I want to read verses 19, 20, and 21. Romans chapter 3, and let's begin
in verse 19. Now we know 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. 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. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets." This word, law, It simply means an established
rule. It's what is given to regulate
men's lives with, their thoughts, their motives, their desires,
their words, and their deeds. It's a law that either prohibits
certain things to be done, or it's a law that commands certain
things to be done. It's a law that regulates. Sometimes in the Bible we find
a law, and it's applied to something that is merely to be believed,
to be received. Sometimes the gospel is called
the law. Nothing to be done, it simply
tells us what is to be believed. We have laws of nature, we have
laws of gravity, but a law is an established rule. It's what
regulates. What's this law here that the
Apostle Paul uses the word law, whatsoever things the law saith?
This word is used continually throughout this epistle. Many,
many times he uses this word law. Most of the time, and as
it's applied here, he's speaking of the moral law, what we sometimes
call the Ten Commandments. If you study sometimes over in
chapter 7, he talks there about the woman, if she leave her husband
and be married to another man, according to the law, she's called
an adulteress. If her husband be dead and she
be married to another man, she's no adulteress. But he's speaking
of the moral law, the Ten Commandment law. Then over in the thirteenth
chapter of this book, to let us know that this is the moral
law he's speaking about, He says, love is the fulfilling of the
law. For this you shall not commit
adultery, you shall not steal, bear false witness, and so on. So this word here, whatsoever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, he's speaking
of that moral law. And he talks about it and says
different things about it in this book. He says, it's the
law of God. I delight in the law of God. act of the inward man. It's God's
law. It's what God has given humanity
that He judges and regulates human actions with. It's God's
law. And Paul says it's good. There's
nothing wrong with the law. In fact, he says it's holy, it's
just, and it's good. But he makes the statement here,
Now we know that whatsoever things this moral law saith, It speaks. Now, to know what it says, I
want you to turn for just a few minutes over in Exodus chapter
20. I want you to hold Romans chapter
3 because we'll be going back there. But look here in Exodus
chapter 20. If we want to know what the law
said, then we have to go back to where it was originally given
on these tables of stones, where it was plainly given. It was
given to the children of Israel. We know it was given to Adam
in the beginning, and it's given here plainly to the children
of Israel. And for us to read, here's what
it says. Look in Exodus chapter 20. You'll
remember the context of the giving of this law. The Lord told Moses
to sanctify the people and put bands around the base of the
mountain. And if anybody touched this mountain,
they were to be killed. If a beast so much as touched
the mountain, they were to be stoned or thrust through with
a dart. And there was lightning all over
this mountain. There was thunder. There was
clouds. There were angels flashing. There
were sounds of voices. The whole mountain quaked. And
Moses was there on the mountain, and he said, I myself was very
fearful. I exceedingly feared and quaked. And he got these ten commandments,
this moral law that God had written on these tablets, he brought
them down here, and now he's going to speak this law. And here's what this law says.
We know that whatsoever things the law saith. And I want you
to notice here, first of all, in Exodus chapter 20, and look
here in verse 2. Before he gives the law, he tells
us who the lawgiver is. I am the Lord thy God. This is where the law gets its
authority. It has its author. Who is its
author? The eternal, sovereign God. I am the Lord thy God. There
are three things here that the law speaks of, and we see these
three things here beginning in verse 3. Look at this. The first
thing the law teaches us is God's supremacy. Thou shalt have no
other God before me. I am the Lord thy God, and thou
shalt have no other God before me." There is no God like Him,
and there is no God besides Him. He is supreme. Now, listen to
these passages of Scripture as I read them to you. In Exodus
15-11, who is like unto thee, O Lord among the gods? Who is like unto thee, glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Who is like unto
thee? There is nobody like Him. There
is nobody besides Him. He is supreme. Listen to 1 Chronicles
29 and verse 11 and 12. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness,
thine is the power, thine is the glory, thine is the victory
and the majesty. For all that is in the heavens
is thine, and all that is in the earth is thine. Thine is
the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head over all. Thou reignest over all." That's
supreme, isn't it? That's supreme. He is the head
over all nations. Listen to 2 Chronicles 20, verse
6, "... O Lord God of our fathers, art
thou not God in heaven? And rulest thou not over all
the kingdoms of the heathen?" And in thine hand is there not
power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?" God
is supreme, and that is what this first commandment declares
is the supremacy of God. And what He forbids here is any
man denying Him that supremacy. Denying him that in the heart
or in the mind, professing any other god besides this one eternal
supreme God. The first commandment, God is
supreme. I am the Lord, have no other
gods before me. Quickly notice the second commandment.
It concerns the worship of God. Look what he says in verse 4.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness
of anything that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not
bow down thyself to them, or serve them." No God is to be
worshipped but this Supreme God, and this Supreme God cannot be
worshipped except as he dictates and reveals himself in the word
of truth. He cannot be worshipped with
men's hands. He cannot be worshipped in men's
imagination. He must be worshipped in spirit
and in truth as he's revealed in his holy scriptures. What
is a graven image? This word image has to do with
imagination. Before a man carves him out an
image, he imagines what that image looks like in his mind. He really worships a false god
before he ever carves out his image. A man may worship a false
god as he imagines God to be in his mind, and never make a
graven image. Now, a graven image comes as
a result of man's simple imagination. That's what image means, imagination. The Lord says, My ways are not
your ways, and My thoughts are not your thoughts. If we worship
God, we cannot worship Him in our sinful, fallen imaginations. My thoughts are as high above
the heavens above your thoughts. We cannot worship God but as
we worship Him as He is revealed in His Holy Word. And notice
the last portion of verse 5. Here's the reason that God yields
for the purity of his worship. Look what he says in the last
portion of verse 5. For the Lord thy God am a jealous God. visiting the iniquities of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation
of them that hate me." Here's the reason that he gives for
worshiping him in spirit and in truth, and him only as he
dictates in the scripture. For he says, I'm jealous of my
supremacy. I'm jealous of my person. I'm
jealous of my glory. I'm jealous of my worship. Listen to these passages. Thou
shalt worship no other God, for the Lord, whose name is jealous,
is a jealous God. Now, if any of you men, and this
has happened to me, and I'm sure it's happened to all of you,
if you saw someone flirting with your wife, Have you ever had
the jealousy stirred up inside of you? I've had that to happen
to me. You know how it feels to be jealous. It brings you to the point that
you're ready to fight somebody. You're jealous. You're jealous. That is mine. That person belongs
to me. This is why God requires and
demands that he be worshipped supremely, and be worshipped
in spirit and in truth, and not in man's fallen and sinful imagination,
because he's jealous. And what's he jealous of? Himself. His glory. His supremacy. Listen
to this in Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 23 and 24. Take heed
to yourselves. lest you forget the covenant
of the Lord your God, and make you a graven image or likeness
of anything which the Lord thy God has forbidden you. For the
Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." He's jealous. That's why He forbids any worship
of Himself in any way but in the way that He dictates in His
Word. Altars are idols. Pictures are
idols. Crosses are idols. No matter
if they are material crosses or made with our silly hands.
We cannot worship God with our hands as though He needed anything. He is worshipped as He is revealed
in the scriptures. And here is what the law says.
We know that whatsoever things the law says, It first establishes
God's supremacy and then says, Worship Him. Worship Him. Verse 7 is the last one. Look
at this. Look what he says in verse 7. Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain. This has to do with
God's name being used lightly or irreverently or in a profane
manner. His name is to be used with regard,
with reverence. A man is known by his name. If
I say Clarence Poor, you know who I'm talking about. I've identified
this man, Clarence Poor. God is known by His name. He is known by His attributes. He is known by His titles. He
is known by His works. He is known by His Word. And
His name is forbidden to be used in a light-hearted way, in a
flippant way, or in a false or profane way. God have mercy. God have mercy. What a profane
way to use His name. Lord help me, what a profane
way to use his name. The law of Seth, thou shalt not
take his name in vain. And what does he say to back
this up? What's enjoined with this third commandment? For the
Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in a useless,
irreverent, profane way. There was a Jewish boy. His dad wasn't an Egyptian, and
his mother was a Jewish young man. He was a little rebel, and
he got in a fight with another Jew. And he got mad and began
to blaspheme God's name and cursed. And they went and told Moses
about it. You wouldn't believe how he used God's name. And they
took him and put him inside, and God gave judgment against
him, and said, bring him and stone him to death. He's used
my name in vain. That's what the law said. That's
what the law said. They skipped the fourth commandment.
We call this the moral law. We don't have time to go into
it here. But the fourth commandment, to remember the Sabbath day,
to keep it holy, that's the only one of these commandments that
has to do with ceremonies. It's not a moral commandment,
but it has to do with ceremony. That's why it says now to be
weak and beggarly. It's been done away with. In
its place is the Lord's day, the Sabbath. The first table
here, these three commandments that we looked at, Here's what
the Lord says of it. Here's what the law says concerning
these commandments. What doth the Lord thy God require
of you but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways,
to love Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your
soul? He's supreme. Worship Him as
supreme. Never use His name, His titles,
His works, His ways in a lighthearted way. Absolute holy reverence. Let's go to the second table.
Let's look down here in verse 12. Look at this. I'm just telling
us this morning what the law says. Let's go now to verse 12,
and this is what the Lord Jesus called the second table of the
law. The first has to do with God.
The second has to do with one man's attitude towards his fellow
man. And look at this in verse 12.
Here's the fifth commandment. Honor thy father and thy mother. Honor your father and your mother.
Look how early this law is enforced upon people. As soon as a man
or a girl comes into this world from its mother's womb, here
is the commandment for that child. Honor your father. Respect your
father. Love your father and your mother. I love the way the Lord Jesus
says this in Matthew chapter 15. Here's how he says it. For
God commanded, saying, Honor your father and your mother.
and he that curses father or mother, let him die the death."
That's what the law says. That's what the law says. Honor
your father and mother. Look at the sixth commandment
found in verse 13. Thou shalt not kill. Now, we
begin to see here how far reaching this law is. Thou shalt not kill. The Lord Jesus interprets this
law for us in Matthew chapter 5. And He says, you've heard
it's been said. And He said, you've read it,
that the law says thou shalt not kill. But He said, let Me
interpret that for you. You say, if a man kills, he shall
be in danger of the judgment. But let Me interpret that for
you. And this is what that means. If you hate your brother without
a cause, you are in danger of the judgment." And John echoed
that sentiment, and he said this. He said, if we hate our brother
in our heart, we are a murderer. Murder is to hate. To hate means
we break this law. What does the law say? If there's
hate in the heart and it's directed at someone unjustly, it's murder. It's murder. Look here at the
seventh commandment in verse 14, and it's far reaching too. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not commit adultery. And the Jews actually thought
as long as they did not commit physical adultery, they weren't
guilty of breaking this commandment. But the Lord Jesus interprets
this commandment for us. He said, here's what the law
really says. If you look on a woman, and you have this desire in your
heart after that woman, though you haven't spoken to her, Though
you haven't laid a hand on that woman, you have committed adultery
in your heart. That's what the law says. Look in verse 16. Look in verse
15 at the 8th commandment. Thou shalt not steal. Steal means taking something
away that belongs to another. We often think of stealing some
material thing, but it's far, far more reaching than that.
What about stealing someone's honor? What about stealing someone's
reputation? I saw a few days ago a lady,
and this man had broke into her house, and she said, that man
took something from me that I can never replace. He stole something
from me that I can never replace. And you know what it was? Security
of mind. She cannot rest any longer in
her house. That is stealing. Taking anything
that belongs to somebody else. Look in verse 16. Look at this. False witness. False witness. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Brother Bill made mention back
in the kitchen area about our politicians. I noticed the other
day when the super committee was coming out, the first thing
they did when they come out was blame somebody else because they
weren't able to reach a conclusion on reducing our debt. Whose fault
is it? It's their fault. No, it's their
fault. I tell you false witnesses is
so common today in its practice that people can do it without
as easy as they can breathe. They don't even think about it.
So often I have to stop my grandchildren. One of them will come up and
make the statement, oh, that person is gay. And I just stop
them. I say, do you realize what you
just said? Oh, that person is this or that
person is that. That person did this and that
person did that. Making false accusations against
people. Bearing false witness. Do they
realize that God has given a law that says thou shalt not slander
your fellow man? You shall not lie on him. You
shall not bear false witness. We know that whatsoever things
the law saith. And notice the tenth one and
the last one. Thou shalt not covet." And boy, some of these,
these last few especially, they link together, don't they? Covetousness
is one of the greatest sins in the human heart because it brings
all these other sins with it. It takes all these other commandments
and breaks them. Listen to what covetousness is.
Covetousness is stealing. Why did Achan steal that wedge
of gold and the silver and the Babylonian scarlet? He said,
I coveted them. Covetousness is theft. Why did
Ahab bear false witness against Nabal? Because he coveted his
vineyard. He wanted his vineyard. So covetousness
is stealing. It's bearing false witness. Why
did David commit adultery against Uriah? He lusted after Bathsheba. That's idolatry, isn't it? In Colossians 3, verse 5, the
Apostle Paul was telling us of the sins to put away, and he
says, put away covetousness, which is idolatry. It's idolatry. What is idolatry? It's setting the affections upon
something that belongs to God. The affections belong to God. And to set these affections and
lust after something beneath Him or unworthy of Him or something
that's forbidden in the law is sin. It's sin. Now, look back
over in Romans chapter 3. Let's go back to our text. Romans
chapter 3 and verse 19. We know that whatsoever things
the law saith, We know that the law requires certain things for men to do certain things
and to abstain from doing other things. Now, who does the law
require this of? We've seen what it requires.
We've seen its commands. We've seen what the law says.
Look in verse 19 and let's see who the law requires this of. Now we know that whatsoever things
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before
God." Who does the law require these
things? The world. without exception, every mouth. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. All
souls are mine. The souls of the Father, the
souls of the Son. And here is what God in His law
requires of all His creatures. You preach to some people. I
noticed it last Monday night as I was preaching. Glenn said
he thought I was burdened about it. I was very burdened about
it Monday night as I was preaching to those folks. You preach to
people and it seems like you're just pouring water on a duck's
back. Have you ever poured water on
a duck? It don't penetrate. It just runs off. It runs off.
And it seems when you preach to some people, they're sitting
there and you can almost read their minds. He's not even talking
to me, I'm too old. He's not talking to me, I'm too
young. He's not talking to me, I'm too busy. I don't have an
interest into this, he's not talking to me. Verse 19 tells us. that God,
our Supreme Creator and Judge, has established this moral law
that requires obedience from every last human being that ever
lives in this world. The rich, the poor, the famous,
the unknown, The rich banker or the poor widower. That old
man on his deathbed or a young child. Every man. The world without exception.
This is the law that speaks to everybody. To me, to you, to
everybody. The preacher in every pulpit
this morning, to the Pope there in his Popemobile in Rome this
morning. Every mouth, every mouth, the world without any exception. The Word of God looks upon the
heart, it searches the motives, the innermost thoughts of men.
It examines, it tries, and it presents its verdict. And what
is the verdict? Guilty. Guilty. What's the verdict? What's the
verdict? Where do we stand? What's the
law's estimation of our thoughts? Our thoughts of God. What do
we think of God? Of our worship? Have we esteemed God highly? Have we worshiped Him supremely? Have we served Him with a perfect
heart? Have we given to Him the glory
due His name? This is what God requires of
everybody. Oh, He's not talking to me. I
may not be, but God is. We belong to Him. And here's
His rule. I am supreme. Worship Me. And anything less than a perfect
heart. and love and reverence is sin. Have we loved others as ourselves? Have we been our brother's keeper?
Have we sought the eternal good and welfare of our fellow man? Have we done it without prejudice?
What's the verdict? What's the verdict to you this
morning? Well, here, let me read the verdict to you. Now we know
that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped. And all the world become guilty
before God. Guilty. How do you plead? How do you plead? You say, Bruce,
that's not talking to me. Why not? You have a mouth. My mouth is stopped. Is your
mouth stopped? I plead guilty before the law. Do you plead guilty? This eliminates nobody. This
excuses nobody. This is the world. You and I
plead guilty. Our part of the world this morning,
our little part of the world here in the West that you and
I live in, they got up this morning, got dressed, ate their breakfast,
and went on their merry way, giving little thought that the
court of heaven has charged them with being criminals against
the eternal God. And unless they are redeemed
from this law by the doing and the dying of
someone else, namely Jesus Christ, they are doomed and damned forever. And doomed and damned in a just
way. Every mouth stopped. with no appeal. Has your life
upon this earth been perfect? Has it been complete? Has it
fulfilled this law's demands? If not, we stand condemned of
God and worthy of hell's heat. Now, that's what the law says
to every man. The law comes to each individual I don't care
if it's an old man that's worked hard all of his life, and raised
his children, and now he's on his deathbed, and the neighbors
speak well of him, and according to the neighbors, he's an honorable
man. But the law comes to him, and the law searches his heart.
The law says, what's been your attitude towards the eternal
God? Have you honored Him? Have you
esteemed Him from your cradle to this very hour? If not, you're
guilty. The law goes to that expensive
penthouse where the CEO lives, where men envy his riches, and
it goes there and it searches his heart. And it does so without
any prejudice. And it sees this one thing. What's
been your attitude towards God? And what's been your attitude
towards your fellow man? Has it been perfect and complete? And the law searches it, and
the law renders this verdict, no, you are guilty. The law comes to that teenager,
get him ready to go to school, plan it out his day and his life.
And the law comes and it searches his soul, and it sees where he
stands. And he's only been in this world
a few years. And he gives little thought about
it all. But the law searches him and
examines that teenager. And what does the law say? You're
guilty, buddy. You're doomed and you're damned
if you're not redeemed from this law. What does the law say? Guilty. Guilty. If verse 19 proves our guilt,
verse 20 sends us off into utter despair without any ability to
keep the law's present demands or without any way to satisfy
our past transgressions. Look at verse 20. Therefore by
the deeds of the law, by our keeping the law, shall no flesh
be justified in his sight." We cannot work our way into God's
presence. We cannot now keep the law and
satisfy its demands. John Bunyan had a time in his
life where he reformed his self. He got somewhat fearful of his
lost state, so he began to try to reform himself. And he said
he was amazed at his reformation. He quit using God's name in vain,
quit lying, and he got real proud of himself, you see. But he said
two things happened to him. Two things. it began to come
into my mind the sin that I saw mixed with my prayers of Judaism. And secondly, he said, I never
could escape the transgressions that I had committed in the past. And he said, I saw that all my
reformation Instead of earning me credit with God, was bringing
me deeper and deeper and deeper into debt. By the deeds of the law, by our
obedience to the law, no flesh can be justified in His sight. Listen to chapter 4, verse 4. He works to be saved. He works
to be justified before God. Is the reward not reckoned of
grace, but of debt? To him, that works is just adding
up debt. He's trying to pay it all. But
his works are simple. His works are debt. Works, debt. Works, debt. Works, debt. The more you work, the more you
owe. Can you imagine Mother Teresa
standing before God and giving an account of all her works?
That poor woman denied herself. She went over there in those
Bogota camps where there was lepers. and exposed herself to
that to take care of those people. But if she was doing that to
justify herself before God, to work out a righteousness that
He would accept, I tell you, her doing those very things was
sinful. And instead of clearing her of
all her charges, it added and added and added. The Pharisee
standing there in the temple saying, I'm not like other men.
Debt. Debt. I fast twice a week. Debt. Debt. I pay tithes. Debt. Debt. Debt. The more we do to try to save
ourselves, the more debt we rack up. I tell you, brothers and
sisters, the law has shut us up in our guilt. And that's bad
enough. That's fearful enough. But there's
something more fearful than that. We cannot remedy our situation. That's where we're at. We cannot
remedy our situation. We talk about people today that's
got in debt, young marriage couples that's got in debt. They declare
bankruptcy. That's where we are. That's where
we are. We're bankrupt before God. We have no claims. No claims
upon Him. Now look in verse 21. Boy, that
makes these first little two words wonderful, doesn't it?
But now. Oh, but now. Oh, the whole scene
changes. Here we are in darkness, but
now. But now the sun begins to rise. Oh, if you're here this
morning and you think, surely I've sinned myself into hell. There's no hope for me. Oh, listen,
but now. But now. Oh, the past. I look back on the past. Oh,
it's a mess. Just sin against God. Dead, dead,
dead. But now. Right now this morning
at 1135. But now. This present time. But now. Look at these three wonderful
things. But now, the righteousness of God. Ain't that wonderful? The righteousness of God. What
in the world is that? That's a gospel righteousness.
Listen to chapter 1, verse 16 and 17. Paul said, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God's salvation
to everyone that believes. For therein, in the gospel, is
the righteousness of God. Reveal the way in which God makes
men righteous. It's revealed. It's known in
the gospel. There is a righteousness that
God can give a man, and you know something? It can save him. It
can justify him. It can clear him of all these
charges. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is good news because
it reveals to us the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
which He worked out by His own personal obedience in the days
of His flesh. Listen to Romans 5, verse 19. I've read this so many times,
you ought to memorize it by now. As by one man's disobedience.
Who is that? That's Adam. Many were made sinners. When did you become a sinner?
All the way back in the garden. What happened in the garden?
Poor old Bruce Crabtree was made a sinner. Before I was ever born,
another man made me a sinner by his disobedience. Before I
lifted my hand or my mouth towards heaven in a hateful way, I was
a sinner. I was born a sinner. I was conceived
in my mother's womb a sinner. By one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners. Listen to this. Even so, just
like this, By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."
There was a righteousness worked out 2,000 years ago by the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself. You never had a hand in it. If
you had, you would have messed it up. And when He hung on Calvary's
tree, He said, I've brought in this righteousness. I've worked
it out by perfect obedience. It's an obedience that justifies
the demands of the law. And now, he says, I'm ready.
I am ready to satisfy those broken commands. I'm ready to pay for
those transgressions. And he heals up the ghost and
they stick a spear up in his side. And all that redeeming
blood and water comes gushing out. That's his obedience, even
to the death of the cross. And David says in Romans 4, 6,
he describes the blessedness of the man. Oh, get that. Oh, what a happy man he is. To
whom God imputeth righteousness without works. He gives you this
righteousness. Ain't it a wonderful thing, brothers
and sisters, to think about this? That we poor sinners upon this
earth, bankrupt sinners, have a righteousness of one who is
in heaven. Oh, how happy we are. And it's
a righteousness that meets the demands of this law. That's the
first thing he says, therefore. But now, the righteousness of
God. The obedience of Jesus Christ
that has satisfied the demands of the law. Do you believe Jesus
Christ kept this law? The only man since Adam, the
only man that since Adam worked his way into the presence of
God. The only man since Adam that honored the law, that glorified
the law. It looks upon you and I, and
it says, oh, I curse you. I hate you. I hate you. I damn you. You're doomed. You're
a sinner against God and man. You're doomed. I hate you. My
wrath is upon you. I curse you. And here comes the
Son of Mary, the Son of Man, into this world from His mother's
womb. And you know what the law says?
Oh, that holy thing. What a holy thing. And He submits
to His Mother and Father. He does the will of His Heavenly
Father. And what does the law say? Oh,
how He loves me. How He loves me. I am well pleased
in this Nazarene. Oh, I love Him, and He loves
me. Thy law is within my heart. That's
what He said. I love it. I obey it. And that's
the righteousness he's talking about right here. That's the
righteousness, dear soul, you have to have, or this law will
curse you without any respect of person. I don't care who you
are. You have to have this righteousness of another man, because it's
only this righteousness that will justify you from this curse,
this guilt. See what he says here in the
second thing? Here's the second thing that's wonderful. In verse
21. But now the righteousness of
God without the law. Without the law. Now somebody had to satisfy the
law. But not us. Now we can do it. without personally
being required to obey it ourselves. Oh, this is such a wonderful
truth. Without the law. You mean to tell me, Bruce, you
can be justified from all your guilt before God without working
for it? I'm telling you this, dear soul,
we cannot be justified from our guilt until we cease to work
for it. We cannot. We must be done with
trying to satisfy the law's demands in and of ourselves. By one man's
offense, death reigned by one. Here's what we must do. Much
more, they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness. We don't work, we receive. What do we receive? Grace, unmerited
sovereign favor. We receive righteousness. We
believe the record that God gave of His Son. Listen to this passage in Romans
10a. The Word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart,
that is the word of faith which we preach. that if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy
heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. For with a heart men believe
unto righteousness." How does this righteousness become ours?
Not by working. We don't work to satisfy the
law's demands. We don't work to get the righteousness
of Christ. We receive it. We believe it. We believe Him for it. I tell you, Jesus, work you clean
by a simple faith. That's it. That's it. That's
why this salvation is for any man, anywhere, anytime. The thief on the cross in his
dying hours, that man can't be saved because he can't be baptized. That man can't be saved because
he can't make restitution. Do you know how that man can
be saved? Because a righteousness has been
worked out on his behalf that satisfies the God of heaven.
And all he does, by grace, is reach out and embrace it. All
he does is believe it in his heart. And by believing it, it
becomes his. Ain't that wonderful? That's
why we call this gospel good news. And thirdly and lastly, and I'll
close with this, here's the last wonderful statement. These things aren't some fancy
notion that you and I have thought up in our own heads. This business
of imputed righteousness, we don't believe it just because
we read it from the Puritans. Where do we find such doctrine?
He tells us here in the last portion of verse 21. Being witnessed
by the law and the prophets. Where do we find this business
of being saved by another man's righteousness? The Old Testament
tells us. Imputed righteousness? I don't know what got into the
head or heart of poor old John Wesley. He called it imputed
nonsense. I hope he didn't die in that
condition. This ain't imputed nonsense. This is the scriptures. We get this from the Old as well
as the New Testament. How was the shame and nakedness
of Adam and Eve clothed? Do you remember that? God did
it. God did it. As a matter of fact,
He had to first strip off what they had put on Him, and then
clothe them Himself. But who did it? God did it. What
is that? God provided for us what we can't
provide for ourselves. When poor, guilty Abel went into
the presence of God, he was justified, and God accepted his person and
his worship through what means? Faith in that bloody lamb that
he took with him. How was God's wrath turned away
down in Egypt? The blood of a lamb upon those
doorposts. David cried out, Save me, O Lord. And then he says how he wanted
to be saved. In thy righteousness. Jeremiah said, The Lord, our
righteousness. You want to know where our righteousness
is? It's not in what we do. It's in Christ and heaven. Lord, my Peter went down into Cardinalius'
house, and here's what he said about this. He says, "...to Christ
gave all the prophets witness..." All the prophets bore witness
to this, what I've been telling you. "...that through His name,
whosoever believeth on Him, not worketh, but believeth, shall
receive remission of sin." Paul says almost the same thing. Be
it known unto you, men and brethren, that through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins." And listen to this, by Him, by
His grace, all that believe on Him are justified from all things
by which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Saved. Justified. Closed life, forgiveness, everything
in this glorious person, Jesus Christ. You can't beat that gospel. You'll find people who preach
it a whole lot better, but you won't beat this gospel. You can't
beat this gospel. Who would ask for anything more? Not I. Let's pray.