At Todd's Road Grace Church,
we'd like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I've entitled this morning's
message, What is the Gospel? I want to read a verse of scripture
from Romans chapter four, verse 25, that I believe gives us a
summary of the message of the entire Bible. Romans chapter
four, verse 25. the Lord Jesus, who was delivered
for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. What is the gospel. Now, this question should be
answered in every message that's preached. What is the gospel? If that is not answered, it's
a message that ought not to have been preached. God uses Genesis
chapter 1 verse 1 through Revelation chapter 22 verse 21 to answer
that question. The entire Bible is used to answer
that question and that gives us some idea of the importance
of every word of this book called the Bible. All scripture is given
by inspiration of God. If we don't have that, all we
have is my opinion or your opinion, and that's not going to do as
much good, is it? But the Bible is God's inspired, infallible
word. It claims that for itself. All
scripture is given by inspiration of God. Peter said, holy men
of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. God wrote
this book, and I don't believe there's a more succinct summary
of everything this book has to say than the verse of Scripture
I just read, who was delivered for our offenses. and raised
again for our justification. Now let's go back a couple of
verses in verse 23 of Romans chapter four. Paul says, now
it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed unto
him. Now Paul's foundation is it's
written. You know, I can't express the
importance of it is written. If I can't use the scripture
to show what I believe, and I'm not going to the Bible to find
out how to prove my doctrine. Everybody does that. Everybody
uses the Bible and they'll pull some verse of scripture out of
context to prove what they believe. I want to go to the Bible to
find out what to believe. It is written. Now look what he says. He says,
now it was not written for his sake alone, speaking of Abraham,
that it was imputed to him. What was imputed to Abraham? Well, in verse six of this same
chapter, we read, even as David also described with the blessedness
of the man under whom God imputeth righteousness without works. Now I'm interested in this. I'm
interested in God imputing righteousness to me without regard to my works. What in the world does that mean? What is this thing of imputation? Imputation is also translated
reckon or Now here's a real simple illustration. If my checking
account is $1,000 overdrawn, and I say, well, I'm going to
impute $1,000 to be in that checking account. You know what's going
to happen? It's still going to be overdrawn.
And if I write a check on that, it will not be good. That is the wrong use of imputation. I fear that that's what many
people mean when they think of the imputation of righteousness.
God imputing righteousness to you and canning you righteous
even though you're not. I can count $1,000 in my checking
account, even though in reality I'm $1,000 overdrawn. Imputation has to do with fact. It has to do with reality. Now, how is it that God can impute
righteousness to somebody who's not righteous? 2 Corinthians
5, verse 21 says, 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. Now, if God imputes righteousness
to me, it's because I am in fact righteous, made righteous by
what Jesus Christ did for me. He was made sin, He took my sin,
He suffered for my sin, He was punished for my sin, He put away
my sin, He gives me His perfect righteousness so that I am nothing
less than the righteousness of God in Him. Now here's how complete
that righteousness is. We read in verse 10 of 2 Corinthians
chapter five, for we must all appear before the judgment seat
of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his
body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Now on judgment day, I'm going
to receive the things done in my body. If there is any sin,
I will be condemned. But this is what justification
is. This is the imputation of righteousness. God makes it to
where I am righteous, that I'm eternally righteous, that I've
never sinned, that I've never broken his law. That's what justification
means. And that's what the Lord did
for his people on Calvary Street. He justified. So they stand before
God without guilt. Now, Paul goes on to say, it
was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to
him, but for us also, me and you, to whom it shall be imputed
if we believe. on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead. Now, there are billions of people,
and I'm not exaggerating, there are billions of people who believe
that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. who have no understanding
as to why he died in the first place or why he was raised from
the dead. Now, this verse of Scripture
tells us why he died and why he was raised from the dead. I hope that's something that
interests you. to understand why it is that Jesus Christ was
nailed to a cross and died. And why was it that he was raised
from the dead? Now here is the answer, who was
delivered for our offenses. That's why he died. and he was
raised again for our justification. That is why he was raised. Now, let's begin here. Who was
delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification? The gospel does not begin with
a what, it begins with a who. Who was delivered for our offenses? Who is this one who was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification? You see,
everything is predicated upon who he is. Now he is a man, obviously. It was flesh and blood that died,
but the fact that he was delivered for our offenses, tells us that
he was a man with no offenses of his own. He knew no sin. He never sinned. Not even in
his heart, in his motive, or in his thoughts. He never sinned. He knew no sin. Now, you and
I know sin real well. We're used to it. We're born
with it. But he knew no sin. And that's the only way he could
be delivered for our offenses. Now, if I died for you, it wouldn't
do you any good. Your sin is still your sin. I
can't take your sin. And as far as that goes, I can't
take your sin because I'm a sinner myself. It wouldn't do me any
good for you to die for me. It wouldn't do you any good for
you. It wouldn't do you any good for me to die for you. This one
who died though, is the one who never sinned. Now, there's only
one who could never sin, God. Jesus Christ is the God-man. He could not sin. He did not sin. In Him was no
sin. And He was delivered for our
offenses. Now, Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. That's why his death can save.
My death couldn't save you. Your death couldn't save me.
But this is the second person of the blessed trinity, the God
man, who was delivered for our offenses and who was raised again
for our justification. Now here's the second question,
who delivered him? Who he is, is the son of God.
Who delivered him? It says he was delivered for
our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Who delivered
him? Well, somebody says, well, Pilate delivered him to the Roman
soldiers. Pilate was nothing more than a pawn in God's hand,
performing God's will. Acts chapter four, verse 27 says,
for both Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the people
of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done. Listen to this scripture. Peter said on the day of Pentecost,
him being delivered, that's the word, him being delivered by
the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God. You have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain. God is the one who delivered
him for our offenses. You see, God made the universe. for this to take place. Christ
is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
The cross is the purpose of God. The cross is the counsel of God.
It's how God makes himself known. It's how God can remain just
and yet justify somebody ungodly like me and like you. This is
God who delivered him. He that spared not his own son
but delivered him up for us all. Truly God was no respecter of
persons and is no respecter of persons. When sin was found on
his son, God killed him. The justice of God demanded his
death. What glory, what love that God
would give his son for sinners like me and you. What obedience
upon Christ's part when the Lord told him to go be nailed to a
cross, he said, Yes, Father. What love Jesus Christ had for
His church that He was willing to be delivered up and to suffer
the full equivalent of an eternal hell on Calvary's tree in the
room and the stead of His people. Why did he deliver him? For our offenses. Now, this is very important.
Who is the our? Who is Paul talking about? Who
is the Holy Spirit talking about when he says he was delivered
for our offenses? Now, the church at that I pastor
meets on 4137 Todd's Road. It's a building. The church is
not a building. The church is people, but we
meet in a building. And if I say to the congregation,
this is our building, what if somebody from the neighborhood
came and said, well, it's mine too. I take a part in this. You said it's our building, so
I'm going to share part of the ownership of this thing. You
know what I'd say? I wasn't talking to you. You're
not a part of the hour that is being referred to. When Paul
says he was delivered for our offenses, he's talking about
those Christ died for. He's talking about the elect
of God. He's talking about those God
chose before time began to be saved. He's talking about the
people that Jesus Christ represented on Calvary's tree. Now, why is
this important to make this issue? If a preacher says, Jesus Christ
died for your sins, but you might end up going to hell if you don't
do your part to make what he did work for you, that man doesn't
know the gospel. You see, if Christ died for your
sins, you must be saved. Because He made payment. And
God's not going to demand payment where payment's already been
made. He made complete payment for your sins if He died for
you. And your sin has been put away
and it is gone. He died for His elect. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. He didn't die for goats. He died
for the sheep. He was delivered for our offenses. Now, once again, If he can die
for somebody, and that person still goes to hell, his death
is meaningless. His death did not save. There's
something you must do in order to save yourself. But thank God,
everybody he died for must be saved. Because not only was he
delivered for our offenses, and what a name for our sin, our
offenses against God, he was raised again for our justification. You see, all sin, God's just,
all sin will be punished. There's no sin that will not
be punished. It'll either be punished in you or your substitute. Christ was delivered for our
offenses, our sin, our iniquity. He was delivered for our offenses
and he was raised again for our justification. Now understand
this. When Christ was raised from the
dead, every one of God's elect were justified. I think one of the most glorious
examples of that is the publican in the temple. You can read about
him in Luke chapter 18, verse 13, where he stood afar off and
beat on his breast, crying, God, be merciful to me, thee, sinner. And Christ said, I say unto you,
that man went down to his house justified rather than the other. Now, justified means He never
sinned. This means more than he went
down to his house forgiven or pardoned or shown mercy to. Although
he was all those things, he went down to his house justified. If you're justified, that means
you are sinless before God. He went down to his house justified. Now, when Christ died, he was
delivered for our offenses, and he was raised again for our justification. Now, although he died, the soul
that sinneth shall surely die. My sins became his sins, and
he became guilty of the commission of those sins, and the justice
of God, the law of God, put him to death. He died, but when he
went into that grave, When they took him off the cross, he was
dead. When Joseph of Arimathea and
Nicodemus wrapped him up in those grave clothes and put the spices
on him, he was dead. And when they brought him into
that tomb, he was dead, graveyard dead. This is one of the great
mysteries of the gospel that Jesus Christ died, the God-man
died. Somebody says, how could the
God-man die? I don't know, but he did. He went into that grave
dead. And at some time during that
time in the tomb, and this was witnessed only by his father,
no man witnessed this, while he lay there dead, all of a sudden
his lungs breathed in air. brought oxygen to the beating
heart that was pumping blood through his body once again. You see, he never saw corruption. He never went through the process
of decay. He did die. And he stayed dead. And then all of a sudden, his
heart started beating. And his lungs started heaving.
And he opened his eyes. He was raised from the dead. Why? He was raised for our justification. Now please listen to me carefully.
If Christ died for you, you do not have any sin. He put your sin away. You are perfect in God's sight,
if you're justified. God is satisfied with you. And the reason He's satisfied
with you is He's satisfied with the death of His Son in the sense
that His Son brought complete satisfaction to Him for the wrongs
done to Him in our sins. He put them away and He gave
us His very own righteousness so that God looks upon every
believer and He says, I am completely satisfied. I'm not looking for
anything else. You see, Christ is salvation.
It's not by our works, it's by His work. He was delivered for
our offenses, and He was raised again for our justification,
so that every believer, according to Colossians 1, 22, is holy, and unblameable, and unreprovable
in His sight. Now, the message of this book,
the foundation of salvation, is the life, the death, and the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this scripture
from Romans 8.34. Who is He that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. That's the only answer I need.
Yea, rather the treason, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. Now, Paul says in Romans
chapter five, verse one, after making this glorious statement,
he was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our
justification, therefore being justified, having been justified
by what Christ did. By faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what is the proof of my
justification? The empty tomb. Come see the
place where the Lord lay. What's there? Nothing. My sin
was put away. My Savior was raised from the
dead and there is nothing, no sin, no condemnation to them
that are in Christ Jesus. Now he says, therefore being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. By faith, we have peace with
God. Now understand this, faith is
not a leap in the dark. I can sincerely believe I can
fly, and I can get up on top of the Lexington Financial Center,
the big blue building downtown, and jump off, sincerely believing
I can fly, but what's gonna happen? die. I'm going to be put to death
falling to the ground because my faith had no foundation. I just made it up. But true saving
faith has a foundation. The Word of God. The Word of
God. Therefore, being justified by
faith, that is believing that who He is and what He did, according
to the Scriptures, is all that's needed to make me accepted before
God. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this peace means He has
nothing to be mad at me for. I'm justified. I stand before
Him, having never sinned, always pleased Him. always done that
which is right in His eyes, because the Lord Jesus Christ did that,
and so have I in Him. Colossians 1.20 says, having
made peace through the blood of His cross. That's why He's
called the Prince of Peace. God is called the God of Peace. The Gospel is called the Gospel
of Peace. Now, when Christ appeared to
His disciples as the resurrected Lord, This is very important. What's the first thing He said
to them? Peace be unto you. And then He showed them His hands
and His feet. And they were made to see that
the reason God is at peace with them is because of what Christ
did on the cross. You know, He was raised from
the dead. He still had the scars. that lets us know that the only
reason we'll be saved, even when we're in heaven, when we no longer
have a sinful nature and we no longer have our sinners, we're
perfect before God, we'll still know by looking at His scars
on His hands and feet that there's only one reason we're there,
because He made our peace with God. He said in John 16, 33,
these things have I spoken unto you that in me you might have
peace. In the world you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. My peace is that I am complete
in Christ, and God is not looking for anything other than that
which His Son accomplished, and my salvation is in Him." Now,
listen to this statement real carefully, please. The hardest
thing you're ever called on to do is to trust Christ alone. And do not look at anything else,
nothing you've done or haven't done, no other man. You are to
look to Christ alone. You are to understand that all
God requires of you, He looks to Christ for. and you'll trust
Him alone. You know, that's the hardest
thing you'll ever be called on to do, is to do nothing. And
yet, this is the simplest thing you're ever called on to do,
to look to Christ only. You don't have anything to get
confused about. You don't have two directions you need to make
a choice between. Christ only as all in salvation. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. We have this message on CD and
DVD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nibert praying God
will be pleased to make himself known to you. Amen. To receive
a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send a request to
todd.nibert at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.