The Christ of the Cross

I'm speaking this morning from
Romans chapter 5. Sometimes we preachers have a
bad habit of going back and reviewing what's been said before and spending
too much time on it. But chapter 5 begins with the
word, therefore. So I've got to go back just for
a moment to emphasize that the theme of Romans 3 and Romans
4, chapter 3 and chapter 4, the theme of those two chapters as
well as this entire book is justification by faith. That's the theme. It
says in Romans 3 verse 28, therefore we conclude. This is my conclusion,
Paul says, that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law. And then in chapter 4, he uses
two examples, two very familiar people. Abraham and David. And he says in verse 1, What
shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to
the flesh, hath found? What did he find? He found righteousness. He found acceptance with God. But how did he find it? Verse
2 said, If Abraham were justified by his words, he hath whereof
to glory, the glory before men, but not before God. Because God
knows his heart. He might glory before men on
account of his works. But God knows that his works
and righteousness without Christ are filthy rags. God looks on
the heart, so he can't glory before God. But what sayeth the
Scripture? Verse 3, Well, Abraham believed
God. That's what Scripture said. Way back in Genesis 15, verse
6, Abraham believed God. And that was counted to him for
righteousness. There's his justification. He
believed God. He didn't say he believed in
God. He said he believed God. There's a difference. He didn't
say Abraham believed there is a God, or even that he believed
God is sovereign. He believed Him. Abraham believed
God. That's how he was justified,
by faith. When God said, get out of your father's house and
go to a land I'll show you, he left, not knowing where he was
going. But he believed God. God said, I'll provide for you,
and he believed him. When he told Abraham he'd have a son,
when Abraham was almost 100 years old and Sarah was well up in
years, he believed him. He didn't know how, but he believed
him. He believed God. He didn't believe in God. He
believed Him. Actually believed Him, that he'd do what He said.
That he could do what He said. And when God finally came to
him and told him to take that son, that only son whom he loved,
Sacrificed him as a burnt offering Well, he proceeded to go to the
mountain to do that He didn't know why but he believed God
and he believed God when he said That's your heir Isaac's your
heir and he believed that if God let him slay his son that
God had raised him from the dead And that's how he was justified,
believe in God. That's what Romans 3 and 4 is
all about. Justified by faith. And then
he uses David, verse 6, Romans 4. Even as David, there's another
champion of the Jewish people. David described the blessedness
of the man under whom God imputed, imputeth, counted, reckons, righteousness,
holiness, without works. That's what David believed. That's
what Abraham believed. That God imputes, charges holiness
to his people through faith without works. Saying, David said, blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not charge sin. No
charge. Who shall anything to the charge
of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Beautiful,
isn't it? Well that's what those two chapters
are about. So chapter 5 begins this way,
therefore. Therefore being justified by
faith. You can read that one of two
ways or two ways. Therefore being justified by
faith we have peace with God. Or you can read it, therefore
being justified by faith we have peace with God. Either way we
have peace with God. And we're justified by faith.
What does the word justified mean to you? Being justified. Abraham found
justification. David found justification. We,
through Christ, are justified. What does it mean? What does
it mean to you? Justified. Well, somebody says,
may say, forgiven. That's right. We are forgiven. Somebody else was to be justified,
to be pardoned of all sin, forgiven of all sin, pardoned of all sin.
Well, that may be so. It is so. Our sins are pardoned. But according to the scripture,
to be justified by faith, now listen carefully, to be justified
is really to be not guilty. Not guilty at all. of charges. Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? There are no charges. There are no charges. It's God
that justifies. Innocent. In other words, what
I'm saying and what I believe the Bible teaches is that those
in Christ are without sin. There is no charge that can be
brought against a believer in Christ either from heaven, earth,
or hell. He's justified, perfectly, purely,
holy, innocent. That's right. Listen to these
scriptures. I won't ask you to turn. I'll
read them. You're familiar with them. Ephesians 1 verse 4 says
this, "...according as he hath chosen us in Christ before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy, holy, and without blame." That
means without charge, without blame, before Him. Someone may say, well, preacher,
I can find a whole lot wrong with you. I know you can't. But
He can. I'm blameless before Him. He
sees me in Christ. You see me in the flesh. You
see me up here in this black suit. But Christ doesn't, God
doesn't see me this way. He sees me in Christ. And I'm
without blaming Christ. Justify. One problem people have is trying
to justify themselves before men, and you're wasting your
time. You there which justify yourselves
before men, Christ said. But that which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination to God. That which you think will
justify you before men will condemn you before God. You say to men,
I pray so much, I read so much, I study so much, and that comes
across to heaven as self-righteousness. You're defeating this thing. That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination to God. Christ said when the Pharisee
prays on the street corner, he has his reward. He's been justified
before men. He's been damned in heaven. We're
just victims of flesh, aren't we? Listen to this scripture,
Colossians 1.22. Christ, in the body of His flesh,
through death, reconciled you and presents you holy without
blame Unblameable, unreprovable in His sight. In His sight. This is very important now. We're
holy and without blame before Him. Christ presents us holy,
unblameable, unreprovable in His sight. Now listen to this,
Ephesians 5, 27, His church. "...that He might present it
to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish before
Him. He presents it before Him. He is able to keep you, Jude
said, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory. with exceeding joy. So justified
means justified, without charge, without blame, innocent, not
guilty. How in the world, preacher, can
you say we're not guilty when we are guilty? That just, that's
confusing. We're guilty, let every mouth
be stopped and the whole world become guilty. We're not guilty. I look at God's holiness and
I cry with Isaiah, I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips among
a people of unclean lips. I look at God's justice and I
cry with David, Lord if you should have marked iniquity, who would
stand? I look at God's law and I cry with Paul, I love the law. But I find when I would do good,
evil is present with me, oh wretched man that I am. I look at eternity
and I cry with joy, dust, I'll bring me into judgment with thee,
me with thee, me with thee, and judgment, perish the thought. And no matter what your works,
and no matter what your religion, and your age, and your state,
and your status, man at his best state is altogether vanity, dust. Then how can you say not guilty? One word. Substitution. That's the word. I'm not guilty. He is. He is. I didn't do it. He did it. I'm innocent. He's guilty. Christ is guilty. My substitute. I do want you to turn to these
scriptures so you become better acquainted with them. This is
what it's all about, taking our place, substitution. 2 Corinthians
5, listen to this, 2 Corinthians 5. Transference of guilt is what
we're talking about here. The guilt is there, but depending
on this, upon whom does the guilt rest? That's the key. Upon whom does... the guilt's
there, Mike. There's no question about that.
The law's been broken. God has been defied, resisted,
rebelled against. Upon whom does this charge rest,
this guilt rest? Well, God's transferred it. He
sent the man, Christ. See? Verse 21 of 2 Corinthians
5, "...for he hath made him to be sin for us, transference of
guilt, who knew no sin." That's how he could take mine because
he didn't have any. If he'd have had any, he couldn't
have taken mine. But he came without sin, and
he, the father, hath made him, the son, to be sin in our stead,
in our place, for us. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him, transference of holiness."
See, I'm not guilty. He's guilty. And the law caught
him and tried him, found him guilty and killed him. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 3. This
is substitution. 1 Peter 3, listen to this, verse
18, 1 Peter 3, verse 18, "...for Christ
also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust." that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."
Our sins were laid on Him. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and by His stripes we're healed. Transfer of guilt,
substitution. He bore our sins in His body
on the tree. And I want you to turn to the
book of Isaiah, chapter 53, and listen to this. I quoted some
of it, but the last three verses I want you to read with me. In
Isaiah, chapter 53, verse 10, "'Yet it pleased the Lord to
bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see He shall
see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see, this is speaking
of Christ, of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. What was the travail of his soul?
He made his soul an offering for sin. The travail of his soul,
birth pains, bringing forth a child. He brought forth children by
his death. And by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify, set free, cleanse many, for he shall
bear their iniquities." Transference of guilt. He bore our iniquities. The sins can't be on the same
person. You can't kill two people for
the same sin. If you did it, you can't hang
me. But if you could transfer it
from you to me, then I'm responsible. And the only one who can do that
is Christ. You see, you hear people say,
well, if a man, the guilty can't die for the guilty. There's no
way that the law can be satisfied by me going to jail in your place. You did it. You got to go to
jail. The law is not going to be satisfied unless the person
who's guilty pays the penalty. There are a lot of mothers here
that go to jail for their sons. There are a lot of daddies here
that go to jail for their sons. But that won't work. That won't
work. Because you can't punish the
innocent for the guilty. That's an abomination. But Christ
wasn't innocent. By an act of God, by the decree
of God, by the purpose of God, and only by God could Jesus Christ
come down here and be us. And the guilt was transferred.
He actually was made sin. He actually took our... Look
at the next verse. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great and he shall divide the spoiled with
the strong because he had poured out his soul unto death and he
was numbered with the transgressors. He is the transgressor. He became sin. I can't explain how that can
be, but it is. That's what God declares. And
He made intercession for the transgressors. This is actually
a transference of guilt. And now look at chapter 53, right
there where you are, verse 4. Put your name in here, in the
place of our. Surely He hath borne Henry's
griefs, He carried Henry's sorrows. Put your name in there. We did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, but he
was wounded for Henry's transgressions. He was bruised for Henry's iniquities. The chastisement of Henry's peace
was upon him, and by his strife, Henry is healed. Healed. The debt paid. Paid. Preacher said on television on
channel 61 this week, Jesus paid most of it. He said, I'd say
about 98% and left 2% for you. That's a
whoo! That 2% would get, a quarter
of a percent would finish me off. He paid it all! He didn't take some of my, to
be guilty in one part, to be guilty the whole long. Christ
actually justified, therefore being justified. Back to my text.
This is so serious and so important. Therefore being justified. Being
justified. We're justified. We're innocent.
We're not guilty. We're without blame. Lift up
your hearts and faith and eyes and behold the Lamb of God. It
taketh away the sin of the world. It takes it away. It doesn't
exist anymore. In Christ there is no sin. We
have no sin. Now watch this. Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace. Peace with God. I've heard all
my life, you've heard this all your life, well, he made his
peace with God. How do you do that? How do you
do that? He made peace with his maker.
How did he do that? Did he die in hell? That's the
only way peace can be made. The soul of the sinner should
die. Sin brings forth death. How did he make peace? I'll tell
you how our peace was made. Listen to Colossians 1. Colossians
chapter 1. I'll tell you, we have peace
being justified by faith, we have peace with God, but here's
how it was made, Colossians 1 verse 19, For it pleased the Father
that in Him should all fullness dwell, and having made peace
through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile, make peace,
He reconciled us. All things unto himself. By him
I say, whether they be things in earth or in heaven, and you
that were sometimes alienated in enemies in your mind by wicked
works, he made peace, he reconciled. There's how the peace is made.
Don't say that again. He made peace with God. That's
an abomination. Don't say that. Well, he's at
peace with his Maker. Tell me how. Tell me, was he
baptized? Did he pay the church a lot of
money? Did he do? No. Made peace through
the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things. I have
peace with God. Christ died for me, John. I have
peace with God. And what's the next line? Romans
5. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom, verse 2, also we have
access. by faith into this grace wherein
we stand. Now peace is a particular blessing. Peace is a particular blessing.
Access, access, entrance into all things, entrance into this
grace, that's something else. We have that by justification. Come boldly before His presence
with exceeding joy, with confidence, because you are justified by
faith and Christ made peace with God. Therefore, come on in. Martin
Luther said this in the Bulletin, although by nature I am a sinner,
yet I despair not. For Christ, who is my Redeemer
and my righteousness living, And in Him, I have no sin. In Him, I have no sting of conscience. In Him, I have no fear of judgment.
Because in Him, I'm innocent. I'm justified. And there is therefore
now no condemnation to them who are in Christ. I'm indeed a sinner
as touching this life. But I have a righteousness that's
above this life. I'm just marking time here. I'm
just passing through this veil of sorrow and tears. I have a
righteousness above this life, which is Christ my Lord, and
in Him I rejoice. So being justified by faith,
we have peace with God, we have access into the very holiness
and presence, the throne room, the inner veil. And listen, and we rejoice in
the hope of the glory of God. This is a thing of joy. I love the old Puritans. But
this tail between your legs, false humility, Bob, I get tired
of it. I get tired of all this, oh,
I'm so unworthy. Well, I am unworthy. I know that.
In Christ, I'm worthy. I'm a king priest. I'm a son
of God. I'm a child of the King. I got
an inheritance waiting on me, reserved inheritance. Income
up, are you sure? Just as sure as Christ is on
the right hand of God. You know whether or not you believe
on Christ. You know that. Don't tell me
you don't. John said, we know we've passed
from death unto life because we love the brethren. God's done
something for us. And we joy, we joy, we rejoice
in the hope of the glory of God. Verse 3, and I'll tell you something
else, not only so, but we joy, we glory in trouble too. Being justified by faith, at peace with God, there's no
war. God's not mad at me. I have access into His presence.
Holy is Christ. And I joy, rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God. I've got glory waiting after
this is over, and not only that, but I glory in trouble. Now watch
it. Listen to me. I don't glory in
the trouble itself. No, I don't. I don't glory in
the trial itself. I glory in Him who sent it. That's
the difference. I don't like to hurt any more
than the next fellow. My Lord didn't look forward to pain,
did he? He said, Father, if it be thy
will, let this cup pass from thee. You don't glory in the
trial, you glory in him who sent it. You glory in the purpose
for which he sent it. You glory in knowing that he'll
accomplish your good by sending it. That's what you glory in.
You don't glory in the pain. We don't rejoice in suffering.
Nobody likes to hurt. But we glory in the fact that
God's dealing with us as a son. We're not bastards, we're sons.
That's right, we're sons of God. And when my father scolds me,
it's for my good. He does it on purpose. And when
he disciplines me... Let me ask you a question. Let
me ask you a question. Does your love for your children
depend on their perfect obedience? Of course not. It depends on
the relationship, doesn't it? That little girl is your little
girl. She doesn't obey you perfectly. I wish she did. You do too, don't
you? What is that love there? It's
a relationship. And nothing she'll do will change
it. I guarantee that. Nothing she'll do. Your relationship with your children
doesn't depend on their never offending you, does it? They
offend you, sometimes you, you and I used to do like this, my
soul, why did you do that? But it didn't change the relationship,
it didn't change the love, you remember that? God's relationship with His children
never changes. He loves them with an everlasting,
unchangeable love. Let me ask you another question. You correct your children, don't
you? You discipline them, don't you? Sometimes you have to do
it forcefully. Sometimes you have to hurt their
feelings. And they hurt their bottoms,
too, when they're little. Why do you do that? You do that to
hurt them? You like to hurt them? Oh, no,
don't you? No. Do you do it to deprive them? Do you like to deprive them?
No. Well, do you do it to punish them? Nope. You do it to instruct
them. You do it to correct them. That's
why you do it. That's the sole reason. If they
could be corrected without it, you would. That's right. You do it to teach
them. You don't punish your children. You're not punishing them. You're
not trying to hurt them. You don't get any joy out of
depriving them. You do it because they have to
be taught. And there's just one way to learn
these things, and that's to learn them through correction. That's right. It establishes
itself. Boy, I learned my lesson that
time. I learned my lesson. That's the reason we glory in
trials, because David said, it's good for me that I've been afflicted,
because I learned the lesson. And here's the lesson. Look at
the next line. Because tribulation worketh patience. Troubles work, and trials help
us to learn to submit to His will, to be content with what
we have, to wait upon the Lord. You see, patience is the opposite
of covetousness. Patience is the opposite of complaining. Patience is the opposite of waiting. Patience is the opposite of haste.
So when we learn patience through trouble, we learn to submit,
We learn to be content, we learn to wait, and then patience works
experience. What's the word right in your
Bible there? Maturity. That's what that experience is.
You know, you hear this old eddard saying, well, you learn by experience.
Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Patience teaches us maturity. Experience. And experience increases
our hope. No question about it. The more
we grow in grace and knowledge of Christ, the better hope we
have. And hope, make it not a shame, because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts. And all of this based on this.
Listen to verse 6. For when we were without strength,
Christ died for the ungodly. We're justified. Scarcely for
a righteous man will one die. The picture I get there is a
strict, tough religionist, righteous in himself. He's proud of his
prayers and his gifts and his tithes and his alms, and a fellow
wouldn't die for a man like that. But for adventure, for a good
man, a kind man, he may not be so religious, but he's kind and
good and gracious, somebody might die for him, but here's our story
It says in verse 8, God commended His love for us, and while we
were sinners, Christ died for us. He died for sinners. Not
good men and not religious men, but sinners. And much more, being
justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
If when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son, think! Think about it. What I was, no
use trying to describe it, you know. I was reconciled. Reconciled, made a friend to
God by the death of His Son. Much more. Much more. Being reconciled, I shall be
saved. By His life. By His intercession. He lives. At the right hand of
God, our forerunner has already entered in. Doesn't that help
you? Doesn't that give you joy? and happiness and contentment? Listen to this. A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant
mercies I sing, nor fear with his righteousness own my person
and my praises to bring. The terror of law and of God
with me have nothing to do. My Savior's obedience and blood
hide all my transgressions from view. And the work which His
goodness began, the arm of His strength will complete. His promises
are yea and amen and never was forfeited yet. Things future,
nor things that are now, nor all things below or above can
make Him, His purpose, denied. or sever my soul from his love.
My name, from the palms of his hand, eternity will not erase. Impressed on his heart, my name
remains in marks of indelible grace. Yes, I to the end shall
endure, just as sure as God's promise is given. More happy,
but not more secure than I, are the glorified saints in heaven.
We're justified. That's the glory and joy of the
gospel of God's grace in Christ Jesus. There's no other church
and no other religion and no other denomination and no other
organization and no other institution can give anybody any assurance
any way but in Christ Jesus. He's our assurance. I'm justified,
not because of what I've done, but because of who He is and
what He's done. And therefore, we have peace
with God, access into His grace, rejoice in the hope of glory,
and even take pleasure in our infirmities.

The Christ of the Cross

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

The Christ of the Cross

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book