the perfect work of Jesus Christ. That's point number one. And
then point number two is gonna be the testimony of the Holy
Spirit. The perfect work of Christ and
the testimony of the Holy Spirit. And under this first point, the
perfect work of Christ, if you look at verse 11, Ryder continues to prove that
what could not be accomplished by an earthly priesthood under
the old covenant law, what could not, it was impossible. Remember
he said, back up in chapter 10, it's impossible that the blood
of bulls and goats should take away sin. Well, what was impossible
to accomplish under the old covenant law, the types and the pictures,
that which was impossible is now fully, perfectly completed,
finished by the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what he's saying.
Look at it again, verse 11. Every priest stand up daily,
every day, ministering, serving, offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices. There were different sacrifices.
You know, if you read the book of Leviticus, they'll talk about
the atonement sacrifices, the sin offerings. There had to be
blood because justice had to be satisfied. And then there
were thank offerings. And that represented thanking
the Lord. So the sin offerings were the
foundation, the basis, the ground. And the thank offerings were
the result, the fruit. but it was oftentimes the same
sacrifices which can never take away sins. Think about that. No salvation unless sin is taken
away. There's no salvation for us if
sin is not taken away. What did Christ come to do? He
came to take away our sins. He was manifested, John wrote,
to take them away And you know, you got a beautiful picture of
that under the old covenant of the goat that was slaughtered
and the scapegoat led out into the wilderness by a fit man.
Maybe you've never read about that, but it's a beautiful type,
picture, shadow. You remember, the writer said,
these are shadows, not the substance. But it's picturing Christ, our
sin offering, who died for the sins of his sheep, and that scapegoat,
Christ taking away our sins. What does it mean that they're
taken away? Well, look at verse 12, but this
man, now in the original, the word man's not there, but it's
talking about this priest, this person, who's he talking about? Talking about Christ, after he
had offered one sacrifice, one sacrifice, we're going to see
later, one time, one sacrifice, not many sacrifices, not daily
sacrifices, but one sacrifice for sins forever. Don't you love
that? Forever sat down on the right
hand of God. Now the sitting down indicates
what? A work finished. If you've ever
seen a A model of the Old Testament tabernacle. One thing you might
notice there is there were no chairs. No place to sit down. Why? Because their work was never
finished. But Christ sat down on the right
hand of the Father. That's the right hand of his
justice, satisfied. That's the right hand of acceptance.
That's the right hand of fellowship. And his one sacrifice of himself
forever put away, took away the sins
of his people. Now, what does it mean taking
them away? It means they're paid for. It means that he finished
the work, the full payment of the debt, the sin debt to the
justice of God, fully paid, nothing left to pay, nothing left over.
Nothing left over at all. What does that mean? We'll look
at verse 13. From henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. Now he's going to bring his people
to bow at his feet by the testimony of the Spirit in effectual invincible
calling. But his victory over the universe,
even his enemies is assured. You see that victory is assured,
that's what it means. The fact that Christ, the God-man,
as the surety, substitute, and redeemer of his people, offered
his one sacrifice, and what was that sacrifice? Himself. For sins, as a substitute for
sins, well how could he die, he's not a sinner, no. The sins
of his sheep were charged to him, accounted to him, reckoned
to him. He was numbered with the transgressors. He wasn't a transgressor, but
he was numbered with them. That means an accounting. You
see what I'm saying? That's why we use the word imputation.
And people don't need, they need to hear that more. They don't
know what it means. Some people are confused about
the word imputation and the word impartation. Well, the word impartation has
to do with something that is infused into our minds, our hearts. I taught school for like 10 years,
and my goal was to impart knowledge to my students. I wanted them
to learn what I'd learned. But now, imputation is a legal
term that has to do with the charging of the merit or the
demerit of something. And so Christ, he offered one
sacrifice of himself for sins, as a sin offering, as a sin bearer. The iniquity of all his people,
Isaiah, was laid on him. Now, what is he talking about?
Does it mean he picked up a big bag of sin and laid it on the
cross? Sin's not a big bag of anything. Sin has to do with missing the
mark. Missing the goal. And what is
the goal? The glory of God. And where's
the glory of God? We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And where's the glory of God
found? In Christ. In his blood. I can die and shed
blood. But it will not take away sins. But this person was a surety. The sins of his elect were laid
upon him, charged to him, accounted to him. And then he took our
place. That's why he had to die. Justice
has to be satisfied. A sacrifice is needed. Some people
would say, you've got a bloody religion. That's true. But thank God we do. Because
without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.
There's no forgiveness, no pardon. But it's not just any blood.
The blood of bulls and goats wouldn't get it. The blood of
the martyrs wouldn't do it. Has to be the blood of this man,
this person, the God man, who offered himself without spot
to God. A lamb without blemish. and he took our place for sins
forever. This is a forever thing. This
is not just a part-time thing. This is not something that he
started and we finished. It's a forever thing. How do
you know? He sat down. That's all he had
to do after his death. He died, he was buried, he arose
again the third day, proving that sins were taken away that
righteousness was established, which is imputed, charged to
his people, and he ascended unto the Father and sat down on the
right hand of God. Now look at, and victory's assured,
from henceforth expecting, not worrying, he's not, you know,
the Christ that is preached in most churches today is literally
portrayed as somebody who is totally unsuccessful Unless you
believe. I've heard preachers say this
on invitations. Oh, Christ is up there hanging
over the banister of heaven just hoping that one of you will accept
him. That's not the Christ of the Bible, I'm sorry. No, I'm
not sorry. That's just, I'm sorry for the
people who believe that. Because I was there and if it
weren't for the grace of God, I'd still be there. But that's
not the Christ of the Bible. From henceforth expecting till
his enemies be made his footstool. He's the mighty conqueror. The
victor, we sang about him. Now, verse 14. Think about this. This speaks of the ground of
all of it. For by one offering, he, Christ,
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. That speaks of
the ground of our justification before God. What is justification? Well, it means that we're not
guilty. Not because men say it, not because our own hearts say
it, but because God has said it. The great judge of all looks
at his people in Christ on the basis of the shedding of his
blood. The perfection that he brought
in by his obedience unto death is my surety, my substitute,
and my redeemer. He looks at a sinner like me
and he says, not guilty. That means I cannot be condemned.
Now does that mean that God is play acting? Does that mean that
God is calling something not guilty, but it really is? No.
God doesn't deal in pretense. He doesn't deal in acting. This is a legal matter. And this
is where I want you to see this now. What he's talking about
here in verse 14 is our justification before God. and our sanctification
by God. You see, both justification and
sanctification, you've heard these terms. And somebody said,
well, you're just getting too doctrinal, too theological for
me. Now listen to me. If we're his sheep, we feed in
the green pastures of his Word. Isn't that right? And so don't
look at me and say, don't bother me with the details. I'm just
reading what's in the word of God here. Somebody said, well,
you're just trying to make us all theologians. Well, what is
theology? Do you know what it is? You know
what theology is? Study of God. Now we claim to
be believers. Our whole lives ought to be studying
God. Who God is, what he's like, his
attributes, his glory. How can God be just to justify
a sinner like me or sinners like you? How can a sinner be right with
God? The Bible says, theologically,
it says we all deserve condemnation and death. All have sinned and
come short. They go out and they quote these
verses and people really don't know what they mean. They know
they're not perfect. But here's what it says, it says, we've
all sinned and come short of the glory of God. And what's
the next verse they go to, Romans 6, 28? The wages of sin is death. Now I know it goes on to say
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
But what does that mean, the wages of sin is death? It means
that's what we earn. You earn a wage. You go out today
or next week, you're gonna work, you're gonna expect a paycheck
at some time. You earned it. Well, when it comes to salvation
and a right relationship with God, what have we earned? Death. And when it says the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, we don't earn
a gift. That's freely given. Oh, but
you must receive the gift. True, but not as a condition. You see, God has even provided
for that. That's our sanctification. Listen to him. Both justification
and sanctification, to be justified and sanctified, are included
in salvation, but they're not the same thing. I read an article
by a pastor this past week where he confused the two. After I
read the article, I was confused. Now what he meant, justification,
they're not the same thing. They're both required in salvation. Listen, they're both required
in salvation. They're both given by the grace
of God through Christ. They're both blessings of God's
grace. Every sinner saved by grace is a justified sinner. Every sinner saved by grace is
a sanctified sinner. Both include, but they're not
the same. And it's vital that we know the
difference. Why? Because the word of God
makes a distinction. Over in 1 Corinthians 1.30, this
statement is made, but of God are we as Christ made unto us
wisdom, righteousness, that's justification, sanctification,
and redemption. He makes a distinction between,
they're all required in salvation, they're all blessings of God's
grace in Christ, but they're distinct, they're not the same
thing. And God the Holy Spirit makes that distinction in the
word of God. Justification, to be justified. The question is asked, how can
a man be just with God? What does the Bible say about
Abraham, that man Abraham, and how he was justified before God?
Well, read it in Romans chapter four. Justification, now listen
to me. It is totally, exclusively, and
uniquely the legal realm of salvation. What do you mean legal, preacher? Well, picture yourself standing
before a judge in a courtroom, having been accused of a crime.
that you're guilty of. You committed the crime, you're
standing there before the judge. And then all of a sudden the
judge looks down at you and says, not guilty. Now that wouldn't be right, would
it? Not if you're guilty of the crime. And my soul, we're guilty of
many crimes. before God. So here's the question. How can God look at a sinner
like me and say not guilty and still be right, which he must
be, still be just? That, my friend, is the question
of the ages. We don't know the answer by nature.
This thing, listen, this thing, 1 Corinthians chapter two tells
us that this thing, this issue, now what I'm talking about here,
has never even entered the minds of the noblest philosophers,
religions. False religion doesn't even deal
with that. Even false Christianity, what do they call them? Oh, God
loves you and he wouldn't, you know, he just cries every time,
you know, you won't accept it. No. Now, where is the answer
to be found? It's only in the gospel, the
good news, that God, in his wisdom, has arranged and given. And here's
the answer in verse 14, for by one offering, somebody had to
die, somebody who's God-appointed, and somebody who's qualified. Who is that? Well, it wasn't
Aaron. Wasn't Moses, wasn't Abraham. Who is it? There's one God and
one mediator between God and man. The man, the God-man, Christ
Jesus. And what did he do in that one
offering? One offering, think about that. A multitude of sins accounted to him. One offering, that's how great
and marvelous and valuable Christ is. Worthy is the lamb that was slain. And what did he do by that one?
He perfected, that's our justification. What does that word perfect mean?
Perfected, we looked at that, Back up in verse 10, by the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. And then that word perfected.
He says the blood of bulls and goats couldn't do it. They couldn't
make the comers perfect. What is this word perfect? It
means done. It means finished. It means completed. Whatever he set out to do, he
completed. Well, what did he complete? He
took away our sins. He paid the debt in full. He
paid our sin debt in full. He established a complete and
perfect righteousness by which God is just to justify us. How can God look at a sinner
like me and say not guilty and it be right and glorifying and
honoring to him? By the blood of Jesus Christ. You see, those sins don't go
unpaid for. Christ paid it all. Jesus paid
it all, all the debt I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow. Isaiah started his prophecy,
his written prophecy off that way. Come, let us reason together.
Though your sins be as scarlet, you can't hide them from God.
They'll be as white as wool. Though they be red like crimson,
Oh, I deserve nothing but death and hell, but they'll should
be white as snow. How? How? Well, Isaiah all the way through
his written prophecy tells us, but you know, one of the passages
that stands out is Isaiah 53. Through a suffering substitute
who died in our place, he perfected. And that's the ground of our
salvation. We're declared justly. See, justification is purely
legal. He says not guilty. He looks
at me, not only does he say I'm not guilty, he says I'm righteous.
How? Because I have no righteousness
of my own. I can't work one. When I try to do good, my fleshly
thoughts plague and contaminate every effort You ever been sitting in a service
where the gospel is preached and have to fight to keep your
attention on the gospel? That's a real problem, isn't
it? You're in a warfare right now. I am too. How can I be righteous? It's
through the perfection. He hath perfected. He finished
it. He said it, same word, it is
finished. For Christ is the end of the
law. That word end is that same word
perfected. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believe it. And his righteousness ensures
that they will believe. This is the ground of my salvation.
This is what earns and merits salvation and all blessings for
me. For he hath perfected forever. Having been justified, we stand
before God in the perfection of righteousness found only in
the Lord Jesus Christ. His name is our name. What is
his name? The Lord our righteousness. We cannot be charged. To be justified
means that we cannot be charged with the debt and demerit of
our sin. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth righteousness without works. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died, yea rather
is risen again and seated. the right hand of the Father
ever living to make intercession for us. For he was made sin,
Christ had our sins charged to him. Christ who knew no sin,
he was not a sinner in any sense that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Isn't that beautiful? That's
our justification. Now, what about sanctification?
It says here in verse 14, he perfected forever them that are
sanctified. Well, sanctified is a wider term
than justified. in its scope, because it refers
to all who are saved by God's grace, having been set apart
by God in his grace, based upon the righteousness of Christ,
imputed to us in justification. And it helps if you'll keep in
mind, anytime you see the word holy, anytime you see the word
sanctify or sanctification, it means to be set apart. Set apart. Now, who did the setting
apart? Well, God did. We can talk about sanctified
in an eternal sense. Sanctified, set apart by God
the Father in eternal electing grace. You know what the Bible
says about God's people? His children, believers? It says
they were chosen by God before the foundation of the world in
Christ. That's the elect. Let me read
Jude 1 to you. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ
and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the
Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. Sanctification
has to do with being redeemed by Christ. The Bible says we're
sanctified by God the Son in redeeming grace. That's what
verse 10 up here in Hebrews 10, by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
That means when he died, he died as a substitute, as a surety,
as a representative. When he died, he died for his
people. We can say it this way, when he died, we died. When he
was buried, we were buried. When he arose again, we arose
in him. He redeemed us by the blood of
the cross, sanctified in Christ. And then thirdly, sanctification
is by the Holy Spirit in regenerating grace. whom God chose before the foundation
of the world all for whom Christ died on the cross will be born
again called Invincibly by the Holy Spirit into the kingdom
of God That's called sanctification of the Spirit set apart by the
Spirit. Listen to this. This is 2 Thessalonians
2 in verse 13. Now listen to this. He says,
but we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you, that's sanctification by the Father, chosen you to salvation
through sanctification, setting apart, of the Spirit, Holy Spirit
setting us apart and how do we know the Holy Spirit has set
us apart? He says, sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth, not a lie, belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel. to the obtaining of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. All who are set apart by God
in divine sovereign electing grace, all who are set apart
by Christ on the cross in redeeming grace shall be set apart by the
Spirit in regenerating grace. We'll be born again. We'll believe
the gospel, the true gospel. We'll live sanctified lives.
What does that mean? Well, that doesn't mean that
we live to be sanctified. It means we live because we already
are sanctified. We're set apart. We don't believe
what the world believes. We've been taken out of the world. We are sanctified. And think
about this. Here's the distinction. We're
set apart in all those ways. distinguished by God, His grace.
It's God who sets us apart. And that all, our being set apart
in election, in redemption, in regeneration, it's all based
upon one ground. Our justification, our legal
justification, based upon the righteousness of Christ freely
imputed. And so where does that lead us?
We'll look at, secondly, the witness of the Holy Ghost. Listen
to this, verse 14, or verse 15. Whereof the Holy Ghost also a
witness to us, for after that he had said before, this is the
covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. Somebody said, you remember, I mentioned how somebody
said, well, all that's no good unless you receive it. My friend,
he's even made provision for that. Look, I will put my laws
into their hearts. He's not going to expect it to
come naturally. He puts it in our hearts and
then their minds will I write the laws. What laws? The gospel. That's what he's talking about.
In verse 17, he says, their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. What does that mean? That means
God will not hold them against us. He will not bring up a record
of them. You know, when we stand before God in judgment, we'll
give an account. What is my account? Jesus Christ
and him crucified. That's my account. I'm washed
in the blood of Christ. I'm clothed in his righteousness.
Then he says in verse 18, look, now where remission of these
is, these sins and iniquities, there is no more offering for
sin. You see, Christ's one offering
was enough. And if we come to God offering him anything to
bring about atonement or the ground of salvation, you know
what we're doing? We're denying Christ. We're dishonoring
God. You see, what do we plead? The
blood of Christ. What do we plead? His righteousness
alone imputed to me, which he worked out and perfected on the
cross for them whom God had set apart in eternity, in redemption,
and in regeneration. That's the Holy Spirit's witness.
He shows us how God is reconciled to us in Christ and calls us
to be reconciled to God in Christ. He imparts spiritual life and
knowledge, gives us the gift of faith and repentance, revealed
knowledge which we cannot deny, which we cannot ignore, and which
we'll never leave if he convinces us and dwells within us. He shows
us that God will not charge us with our sins. God says, I'll
remember them no more. He shows us that the ground and
reason for all blessings and salvation is the one offering
of the Lord Jesus Christ for us as our surety, our substitute,
and our redeemer, and that his offering is enough. And it's
blasphemy before God to try to add anything to it. It's not
Christ's one offering plus our faith. It's Christ one offering
guarantees our faith. You see the difference? It's
not Christ plus you, it's not Christ plus anything. It's Christ
alone. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. You see the difference? Justified,
that's the legal aspect. Just because it's legal doesn't
mean it's not real. The Catholic Church calls this
a legal fiction. It's not a legal fiction. It's
a legal fact. My sins are taken away. Did you
hear what Jesus said to me? They're all taken away. Your
sins are pardoned, he says, and you're set free. They're all
taken away. There's a little chorus like
that. Maybe, Amy, we all start singing
some of those choruses. They're good. Well, that's all
I have to say today. And that's enough.