There are several kinds of preaching. You men who are listening to
the telecast today will appreciate what I'm going to say. I don't
know whether the ladies will fully understand or not. But
there's preaching that we call shooting from the hip. That's
irresponsible preaching. And then there's scattergun preaching. That's preaching in generalities
and really dealing with nothing, just dealing with everything
and touching nothing. And then there's that preaching
that takes dead aim on a subject, sees it through, deals with it,
answers the questions, and tries to find the leadership of the
Spirit of God on that particular subject. Now, that's what I plan
to do this morning. I'm going to take dead aim on
the subject justification. I want to speak to you on the
subject in search of justification. And we're going to read from
the 25th chapter of Job, verses 4 through 6. And I'd like very
much, if you would, to take your Bibles and turn to Job chapter
25 and read along with me verses 4, 5, and 6. Now listen carefully
to it. How then can man be justified
with God? How can he be clean that is born
of a woman? Behold, even to the moon and
its shinest not, yea, the stars are not pure in God's sight,
how much less man that is a worm, and the son of man which is a
worm. Now, is not this the question
of all questions? How can man be justified with
God? How can he be clean and holy
in the sight of God who has born a woman? I can't think of a more
important question than this one with which we're faced today.
It is asked twice in the book of Job. Back in chapter 9, verse
2, Job asked the same thing that Bildad asked here in the 25th
chapter. How can man be just and holy
in the sight of God? Now, to be justified, first of
all, is to be free from guilt, to be free from all blame before
God. As Paul wrote in the Colossian
letter, chapter 1, verse 22, in the body of his flesh, to
present you holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in God's sight. That's what it means to be justified.
It means, as Webster said, to be free from all guilt. and free
from all blame, and that in the sight of God. Holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in God's sight. And in the book of Jude, verse
24, he said, he will present you faultless, faultless before
the presence of his glory. Now, that's what it means to
be justified. And then again, it means to have peace with God.
Not many people have peace. a lasting peace, a true peace,
a heart peace, a peace of conscience and mind. Very few people have
that, and there's just one place to have it, and that's to be
justified before God. Paul wrote in Romans 5, 1, therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace, peace of heart, peace
of conscience, peace in our minds, peace with God. The enmity has
all been removed. Wouldn't you like to have that?
That's what we're talking about. To be justified means to have
peace with God. And then to be justified means
to be free from all condemnation and all charges, from sin's curse,
from sin's penalty, from sin's power. Romans 8, 33 says, who
can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifies. If a man is justified before
God, the angels of God, the demons of hell, the angels, the demons,
and even God Himself can lay nothing to that man's charge.
That's exactly what we're talking about when we're dealing with
justification, to be free from all charges, from all condemnation,
and then to be justified further. Now listen to this. This is a
serious subject. As I said, we're not shooting
from the hip and we're not Shooting in a scattergun fashion, we take
an aim on this subject of justification. This generation needs some questions
answered. We holler, believe, believe,
but we don't tell men what to believe or why to believe or
how to believe. To be justified means to have
peace with God. It means to be free from guilt
and free from blame. It means before Almighty God
to be free from all charges, and then last of all, it means
to have eternal life. Whom he justified, he glorified. That's exactly what it means.
Whom he called, he justified. Whom he justified, he glorified. And the just, four times in the
Bible it says this, the just, that is the justified, shall
live by faith. Now my friend, you certainly
should be interested in justification. You should be in search of justification. If you are, you're in good company. You know, David said, O Lord,
have mercy upon me. Wash me from my iniquities. Blot
out my transgressions. Cleanse me from my sins. David
was seeking justification. And then the Apostle Paul said,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death? The publican in the temple cried,
O God, be reconciled unto me, a sinner. Well, how can God be
reconciled to me, a sinner? How can man be just with God?
How can he be clean that is born of a woman? Well, if anyone can
bring us the answer to these questions, it can truly be said
of him, how beautiful are the feet of him that bringeth glad
tidings of good things. How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel, if they can answer these questions.
Well, I'm going to deal with them this morning, and I trust
by the power of God's Spirit I'll be able to answer these
questions for you. Now, first of all, I know how
a man cannot be justified. How can man be just with God?
How can he be clean that's born of a woman? How can we be holy,
unblameable, unreprovable? How can we be without fault,
faultless in His presence? How can we be without guilt,
without charge, without condemnation? Well, I know how we can't be
justified before God. First of all, a man is not justified
wholly and clean in God's sight by words or because he says he
is. Now, go back to the book of Job
there, chapter 9, verse 20. And Job says, if I justify myself,
my own mouth will condemn me. If I say that I'm perfect, my
own mouth will prove me perverse. So first of all, a man is not
justified before God. Now, you may justify yourself
before men. You may claim what you don't
have. You may claim what you can't produce, and you may deceive
men. You may appear beautiful unto
men, but God knows your hearts. Over there in Luke 16, verse
15, He said unto them, You are they which justify yourselves
before men, but God knows your heart. But God knows your heart. So you can't justify yourself
before God by claiming perfection, by claiming piety, by claiming
righteousness, by claiming holiness in word only. In 1 John 1.8 it
says, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. If we say
we have not sinned, we make God a liar. So a man is not justified
because he says he is. Job said, if I justify myself,
my own mouth will condemn me. Condemnation will come from my
own mouth. All right? Secondly, I know that
a man is not justified by the law. Now, the scripture is very
plain on this. It says in Galatians 3, verse
10, by the law shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. In Galatians 3.10, cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. I don't have my choice
as to which law I shall keep. The law does not command partial
obedience. It commands perfect obedience. The law does not demand that
I be a pretty good fellow. It demands that I be a perfect
man. The law of God does not just
require my approval, but my obedience. And Romans 3, 19 says, what the
law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, and that's
every one of us. Every subject in the universe is under the
law of God, who is the king of the universe. And cursed is everyone
that continueeth not in all things that are written in the book
of the law to do them. For what the law says, it says to those
who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world become guilty before God." Just one thing that the
law can do, and that's condemn us, and that is to reveal our
sin unto us. atone for it, it can't cleanse
it, it can't take it away. It can just show it to you. It
can show it to you in plain terms. So a man is not justified by
keeping the law. And then I know this, thirdly,
a man is not justified by works. That is religious works, works
of charity, humanitarian works, good deeds. religious righteousness,
ceremonies, ordinances, rituals, all of these things. We're not
justified by works. I can go to church every Sunday
all the rest of my life. I can burn the candles. I can
bow. I can make crosses. I can preach
and teach and do all these things. I can give my money to the poor.
But if I have not Christ, these things profit me nothing. That's
what 1 Corinthians 13, 1 through 3 tells us. I may speak with
the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, it profiteth
me nothing. I may bestow my goods to feed the poor, and have not
love, it profiteth me nothing. I may give my body as a martyr
to be burned, and have not Christ's love, it profiteth me nothing.
Listen to this scripture in Titus 3, verse 5. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but by his mercy he hath saved us. See,
it's not by works. It's not by whatever anyone says,
do the best you can, it'll be all right for you. Well, the
best we can do is not good enough because the best we can do comes
far short of what God demands, the glory of God. We're not without
hope. We're not without help, but our
help cometh from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Our hope
is in Jehovah God, not in ourselves. This is what I'm trying to do,
is to take your confidence out of the flesh, mine, yours, or
anyone else's. I'm trying to turn your eyes
to God for mercy. Lift up your eyes into the hills
from whence cometh your help. My hope, refuge, salvation, deliverance
is not in here. It's in Him. Our righteousness,
as Isaiah said, are filthy rags. So let this be settled. And we
hit our target full in the middle. A man is not justified by words
because he says he's perfect, he says he's righteous, he says
he's holy, he says he's justified. It is not so. He's not justified
by the law, by the works of the law, by the deeds of the law,
shall no flesh be justified. He's not justified because he's
a religious worker serving the Lord, not by works of righteousness
which we've done. That's plain and clear. All right,
secondly, I know who it is that justifies. It's not the law. It's not man himself. It's not
the church. It's God. It says here in Romans
8.33, it is God that justifies. Now, that's clear. It couldn't
be clearer. If words mean anything at all,
it means just what it says. It is God that justified. He
says, whom he foreordained, he predestinated to be conformed
to the image of his Son. And whom he predestinated, he
called, and whom he called, he justified. And whom he justified,
he glorified. No one but God. Now get this.
No one but God can justify you. No one but God can pardon you. No one but God can forgive you.
You know why? Because you sinned against God.
And the only one who can forgive is the person against whom we've
sinned. The only one who can forgive
is the person whom we have offended. Now, if you've offended me, I've
got to forgive you. The offense is against me. The
man down the street can't forgive you. The lady up the street can't
forgive you. I've got to do it because you've
offended me." And so David said, O Lord, against Thee have I sinned
and done this evil in Thy sight. So our justification has got
to come from Him who has been offended, against whom we have
sinned, the living God. We've sinned against God. You
see that? No one but God can justify. Pardon
has got to come from the one against whom we have sinned.
And then no one but God would justify you or me, as sinful
as we are, as wicked and guilty as we are. God commended His
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Natural men hate their enemies.
God loves His. Natural men seek vengeance. God
shows mercy. Natural men are impatient. God
is long-suffering. God is long-suffering and plenteous
in mercy. Only God can pardon, justify,
forgive. And God can. He can because He
has the power. And if God justifies you, no
one can condemn you. Now, this is the thing. If some
religious organization pronounces me justified, There's a possibility
that that won't hold water, that that won't hold up in God's court.
But now, if God justifies me, who can condemn me? That's what
the Scripture says. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Now,
if I justify myself, my own mouth will condemn me. But if God pronounces
me holy, I'm holy. If God pronounces me clean, I'm
clean. If the judge of all the earth
acquits me, who can condemn me? If the Lord of the universe,
if the highest court of the universe pronounces me holy, unblameable,
unreprovable, and just, who can question my justification? The
old time churches used to sing about these great doctrines.
They didn't sing the little silly songs that are being sung today
in the name of God. They sang songs with depth. and
truth, and beauty, and that brought glory to God. They didn't sing
on Sunday morning, This Little Light of Mine. They sang songs
like this, Behold, I stand in that great day. Who ought to
my charge shall lay. With his spotless garments on,
I am as holy as God's own Son. That's got depth to it. That's
got richness to it. That has a blessing to it. And
you know what else this scripture tells us? It tells us that God
is the one who justifies. And it tells me something that's
good news to me, and I hope to you, that God justifies the ungodly. The ungodly. Folks, without Christ,
without hope, without God. To be without God is to be ungodly.
To be contrary to God in thought or word or deed is to be ungodly. Christ died for the ungodly.
Listen to these scriptures. In Romans 4, verse 5, God justified
the ungodly. In Romans 5, 6, Christ died for
the ungodly. And again, the songwriter picks
it up and says, Come ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded,
sick and sore, Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, love,
and power. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor a fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth
is to feel your need of him. But the question that I asked
at the beginning of this telecast was this. How can man be just
with God? I've tried to show you how he
can't be just. He can't be justified. Not by
his works, and not by his words, and not by his deeds, and not
by the law. And I showed you how it is that
God justifies. He's the only one who can. He's
the only one who will. And if He does, my friend, none
can condemn you. If God justifies you, who can
separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus?
Well, how? Now, that's the question that
we've got to deal with. How can He be clean that's born
of woman? How can this blessing be mine?
Well, we face two insurmountable problems. We have two solemn
and serious things to be considered. How can man be clean that is
spiritually unclean? That's the question. And all
of us by nature are spiritually unclean. Some feel it to a greater
degree than others, but it's there. How can man be righteous
who's unrighteous? How can man be holy that's unholy? Now, how can in reality, let's
face it, How, in reality, can you and I be clean? The second
insurmountable problem, for us that is, not with God, but with
us, impossible with men, how can God be just and justify the
ungodly? How can God Almighty be righteous
and pardon the unrighteous? How can God Almighty punish my
sins and yet forgive my sin? Now, that's the problem. Those
are the two great problems. In reality, making me to be holy. Well, I'll tell you how he does
that, by giving me a new nature, by regeneration, by the power
of the Holy Spirit, and by the imputed righteousness of another,
the Lord Jesus Christ. But now here's the answer. If
you want the answer to that question, turn to Romans chapter 3. Romans
chapter 3. And this question is answered
right there, verse 19 through 26, Romans 3, 19 through 26. And I'm going to take you right
through it. Now, if you really are in search of justification
in the sight of God, not before men. We're not talking about
before men or even before the courts of your own feelings and
thoughts. Your sins will always be before
you, but that's not what we're dealing with. We want our sins
between us and God remote. where God won't deal with them,
God won't see them, brought them out, cleanse them, wash them,
forgive them, pardon them, put them away, separate them from
me as far as the East is from the West, in God's sight. All
right, Romans 3, 19. Now, we know that what thingsoever
the law saith, that saith to them who are under the law, that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before
God. That's where we start. All are
guilty. You can't go a step further until
you Lay that foundation stone right there. Guilty. Guilty.
All right? Verse 20. Therefore, because
we're all guilty, and to be offended in one point of the law is to
be guilty of all the law of God. I wish I could convince you that
we're all sinners in God's sight. All we like sheep have gone astray.
There's no reason for you to feel to be a greater sinner than
anybody else, because sin is sin, and guilt is guilt, and
death is death. All right, therefore, by the
deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. The law can't save, it can only
condemn. All right, verse 20, verse 21,
but now, but now, the righteousness of God. We're talking about the
holiness of God. The righteousness of God without
the law. What does that mean? Does God
disregard His law? Does God junk His law? Does God
repeal His law? No, sir. Without the law means
without my obedience to it. The law will be obeyed, the law
will be honored, but not by me, but by someone in my place. The
holiness of God, the righteousness of God without my perfect obedience
is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
That is, all the Old Testament writers wrote about this. They
wrote about salvation. They wrote about redemption.
They wrote about salvation in Christ, all the Old Testament
writers did. And this is the righteousness
of God, the holiness of God, the purity of God, which is mine,
not because I obeyed the law, but because Christ did it. Now
watch that next verse there. Even the righteousness of God,
the holiness of God, which is by faith of Christ Jesus, that
is, Christ our representative, Christ, our surety, numbered
with the transgressors, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh,
came here to this earth, and He did for us what we couldn't
do. He met God's perfect law, and He obeyed it in every jot
and tittle. He said, I didn't come to destroy
the law. I didn't come to whittle it down. I didn't come to take
the edge off of it. I came to fulfill it. And Christ
as a man, why do you think He was born of a woman? in order
that those who are born of a woman might be saved. Why do you think
that Christ took on himself flesh and blood in order that he might
save those who are in flesh and blood? Why do you suppose Jesus
Christ came to this earth and wrapped himself in the likeness
of sinful flesh that he might save those who are wrapped in
sinful flesh? He did for me what I couldn't
do. The just died for the unjust that he might bring us to God.
He who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made
in him the righteousness of God. And it's unto all and upon all,
see verse 22 there, it's unto all and upon all them that believe,
for there's no difference. Verse 23 says there's no difference.
All have sinned and come short of God's glory. All men need
the same thing. They need a righteousness before
God. They need a perfect standing before that holy law. And that's
what Christ gives us by imputation. He reckons it to our account.
Blessed is the man to whom God will not charge sin. Blessed
is the man to whom God imputes a perfect standing, a perfect
holiness. That's justification. Not by
my works, not by my words, not by my deeds, but by His works
and His words and His deeds. It's unto all and upon all them
that believe, for there's no difference. All have sinned and
come short of God's glory, verse 24. Therefore, we are justified
freely without cost, without charge, without merit, without
any return. We're justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. That's
how we're justified. By the act of another, by the
work of another, by the obedience of another, by the death of another,
by the shedding of the blood of another. Now look at verse
25 and 26. whom God hath set forth his own
Son, to be a propitiation," that word means a mercy seat, an atonement,
"...for our sins, and for the sins that have passed through
the forbearance of God," that is the Old Testament people,
"...in order to declare his righteousness, that he might be just, and the
justifier of them that believe on his name, on Jesus Christ."
Do you see that? That's how men are justified
before God. That's how men become clean and
holy, unblameable, unreprovable. Can you reach out and take hold
of that? Can you lay hold upon that? It's not just believing
some doctrines or believing a certain way a denomination teaches. This thing is to receive a person. And with that person, all that
he accomplishes, and all that He is, and all the benefits and
blessings of His grace, what we couldn't do, and what we can't
do, and what we'll never be able to do. Christ in the body of
this flesh obeyed that law, honored that law, and in His own body
He went to the tree and bore my sin, and now God can be just
and righteous and holy and forgive me because in Christ I don't
have any sin. I have a perfect righteousness
in Christ as I stand in Him. God sees Christ and then He sees
me in the Beloved, accepted and free.