I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 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 Nyberg. I've entitled this morning's
message, Justification. My text is found in Luke chapter
18, beginning in verse 9. And he, the Lord Jesus, spake
this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves, that they
were righteous. These were self-righteous people. If you or I have any personal
righteousness before God, we would be termed self-righteous. If all I have is a righteousness
that comes from self, I will not enter heaven. Now, it's good
to do the right things. We ought to pay our bills. We
ought to be sexually chaste. We ought not talk bad about people.
We ought not steal. We ought not kill. We ought not
lie. We know these things. And before
men, we ought to be moral. But self-righteousness is a state
before God where you think you have some personal righteousness. He spake this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised
others. Anyone that is self-righteous
will always find somebody that they believe themselves to be
better than. They compare themselves with others, and that's where
they get their high feelings of self. He says in verse 10,
two men went up into the temple to pray. The one, a Pharisee,
that means a separated one. He thought the things that he
did separated him from other men. He thought he was better.
And the other, a publican. Now, a publican was the lowest
rung on the ladder of society. A Roman tax gatherer who cheated
his brethren, took extra money from them when he collected the
Roman taxes, and he was the most despised man alive at that time. A Pharisee, the top, and a publican,
the bottom. Verse 11 says, the Pharisee stood
and prayed thus with himself." I think that's interesting. The
Lord lets us know he wasn't really praying to God. He thought he
was, but he wasn't. He was praying to himself. God didn't hear or accept this
prayer, but hear what he said. God, I thank thee. That's a good thing to do, but
he doesn't thank God for what he had done. He thanks God for
his own good works. He said, God, I thank thee that
I'm not as other men are. I'm better than other men. I'm
not an extortioner. I'm not unjust. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not like this public. And
now let me say this, the things he said he didn't do, he was
lying. He did do those things. If not,
Literally, he did them in his heart. And that's the same thing
before God. Man looks on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looketh on the heart. And he was greatly guilty of
these things that he said he didn't do. But he said, I thank
you. I'm giving you the credit that
I'm not like other men are. I'm a pretty good person. He
says in verse 12, I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of
all that I possess. He had a high opinion. of his self-righteousness. Now, the publican, verse 13,
and the publican standing afar off, he felt like he was so far
away, he would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven. He
was so ashamed of himself, so filled with guilt and remorse
over his sin. He would not so much lift up
his eyes unto heaven, but he smote upon his breast. knowing
that's where his real problem was, a bad heart, saying, God,
be merciful to me, thee, sinner. That word merciful is literally
propitious. Be appeased through the sacrifice. All he could plead was the sacrifice
of the coming Lamb of God. He knew there was no hope. He
was just like Abel. Abel offered a more excellent
sacrifice to God than Cain. Cain offered his works. Abel
offered the blood of the Lamb. And this poor publican knew the
only way God could accept him and be propitious toward him
is through the sacrifice. And that's what it means, to
be appeased through the sacrifice. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And the Lord says, I tell you,
this man went down to his house justified, not merely forgiven,
Not merely pardoned, but justified. Now that word justified means
not guilty. He has never done anything wrong,
and he's always done that which was right. He's declared to be
justified. And then the Lord says, for everyone
that exalts himself shall be abased. And he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted." Now, the Lord makes this statement
regarding this man. He went down to his house justified. By his own confession, he was
a sinner, but he went down to his house justified, not merely
forgiven, not merely pardoned, but justified. Now, how can that
be? How can this man be a sinner
and go down to his house justified, without guilt, without sin, having
never done anything wrong and always doing that which is right? Now, God uses the entire Bible
to tell us how this could be. Now this, what I'm talking about,
is utterly unique to the gospel. This issue isn't even dealt with
in other religions, how God can be just and justify someone who
is unjust. How can that be fair? How can
that be right? How can God do that? The Bible
and only the Bible tells us how God can be just and yet justify
the ungodly. Now, before we proceed, there's
two things that must be established. First, this needs to be established
in our hearts, by the works of the law, there shall no flesh
be justified in his sight. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. There's nothing that you can
do to justify yourself. There's nothing you can do to
make yourself justified. David said, or Job said, if I
justify myself, my own mouth will condemn me. David said,
enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight
shall no man living be justified. If any aspect of my salvation
is dependent upon my works, I don't care if it's in the beginning
with an act of my free will. I don't care if it's the middle
where I make myself more holy by the things that I do and less
sinful by the things that I don't do. Or at the end, if I earn
a higher reward in heaven because of the things that I've done,
if I put works anywhere in salvation, I make the whole thing of works
and I will not be saved. By the works of the law, there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight. By the law is the
knowledge of sin. Now, something else that must
be established is this. Justification is what the judge
declares you to be. It's not something the judge
offers you. It's not up for your acceptance or rejection. The
judge does not say, well, it's up to you. Do you want to be
justified or do you want to be guilty? Well, that's never happened.
You're only justified if the judge declares you to be without
guilt. You never did anything wrong.
You're not guilty of the crimes that have been laid to your charge.
You are justified. You are without guilt. That's
what justification means, and that's what the judge declares
you to be. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect,
it is God that justifieth. It is His work and His work alone. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. There is one who
justifies the ungodly. He who said, I will by no means
clear the guilty. Did you hear that? If you have
guilt on you, he won't clear you. If I have guilt on me, he
won't clear me. I'll be sent to hell. That's
an act of God's justice. Yet the Bible speaks of to him
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. Now, how can that be? If somebody really is ungodly,
how can God be just and justify them? First, If you're justified, it has something
to do with being in the Lord. Isaiah 45, 22 says, in the Lord
shall all the seed of Israel be justified and glory. Now, if I'm in the Lord, that
means I'm in Him. What do you mean by that? How
can you be in him? Well, this is mysterious. It's what the
scripture teaches. According as he hath chosen us
in him, the scripture says. He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. And this is what Christian
baptism signifies. When I'm confessing Christ and
believers baptism, baptism by mercy, and here's what I'm saying.
I'm saying, here's the only hope I have of salvation. When he
lived, I lived. When he kept the law, I did,
because I was in him. When he died, I died, because
I was in him. When he was punished for sin,
I was punished for sin, because I was in him. When he was raised
from the dead, I was raised from the dead, because I was in him. When the Lord looked at John
the Baptist and said, I want you to baptize me, and he said,
I need to be baptized in thee. Coming out of me to be baptized,
he couldn't understand that, and the Lord said, Suffer it
be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. You see, when Christ fulfilled
all righteousness, he did it as an us. He did it for all of
those in him. Is it any wonder Paul said, Oh,
that I may win Christ and be found in him? Not having my own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness which is of God
by faith. And here's what I want. When
God comes looking for me, I want him to find me in the Lord Jesus
Christ so that all God sees is his blessed son. Justification
has something to do with being in him. Oh, then I might be found in
Him. Justification has something to do with the grace of God.
Romans 3 24 says, being justified freely by His grace. Justification is a gracious act
of God. Grace is God giving you what
you do not deserve or merit. That's what the grace of God
is. Now, when it says being justified freely by His grace, it reads
literally, having been justified freely by His grace. And that
is in the passive tense. Freely, without a cause in us. Not God responding to something
we do, but just giving us grace because He's gracious. 2 Timothy
1.9 says He saved us and 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 before the world began." Now,
justification is included in those things that were given
the believer in Christ Jesus before the world began. Because it's gracious, it has
nothing to do with our works. Romans 8, 29 and 30 says, 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. Whom He called, them He also
justified. Whom He justified, them He also
glorified. These are all spoken of in the
past tense. I was justified before the foundation
of the world. Every believer has been justified
eternally. Do I understand that? No. I can't
understand eternity. Do I believe it? With all my
heart. Everything God does is eternal. God's grace was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began and every believer was justified
by the grace of God. Now how much of election has
to do with grace? Well, it's all of grace. It's
called the election of grace. Well, however much election has
to do with grace, that's how much justification has to do
with grace. It's all because of a gracious act of God. Now, we read in Galatians 2,
verse 16, and if you've got a King James Version, it'll read this
way. If you've got another version,
it won't read this way, and this is one of the reasons why I love
the King James Version. It is the best translation. Listen to this in Galatians 2,
verse 16. knowing that a man is not justified by the works
of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ." Now, did you
notice that? We're not justified by the works
of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. The other versions
say, by faith in Christ, but the King James says, by the faith
of Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not
by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified in his sight." Justification comes because
of the faith of Christ, his faithfulness, his obedience, his righteousness,
his law-keeping, his faith. Somebody had to believe God perfectly,
and he did. Somebody had to live before God
perfectly And he did. And we're justified by the faithfulness,
by the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. His perfect righteousness
is given to me and justifies me. I'm justified by the faith
of Christ. He never sinned, and that is
my righteousness before God, the very faithfulness of Christ. Justified by the faith of Christ. And then we read in Romans 5
verse 9 of being justified by his blood. Now, why did he bleed
and die? There's only one reason for death,
sin. The sins of God's elect became
his sins. He bare our sins in his own body
on the tree. Romans 4 24 and 25 says he was
delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Now the moment he died all of
the elect were justified. The reason his body never suffered
decay is because he rendered to God complete satisfaction
for all of the sins of all of his people, and they are now
justified before God. His blood actually justified
everybody he died for. He made it to where we don't
have any sin. I'm justified by His life. His
righteousness is my righteousness. I'm justified by His blood. His
blood took away my guilt so that I have no guilt. I stand before
God holy and unblameable and unreprovable because of His precious
blood. When He said it is finished,
Every one of His people were justified and we were justified
by His precious blood. Isaiah put it this way in Isaiah
53 verse 11, by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many for He shall bear their iniquities. And then we read
in Romans chapter 5 verse 1 of being justified by faith. Romans
4, 5 says, to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Now, does that mean that the act of faith justifies us? No,
it doesn't mean that at all. Faith doesn't justify me, Christ
did. I'm not justified by my faith, I'm justified by what
Christ did in my behalf, and I believe that. What is faith? When we talk about justification
by faith, well, listen to this verse of scripture in Hebrews
11, verse 1. Now, faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now, faith
has something to do with that which we hope for, but what we
do not see. Now, I have a hope that on judgment
day, I'm going to be justified. I'm going to be without guilt.
I'm going to be without sin. I'm going to be without blame.
God is going to look at me and say, come on in. You've served
me perfectly. I have a hope that I'm going
to hear that. But by what I see, I can't see that I'm without
blame because of sin all the time. I mean, my very thoughts
are sinful. In my experience, I can't see
that I'm without blame, but by faith, I believe I am because
I believe the gospel. That's the substance of things
hoped for. I can't see my justification,
but I hope for it. That's faith. I'm relying on
what Christ did. I can't see my eternal union
with Christ. I can't look at myself and say,
yep, I've been eternally united to Christ. How do I know I am?
I believe the gospel. I have never climbed up into
heaven and seen my name written in the Lamb's Book of Life. I've
never seen it. I don't have a role of the names of God's elect,
but I know I'm one of the elect. How come? I believe the Gospel.
Faith is the evidence of things not seen. That's what justification by
faith means. That means your faith justified to you. It means
you believe that what Christ did is all that's needed to justify
you. You're relying on that. And then in the book of James,
beginning in James chapter 2 and verse 20, James says, But wilt
thou know, vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not
Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac
his son upon the altar? Now somebody says, that seems
contradicting everything you've said up to this point. And I've heard
people say, well, James was talking about something
different than Paul. Paul was talking about justification
before God, and James was talking about your faith justifying you
before men so that it proves you really have it. Now, I want
to say this carefully. I want my life, I want my works,
I want my conduct to adorn the gospel. But it's also true that
if I'm justified before God, I'm not real concerned about
what men think of me. All I care about is what God
thinks. I don't need the affirmation of man. His condemnation means
nothing. That's not what James was talking
about, about trying to justify your faith before men. Here's
what he's talking about. He uses the example of Abraham. God promised
Abraham would have a son and that the Messiah would come through
that son. And God tells him to take that
son that he promised the Messiah would come through and to kill
him. to offer him up as a burnt offering.
You remember the story of Abraham and Isaac. And if Abraham would
have said, I can't do that, then God's promise wouldn't come to
pass. All he would prove is he didn't really believe God. But
he really believed that if he killed his son, God would raise
him back up from the dead because God promised the Messiah would
come to that boy and God never lies. It's his works that proved
the reality of his faith. Now your works will prove your
faith. Cain's works proved what he believed.
He believed in salvation by works. When Abel brought that sacrifice
lamb, looking to the coming lamb of God. He demonstrated by that,
that he believed that the only way he could be saved is through
the blood of the lamb. Your works will prove what you
really believe. And then in Matthew chapter 12,
verse 37, the Lord said, by your works or by your words, you'll
be justified. And by your words, you'll be
condemned. What's that mean? Well, your
words will prove what you really believe regarding justification. If you really believe in justification
by being in Christ, your words will line up with that. And if
your words deny that, your words can be immune. If you really
believe justification is by the grace of God, a gracious act
of God, your words will line up with that. And if you don't
believe it, it's going to come out in your speech. By your words,
you'll be justified. And by your words, you'll be
condemned. If you really believe that the blood of Christ actually
washed away sin and made everybody he died for just before God,
if you really believe that, it'll come out in your speech. And
if you don't believe it, if you believe Jesus Christ can die
for somebody and they wind up in hell anyway, that's going
to come up in your speech. By your words, you'll be justified. And by your words, you'll be
condemned. If you really believe that justification is by works,
it'll come out in your words. And by that, your works will
be consistent with the gospel, will prove you really believe
what you say you believe. You see, by your words you'll
be justified, and by what you say, the words that come out
of your mouth, you will be condemned. If your words do not line up
with what you confess to believe, you'll be condemned. If your
words, the things you say, line up with what you say you believe,
you'll be justified. Now think of this, justification,
that man went down to his house, justified. By his own admission
he was guilty, but he went down to his house justified. How was he justified? He was
justified by being in Christ. He was justified by the grace
of God. He was justified by the faithfulness,
the righteousness, the obedience, the life of Christ. He was justified
by the blood of Christ. Christ's blood washed away his
sins. He was justified by faith in
Christ. His faith was the evidence that
Christ had done something for him. That's what justification
by faith means. Faith didn't die for my sins.
Christ did. I believe that. Faith didn't justify me, Christ
did. I believe that. His works proved he really believed
what he said he did. You know, if you say you believe
in justification by grace and go to a church where it's not
taught, your works prove that you don't really believe what
you say you do. If you go to a place where the gospel really
is preached, you're saying by your works you really believe
what you say you do. and your words, justification by words,
your words will line up with what you say. Now, this is what
I want more than anything else to be justified by God. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who is he that can condemn? It's
Christ that died. That's the only answer we need. Oh, how I love this thing of
justification. being without guilt before God
sets my heart free. We have this message on DVD and
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