Open our Bibles back to Romans
chapter 3, Romans chapter 3. Look with me at verse 24, verse
24 of Romans 3. being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. I'd like to ask and answer four
questions in relation to this passage of Scripture this morning.
First, what does it mean? What does it mean to be justified? Second, why? Why do I need to
be justified? Third question, how am I not
justified? And the fourth question, how
am I? How am I? How is a sinner justified? Now the first question is this,
what does it mean to be justified? It means to be just. It means to be innocent. It means to be free. It means
to be found righteous. There was a woman in John 8 verse
3 that was brought before the Lord. God's Word says that the
scribes and Pharisees brought a woman unto Him, taking in adultery. And they brought her and just
set her in the midst. Imagine if that happened right
now. Someone just bust through that
back door in the middle of the worship service, and brought
a woman and set her in the midst and said, this woman was taken
in the very act of adultery. And then they said this, they
said, Moses and the law commanded that such should be stoned. What
sayest thou? What do you say? Can't you imagine
that that woman was just completely embarrassed and humiliated? Possibly fearing, fearing for
her life. Because truly she was taken in
the act and God's word, that's what the law said, that she was
to be stoned. Now I ask you, would you describe
her as being a just person? We wouldn't, would we? In fact,
to look at her and to look at her condition, we would say she
was unjust. She's brought before the Lord.
These Pharisees say, again, this woman was caught in the act of
adultery. She's to be stoned. Listen, she
is guilty. She's helpless. She's vile. She's unjust. Let's look at another
example. Turn with me to Luke chapter
23. Luke 23, verse 39. Luke 23, 39. Now there were two men that were
hanged on the cross on each side of our Lord. two male factors,
one of them on the left and one of them on the right, verse 39. And one of those male factors,
which were hanged, railed on him, railed on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and he said, he said, if thou be the Christ, save thyself
and us. But the other thief, answering
rebuked him and he said, does thou not fear God seeing that
we're in the same condition? We're under the same condemnation
and we indeed justly. We receive the due reward of
our deeds but this man He's done nothing amiss. This man's not a just man, is
he? This male factor, these other two men hanging on the cross.
And listen, this man knows. This man knows something of his
condition. He says, we receive the due reward
of our deeds. We're getting what we deserve. We've been justly condemned. Well, in Luke 18, one more example
here. Our Lord told a parable of two
men in Luke 18. And He said this, He said, two
men went up into the temple to pray. The one was a Pharisee. and the other a publican. And the Pharisee, he stood and
he prayed within himself and he said, God, I thank thee that
I'm not as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. He said, I fast twice in the
week. I give tithes of all that I possess
He was something else, wasn't he? But that publican, standing
afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven,
and he smote upon his breast, and he cried out, God, be merciful
to me, a sinner. What did that man say? Did he
claim to be just? Did he claim to be innocent? He did not. Did he claim to be
free? Did he claim to be righteous? He didn't, did he? He said, God,
be merciful to me, a sinner. He said, I'm guilty. I am guilty. I am a sinner. That Pharisee,
he prayed as if he had no sin. And the publican prayed. as if
he was nothing but sin. The scripture can actually read
this way, God be merciful to me, the sinner. I'm a sinner above all others. I ask you, does he sound like
a man that was justified? He says, I'm the, I am the sinner. For a man or a woman to be justified,
listen, they have to be found not guilty. These are both guilty,
aren't they? In every case here, they're guilty. Job knew something about that.
He said, if I justify myself, my own mouth, will condemn me. If I say that I'm perfect, I
do nothing but just prove myself to be perverse. Again, to be justified, I have
to be found not guilty. We're coming up on Thanksgiving. And if I read this right, every
year since 1947, the president has pardoned a turkey. They have a little ceremony and
they bring the turkey out and he pardons that turkey. You know,
he can also pardon a man. We've seen that, haven't we?
The president has the, he has the power to pardon a man. And a pardon is a, it's an expression. It's just an expression of forgiveness. And it can help eliminate some
of the consequences of a conviction. A man's convicted to life. If
he's pardoned, he may be released earlier than that. But listen,
even if a man or woman is pardoned, it doesn't make them just. They're not justified. That person
still committed a crime. It doesn't make them innocent.
They're still guilty. It doesn't make them righteous. We, just like Adam, have broken
God's law. We're guilty. Guilty. And we need to be We must be
justified. Again, what does it mean to be
justified? It means just. To be a just man or a just woman.
It means to be innocent. It means to be free. It means
to be righteous. Well, that brings me to the second
question here. Why do I? Why do I need to be
justified? Look back at our text. Look at
Romans 3 and verse 23. Why do I need to be justified?
Maybe you asked that question. Look at verse 23. What's it say?
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Who? All. That's such a, that's
a simple word and that's a small word, three letters, A-L-L, all. Why is that so difficult to understand? I was listening to Brother David
Edmonds, he brought a message not too many days ago, and he
said this during the message, he said, all means all. That's pretty simple, isn't it?
All. Listen, we have all sinned, this is what God's word says,
we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. We've come
short of his commandments, We've come short of His requirements. We've come short of His glory.
All have sinned and come short. Do you still have Romans 3? Look
back at verse 9. Beginning with verse 9, it says,
What then? Are we better than they? No,
in no wise we have before proved both Jew and Gentile that they
are all under sin. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all going out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good, no, not one. All have sin. Why do I need justify? Because I am a sinner. All have
sin. We were born in sin. We have
a sin nature. Our sin, listen, it's against
God and it is against His Son. We've disobeyed God. We've turned
every man to his own way. That's the way we seek, our own
way. And our sins have separated us,
like a partition or a wall that divides. It says, your iniquities
have separated between you and your God. Why do I need to be
justified? I'm a sinner. And that is true,
listen, that's true of all men. Original sin. Back there when
Adam fell, when Adam sinned, I sinned. We've all sinned. By his sin, I'm guilty. I'm polluted
in it. I'm guilty of it. And I am condemned
for it. And listen, we can't blame it
all on Adam because we're just like him. My sin. Actual sin. David wrote this
in Psalm 51. He said, for I acknowledge my
transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Whose sin? My sin. My sin. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. And that sin, there's a
consequence for that sin. There's a punishment for that
sin. We read that the wages of sin
is death. We read, the soul that sinneth,
it shall surely die. In James chapter 1 verse 5, God's
Word says, When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin,
when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Why? Why do I need justify? Because I'm a sinner. Has the
Lord revealed that to you? That you're a sinner? Third question. How am I not
justified? I hope this will help clear up
some confusion. Men say a lot of things about
justification. about salvation. How is it? How
am I not justified? Look at Romans 3 verse 20. 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. Turn back to Luke 18, if you
would. Luke 18. Our Lord told this parable. Listen
to these words. And it said he spoke this parable,
listen, to those who trusted in themselves. They trusted in
themselves that they were righteous. Listen to the description again
of this Pharisee. Listen to the words of our Lord.
This is what he said. This man said, I'm not as other
men. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not
unjust. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not
like this publican. Those are all the things that
I don't do. But listen to this. Scripture
says, by the deeds of the law, no flesh shall be justified in
his sight. What'd he say? He said, well,
I fast. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of everything I
own. What's Scripture say? By the
deeds of the law, no flesh shall be justified in his sight. We
might justify ourselves before men. but not in the sight of
Almighty God. I ask you, would you trust your
deeds? Would you trust the works of your hands? You know, if the
Lord in His mercy is pleased to show us something, anything
of His holiness, of my sinfulness, of my inability,
what it truly means to be just, not in the sight of man, but
in the sight of Almighty God. Paul writing to the Hebrews said
this, he said, neither is there any creature that is not manifest
in his sight. All things are naked and open
unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. God sees all things. Even the best things that we
could possibly do are tainted with sin. What it means to be,
if he were truly to show us what it means to be justified, to
be innocent, to be free, to be righteous before God. It's not by the deeds of the
law. It's not in anything that we do. We're not justified by
our words. We read that earlier. Job said,
if I justified myself, my own mouth would condemn me. Now you think about, listen to
this description of Job. You know, there are those that
we esteem among men, right? It says this, there was a man
in the land of Uz whose name was Job and he was described
as a man that was perfect and upright and one that feared God
and a shoot evil. It was Job that God said to Satan,
have you considered my servant Job? Job who when his children
were feasting, he rose up, he'd get up early that morning and
he would go out and he would offer burnt offerings and sacrifices
for the number of them all, every one of his children. And he said,
it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts,
so I'm just going to go ahead and offer a sacrifice for them. We're not justified by what we
say. We're not justified by the law.
Turn with me to Galatians 3. Galatians 3. Look beginning with verse 10. Verse 10 of Galatians 3. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse, it's written. Cursed is everyone
that continueth not in, not just a few things written in the law,
not just those things that we agree with that are written in
the law, not just those things that are easy, or we would think
were easy, continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. but that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of Almighty God. He said it's evident, for
the just shall live by faith. As many as seek justification
by the deeds of the law, to those that would trust their own works
and righteousness for acceptance, where are we found? Under the
law. all under the curse of the law.
The law requires doing, not just knowing it, not just reciting
it, not just putting a sign out in our front yard, right? It has to be perfect to be accepted. Perfectly, perfectly doing all
that God's law requires in both word and indeed. No man, no man
is justified by the law in the sight of God. We're not justified
by works. Titus 3, 5 says, not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy
he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing
of the Holy Ghost. How foolish. How foolish we would
be to think that a man can come to God by his own merit, by his
own works, by his own deeds. Turn to Psalm 57, Psalm 50 verse
7. Psalm chapter 50, verse 7. Hear, O my people, and I will
speak. O Israel, and I'll testify against
thee. I am God, even thy God. I'll not reprove thee for thy
sacrifices and thy burnt offerings to have been continually before
me. I'll take no bullock out of thy
house, nor he goats out of thy folds. Listen. Every beast of the forest
is mine. All the cattle upon a thousand
hills, there he is. He said, I know all the fowls
of the mountains, the wild beasts of the field, they're mine. If
I were hungry, I would not tell thee, for the world is mine and
the fullness thereof. What does man have to offer? unto Almighty God? Then here's the question. How
can a man be just with God? That's the fourth question here.
How? How I am justified? Job asked that question. Back
in Job 25 where he said, how then can a man be justified with
God? Or how can he be clean that's
born of a woman? How can a man be justified in
God's sight? How can he be just and justify
sinners? We'll turn back to Romans 3,
verse 24. Here's the answer. Romans 3, 24. being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. There is only one way a sinner
can be justified. He must be found not guilty. We looked at three people in
Scripture to begin the message. The first was that woman taken
in adultery. Again, scripture says she was
taken in the very act. She was a sinner. She was to be, the law said she
was to be stoned. Can she be justified? That's how we'd say that. Can
a woman like that be justified? The Pharisees kept asking, and
the Lord finally said this, He that is without sin among you,
let him cast the first stone. And he stooped down, and he rode
on the ground, and they which heard that, they were convicted
in their hearts, convicted in their conscience. They weren't
convicted in the heart, they were convicted in their conscience.
They knew. They knew they were sinners. And they went out one
by one, beginning from the eldest even unto the last. Who's left? The master, the savior,
and a sinner. And when Jesus had lifted himself
up, He saw none but the woman, and He said unto her, He said
to that woman, Where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned
thee? She said, No man, Lord. She knew
something of who she was talking to, didn't she? No man, Lord. And the Lord Jesus Christ looked
at her, and He said, Neither do I condemn thee." What joy! What joy must have
filled her heart! What joy must have filled her
soul! That fear had to be just taken
away. He said, neither do I condemn
thee, go and sin no more. The thief on the cross, What
about him? He knew his sin. He told that
other thief, he said, we're getting what we deserve. And that sinful man who had done
nothing, he hadn't done one good thing, he looks at the Lord and he prays. He says, listen to this, Lord,
remember me. when you come into your kingdom. You know there's times we can,
when we pray, we just can't shut ourselves up.
Listen to this prayer. Lord, remember me. And our Lord replied to him,
This man has nowhere to go. He has nothing he can do. Not
one good work. Our Lord says to him, Verily
I say unto thee, Today, this very day, thou shalt be with
me in paradise. What about that publican? What
about him? That one that wouldn't even,
he couldn't even lift up his eyes. Burdened under a weight
of sin, he couldn't even lift his head up. He smote upon his
breast and he said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. God, be merciful
unto me, the sinner. And if you read on in Luke 18
verse 14, our Lord said, listen to this, I tell you, it's the
Lord speaking, I tell you, this man went down to his house, how? Justified. How? How can a sinful man, how
can a sinful woman be justified in the sight of God? Romans 3.23,
all have sinned, all have come short of the glory of God. How
then? How can I be justified? That following verse, justified
freely by His grace. How? Through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus. Believers, God's sheep are made
righteous. How? In Christ, in Him, freely,
freely and fully justified. And listen, not by anything that
we've done, but by His obedience and death. The Lord Jesus Christ
came into the world for this purpose, to save sinners. He came into the world in the
flesh as a surety. The surety of God's eternal covenant. God determined to save a people. And the Lord Jesus Christ obeyed
the law. He kept it perfectly. and he
died for our sins, enabling God to be both just and justifier
of them that believe. He's a just God and a Savior. He said this, look unto me, look
unto me, look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the
earth for I am God and there is none else. Oh, he loved us
and he gave himself for us. How can a man be justified? Christ
took our sins. He took our sins. He bore our
sins. He died under the wrath of God
for our sins. And listen, he gave us His perfect
righteousness. We're clothed. Clothed in beauty,
not our own. Clothed in the very righteousness
of God. Substitution. That may be one
of the sweetest words in Scripture. Christ bore our sins. He bore
the sins of His people, and His people go free. Free. Justified. Justified by
His grace. He suffered and died in our room
instead. What can wash away my sin? Nothing. Nothing but the blood
of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Oh, nothing but the blood of
Jesus. We're justified. His people are
justified. Just, innocent, free, righteous. How? Freely. By His grace, through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.