Before you open your Bibles to
Romans chapter 5, the title of my message is Condemnation and
Justification. Condemnation and Justification. Now, a lot of this message, I hope, will be used of God to
inspire you to do further study on your own on a lot of the issues
that that I may raise here. I know I am anxious to study
more on a lot of these things. Many of the things that we deal
with in subjects like this are things that God does not reveal
everything to us because of the limitations of our own minds.
But that being said, let me begin this way. Now, the gospel, you
know the word gospel means good news. And the gospel message,
number one, it's a simple message. It's not complicated. It's not
deep. It's a many-faceted message,
and it's a message of great wisdom, the wisdom of God. Paul said
it's the gospel of God. He didn't get it from man. Its
origins are not in man. And anything that originates
with man is certainly not good news. It's death, in fact. The scripture teaches. But the
gospel is not a complicated message. It's a very simple message. And
we can use a lot of illustrations to show that. But I know there
are some out there who simplify it to the point of denying it.
They preach a false gospel. You know, I had a lady years
ago when I was preaching here. I guess I don't remember the
exact message or the exact title, but I believe it was a message
just on defining the simple gospel. And as I did that, she met me
at the door back there, and she said, I thought the gospel was
the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. And that was it. And
I told her, I said, well, the gospel includes the glorious
truths of his death, his burial, his resurrection. But just to
say the gospel is the historical fact that he died, that he was
buried, and that he arose again the third day, that's not the
gospel. The gospel has to meet the need of a sinner. For example,
if you have somebody who's starving to death, the only good news
he wants to hear is, you've got bread to feed him with. You can talk about how the bread
is made and all that, but if you don't have the bread to feed
him with, it's not going to be good news to him. It's going
to make him hungrier. If a person is bankrupt, I always
use this when I teach children about the gospel of God's grace,
the blessed truths of representation and imputation and satisfaction
and substitution. To me, it's one of the best illustrations.
If you found that you were in debt to the tune of $10 million, You go to a local bank in town,
ten million dollars, and you don't have one penny to pay that
debt. You say, one penny to pay that
debt. I tell you, the only good news you want to hear is that
somewhere there's ten million bucks for you. And so that's
all you want to hear. Now if somebody comes up and
starts scolding you over the debt you ran up or something
like that and says, you better get busy trying to pay that back.
I mean, how would you like to have to pay $10 million back?
You'd probably say, I can work the rest of my lifetime and wouldn't
pay that back. So the only good news is the debt paid. Somebody
comes along and says, that debt's been paid. And not only this,
here's good news. Not only has the debt been paid,
but I look at your account in the bank, and you've got $10
million to the good. How would you like to hear that?
That'd be good news. Well, that's pretty simple. First
of all, you'd want to know, well, who paid that debt? And who gave
me that $10 million? I want to go thank that person.
I'm going to serve that person. And that's the simplicity of
the gospel. Now, again, I know people can
water that down to the point of just denying it. And then there are other times
that man wants to complicate it up. They want to branch it
off, get into things, add to it. But it's a simple message
of how God saves sinners. The Bible is clear on how God
justifies the ungodly. That in Adam we owed a debt.
to God's law and justice that we could not pay. We were in
the negative. And God sent His only begotten
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man mediator, as the substitute
and representative of His people. And He, by His obedience unto
death on the cross of Calvary and the shedding of His blood,
paid our debt in full. He was made sin. All the sins
of God's chosen people were made to meet on Him. And he died under
the guilt and condemnation of those sins charged to him. He
was not made a sinner. He was made sin. And he died
and paid our debt. And in that payment of that debt,
he established and worked out a perfect righteousness, the
ten million dollars to the good, to be charged to our account. And we stand before God whole,
complete, accepted, justified, redeemed, forgiven, pardoned.
because of what Christ did in his obedience unto death. And
as proof of the fact that he was successful to save and secure
the whole entire salvation of all his people, as he was buried,
because he died, he arose again the third day. He's ascended
unto the Father. He's seated at the right hand
of the Father in the heavenlies ever living to make intercession
for us. And my advocate right now is Jesus Christ the righteous. So he's the bread of life for
those who are spiritually hungry. He's the water of life for those
who are spiritually thirsty. He's the riches of life for those
who are spiritually bankrupt. And that's how God is just and
righteous. That's how God can be both a
righteous judge and at the same time a loving, merciful, and
gracious Father. And that's the simplicity of
the gospel. The command of the gospel for
sinners is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But now when
we come to these issues, for example, why do we need salvation?
We'll look at Romans 5 and look at verse 12 to start off with.
Now he says, wherefore, now what he had been talking about, the
wherefore means for this reason. And what he had been talking
about is how salvation is by God's grace through Christ. It's
not by the works of man. And so why is that? Well, for
this reason, wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the
world. Now that's Adam. And death by
sin, death came through that. And so death passed unto all
men, for that all have sinned, or all sin. Adam was the representative
of the human race. So that he was my representative
and your representative. So that when he fell, I fell.
When he died spiritually, I died. All of that. And you too. Now
look over at verse 18. I'm not just going to skip verses,
but from verse 13 to verse 17 is a parenthesis. But look at
verse 18. He says, Therefore, as by the
offense of one upon all to condemnation, now judgment came, that can be
added, that was added by the translators, and that doesn't
upset the text, it doesn't deny the text. So therefore, as by
the offense of one, that's Adam, judgment came upon all men to
condemnation, condemned in Adam according to the covenant of
works. Now what that means is, is that
if you're in Adam, living by the covenant of works, what does
that say of you? Those who live their lives that
way and die in Adam. It means they're condemned. And
then it says, Even so, by the righteousness of one, the free
gift came upon all men unto justification of life. Now you notice there,
that's talking about the obedience unto death of Christ. That's
talking about the one act of obedience that Christ performed
in his death on the cross. And he did that for the justification
and life of his people. Justification there is a legal
term. That's the pronouncement of the
judge. to be not guilty. If you're standing
before a judge and you're guilty of a crime, what's the judge
supposed to say if he's just and right? He's supposed to say
guilty. And then he pronounces the sentence. We're sinners. How can God look at me and say
I'm not guilty? It's by the one righteousness,
by the one act of obedience of one person, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who took my guilt and satisfied the justice of God in my place.
And that's how God, through him, by having been washed in his
blood and clothed in his righteousness, that God, the righteous judge,
can look at me and say, not guilty. Now life there, he says, justification
of life. Life there is not a legal term.
It's speaking of a principle of grace. It's speaking of the
impartation of life to his people. In other words, we're born dead
in trespasses and sins. But because having been justified
in the person and work of Christ, the Holy Spirit is going to come
and raise us from the dead. We're going to have resurrected
life. We're going to be born again by the Spirit. In other
words, he's saying this, all who have been declared not guilty
by God in Christ, all who have been declared righteous by God
in Christ, they're going to be born again. They're going to
come to faith in Christ. Their justification before God
in Christ means that they're going to be born again. You must
be born again. What Christ did on the cross
is the ground of our salvation. What the Holy Spirit does in
the new birth is the fruit and the result of it. So somebody
says, well, how can I know that he died for me? Well, you must
be born again. Do you believe in him? Are you
resting in him and his righteousness as your whole salvation? Now look at verse 19. He says,
For as by one man's disobedience many, thee many, were made sinners,
that is, in Adam, when he sinned, I sinned, he was my representative. So by the obedience of one shall
the many be made righteous. That is the obedience of Christ.
When he died, I died. When he was buried, I was buried.
When he arose again, I arose again. In him. I wasn't there
personally, but I was there through my representative, my substitute,
Christ. Now you remember back up here
in verse 18, it says, read it again, Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Who's the
all men there? That's all whom Adam represented. What is the
evidence that you're part of that all men? Well, are you a
sinner? That's the evidence. Born dead
in trespasses and sins. And as we go through this life,
we're sinners. All right? Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men under justification of
life. Now, who are the all men there? That's all whom Christ
represented. Now, what is the evidence that
they're part of that all men? They're justified to life. In
other words, they come to believe in Him. They're born again. Do
you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? That's what it's saying. Now, all of this. Now, look at
it very carefully. Condemnation. He says condemnation. What does that mean? That means
man as represented in Adam in the covenant of works. You know
right now, standing before you is a sinner who cannot be saved
by his works. I can't do that. Now, in Adam,
based on the covenant of works, where does that leave me? Condemned.
You see, in Adam, under the covenant of works. But you see, I have
another representative. I'm under another covenant. And
that's what justification means. Justification refers to man as
represented in Christ. The last Adam, he's called in
1 Corinthians 15, in the everlasting covenant of grace. The Bible
teaches that all of us fell in Adam, for as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive. And so the ground
of condemnation is what? That's our fallen Adam. But the
ground of justification is what? Our redemption in and by Christ. Judgment came upon all men, the
condemnation. Now, even upon God's chosen people
in Adam. But God's chosen people were
already in another covenant, under another representative,
before the foundation of the world, the scripture says. Do
you know, listen to me now, the Bible teaches, as long as Christ
has had a being, an existence, now how long is that? Well, he's
the Alpha and the Omega, isn't he? He has no beginning and no
end. He's forever and forever and
forever. He's the eternal Son of God. As long as Christ has
had being and existence, we have had being and existence in Him.
Did you know that? As soon as He stood forth in
the beginning with God as our covenant head and representative,
We stood forth in him and one with him in the eternal union
of grace. We were in him as his seed. We were in him as his body. He's
our representative, our substitute, and our surety. We were given
to him in eternity when he was constituted our covenant head
in the everlasting covenant of grace, ordered in all things
and sure. And we'll look at a verse in just a moment on that. Somebody
said, well, was there a difference between the fall of God's elect
and the fall of the non-elect? Not as to the nature of the fall.
Not as to the degree of it. But there was a difference. And
what was that difference? God's people were in Christ. Given to Him before the foundation
of the world. You know, the elect of God, the
chosen people of God, can be considered under two different
heads, Adam and Christ, and as related to two covenants. As
we are descendants of Adam, related to him as our covenant head,
and as such sinned in him, and judgment came upon all men to
condemnation and wrath, and so we are by nature, the scripture
says, children of wrath even as others. But as considered
in Christ, love with an everlasting love, chosen in him before the
world was, given to him, What does that mean, given to Him?
That means we were His. That means we never were not
His. He always had the responsibility
upon Himself of the salvation and eternal glory of His elect.
Christ has always been responsible. Listen, if you're a believer,
Christ has always been responsible for you. Just like you're responsible
for your children. Well, that's an eternal thing
with God and His children. Christ has always been responsible
for you, loved you, and always viewed in Him. No contradiction. That's no contradiction. Now,
somebody says, well, are you saying that God looked at us
in two ways at the same time? Yes, but you see, we shouldn't
have any problem with that. First of all, we're talking about
how God thinks. And that's something that we
can't, you know, I was telling fellows yesterday, I said, I
was talking to somebody about a subject like this and he said,
he said, well, I just can't wrap my mind around that. And I told
him this, I said, well, if you ever think you can wrap your
mind around that, stay away from me, because I don't want to hear
from you. But let me ask you a question
right now. How does God see you right now? How does God view
you? How does God think of you right
now? Right now, in this very moment.
Now, if you're a believer, what would be the first thing you'd
say? He sees me how? Perfect, in Christ. And yet the
Bible also says that God sees your sins, doesn't He? Doesn't
He chastise His people? Doesn't Hebrews chapter 12 teach
us That if you be without chastisement, you're a bastard and not a son.
That's an illegitimate child. All of God's people are chastised
for their sins. Now that chastisement is not
payment for sin. It's not a satisfaction. Chastisement
is a teaching method of God. It's for our growth. It's for
our good. It's for our correction. You
say, when you punish your children when they do wrong, you're not
trying to get them to pay for their sins. You're trying to
teach them. You're doing it out of love.
A loving father, God knows we're sinners. He sees our sins. But He also sees us in Christ
as perfect. As righteous as we'll ever be. You see that? So we shouldn't
have any problem understanding somewhat of this thing about
God looking at things in two different ways. There's no contradiction
in the mind of God. You see, when we talk about how
God thinks, we're talking about how God purposes to do a thing
and how God accounts things. For example, when God thinks
something, it's a done deal in that sense, it is. Now, you may
think something, you may have a thought in your head, you say,
well done, tomorrow I'm going to do this, and it may not get
done. And that's not excluding time in God's mind. God's going
to operate in time. He created time, things are going
to work out in time. Christ continually told his disciples,
he said, I have a time. He said, my time has not yet
come, my time has not yet come, and then he said, the time's
here. God sent forth his Son in the fullness of the time.
God purposed it, God did it. But when we're talking about
how God thinks upon his people, God never changes his mind. He
didn't say, now Mike, today I'm going to think of you one way,
now on Monday I'm going to think of you a different way. Now we
can do that, but God can. He's God. He says, I'm the Lord,
I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. You
know what that's talking about? That's talking about how God
thinks of his elect people in Christ. Do you know if God, you
know what that verse actually teaches? It teaches that if God
could change his mind, you and I would be lost forever. That's
right, we'd be lost forever. God is not a man that he should
repent. Now sometimes the scripture uses
language to accommodate our limited minds That may not be, to some
theologians, theologically precise. For example, it says in the book
of Genesis that it repented the Lord that he made man. Now, what
does that mean? Does that mean God changed? No. No it doesn't. It's simply a
statement trying to show us sinners how much God detests and hates
sin. But I'll tell you the best place
to go to find out how much God detests and hates sin. Go to
the cross of Calvary. Because when sin was laid upon
his son, he punished his son under the wrath and condemnation
that you and I deserved. Were we condemned in Adam? Yes. But our condemnation was already
in the hands and under the responsibility of another mediator, another
covenant, a substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was responsible
for us as our surety. You see, Christ and his people
are one. Scripture teaches. He's the head,
we're the body. He was our surety from the beginning,
set up in the everlasting covenant of grace. A surety, by definition,
guarantees that all debts and obligations are met for the ones
whom he represents. That's what a surety does. Christ's
blood, which is the redemption payment of our debt, is called
in Hebrews 13.20, the blood of the everlasting covenant. How
long is that? It's eternity. So the sentence
of condemnation in Adam comes upon all men according to the
covenant of works, all the sons of Adam without exception, even
upon the elect of God themselves, but it is not executed upon them,
but on our surety, whereby we are delivered from it. We fell
in Adam, but we had another representative, Christ our surety. Now turn to
2 Samuel chapter 23. God the Father entrusted his
elect people into the hands of his Son as our surety, and the
matter of our salvation was then and there settled forever. Now,
listen to me. Christ was our surety from everlasting. But what does that mean? Does
that mean he didn't have to come and die? No. As our surety, he
had to pay the debt. He was set up as our surety from
everlasting. Now he didn't perform the duties
of his surety ship until the cross. You see that? He had to
pay the debt. But look here in 2 Samuel 23
and look at verse 5. You know this is David's deathbed
confession. And he says in verse 5 of 2 Samuel
23, Although my house be not so with God. And you know what
that means. David's house, his household,
his kingdom was in shambles. at this time. He says, yet he,
God, hath made with me an everlasting covenant. Now look at what he
says in this next phrase, ordered in all things and sure. Now ordered in all things means
that it was predetermined, predestinated and purposed by God. And sure means this. It means
there was already a surety. Christ did not become our surety
at the cross. He was already our surety. We
were given to Him. Now, He did not perform the duties
of His suretyship until the cross. He didn't pay the debt until
the cross. The righteousness which God imputed
Did not work, but was not worked out until the cross. And hold
on to that thought. I'm going to show you another
scripture on that too. But it's ordered in all things for David.
A covenant that God had already made with David. What is that
covenant? It's the gospel covenant. It's
the same covenant He made with you. How do you know He made
it with you? You believe the gospel. You rest
in Christ. You trust Him for all salvation. All righteousness. All wisdom. And so it's ordered in all things,
determined, decreed, set down in purpose by God, and it's already
sure. Why? Because there's a surety.
It can't be sure unless you have a surety. You see what I'm saying? Nothing is sure without a surety. If there's no surety, then there's
no assuredness. You might say it that way. Well,
who was the surety for David at that time? It wasn't David.
He said, my house is in shambles. Look at what I've done. Look
at what I've accomplished. My house is a mess. It wasn't David. David was a
sinner saved by the grace of God. Who was David's surety? Christ is David's surety. The one who hadn't even been
born yet is David's surety. The one who had not yet been
crucified. David sure what does that mean
that means he had to be born he had to live a perfect life
and he had to go to the cross to perform the duties of surety
ship to pay the debt and David said this is all my salvation
and all my desire although he make it not to grow you see that
Christ is our surety and Christ engaged himself as our surety
to pay our debt in full and satisfy God's justice completely. I want
you to turn to the book of Philemon. A little book of Philemon just
right before Hebrews. And I want to say this is a beautiful
illustration of what I'm talking about. Now you know the story
of Philemon. This is a short epistle that
Paul wrote. Philemon He wrote to a man named
Philemon. Philemon lived in Colossae. You
know, the Colossian letter. Many people think that Philemon
was the pastor of the church at Colossae. We don't know that
for sure, but he was certainly a prominent member. He apparently
was a very wealthy man who had servants. And he had a servant
named Onesimus. And Onesimus was not a faithful
servant. He was a very rebellious man.
And apparently he stole something from Philemon. It may have been
money or whatever. We don't know. It doesn't say
for exact. And he fled. And for some reason,
and I know what the reason is, it's the providence of God. Philemon
fled to Rome and met Paul. I mean, Onesimus did. And you
know what Paul did? He preached the gospel to Onesimus.
And the Lord brought him to salvation, brought him to faith in Christ.
And now this runaway slave who owed a debt to Philemon was now
a brother in Christ. And so Paul wrote this letter
to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus and pleading with Philemon to
be merciful and to be gracious. But I want you to look at verse
17 of Philemon. Now listen to this. He says,
Look at verse 15. Let's read verse 15. He says,
He says, For perhaps he therefore departed for a season. Onesimus
left for a season, that thou shouldest receive him forever.
In other words, he left for a little while. God saved him. Now he's
our brother forever. Now not as a servant, but above
a servant, a brother beloved, especially to me. But how much
more unto thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord. And he says
in verse 17, If thou count me therefore as a partner, receive
him as myself. In other words, if you count
me, and that word count there is the same thing as impute.
In other words, if your thoughts towards Paul, your assessment
of Paul, your accounting of Paul, he says if you count therefore
as a partner in Christ, a brother in Christ, then you receive Onesimus
in the same way, just like you would receive me. Receive this
man who did you wrong as a brother in Christ. And then he says in
verse 18, now listen to this, he says, If he hath wronged thee,
or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account. Put it on my
account, charge it to me Philemon. Now that's the same word as imputation.
Same word that Paul used for reckon, account, and impute in
Romans 4 all the way through. So he says, if he's wrong, they
will ownestimus had. And he says, put that on mine
account. Charge it to me. Verse 19, look at it. He says,
I, Paul, have written it with mine own hand. I will repay it. Albeit I do not say to thee how
thou owest unto me thine own self besides. Now what did Paul
say first? He said, put it on my account.
Now had Paul paid the debt? That Onesimus owed to Philemon?
Had he paid even one penny? No. But he said, you charge it
to me. That's imputation. And he said,
I'll pay it. He was going to pay it later.
Paul said, I'll be responsible for Onesimus. Give me Onesimus. Give me his debt and I'll pay
it. Put it on my account. That's
imputation. I will repay it. That's redemption. And that's
what happened. in this everlasting covenant
of grace. When Christ became a surety for his people, he took
responsibility for our debt. It was laid to his account. He's
our surety. He said, I will repay it. And
in time, he came and repaid God. He paid the debt in full. Christ
stands surety for the people of God, the elect of God. Not
for all without exception. He didn't pay that debt for everybody
without exception. He paid it for his people. He
said it, he said, All that the Father giveth me shall come to
me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. And
he said, And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that
of all which he hath given me I will lose nothing. When he prayed his high priestly
prayer in John chapter 17, he said, I pray not for the world,
but for those thou hast given me, that they may be one as we
are one. Salvation. We are blessed with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. This great
salvation Paul described to Timothy is that which was given us in
Christ Jesus before the world began. 2 Timothy 1 verse 10. Christ was set up to be our surety,
but he did not perform the duties of suretyship until the time
of the cross. And that's why he had to come
in the fullness of the time to be made of a woman, to be made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. Now
someone may ask, how can I know that he's my surety? One last
verse, turn to John 3. I want you to see this. How can
I know that Christ is my surety? That's what I want to know. I
know he's surety for his people. I know that he came in time.
He was born of a virgin. We read it this morning. His
name shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people, all
for whom he was made sure, all who were given him before the
foundation, all for whom he said, put that on my account, I'll
repay it, all whom God gave to him and gave him the whole responsibility
of their salvation. I know that he came and he lived
a perfect life and he went to the cross of Calvary to pay our
debt, to pay their debt, to redeem them. Washed in his blood clothed. Now what I want to know, is he
my surety? Is he your surety? Well look at John chapter 3 and
verse 18. Christ says here, he that believeth
on him is what? Not condemned. Do you believe
on him? Do you believe on the true Christ
of the scriptures? Do you believe on the everlasting
surety of his people? The one who came and lived and
died was buried and rose again the third day for a purpose,
to enable God to be just and justify the ungodly. to satisfy
the justice of God, to bear away our sins and wash us clean, to
work out perfect righteousness whereby we can stand before God
justified, not guilty, righteous in Him. Do you believe in the
Christ who is risen again, who lives forever and is seated at
the right hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession
for us? Well, if you believe on Him,
you're not condemned. You're justified. Now, your believing
didn't justify you. No more than your sinning condemned
you. You fell an atom. Your believing just gives evidence
that you're not condemned, that Christ is your surety, that He
came and lived and died, was buried and rose again for you.
Now, go on in verse 18. He says, But he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. Those who are in unbelief and
who continue in unbelief unto death and die in unbelief without
Christ are already condemned. They won't appear at judgment
to be condemned. They're already condemned. The
judgment will only declare that fact. So when we stand at judgment,
how are we going to stand? In our surety or in ourselves? Standing in the surety of Christ
Jesus, that's salvation. That's eternal life. Standing
in ourselves, that's condemnation. That's eternal death.