Re: Sunday Morning 6/9/02
Posted by: rcleary1 <rcleary1@...>
Could you please email me the entire series of messages you have sent on
Justification?
Much thanks,
Jack Cleary
http://www.lighthouseoutreach.com
----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, June 09, 2002 12:46 PM
Subject: [PastorMail] Sunday Morning 6/9/02
> THE PROVISION AND PLACE OF JUSTIFICATION
> Romans 3:21-31
> Introduction: You could say that verses from Romans 1:18 through Romans
> 3:20 are pretty dismal. It strips all the arguments, self-confidence,
> self-righteousness and selfish religion away and leaves a person open
> before God. It causes him to examine himself in the light of what God
> pronounces as righteousness. The man who thinks he rely upon his
> conscience to steer him in the direction of heaven finds himself guilty
> before God. The man who thinks that he is morally superior finds himself
> in the position of guilty before God. For those who believe that their
> religion will be the ticket to heaven finds him also in the place of
> guilty. Then Paul completes his presentation for those who stubborn
> ignore the other positions have say without reservation that he is guilty
> before God also.
> The thought should bring conviction and fear to a man that within him
> there is no hope of heaven. It stuns him to silence before God. This
> thought brings us to our scripture for today. He is open and stripped of
> all of self-righteousness and selfish religion before God. If this was
> all there was, it would probably all right to commit suicide.
> Then we come to those two words in verse 21: "But now". These words
> indicate a turning point or a turning a corner to a different avenue that
> can be traveled by anyone. It is marked as "Whosoever will". Thus far
> everything has to say has been "bad news." He has clearly shown man's
> guilt and condemnation. Paul has shown every man, woman, boy and girl to
> be a lost and doomed sinner who is "guilty before God." BUT NOW Paul
> begins to share the "GOOD NEWS"! The good news is this that God has a
> wonderful plan of salvation or justification whereby sinful men may be
> declared righteous before a holy God. "But now" indicates a drastic
> change in the movement of this important Book of the Bible. One man
> stated that this section is the very heart of the book of Romans.
> As I did in the previous messages, I will be answering some questions.
> How is it possible to restore guilty man to a righteousness God can
> accept?
> Have we any basis for boasting?
> Let's proceed through this passage which one preacher called the very
> heart of the Book of Romans.
> I. THE ANSWER OF GOD Vs. 21
> "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
> witnessed by the law and the prophet"
> Clearly Paul tells us that no self-effort is going to do in the matter of
> salvation and justification. This is the first time since the
> righteousness of God is mentioned since chapter one and verses number
> seventeen.
> "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as
> it is written, The just shall live by faith."
> We need God's righteousness. The justification that is provided must come
> from the Lord. How much do we need that righteousness? Romans 3:10
> "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one"
> II. THE ATTAINMENT FROM THE LORD
> Vs. 22-24
> "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all
> and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have
> sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his
> grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus"
> The ground at the cross is level for all men. All have sinned. All can be
> saved. 2 Peter 3:9
> "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
> slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should
> perish, but that all should come to repentance."
> There is no badge of distinction here. All need salvation. It does not
> matter if you have a baptism certificate from every church in the country
> or church membership in every church in the country. It does not matter
> whom your parents or grandparents were. Without Jesus, you won't make
> heaven.
> There is a teaching that abounds in many churches. It called
> universalism. It teaches that man will eventual get saved. The Bible
> teaches just the opposite. It teaches a salvation that is universal only
> for those who believe. John 3:16
> "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
> whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
> Revelation 22:17
> "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
> Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take
> the water of life freely."
> John 11:25-26
> "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that
> believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever
> liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"
> All men have fallen short. All men are in the same boat and the boat is
> sinking. But God in his infinite mercy has provided a wonderful free
> salvation for all doomed sinners who put their trust in Him.
> There is a word that is found in verse twenty-three that is so important.
> It is the word "ALL". All means all and that is all that all means. There
> is only one exception to this sweeping statement and that is the Lord
> Jesus Christ. He was without sin. 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."
> This sweeping statement that all have sinned even included His mother
> Mary. She had sin. She is in Heaven today by that the same token everyone
> else is there and will be there: By the blood of Jesus Christ.
> "All have sinned" is a vital Bible truth. It is repeated man times in the
> Bible. Isaiah 53:6
> "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own
> way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
> 1 Kings 8:46
> "If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and
> thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they
> carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near"
> The word "sin" or sinned in the Bible means "to miss the mark" or "to
> come short of some standard". Let me illustrate this way. Let's say that
> before a man could be a member of the police department he had to be six
> foot and six inches tall and I came to apply for the job, then I would
> not meet the requirement. Why? I am only five foot and eight inches. I
> missed the mark by ten inches. But Ben misses the mark by six inches.
> Both of us miss the mark of six foot six inches. We came short.
> Here is the question: Do I measure up to the Glory of God or do I fall
> short?
> God is holy. Am I as holy as He is?
> God is righteous. Am I as righteous as He is?
> God is loving. Am I as loving as He is?
> God is truthful. Am I as truthful as He is?
> God is kind. Am I as kind as He is?
> This list of questions could go on for a long time. The answer would be
> no.
> There is another way to look at it. Suppose I stood next to the Lord
> Jesus Christ Himself (the Sinless and Spotless One). How would I measure
> us to Him? Would I measure up to His righteousness or would I come short?
> People always want perfection. Here is the only perfection I know will
> and has ever existed. Jesus Christ is God's standard of perfection for
> every man; woman, boy or girl ought to be.
> God knew that we would be falling short of His perfection so He provided
> a plan of salvation that make it possible for all that believe can be as
> righteous as Jesus Christ.
> This word "justified" means to be declared righteous, pronounced
> righteous. It literally means that in the sight of God Almighty, it is
> just as if I have never sinned one day in my life nor will never sin one
> day in my life. It makes it possible for me to keep the greatest of all
> the commandments found in Matthew 22.
> Matthew 22:36-40
> "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him,
> Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
> soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And
> the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On
> these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
> Where do I live in God's economy today? I live in 1 John 3:7. ("Little
> children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is
> righteous, even as he is righteous.) My righteousness is not by my own
> merit. The Lord freely gave it to me. It is like when Adam and Eve sinned
> in the Garden of Eden and tried to cover up with fig leaves. God clothed
> them in coats of an animal. Adam and Eve's attempt to cover their sin
> left them exposed very quickly after they took the fig leaves off the
> branch.
> Think of it this way. We got God's grace. That is what God gave us that
> we did not deserve. We got it by God's mercy that did not give us what we
> deserve. If it had not been for the mercy of God, we would all be
> inhabitants of hell the moment we die sitting under the condemnation of
> that punishment for our sins as long as we lived.
> The word "redemption" means to be set free or set free by the payment of
> a price. That price was the death of Saviour. 1 Peter 1:18-19
> "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; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
> without blemish and without spot"
> Our salvation may be free but it was not cheap. It took the death of
> Jesus Christ the righteous Son of God to deliver me from my sin.
> There are four aspects of the justification that God gives.
> I have JUSTIFICATION BY GRACE. The source is found in the unmerited favor
> and undeserved kindness of God.
> I have JUSTIFICATION BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. It is the basis of my
> justification by the blood shed on Calvary's cruel cross.
> I have JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. It is the channel through which I attained
> my righteous. By simple child like faith in Jesus Christ! It is the only
> way justification comes. It comes by faith.
> I have JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS. This is the evidence that I am saved. I do
> not do the work of God in order to be saved. I do the work of God because
> I am saved.
> THE ACCEPTABILITY FROM GOD
> Vs. 25-31
> "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood,
> to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
> through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his
> righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which
> believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law?
> of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man
> is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the God of the
> Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
> Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and
> uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith?
> God forbid: yea, we establish the law."
> A. Its power vs. 25
> It is seen in the public display of Jesus Christ's death. His death was
> not done in secret nor did it remain in secret. When most of us die, most
> people will never remember our names. One hundred years from now, no one
> will remember the name John Michael Walls, Jr. One hundred years from
> now, they will not remember the day or way I died. But the death of Jesus
> Christ is and will always be a constant memorial to the grace of God.
> There is a penalty for breaking the law and this penalty must be paid!
> Every lawbreaker must die! God's justice will not be satisfied until the
> penalty is paid in full! Only the death of Jesus Christ can be the
> payment for the sins for all men.
> The power is that it is for everyone who believes. If a person does not
> accept this work of Calvary that must be personally applied and
> personally appropriated by faith, nothing else works. Paul made sure that
> folks understood this in the previous verses.
> There is power in the blood of the Lamb. There is healing in the touch of
> His hand. But the greatest of all miracles is the day Jesus saved my
> soul. How could a person not be excited over that transformation? The
> devil moved out and Jesus moved in.
> B. Its provision vs. 25-26
> How is it possible that a Holy God allow sin to go unpunished? The cross
> is the fact that sin has never and will never be unpunished. God deals
> with sin severely.
> In one way you could say that the Old Testament saints went to heaven on
> credit. They offered up the sacrifices for sin but that did not obtain
> their salvation. It took the death of Jesus Christ to but their salvation
> also. God's righteousness shown at the cross shows that God righteously
> judged and punished every last sin that man has ever or will ever commit.
> God's gracious gift of justification is offered to all. But it must be
> personally received.
> Romans 5:17
> "For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which
> receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign
> in life by one, Jesus Christ."
> John 1:12
> "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
> God, even to them that believe on his name"
> John 6:37
> "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to
> me I will in no wise cast out."
> C. It's preciousness Vs. 27-31
> There is no boasting that we can make. God did it all. Jesus paid it all.
> The Holy Spirit planted it all. It is was His plan, His salvation, His
> blood in which we only can rest and praise. We are saved by His WORTH,
> the WORK He did on Calvary and the WORD of God that plainly tells it all
> to us.
> Ephesians 2:8-10
> "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
> is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are
> his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
> before ordained that we should walk in them."
> Some people try to boast that look what God got when He got them. He did
> not get a bargain when He got me. I was a lost, hell bound,
> hell-deserving sinner when He obtained me. It is only by Him am I
> acceptable to Him.
> It is precious because it is by faith and not works. If it was works that
> takes us to heaven, then the Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses has us all
> beat. It is by the blood and death of Jesus Christ. It is faith in that
> that makes us acceptable in the sight of God Almighty, the Holy One.
> Conclusion: Three important truths end this passage.
> Who can boast? The answer is absolutely no one. We can not look down up
> the sodomite and boast. We can not look down upon the moralist and boast.
> We can not look down upon the religionists and boast. If you have any
> boasting to make, it has to be in the blood of the Lamb's work in your
> life.
> Who is excluded from grace? The answer is absolutely no one who put his
> faith in Jesus Christ. There is no most favorite nation status here.
> There is not three God's to be worshiped. There is not a Jewish God for
> the Jews. There is not a Gentile God for the Gentiles. Nor is there is an
> Allah for Muslims. The ground at the cross is level for all men.
> Does this cancel out the Law? Or do we no longer need the Law? No, the
> death of Jesus Christ fulfills the Law and all it requirements. Christ
> gives the very righteousness demanded by the Law to us the moment we are
> saved.
>
> Pastor Mike Walls
> Freedom Baptist Church Smithfield, NC
> All scriptures are King James Bible
> Isa. 41:10
>
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