Forgiven & Justified
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As we prepare to share in the Lord’s table this first Sunday of 2019, I want to spend a little time thinking about what our God has done for us, specifically the forgiveness of sins and the justification of our entire selves.
As sinners we have two serious problems.
Two Problems …
Two Problems …
Our first problem is the guilt of sin.
Our first problem is the guilt of sin.
as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;
We are guilty of sin, and incapable of NOT displeasing God.
We are guilty of sin because we are born into a guilty race.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
And we are guilty of sin because we ourselves violate God’s Law.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Sin brings death, all the time, every time. There are no little sins, no minor sins, no venial sins. Every sin is a mortal sin, deserving eternal punishment in hell.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Of course, we are masters at minimizing our own guilt. Sure, I did THIS, but at least I didn’t do THAT. Or, sure, I did THAT, but look at what SHE did! Ever hear of the phrase “conflict of interest”? Self-assessments are never honest.
Our own belief that we are not as bad as all that is worthless. Self-assessments are never honest.
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
So, we need a solution for our first problem: sin.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
Our second problem is our unrighteousness.
Our second problem is our unrighteousness.
We are unrighteous by our very nature, and incapable of pleasing God.
Righteousness is what God requires of us.
No one is righteous.
as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;
No matter how hard we try, the very best that we can do is unacceptable to God.
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
In the book of Romans we read about Abraham
Our very nature is corrupt; we don’t have the ability to do what God requires even once, much less all the time, every time, over the course of a lifetime.
because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
Rom
It’s popular in our time for people to say “I can’t help it; I was born this way.” We hear this with drug and alcohol addiction, with homosexuality, with virtually everything. “It’s not my fault that I am” and fill-in-the-blank.
So we need a solution for our second problem: unrighteousness.
Well, if anyone had a right to say “It’s not MY fault” it was Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve. His parents caused the entire human race to be born into sin. But what did the Lord say to Cain?
Let me remind you that saying, “Well, I was born this way, I can’t help it if I sin,” doesn’t do any good. In Adam sinned, and everyone IN Adam – every single one of his descendants – was polluted. Nevertheless, in God says to Adam and Eve’s son, Cain,
“If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
God didn’t say, “Well, Cain, it’s not your fault, it’s your momma and daddy’s fault.” He said to Cain, “Sin wants YOU, and YOU are responsible for resisting it.”
So we have two problems – sin and unrighteousness – and we need solutions for both problems.
Two Problems … One Solution
Two Problems … One Solution
Let’s look at :
He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
So there IS a single solution to sin and unrighteousness, and His name is Jesus Christ, “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”
Cain couldn’t simply say, “I was born this way.” It was his responsibility to master sin, rather than letting sin master him. Of course, Cain failed.
And we see in that there is a single solution to both of these problems, and that solution is Jesus Christ, “who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised up for our justification.”
And we see in that there is a single solution to both of these problems, and that solution is Jesus Christ, “who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised up for our justification.”
God performs two operations on every single Christian, without exception, and they are clearly stated for us here. Let’s think about them.
Let’s take these points one at a time.
Jesus was delivered over because of our transgressions.
Jesus was delivered over because of our transgressions.
That is, HE died because of OUR sin.
700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah said that the Savior would bear OUR sins, but people wouldn’t understand.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
OUR griefs, OUR sorrows, OUR transgressions, OUR iniquities, OUR well-being, OUR desertion.
HE bore them, HE carried them, HE was pierced, HE was crushed, HE was chastened, HE was scourged.
is really striking, because it describes the very moment of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
He hung there on the cross, suffering immense physical torture, and far greater spiritual agony, and did so for the sake of sinners, bearing their griefs and carrying their sorrows. Yet most of those who stood at the execution site viewed Him as getting what HE deserved. The Jews thought that because He defiled the Temple, and claimed to be God. The Romans thought that because He disrupted the entire region, and preached another kingdom.
But Jesus didn’t get what HE deserved. He got what I deserved. There were three crosses on that hill. One murderer, Barabbas, was released by Pilate. Two murderers, insurrectionists, hung on either side of Jesus. He hung on Barabbas’ cross. He hung on MY cross. He hung on YOUR cross.
The Romans would have said that Jesus got what He deserved, causing problems for the empire, preaching a different kingdom, and telling people that He was a king.
He hung on YOUR cross. He was delivered over to the Jews, to the Romans, to crucifixion, because of OUR transgressions.
He was delivered over to the Jews, to the Romans, to crucifixion, because of OUR transgressions.
One murderer, Barabbas, was released by Pilate. Two murderers, insurrectionists, hung on either side of Jesus. He hung on Barabbas’ cross. He hung on MY cross. He hung on YOUR cross. He was delivered over to the Jews, to the Romans, to crucifixion, because of OUR transgressions.
But He died for US. He died for ME. There were three crosses on that hill. One murderer, Barabbas, was released by Pilate. Two murderers, insurrectionists, hung on either side of Jesus. He hung on Barabbas’ cross. He hung on MY cross. He hung on YOUR cross. He was delivered over to the Jews, to the Romans, to crucifixion, because of OUR transgressions.
And through His death, our sins were washed away. Yes, we were guilty. Yes, we were dead in sin. Yes, we were guilty of far more than we can know.
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
We are forgiven in Christ. Our sins have been taken away. We have been made clean. Not because of anything that we have done, are doing, or can ever do, but according to the mercy of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the grace of Jesus Christ.
The first thing God did was to forgive our sins through Jesus’ death.
Washed – cleansed of the stain of sin.
For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
And then …
Jesus was raised because of our justification.
Jesus was raised because of our justification.
Sanctified – set apart for the glory of God, made holy for His glory.
Justified – declared righteous through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.
Yet every single sin is recorded there. How many sins is that? I shudder to think. It’s not just the ten commandments, but even if it were, we wouldn’t be able to lift the stack of charges against us by the time we reached adulthood, and it only grows more ponderous and massive through our lives. Remember, just one sin is enough to condemn us to hell for all eternity, but every single sin must be accounted for.
Every single sin is recorded there. How many sins is that? I shudder to think. It’s not just the ten commandments, but even if it were, we wouldn’t be able to lift the stack of charges against us by the time we were adults.
We couldn’t pay it ourselves, so God, our judge, took that certificate of debt and nailed it to the cross. He put the guilt of every one of your sins on His own Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus was delivered over because of our transgressions.
Justification is the legal act by which someone is declared to be righteous. Forgiveness only washes away our sins; it doesn’t give us the kind of righteousness that is necessary for eternal life. Righteousness is not simply the absence of sin, but the presence of holiness in every aspect of our lives. It’s not enough to not sin; we must meet God’s standard for righteousness.
says,
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
says,
Righteousness is one of those really big words in the Bible; it appears more than 600 times in the Bible. The righteous are those who are in a right relationship with God; the unrighteous face certain eternal judgment.
If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
The unrighteous face certain eternal judgment.
The problem is that we are NOT righteous, and on our own, we never can be. When the Bible says in that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” it means that all are unrighteous. By the time we are old enough to understand that we are unrighteous, it’s too late to ever make ourselves righteous.
rom 8
And so the Bible tells us that we must be declared righteous, or justified.
This happens through the imputation of the holy life of Jesus Christ to us through faith.
says,
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
That is, we receive the fullness of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, so that we become the righteousness of God in Him.
This is what it means to be justified, and it is the basis of our eternally peaceful standing with God:
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
As says, we are justified by faith, and not ever by our own works or efforts or good intentions.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
rom 3 23-
God is both just – the Holy One who judges all sin – and the justifier – the Merciful One who brings sinners into a relationship with Him. And we see that He did this just as says He did, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
There you have it. We have two problems – sin, and unrighteousness. God has a single solution: His own Son, Jesus Christ.
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
In Colossians
What is that certificate of debt? It was the cheirographon, the handwritten list of charges against your account. The sense here is that it is an itemized list, a comprehensive list of your sins and the sin-debt you owe. My cheirographon doesn’t say “Greg Lawhorn – sinner” on it. It lists every single sin I’ve ever committed, every single time I committed it. Our memories are so short; if we went to write down every sin we had ever committed, we might get to a page or two, maybe three or four if we were really honest, or had really good memories. But the certificate of our debt is massive.
And how do we benefit from what Jesus did?
And how do we benefit from what Jesus did?
What says is that God the Father took that massive handwritten list of our sins – it’s in His handwriting, by the way – and nailed it to the cross. That is, He attributed every single one of your sins to His own Son, Jesus Christ. Every. Single. One. And then He poured out His righteous wrath upon Jesus, until His justice was satisfied.
At that moment, the Lord God grabbed you by the scruff of the neck and jumped to the end of time, to the day of your judgment. He stood you in the courtroom of His justice.
The Judge’s bench is the throne of God. We are told in Scripture that Jesus Christ sits on that throne, judging all.
Look back at . The Scripture here speaks about Abraham and Sarah, who were childless, because Sarah was barren. God had promised that Abraham would be the father of many nations, but it was too late by human standards. Sarah was barren. Abraham was 99 years old. Sarah was 89.
The prosecutor steps forward and presents His case. Don’t think that the Prosecutor is Satan. By the time wicked humanity is judged, Satan and his demons will already be confined in hell for all eternity. The Prosecutor is God Himself. It is His Law that you have broken. It is His glory that you have defiled.
There you sit at the Defense table, all by yourself, listening to the Prosecutor present the case against you. speaks of a certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us. It’s the list of the charges against you, an itemization of every single sin you have ever committed. You don’t like what you hear, but you can’t argue with it, because the Prosecutor never lies, and because in this courtroom, before the Throne of God, only the truth is spoken.
Your entire life is played out – every sin, every transgression, every wicked thought, every evil deed. The Prosecutor names every single item against you, and then rests His case.
And then He removes His prosecutorial robes, and takes up the symbol of your defense: a battered, blood-stained cross. On your behalf He presents His own righteous life – every act of obedience, every faithful prayer, every moment of pure surrender to the holiness of God. He hoists the cross and speaks of His own death on your behalf. He unveils His glory and speaks of His resurrection. And then He says that He offers all these things on your behalf, that because you committed yourself to Him in faith, He has covered you with His blood, and gives you all the credit for His righteous life.
And you see on that certificate of your debt, the list of your sins, that there has been punched through the middle of that parchment a large, ragged, bloody hole, where it was nailed to a cross. His blood has erased the list of charges against you, and written across that parchment, in the handwriting of Grace, are the words, “Perfectly Righteous.”
At that, the Judge pronounces you to be innocent of all sins and crimes against His kingdom, and furthermore pronounces that every righteous requirement of the Law has been met for you. God has washed you clean of your sin, and granted you full credit for the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
And then, the Lord brings you back to that moment of faith and repentance and surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord. From that moment on He only sees you as you have already been declared to be at the end of all time.
How do you come into the reality of all this? Look back at . The Scripture here speaks about Abraham and Sarah, who were childless, because Sarah was barren. God had promised that Abraham would be the father of many nations, but time was running out.
But the Scripture says,
But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
jn 8
For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him,
And so the Scripture says,
rom 4 18
In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.
There is a caveat to all this.
Jesus Christ died for the forgiveness of sinners. Whomever is forgiven by His death is completely, utterly, finally, perfectly forgiven.
Abraham believed God’s promise, in spite of the fact that it was obviously impossible for he and Sarah to conceive a child. But Abraham’s faith was not based on what he could achieve on his own, or what Sarah could accomplish. God had promised, and what God promised, God was able to do. In fact, the more impossible it was, and the sillier it sounded, the stronger Abraham’s faith grew.
Why are we told about this? So that old people today can have children? Of course not.
We we told this because God has made an even more impossible promise to sinners who believe the Gospel. He has promised that He would forgive them completely. He would cleanse them so thoroughly that not a single sin – not the smallest one – would remain. He would justify them so completely that their righteousness was absolutely equal to Jesus Christ’s righteousness. And He promised that these things would be true not because we earn His favor, or deserve His blessing, but because we believe His promise.
When Abraham believed God about having a child, his faith was credited to him as though he had lived a perfectly righteous life.
When we believe in the far greater promise of God to cleanse us and declare us to be identical in righteousness to His own Son, OUR faith is credited to us as though WE had lived a perfectly righteous life.
This is not quick, momentary faith. This isn’t shallow faith. This isn’t human faith that says, “Well, ok, I’ll believe it, but I’ll have a backup plan just in case.”
No, this is faith that lets go of all other plans and ideas. This is faith that rests so completely on God to fulfill His promise that, if God failed us, we would perish. This is the faith that is God’s gift to us, the faith that we can’t explain, the faith that is implanted within us by the Holy Spirit. It’s the kind of faith that never stops, that perseveres throughout life, in times of trouble and times of comfort.
Jesus was raised because of our justification. Justification is the legal act by which someone is declared to be righteous.
But in the end, see what kind of faith Abraham had. He contemplated himself and Sarah. He was as good as dead, and her womb is called dead. But where his body was as good as dead, his faith was never stronger. God had promised. It seemed that the more Abraham realized that having a child was utterly impossible, the greater his faith grew in the promise of God. He glorified God in the full assurance that while his body was as good as dead, and Sarah’s womb was dead, God was able to do what He promised to do.
And therefore, his faith was credited to him as righteousness.
Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness.
Here’s the picture. God moved forward in time to the moment of your judgment. You are standing there before His throne. There you sit, at the defendant’s table, listening to the prosecutor present the evidence for your guilt. You don’t like what you hear, but you can’t argue with it, because the prosecutor never lies – it is impossible for God to lie – and because in THIS courtroom, only truth is spoken.
And Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness.
Your entire life is played out – every sin, every transgression, every violation, every wicked thought, every sinful deed. The prosecution’s case is fully presented, and He rests.
His attempt to solve his own problem wasn’t counted as righteousness.
Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness. His attempts to solve his own problem wasn’t counted as righteousness. His desperate longing for a son wasn’t counted as righteousness. Nothing is said about Abraham’s gifts or sacrifices being counted as righteousness. Nothing is said about his courage in battle, as when he rescued his nephew, Lot, being counted as righteousness. Neither was being circumcised, since at the point Abraham believed God, he hadn’t yet been circumcised. Abraham’s confidence and assurance that God WOULD fulfill His promise was counted as righteousness.
And then the prosecutor lays down His prosecutorial robes and takes up the symbol of the defense – the cross of Jesus Christ. On your behalf He presents His own righteous life, substitutionary death on the cross, and glorious resurrection. He says He not only did each of these things with perfection and holiness, but that He did them on your behalf, so that you would fully and perfectly benefit from His work. He hands up the certificate of charges against you, and shows the Judge on the throne the ragged, bloodstained hole, where that certificate was punctured by a crude Roman nail and spiked to His cross. His blood has erased the writing on that certificate of debt, and forms the words “Paid In Full.” And the power of His righteous life has inscribed the words “Perfectly Righteous” at the bottom of that parchment. And the Judge declares you to be cleansed of sin and fully righteous in Christ, meeting every requirement for eternal life.
And then God came back in time to the moment that He gave you spiritual life and faith, and seals you in Christ, so that nothing can change His declaration that you are righteous in Christ.
His desperate longing for a son wasn’t counted as righteousness.
Jesus was delivered over because of your transgressions, your sins – the certificate of debt with your name at the top – is clear.
Then the prosecutor – Jesus Christ – steps over to the defense table and presents your defense: His own substitutionary, sacrificial death on your behalf, and then the defense rests. And God on His throne declares you to be righteous, not based on YOUR life, but the life of Jesus Christ. With that He moves back to this moment of time as you sit here today.
Nothing is said about Abraham’s gifts or sacrifices being counted as righteousness.
l, so that by virtue of His life, and not yours, you would enjoy every privilege He Himself receives as the glorified Son of Man.
Nothing is said about his courage in battle, as when he rescued his nephew, Lot, being counted as righteousness.
Neither was being circumcised, since at the point Abraham believed God, he hadn’t yet been circumcised.
What was counted as righteousness? Abraham’s faith that God would do, and COULD do, what He had promised to do: give he and Sarah a son of their own.
Abraham’s confidence and assurance that God WOULD fulfill His promise was counted as righteousness.
And says,
Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
Abraham believed that God would do the impossible, and give he and Sarah a son, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
God the Father delivered over His own Son for our forgiveness, and raised Him from the dead for our justification.
That’s even more impossible to believe than a 100 year man and a 90 year old woman having a child.
Our faith in God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead, will be counted to us as righteousness.
But when we accept all of this in the faith that God can, and will, do what He has promised, our faith is credited to us as righteousness.
This isn’t a quick, momentary act of faith. Neither is it a shallow, “Sure, I’ll say that I believe that” sort of faith. It’s not human faith in a religious truth – the kind of faith that is really dead, because it doesn’t produce any change in us.
No, this faith is the faith that is a gift of the grace of God, implanted within us by the Holy Spirit. It’s the kind of faith that produces a transformed life and a change in our behavior. It’s the kind of faith that never lets go of the promise of God, even when it seems – to us – that it’s impossible.
The Lord’s table is a public statement that we have that gift of faith from God. The bread and wine are symbols of what Jesus has done for us, giving us His life and His death. We do no more to deserve His life and death than we do to deserve this communion meal. Is your faith in Jesus Christ alone? Do you believe that His death paid for all your sin? Do you believe that by His life you are declared righteous before God, even though you have not yet been made righteous? Do you believe that God has accepted you in Christ, for His own glory? If you don’t believe these things, then the Lord’s table is not for you. But if you believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and trust in the Lord Jesus Himself, then come and share in this celebration of His life and death.
, but a divine gift of faith that takes hold of the promise of God and never lets go. It’s the kind of faith that produces a transformed life.