I did choose thee, Lord, for,
Lord, that Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nivert. 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 Nivert. I'm going to be speaking this
morning from the third chapter of the book of Romans, and I'm
going to make the assumption that no one listening has ever
heard the gospel before. Now, I realize you may have,
but it could be true that many of you have not ever heard the
gospel before. Just because you've heard something
that was called the gospel doesn't mean it WAS the gospel. Preachers do not preach the gospel. They preach something they call
the gospel, but it's not the gospel according to the scriptures.
So what I want to do is assume that no one, that everyone listening
has never heard the gospel. Now, if I was to attempt to bring
a message from the scriptures to someone who has never, ever
heard a gospel message, I believe where I'd want to go is Romans
chapter 3. Now, in this passage of scripture,
I don't think there's a more important passage of scripture
in all the Word of God, we're given the gospel. Now, how would
I begin this message? Well, I wouldn't begin attempting
to prove God's existence. There's no need for that. Everybody
knows that somebody made all of this and nobody made him. Men know by the light of nature
and men know intuitively that God is. The light of nature tells us
this. Somebody made all this and no
one made him. His eternal power and Godhead
are seen. So I would make no attempt to
prove the existence of God. My question is, is what is he
like? How can we know what he's like? And you have to begin here with
a revelation from Himself. We cannot know what God is really
like unless He lets us know what He is really like. Now we can
know some things about Him. We can know he's good by looking
at his beautiful creation. We can know he's all-powerful.
He spaked the world into existence. Somebody made all this. But we
can't tell such things as, does he love sinners, or will he forgive
sin, or is there mercy, or is there grace with him? We can't
know things like that regarding him unless he makes himself known. And that's where the Bible comes
in. We have to begin with the scriptures. Now God is, there's no question
about that. What's he like? What's my standing before him?
Can only be known from this book called the Bible. Now it's not
difficult to believe that the Bible is the inspired word of
God. It makes that claim. All scripture, 2 Timothy 3.16,
all scripture is given by inspiration of God. God inspired over 40
different writers over a 1500 year period to write this book
called the Bible and in this book Somebody says, how can you
believe that God inspired it? Well, if you can believe God
could create the universe, which you know he did, if he can create
the universe, he can inspire men to write a book and keep
it preserved from error where he makes himself known. Now,
regarding the Bible, it's either the word of man filled with error,
or it's the word of God without error. And it claims to be inspired
by God. And it is inspired by God. I can read the scriptures and
know man didn't write this. God wrote this. Now with this
thought of the Bible, the Bible claiming divine inspiration,
My question is not, is there a God, or God and His ability
to fulfill my needs. I'm not going to try to deal
with something like that. Many people begin with man and his
need of God. No, I'm beginning with God Himself,
in the beginning God. And my question is, is what is
my state before God? Now the reason I ask that is
because the Bible teaches two things about God that we couldn't
see apart from the Bible. Number one, He's holy. He's holy. What does holiness
mean? What does holy mean? It means
other. It means separate. It means He's
not like me or you. Now, if someone said, Who is
God the most like? Or what is most like God, an
angel, an archangel, or a grasshopper? You know, the answer would be
neither. God can't be compared with anyone or anything. He's utterly transcendent. He's
utterly holy. And as holy, He must punish sin. He has an inability to accept
anything but absolute perfection. That's what holiness is. God
is Holy. What did the seraphims cry from
around his throne in Isaiah 6 when Isaiah was given that vision
of the Lord? Holy, holy, holy. That's the cry. Holy, holy, holy. Holy is the Father. Holy is the
Son. Holy is the Spirit. Holy, holy,
holy. That's why he must punish sin. You know, the reason men don't
really fear sin is because they don't understand anything about
the utter holiness and unapproachableness of God apart from the gospel.
God is holy. God is sovereign. Now what that
means is God is God. He has a will. There is such
a thing as the will of God. He has the power, he has omnipotence
to make sure his will comes to pass, and his will always comes
to pass. Daniel said in Daniel 4 verse
35, he doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and there's none that
can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? He's absolutely
sovereign. Now this God, the God of the
Bible is holy, and He's sovereign. Now my question is, is what is
my state before this holy and sovereign God? Now this is who
God is. He is as He's revealed in the
Bible. What is my state and what is
your state before this holy, sovereign God? In Romans chapter
3, verse 19, Paul says, now we know We're dead sure of this,
that what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God. What is my state? What is your
state? before this holy sovereign God? Guilty. Guilty. Subject to the just punishment
and judgment of God. Guilty. Earlier in this chapter,
he said in verse nine, we have before proved both Jews people
with a revelation from God, and Gentiles, people with no revelation
from God, they are all under sin. Every man, woman, boy and
girl born into this world, all under sin. As it's written, there
is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. Now that is our state before
this holy sovereign God. The reason men sin is because
they're sinners. That's why they sin. They're sinners and all men stand
guilty before God because of their sin. Now, believe this. This is the testimony of God's
word. Has your mouth ever been stopped
and have you ever stood guilty before God? That's our state
before God. Guilty. Now my next question
is, is there anything we can do to change that state? If I'm
guilty before God, what can I do to change that state? What can I do? What am I left
to do? Is there anything I can do to
change this? Well, verse 20 says, therefore
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. The answer
is, There is nothing I can do to change that state. By the
deeds of the law, by anything I do, there shall no flesh be
justified in His sight. Not in His sight. All the law
does is expose sin. You take the Ten Commandments.
You can't keep them. You've never kept one. I've never
kept one. All the Ten Commandments do is expose how we've never
kept one of them. Sin is the transgression of the
law, and all the law does is expose our sin and leave us helpless
before God. There's not one thing I can do
to change my state. Have you ever dealt with that?
There's nothing you can do to change your state. Well, does
that mean there's no hope? Does that mean I simply have
to wait until I die and end up under the wrath of God? Does
this mean there's no hope? What a bleak outlook. Everybody's
guilty before God and no one can change their state? No, that
doesn't mean there's no hope. Listen as we go on reading in
verse 21 of Romans chapter three. But now, the righteousness of
God without the law is manifest, being witnessed by the Law and
the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe. Now, this does not mean there's
no hope, because there's a righteousness from God. What does God require? Perfect righteousness. How good
do you have to be for God to accept you? You have to be as
good as God. And that's His holiness. He can
accept nothing less. But look what the text says.
But now the righteousness of God without the law, without
any act of obedience on my part, is manifested. There is a righteousness,
His righteousness, that's given to sinful people who can't change
their state. Romans chapter 5 verse 17 speaks
of the gift of righteousness. Second Corinthians 521 says,
For He hath made Him to be sin for us who do no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God. Now there is a righteousness
that God has provided, His own righteousness, that he can give
sinners who are guilty and cannot change their state. God can give
them this righteousness. Somebody says, how can I know
this is true? This sounds too good to be true. How can I know
this is true? But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. This is what the scripture has
always taught. It's always taught that we can't
be saved by our works, but there is a righteousness. Their righteousness,
Isaiah 54 verse 17, is of me, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 23,
six, this is the name wherewith he shall be called the Lord our
righteousness. This is the teaching of holy
scripture. That's how I can know it's true.
God can give you a perfect righteousness. Though you can't change your
state, he can. He can give you a perfect righteousness
that makes you perfectly pure before His holy law. Now, who is this for? Who gets
this blessed privilege? But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by the faith
of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. Everyone who believes the gospel
has this righteousness. This is who this is for, those
who believe. Now, somebody may say, believe
what? Well, let's go on reading. For there is no difference. It
is given to all them to believe, for there's no difference. There's
no difference between the most moral man and the most evil man
to ever live in God's sight. There's no difference. For all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That's what
sin is. It's coming short of His glory. And there's no difference between
men. They've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. What
do they believe? Let's go on reading. Being justified. Verse 24. Being justified. These people
who could not changed their state before God and stood guilty before
God, yet He justified them. This is the gospel. Being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Now these people who stand guilty
are justified. Now, this justification is not
just some kind of arbitrary choice on God's part. I'm just going
to go ahead and justify them and pardon their sins. It doesn't
work that way. If someone murdered your child
and they were apprehended and brought before the judge and
the judge said, well, I'm a loving judge, I'm going to go ahead
and pardon the murderer's sin, you'd be outraged if it was your
child. That wouldn't be right. That would be a miscarriage of
justice. God must be just. So the way he justifies these
people is in a way that is Consistent with his own righteous, just,
holy character, and it's consistent with his holy law. Being justified
freely. Freely. That means there's nothing
you can do to contribute to this. There's nothing you have to do
to earn this. The only qualification is having
nothing to recommend yourself. You have nothing. To that person
who has nothing, nothing but guilt, that's the person God
will justify freely. Now, if you have any goodness,
if you have any righteousness, it can be free. It's a payment
that God owes you, but that's not going to be. being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. What an important word, through
the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. You see, when Christ lived,
He lived as a representative man. He represented everyone
that the Father gave Him before time began. and he represented
all who believe. Those who believe were the ones
who were given him by the father before time began. Now he kept
the law for these people. He worked out a perfect righteousness
for these people and he redeemed these people. That means he paid
for their sins. Now that's what justification
is. It's having all your sins put
away. Let's go on reading Romans chapter
3 verse 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth and that word
set forth is only found three times in the New Testament and
the other two times it's translated purposed. This was God's purpose
all along. He always purposed to redeem
sinners by Christ. Christ is the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. The cross was not God's response
to man's fall. The cross was God's eternal purpose. He set forth Christ to be a,
He purposed Christ to be a propitiation. Now that word propitiation means
a sin-removing sacrifice. Now this is how these people
who are guilty can stand justified before God because of the propitiation,
the sin-removing sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if
it's removed, that's what a propitiation is. It's no longer on you. If He made propitiation for your
sins, they've been removed from you. They were made to be Christ. They were made to meet on Him.
And that's why He died on Calvary's tree. Because He was guilty. The sins of all who believed
became His sins. And he became guilty of those
sins. No, he never committed sin in his own person. But when
he took my sins, they became his sins. And his propitiatory
sacrifice paid for those sins and removed them. So I stand
before God and everybody who Christ died for, everybody that
the Father gave him, everybody who believes, stands before God
without guilt justified. And note this, whom God set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in His blood. This is not apart from faith.
Everyone that Christ made this propitiatory sacrifice for, they
all have faith in His blood. Now how can one man hanging on
a cross for six hours put away the sins of so many people so
that they're actually removed? I can answer that question. because
of the infinite worth of this one man. This is the God man,
the son of God, the second person of the Trinity. What power he
has to put away sins. Oh, I have faith in his blood. Now, if I died for you, it wouldn't
do you any good because I can't die for your sins. I can't put
away your sins. If you died for me, it wouldn't
do me any good. But if he died for you, Oh, the infinite worth
of His power and His person and His work, faith in His blood. I do have faith in His blood.
I believe His blood cleanses from all sin. Now what does this declare? 25,
whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith
in his blood, to declare his righteousness 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 the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Now, do you hear what
that's saying? That's saying that because of the propitiatory
sacrifice of Christ where my sin was removed, the righteousness
of God demands my salvation because I have no sin. He that spared not his own son
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not freely give
us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justified him.
Who is he that condemns? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. You see, this salvation is
a righteous salvation. It extols and exalts and glorifies
the righteousness of God. I'm going to be brought into
heaven because I deserve to be there. The righteousness of God
demands it because I have the very righteousness of Christ.
Now see what this gospel does? Oh, someone who stands guilty
before God, someone who knows they can't change their state
before God, here's the gospel. God, through Christ, can change
your state before Him and give you a completely new history,
a history where there's nothing but perfect righteousness. It's
called justification. In Luke chapter 18, we read,
verse 9, And he spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and
despised others. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee, a very religious moral man, and
the other a publican, one who was employed by the Roman government
to gather taxes, and the Jews hated these men. They were dishonest
men. They would increase the price
to pad their own pockets. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, this religious man, God, I thank thee that I'm
not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give
tithes of all that I possess. Oh, how good this man felt about
himself. Verse 13, and the publican, standing
afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven.
but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. That's all he could say about
himself. Now, listen to what the Lord Jesus said, and this
is because of the gospel I've been preaching. I tell you, this
man, this man who saw himself to be nothing but a sinner, I
tell you, this man went down to his house justified. Now if you're justified, that
means you don't have anything to be condemned for. That means
you stand before God's holy law without guilt. Now, to declare, I say at this
time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus, who relies only on the Lord Jesus
Christ. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Then Paul asked this question,
where is boasting then? What can I boast as me contributing
anything in salvation? It's excluded. By what law of
works? Nay, but by the law of faith.
Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith, simply
resting in who Christ is and what he did as all that's needed
to make me perfect before God. without the deeds of the law,
without any works on my part, simply resting in Christ. Is he the God of the Jews only?
Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. This
is both Jew and Gentile, their only hope. Seeing it's one God
which should justify the circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through
faith, do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish the law. Do
you know the only way you can truly honor the law of God is
by looking to Christ only as your obedience, looking to His
obedience as your obedience. If you try to keep it in order
to please God, all you do is dishonor God by thinking you
could keep it in the first place. May God take this Word and bless
it to an unknowing sinner to make them to know the Gospel. This is Todd Kniper praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer.
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