Good morning. It's a blessing
to be here, and always a privilege and an honor to preach the gospel.
I just wanted to give you guys
some greetings. I talked to four different grace preachers this
week, and they just wanted to extend their greetings to everyone,
and let you know they're all thinking of us and rejoicing.
I talked to Brother Norm Wells out in the Dalles, Oregon, and
Brother Alan Ison. Brother Donny Bell and Brother
Jim Byrd. So I had a wonderful talk with everyone, and it was
good, the fellowship, and they're prayerful for everyone, and as
I said, they're just rejoicing that we're all together. Job chapter 25 is where we'll
be today. Job chapter 25. Here is the question, the great riddle. The question
of the ages. Job 25, and the question is found
in verse 4, which is the name of the message today. How can man be justified with
God? Let's read the context. Job 25,
starting in verse 1, then answered Bildad the Shuite and said, Dominion
and fear are with him. He maketh peace in his high places. Is there any number of his armies?
And upon whom doth not his light arise? How then can man be justified
with God? How can he be clean that is born
of a woman? Behold, even to the moon, and
it shineth not, yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How
much less man that is born, or that is a worm, in the son of
man, which is a worm. The great question, the question
of the ages, how then, Can man be justified with God? One of the most important questions
ever asked. It's a searching question. And we're presented in our text
with a great contrast. A holy and righteous God. And man who is a worm. Verses 2 and 3, we are showing
the holiness and the sovereignty of God. And then we're showing, in contrast,
the sinfulness of man. Look at verse 2. Dominion and
fear are with him. He maketh peace in his high places. Here before us is presented God
in the heavens. And he's not the God that's sometimes
presented from some people who say that God has done all he
can and now the rest is up to you, which is a God who has no
power, right? But the God presented here before
us has all dominion. Dominion is translated in the
Hebrew to rule, to rule, to have dominion, to reign. Reign. And beloved of God, the
God of our salvation that we looked at this morning, He rose
and He reigns in heaven above. He is the just one. He is the holy one. He is the all-controlling one. And He has all dominion over
all things. This is the God of the Bible. Look in verse 2, it says, He
maketh peace in His high places. Beloved, He has dominion over
all the angels, over all men, over all nations,
over all people, He has dominion over the entire
universe, everything. He rules. And there is absolutely
nothing that is outside His dominion, nothing that is outside His rule. This is the God of the Bible. He governs all according to His
will. He's not controlled by anyone
or swayed by anyone. And he's accountable to no one. For anything he does, he does
as he pleases. He governs according to his will.
His rule is an absolute rule. He's a king supreme. The king
of kings and the lord of lords. Look at verse three. Is there
any number of his armies and upon whom doth not his light
arise? The angels are innumerable. His people you cannot number.
His elect you cannot number. He's a king over a vast domain. We see here, who does not His
light arise, and upon whom does not His light arise. The natural light of the sun
which rises and falls, it falls both upon the just and the unjust. And there's also the light of
his providential goodness, isn't there? And this falls on the just and
on the unjust. The earth is full of his goodness
and his mercy. And where does it all come from?
It all comes from his hand. He's a king supreme. He rules
and reigns. Nothing is hid from him. Nothing. He knows all things. Knows everything
that's happening. And there's nothing hid from
his gaze. Nothing. Nothing at all. His eye is all seeing. It penetrates
the darkness so that absolutely nothing is hid. So we see before us, in our text,
a holy, righteous God, sovereign, who rules over all. And this is the God of the Bible,
not the God of somebody's imagination that says that God is waiting
to do something and He can't do it unless you let Him. That
is a God of a person's figment of their imagination. But this
is the God of the Bible. This is the King. And think of this. Scripture
says He never changes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Folks have this warped thinking
that the God of the Old Testament is not the God of the New Testament.
Yes, He is. Yes, He is. He does not change. He's the same yesterday, Hebrews
13.8, the same yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn't change. Aren't you thankful? Oh, we who
believe, aren't you thankful he doesn't change? Oh my. So now we come to two questions
posed before us. Verse four of Job 25. How then
can man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean that is
born of a woman? In light of what we've just seen
in verse two and three, how can a man be justified before a holy
and righteous God? We're unholy. We come into this
world born dead in trespasses and sins, sinners. How can a
sinner be made holy? How can a man be justified before
God? How can a man who's born of a
woman be clean? How can we who are born into
this world spiritually dead be made alive? How can we have a righteousness
that's perfect, when our righteousness is like filthy rags before the
Lord? How can we stand in the presence
of a holy, righteous, and just sovereign God? How can we stand in one, look
at verse five, how can we stand in the presence of one who the
stars are not pure in his sight? How can we who are worms, verse
six, be justified in his sight? What a great contrast. But beloved, there's hope for
the hopeless. There's hope for the worms of
God's choosing. Fear thou not, thou worm, Jacob,
and ye men of Israel. I will help thee. I'll help thee,
saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I like
that. Fear thou not, worm, Jacob, That's
me. Think of this, a worm, a maggot,
a worm cannot defend itself, can it? Think of a worm on the
ground. You see a worm on the ground.
It can't defend itself. It can be destroyed by a bird,
by a foot stomping on it, by anything. But what does that
worm do for defense? It burrows itself into the ground. What do God's people do for defense?
They hide in Christ. He's the rock. He's the hiding
place of His people. What do God's people do for defense?
We run to Christ. He is our shield and our defense.
He's our rock, which we cannot hide from the wrath and danger
of God's wrath. We can't hide in ourselves, can
we? But we can hide in Christ. He's our shelter in the storms
of life. Fear not, thou worm, Jacob. What a refuge we have in Christ,
oh my. Look at verse four again. How
then can a man be justified before God? So this question is posed
to us. How then can a man be justified
with God? And how can he be clean that
he's born of a woman? Now you're born into this world
whether you believe it or not. You may, people laugh and mock. But you're born into this world
dead in trespasses and sins. And if God doesn't do something
for you, you're going to go into eternity and perish. And it's the truth. And we who have been redeemed
by the precious blood of the Lamb know that this is true.
Know that this is true. So here we're confronted with
a question that is unanswerable by our own works. Can we justify
ourselves before this holy God? Can we work our way to Him? Can
we do anything that will please Him in our own self? Absolutely
not. If you try, you're going to perish. So we are silenced by this question.
How then can a man be justified by God? It silences us. It silences us. But the Bible
says, turn with me if you would, in Luke chapter 18. So it is
impossible for us in our own doings and in our own strength
to justify ourselves before God, right? It's impossible. But here's a beautiful verse.
Luke chapter 18 verses 26 and 27. And they that heard it said, Who then
can be saved? Think of this based upon our
own works and our own merit. We know that our works are like
filthy rags before the eyes of the Lord. Who then can be saved? Who then? Oh, the scripture declares, and
he said, the things which are impossible with man are possible
with God. Let's define what it means to
be justified. What does it mean to be justified? Back to our text in Job 25, 4.
How then can man be justified with God? Well, it means in the
Hebrew to be just, to be righteous. We are unrighteous. So the scripture asks us the
question, how can we be just with God? How can we be made
righteous with God? How can the unholy one be made
holy? Certainly not by our works. Certainly not by anything we
do. Can you pay the price for one
of your sins? Just one? Just one. I can't. I can't pay the price for just
one of my sins. But I know one who's paid it
all for me. How can a sinner be made just
and righteous and pure with God? Let's look at what the scriptures
say. Romans chapter 8, verse 33. We looked at this this morning.
Who shall lay anything to God, the charge of God's elect? Well,
who is the justifier? Who is the justifier of God's
people? God. God is the justifier of
his people. Romans 8.33, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justify. And then
Galatians 3.8 says this, and the scripture foreseeing that
God would justify the heathen through faith preached before
the gospel unto Abraham saying, in these shall all the nations
be blessed. So this acquittal from God for
a man to be justified, this acquittal before a holy and righteous God
must come from him. must come from him, must come
from the one who rules and reigns. The acquittal must be registered
in his books, it must be done by him. Now look at Luke, turn
with me if you would to Luke 15. Luke 16.15, and we'll see
this. Now man is constantly trying
to justify himself before God, right? When I was in religion,
that's what I did. I always tried to think that,
oh, if I just did this and I just did that, that surely I'm gaining
favor with God. Absolutely not. Look at this. Religious folks
always try to justify themselves before God by their supposed
good works. Luke 16.15. and then put your
finger in Romans 3.24. Luke 16.15, And he said unto
them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before man. But God knoweth your hearts.
For that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in
the sight of God. They are self-justifying people.
trying to justify themselves before a holy and righteous God.
And the Lord says, that which is highly esteemed among men
is an abomination in the sight of God. Men can be divided into
two classes. Two classes. The righteous, those
who have been saved and know themselves to be sinners. I'm
just a saved sinner. That's all I am. Two classes,
the righteous who know themselves to be sinners and cannot justify
themselves before God, or sinners who believe themselves to be
righteous by their works and they're not. There it is. Two classes. Such as there's only really two
religions, grace and works. We preach grace. That salvation
is all of grace. All of His doing. And look at
Romans 3, 24 to 26. This is marvelous. If we are
ever justified, God must justify us. He must. So who is the justifier? God.
Romans 3.24 says this, being justified freely by His grace,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, through the
shedding of His precious blood for my sins, whom God has set
forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, my sins are
extinguished before God, before His wrath and justice, because
of Christ's precious blood. whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his
righteousness, right? He's holy. We need a perfect
righteousness to stand in his presence. For the remission of
sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and a justifier,
there it is, of him which believeth in Jesus. God is the one who must justify
us in order for us to be in His presence? Now, who are the justified? Look
at Job 25.4 again. How, then, can man be justified
with God, or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Now,
we're sinners by nature, by birth, and by choice. That's what we are. That's what
we are. So how can a sinner be justified
before a holy and righteous God? How can an unholy one be justified,
be clean in his sight? How can one be saved who cannot
save himself? And we are helpless when it comes
to saving ourselves. We can't save ourselves. We are
spiritually bankrupt with nothing to offer to God, nothing to offer God that would
please him for us to be justified in his presence. How can an unclean thing be made
clean? It's not possible that the blood
of bulls and goats should take away sin. So it's obvious that no man is
justified by the law of God either, right? Folks say, well, if I
just follow the law of God, if I just do the law, we can't do
it. That's why Christ He lived the
perfect life in our place. So how then can I be justified? A sinner? How can I be justified
before God? Because scripture declares, not
only have I sinned, but for all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God. So we're all in the same boat. You might get some proud sinner
who says, oh, I'm not as bad as that guy over there. No, you're
worse, just like me. No, we're sinners. But remember that scripture we
looked at? That which is impossible with man is possible with God.
The justifying fact is the next thing we'll look at. Romans 3.24,
we were there, being justified freely by his grace. through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ dies
in the room and place of his people on Calvary's cross. The
perfect, holy, just God in the flesh, the sinless one, dies
on Calvary's cross. We're justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Turn
with me, if you would, to Jeremiah chapter 23, verses 5 and 6. The justifying fact, the death of Christ, of him whose
name is Jehovah, our righteousness. How can a man be justified with
God? Jeremiah chapter 23 verses 5
and 6, Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise up unto David a righteous branch,
and a king shall reign. He is king. and prosper, and
shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. And in his days,
Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this
is his name, whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness." The Lord our righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ, the sinless
one, died, the sinner's substitute. on Calvary's cross. And all the
wrath and justice of God that was due me, and due of every
one of his people who would believe on him, was poured out upon Christ. And the sword of God's justice
was unseen, and it was plunged into Christ. And when he had finished the
work that he set out to accomplish, he cried, it is finished. It's wonderful. It's finished. The sinless one, the holy one,
dies for sinners on Calvary's cross. John says this, and after this
Jesus knowing that all things were now, turn with me if you
would, John 19. We're going to look at this little portion here.
John chapter 19. And think of this, oh what grace,
what condescending grace that the Lord of glory would become
a man and die for a worm like me. Because that's what scripture
called us. Oh, that he would die, that the
king of glory, the one who has all dominion, becomes a man.
God in the flesh. Remember we looked at this morning,
that God is my salvation. God. And look at this. Here's our great king, the sinner's
sacrifice. John 19, verses 28 to 30. After
this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished,
that the scriptures might be fulfilled, saith I first. Now
there was sent a vessel of vinegar, and they filled the sponge with
vinegar, and put it upon Hesop, and put it to his mouth. When
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. Salvation for his people. And he bowed his head and he
gave up the ghost. He gave up the ghost. He willingly died
for the sinner's sacrifice. He willingly died in the place
of his people. What matchless love. And in the Greek, finished means
complete. And if something's complete,
there's nothing to be added to it. So there goes our works out
the window. He's the author and he's the
finisher. So how can a man be justified
before God? 1 Peter 1.18 and 19 says this,
for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by traditions from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ. This is what the believers, the believers redeemed with the
precious blood of Christ is of a lamb without blemish and without
spot. So how can a man be justified before God? Only by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He, the Lord of glory appeared,
he became a man to put away sin, to put away the sins of his people
by the sacrifice of himself. And he did it willingly, beloved.
He did it willingly. He honored all of God's law and
all of God's justice in our place. And remember, we couldn't pay
the price for one. Not one of my sins, I can't pay
the price for one of them. But he paid for all my sins.
Past, present, and future. All of them. This is good news
for sinners. Good news for sinners. Just hard
to find sinners nowadays, that's all. Folks think they're good.
Well, Bible says there's none good. No, not one. So he honored God's law in his
life, and he honored it in his death. And he cried, it's finished. It's finished. And this is why,
as we looked at this morning, this is why we just sing praises
to him. what we could never accomplish, he did. The next point is the
justifying instrument, faith. Faith. A lot of folks believe,
now there's a false doctrine that's perpetuated out there.
I like to call it justification by death. It's a false thing that people like the promotes. It goes like this. Somewhere
between the morgue and the graveyard, someone who had no care for God,
no faith in God, are all of a sudden declared to be in heaven. Well, then the question comes
up, how did that person who could not make themselves clean while
they were alive make themselves clean when they were dead. See, in religion no one goes
to hell. Only the really bad folks. How then can a man be justified
with God? Or how can he be clean that is
born of a woman? Certainly by nothing we do. The problem is that we lack an
ability to justify ourselves before God. We lack an ability
to do that. If you're not a believer here,
and you're not justified before God, and if you go out into eternity,
you're perishing your sins and spending eternity in hell. And that's a sobering thing to
think about. Turn with me if you would to
Romans chapter 5. Scripture plainly declares that
those who believe on Christ are justified. Justified. Romans chapter 5 verse 1. Therefore
being justified by faith, Faith in who? Faith in what?
Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory
of God. And think on this. Strong faith, or great faith,
or perfect faith, but simple faith. We put our confidence in Christ.
We rest in Christ. We looked at him Wednesday night.
Who is the object of our faith? His believers. Christ. He is
the object. We don't look at our faith to
save us, we look at Christ. And if I had a knuckle for every
time someone told me, you just got to have more faith, Wayne,
I'd be a rich man. But that's nothing but works. That's
nothing but works, Mongering. We don't have faith in our faith,
we have faith in Christ. And he increases our faith. Romans 3, 27 says this in 28,
where is boasting then? Where can we boast? Can we boast in our works? No. Can we boast that, well, I have
more faith? No. It's excluded. By what law? Of works. Nay, but by the law
of faith. Therefore we conclude that a
man is justified. How can a man be justified before
God? Here's an answer. Therefore we
conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law. There goes works. Now does that mean we can go
crazy? We can go out the door and do whatever we want? No.
No. We're not antinomians here. No. No, the love of Christ will
constrain us, will keep us. But we recognize and realize
that we're just safe sinners, and that God is in mercy upon
us. Our last point is the justifying
medium, which is the righteousness of God. In order for us to be
in the presence of a holy, righteous, and just God, we must be made
holy. How can a man be justified before
God? How can sinners be made righteous
to stand in God's presence? How can an unclean thing be made
clean? Only by the death of Christ.
Only by what He's done. Only by His precious blood shed. Only by being made righteous
can we stand in God's presence. So we must have the righteousness
of Christ. We must have the righteousness
of a sinless Savior. We must. We must be made pure. We must be made righteous. Now
we're still sinners, but those who believe are clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him." What wonderful grace, what wonderful
love that God would become a man and die for worms such as us. Can we It's amazing. All you can say
is it's amazing grace. All you can do is give Him all
the glory. What wondrous love is this, the hymn writer wrote.
Oh my soul, my soul. Let's go over the book of Luke.
Here's something that I've never seen until this week and I actually
called a couple dear brethren and they've been preaching for
40 years or so and we were all rejoicing on the phone because
they never saw it either. And we were just having a wonderful
time. Here's a picture before us of
the prodigal, the prodigal son, which is a wonderful picture
of the grace of God towards us. Look at Luke chapter 15, we're
starting verse 18. And we know the prodigal had went
off and he had spent his inheritance righteously living. Well, that's where I was, before
the Lord saved me. And he ended up cleaning up pigs
and stuff, and all the stuff, and he was probably filthy, right?
His robes probably were filthy. Look at verse 18. What a wonderful
picture of the grace of God. I will arise and go to my father
and will say unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven
and before thee. Now, he was just enjoying himself
before in the riotous living and didn't have a clue, right?
But here we see God's fetching grace, the Holy Spirit of God
draw on one of his sheep, because he says, I've sinned
against heaven and before thee. Is that not what we say when
the Lord reveals himself to us? Verse 19, and I'm no more worthy
to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants,
so he sees that he sinned against his father. And what a picture
of us. When God starts to reveal grace
to us, we say, oh, Lord, it's against thee I've sinned. God,
be merciful to me, the sinner. We see our sin and we see the
one who we've sinned against. Look at verse 20, and he arose
and came to his father But when he was yet a great way off, his
father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck
and kissed him. Notice no words of harshness. No words of condemnation. He
didn't say, son, what were you doing out there? He didn't say
that. Oh, what compassion the father
has upon us in Christ. Look at verse 21, and the son
said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in
thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. So he confesses
again his sinfulness. The prodigal son comes before
the father in his filthy clothes, which represents our own righteousness
before God. We're born into this world dead
in trespasses and sins. Our righteousness is filthy because
of our sin. But look at this wonderful news.
And think of this, think of this, think of the question, how then
can a man be justified with God, and how can he be clean that
is born of a woman, right? As we read the rest of this text. But the father said to his servants,
bring forth the best robe, and put it on him and put a ring
on his hand and shoes on his feet. And this is the portion
right here. Bring forth the best raw. He's robed in his filthy righteousness,
right? He's robed in the filthy robe
that he had on. And the Father says, bring forth
the best robe. Oh, the righteousness of Christ,
that believers are clothed in. Bring forth the best robe. The
best robe. And he's clothed and beautified
by it, right? How can a man be justified before
God? God must justify us. He must
pay the price. Who are the justified? Sinners
like me. How are we justified? By the
sacrifice of Christ. How can we stand in God's presence?
Because we're clothed in the righteousness of Christ. And think of this, he is now
fit to enter into his father's presence. Is it not so with us being clothed
in Christ's righteousness? Made fit. He's now fit to enter
into his father's house. We are made fit to be in heaven
by the righteousness of Christ in which we are clothed. And
he's made fit to sit at the Father's table. Turn with me, if you would,
to Revelation chapter 19. Beloved, we are made fit to sit
at the Father's table by the robe of righteousness which we
have in Christ. Revelation chapter 19. Verses
8 and 9. And to her it was granted that
she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the
fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto
me, Write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of lamb. And he said to me, these are the true sayings
of God. And turn, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 61. Oh, the
bride of Christ is clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
So how can a man stand in the presence of a holy God? He must
be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Isaiah 61, verse 10. Oh, is this not the cry for those
of us who have been saved? I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God. For he hath clothed
me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness. Oh, we don't deserve it. A bride
groomed decketh herself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth
herself with jewels. But look at this, see, in religion,
it's all about what you do. In grace, it's all about what
He's done. He saved us. He called us. He clothes us with a robe of
righteousness. He gets all the glory. He gets
all the honor. He gets all the praise. This
is why we say, flee from your works, cease from your labors,
and flee to Christ. Because he's the sinner's only
hope. He's this old sinner's only hope. I don't have hope
in myself at all. Only in Christ. Only in what
he's done. Now as we go through life, trials
and tribulations come, and fear comes, and all different things
come, but what is our constant trust and rest? Christ. Right? That's it. I just have to keep
my eyes on him. Oh, He hath covered me with the
robe of righteousness, clothed me with the garments of salvation.
Oh, it's wonderful. In this best robe, this best
robe, right? Covers all my sin. All of it. Not one left behind. Not one
of my filthy rags of righteousness is left. They're gone. and I'm
clothed in the righteousness of Christ. It covers our sin
and our nakedness before God, and this is God's work. It's
His doing. It's all His doing. It's imputed to us. Turn, if
you would, to Zechariah chapter 3, verse 4, turn to. Zechariah 3, verse 4. See, if God doesn't do a work
for us, we'll perish. Because if you're justified by
your works, right? Think on this. If you're justified
by your works, well, how many do you have to do to be justified? How do you know when, okay, well,
you know, I think I'm good. You see the trap that Satan has
in religion that way? He's ensnaring people. But there's
freedom in Christ. There's freedom and liberty in
Christ. And what he's done, he's set
the captives free. Zechariah 3.4 says this, And
he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying,
Take away the filthy garments from them. Oh, for the believer,
take away the filthy garments. Take him away. And unto him he said, Behold,
I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee. Brother Dave,
all your sins are forgiven in Christ. It's amazing. It's incredible. Salvation is in Him and Him alone. He is our righteousness. He is
our king. He is our savior. He is our redeemer. Take away the filthy garments
from him. And unto him he said, behold,
I have caused an iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe
thee with a change of rabbit, the righteousness of Christ.
And he does it all. He does it all. He's the one
who clothes us in this righteousness. He rotted out. May we rejoice that the Lord
Jesus Christ, may we who are saved rejoice that the Lord Jesus
Christ took all our iniquity upon himself. He bore it all,
and he made satisfaction before God's law and justice for his
people. And he removed it. As far as
the east is from the west, he's gone. Who shall bring any charge
against God's elect? Remember we looked at that? Who?
Why? How? How can the charge not be
bought against us? Because we're clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. We stand in Him. And beloved,
this is a free and sovereign and full pardon from the God
of glory. from him to sinners. And it's all because he pleased
to do it. Because he pleased to have mercy
on whom you have mercy. So the Lord Jesus Christ, the
answer to the question, how then can a man be justified before
God, is through Christ in him alone. not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us. If you're saved, rejoice. It's all of the mercy of God.
It's all of him. Christ himself is our justification. We stand in him, and we are found
in him, and we are clothed with his righteousness. We are clothed
with his righteousness. We're protected by him like a
shield. We take our refuge in him. So how can a man be justified
before God? Only in Christ. Again, only in
Christ. For Christ also hath suffered
for sins. The just, the pure, spotless,
holy Lamb of God, God incarnate in the flesh. The just for the
unjust, that's us. He might bring us to God, being
put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.