Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. And if you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from 1 Peter chapter
3. My main text is verse 18, which
simply says, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins. And here's the title of the message,
The Just for the Unjust. The Just for the Unjust. Christ
also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit. In that little verse we have
a summation of the gospel message of salvation by the free and
sovereign grace of God, all based upon the merits, the worthiness,
the value of the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ
for his people, for the people that God gave him before the
foundation of the world, the elect, the church, his sheep,
we could go on and on, his family, his brethren, And who are they? How do we know them? Well, he
talked about it here, that he might bring us to God. Those
who have been brought to God by the power of God, which means
to come to Christ. Have been brought to Christ.
Being brought to God through Christ. Being brought to God
by the Spirit on the merits, the value, the worthiness of
the blood of Christ, the righteousness of Christ. And then how did all
this come about? through the suffering of Christ
for the sins of his people that were laid to his charge. I preached
on this last week, how he bare the sins of his people in his
own body. How did he bare them? Through
a legal act of imputation, God charging those, the demerit,
the deserving of wrath of those sins to the account of Christ. And so it says, Christ also hath
once suffered for sins. The just for the unjust. Now,
who is the just there? Well, that refers to Christ in
the perfection of His actual person as God in human flesh.
The Lord Jesus Christ was not a sinner. He was never made to
be a sinner. I mentioned this verse last week
in 2 Corinthians 5.21 where it says, for God made him to be
sin. How was Christ made to be sin?
He was never a sinner. The Bible says He was holy, harmless,
separate from sinners. Even when He was born, He was
not born like you and me in sin, spiritually dead. He was born
by a holy conception, a miraculous conception of the Holy Spirit
in the womb of the virgin. And he existed in the womb of
the virgin for the time that it took for him to be born. And
the angel of the Lord, you know what the angel of the Lord called
him? That holy thing. That's not being disrespectful
to Him. That's just simply saying that
there's never been anyone born of human beings like Him. He's
separate. He is sinless. And so when He
suffered for sins in Himself, He's just. Now, to be just means
to be righteous. That's exactly what it means.
That word, just, you see the word in Scripture, just, justified,
justification. It means to be declared righteous. Well, Christ in Himself, He was
righteous. He knew no sin. He did no sin. When the sins of God's elect
were laid upon Him, charged to His account, which I believe
took place before the foundation of the world, it did not change
His nature as far as being contaminated or corrupted. The sins of His
people, you know, Christ, He bore the sins of His people in
that sin was imputed to Him, charged to Him, counted to Him,
and in that He suffered unto death to pay for those sins. But even through his suffering,
verse 18, for Christ also hath once suffered, even in his suffering,
he did not become contaminated or corrupted or even influenced
by those sins in his mind, his heart, his affections, his will.
He remained perfectly just, perfectly sinless in himself. So the question
comes, How then could God, the Father, justly punish such an
innocent person and still be just in doing so? Well, that's
why the doctrine of imputation is so important. Let me give
you some gospel principles to think about. First of all, in
order to save His people from their sin, God chose a people.
And he gave them to Christ before the foundation of the world.
Christ said this. He said, all that the Father giveth me shall
come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
unknowwise cast out. He went on to say, this is the
will of the Father, of him that giveth them unto me, that of
all which he hath given unto me, I should lose nothing, but
raise it up again at the last day. That's God's elect. That's
the sheep of Christ. He said the Good Shepherd gives
His life for the sheep. And He's got to find them and
bring them home. Bring them in. So Christ was actually made the
representative of His people. Who did Christ come to save?
He came to save His sheep. He came to save His brethren.
All that the Father gave to Him. Who are they? They are those
who believe in Him. So Christ is their representative
before God. You don't want to stand before
holy God on your own without a representative. If you do,
you'll be damned forever. That's what the scripture says.
There's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus. And then secondly, Christ was
made the surety of his people. Now, you know what a surety does.
I explained this too last week. A surety is one who takes responsibility
for the debts of another. And that's what Christ did for
his people. Not only did he represent them, he became the surety of
God's elect. The demerit of all their sins,
the punishment due unto all their sins, was laid to his account,
charged to his account. This is the glory of the gospel,
that Christ was not only our representative, but the surety
of his people. We have representatives that
we elect and send to Washington, but they're not sureties for
us. They're representatives, and sometimes they represent
us well, sometimes they don't. But they're never surety for
us. The senator of our state and
the representatives, they're not gonna pay my debts. They're
not gonna pay any credit cards or any car debts or house payments. They're not gonna do that. They're
not elect. But Christ was not only a representative,
he was a surety for his people. Now, in order to pay that debt,
the sin debt of all for whom he died, he had to suffer unto
death. And that's what it's saying.
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, and his one sacrifice
for sins was enough to pay the entire debt. of all his people
and secure their salvation. So how could God justly punish
his son, that innocent person, for the sins of others? That's
where the doctrine of imputation comes in. He's our surety. The
sins of God's elect were imputed to Christ, charged to Christ,
accounted to Christ, and he willingly took that debt upon himself.
Why did he do it? For the glory of his father and
the good of his people, the salvation of his people. That's why he
did it. And he did it willingly. You remember he said in the book
of John, he said, I laid down my life of my own. Nobody takes
it from me. I lay it down of my own. He did
it. And then in doing that, He paid
the debt in full. That's redemption. Christ is
my representative. Christ is my surety. Christ is my substitute. He suffered
for. the sins of his people, the just
for the unjust. He suffered in my place. He's
my substitute. He took my place under the law
and was obedient unto death in order to pay my debt in full.
We sing a hymn, Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sometimes we say all the debt
I owed. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as
snow. He paid my debt. So in paying
that debt is my substitute and my surety and my representative.
He's my redeemer. Galatians 4, 4 and 5, God's in
the fullness of the time, God sent forth his son made of a
woman, his humanity, his sinless humanity made under the law. That's my debt imputed to him.
All my, all my, uh, uh, The debt I owe for my sins was put upon
His charge in order to redeem them that were under the law
so that He could pay that debt. And so He suffered the just for
the unjust. Now, who is the just? That's
Christ. Was He really guilty on that
cross? Yes, but not because of any sin
within Him. In Himself, He's the just. but
because of my sin charged to him, he was guilty. He was cursed. He was made a
curse for us, Peter says in another place. Now, who are the unjust
here? Well, that's all of his people
by nature. In ourselves, we are unrighteous.
We don't have a righteousness and we can't attain one, we can't
make one, we can't work one. The best person who ever lived
on earth did not even come close to the perfect righteousness
that God requires in order to save a sinner. I don't care who
it is. You can talk about the Pope,
you can talk about Mother Teresa, you can talk about any other
icon, you can talk about Mahatma Gandhi, you can talk about Buddha,
who were people who tried to be good, tried to be good. But
the Bible says that man at his best state is altogether vanity. Man is sinful. The scripture
says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
The scripture says in Romans 3 10, there's none righteous,
no, not one. It doesn't say there are none
righteous, no, not one, except this person or that person or
someone you admire or someone in your family, your grandfather,
your grandmother. I've heard people say, well,
I know my grandmother's in heaven because she was a godly woman
or she did this, she did that. My friend, I don't care who your
grandmother, I have a grandmother, Paul had a grandmother, Peter
had a grandmother. Salvation is by grace, not by
works. We need to get that through our
heads. I don't care. Listen, I thank God for my mother,
who was good to me, but her hope of salvation was not her goodness. Her hope of salvation was the
grace of God in Christ through His righteousness. And that's
what she believed. Sinners are saved by grace. Now,
In ourselves, we are unrighteous. We're born in sin, dead in trespasses
and sin. The Bible says in Isaiah 53,
six, we've all gone out of the, all we like sheep have gone astray
and go his own way. And those own ways are religious
ways, mostly. Talking about people trying to
be saved by their works. But in Christ, washed clean from
my sins in His blood, clothed in His righteousness. That's
a metaphor for His righteousness imputed. I stand perfectly righteous
before God. In Christ, that passage that
I quoted last week over in 2 Corinthians 5.21, which says, for He that
is God the Father, made Him, that's Christ, God the Son incarnate,
to be sin for us, our sins, imputed to Him, Christ who knew no sin. It says that we, in order that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, not in ourselves. You know, one of the things that
man has always revealed, or one of the things that always reveals
man's natural total depravity and sinnerhood is that man will
always insist in some way to find righteousness within himself. And I know, now listen, I know
even the natural man has a conscience. Even the natural man, as we're
naturally born in sin, dead in trespasses and sins, we can lead
reformed lives, we can lead, humanly speaking, moral lives,
and we should. But righteousness, this thing
of being just, justified, that means to be righteous, That's
the perfection of the law of God, which will allow no error,
no missing of it, missing the mark. We've all sinned and come
short of the glory of God. That means we've missed the mark.
In other words, that's saying that no matter how good I try
to be, I will always fall short of righteousness of the law.
That's why Christ said in Matthew chapter five and verse 20, he
said, except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter the kingdom
of heaven. In other words, what he's telling
me, we've got to have a righteousness that equals the demands of God's
law and justice. You say, well, I think I'm righteous
enough. Well, here's the standard. The standard is found in Acts
17. Verse 31, I believe, which talks about God has appointed
a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by
that man whom he hath ordained in that he hath given assurance
unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. If
you think you're righteous enough, then compare it because of your
works or your beliefs or whatever. Compare yourself to Christ. You
say, I'm righteous because of my faith. Well, listen, is your
faith, does it equal the perfection of Christ's faith, which was
perfect? No. You say, well, then how can
I be made righteous? Only as I stand in Christ. And if I stand in Christ, how
is that evidenced? Well, look at verse 18 of 1 Peter
3. For Christ, also hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. How can I know that I stand before
God in Christ, washed in his blood, clothed in his righteousness,
that I have his righteousness charged to my account? Have you
been brought to God, brought to the true and living God, not
an idol, Not a God of your imagination. Well, let me show you something
in the book of John, chapter six. And in John chapter six,
I quoted verse 37 a while ago, where the Lord said, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. Now that's what we're
talking about. That's what Peter says, that
he might bring us to God. If you come unto him, That's
the Holy Spirit, Christ through the power of the Spirit, bringing
you to God. And it says here, it says, all
that the Father giveth me shall come me, and him that cometh
me I will in no wise cast out. Anyone who comes to God, comes
to Christ, God will never cast them out. That's the work of
God. Listen, the person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ for
salvation, God will never turn away a person like it because
that person is the new creation of God. That's what Ephesians
2 through 10 says, for by grace are you saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. And then it says, for we are
his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto, not because of, but
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them. So here's a sinner who's been
brought by the power of God through the preaching of the gospel,
to know his sinfulness and his depravity, and to fall on his
face, begging for mercy. Lord, God, be merciful to me,
the sinner, as the publican said. God's not gonna turn anyone like
that away because that person, if he's truly calling upon the
God of the Bible through Christ in the Bible, that person is
the workmanship of God, the creation of God. Listen, if you're a true
Christian, you're not a self-made person. And you didn't get there
by your free will. You didn't get there because
you had a spark of goodness in you that some preacher in a revival
come along and fanned and tugged on your emotions and got you
to walk down an aisle and as they say, accept Jesus into your
heart. No, you've come to the Christ of the Bible. Now look
back there at John six in verse 44. He says, no man can come to me
except the Father which has sent me draw him. Now again, back
over in our text, 1 Peter 3, 18. Christ suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Now
what is that? Well, no man can come to me,
he says here in John 6, 44, except the Father which has sent me
draw him. If you've been brought to God,
you've been drawn. And that word there is like that
drag net. It doesn't mean that he drags us against our will.
He changes our will. And he said, and I will raise
him up at the last day. And here's how he does it. Now
look at verse 45 of John six. He says, it is written in the
prophets. In other words, this is God's
word. And they shall be all taught of God. God's gonna teach them. How does he bring us to God?
He teaches us. Now, what does that mean? Well,
he reveals the reality of who God is. He reveals the reality
of who we are, sinners, depraved, with no hope of salvation in
ourselves. And he reveals to us the way
of his salvation. And here's how he does it. They
shall be all taught of God, John 6, 44. Every man therefore that
hath heard. There's your key. Heard what? Heard of the Father. and learned
of the Father, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
Now what is it to hear of the Father, learn of the Father,
and come? It's to hear the gospel with
spiritual ears which are given to sinners in the new birth.
You remember Christ told his disciples over in Matthew 13,
he said, blessed are your ears for they hear, blessed are your
eyes for they see, That's spiritual hearing and spiritual sight given
in the new birth whereby the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin
because we believe not on Christ. You see, when I didn't know Christ,
everything about me was sin, even my best efforts. He convicts
us of righteousness because Christ goes unto the Father. Notice
he shows me that the only righteousness that I can plead before God is
the righteousness Christ worked out on the cross, whereby he
died, was buried, raised again the third day, and ascended unto
the Father. And he convicts us of judgment
because the accuser, Satan, the God of this world, the accuser
of the brethren is cast out. His accusations don't hit anymore.
Christ died for my sins. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. And so, this is what happens
when we learn of the Father. We see how God can be both a
just God and a loving Father. We see how he can look at a sinner
like me and save me and still be true to himself, a just God
and a savior. And so look back at verse 18
of 1 Peter 3. He says, now for Christ also
hath once suffered for sin. And this is an amazing thing.
One sacrifice for sin. You know, all the sacrifices
of all the animals under the Jewish old covenant could not
put away sin. But this person, the God in human
flesh, by his one offering, he hath sanctified forever them
that are perfect. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified, rather. by His one offering, that He
might bring us to God. That's why He died. You see,
He didn't die for those who die and go to hell. He died for those
who He brings unto God, being put to death in the flesh. His
death, it was an act of His entire person, but it's attributed to
His humanity, but quickened by the Spirit. He was raised from
the dead. And His resurrection from the
dead, ensures that all for whom he died and was buried and raised
from the dead will be raised too. They'll be born again by
the Spirit. They'll live. They'll be brought
to God through Christ. Because the only way you can
go to God and be blessed and be saved is through the merits
of the obedience and death of this glorious person whose one
offering for sin put away the sins of his people forever, satisfy
the justice of God, and equals a perfect righteousness that
can never be contaminated, that can never be taken away. One
that ensures the eternal life and glory of all for whom he
died. So in other words, you say, well, nothing, even the
best people on earth, they can't make themselves righteous. Where
are we gonna find righteousness? not in ourselves, not in others,
not in our works, not in our baptism, not in walking an aisle,
not in our efforts, only in Christ. The just who suffered for the
unjust, that one who in himself was perfect, in himself, sinlessly
perfect in himself, but who was guilty and who was cursed justly
before his father because of the sins of his people charged
to him. And for who did he die? He died
for sinners. He died for those who could not
help themselves, who could not save themselves, and who if left
to themselves would never come to Him and never believe in Him. His death even ensures the faith
which God gives to bring us to God through Christ. That's the
glory of the gospel. That's the uniqueness of the
Christian message. That's what sets God's people
apart from all the religions of man which are failures. All
that go on the broad road that lead to destruction. I hope you'll
join us next week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.