It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. 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. I want to speak to you this morning
on the subject of justification. Justification is the result of
Christ being raised from the dead. Because He was raised from
the dead, we have this glorious truth regarding how God justifies
sinners. Now I would like to read from
Luke chapter 18, we're going to read of two men and these
two men are two representative men. I'm going to be describing
you. You and I fall into one of these
two groups of these two representative men. The Lord says in verse 9
of Luke chapter 18, and he spake this parable unto certain which
trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. The Lord directs this parable
to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous. They
were self-righteous people. A self-righteous person is a
person who has any kind of righteousness that comes from their self. If
you have any righteousness that comes from yourself, you are
a self-righteous person. And let's go on reading. The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. Excuse me, go back
to verse 10. Two men went up into the temple
to pray. The one, a Pharisee. The word Pharisee means separated
one. This man believed something that
he did separated him from other men. This is the self-righteous
man. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. the most despised profession
of that day, one who collected taxes for the Roman government.
All the Jews considered the publicans traitors to the Jews. Now, we
read of the prayer of the Pharisee, the self-righteous man. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself. I think it's interesting the
way the Lord lets us know that while this man was praying, he
was not praying to God. He was praying thus to himself. And let's look at what Mr. Pharisee
says. He says, God, I thank thee. I'm giving you the credit that
I am not as other men are. He doesn't say anything about
thanking God for grace or for mercy or for the forgiveness
of sins. He says, I thank you that I'm
not as other men are. Now here's something that a self-righteous
man does. He always compares himself with
somebody else, every time. And he can always find somebody
that he thinks he is better than. So he thanks God. I thank thee
that I'm not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even as this publican." He spied the publican out of his
eye and he felt such disdain toward him. He says, I fast twice
in the week and I give tithes of all that I possess. This man
felt very good about himself. Now let's go to the publican.
Verse 13. This is the other man. You and I are either a Pharisee
or we take the place of the publican. 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, a sinner. That word merciful is propitious. Oh, let your anger be removed
through the blood atoning sacrifices, what that means. This man understood
the gospel. He wasn't just asking generally
for mercy. He was asking for God to be propitious
through the sin atoning sacrifice. He understood the only way God
could be approached is through sacrifice, the sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ. No other way to approach God.
God be propitious to me, the sinner. Now in verse 14, the
Lord says, I tell you, oh, there's the authority. These are his
words. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified, not merely forgiven, not merely pardoned,
but justified. Now understand this. Justification
means I have no guilt. I have no sin. I didn't do anything
wrong. That's what justified means.
This man, who by his own confession was nothing more than a sinner,
this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. The Pharisee, the religious man,
he went down to his house still in his sins, still guilty before
God, and if he would die in that condition, he would spend eternity
in hell. But this publican went down to
his house justified, without guilt before God, and then the
Lord makes this comment, for everyone that exalts himself,
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Now what a blessing to be pronounced
by the Lord justified. This man went down to his house,
not merely forgiven, though he was, not merely pardoned, though
he had been, not merely shown mercy, though he had been shown
mercy, but he went down to his house justified. And the Lord
makes no comment as to how this took place. He simply declares
him to be justified. And God uses the entire Bible
to show how this can be so. How this man could be guilty
by his own admission, God be merciful to me, the sinner. And yet Christ pronounces him
not guilty, justified. Now, before we proceed, there's
two things that must be established for us to understand how God
can be just and justify the ungodly. First, Romans 3.20 says, by the
works of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. You cannot
be justified by anything you do. If you put works in salvation
anywhere, if you put works at the beginning, Salvation comes
by your will, you accepting Christ. He's offered to everybody, and
if you're saved, it's because you decided to let Him save you. Now, all that is is another form
of salvation by works. You make salvation dependent
upon what you do, even if it's an act of your will. Salvation
is ultimately dependent upon you. Or if you put works in the
middle, if you think you become more holy and more pleasing to
God by your works and by your Bible study and by your prayer
life and you become more and more holy and less and less sinful.
Or if you put works at the end of salvation, if you say, Well,
I'm going to earn a higher reward in heaven than somebody else
because I was more diligent, I was more committed, and I did
this and I did that. If you put works anywhere in
salvation, you make it all dependent upon works. Somebody like that
is not going to be justified. By the works of the law, there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is
the knowledge of sin. Job said, if I justify myself,
my own mouth will condemn me. David, the man after God's own
heart, said, Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy
sight shall no man living be justified. Now here is the second
thing that needs to be established regarding justification. First,
that we can't be justified by our works. And secondly, justification
is what the judge declares you to be. It's not offered to you. We never read of a judge saying
to the man put on trial, well, do you want to be guilty or not
guilty? Take your choice. Doesn't work
that way, does it? If a man is justified, it's because
God declared him to be justified, to be without guilt. If you're
justified, that means you did not commit the crime. You were
not guilty, and it's what the judge finds and declares you
to be. Now this is God's work. If I'm
to be justified, it'll not be because of anything that I've
done, but because God has declared me to be just. Now here's my
question. If somebody really is ungodly,
if somebody really is evil, Romans 4 or 5 says, to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. His faith
is counted for righteousness. If someone really is ungodly
and evil, how can God be consistent with his justice and justify
him? What if someone was guilty in a court of law of murder and
rape and all kinds of horrible things, and the judge let him
go? Why, he would lose his office
as a judge. We'd get rid of him. The judge
of the earth is always going to be perfectly just. That's
who God is. So how can God be just and be
consistent with his justice and punish wrongdoing and crime and
sin and yet justify someone who is clearly guilty and sinful? How can that be? God said in
Exodus 34, I will by no means clear the guilty. How can God
be just and justify the ungodly? Now thank God He does. And here's
how. First of all, 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. Now this phrase,
in the Lord, it has something to do with being united to the
Lord Jesus Christ. I'm in Him. When a woman is pregnant,
her baby is within her. When you see that woman, the
baby's in her. When God the Father sees one
He's justified, that person is in the Lord Jesus Christ. I love
that scripture where the Lord said, this is my beloved son
in whom I am well pleased. Notice he didn't say with whom
I am well pleased, but in whom I am well pleased. All of God's
elect are in the Lord Jesus Christ so that when he kept the law,
they kept the law. When he died, they died. When he was raised from the dead,
they were raised from the dead because they are in the Lord
Jesus Christ. So being justified, first of
all, has something to do with being in the Lord Jesus Christ. Is Christ justified? I am too. Is Christ without sin and without
guilt? I am too if I'm in Him. He said
to John the Baptist in Matthew chapter 3 verse 15 when he'd
come to John to be baptized and John said, I have need to be
baptized of thee, comest thou to me? He said, Suffer it to
be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. You see, everything Christ did,
He did as an us. When He kept the law and fulfilled
all righteousness, everybody in Him kept the law and fulfilled
all righteousness. Now Romans 3.24 says we're justified
freely by His grace. Justification has something to
do with the gracious act of God being justified freely by His
grace. 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, yea rather, that's risen again, who's even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Now, it says we're justified freely. Freely. You see, that means without a
cause. If God justifies us, it's not
because He's responding to something we've done that moved Him to
do it. He did so freely without a cause. 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
were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. And among those things given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began is justification. All of God's elect were eternally
justified in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Now, God is eternal. Everything
He does is eternal. And the elect have been eternally
justified. They've always been justified
before God because they've always been in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, I realize this stuff's hard to comprehend. It's to be believed,
though. It's what the Scripture teaches.
Whom He did foreknow, them 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." This is not prophetic. This is historic. All this had
already taken place. You see, justification is a new
history. You can't change history. Justification
is a new history, a history of having no guilt because I'm in
Christ and God has justified me freely by His grace. Justification is like election,
the gracious act of God. election for the children being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil that the
purpose of God, according to election might stand not of works,
but of him that call the same thing with justification. And
Galatians 2 16 says we're justified by the faith of Christ. If you have a King James Version,
that's the way it reads. That's the reason I like the
King James Version so well. The other versions say you're
justified by faith in Christ, but that's not the teaching at
all. We're justified by the faith of Christ. I'm justified by His
faithfulness, His perfect obedience, His perfect faith. I'm justified
by Being united to Him, I'm justified by grace, and I'm justified by
His faithfulness, His perfect obedience, His righteousness
becoming mine. We're justified by the faith
of Christ. You see, it's not my faith that
justifies me, it's His faithfulness, and I believe that. We're justified
by the faith of Christ. And then we read in Romans 5-9
that we're justified by His blood. justified by his blood. Now why did the Lord die? Why
did he suffer and bleed and die? There's only one reason for death
and that reason is sin. The sin of God's people became
his sin. God lifted it off of them and
placed it upon him so that he became a sin bearer. Romans 4.25 says he was delivered
for our offenses. That's why he died. Our offenses.
And he was raised again for our justification. The reason he
was raised from the dead is because he justified everybody he represented. That is why his body never went
through the process of decay. Complete satisfaction was made,
sin was blotted out, and he didn't stay dead because he justified
us. That was his intention, and that's
exactly what he did. He was raised again for our justification. So we see we're justified by
being united to Christ, justified by His grace, justified by His
obedience, His faithfulness, justified by His blood. And then we read in Romans chapter
5, 1 of being justified by faith. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 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 God accepts
faith instead of perfect righteousness? No, it does not mean that at
all. Now, what is faith? Well, Hebrews
11 one tells us now faith is the substance of things hoped
for and the evidence of things not seen. Faith has something
to do with what we hope for and what we do not see. I have a hope. that when my name
is called on judgment day, God is going to say to me, well done,
thou good and faithful servant. I have a hope that I'll have
no sin when I stand before God. A hope is a confident expectation
with regard to the future. Now, this hope I have is not
something I can see. I can't look at myself and say,
yes, I'm without sin. No, I can't look at myself that
way at all. As a matter of fact, when I look at myself, all I
see is sin. Even in my preaching, all I see
is sin. If I did it, there's sin in it. So faith is the evidence, is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen. Now, what is the evidence? What
is the evidence that I really am justified before God, that
I'm without guilt before God? I believe the gospel. That's
my evidence. Not because of looking and examining
my conduct and thinking, well, I passed the bill, I do pretty
good. No, not, that's not, it has nothing to do with it. Resting
in who Christ is and what he did is the evidence that I'm
justified before God. What is the evidence that God
has given me grace? Faith in Christ. What is the
evidence that I'll be in heaven? Faith in Christ. What is the
evidence that I'm one of the elect? I can't get into heaven
and read the Lamb's Book of Life with the names of the elect written
there. What's the evidence? How do I know I'm one of God's
elect? I believe the gospel. As many
as were ordained to eternal life believed. I believe the gospel. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. The reason I know that I'm justified
before God is I believe the gospel. relying on the Lord Jesus Christ
as my salvation before God. Justification is by faith. But
let me read you what James says in James chapter 2, beginning
in verse 20. But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead? Thou believest, was not Abraham
our father justified by works? When he had offered Isaac his
son upon the altar, seest thou how faith wrought with his works,
and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled,
which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto
him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.
You see how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith
only. Now what in the world does that
mean? Are James and Paul at odds? Are they speaking contrary things? Not at all. Here's what James
is saying. God promised Abraham the Messiah
is going to come through Isaac. Abraham believed God. God then
told Abraham, go kill Isaac. Now, if Abraham would have said,
I can't do that because if I killed him, then the promise of God
would not come to pass. All he would prove by that is
he didn't believe God. He believed that there was a
possibility of what God was saying would not come to pass. Hebrews
11 tells us that he believed that God would raise him from
the dead. He believed if he did kill his
son in obedience to God, God would raise him from the dead
because what God said must come to pass. You see, it's my works
that prove whether I really believe what I say I believe. Cain proved
what he believed by the sacrifice he brought, the fruit of the
ground, his own works. Abel demonstrated what he believed
by bringing the blood sacrifice. You see, what you do will demonstrate
and prove what you really believe. Justification is by works, not
by faith only. Now, it doesn't mean that our
works are what justifies us. Our works prove whether we really
believe justification. That's what James means when
he says that. It's our works that will demonstrate
what we really believe. And the last scripture I would
like us to consider is found in Matthew 12, verse 37, where
the Lord says, by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy
words thou shalt be condemned. What comes out of your mouth
is going to show whether or not you're justified before God or
whether or not you're under God's condemnation, curse, and wrath. By your words, by the things
that come out of your mouth, you'll be justified. And by your
words, you'll be condemned. Now listen, God will meet you
on the ground you want to come. If you want to come, on sheer
free grace, He'll meet you there. If you want to come by your works,
He'll meet you there. Now, if you're justified, your
words will confess. Your words will agree that justification
is by being in Christ and nowhere else. Justification is by grace. Justification is because of the
perfect faithfulness of Christ, God charging it to me. Justification
is by blood. He put away my sin and removed
my guilt so I have no guilt. I'll confess that. I'll agree
with that. I'll say that's my only hope. Justification is by
works. My works will prove that I really
believe what I say I believe. Justification is by words. By your words. By what you say, you'll be justified. By your words, you'll be condemned.
If your words say, I don't believe that, I don't see that, I don't
see the need of it. Well, Your words condemn you
because you're saying that you don't believe God is the one
who completely justifies. Now, aren't you thankful? Aren't
you eternally thankful that there is such a thing as justification? I take my place with this poor
publican. crying, God, be merciful to me,
the sinner. Be propitious to me, the sinner. I have no plea that I can make,
save me because I did this or I didn't do that. Oh, God, be
propitious to me, the sinner. Can you pray that prayer? Can
you pray, Oh God, be merciful, be propitious. Let me be seen
in your son. Let me be justified by him, by
your grace, by his blood. Is that your prayer? You know,
the Lord says the same thing of you that he did of this poor
publican. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified. cleared of all guilt, not guilty
before the thrice holy law of God. Justification. Martin Luther, many years ago,
said a church stands or falls concerning its belief regarding
justification, and I believe that's so. Now, we have this
message on DVD, CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. I'd like to invite you to services
at Todd's Road Grace Church. We begin This morning, Bible
study at 9.45 and morning worship at 10.30 and evening worship
at 6. And we'd love to have you come
out and hear the gospel. This is Todd Kniper praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer.
To request a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send your
request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.