#43 Justification - The Elect Are Sovereignly Justified by God

Q: What does the Bible say about justification?

The Bible teaches that justification is a sovereign act of God where He declares sinners righteous based on their faith in Christ. Justification is a key theological concept in scripture, best articulated in Romans 8:33, where it states, "It is God that justifies." This implies that justification is not based on human merit but solely on God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The distinction between actual and declarative justification is critical, with actual justification signifying the inner transformation and declarative justification reflecting God's pronouncement of righteousness based on Christ's imputed righteousness. This doctrine is foundational for understanding our position before God.

Q: How do we know justification is true?

Justification is affirmed through the teachings of Scripture, particularly in the context of God's sovereign grace and the righteousness of Christ. The truth of justification is grounded in biblical revelation, specifically as seen in Romans 3:24-26, which states that we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. This doctrinal assurance comes with the understanding that God's justice is satisfied through Christ's sacrificial death. Moreover, John Owen famously articulated that 'we have the death of death in the death of Jesus Christ,' further confirming that justification is not merely theoretical but rooted in the historical reality of Jesus' atoning work. Thus, our understanding of this doctrine is firmly anchored in Scripture.

Q: Why is the concept of justification important for Christians?

Justification is vital as it guarantees believers' righteousness before God and provides assurance of salvation. The doctrine of justification is crucial because it clarifies that believers are declared righteous status not through their own efforts but through faith in Christ's perfect righteousness. This assurance is rooted in Romans 5:1, which states, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Understanding justification strengthens our confidence in God's love and acceptance. It also undergirds our sanctification, as those justified are also progressively transformed by the Holy Spirit. Thus, justification is foundational for both our present assurance and future hope of glorification.

Let's read the first verses of
Hebrews chapter 11. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now I'm not
giving an exposition tonight of faith per se. I only want to show the difference
between actual and declarative justification. Notice what I
said. The distinction between actual
and declarative, or declarative and actual would be a better
order for those two statements. Now verse 2, for by it, that
is by faith, the elders obtained what? A good report. Notice the last part of verse
2, a good report. Now drop down to verse 4. By
faith Abah offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
by which, now the three words, he obtained witness. Connect the three words he obtained
witness with the three words in verse 2, a good report. Now verse 5. By faith Enoch was
translated that he should not see death and was not found because
God had translated him. For before his translation, now
the next four words, he had this testimony. Now please connect
a good report With verse 4, he obtained witness. Verse 5, he
had this testimony. Now turn, if you will, please,
to verse 39, coming to the last verses of this great hall of
faith chapter. Verse 39, and these all, in other
words, all the patriarchs, having obtained a good report. How? Through faith, receive not
the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that
they without us should not be made perfect. I'm not giving
an interpretation now. I'm only calling attention to
the statements, having obtained a good report, a good report,
a witness, and so forth. You say, well, there isn't any
mention of justification in these passages of Scripture. The word
justification itself is not found, but the principle of justification
is there, because we have something that declares the righteousness
of the individuals whose names are mentioned in this great hall
of faith chapter. It isn't necessary now for me
to review what I gave last Sunday morning when we went back and
showed that justification is an ancient doctrine. Beginning
where? Not with Luther who defended
it. who actually, I should say, revived it, Paul who defended
it, and Abraham who exemplified it, but back to the Garden of
Eden. So Abraham was not the first person who had faith, as
we have seen from this portion of Scripture in Hebrews chapter
11. Now in making the distinction
between declarative and actual justification, as we will be
making the distinction later on in the study of the subject
between the imminent act of God or eternal justification and
justification by faith in time. Now as we look at these verses
in Hebrews chapter 11, we see both declarative and actual justification. This morning we showed you that
declarative justification as we define the Greek verb translated
justify, whenever it is used in connection with God, Jesus
Christ, our wisdom, and we gave you the references, it is always
used in a declarative sense. actual justification is not used
in connection with God, but both actual and declarative are used
in connection with the justification of a sinner. Now that only adds
to what I gave this morning. This is another point that is
very vital to the proper understanding of the biblical doctrine of justification. So in the light of these verses
which we have read from Hebrews chapter 11, declarative and actual
justification are illustrated. Declarative is illustrated by
the Father in Luke 7 29, by the Son in 1 Timothy 3 16, by wisdom
in Luke 7 35, but both declarative and actual are used
here in this portion of Scripture where the justification of the
ungodly is referred to. So the sentence of a human judge
is merely declarative. And we brought out some very
important things along that line this morning by way of illustration.
Such justification by a human judge does not constitute a man
either innocent or guilty. It only pronounces him to be
so in the eye of human law. Now, God does what no human judge
can do. God must first constitute the
sinner righteous upon the basis of the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. And when one has been so constituted
righteous, then he declares him righteous because of imputed
righteousness. Now we come to another subject.
I told you that you cannot separate righteousness, imputation, pay
and justification. I said it this morning, I'll
repeat it again tonight. I must continue to emphasize
the importance of all of these great truths because there cannot
be even the proper understanding of faith apart from all of these
truths. There cannot be a proper understanding
of justification apart from these truths. There cannot be a proper
understanding of righteousness There cannot be a proper understanding
of imputation. So they are all interrelated
and must be studied in connection one with the other in order to
have a biblical understanding either of pain, justification,
righteousness, or imputation. Now do you see in these portions
of Scripture, in these verses, not only portions from other
books that we have referred to in previous messages, and the
verses that we have read from Hebrews chapter 11. Those, you
see, who are justified in time. Abraham was justified in time.
Abel was justified in time. Enoch was justified in time.
And bringing to a conclusion the faith of the patriarchs,
the writer of Hebrews said, and these all having obtained a good
report, how, through faith, received not the promise. I sum up now
all that we have said in the light of this illustration drawn
from Hebrews chapter 11. by saying those who are justified
in time has its foundation in God's eternal
justification and certainly will be publicly declared to be blessed
of God even in the future, that is, in the future kingdom. You
see what all is involved? A lot, but it becomes more precious
the further we go. Now for our scripture reading,
that was just an introduction. You say, well, that's enough
for a message. Well, you can take that, but that's the introduction.
Now turn with me to Romans chapter 8, as we begin our study tonight
on the first point of the seven point outline, justification
sovereignly declared. Let's read verses 28 through
39. a passage loved by all persons
who understand grace. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. In whom he called
them he also justified. In whom he justified them he
also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? What things? For knowledge, predestination,
calling, justification, and glorification. 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? Now, the next phrase is our text,
is the basis for our study for the next several services. It
is God that justifies. Now on the basis of this, Paul
waxes eloquent. Who is he that condemneth? Now
he gives four great statements and each one is a doctrinal nugget. It is Christ that died, yea,
number two, that is risen again. who is even at the right hand
of God, number three, and number four, who also maketh intercession
for us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress
or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword As it is written,
for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted
as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Beloved,
I am not giving an interpretation of this passage. I can't do it.
I'm dealing with one subject. That is the subject of justification.
But all of these verses are vitally related to the very subject which
we are beginning to study tonight. Justification sovereignly declared. So I begin by saying in the first
point of the outline, which will have seven major headings, and
using a sentence for each one. This will be Roman numeral one
if you are outlining this entire series. The elect are sovereignly
justified by God. the text, Romans 8.33, it is
God that justifies. Now we will break this down tonight
into four divisions. This will consist of our first
message. God alone can justify elect sinners. I said God alone can justify
elect sinners. Now there are four things I will
discuss in connection with that second heading. Number one, God
does not justify sinners as sinners. Please follow me. But sinners
for whom Christ died. Now I want to give you the points
first of all and then we'll go back and develop them. I said
the first point, God does not justify sinners as sinners. Now if you recall what we said
this morning, then there's no need of any review being necessary
at this point. So God does not justify sinners
as sinners. He justifies sinners for whom
Christ died. God is just and the justifier
in his justification of sinners for whom Christ died. Now that's
rather lengthy. You can shorten it by saying,
as you take notes, God is just and the justifier. We'll fill
it in as we progress in our study. Thirdly, the justified have the
support of the triune God. And this is all borne out in
the passage of Scripture which we have read from Romans chapter
8, verses 28 through 39. I said the justified have the
support of the triune God. We'll develop that point tonight. And finally, the justified are
completely protected against all foes. Now do you see how
it all intertwines and is found in connection with the subject
of justification? Now for the development of the
statement, God alone can justify elect sinners. I stated first
of all that God does not justify sinners as sinners, but sinners
for whom Christ died. Now all that I said this morning
should be put down in connection with this. I don't want to spend
any time reviewing. I'll give only three basic things
to sum up what I want to say in connection with this point
because the next point will carry us into a different aspect of
this particular subject. First of all, it is against God
that sin is committed. We elaborated on that this morning.
Sin committed against God must be paid for in full. Because
God cannot justify the wicked as wicked. Why? Because it would
be against the very principle of justice. It would be against
the very principle of righteousness. Now this recalls to your mind
all that was said this morning. But now let me go a step further.
There are some references, I'll give them to you at this point,
to be studied in connection with what I am now discussing. Exodus
23 verse 7, Deuteronomy 25 verse 1, 1st Kings 8 and verse 32. Now let me give a summary of
those statements. It was an abomination in the
sight of God for any human judge to justify the wicked and condemn
the just. You can understand that. Now,
if that was an abomination in the sight of a holy and righteous
God for a human judge to justify the wicked and condemn the righteous,
then, beloved, it would be unthinkable to say that the righteous and
holy God could justify the wicked. So he does not justify the sinner
as a sinner, but he justifies the sinner who has been made
righteous in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now this brings
us to a point. Before we left the house tonight,
we were sitting down and I asked Juanita, I said, Honey, can you
give a distinction between imputed and imparted righteousness, and
she did. And I was, of course, I was delighted. And so we had in the morning
gotten to church, the Hubers came. They always get here a
little early. The rest of you come a little
early, you might learn some things. You might fellowship with us
and learn some things. Anyway, they got here about 30
minutes before time for the service, and so we were talking, and Hank
said, I want to ask you a question, preacher. And he asked the very
same question that I had asked my wife before we left the house.
And so I wanted him to go into it, and he gave. And brother,
this is encouraging. He gave the proper distinction.
I want to ask you a question tonight. Can you give the proper
distinction between imputed and imparted righteousness? There
is a distinction. I don't want to go any further
than that, because we will be developing that later. But there is a distinction. Well, maybe I ought to say it
anyway. I don't want to leave you hanging. And so I can mention it, and
then we'll develop it at a later date. imputed righteousness is
perfect. It is by virtue of the imputed
righteousness that God can declare the sinner righteous or just
in his sight. Nothing can be added to the imputed
righteousness of Christ. It is perfect. It is perfect. It is complete. Now, that is
not true with imparted righteousness. Now, follow me. Imparted righteousness
is progressive. You say, now wait a minute, preacher.
You heard me right. I said it is progressive. It
is imperfect. And it is progressively perfected. But it will not be ultimately
perfected until we stand in the presence of Jesus Christ. Now
this is where sanctification comes in. Now this will help
you if you have some questions. You see, no Christian is perfect.
I'm not perfect. You're not perfect. So the righteousness
which has been imparted to us is not perfect. Now we're not
justified upon the basis of imparted righteousness. We are justified
upon the basis of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
I wonder tonight just how many Christians really know that difference.
I doubt that there are very many today in the religious world.
But it's a very important difference. And that's all I can say at the
present time, but it will get you to thinking. And you see,
we'll not be repeating ourselves if we expand. But if I do, it's
all right. I said, if I do, it's all right.
Now, so God does not justify the sinner as a sinner, but he
justifies him on the basis of the imputed righteousness of
Jesus Christ, which is perfect. Therefore, he stands before the
tribunal of God, as it were, justified in the perfect righteousness
of Jesus Christ. Therefore, he's accepted in Christ.
Now, the second thing under the first major heading. It is God
to whom judgment belongs, and His judgment is righteous, according
to Romans 2.5. God's judgment is righteous when
God judges the wicked in the future. When God says, as we
find in Revelation 22 and verse 11, Let him who is unholy be
unholy still. I want you to know that God will
be just in his judgment at that time. All of his judgment before
the great white throne judgment will be a just judgment. Men
are now treasuring up wrath under the day of wrath and the revelation
of what? The righteous judgment of God,
Romans 2 verse 5. And finally, under the first
point, it is God's justice that must be satisfied. And God's
justice was satisfied in the death of Jesus Christ. Thus,
John Owen was right when he said we have the death of death in
the death of Jesus Christ. And that is not a tongue twister.
That's a great biblical principle. Now, let's look at the second
point. God is just and the justifier
of the elect sinners who stand before God in the imputed righteousness
of Jesus Christ. Now when we go back to Romans
3, 24-26, you'll see the proof of this. We've already discussed
this to some extent, therefore we will not repeat. But let me
give to you three points now under this heading. And beloved,
believe me, these are important. I want to take the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit because all three persons of the Godhead
are involved in our redemption. They're involved in our justification. They're involved in our salvation.
So any person today who denies the triune God is not a Christian. I don't care how religious he
is. Now let's listen to these three
things. First of all, and we're talking now about God the Father,
the Father's covenant, or God's covenant, reconcile justification
with His wisdom. Oh, how important this is. Talking
about the Father. The Father's covenant. I'm talking
now about the eternal covenant of Hebrews 13, 20 and 21. And
we have spent a lot of time in the past discussing the unilateral
covenant, not a bilateral covenant, but a unilateral covenant. God
did not make a bilateral covenant with man, as so many people believe
and the Arminians believe, but a unilateral covenant. So the
Father's covenant reconciled, and I'm talking about reconciliation
now, reconciled justification with his wisdom. Let me give
to you a text, Romans 5, 19. Now we'll go further than that
text and quote Psalm 85, verse 10. This gives to us a great principle. In Psalm 85 and verse 10, we
are told that mercy and truth meet. Now the question is, as
mercy and truth have met, and beloved, believe me, they have,
and righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Now where
did righteousness and peace kiss each other? Where, as the text
tells us in this division of the Psalms, where did mercy and
truth meet? Mercy and truth met at Calvary. Righteousness and peace kissed
each other at Calvary. So that takes us right back to
our message this morning. And you see how this all prepares
us for the understanding of what I've given. Now look at this,
number one, I said the Father's covenant reconciled justification
with his wisdom. Now number two, Christ's ransom. Christ's ransom. Now in the past
we have talked about the plan of God the Father. and salvation
planned by Him, salvation purchased by Jesus Christ by His redemptive
work, and then finally salvation applied by the Holy Spirit. Thus
you see all three persons of the Godhead involved in man's
salvation. Now we're talking about justification.
So as the Father's covenant reconciled justification with His wisdom,
So Christ's ransom reconciled justification with God's justice. You see the development of another
point. The redemptive work of Jesus Christ reconciled justification
with what? With the justice of God. Justice
of God by Christ's redemptive blood shedding. He has borne
the punishment. of his people's sins, and by
his representative law-keeping he obtained the righteousness
which he has put to the account of the elect of God. Now we come
to the third point, the Spirit's regeneration. The Spirit's regeneration
reconciled justification with God's holiness. Now do you see
how beautiful and how interrelated these great truths are? You can't
ever get through studying the subject, beloved. The more you
study, the less you find out you know. So look at it now. I said the Spirit's regeneration
reconciled justification with God's holiness. Now you have
God's wisdom, you have God's justice, and you have God's holiness. In the covenant, the eternal
covenant, we have reconciliation with wisdom. In the redemptive
work of Jesus Christ, reconciliation with justice. and in the Spirit's
regeneration, in other words, in the application of the redemptive
work of Christ to the heart of the elect of God, we have reconciliation
with the holiness of God. That's why God is the just and
the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus. Why? Because God's
covenant reconciled justification. with what? His wisdom. The redemptive
work of Jesus Christ reconciles justification with God's justice. And finally, the regenerating
spirit reconciles what? Justification with the holy character
of God, enabling the Holy One to justify the ungodly and remain
just in the justification of the ungodly. Now that's gospel. And let me tell you something
else, anything short of that is not gospel. It's just human
religion. Pretty bold statement, isn't
it? Pretty bold statement. You know,
I was telling my wife this past week after making some observations
of things that I had encountered in the past few days, I said,
the great tragedy today is this. There are too many religious
people, yes, even some Christians, who can't even make the distinction
between, follow me now, worship and service. I'll go even a step
further than that. They can't make the distinction
between worship and service. They can't even make the distinction
between service and performance. I'll let you think about that
for a while. That's the tragedy of today.
Beloved, we're talking about great truths. And only in the
light of such great truths can we worship the Lord in spirit
and in truth. In fact, there's no worship apart
from truth. So when you hear a man talk for
15 or 20 minutes, hang in there! Upon what basis can a person
worship God? And then he asks for a liberal
offering. for people to give their money
for such rot as that. Yes, they will. Now, in closing
this last thought about the Spirit's regeneration, reconciling justification
with God's holiness, you see there is an external and an internal
righteousness. I said an external and an internal
righteousness. Now the external involves imputed
righteousness which is perfect. The internal involves what? That which is imparted to the
believer by sanctification. Well how does one explain this
justification if it is not perfect? I think I better say this in
order that I do not leave some of you hanging. You know for
many years in the early part of my ministry I was taught this
and I didn't know any different for a long period of time. When
someone referred to 2 Peter 1, verse 4, we have obtained what? That is, the divine nature. The statement divine nature,
I heard it interpreted while we have the very nature of God.
I beg your pardon. We do not possess God's nature. If you and I possessed God's
nature, we'd be little gods. I'll tell you what we do possess,
we possess a God-like nature. And there is a vast difference
between a God-like nature and the inherent nature of God himself. Now the same thing can be illustrated
with this righteousness, the imparted righteousness. I said
it's not perfect. So you can liken this righteousness
to the God-like nature that we come in possession of as Christians. So it is a God-like righteousness
that has been imparted. It is not perfect. And through
sanctification, it becomes more perfect. That is, it is more perfect tomorrow
than it is today. But it is never ultimately perfect. And I'm using the word perfect,
more perfect, in the sense of Christian perfection. I'm not
talking about sinless perfection. But it will be ultimately perfected
when we stand in the presence of Jesus Christ. Now, we're not
justified by the imparted righteousness, which is imperfect, but we're
justified by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is perfect. See the difference? Which is
perfect. This will help people if they'll
follow it. Now, let's carry that a little
further. I said there is an external and an internal righteousness.
The external, you point to the imputed righteousness. The internal
is the imparted righteousness. Now, I like to refer to them
like this. The external is the judicial and the external is
the dynamic. I like to use the word dynamic.
Dynamic! Beloved, whenever a person has
been justified by God, I said last Sunday night, he is going
to be sanctified. And if there is no sanctification,
there has been no justification. And that rules out antinomianism. So every person whom the Father
has justified, he sanctifies. And that's internal. And that's
dynamic. And it is this dynamic which
makes practical righteousness achievable in the life of the
Christian. Look it, I wish that I had been
taught some of these things as a young Christian. It surely
would have helped. But I'll tell you what. I'm just
so thankful that in the providence of God, He's given me time and
He's given me a group of people that are willing for me to spend
the time to really dig these things out. Now, I know that you don't have
the time to spend studying and thinking through these things,
but that does not rule out the importance of you meditating
and being able to put these things together, and search the Scriptures
to see if what I'm telling you is true. Now we come to the third
thing. The justified have the support
of the triune God. In Romans 8, 31 through 33, we
find this great fact. The Father is for us eternally. for us eternal, verses 31 through
33. If God be for us, who can be
against us? And what shall men say concerning
these things? What things? For knowing us,
predestinating us, calling us, justifying us, and we have the
assurance we will be glorified. They're all in the Arius tense,
and we'll discuss that more later. But the Father is for us. I'm
emphasizing prepositions now, ensuring that the Godhead is
for us. In other words, the triune God.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all are for us. Now I want you to observe something
very closely. I said the Father is for us eternally. There never has been a time when
he was not for the elect. Any more than there never has
been a time when he didn't love us. There never has been a time
in the mind of God when we were not accepted in Christ as far
as God is concerned. And if you understand anything
about the eternality of God, you know what I'm talking about.
But I assure you, we'll develop that point later on. He's parless eternal. Second,
the Son is with us. And I'm using the word eternally.
He's with us eternally. In other words, there was never
a time when we were not with the Son in the sense of being
included in the covenant of redemption. Never was a time. Therefore it
can be said He is with us eternally. The same as the Father is for
us eternally. But now, follow me. The Holy
Spirit is in us. Would it be correct for me to
say eternally? You think a little bit. We'll
leave you dangling for a few seconds. Is it correct to say
that the Holy Spirit is in us eternally? I dare you say it. Now do you
know the difference between the word everlasting and the word
eternal? You see the word eternal, there is no beginning and there
is no ending. But everlasting means there is a beginning but
no ending. Now the Holy Spirit was not in us eternally, but
He is in us everlastingly. Is that important? It surely
is important. You can't write or divide the
Word if you don't understand that. Now, what have we seen
thus far? We have seen that the triune
God supports us The Father has always
been for us. He's for us eternally. The Son with us eternally in
that unilateral covenant made by God in the Council of Eternity. But it cannot be said that the
Holy Spirit is in us eternally because the Holy Spirit came
in time and regenerated us and now indwells our heart everlastingly. Now we come to the fourth. The
justified are completely protected against all foes. Now look at the last part of
Romans 8. I said the justified are completely protected from
all foes. All right, let's break this down. Sovereign power cannot be regulated
by another. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Beloved, there is not the possibility
of salvation. There is not the possibility
of being justified. You and I as believers in Jesus
Christ are already justified. And this justification is immutable. So whenever a person talks about
there's a possibility of eternal life, and this is a religionist
who talks in those terms, he doesn't understand eternal life.
He doesn't understand salvation. I don't care how religious he
is. He may be a preacher. I was reading the work of a man
the other day, and he was a doctor. And I suppose I ought to give
you a statement, but I'll not do it tonight. I won't give you
time. But after I got through reading his statement, I said,
where in the world did he get his doctor's degree? He must
have gotten it studying veterinary medicine. But I never read such erroneous
statements in my life as that person made concerning the subject
of justification. The things I gave to you tonight
are mild in comparison to what that person said. We are protected. by the sovereign God of the universe.
And God's sovereign power cannot be regulated by another. Now that ought to make us rejoice
in these days in which we're living. And I'll tell you, we
need encouragement. Believe me, we need encouragement. From week to week, things are
degenerating so fast until it's almost unbelievable. just from
week to week. I'm not going to spend time here
tonight relating to you some things that we have seen and
heard by means of the news media this past week. But I'll tell
you one thing, we're living in perilous times. What comfort
can a person receive from hanging in there? or let every person do his own
thing. We're giving you something tonight, beloved, from the Scriptures
that will give comfort, strength in time of need. All right, first
of all, Paul raises a question, who shall oppose us? It's a good
question. Who shall oppose us? Why, it
is Christ who died. It is Christ who was resurrected
from the dead. Who shall oppose us? Why, it
is Christ who died. It is Christ who was resurrected
from the dead. It is Christ who sits at the
right hand of the Father as our advocate, our intercessor. It
is Christ who sustains us. It is Christ who is coming for
us again. We could go on and on. Who shall oppose us? This denotes protection. As I said, I can't, you see,
give an exposition to these verses. I'm simply pointing great truths
as they are related to the subject of justification. So the justified
are completely protected against all foes. Who shall oppose us? That's our protection. Number
two, who shall accuse us? Look at this. Who shall accuse
us? This indicates our perfection. I like this. I say this indicates
our perfection. You see, it is correct for me
to say I am perfect in Christ's perfection. It is correct for
me to say I am complete in His completion. Now an unsaved person
can't understand that. You see, and no one can unless
he knows the difference between imputed and imparted righteousness
again. But before the tribunal of God,
where God has declared me just or righteous, I stand not in
my righteous acts now. I stand in the righteousness
of Jesus Christ, which is perfect. I stand in his completed work,
which is complete. He said it is finished. Nothing
can be added to it. I stand in his holiness, which
is imputed. So who shall accuse us? That indicates our what? Perfection. The higher court's decision cannot
be nullified by a lower court. Don't you like that? Someone
is tried and convicted here and he appeals the case. He hopes
to take it to a higher court and maybe get a different sentence. Beloved, you and I have been
declared just before the highest court in the universe. There is no higher court. We've
been declared just before this court. and it can never be reopened
by lower court. So when the devil brings an accusation
against you, what does the Lord Jesus Christ say as he represents
you before the Father, as he sits at the Father's right hand?
That accusation, even though there is some truth in it, even
though he is not perfect, his sin is not imputed to his account. Now you see, you must make the
distinction between Abraham and David, and why both names are
mentioned in the study of justification in the first eight verses of
Romans chapter 4. Abraham, an ungodly man, justified
through faith. The righteousness of God was
imputed to his countenance. David, a righteous man whose
sin, his sin, was not imputed. So the devil brings some accusation,
and I'm sure he did, against David. But the accusation wouldn't
stand up. And beloved, no accusation brought
against the justified person now will stand up before God's
tribunal. Why? Because Jesus Christ is
there. He's your lawyer. He represents you. And so we
have in this, verse 33, our perfection, our perfection. Number three,
who shall condemn us? Verse 34. This represents our
vindication. Our vindication. Christ's death
was both final and sufficient. Nothing can be added to it. His
resurrection was proof of the sufficiency and efficacy of his
death. And it is the visible and historical
evidence of our justification. That's why Paul said in Romans
4.25, he was offered up for our offenses and raised again for
our justification. Blood that I take gets more precious
all the time, doesn't it? Do you see why that I'm just
as happy as can be, I don't have to have a diversion. It's even
hard, and I know I have to take out time to get exercise and
to make visits and these things, which we do, but I'll tell you
what, I don't have to have some other diversion to keep me occupied. When I study the Scriptures and
find out the will of God, I rejoice, and that is a rejoicing that
is unspeakable and full of glory. And when I go to bed at night
and I lie down and I can reflect upon those great truths that
not only give me great comfort and consolation now, but, beloved,
some of these days I'm going to have to walk through the valley
of the shadow of death. And I'll tell you, the knowledge
of these things then Oh, how precious they'll be to me. And I'll tell you what, unless
you learn them, you'll not have that comfort even though you're
a Christian. You'll not have that strength even though you're
a child of God. Who shall condemn us? Our vindication. Now we've come to the last. Verses
35 and 36. Who shall separate us? This represents our security.
Now that doesn't mean something to you. You see, I didn't have
to go outside the scriptures. I don't have to go out here and
collect some statement that is used by people of the world in
order to get the attention. If things like what I have mentioned
to you don't get your attention, don't captivate your attention
and hold your attention, I wouldn't give five cents for your attention. Now let's sum it up. The justified
are completely protected against all foes. Who shall oppose denotes
protection. Who shall accuse indicates our protection. Who
shall condemn us represents our vindication. Who shall separate
us represents our security. The attempted separation is from,
you see, the love of God as you consider it in the light of its
context. The bond that binds the believer is the everlasting
love of God as well as the life and death of Jesus Christ. That's just one aspect of this
great system.

#43 Justification - The Elect Are Sovereignly Justified by God

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about justification?

How do we know justification is true?

Why is the concept of justification important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About W.E. Best

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#43 Justification - The Elect Are Sovereignly Justified by God

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about justification?

How do we know justification is true?

Why is the concept of justification important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About W.E. Best

Comments

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