is not that I did choose. 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. In Romans chapter 4, verse 25,
we read regarding the Lord Jesus, who was delivered for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification. Now here we have
the two pillars of God's salvation. Christ Jesus was delivered for
our offenses. and he was raised again for our
justification. Now, whoever it was he died for,
they're justified. He was delivered for their offenses
and he was raised again for their justification. If Christ died
for you, you are without guilt before God. That's a wonderful
thing to think about. You know, most preaching that
I hear preaches that declares that Christ died for all men
and made salvation available for all men if they simply do
something that will make what he did work for them. Now, that's
not what the Bible teaches. It's just not. If that's what
you believe, you don't really believe the gospel of scripture.
You believe some other gospel. The gospel of scripture is that
if Christ died for you, you must be saved because his atonement
was a successful atonement. He was delivered for our offenses
and he was raised again for our justification. He, this one who
never sinned, The son of God, the one who kept God's law perfectly,
he was delivered for our offenses. You see the offenses, the sins
of God's elect, the sins of all who believe became his sins and
he was punished for it. He was delivered for our offenses
and he was raised again for our justification. God is just. That is essential to any understanding
or knowledge of the living God. I must understand that God is
absolutely, immutably, impartially just. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. That's who God is. He's absolutely
just. Abraham said, shall not the judge
of the earth do right? Yes, he shall do right. Justice
and judgment are the habitation of his throne. When he identified
himself, he identified himself as a just God and a savior. God is no respecter of persons. He's the God of justice. He rewards the righteous and
he punishes the wicked. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. And God's justice is the great
ground of salvation. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
was delivered. God delivered him. Him being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. God delivered him, he that spared not his own son, but delivered
him up for us all. How shall he not also with him
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect, Paul said. He was delivered by God for our
offenses. Somebody says, well, does that
mean my offenses? If you believe on Christ, it means your offenses,
not just in a generic way. It means your offenses. If you
believe on Christ, if you look to him as your only ground of
acceptance before God, if you rely completely on him, yes,
he was delivered for your offenses. And he was raised again for our
justification. Now I love this thing of what
the Bible says regarding justification. It was Martin Luther who said
a church's standing or falling depends on what they believe
regarding justification by faith, and I agree with that. A true
church, a true preacher, a true believer has some heart, love
for and understanding of the great central truth of justification. He was delivered for our offenses
and he was raised again for our justification. Remember that
publican in the temple, beating on his breast, crying, God, be
merciful to me, the sinner. Oh, he was aware of his sinfulness.
He was aware that he deserved to be cast off by God. And yet
the Lord Jesus Christ said of that same one who felt this horrible
feeling about himself, oh, God, be merciful, be propitious to
me, the sinner. Christ said, I say unto you,
that man went down to his house justified. I love that. Not merely forgiven. but justified. You know what justification means?
It means I've got no guilt. It means I have no sin. It means
I stand before God's law as perfect. It's not just as if I never sin,
because if it's just as if I never sin, that means I still sin.
No, justification means I never sin. You see, God is just He
said, I'll by no means clear the guilty. Under no circumstance
will he clear a guilty sinner. And God has made a way to be
just and yet justify the ungodly. Now that is the gospel, how God
can be just and justify the ungodly through Christ being delivered
for our offenses. and raised again for our justification."
Now this thing of justification, it's something that only God
can do. Job said, if I justify myself, my own mouth will condemn
me. God is the one who does this justifying. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect, it's God that justifies. And this thing of God justifying
a sinner, it's an act of His grace. The only way I can be
justified is if it's an act of His free grace and favor. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. And justification
comes because of His blood. Romans 5, 9 says, being now justified
by His blood. You see, when He was delivered
from my offenses, His blood put away my offenses. And when He
was raised from the dead, because He'd satisfied all the claims
of God's offended justice, satisfied, the debt was paid, God raised
Him. He was raised again for our justification. Now, there are the two great
pillars of salvation. the life and death of Christ
and the resurrection of Christ. If Christ died for me, my sin
was put away. If he was raised for me, I was
justified by what he did. Now, Paul says, therefore, being
justified by faith, Romans chapter 5 verse 1. Therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is called justification
by faith. Galatians chapter 3 verse 28
says, therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law. Now that does not mean that Justification
is caused because of my faith. Justification is caused because
Christ died for me and was raised for me. My sin became his sin
and his righteousness becomes my righteousness. And I stand
before God without guilt. That's what justifies me. Faith
believes that. That's what justification by
faith is. We believe we're justified by
what Christ did and not by our works. Now, justification carries
with it some necessary consequences. The things Paul mentions come
along in mathematical precision. These result from this great
thing of justification. He said, therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. peace with God. Now, when he's
talking about peace with God, he's not talking about the peace
we feel. Now, I love the feeling of peace. I do. I hate the feeling
of unrest. I hate the feeling of uncertainty.
Oh, how I love to feel peaceful. But the peace he's talking about
is not talking about the feeling of peace we have that comes from
our faith. He's talking about the peace
that God has with us if we're justified. You see, if I'm justified,
God has no reason to be angry with me, because I am perfect
in His sight, because I'm just in His sight, because I'm without
sin, and God is at peace with me. When the Lord Jesus came
to this earth, the angels, the heavenly hosts, rang out glory
to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward
men. That's not talking about peace
and goodwill men have with each other. That's talking about God's
goodwill toward men that He would send His Son to save them and
the peace God has because of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians
2.14 says, He is our peace. Colossians 1.20 says, Having
made peace through the blood of His cross, God is at peace
with me. And you know what I get peace
from? I get peace from seeing that He's at peace with me. That's
my peace. I get peace from the same source
that God has peace with me, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my peace
before God. I love that scripture in Romans
14, 17. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink. It's not
do's and don'ts. It's not rules. It's righteousness. That's what justification is.
Perfect righteousness before God and peace. The peace we experience that
knowing that all God requires of us, he looks to his son for.
Oh, I get such peace from that and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now, there's a twofold peace
to justification. The peace God has with us. and
the peace we have with him through our Lord Jesus Christ. But look
what he says next. Therefore, being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also
we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.
The second necessary consequence of justification is access. Access into the very presence
of God, not being kicked out, not being kept away. I'm welcome
to come into his presence. If I'm justified, I have the
very ear of God. I have the very heart of God.
I have the welcome of God to come into his presence and be
accepted and be received. Access, the word means freedom
of entrance through the favor of another. Ephesians 3.12 says,
"...in whom we have boldness and confidence with access by
the faith of Him." I have boldness, I have confidence, I have access
into the very presence of God. I'm going to be welcomed through
the faith of Him. I'm always welcome if I'm justified. The writer to the Hebrews said,
let us come boldly under the throne of grace that we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Access. I'm always welcome. And here's the third, therefore,
or necessary consequence of justification. He says, by whom we also have
access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand. We have a standing
because of justification. We have a standing, not going
to fall away. We're seated, we're standing, we're planted, not
going to fall backward. We're standing is in the grace
of God. Now, I love the grace of God,
the unmerited favor of God, the free favor of God. I have a standing
in grace. That means my standing is not
in my works. I love that. My standing is not according
to how much I've prayed or how much I've witnessed or how much
I've read the Word or how much I've been able to refrain from
sin and do certain good things. My standing has nothing to do
with anything like that. My standing's in grace, the grace
of God. You see, God's grace, scriptural
grace, God's grace is saving grace. It's not something God
offers to you. It's up to you to accept it or
reject it. No, not at all. God's grace saves. By grace, you're saved. Electing
grace. God choosing me before time began. That's my standing. It's called
the election of grace. Justifying grace that makes me
just before God. Redeeming grace that pays for
all my sins. Life-giving grace. It gives me
spiritual life. And the reason I believe is because
He gave me that faith. That's grace. It's a gift of
grace. The reason I repent is because
He gave me grace to do it. It's the grace of God. The reason
I am preserved and persevere is because of the grace of God.
I'm kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
And when I stand before God, accepted on Judgment Day, oh,
my soul, it's because salvation is by grace. Because He was delivered for
our offenses and raised again for our justification, we have
a standing in the grace of God. Now, the next thing he mentions
in verse 2, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Now, this is a necessary consequence
of justification. We rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. Now, what is the glory of God? Well, Moses, one time in Exodus
chapter 33, verse 18, he made this request. He said, I beseech
you. He's speaking to God. He said,
I beseech you, show me your glory. Exodus 33, 18. Now, before I
give God's answer, let me give the context of Moses making this
request. Now, Moses had seen the 10 plagues. He'd seen the parting of the
Red Sea. He'd seen manna come down from heaven. He'd seen water
gush out of that rock and give the children of Israel to drink.
He had experienced the giving of God's holy law. And after experiencing all those
things, he yet says, show me your glory. Now, what had happened?
Well, when Moses went away, to receive the law on Mount Sinai.
He was gone 40 days. And during that 40-day period,
the children of Israel said, what happened to Moses? We don't
know. And they made a golden calf and worshiped that golden
calf and said, these be thy gods, O Israel, that brought thee out
of Egypt. What wickedness, after all God
had done for them, they do this? Well, Moses The Lord tells him
about it, and he goes back, and this is at this time when he's
praying to the Lord that the Lord would deliver these people. And the Lord said, I'll send
my angel, but I'm not going with you. I'll send my angel, and
he'll drive out your foes in the promised land, but I'm not
going with you. And Moses said, oh, we don't want to go if you
don't go with us. All the people mourned. And during
the course of this prayer, when he's asking for the Lord's presence
and he's asking that he might have grace in his sight, he says,
I beseech you, show me your glory. And here's how God answered.
I'll make all my goodness to pass before you. And I'll proclaim
my name before you. and I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious and I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion. Now God's glory is His capacity,
His goodness, that He would save such an unworthy bunch of people. And what sin that after all the
Lord had done for them, they forget Him quickly, make a golden
calf and worship it. And whatever else happened during
that time, it was so evil. God's glory is His capacity to
save. Now, we rejoice in hope of the
glory of God. Here's what I rejoice and hope
in. God's capacity to save somebody like me. His salvation of sinners
for Christ's sake. His ability. He said, I'll make
all my goodness pass before thee. God is good. He's so good. He'll
save people who are no good. I proclaim the name of the Lord
before thee." His name is who He is. And you know, God is revealed
in how He saves sinners. All of His characteristics and
attributes are revealed in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the proclamation of His name. And He says, I will be
gracious. God is gracious because He's
gracious. Now He's gracious to whom He
will be. It's sovereign grace. God is gracious and you know
that there's never been a sinner who came to mercy for mercy to
him that he turned away. God is gracious and we rejoice
in hope of the glory of God. And the next because of justification
or necessary consequence of justification. Let's go on reading in verse
three. He says, and not only so, but we have glory in tribulations,
trials, troubles, persecutions. Also knowing the tribulation
worketh patience. Now, because of justification,
we actually glory in trials. That doesn't mean we enjoy them.
I don't enjoy trials. I don't enjoy conflict. I don't
enjoy trouble. I don't enjoy sickness. I don't
enjoy... Don't enjoy these things. I'm
not saying that in any way. They're painful and sometimes
you feel like your heart's being ripped out by them. Somebody
says, well, I got through that trial well, but it wasn't much
of a trial. A difficult trial is something that makes you feel
like your heart's ripping out in it, but we glory in trials
for this reason. we know who sent them. Romans
8, 28 says, and we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. And while this trial is very
difficult and I, oh, I don't enjoy going through it in any
way, I still know that God is using it. He sent it, He's using
it for my good and His glory, and therefore we glory in these
trials. You know, Paul put it this way
in 1 Thessalonians 5, 16, in everything give thanks, even
this difficult thing, for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. Now because of justification,
we can look at the trials that God sends our way and we can
thank Him for them. Because we know we're justified
in his sight. He's not sending these things
to punish us, but for our good, to mold us and make us according
to his will and for the glory of Christ. We glory in these
tribulations, knowing that tribulation works patience and patience experience. God sends a trial. And we patiently
wait when he gives us grace. We patiently wait, knowing the
outcome of it, knowing that it's as painful as it is, he's in
control of it. You know you're in patience when
you know the outcome of something. You don't have to worry about
the outcome. You patiently wait for the Lord to do what he's
gonna do. And this patience brings on experience. Experience. I'm not saved by
my experience. I'm saved by what Christ did
for me outside of my experience. But understand this. Salvation
is an experience. It's an experience. I mean, it's
not just propositions you give agreement to. Well, Bible says
this. Yeah, I see that. I believe that. No. You experience
what it is. When God saves you, you experience
what it is to be a sinner. You don't even know what sin
is until God saves you. When God saves you, all of a
sudden you see that you're nothing but wounds and bruises and putrefying
sores in His sight. You experience that. It's not
just a doctrine you believe. You find it's the truth regarding
yourself. And that makes you experience the need of God's
grace, the need of Christ Jesus the Lord to do something for
you. You know, if you're a real sinner, you need God to elect
you. You need Christ to die for you and put away for your sins.
You need God's grace to be invincible and irresistible. You need to
be enabled to persevere in the faith. Salvation is an experience.
Trusting Christ, the joy and peace of believing, that's an
experience. It's an experience to confess
my sins, to take sides with God against myself. It's an experience. to simply trust the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, what a glorious experience
this is. Patience worketh experience,
and experience hope. I have a hope. I've experienced
salvations of the Lord. And so I have a hope that on
judgment day, I'm gonna be accepted. And hope maketh not ashamed,
I don't have anything to be ashamed of. This is my hope. My hope
is that when I stand before God on Judgment Day, I'll have nothing
to be ashamed of. That my record will be without
sin, perfectly righteous in God's sight, all because of justification.
I'm not going to be ashamed. I'm not going to be put to shame
and I'm not ashamed of my hope. I'm not ashamed of being saved
by Christ Jesus only. I love what Paul said in Romans
1 16 when he said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Now, justification
gives us a hope that we're not ashamed of. And then he says
in verse five of Romans chapter five, because the love of God
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given to us.
Now, because of justification, because Christ was delivered
from our offenses and raised again for my justification, the
love of God is poured, shed abroad, poured into our hearts by the
Holy Ghost which is given to us. Now, the love of God, what's
this, understand this, God's love is not some kind of generic
love that people, seem to think about it. They almost think God
owes everybody His love. The love of God is the love He
has to His Son and to everybody in His Son. Herein is love, not
that we love God, John said, but that He loved us. We love
Him because He first loved us. And God's love is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Paul said, nothing shall separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now the love of God is the love
he has to his son. He looks at his son and he sees
one who is altogether lovely. He says, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm well pleased. God loves His Son. He sees Him as altogether lovely. It's the love of complacency
and delight, and He loves everybody in His Son. Now, this love is
eternal. It's unbounded. It's unequaled. It's unvarying. It's unsleeping. It's undying. It's unfailing. It's the love of God, a love
that can't love more and a love that can't love less. That's
the love of God that shed abroad in our heart, that perfect love
that casts out fear, the love that is found holy in himself,
in his own great heart. And he loves sinners like that,
even everybody in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, somebody says,
am I in Christ? Well, if he's in you, you're
in him. If he's in you and causes you to trust him and you look
to him only as everything in your salvation, the only reason
you do that is because you're in him and all of God's love
is in the Lord Jesus Christ and is directed toward all in him,
united to him by faith. He says regarding all of his
people in Jeremiah 31, three, behold, I've loved you with an
everlasting love to have God love you. Oh, what glory to have
God love you. And God loves every believer
and sees every believer as altogether lovely, deserving of his love
because of justification, because he was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. And notice he says the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given
to us. Now, the reason every believer
has the Holy Spirit is because He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. And now we have the blessed Spirit
of God given to us in the new birth, born of the Spirit, and
all we experience of God is through the Holy Spirit. And He is given
to us because He was delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our justification. necessary consequences, the therefores
of justification. And 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 Nyberg, 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.