"Justified"

Lent • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

0 ratings

· 3 views

Goal: that the hearers would rejoice in Christ, in whom they are baptized, for His work on the cross that justifies and saves sinners.

Notes

Transcript

Merlin Carothers, author of the book Prison to Praise, had firsthand experience of what it is like to be declared righteous. During WWII, he joined the army. Anxious to get into some action, Carothers went AWOL but was caught and sentenced to five years in prison. Instead of sending him to prison, the judge told him he could serve his term by staying in the army for five years. The judge told him if he left the army before the five years ended, he would have to spend the rest of his term in prison. Carothers was released from the army before the five-year term had passed, so he returned to the prosecutor’s office to find out where he would be spending the remainder of his sentence. To his surprise and delight, Carothers was told that he had received a full pardon from President Truman. The prosecutor explained: “That means your record is completely clear. Just as if you had never gotten involved with the law.”

Today we are going to talk about some forensic things. The term “forensic” is defined as belonging to, used in, or suitable to courts of judicature or to public discussion and debate. Another definition is relating to or dealing with the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems, such as forensic medicine, forensic science, forensic pathologists and the like. These are worldly definitions or applications of the word forensic. However, there is a theological understanding of the term forensic as well. And as we are dealing with God’s Holy Word, God revealing Himself to mankind, we will use the appropriate understanding of the word, the theological understanding that God’s righteousness is a gift given to sinners so that they would be DECLARED righteous in God’s sight. Though they are sinners, they stand not guilty before before the Holy and Righteous God the Father.

Therefore, the sinner, that is you and me, are declared righteous in the sight of God, through faith in the only One righteous, the One who gave His innocent life into suffering and death by the cross, shedding His blood so that all who look upon Him, all who call upon His name, shall be saved.

Our text this morning talks about justification, which is a forensic term, and how Paul articulates this beautiful theological term for us to understand more fully and rejoice in our God for His mercy and favor which is totally undeserved, unmerited, and cannot be earned. The difference between forensic justification and forensic sciences used in a court of Law is that even though the forensic science declares you guilty, which is how we keep criminals off our streets, our almighty God in heaven declares you innocent.

But how can this be? Looking at myself, I see staring back in the mirror at myself something i despise. My own sinfulness condemns me to hell.

Each and everyone of us should be saying the same thing. Regardless how saintly you may appear to yourself and others, the sin retained in our lives is more than enough forensic evidence (worldly understanding) that we all deserve hell. This is what the Law of God shows us in the mirror each and every day.

So, the Apostle Paul begins the text today saying: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (v. 1).

“Therefore”…I just love this little word. Whenever one sees the word “therefore” one must ask the question, what are you “there” “for”? The ‘therefore’ kicking off chapter five makes the reader wonder what was said or done previously that relates to this new statement. In chapter 4 of Romans, Paul is speaking to the Jewish community of believers in Rome and showing them that salvation comes through faith in the promises of God and not through works of the Law. He brings up Abraham, a sinner in his own right, who God called to go to a place he had never seen before nor heard of before. The promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the Law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the Law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. “ (vv 13-15). Abraham simply believe in the promise of God and he left Ur and journeyed to the promised land. He hoped beyond hope, as he was already an old man, and he and his wife Sarah were childless. The promise came again that God would make Abraham the father of many nations. Again he hoped beyond hope, for as he and Sarah were well advanced in years, it would take a miracle from God. And the Lord fulfilled that promise through the birth of Isaac. This hope in the promises of God is what we call faith, and as it is written of Abraham, “Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness”. - Forensic justification! Even though Abraham was a sinful man, he believed the promises of God and was justified or declared righteous before God.

So, back to our reading...”since we HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED by faith...” wonderful little Greek word here, Δικαιωθέντες, which is an aorist, passive, participle plural form, which means it is a one time action in the past (aorist), done to the subject of the sentence (passive) means that the actor of the verb is not the subject but stands outside of the subject by another party. Such as the example “The ball was thrown.” The root of the Greek word Δικαιωθέντες is δικαιόω, meaning “to justify, declare righteous, to vindicate, to set or make right”.

But as I asked previously, “how can this be?” looking at our lives through the Law of God we see in ourselves, nothing but sin and unrighteousness. Our issue is this nasty little virus we are born with that is worse than COVID-19 and all it’s variants, Original Sin. Our original parents passed on this deadly virus that not only kills the body but can also kill the soul in eternal damnation. That sinful nature in us has been drown in the waters of our baptism. However, that Old Adam is a remarkable swimmer, who keeps popping his head above water for another breath. And every time he pops out, our sinful nature is made apparent for all to see. Whether that be being short tempered towards God and each other. Whether it be taking our Lord’s name in vain, by words and deeds, or by lothing our neighbor who is just as sinful as we are. Death is our sentence for our sinfulness, and everyone of us will face that death sentence.

But this is the beauty of forensic justification. Sin, death, the world, our own flesh, and the devil are our enemies, our adversaries. These are what separate us from our gracious Father in heaven. Therefore, He took matters into His own hands. This forensic justification we have been talking about is brought about by one moment in history, the innocent suffering and death of God’s one and only Son, Jesus the Christ. Through the work of Jesus on the cross we have access to this justification, and being justified, we have peace with God and we stand in His grace and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. That rejoicing in the glory of God is the outcome of the hope we have in the promise of God. That promise of God is reiterated all throughout the Gospels and New Testament Epistles. That hope in the glory of God is the promise that all who look upon Jesus, all who call upon His name, all who believe and are baptized shall be saved and inherit eternal life with God and Jesus in His eternal kingdom.

In the death of Jesus, the blood He shed on the cross cleanses each of us in baptism. For on that cross, Jesus earned forgiveness of sins for the entire world throughout history and the future. That forgiveness is dispensed from God to us by faith in Jesus, who He truly is, what He has done for you and me, through faith He floods every baptismal font with the blood and water which flowed from His pierced side. Through faith in the promises of God that all who believe and are baptized shall be saved, are we saved.

And the greatest thing is that God did not wait until we got our act together before He took action. For Paul goes on to say, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly…God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (vv 6, 8).

You see, God took the action. He sent His Son. God delighted in sending His only son into this sinful and adulterous world in order to crush Him on the cross. “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him; He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied; by His knowledge shall the righteous One, My Servant, make many to be accounted righteous” (Is. 53: 10-11). This prophesy of God through His prophet Isaiah, came some 600 years before God sent His suffering servant. This was part of Israel’s darkest times. They regarded God’s Word very little, they broke covenant with Him by chasing after foreign gods. Therefore, God is not only telling Israel of their impending doom, through the Assyrians and Babylonians, but also of their eternal demise unless they repent and return to the Lord. Most did not. God was telling them of His permanent plan to address even their breaking covenant with God, He would send Jesus, His righteous One, His suffering servant, who would be pierced for our transgressions; crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.

Even though we, those who look upon His suffering death and resurrection, have been justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ, we still suffer. Paul says that not only do we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, “but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given us” (vv 3-4).

You see, this is the Christian life, such as it is in this world. The life of a Christian, that is life under the cross, is about suffering. Jesus promised us all that “if the world hates you, know that it has hated e before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you…If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” (vv. 18-20).

Not only do we suffer because of what God has made of us, but we still suffer the Old Adam and all the garbage he brings, such as sin and death. Each of us will face God’s punishment of sin, and that is death. It was the punishment cast down from God in the Garden when Adam and Eve turned their back on God’s Word. But with the curse of death came also a promise of redemption. One from Adam’s seed would crush the head of the serpent. “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.” Each of us baptized into Christ have put on Christ, and Christ’s blood covers us all from head to toe, so when God looks upon you, He sees the righteousness of Jesus. That’s justification! That’s what God has done for you in Christ Jesus.

Baptized into Christ Jesus, we are justified by faith in Him in Whom we have been crucified and rased to new life. Justified we stand before a holy and just God with no fear of wrath nor eternal punishment. Justified we rejoice not only in our salvation and being saved from the wrath of God, but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering will ultimately produce a deep and rich hope in the promises of God, “through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have now received redemption.” (v 11b).