Open your Bibles if you would
to Galatians. Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2. I wanted to do this message tonight.
The message is justified by Christ. Justified by Christ. Galatians
chapter 2. Now we've been taught as God's
people. We've been taught by our great God. God the Holy Spirit
has taught us the things of Christ, and one of the things that he's
taught us is that no man or woman can justify themselves or make
themselves innocent before God by anything we do. The only way
we could be declared innocent is by the work of Christ and
Christ alone, and we must be in Christ. We're born again by
the Holy Spirit of God. And the believer is in Christ.
He's clothed in the perfect spotless righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And this is marvelous. Let's
read verses 16 to 21 of Galatians chapter 2. And we will see the
word justified used multiple times in verses 16 and 17. Look
at this. Knowing that a man is not justified
or declared innocent by the works of the law, that's really clear,
right? We can't be declared innocent
before God by anything we do. But by faith of Jesus Christ,
that's the believer trusting and resting in Christ alone,
by God-given faith, Right? We're justified by faith, and
that faith has an object, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ,
and it's actually He who's justified us as believers. But by the faith
of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ that
we might be here again justified by the faith of Christ and not
by the works of the law. So twice now, the Holy Spirit
has had Paul pen this so clearly, hasn't he? So clearly. that we cannot be justified by
the law. Very clear in this one verse
right here. We see at the first of the verse,
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but
by faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ,
that we may be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the
works of the law. There it is. For by the works
of the law shall no flesh be justified. That means no one. No one. Not one son and daughter
of Adam can ever be justified by the works of the law. All
the law can do is condemn us. It condemns us. But there is
one who fulfilled the law in the room and place of sinners.
And that's the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man. He fulfilled the
law perfectly. He's God incarnate in the flesh.
And he did it as a substitute. He had no sin, he knew no sin.
He did no sin. He's perfect, a perfect man.
He totally fulfilled God's law in the room and place of sinners. It's wonderful. But look at this. But if, well, we seek to be justified
by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners. Is therefore
Christ the minister of sin? And Paul says, God forbid. For
if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a
transgressor. For I, through the law, am dead
to the law, or dead to the law in Christ, that I might live
unto God. Beloved in Christ we live. He
fulfilled the law for us. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live. When Christ died, we were crucified
with him. We were in him. My oh my. When Adam fell, all who were
in him fell with him, right? The whole human race. When Christ
died on the cross, all his people, those whom he died as a substitute,
we were crucified with Christ. Yet, Not I, but Christ liveth
in me. In the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me, that's with an everlasting love, and gave himself for me. The sinless one gives his life
for his people, who are sinners. Chosen sinners are redeemed by
the precious blood of Christ, purchased out from under the
law by the precious blood of Christ. And then he says, I do
not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain. So he's saying, I'm
not going to frustrate the grace of God. See, the grace of God
tells us that we can't save ourselves. The grace of God tells us it's
impossible for us to save ourselves. The law tells us that. And the
only way we know that is by the grace of God revealing that to
us through the Holy Spirit of God. Isn't that wonderful? So we don't frustrate the grace
of God, because we now know, being taught by the Holy Spirit
of God, that we can't be justified by anything we do, not by any
works, none. But we're justified by Christ
and his perfect sin-atoning work. He's the God-man again. Remember,
he was sent from heaven to come down to this world to die in
the room and place of sinners. So the believing sinner's justification
is not found in any human actions by us. It's found in the actions
of the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, by his perfect work in
his life and in his death. I was talking to a dear brother
yesterday from Oregon, and we were talking about how, praise
God for Christ's passive obedience, in his actual obedience to the
cross, that meaning his life, his life and in his obedience
and going to the cross and dying for us in our room and place.
My oh my, isn't that wonderful? It's absolutely wonderful. So the only way we can be justified
is through Christ, by his actions in our room and
place. At Calvary, He gave His life
for sinners. For those who would believe upon
Him. Chosen sinners. I don't know who they are, so
I preach to everyone. Say, come. Come. Flee to Christ. He's the only hope. He's the
only hope for sinners, isn't He? My. Let's read verse 16 once
again. Tonight, we'll be studying the
word justified. We'll be studying this verse
here. You could call it a little word study. It's used three times
in verse 16, and once more in the following verse. So it's
used four times in these two verses. Let's read verse 16. Knowing that a man is not justified,
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,
even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified
by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. For
by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Here's a threefold repetition,
isn't it, in this verse. The Holy Spirit has Paul right
justified in the Greek, the word for justified in the Greek, for clarity and emphasis, beloved. It's brought forth in a very
clear way before us in this text. And yet, there are some people
who profess to believe Christ and who are along the same doctrinal
realm as us. Same doctrinal thinking who say,
all final justification is by what you do. That's a lie from
the pit of hell. And they're proving that they
don't know anything. They don't know the gospel of
Christ. No matter what doctrine they know, you can know all kinds
of doctrine, that's true. And yet still be wrong. Still be wrong. And if anyone
believes that they're justified by anything they do, they do
not know Christ. They don't know the gospel. They've
not been taught the gospel by the Holy Spirit of God. Because
justification, as we've seen in this verse, to be justified,
only comes in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what
does the Greek word mean for justified? Four times it's used
here. It's the same Greek word each
time. It means to render, that is, to show or regard as just
or innocent. So what's Paul telling us here
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God is none of us can be innocent
before God, by anything we do, not by the works of the law,
not by anything we say or think or do. We cannot be made innocent
by our own works before God. We are guilty before God. That's
what the scripture declares, right? It says, for all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. Everyone. My, oh, my. All the world is
guilty before God. So the only way, my dear sisters,
we can be justified is through the Lord Jesus Christ and Him
alone. And my dear brothers, the only way we can be justified
is through the Lord Jesus Christ and His perfect sin-atoning work.
It's so clear in these verses, isn't it? So think of that. Think of this. Knowing that a
man is not declared innocent by the works of the law. Oh, my. But by the faith of Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might
be declared innocent, just, by the faith of Christ,
and not by the works of law. For by the works of law shall
no flesh be justified, declared innocent, rendered innocent. No one by the works of the law
Isn't that amazing? It means to be declared or made
righteous in the sight of God. Isn't that incredible? God's
people are declared and made righteous in the sight of God,
beloved, all because of the perfect sinatoning work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. So God, the Holy Spirit, is clearly
telling us here that we cannot be saved by anything we do. And that means all people on
this earth. No one. And I'll tell you why. There's even people who profess
Christ trying to work their way to heaven. They're on the wrong
path. They're not looking to Christ
alone. And unless we get puffed up, the only reason we're looking
to Christ is because of the grace and mercy of God in Christ. Right? That's it. Because he showed
us grace. Because I know I was on that
path. I was religious and lost. Oh my, praise God, he saved me. So to be declared or made righteous
in the sight of God. So those who are guilty by nature
of breaking God's law, which all we who have been saved, we
were born dead in trespasses and sins, the law had a hold
upon us, it declared us guilty, didn't it? But all we who trust
Christ and Him alone are now made righteous in God's sight. Hallelujah! What a Savior is
Jesus Christ our Lord! That's amazing! You talk about
mercy! You talk about grace! Amazing
grace! Sinners, by birth, nature, and
choice, declared righteous before God? Made righteous by Christ? My, yes, yes, yes! It's all true,
and it's all in and through the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone,
who is the object of God-given faith. It is He and He alone
who we look to for the salvation of our souls, isn't it? Him alone. This wonderful doctrine of justification
concerns God's gracious judicial verdict in advance of the day
of judgment. Pronouncing guilty sinners. Think
of this. God's grace, through Christ, declares us, even before
the day of judgment, righteous. My! That's amazing! And this is one of the major
doctrines, beloved, under attack today is justification by faith
alone. We must hold firm, because without
justification through Christ, no one's justified. See, man
likes to sneak their little ways in there and think, well, yeah,
I believe right doctrine, but oh, but the final justification
is up to you. No, it's not. Final justification
is up to God, just like the beginning of justification is up to God.
And He chose us in eternity in Christ. He's the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Then He was manifest to come
into this world to save us from our sins, the Word of God. Then
He rose from the dead, lived that perfect life, and went to
the cross and died for our sins, rose from the dead, and, beloved,
He was raised for what? Our justification. praise the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to this world, he was
born into this world, he died at Calvary's cross, and three
days later he rose for the justification of his people. This is key to
the gospel, this blessed truth of justification in Christ alone. And think of this, God pronounces
guilty sinners guilty of breaking his law, By God-given faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ, God declares them completely forgiven. My acquitted, think of this,
acquitted of all the charges against us. Acquitted of every
one of them. Every sin that the law
had marked for us, for destruction, They were all forgiven, washed
in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. That's a wonderful Savior. That's
a merciful Savior. And we're declared righteous
now because of Christ's perfect sin atoning work. God's people
are declared righteous in the sight of God. My, oh, my. That's something to get excited
about, isn't it? Sure is, beloved. In our text, we see that only
God can do this. Only God can do this. Only God
can justify a sinner. And God, the Son, in human flesh,
fully God and fully man, the God-man, my oh my. He did this. He worked this perfectly
for us. Fulfilling the law of God, dying
in our room and place, and raised for our justification. What a
Savior. My, we're declared upright in
God's sight. It's amazing. Because of Christ
and Him alone. And only God can do this. All
the world's guilty before God. This is what the law brings forth.
And our verse tells us that we're justified. We're declared innocent. We're made righteous in Christ
alone. Marvel. Marvel at this wonderful
truth, penned by actually the one true author, God, the Holy
Spirit, had Paul penned those words. Paul was just an instrument,
right? Penning the word of God, penning
what the Holy Spirit wanted him to pen. And here we are reading
this in awe of this blessed truth, this blessed truth. Sinners are
only justified, we see in these two verses, We see that in these
two verses. Sinners are only justified in
Christ alone. There's no other way. No other way. Look at verse 17. But if, well, we seek to be justified
by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners. Is therefore
Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. No. No, we can only
be declared righteous by Christ in him alone and in Christ. Justification in Christ alone
answers the question posed in the book of Job. You know, there's
an ancient question that should concern every soul of mankind. Here it is. How can a man be
justified with God? How can a woman be justified
with God? Or how can he be clean that is
born of a woman? Okay. How can sinners born dead
in trespasses and sins be made clean? How can sinful men be
justified, right? Be rendered righteous, be made
righteous before God? Only in Christ alone and by his
perfect work. That's it. That's it. And we
believe on Christ by God-given faith, don't we? We're born again
of the Holy Spirit of God. He gives us faith to believe
on Christ. He gives us repentance before God. And we're new creatures
in Christ now, all by a work of God and God alone. Isn't that
wonderful? Oh, my, I'll tell you, it doesn't get any better.
Doesn't get any better. Now, by the grace of God, After
we're born again, we're granted faith to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and we trust and rest in Him who is our justification
before God. Now, the five solas which Luther
emphasized are very relevant to justification, and that's
what I mean. These are under attack now. Here
are the five solas of the Reformation. Salvation is by God's grace alone. It comes to the poor, needy sinner,
all by God's grace, and according to God's will and purpose, by
his grace. Then the next one, salvation is through faith alone
in Christ. In Christ. God-given faith has
one object, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And salvation, the next
one is, salvation's only in Christ and him alone. There is no salvation
outside of Christ. We saw earlier in that verse,
there's no way we can be declared righteous before God by anything
we do. Anything we think, anything we
do by action, the word works means this. It means anything
you can do by thinking it, anything you do by actually doing it,
in anything by deed or by planning. We cannot be justified by anything
we do, absolutely nothing. So how can a man be justified
with God? How can a man or woman be justified
by God? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shall be saved. Justification is only in Christ
alone. And then one of the other solas
was to God's glory alone. We are saved not for ourselves
to glory in our salvation. No, because we got nothing to
glory in, right? Because we don't produce the
salvation. It's God's salvation. It's given to us, right? So what
is it? To God be the glory alone. We
give God all the honor, all the glory, and all the praise for
our salvation. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. My, oh my. And then lastly, by
scripture alone. By what this word says. When
someone says to you, I got a word from the Lord, say chapter and
verse, please. Chapter and verse, please. Right
there. By scripture alone. This scripture
points right to Christ, beloved. And right to Christ alone. It's the ultimate authority for
the believer. It's the authority for our life. And again, justification in Christ
alone answers the question, how can a man or woman be justified
with God? In Christ alone. And through
Christ alone. And by his perfect sin atoning
work alone. Beloved God, however righteous
a man or woman may seem in his own sight or in the sight
of others, he or she cannot be justified before God by anything
they do. Period. That's what this verse
is bringing forth. Men and women, we cannot justify
ourselves, we cannot justify anybody else. If we're justified
before God, it must be a work of God. Oh my, how can, ask ourselves
and ask our friends, how can an imperfect human be justified
before a perfect and holy being? Well, only by that perfect and
holy being, becoming a man, right? God the Son, sent by God the
Father. My, and then God the Holy Spirit
comes and regenerates us. It's amazing. So salvation's
of the Lord, beloved. It's all His work. The good news
of the gospel answers the age-old question asked by Job, how can
a man be justified before God? Oh, this age-old question, because
sinners can only be justified by Christ alone. And the good
news is that God, the Word, the Word of God, became flesh and
dwelt among us and died in the room and place of chosen sinners.
and rose again for our justification, and is right now seated at the
right hand of the Father. And I'll tell you, that's good
news, isn't it? That's good news. Jesus Christ
is the Messiah. He's the long-expected one. Oh, my. He's the one the prophets
spoke of. Oh. He's the one who the Old
Testament prophets spoke of, that he was coming, In Christ
Jesus is the only answer to the question, how can a man be justified
before God? How can a woman be justified
before God? Only in Christ Jesus. He is the
answer to the human predicament of sin. The Word of God, the
second person of the Trinity, took upon him human flesh. to
rescue. I'll tell you what. He rescued
us, didn't he, beloved? He rescued us. He saved us. He
rescued us from our sins, beloved, by becoming the representative
head of his people and their substitutionally sacrifice at
Calvary's cross. Oh, beloved of God, it's the
blood of Christ, Jesus our Lord, which cleanses us from all sin. Adam was the first representative.
the head of humanity, and all are united to him in his sin. When he fell, we fell. Condemnation
and death came upon the human race when he fell. We fell. And now we're born dead spiritually,
beloved. Graveyard dead. physically alive,
but dead spiritually in trespasses and sins. So Christ, who's the
second Adam, ain't that wonderful? The second Adam. He's the representative
of those who belong to him, those who were given to him in eternity
by God the Father, called the elect of God. He's the substitute
of God's people in life and in his death. Hmm. It is only a result of his obedient
life and his sin atoning death by
the shedding of his blood and the giving of his life, and he
is being raised that we're justified before God. It's only through
him. Salvation is in no other but
the Lord Jesus Christ. And the justification of sinners
is the one of the key components of God's saving activity in Christ. Salvation from the Lord. Let's
read verse 16 again. We'll see it clearly. Salvation's
of the Lord from beginning to end. Knowing that a man is not
justified by the works of the law. but by the faith of Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might
be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of
the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. It's so clear, isn't it? What do we see in this verse?
Well, we see justification before God is not by the works of the
law. We see that clearly. Number two, Twice we see that
we are justified by the faith of Christ in this verse. And
number three, then we see that absolutely no flesh, no human
will be justified by the works of the law. Not one human will
be justified by the works of the law. And it's brought before
us twice in this verse. So I ask people, why are you
putting yourself under the law? Why? Now, I don't believe believers
will go contrary to the law, but there's people who put themselves
under the law thinking that they're gaining merit and favor with
God, they're gaining zero. They're gaining nothing. Nothing. My oh my. And I'm not saying
go contrary to the law, because I don't believe the Holy Spirit
will lead us contrary to the law. But beloved, no flesh will be
justified by the works of the law. That's so clearly brought
forth here. What's being brought forth here
is that no one will be rendered righteous by any works of the
law. See, and that's what, what's
a killer amongst professors and even believers? Self-righteousness. We all struggle with it. Self-righteousness. These verse gut self-righteousness. They tear it down, don't they?
Because self-righteousness is just us being proud and righteous
in our own eyes. We can't be righteous before
God or anyone else except in Christ. The only way we can be
rendered righteous is by God's grace alone and by the perfect
synatonic work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So no one will be rendered righteous
by any of their own works. The only way, again, we're rendered
righteous or declared or made righteous in the sight of God
is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone and by His
perfect sin-atoning work. Now, this faith is not to be
seen as a work. The faith that's spoken of here,
it's not a work. It's a gift from God. Right? For by grace you say through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works,
again, not of works, lest any man should boast. It's a gift. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. It's amazing. Oh, we don't do something to
be accepted by God. We are accepted by God by the
perfect sin atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ, period. Isn't
that wonderful? And now, why do we now desire
to serve him? Why do we now desire to pour
our life out for him? Because of the grace of God.
Because of what he's done for us. It's amazing. The world don't understand that.
The world doesn't understand that at all. My, God does not justify us because
he sees faith as a sign of a change in our attitude. No, no, faith's
an object that has us believe on Christ, and it's a gift from
God. The faith has one object, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who is our basis of justification
before God. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, Jesus
Christ, the Lord. The whole reason we're justified
before God. Now justification before God
must never be considered without reference to the believer's union
with Christ. Oh my. The justified sinner is found
in Christ. No sinner will be justified outside
of Christ. Listen to this in Philippians
3, verses 8 and 9. We studied this not long ago
in our study in Philippians. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but done, that I may win Christ and be found in him. be found in him, not having my
own righteousness, which is of the law, which can't save anyone,
right? No, it can't save no one. But
that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. Remember, justification has been
declared righteous. So the only righteousness we
have is in Christ and comes from Christ. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. So the biblical doctrine of justification
is an act of God, beloved. It's an act of God in the sense
of a legal declaration, a judicial pronouncement. We who are in
Christ are declared not guilty. We sinned against God. God sends
his son, the word of God, to die in our room and place. And
now we who sinned against our great God, broke his law, are
declared not guilty. Wonder of wonders, beloved. This
is amazing grace, isn't it? That's amazing grace. And we're
declared not guilty. We're innocent before the law
of God because Christ fulfilled the law for us. So we're declared
not guilty in Christ. It's amazing. What a hope we
have. We're now clothed in what Luther
called an alien righteousness. See, our righteousness is by
the works of the law, but God has clothed us in the best robe
now. Remember the prodigal son? He came back to the father. And
the Father said, bring the best robe and put it on him. That
pictures the righteousness of Christ, beloved. We are clothed
in the righteousness of Christ now, in alien righteousness.
You know why it's called alien? Because it's not ours. It's Christ. The old timers used to say that
in their sermons. I love it. They used to call, we're clothed
in the alien righteousness, which is the righteousness of Christ.
It's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. What a
hope we have. What a hope we have. We're now
clothed in the perfect spotless righteousness of Christ. What
are some of the results of this wonderful justification the believing
sinner has now on Christ? Well, we have peace with God
now through the Lord Jesus Christ, through his perfect sin-atoning
work. The relationship broken by our
fallen Adam is now re-established. We have peace with God now. Number
two, the believer in Christ has a sure and certain hope. What
a hope we have in Christ. We have a hope to be in heaven
with God because of what Christ has done. We have a hope beyond this present
world, beloved. This world is not our home. No,
no. We seek a better country. We
seek heaven. Number three, the assurance of our salvation is
not based upon our feelings, but on the truth that as believers,
we are declared righteous before God through Christ's obedience
and his precious shed blood. Isn't that wonderful? So our
righteousness is not dependent upon ourselves in any way. That's
good news, isn't it? That's good news for sinners.
Number four, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is a liberating
message. It's freeing. It's a freeing
message for those who are weighed down with the burden and guilt
and despair over their sinful state. When doubt and fears arise
and accusations are made, the Christian can remember this.
In Romans 8, 31 to 33. So when our mind brings accusations,
when our conscience brings accusations against us, let us remember these
verses. Romans chapter 8, verse 31 to
33. Let us remember this. What should we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that, justify it, declares
us innocent. My, isn't that wonderful? God's
done that for his people. What a blessing for we who are
God's born-again, blood-washed saints, where now we don't have
to strive anymore for approval. We desire to serve our King,
don't we? We repent. before God, and we
know that our acceptance before God is only in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ and by his perfect, perfect sin-atoning
work on Calvary's cross in our room and place. We are accepted
in the beloved, which means we're accepted in Christ, we're justified
before God in Christ alone. In this biblical doctrine of
justification, beloved, in Christ alone, he gives God all the glory. He gives him all the glory. My,
oh, my. He leaves the sinner lost in
wonder, love, and awe, and praise over this great justification.
Surely, shall one say in the Lord, have I righteousness and
strength? Even to him shall men come? and all that are incensed against
him shall be ashamed, and the Lord shall all the seed of Israel
be justified, that's God's people, and shall glory. Isaiah 45 verses
24 and 25. Do you know in Christ alone we
have all wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,
beloved, and therefore let us glory in God and God alone. If I have one more sermon to
preach before I die, I want it to be about my Lord Jesus Christ
and how he justifies sinners. My, I love to tell sinners that
God was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory,
the apostles beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
Son of the Father, full of grace and truth, God in the flesh.
I love to declare that the Lord Jesus Christ came to this sin-cursed
world to die as a substitute of sinners, all who trust in
Him, all who rest in Him by God-given faith. It's wonderful. I love
to declare His holy life and how His holy life has accounted
my holy life, which I am such a sinner. I sin all the time.
but because of Christ's holy life, it's counted to the believer. Oh my, for our righteousness. His righteousness is counted
for our righteousness, given to us. His sufferings and death
constitute a complete atonement, satisfying the wrath of God for
my sins and for all the sins of all the elect of all the ages.
He died in the room and placed the sinners. And I love to declare
substitution and satisfaction. Substitution is the heart of
the gospel. The sinner in Christ's place
and Christ in the sinner's place. Our debts to God paid by the
Lord Jesus Christ, because the chastisement of our peace was
laid upon him, that we might be justified by faith in Christ
alone. To God be the glory. Amen and
amen.