Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans chapter 3 as we are going to be looking at what justification is all about. As you are turning there, listen to what John Flavel has to say regarding justification. He tells us:
My friend Dr. Roy Gustafson has the finest illustration of justification I have ever heard. It seems that there was a man in England who put his Rolls-Royce on a boat and went across to the continent to go on a holiday. While he was driving around Europe, something happened to the motor of his car. He cabled the Rolls-Royce people back in England and asked, “I’m having trouble with my car; what do you suggest I do?” Well, the Rolls-Royce people flew a mechanic over! The mechanic repaired the car and flew back to England and left the man to continue his holiday. As you can imagine, the fellow was wondering, “How much is this going to cost me?” So when he got back to England, he wrote the people a letter and asked how much he owed them. He received a letter from the office that read: “Dear Sir: There is no record anywhere in our files that anything ever went wrong with a Rolls-Royce.” That is justification.
Did Christ finish the work? How dangerous it is to join anything of our own to the righteousness of Christ, in pursuit of justification before God! Jesus Christ will never endure this; it reflects upon His work dishonorably. He will be all, or none, in our justification. If He has finished the work, what need is there of our additions? And if not, to what purpose are they? Can we finish that which Christ Himself could not complete? Did He finish the work, and will He ever divide the glory and praise of it with us? No, no; Christ is no half-Savior. It is a hard thing to bring proud hearts to rest upon Christ for righteousness. God humbles the proud by calling sinners wholly from their own righteousness to Christ for the justification.
- John Flavel
In our study in Romans we have seen Paul illustrate for us that all are guilty before God, none are good, not even one, no one is perfect and thus, all deserve God’s punishment for their sins. It is what justice calls for! But folks, we don’t cry out for God’s justice upon our lives, at least I hope we don’t. You see, we deserve death if we truly want God’s justice in the condition we are in. We saw this in the trial of the Russian spies that Judge Kaufman presided over. The Rosenbergs were charged and convicted of treason against the United States and they were sentenced to death.
As their lawyer made his summation after a long and bitter trial, the lawyer for the Rosenbergs said, “Your Honor, what my clients ask for is justice.” Judge Kaufman replied with the following statement, “The court has given what you ask for – justice! What you really want is mercy. But that is something this court has no right to give!” How true that is!
Thus, we don’t cry out for God’s justice, but for His grace and mercy upon our lives. Grace speaks of unmerited favor or getting what we don’t deserve, eternal life with Jesus. Mercy speaks of not getting what we do deserve, death and eternal separation from Jesus!
Folks, this is a powerful section for man keeps trying to be good enough, do enough good works to make it into heaven and as they appear before God in their own righteousness, which are like filthy rags, God’s justice for their lives is the Lake of Fire, the wrath of God upon their lives because of their sins. Thus, we truly need to know and understand and apply the righteousness that God has given to us as we fall upon His grace and mercy. With that said, let’s begin reading in Romans chapter 3 starting in verse 21 and see what the Lord has for us this morning.
It is easy to become self-righteous as we compare our lives with others who are not as good as we are. I mean, how many of us would compare ourselves to Mother Teresa? No, we pick a mass murderer or someone along those lines and compared to them, we look good! The problem with that is it is wrong and it is a false security that won’t save you because the standard is never man, the standard is God and it is perfection! Thus, Paul says that the righteousness of God is revealed, it is manifested and for many, they read it and it doesn’t move them. Yes, they understand that God is holy, He is perfect, there is no darkness in Him at all and yet they lower the bar and make the standard one of good works even though Paul says that this righteousness is apart from the Law, it is apart from good works! Why would Paul say something like that? Because if righteousness came by the Law, we would all be dead!
You see, it is not just the outward observation of the Law; it truly is a matter of the heart. Jesus said in Matthew 5:27-28, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” In other words, long before sin is manifested in our lives, it begins in our hearts, we play with these thoughts and the reality is you are guilty even before you commit the act. Some would argue, “Then no one would be perfect, all would be seen as sinners!” That is the point!
So as God’s righteousness is revealed from heaven it shows us how far short we are of hitting the mark of perfection. Think of it like this, as we look at ourselves with the light of man shinning upon us, we don’t look bad! But then the light of God shines upon us and we don’t look so good anymore. Women, when you put on your make-up you use a bright light so you can see those areas that need to be touched up, right? Well, the light of God does that very thing upon our lives only we can’t cover them up, those imperfections we can’t do anything about in our own strength. Thus, Paul says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23.
That is the bad news, we fall short, we miss the mark of perfection, but Paul doesn’t leave us in that condition for he goes on to say “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:24-26. What a glorious promise that God has given to us, JUSTIFICATION! But what does that really mean?
The word “justified,” DIKAIOO (dik-ah-yo’-o) in the Greek, is a legal term and it speaks of being “declared righteous” or “acquitted.” Of this Spiros Zodhiates said:
Paul concludes that since all men are guilty, they cannot be “justified” by their own personal character or conduct (v. 20). Justification is a legal term meaning to remove the guilt (liability to punishment) of the sinner. It does not involve making one inwardly holy, but merely declares that the demands of justice have been satisfied. Hence, there is no grounds for condemnation (Rom. 8:1). Not even obedience to the law can justify one before God, Paul reasons, because the very nature of the law is to prove to man that he is sinful and deserves God’s punishment. Thus, the purpose of the law is to lead man to renounce his own righteousness and trust in the imputation of Christ’s righteousness as the only grounds for acceptance with God.
- Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study New Testament, p. 506
And please understand that this justification, God declaring us righteous is given to us “freely,” DOREAN (do-reh-an’) in the Greek and it speaks of being “without cost.” You can’t buy it, you can’t earn it, all you can do is receive it by faith, it is a gift of God. Again, this is hard for some to believe and thus they feel they must do something or live a certain way to obtain this or maintain this, but Paul tells us that we are justified through faith in Jesus, by His “grace” or unmerited favor that He has bestowed upon us, giving us something that we don’t deserve – LIFE!
But what about Matthew 12:37 where Jesus said, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”? It seems we can be justified by our words, or worse, condemned by the things we say, isn’t that what Jesus is saying? Even Paul, in Romans 2:13 said, “for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified.” It seems to imply that by doing the things of God, good works; it justifies you before Him, doesn’t it? And even more confusing, James 2:24 says, “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” It seems that James is saying that we are not only justified by faith, but also by our good works, doesn’t it?
To make it even more confusing, Paul tells us in Romans 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” That seems to contradict the other verses we just read, even what Paul said! In fact, Paul takes this even further by saying in Galatians 5:4, “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” In other words, if you try to be justified by the Law, you are separated from Christ; you have fallen out of His grace because you are working to enter in!
What in the world is going on? What do we believe? Are we saved by faith or by works or both? What is the solution to this dilemma? It is simple when you think about it. We are saved by grace, through faith which then results in good works in our lives, fruit is born and as we are in Christ and He in us, our works are declared righteous because they come from Him! Paul put it this way in Ephesians 2:8-10, verses we all know, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” You see, by adding to the gift that God has given to us, eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ, it only cheapens it, and it doesn’t add to it or improve upon it! We are saved by grace, through faith and out of that fruit is born in our lives, good works, it doesn’t save us, it just shows we are saved!
And if you think about it, if the work was not completed by Christ, if we must continue to maintain it or obtain it, then the words He cried from the cross of Calvary were meaningless. He said, “TETELESTAI!” or “Paid in full!” or “It is finished!” Guess what, it is finished, the work is completed, our sins have been paid in full, I didn’t say it, Jesus did!
Thus, as Jesus hung on the cross of Calvary for our sins, He became the substitute sacrifice for us, a propitiation. In that the Father could demonstrate His righteousness in judgment against sin while sparing us who deserve His judgment. Paul said in II Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” And so as God justifies us He is saying that, He is declaring that the demand of His Law have been fulfilled in the righteousness of His Son, as Paul tells us in II Corinthians 5:19, “that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
The word “propitiation” is the Greek word HILASTERION (hil-as-tay’-ree-on) and it is used in the Septuagint for the mercy seat which was the lid that covered the Ark of the Covenant where the Law of God was kept. I find that interesting for Paul tells us in Hebrews 9:2-5, “For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.”
And then in Hebrews 9:11-14 we are told, “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
In other words, the tabernacle was a picture of Christ. For instance, the lampstand was a picture of Jesus being the light of the world, the table of showbread is a picture of Jesus being the bread of life, and we can go on, but the one we are going to look at here is the mercy seat, which was also a picture of Jesus. The Bible tells us in Exodus 25:22, “And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.” And in Leviticus 16:2 we are told, “and the LORD said to Moses: ‘Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.’” If the Lord sat upon the Law we would all be in trouble. Instead, He sits upon the mercy seat, which again speaks of not getting what we deserve.
Now, on the Day of Atonement, Yon Kippur, the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies where God dwelt, the Shekinah glory, and He would sprinkle the blood of a goat upon the mercy seat to atone for the sins of the people according to Leviticus 16:15. But now Jesus has come not to cover our sins, but to take them away, to remove them completely by His blood as it was poured out upon the mercy seat once for all, it does not have to repeated each year! And thus, Peter tells us “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” I Peter 1:3-5.
Not only that, but listen carefully to what Paul says here in Romans 3:25d-26, “because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” God could have poured out His wrath upon sinful man immediately but He didn’t, He was patient, He was merciful, He was longsuffering. We see this in Psalm 86:15 where we read, “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.” Why did God wait? Because He wants to give man every opportunity to turn to Him before it is too late, before judgment comes!
The thing is, God must deal with sin and He did as the sins of the world were cast upon Jesus, He became sin for us and the full force of God’s wrath came upon the person of Jesus, the wrath we deserved He took so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him! He truly is the mercy seat and the blood that covered the mercy seat for the forgiveness of our sins, once and for all!
And so we are sinners before God. We have broken His Laws. We deserve death, the punishment of God. But Christ stepped in and took our place! And so, as we receive Jesus into our lives by faith, God declares us justified as He has provided the way of forgiveness. You see, if God just passed over our sins it would show His mercy but it would also make Him unjust. Thus, as you look at the cross you see God’s mercy and justice satisfied! We can then hear God say “Joe, not guilty!” “Sue, not guilty!” “Dave, not guilty!” “Julie, not guilty!” And the list can go on for everyone who has received Jesus as their Lord and Savior; they are justified, not guilty before God!
Now when we see an attribute of God, like His grace and mercy, His forgiveness of sins in Christ, we tend to put human understanding to it, a human response to it. When someone says “I forgive you!” what they might be saying is “I forgive you but I will not forget what you did to me. You better watch out because I may have buried that hatchet but I buried it deep into your back!”
That is not God folks! How do I know that? Simply put, I know because of what God has said in His Word. In Psalm 103:11-12 we are told, “For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” How far is that? Guess what, the east and the west never meet! That is how far away God has removed our sins! In Isaiah 43:25 we are told, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.” He pushes the delete key regarding our sins; they will be remembered no more, they are gone, paid in full by Jesus!
Think of it like this, Jesus has cast all our sins into the depths of the sea of forgetfulness. The problem comes when we start to go fishing in this sea of forgetfulness and bringing things up that God has forgiven and we feel horrible, condemned. Thus, God has not only placed our sins in the depths of the sea of forgetfulness but He has also placed a sign saying, “NO FISHING!”
You see, Paul is trying to show us that Jesus has done for us what the Law could never do for us, save us. The Law was our tutor, our schoolmaster to bring us to Jesus and in Him we have the forgiveness of sins and we are declared justified before God, NOT GUILTY!
As I begin to rap this up this morning, listen to what John MacArthur said regarding our justification before God and the Law of God. He tells us:
As far as salvation is concerned, the gospel does not replace the law, because the law was never a means of salvation. The law was given to show men the perfect standards of God’s righteousness and to show that those standards are impossible to meet in man’s own power. The purpose of the law was to drive men to faith in God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared God’s perfect standards to be higher even than those of the Old Covenant. A person breaks God’s law, He said, not only by killing but even by hating (Matt 5:21-22), not only by committing adultery but by having lustful thoughts (5:27-8). If it is impossible to fulfill perfectly the Mosaic law, how much more impossible is it to keep the standards set forth by Christ in His earthly ministry.
The cross establishes, or confirms, the law in three ways. First, it establishes the law by paying the penalty of death, which the law demanded for failing to fulfill perfectly and completely its righteous requirements. When Jesus said that He had come not to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfill them (Matt 5:17), He was speaking not only of His sinless earthly life but of His sin-bearing death.
Second, the cross establishes the law by fulfilling its purpose of driving men to faith in Jesus Christ. Paul had already declared that “by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified” (3:20). “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point,” James says, “he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10). “The Law has become our tutor,” Paul told the Galatians, “to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith” (Gal 3:24).
Third, the cross establishes the law by providing believers the potential for fulfilling. “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirements of the Law might be fulfilled in us” (Rom 8:3-4).
- John MacArthur, Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
Listen to what John tells us in I John 3:1-3, as it amplifies what we have been talking about. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
We see the love of God wrapped in Jesus as we become His children, joint heirs with Christ, we are declared righteous, not guilty! But that is not the end of it, for as soon as we are saved the sanctification process begins where God is molding and shaping us into the image of Christ. It is a lifelong process but God is patient and as we look for the glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ, it helps us to live lives that are pleasing to Him for we want to be serving Him when He returns, not sinning!
Thus, we are justified before God, a divine act whereby our holy God has judiciously declared a believing sinner to be righteous and accepted before Him because Christ has become sin for us on the cross of Calvary and has made us righteous, the righteousness of Christ that has been imputed into our lives. It is as we read in our opening story this morning, “Did Christ finish the work? How dangerous it is to join anything of our own to the righteousness of Christ, in pursuit of justification before God! Jesus Christ will never endure this; it reflects upon His work dishonorably. He will be all, or none, in our justification. If He has finished the work, what need is there of our additions? And if not, to what purpose are they? Can we finish that which Christ Himself could not complete? Did He finish the work, and will He ever divide the glory and praise of it with us? No, no; Christ is no half-Savior. It is a hard thing to bring proud hearts to rest upon Christ for righteousness. God humbles the proud by calling sinners wholly from their own righteousness to Christ for the justification.” Praise God for His love for us and now we have entered into that eternal life with Him through Jesus, our propitiation, our mercy seat! Never forget, in Christ, you are NOT GUILTY!