| Introduction John Calvin was a Frenchman who is identified with the Protestant Reformation, not in his own country, but in the Swiss city of Geneva. Among the many things Calvin did in Geneva was the establishing of an academy to train pastors. Calvin taught daily at the Genevan Academy till close to his death. He was followed by his fellow pastor and friend Theodore Beza, who actually became the first official rector of the academy. Eventually a young pastor by the name of Francis Turretin became the school's rector and main theology professor. Turretin's class notes eventually became a three-volume book called Institutes of Elenctic Theology(Elenctic = question/answer Socratic method). This book became the text book used at Princeton Seminary in the hay day of its influence as a bastion of faithful theology. Turretin says: "But when we rise to the heavenly tribunal and place before our eyes that supreme Judge… by whose brightness the stars are darkened, at whose strength the mountains melt; by whose anger the earth is shaken; whose justice not even the angels are equal to bear; who does not make the guilty innocent; whose vengeance when once kindled penetrates even the lowest depths of hell… then in an instant the vain confidence of men perishes and falls and conscience is compelled… to confess that it has nothing upon which it can rely before God. And so it cries out with David, 'Lord, if thou marked iniquity, who can stand?'… When the mind is thoroughly terrified with the consciousness of sin and a sense of God's wrath, what is that thing on account of which he may be acquitted before God and be reckoned a righteous person?... Is it righteousness inhering in us… or the righteousness and obedience of Christ alone imputed to us?" At the core of the Protestant Reformation is the answer to this question: whose righteousness are we going to present to God as he calls us to account? The doctrines that we call the solas of Reformation were formulated to answer this question. · Sola Scriptura – the Bible is our ultimate and sufficient authority in answering this question. · Sola Gratia – the basis for the answer for this question is the grace of God alone. · Sola Fide – the instrument through which we are declared righteous by God is faith alone. · Solus Christus – the righteousness that is declared to be ours is secured for us in Christ, in whom alone we believe for our salvation. · Soli Deo Gloria – the correct answer to this question will result in all glory in the salvation of a sinner being given to God alone. All these solas are connected and work together, but there is a special connection between the three middle solas because they directly relate to the doctrine of justification. A. Let me start by defining what justification is, then I will show from the Bible that this is a true doctrine that we must embrace and love. B. There is no better definition than the one contained in the Westminster Standards. WSC 33 – What is justification? Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone. C. Though we are going to emphasize that last phrase, "and received by faith alone," it is impossible to do that and leave the rest out – Paul's letter to the Romans will help us with that. II. The Argument of the Book of Romans to This Point A. More than anything, the difficulty in preparing this sermon was in choosing and limiting the text because reading aloud and preaching a sermon on the whole book of Romans wouldn't work. B. Salvation comes through the Gospel, 1:16-17. C. Salvation has to come through the Gospel because, though everyone needs to be saved, no one can save himself/herself because everyone stands condemned by sin, 1:18-3:20. 1. The Gentile world has been given creation in which God can be clearly seen and yet they have chosen to turn away from that revelation, 1:18-2:16 (especially 1:18-23). a. The claim that there is no God is not an honest claim. b. A more honest claim is that there is a God, but I am in rebellion toward him. c. There isn't one single true atheist in the world, just those who have chosen to live as if there were no God, 1:22-23. 2. Because of God's general revelation of himself and humanity's rebellion against that revelation, every Gentile is without excuse, 1:20, 2:1. a. Remember that fictitious innocent man who never heard of the God of the Bible on the remote pacific island? HE DOESN'T EXIST. b. Everyone is responsible for the revelation of God in creation, 1:20. Ps. 19:1-3 – The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. 3. Jews were given an even more precise revelation of God in the law, but they failed to trust in the Lawgiver, 2:17-3:8 (specially 2:17-24). a. Having the law of God clearly revealed is a greater benefit than having all of creation before you, 3:2. b. Paul is referring to the whole OT because of the way he uses it chpt. 4. 4. Because of the reality of all of humanity's rejection of God, all of humanity stands condemned before God, 3:9-20 (specially 3:9 and mentioned again in 3:23). D. Paul's grand conclusion is that apart from Christ, the law only condemns, 3:19-20. 1. Whether we want it or not, the law of God is always before us, 2:15. 2. And it reminds us of how unable we are to do what it commands and forbids – think about it for a moment. a. The 10 commandments – these are innately present in our conscience. 1) Be faithful to the one God of the Bible. 2) Worship him as he tells you to. 3) Do not desecrate anything that God makes himself known by. 4) Set apart and observe the entirety of his day. 5) Honor and obey your parents. 6) Do not kill another human unjustly in action or in thought. 7) Be faithful to your current or future spouse. 9) Speak the truth at all times 10) Be content at all times. b. We can simplify these 10 commandments by summarizing them into two. 1) Love the God of the Bible with every thing that makes you. 2) Love those around you with the same kind and intensity of love with which you love yourself. c. We intuitively know that we are supposed to follow all these rules and often try, but fail. d. We try to mask our failure with different works of atonement (Luther tried to do the most menial and undesirable tasks in the monastery; Calvin punished his body while at the College de Montaigu), or by numbing ourselves, or by denying that God exists, but in the quietness of our souls the accusations and condemnations are still there. e. They have nothing to do with a social construct (the way we were raised), but with the law of God showing that we have come short. III. When We Are Ready to Despair, We Come to a Glorious Disjunction – BUT NOW, 21. A. We know that there is no righteousness in us, and we know that unless we do everything right, we can't really come into the presence of God (righteousness = the ability to do everything right and the performance of it). B. And when despair is about to set in, Paul tells us that we have a glorious hope – God himself provides a righteousness, a perfection, that is not really ours, but that he declares to be ours – this righteousness has been called by older authors an alien righteousness. 1. This righteousness has nothing to do with our obedience (apart from the law), 21a. 2. The concept of an alien righteousness is not something new – it has been witnessed by the law and prophets, 21b. 3. This righteousness is the righteousness that comes from God (not that belongs to God) and is declared to be ours as we believe in Jesus Christ, 22. a. To anyone who believes in Jesus Christ, Jew or Gentile – doesn't matter because we are all sinners, 23. b. Faith in Jesus – belief that he is who he says he is and that he did all that the Bible says he did for you. C. The way this works, 24-26. 1. Through faith in Jesus, we are justified by God (HIS grace), 24a. a. Declared to be just = righteous = perfect. b. Not made just – notice we will still currently fall short (present) of the glory of God. 2. We are declared righteous freely by his grace, not because of any obedience or merit or worth in us, 24b. 3. What enables God to do that is the redemption accomplished by Christ, 24c. a. The word redemption means to buy back, purchase, pay the price required. b. This redemption includes the forgiveness of our sins. Eph. 1:7 – In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace…. 4. Christ accomplished our redemption by shedding his blood for us, 25a. a. Here Paul brings to the forefront the OT imagery relating to the Day of Atonement. b. The word propitiation is a theological translation of the word for mercy seat. 1) The mercy seat was a gold cover, 36 inches long and 27 inches wide, that set on top of the Ark of the Covenant between the cherubim in the most holy place of the tabernacle/temple, Ex. 25:17-22. 2) Once a year, the high priest would come into the most holy place and sprinkle the blood of a sin offering on the mercy seat. Lv. 16:15-16 – Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which isfor the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. a) Inside the Ark of the Covenant was the law of God. b) The sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat would cover the law and silence its accusations against God's people. c) The mercy seat was the only place where the Holy God of Israel could meet his sinful people in mercy because the accusations of the law had been silenced. 3) The sprinkling of that blood on the mercy seat would represent God's forgiveness, not accomplish it. 4) That's why Paul says that God passed over sins previously committed even though the actually sacrifice for those sins hadn't yet been offered, 25b. 5) But Christ offered the true and ultimate sacrifice. Heb. 9:11-15 – 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? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. c. When we believe in Jesus, God counts Jesus's sacrifice as our sacrifice, his hanging on the cross as our hanging on the cross. 1) This transaction is called in theology imputation – we see this word being used by Paul in this exact way in 4:9-12. 2) In doing this God remains just – he is not just ignoring sin; there is a real payment for sin. 3) At the same time he is accomplishing something that we can't on our own and thus he is also the justifier. d. So we believe that Christ died in our place our sins are forgiven because God the Father declares his death to be our death. 1) The guilt of our sins is imputed to Christ. 2) But that is just part of the story. 5. Having our sins forgiven doesn't really declare us to be righteous, it just declares us to be not sinners. a. God requires perfection, not just moral neutrality. b. And he requires it all at once. 6. The second element of our justification is that not only our sins are declared to be Christ's, his obedience to the law of God in his life is declared to be ours. 2 Cor. 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. 7. This is how Christ is the second Adam, 5:18-19. 8. That is what Paul means when he says that faith establishes the law, 31. a. Faith in Christ establishes the fact that the law is holy and right. b. It also establishes the fact that we cannot obey it perfectly. c. Faith in Christ actually exalts the law of God more than any attempt to keep it perfectly with the motivation of gain God's favor. 9. The moment we believe in Jesus Christ, God the Father declares that the guilt of our sins now belong to his son, thus forgiving us, and he declares that everything that the man Jesus Christ did in obedience to his heavenly Father is now seen as our obedience – Christ's righteousness imputed to us. 10. Therefore, when we believe in Jesus Christ, God the Father declares that he sees us as he sees Jesus. a. This transaction can only happen through faith in Jesus. b. There is no other savior that can accomplish that. 1 Jn. 2:1-2 – My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 11. All that is happening outside of us. 1) There is no change in us. 2) God is operating in the courts of heaven. IV. There Are Several Things That Flow from Our Justification. Gal. 4:4-7 – But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 1 Jn. 3:1-2 – 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. 1 Cor. 1:30 – But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…. C. Sanctification – the progressive change into Christ-likeness in this life. Col. 3:1-4 – If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Gal. 5:1 – Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. F. Peace with God, 5:1 (reconciliation). 1. Our conscience can be at peace. 2. God is at peace with us. G. Assurance of salvation 1. Remember what I said earlier that our justification is happening in the courts of heaven and has nothing to do with us besides our faith in Jesus. 2. It is solely a declaration by God that our sins have been forgiven and we are now treated as righteous by him. 3. So we don't look at us for our assurance, we look to Christ. 4. It is not in our fickle heart that assurance is located, but in Christ alone. 1. There is no boasting in what we do in our justification. 2. The only boasting is about the cross of Christ. Gal. 6:13-14 – For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. The doctrine of justification though faith alone was THE doctrine that gave birth to the Protestant Church. Sadly the Protestant Church often finds this doctrine inadequate and tries to insert some sort of human obedience in our justification. May God give us the courage to be Protestant and to hold firm to the doctrine of justification through faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone. Listen to Turretin's question again. "But when we rise to the heavenly tribunal and place before our eyes that supreme Judge… When the mind is thoroughly terrified with the consciousness of sin and a sense of God's wrath, what is that thing on account of which he may be acquitted before God and be reckoned a righteous person?... Is it righteousness inhering in us… or the righteousness and obedience of Christ alone imputed to us?"
"Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling; naked, come to Thee for dress; helpless, look to Thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die." Augustus Toplady
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