Title: Justification
Text: Romans 3: 24
Date: February 26, 2015
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Romans 3: 24: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
Every person reading this needs to be justified: young and old, male and female, rich and poor, educated and uneducated. No matter who you are, you need to be justified. But do you know why you need to be justified? Do you know what justification is? Do you know who it is that justifies and how? Those are the three questions I hope to answer from the scriptures in this message.
WHY DO WE NEED TO BE JUSTIFIED?
First, we all need to be justified because we have all sinned.
Romans 3: 23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Romans 3: 10: As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Romans 3: 19: Now we know that what things 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. 20: Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Romans 5: 12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Secondly, everyone needs to be justified because we all must stand before the just Judge of heaven and earth, God. He will “by no means clear the guilty.” (Ex 34: 7) For those who do not believe on Christ, if you meet God right now, God will pronounce you guilty, God will cast you out into eternal darkness, and you will suffer for all eternity under the just condemnation of God.
We trust the sovereignty of God. God must reveal a sinners need in us. But if one of our kids was in a burning house, I guarantee you, we would press upon them the urgency of the matter! Paul said, “Knowing the terror of the LORD, we persuade men.” (2Co 5:11) I am pleading with you now, turn with me in these scriptures and see and believe on the only one who can save you from your sins.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE JUSTIFIED?
I am not speaking to entertain hair-splitters and debaters; I am preaching to sinners bound for eternity. So what does God say justification is? Let’s turn to a few scriptures.
First, to be justified is to be eternally redeemed from all sin by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. God foreordained the justification of all who shall be justified before the foundation of the world when God foreordained Christ, his Son, to accomplish our justification.
1 Peter 1:18: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19: But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,…
Sinners are redeemed from the curse of the law and thereby justified by the precious blood of Christ. He is the Lamb without blemish and spot. Our justification was foreordained in Christ before the foundation of the world when Christ was foreordained.
Secondly, to be justified is to be presented to God without fault. Speaking to those who already believe on Christ, Jude said,
Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
In his fig leaves, Adam could not even stand before God’s presence. Imagine standing before the presence of his glory. To be justified is to be “presented faultless before the presence of his glory.”
Colossians 1:21: And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled; 22: In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Think of God’s sight. God sees your inner man—the thoughts and motives of your heart. He hears our words and sees all our deeds. But for the justified man, God sees a holy man an unblameable man an unreprovable man—get this—in his sight.
Thirdly, to be justified is to be made the righteousness of God—
2 Corinthians 5:21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
In order for a sinner to meet God, to be accepted of God, we must be made the righteousness of God. Does anyone imagine they have attained to the righteousness of God by our works? It is impossible!
WHO JUSTIFIES AND HOW?
Now, this is the key to our justification. The important thing is to know him who justifies.
Illustration: “You haven’t said anything about who does the justifying!”
First, God is the Justifier—
Romans 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
That ends all the cavils of vain men who want to attribute some part of justification to the sinner. No! It is God that justifieth.
Secondly, God justifies by his grace, apart from any works or worth in the sinner—
Romans 3: 24: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
God’s elect are justified freely by his grace. That means our justification is not due to anything in us or anything done by us. God the Father chose his people freely; God the Father sent Christ to freely justify us; God the Holy Spirit freely regenerates us; by God’s grace we believe on Christ. His grace is free, sovereign, irresitable, preserving, victorious grace! God’s grace gets the job done!
There was one of these will-works preachers preaching in a three day meeting who kept begging the people, “Let God save you.” In all three days, no one came forward. So at the end of the meeting this preacher said, “Now God will send you all to hell.” One fellow answered, “No, he won’t. If I prevented him from saving me then I’ll prevent him from sending me to hell.” The pitiful idol who depends upon the sinner to “let him save” is no god at all. The true and living God saves by his grace irresistibly, effectually, freely and none can stop him from doing so.
Thirdly, we are justified by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God--
Romans 5: 9: Being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Isaiah 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Fourthly, we are justified through the gift of faith as the means whereby we receive this righteousness in Christ,
Romans 3:26: To declare, [I say], at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27: Where [is] boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28: Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 29: [Is he] the God of the Jews only? [is he] not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 30: Seeing [it is] one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 31: Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. 4:1: What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2: For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath [whereof] to glory; but not before God. 3: For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness….23: Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24: But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25: Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Why do I preach? I urge you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lastly, be sure to get this: Christ himself is the believers justification, he is our only Righteousness.
Isaiah 45:24 Surely, shall [one] say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: [even] to him shall [men] come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
If you were drowning and someone saved you, would you be troubled with knowing at precisely what point he saved you or what kind of floatation device he used. No! You would want to know the one who saved you. Above all else, believers want to know Christ, more of Christ and more of Christ.
1 John 5:11: And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12: He that hath the Son hath life; [and] he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
Amen!