Turn with me to the book of Romans
chapter 5. My subject this morning is the
fruit of justification. Now there's three things concerning
justification that you need to know. Just hold your place there
in Romans chapter 5. First of all, that justification
began in the eternal counsels of God. And it began before the
world was. Men hate that doctrine of eternal
justification. And yet we serve and worship
an eternal God. And God does nothing that is
not eternal. He doesn't begin in time to do
something that he has not purpose to do from all eternity. He cannot
do things in time that he didn't purpose to do from all eternity
because God is immutable. He's unchangeable. He's sovereign. There's nothing to cause him
to turn. He's all-wise. Jesus Christ is plainly declared
in the Scripture to be the Lamb slain, now listen, before the
foundation of the world. But He didn't die for thousands
of years. He didn't die after time began. It was at least 4,000 years if
you take it literally. It was 4,000 years before He
ever went to the cross. So how was he slain in eternity? He was slain in the mind and
purpose of God before the world was. All that God will do in
time is based on that eternal justification. Apart from our
election in Christ and His appointments as our substitute and representative,
there could have been no blessings purposed on our behalf. When
Jesus Christ entered into the holy place by His own blood,
it says He obtained, now listen, eternal redemption for us. He obtained that which God purposed
from all eternity. And by way of this purposed redemption,
we were justified before man was ever created. And then secondly,
justification was actually accomplished at Calvary. It was accomplished
by the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross. He bore, the Scripture says,
our sins in His own body on the tree. Romans 4.25, look up there,
just one verse from where our text will begin. Romans 4.25 said Christ was delivered
for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Justification in the eternal
purpose of God in no way does away with the necessity of Christ's
work on the cross. In fact, it's the reason for
it. God first trusted in Christ. whom we trusted also when we
heard the word of truth. God first trusted in him. When
did he trust in him? Before the world was. He came to do the Father's will.
Isn't that what he said? I came not to do my own will,
but the will of him that sent me. What was the Father's will
who sent him? It was to save all that the Lord
had given to him and raise him up at the last day. And then
thirdly, justification is made known to chosen sinners by faith. We're not justified when we believe
we're enlightened to it. We were justified when God raised
Christ from the dead. We were justified in the purpose
of God when He chose us and put us in Christ. That's why He chose
us in Christ. And we know our justification
by faith the same as we know our election. Same thing. No one believes they were redeemed
by faith. They readily confess that they
were redeemed by the blood of Christ. Why then would you believe
that you were justified by faith? Faith is not the justifier. God
is the justifier. And it's not the basis of our
justification. Faith isn't. It's the fruit of
it. It's the fruit of it. Faith is not the basis. It's
the fruit. And all those justified in the
purpose of God are justified by the accomplished redemption
of Christ. They all shall be called and
given the gift of faith. Listen to Acts 13, verse 38. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you,
that is, through Christ, the forgiveness of sins. And by Him,
all that believe are justified from all things from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses. Eternal justification
in the purpose of God, accomplished justification by the purpose
and work of Christ, and justification imputed by the Spirit of God
through faith, called sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. Or as Peter calls it, sanctification of the Spirit
unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.
All right, here is the next thing. What is justification? We talk about being justified.
What is it? What is justification? What does
that mean? Justification is the result of
satisfying all that God demands from a man, everything. What does God demand? He demands
a perfect, unbroken spiritual obedience in motive, thought,
and deed. He demands complete and loving
compliance to His will in all things. He demands satisfaction
of divine justice concerning all our Justification is the
act of clearing one's name of all wrongdoing. Completely gone. Colossians 1 verse 21. I want
you to listen to this. And you that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled
in the body of His flesh through death to present you holy unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight, if you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel. That which was wrought out by
our representative under the law and accomplished by our substitute
on the cross leaves the believer as though he had never sinned.
Our sins were charged to him. Charge that from the day you
were born, Russell, if you're a believer, your sins were being
charged to his account. Charged to his account. In Christ
our Savior, we sit at God's right hand in full satisfaction. and full acceptance. And God
Himself, who can see all things, who can see the very thoughts
and intents of your heart, will one day look the believer in
the face and say, well done, thou good and faithful servant.
You can't even say that in a clear conscience about yourself. But
God Almighty can, because you're justified in His Son. You think about that. Without
flaw, without Unreprovable. To be justified is not to have
my past sins forgiven and then put on a conditional ground of
my own will and works. Rather, it's to be without fault
before God forever. Not even the possibility of falling. No possibility of returning again
under the judgment of God and the wrath of God. Justified. Listen to the Scriptures. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifies. That's why no charge can be put
to your account, because He's justified you in Christ. It's God who justifies. Who is
He that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that is risen again as the justifier who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. And let men and devils
hurl their hateful slurs at the throne of God. Let them hurl
them. I have won whoever liveth to
plead his righteousness and shed blood on my account." Justified. All of God's saints are justified. And all whom he justified, he's
going to glorify. And all that are justified are
going to be called every last one. God saves sinners on purpose. He has saved us, Paul said. This
is what he wrote to Timothy. God has saved us. I don't even like that phrase,
I got saved. Do you? It implies that salvation
is down here somewhere in the church or in the preacher on
his knees or an altar or whatever it is, a priest, wherever. You
can't get saved. God has saved us. Isn't that
what Paul said? And then He called us with a
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His
own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus, when?
Before the world began. Even our calling is a holy calling. And that's what it means to be
justified. So what then is the fruit of justification? Does
this justification leave men free to sin, free to live without
fear, free to serve the lusts and desires of the flesh? God
forbid. This justification has fruits.
What are the fruits of justification? Well, let me give you just a
few. The first fruit of justification He declares to us right here
in the first verse of my text. Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the first fruit. Those who are justified and enlightened
to it by faith have peace with God. You can't know this and
not be at peace with God. When God enlightens you to your
justification, enlightens you to who Christ is and what Christ
did on that cross and what He's doing sitting at the right hand
of God right now. If God ever enlightens you to
see that, the first thing that will enter in your heart is peace
with God. Peace with God. Oh, my soul, peace with God. Listen to what Christ tells His
disciples. He's about to depart. And He
said, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not
as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. My peace. These things, John
16, 33, these things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might
have peace. In the world you are going to
have trouble. In the world you are going to have tribulation,
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. When God brings a man to faith
in Christ, He reveals to him His justification of God through
the person and work of His dear Son, and he learns in his soul
that he has peace with God. God's at peace with every believer.
Boy, ain't you glad about that? My soul. He's at peace with every
believing soul. And he has been since he trusted
them into the hands of the great Mediator. But this peace came
at a great price. This peace was purchased by the
blood of Christ. Let me tell you something. I see bumper stickers out there. And I used to see a lot more
than I'm seeing now. I'm glad they're beginning to
go away. But I see these bumper stickers
that says, Smile, God Loves You. I hear preachers telling men
and women how God loves them and wants to save them. I hear
people talking about a universal peace. My friend, God outside
of Christ, there is no peace, there is no grace, there is no
mercy, there is nothing outside of Christ. God outside of Christ
is a consuming fire. One old writer said it would
be to approach God outside of Christ would be like a moth flying
into a bonfire. There is nothing outside of Christ
for the sinner except judgment and condemnation. Paul tells
us in Hebrews chapter 10, if you go down through there and
you look at what he is talking about, he is talking about Christ
and that accomplished work that He did, and His intercession
in glory. Now he said, if you sin willfully,
if you leave this, And you go back out into the world. You
go back out into works religion. You go back out here into your
idolatry and all those things that are in the world. You want
to go back to that, you go. But you know this, there's nothing
left for you except a certain fearful looking for of judgment
and fiery indignation. There's nothing outside of Christ
but hell. There's no love. There's no mercy.
There's no grace. There's no forgiveness. There's
no peace outside of Christ. Everything God has for sinners
is in Christ being justified. We have peace. And if you've got a peace apart
from that, you've got the peace that those old false prophets,
they cried, peace, peace, where there was no peace. We have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And then the second fruit
of justification is access into the grace of God. You know, we
talk about the grace of God and we know that the scriptures are
full. It's full of exhortations about
the grace of God. By grace are you saved through
faith and batting out of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Look in
here and we see all these things. But how do you get access? How
does this sinner get access to that? The same way you got access to
peace through that justification of Christ. By whom? The same Christ by which you
now have peace with God through that accomplished justification.
By whom also? Verse 2. we have access by faith
into this grace wherein we stand. Everything that God has done
for the sinner is brought to him by the free and sovereign
grace of God. His election in Romans 11, 5
is called an election of grace. And if by grace, then it's no
more works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
His justification is a justification by grace. I read it to you in
Romans 3 a while ago when I read the Scriptures to you. Being
justified freely by His grace. His calling is a calling of grace. Paul said, He called me by His
grace. By grace are you saved through
faith. There's another fruit of this
justification. And Paul said, I am what I am.
by the grace of God. And I don't understand how works
religion can sing amazing grace and deny every word of it in
their heart and mind. It'll never cease to amaze me. And I've done the same thing.
Just rare back to sing amazing grace, big tears rolling down
your face, and you sing amazing grace. How sweet. It ain't sweet
when the preacher preaches it. My friends, sinners are saved
by grace. They walk in grace. They live
in grace. They stand in grace. And grace
reigns through righteousness unto eternal life in all that
believe. And the fruit of justification
is access into this grace wherein we stand. And then thirdly, the
third fruit of justification is a good hope of eternal glory
in Christ Jesus. Look at the second half of Romans
5, verse 2. And rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. Believers are heirs of God and
join heirs with Christ. Of this very thing, Paul said,
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us. Isn't that? That's a statement.
That's a statement. Paul lived in a day where they
put you to death. They put you on a cross. They
nailed you on a cross and hung you up. They took you out and
took big stones. Some of you have lived around
railroads and got them big old limestone that they pack under
those ties that support them big trains that run over. Take
them out and get big stones. They didn't throw gravels at
them. They took them out and stoned them with them big stones
and stoned their brains out. They were stoned. They were sawn
asunder with wooden saws. They were made spectacles before
this world. He said, I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time, the worst of the sufferings, not even worthy
to be compared with the glory that's going to be revealed in
us in that day. Believers are children of God. Christ is the firstborn among
many brethren. He is the first begotten from
the dead, but He is by no means the last. In Adam all die, but
in Christ all shall be made alive. But every man, He said in His
own order, first Christ and then those that are His at His coming.
Nearly everyone in this world has some kind of hope. Some kind
of idea about life after death. Believers have a good hope through
grace. Through grace. All of their hope
is in this glorious person and work of Christ. You're dead,
Paul said. And your life is hid with Christ
in God. And when Christ who is our life
shall appear, then shall we appear with Him in glory. So the third
fruit of justification is a good hope. one we can rejoice in,
one we can rest in, and one we can die in. And then the fourth
fruit of justification is confidence in our sovereign. Listen to the
Scriptures, Romans chapter 5, verse 3. Not only so, but we
glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience,
and patience experience, and experience hope. Nothing matures
a believer more than a demonstration of God's sovereign love and grace
in his life. And how does he demonstrate it?
He demonstrates it through trials and tribulations and suffering. Things that should have been
the end of you, but God intervened and He sees you through it. And
trouble works patience as we grow in grace and knowledge of
Him He delivers us over and over. We soon learn that God is our
strength. And we learn to patiently wait
on Him. When I'm weak, Paul said, that's
when I'm strong. That's when I'm strong. I'm not
strong in the flesh when I'm weak, but I'm strong in faith.
Patience works experience. We experience the grace of God
in our everyday lives. Why has God allowed you to see
and pass others by? You ever think about that? Why
did God give you an interest? And you look around your household
and there's no interest. Why has God delivered you out
of trouble while others are destroyed by it? We experience the grace
and mercy of God. And experience gives hope. Gives
us hope. And then fifthly, Another fruit
of justification is a grand discovery of the love of God. Romans chapter
5 verse 5, And hope maketh not a shame, because the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given
unto us. Eternity will not be sufficient
to exhaust the love of God in Christ. This love is known as
we see it demonstrated or manifested in the death of Christ. You want
to know what this love is? Every time He talks to us about
that love, He points us to Calvary. Every single time. In Romans
5, verse 6, it says, For when we were yet without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. When we were swallowed
up in darkness and ignorance and swallowed up in satanic influence
and resting under the wrath of God, and the condemnation of
God, and influence, and lies, and deceit, and all that, and
swallowed up in self-righteousness, and self-reliance, and self-will.
When we were without strength, ungodly, serving ourselves, and
serving Satan, and serving this present world, in the depth of
our weakness and sin, Christ died for the ungodly. Verse 7, for scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us. I tell you, you get a hold
of that and the next time you won't say, well, I don't see
how He could love me because I've been really ornery all week. You was ornery when He died for
you. You was a maggot when He died for you. You was ungodly. I like that old hymn, O the love
that drew salvation's plan, O the love that brought it down to
man, O the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary. And then quickly, the last fruit
of justification is assurance in Christ. Romans 5 verse 9. much more than being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if
when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life,
that is, His resurrected life. If all these things are the fruit
of justification, and our justification was accomplished while we were
yet sinners, how much more shall we be saved through the resurrected,
victorious, enthroned King of glory? If nothing could stop
Him in this world or of this world or even of the rulers of
the darkness of this world, how much less now that He's risen
from the dead and seated at God's right hand. If He could not be
defeated in His weakness, How much more shall he be undefeated
in his strength? Do you see what Paul is saying? Verse 11, And not only so, but
we also joy in God through the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we
have now received the atonement. We have received the atonement
of God by God. from God, and we are eternal
debtors to Him for it. We, having received His atonement,
rejoice in God, seeing His redemptive glory in Christ. And now we who
were enemies of God can sing His praise and worship Him in
spirit and in truth.