All right, Romans, the third
chapter. Verse 19 of Romans 3. Verse 19 and those verses preceding
verse 19, which I read for you, declare plainly and establish
beyond a shadow of a doubt universal guilt. Universal guilt. Listen to it. Now we know, having
read the word of God, that what thing soever the law saith, it
saith to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped. No alibis, no excuses. Every
mouth stopped. And all the world may become
guilty before God. Now here's the key. Guilty before
God. before God. If you turn to Psalm
51, David defines this guilty before God in Psalm 51. In Psalm 51 verse 3, guilty before
God. Listen to this. David said in
verse 3, I acknowledge my transgressions, my acts, my deeds, my words,
my transgressions. And my sin, singular, my sin,
S-I-N, is ever before me. This is his nature. My transgressions
are before me. My words, deeds, and acts, and
my sin, my nature, is before me. Now watch this. And against
thee, against God, against thee only
have I sinned. Like the prodigal son came back,
he said, I've sinned against heaven. I've sinned in your sight,
but my sin's against heaven." That's what David's saying. It's
before God. It's against thee. It's against
your law and your word and your commandments that I've sinned.
I've done this evil in your sight. Now listen to what he says next,
and you're justified to condemn me. Listen, that you might be
justified, right, honorable. When you speak, and you are clear,
when you judge me, when you find me guilty, you're clear. You're just. And
here's the root of the problem. Here's what he talks about. He
says, my transgressions are before me against thee have I sinned,
my sins before me. Here's the root of the matter.
I was born this way. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity. We talk about our genes. Every
one of us have the same genes in this matter. Sin. An evil heart. Our shaping and
iniquity and sin. My mother conceived me. Down
here in our text, Romans 3, turn back to Romans 3, verse 23 says,
all have sinned. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. It's before God. The whole world
is guilty before God. Now that's established. And let
our mouths be stopped. We don't have any but. But it's
not my fault, it's somebody else's fault, all this sort of thing.
Let every mouth be stopped and all the world take our place
before God is guilty. Now look at the next verse. That
establishes universal ruin, universal guilt. Now here, in no uncertain
terms, is our inability, total inability. Listen to verse 20.
Therefore, this being true, by the deeds of the law, sin being
our state, sin being our nature, sin being our condition, by observing
the works of the law, by the deeds of the law, by observing
the traditions of religion and deeds of the law and requirements
of Moses' law, there shall no flesh be justified Now here's
the key to this verse, in his sight. Guilty before God. We may justify ourselves, and
most people do. I do, you do, everybody does.
The reason I did this, and we justify ourselves. And we may
be justified in the eyes of men. Let me show you what Christ said
about that over here in Luke 16. He calls our number here, listen,
in Luke 16, 15. He said to them, in Luke 16,
15, you're they that justify yourselves. Where? Before men. And you can do that,
and I can do that, or make an effort at it. But God knows your
heart. God knows your heart. And that which is highly esteemed
among men, that which men think well of, and appreciate, and
congratulate you for. It's an abomination in the sight
of God. Self-justification, self-righteousness,
self-praise, self-glory is an abomination to God. And that's
the key in his sight. Therefore, this being true, we're
at Romans 320, that universal guilt, no flesh by the deeds
of the law, by the works of religion, shall be justified in his sight."
Not before God. Not before God. For by the law
is the knowledge of sin. You see, the law which condemns
us can't justify us. That which condemns me, that
which exposes me, can't forgive me. Now if we understand these
two things, every mouth is stopped. and all the world guilty before
God. And we understand this second
thing, that no deeds done, no deeds. Walking an hour, being
baptized, joining the church, giving a tithe, turning over
a new leaf, coming to church on Sunday, Sunday night, Wednesday
night, quit certain things and live this way and that way, that's
not going to justify us in his sight. Not going to do it. Never in his sight. No matter
how good or sincere the deed, no matter who does it, angels
or men, no matter where it's done in heaven, earth, or seas,
it can't change this state of universal guilt. It can't change
it. All right, here begins then the
greatest story ever told. Verse 21. The greatest story
ever told. But now, but, but God. That's
a tremendous thing. But, now, right now, at this time,
the righteousness of God, there is a way to be justified, there
is a way to be accepted, there is a way to be acquitted. There's
help for the helpless, there's grace for the guilty. But now
the righteousness of God, and look at those three words, without
the law, It's without our keeping the law, which we cannot do. It's without our doings or our
deeds or our good works. It's without the law. And it's manifested, this righteousness
of God, this holiness is manifested. Where is it manifested? Well,
it's witnessed by the law and the prophets. It's in the Old
Testament, this righteousness of God, this hope. of acquittal,
of cleansing, of holiness, of acceptance of God. It's over
here. Let's look at Jeremiah. Let's look at just one scripture,
Jeremiah 23. But this is witnessed all the
way through the Old Testament. This righteousness of God, this
holiness of God, that is Without the law, without our obedience
to the law. Look at Jeremiah 23, verse 5. And he says it's now manifested.
Verse 5. But behold, the days come. The
days come when this message will be clearly revealed and clearly
seen and clearly preached and clearly understood and clearly
believed. But the days are coming, saith the Lord. I'll raise up
unto David a righteous branch. and a king shall reign and prosper,
and he shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. And
in his days, in that day, Judah and Judah's sons of Jacob, Judah's
spiritual Israel, Judah's every believer, Judah's the church,
Judah's divine spiritual Israel, and Judah shall be saved, acquitted
Accepted not guilty Israel shall dwell safely Under the banner
of Jehovah our God and this is his name Whereby he shall be
called in capital letters the Lord our Look at Jeremiah 33
That's talking about the one who's gonna is going to perfect
this righteousness The one who's going to bring in this righteousness.
The one who's going to accomplish this holiness of God. That's
talking about him, the righteous branch, the son of David, the
Messiah. In his day, the king, the prophet,
the priest. He's called the Lord, our righteousness. The Lord, our holiness. Now look
at Jeremiah 33, verse 16. Verse 15, in those days, at that
time, will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up.
There'll be a man who'll grow up, born of a woman under the
law, grow up under David, and he shall execute judgment, righteousness,
in the land, on the earth, before me and before God. And in those
days shall Judah, the sons of Jacob, believers, shall be saved. And Jerusalem shall dwell faithfully,
that spiritual heaven of Jerusalem. And this is the name wherewith
she shall be called. I didn't say he shall be called.
I did in the other verse. He's coming. That's what Jeremiah
said. The son of David, the king, the
righteous judge, the perfect holy man, the second Adam. His
name shall be called the Lord, our holiness. And here he says,
in fulfillment, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely, and this
is the name wherewith she, the church, the bride of Christ,
the wife of Christ, she shall be called the same name, the
Lord our holiness. Now, turn back to my text. Universal guilt. It's a wipeout. Universal inability. You try
all you want to, but God is not going to have anything you produce
or present. But now, in fulfillment, witness
of the prophets, in fulfillment of what they wrote about Him
whom they wrote about. The righteousness of God, the
holiness of God. And what does that turn to Isaiah
6? I'll show you the holiness of God. I know all these churches
running around here talking about holiness, their holiness, holiness.
They wear their sleeves a certain length and don't wear any makeup
and wear their heads covered with a hat and they wear these
buttoned up shoes and they drive wagons and don't ride in cars
and don't watch television. Don't go to a ball game and don't
grow long fingernails. That's all holiness baloney. That's self-righteous corruption
in God's sight. That's trying to cover an old
lifeless body with a beautiful robe. It stinks in God's sight. Here's holiness. Listen to Isaiah
6. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw the Lord. sitting on a throne high and
lifted up. His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With
twain he covered his face. With twain he covered his feet.
With twain he did fly. And one cried to the other and
said, Holy, holy, holy, immaculate holiness, inward holiness, infinite
holiness, perfect holiness, heavenly holiness, without thought of
sin, without thought of sin. without the presence of sin,
without even the existence of sin. Holy, holy, holy is the
Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. And the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, the house was filled with smoke.
And Isaiah, one of the best men of his day, one of the most righteous,
law-abiding, law-keeping Self-righteous people that ever lived in the
chapter before in chapter five He said woe is you five times.
Woe is you. Woe is you. Woe is you. I'm all
right, but woe is you. I'm all right, but woe is you.
Read us some chapter five something. He saw the Lord, the holiness
of God, and he said woe is me. I'm undone. I'm cut off. I'm
a man of unclean lips. This is a man that thought he
was the best man on the earth. Isaiah, the prophet who prophesied
the days of Ahab and Ahaz, Hezekiah, the five kings. I'm cut off. I'm a man of unclean
lips. I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. What's wrong with you, Isaiah?
I've seen holiness. I've seen immaculate holiness. I've seen God. And that's the only kind of holiness
that God will accept, just like Him. To be accepted, it must
be just like God. Verse 22, it's even the holiness
of God. That's what we're talking about,
what a man needs, what a man must have. And where is it? It's by faith, not by our faith. Not by our faith, not by works. It's by the faithfulness of Christ. It's by Christ. It's by the faithfulness
of Christ Jesus. It's by what He is and what He
did. It's this King of Righteousness that God said will come. That's
His name. That's His very name, the Lord
our Righteousness. Well, who's it for? Listen, it's
under all, it's upon all them that believe. Not that work,
or join, or give, or do these, it's to Him that believe. Just look to Him, believe on
Him. Believe. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. Hath perfect holiness. And here's
the reason it's by faith alone, by looking to Christ, there's
no difference. There's no difference. We like
to think there is. We have a little more education
than somebody, that's a difference, a mountain thing. Got a little
more money than somebody else, more beautiful than somebody
else, taller than somebody else, stronger than somebody else,
more athletic, that's no difference. Everybody sins and comes short
of the glory of God. And just to be a little short
of the glory of God is just the same as being 40 miles from the
glory of God. Well, I'm not the worst, fella.
If you're short of the glory of God, you are. There's none
worse than you. If you just, well, I've been
a pretty good girl. If you're short of the glory of God, you're
the worst creature that ever was. There's no difference. So
here, here's what we have to have. Look here at this verse.
Therefore, verse 24, that being so, We're just, if we're going
to be justified, if we're going to be being justified, we're
going to be, what is justified? Acquitted. Not guilty. Accepted. As holy as God. Then it has to be free. Being
acquitted freely. It can't be, but I'm going to
do my best. Forget it. Look to Christ. Praise Him. Praise
Him. It's by His grace, free grace,
saving grace, provenient grace, effectual grace, sovereign grace,
it's by His grace that we're justified. It's freely that we're
justified, and it's through, it's through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus. Can you see that? But if you
can't see it with your heart, at least you can see it with
your eyes. If you can't believe it in your heart, if you can't
submit to it, if you can't believe Him, if you can't cast yourself
on Him, at least you know this is the way. I may not go to grace in this
afternoon, but I know the way. I know. But knowing the way will
not take me there. That's right. And you may not
believe on Him, and you may try still, and the person may still
try. Find acquittal or acceptance or agreement or favor with God
by what he does go ahead But that's not the way This is the
way It's in Christ Jesus you see Paul said in first Corinthians
chapter 1 verse 30 Of God are you in Christ Jesus? Who of God
is made under us? Wisdom? It's in Christ. Righteousness? The holiness of God. The holiness
of God. I'm not talking about this tinfoil
holiness. I'm talking about the holiness
of God. It's in Christ. Sanctification? And boy, you
hear a lot about that. It's in Christ. And redemption? It's in Him. And what's this
next verse? Verse 25. whom God has set forth. This is not the Baptist Church
set him forth, or the Catholic Church set him forth, or the
Nazarene Church set him forth, or the Presbyterian Church. Those
names never existed when these words were written. Those divisions
never existed. One church, one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one God and Father, one body, one church, one faith. God set him forth. God set him
forth. Set him forth in promise, set
him forth in prophecy, set him forth in picture, set him forth
in pattern, set him forth awesome anyway, the Old Testament. The
woman's seed, the priest like Melchizedek, the king like David,
the prophet like Moses, the brazen serpent lifted up, the Passover
lamb slain. God set him forth, listen, to
be at propitiation. Now stop right there. Be a propitiation. We use that word as mercy seat.
We use that word as covering. But that word means this, to
appease. To appease. It means to reconcile. Reconciliation. There's war between
us and God. Your sins are separated from
your God. That prodigal son's lifestyle
and sin separate him from his father, but they were reconciled. The father kissed him, owned
him, exalted him. This propitiation is reconciliation. It's to be favorably inclined. That's what we need. And I may
put on my black suit, my black hat, and drive my black horse,
Ride my black horse and ride in a buggy and act like old Scrooge
and speak to nobody and condemn the whole world and try to be
holy. But I'm not going to find God's favor that way. God's going
to look at my heart and say, that's a thinker? His black suit reveals his black
heart. I'm not going to have anything
to do with him. God sent Christ to be a perpetuator,
a perpetuation, to have us favorably, favorably inclined to us. God, oh boy. So here's what he's
saying. God has set him forth publicly,
conspicuously for propitiation. Christ is our,
listen, let me read you something. Christ is the propitiation to
God for all our sins. He made satisfaction the divine
justice for the sins of his people. He honored the law of holiness
for his people. Our sins were laid on him, and
being found on him, the justice of God and the wrath of God extracted
from him the full demands of our sins, and he satisfied the
holiness and the law and the justice of God through his obedience. God said, All right, read on. Through faith
in his blood, it's by faith in his blood, faith to declare God's
righteousness, God's holiness. Christ declared God's holiness.
He declared it in his message, he declared it in his life, he
declared it in his obedience, he declared it in his death.
He declared his righteousness, God's holiness. For the remission
of sins that are past, this is talking about all the Old Testament
believers. How were those people saved back
there before Christ came to this earth? They were saved by looking
for the Christ who would come. There's not much difference.
Moses looked to the Christ who would come, the Christ who was
promised. Actually, Christ who was slain
on Calvary was the Lamb slain for the foundation of the world,
in the mind of God, in the purpose of God. You see, there's no time
with God. Everything's present. Everything's
now. He declares the end from the
beginning. And so Moses, by faith, looked
to the Christ who would come, and his sins were forgiven through
the forbearance of God. We look back to the Christ who
came, and our sins are forgiven through the grace of God. But
really, when he chose us in Christ, and gave us to Christ, and made
Christ our surety back before the foundation of the world,
in the mind of God, in the heart of God, in the purpose of God,
we were justified. That's right. See, we're justified in God's
sight, or you wouldn't be existing. You wouldn't be an object of
His favor, would you? All right, through the forbearance
of God, and here, verse 26, I've got to move on. To declare. This is what God
declares by the Christ incarnation and his righteousness, his death,
he declares at this time his righteousness, his holiness,
that he might be just and the justifier of him that believes
in Jesus. Now, God is holy. You just read
that in Isaiah. God's just. How's he going to
acquit the guilty? How's he going to say a man's
holy who's really by nature, not holy. It's regarding that
man in another. It's regarding us in Christ.
We're holy in Him. We're loved in Christ. And God
can be holy and just and acquit us because actually in Christ
we paid that debt. In Christ we obeyed His law.
In Christ we fulfilled His righteousness. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. And he who knew no sin was made
sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him." In Christ, by looking, believing. That's right. God
is the just, he's a just God, he's the justifier of them who
believe in Jesus. That's the greatest story ever
told. Now where is our boastfulness? What about our pride? What about
this thing we exalt ourselves above others and we look down
on others and like the Pharisees we thank God I'm not like other
men. Where is it? It's excluded. It doesn't exist. It's ruled out completely. How?
By our good deeds? Oh no. No. No, no, no. No, no. It's excluded by the
law of faith. Faith receives everything from
God. Faith claims no good thing in
my flesh. It claims everything by Christ. Therefore, we conclude, and this
story is never concluded because it goes on and on and on. It
never ends. It never ends. But we conclude that a person
is justified, acquitted, reconciled, accepted of God. righteous and
just as holy as God. He justifies without sin, not
guilty, not guilty. You know, something to think
about, not guilty. How? By faith, by believing. Well, there must be some contribution
we make without. Yeah, but I know, but nothing's
free. Yeah, but you mean to tell me
that no matter what I did or doesn't matter? Without. A man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. Now the grace of God is going
to change that man, make him a different man, give him a different
attitude, a spirit, a new nature, a new heart. His life's going
to be different. His lifestyle's gonna be different.
His attitude's gonna be different. But that's the grace of God.
That's the mercy of God. It's not I, but Christ in me.
Can't take credit for anything. It's without. My salvation and
redemption's without anything I did before, now, or shall do. It's without. Now, is this for
the Jew only? No, he's God the Gentile too.
One God that will justify the circumcision, I like to call
that the religious. Folks who are religious, they're
going to be justified by faith, not by their works. And the Pagans will be justified
by faith. Well, verse 31, did that mean
we just make void the law of God? Oh, no, no, no. We established
the law. We hold the law up where it's
supposed to be held. Impossible for us to keep. Only
Christ can keep it. We hold the law up where the
law is supposed to be. It's a spiritual law. It's a
holy law. It's a perfect law. It's the law of God. Christ said,
I didn't come to destroy the law. I didn't come to fix it
so you can be saved without any law. I came to obey it. Honor
it. That's what I came to do. We
don't make void of the law. You're an antinomian. No, I'm
not either. I delight in God's law. I love God's law. Make his
word and his commandment a lamp to my feet, a light to my path.
Hide his word in my heart, and I might not sin against him.
But the law can't save me. That's all we're trying to say.
The law, that which condemns me, can't justify me. But I can't
be justified without obeying it. Then how am I going to be
justified? Somebody do it for me. And that's
the greatest story ever told. He did it for somebody. And those
somebody's are his people.