Therefore being Justified
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Intro:
Intro:
Last week we wrapped up our study on the life of Abraham.
We saw clearly that Abraham was saved by grace through faith.
marks a change in focus.
nd over 20 times in
the word Faith is found 31 times and then from chapters 5-8 it is only seen 3 times.
The word that will be focused on here in the following chapters is the word life.
This word is found only a couple of times in the first 4 chapters but it is found over 20 times in
The opposite of this word, DEATH isn’t found at all in the first 4 chapters but it is found over 40 times in 5-8.
The word sin is also found a lot more in these chapters.
Paul’s shift will be seen over the next few weeks as we go through chapters 5-8.
He is going to use this chapter (what we call chapter) to explain the last word of , Justification!
Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Paul is going to assure us of the meaning of Justification and also show us how we can know that we have it.
Paul is going to show us what we receive because of the justification that we now have.
We will see what it is like to truly live like a King since we are now justified.
Justification is God’s declaration that the sinner that believes is righteous in Christ.
Righteousness that is put into our account. (imputation)
The beautiful thing is that this justification never changes.
Following are the blessings of this justification.
I. We have Peace
I. We have Peace
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
“Peace with God.” There is more relief in those three words than any other.
More than the words “You are cured” to a cancer patient.
More than “You are free” to a death row inmate.
There was a time when we were enemies but now in Christ we have peace WITH God.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
This peace means that our problem with sin has been settled by the blood of Christ.
God is our Father not our Judge.
The opposite of Justification is Condemnation.
Condemnation means that God declares us sinners, this isn’t just a declaration of who we are but it is a declaration of war against him.
Being Justified is God declaring peace that is made possible through Christ.
The law can no longer declare war on you if you are justified.
gives us a good picture of what was going to happen through Jesus.
Mercy and truth are met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
II. We have Access
II. We have Access
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Before our salvation we stood in Adam and were condemned but now in Christ we stand in perfection before God.
We can now enter his presence.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
And having an high priest over the house of God;
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
The Jew was kept from God’s presence by the veil in the temple.
Slide of Veil in the temple.
The Gentile was kept out by a wall in the temple with a warning no it that any Gentile who went beyond would be killed.
Slide of Gentile wall
When Jesus died he tore the veil.
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Not only did he do that but he also broke down the wall.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Now, believing Jews and Gentiles have access to God.
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
To understand this we must go back to the book of Genesis and read of Adam and Eve and how God drove them out of the Garden of Eden.
Man was no longer to have immediate access into the Presence of God.
God promised to be in the midst of his people in the Tabernacle.
Even then, however, it was only the High Priest who could enter God’s immediate presence and then only once a year on the Day of Atonement;
He had to go through complex rituals of purification and cleansing before he dared enter the Holy of Holies.
People could draw near to God, but no one was allowed direct access into his presence, except the High Priest under these specific circumstances.
A massive curtain of several folds and layers, which was far more difficult to destroy than a huge wooden door, kept people out of the Holy of Holies.
This veil was a reminder to the people that God was inaccessible.
The veil hung there until the hour of the death of Christ, when it was torn in two as if a giant hand had reached down from heaven and ripped it like tissue paper.
Because the barrier between God and man was removed.
The sin of man was now atoned for, and those who are justified are now able to come into the presence of God.
They have access by his grace of justification.
When I believe in Jesus, his righteousness is imputed to me and I have access to God. It is a grace in which I stand. I have been elevated to a position of privilege, to stand in the presence of God by grace.
We now stand in Grace and not in the Law.
The word access here means entrance to the king through the favor of another.
I know of no other image that would explain that better than this one.
John F. Kennedy’s son had access to somewhere he didn’t even belong because of who his father was.
We would enter in awe of being in the oval office and his son just thinks he belongs there because of who his dad is.
Slide of Kennedy.
It is an amazing thing to have acceptance, to know that the war is over and that God no longer sees us with disfavor and wrath.
But even more powerful is the fact that we now have access.
All those who have taken the pierced hand of the King’s Son have access!!!!
What an amazing truth!
III. We have Hope
III. We have Hope
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
The last part of this verse literally means to be rejoicing (boasting) in our hope of the glory of God.
Peace with God from takes care of the past, because he will no longer hold our sins against us.
Access to God takes care of the present, we can come to him at any time for the help we need.
Hope of the glory of God takes care of our future that we will share one day with him in glory.
Notice that word Hope.
That is a really big word.
Without it we feel we have no reason to live at all.
That is precisely what is said about those that do not know Christ.
Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Having no hope, those three words have to be some of the saddest words you can find and it describes life without Christ well.
If you ever talk to sick people you will understand how much that little word hope really means.
At first they HOPE nothing is wrong.
Then they HOPE it is not serious.
Then they HOPE something can be done.
And then they are told that there is no hope.
Those are heavy words.
I heard them not long ago about my grandmother and have heard them about people where we have ministered time and time again.
Our hope isn’t centered on any of those things.
Our hope is centered on Christ alone and even death cannot change our hope.
We cannot boast in good works as if it brings salvation. but we can boast in the wonderful salvation that God has given us.
We boast in his righteousness and his glory!
Paul will elaborate this point even more in
IV. We have Confidence
IV. We have Confidence
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
We have a confidence that is day to day.
Justification is no escape from the trials of life.
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
In the good times and in the bad ones.
We glory in tribulations as well.
Because tribulations work for us and not against us.
Trials bring us closer to our Lord and make us more like him.
This suffering will build our christian character.
The true Christian not only has a hope for the future but he has confidence in the trials of life.
He can make it in REAL life.
Not the life that some speaker convinces you that you will live in Christ.
We find a sequence of things going on here in these verses.
Tribulation + Christ = Patience
Patience + Christ = Experience (the way we live our life, our character)
Experience is Character that has been proven.
Experience + Christ = Hope
The one thing that we must grasp here is the fact that we do not glory over trials, or about trials, but IN trials.
The word that Paul uses there tribulum was a heavy piece of timber with spikes in it and it was used for threshing the grain.
It was drawn over the grain and it separated the wheat from the chaff.
As we go through tribulations and depend on God’s grace the trials only purify us and help to get rid of those things we do not need.
We rejoice in suffering not because we like pain or deny its tragedy but because we know that God uses it to build our character.
Our problems will develop steadfastness which in turn deepens our character and our trust in God and gives us greater confidence about our future.
We rejoice and thank God for opportunities to face problems while relying on his strength.
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:
Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:
Our attitude towards tribulation is one of the hallmarks of true maturity.
When we buckle under pressure, when we see things and it totally derails us it shows us that we are not near as mature in Christ as we would have thought that we were.
The great saints of God all agree.
Ask Abraham and he will direct your attention to the sacrifice on Mount Moriah.
Ask Jacob and he will point you to his stone pillow.
Ask Joseph and he will tell you about the dungeon.
Ask Moses and he will remind you of his trials with Pharaoh.
David will tell you his songs came in the night.
Peter will speak of his denial,
John of Patmos, and Jesus of the cross.
Blessings are poured out in bitter cups.
Through Justification our standing is perfect but our state is progressive.
This is sanctification, yes we are justified but as we grow in him and in his word we become more and more like him.
To glory in tribulation is a true sign of maturity.
We must understand that this is exactly what matures us.
Paul says KNOWING and that word really matters there.
The good thing about Paul is that this isn’t something that he knew second hand.
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
Paul KNOWS that there is growth that happens because of this process in his life.
Job is also a prime example of this maturing process.
A Korean christian once said as he was under great pressure from the Communists, “We are like nails: the harder you hit us the deeper you drive us.”
This is truly the attitude of a Christian.
Not some twisted prayer for suffering not some desire for martyrdom but knowing that when things do happen that we know who we have believed.
We are never called to love or want tribulation, but we are told what our attitude and outlook should be in the midst of it.
V. We experience the Love of God
V. We experience the Love of God
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
The Spirit within sheds God’s love to us and through us.
This word shed means a pouring on of God’s love.
It is this love that sustains us as we go through times of tribulation.
God revealed his love at the cross when Christ died for those who were “without strength”, “ungodly”, “sinners”, and “enemies.”
What a way to prove his love for us.
And it happened right on time. (in due time)
Paul’s argument is this, “if God did all of that for us while we were his enemies, how much more will he do for us now that we are his children!”
There is an old poem that illustrates this.
The verses tell of a young man who gave his love to a vicious woman who demanded as proof of his love that he bring to her his mother’s heart to feed to her dog.
The young man took a knife, slew his mother, and cut out her heart.
As he was running back to the evil woman he stumbled and fell and his mothers heart flew out of his hands.
As it rolled by, that mother’s heart was heard to cry in a still, small voice, “Are you hurt, my child, are you hurt at all?”
This is the same spirit of the love of God that was shown on Calvary.
The iron bolts of Rome in the pierced hand of the crucified Christ could have become thunderbolts of wrath.
He could have hurled his curse across a guilty world.
He could have summoned thousands of angels and had his revenge then and there.
Instead he cried, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Jesus died for the ungodly.
This is the proof of God’s love; it is unconditional.
We do not deserve God’s salvation, the only thing that we deserve is his wrath and punishment.
When God sent his son to be their Savior men spat into the face of Jesus, beat his back and nailed him to a tree.
They sneered and mocked him in his anguish.
The sun could not see this and the earth trembled.
But despite all of that, he made peace through the blood of his cross
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
It would make all the sense in the world if we were to read that God had made war over that precious blood shed on the cross.
But instead we read that he made PEACE through that very blood.
During the Revolutionary War there was a preacher by the name of Peter Miller.
He lived near a fellow who hated him because of his Christian life and testimony.
This man violently opposed him and ridiculed his followers. One day he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.
Hearing about this, Peter Miller left on foot to Try and save the man’s life before George Washington.
The General listened to his plea, but told him he didn’t feel he should pardon his friend.
“My friend! He is not my friend,” answered Miller. “In fact, he’s my worst living enemy.” “What!” said Washington. “You have walked 60 miles to save the life of your enemy? That, in my judgment, puts the matter in a different light. I will grant your request.”
With pardon in hand, Miller went to the place where his neighbor was to be executed, and arrived just as the prisoner was walking to the scaffold.
When the traitor saw Miller, he exclaimed, “Old Peter Miller has come to have his revenge by watching me hang!”
He was astonished as he watched the minister step out of the crowd and produce the pardon which spared his life.
This is what the God of heaven did for us.
We are saved by Christ’s death. , but we are also saved by His life as the “power of his resurrection” operates in our lives.
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
We have received “atonement”
And now the love of God is experienced in our lives.
A will is of no effect until the death of the one who wrote it and the one that wrote this will died on the cross.
Jesus wrote us into his will and He wrote the will with His blood.
Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
He died so that the will would be in force, but then he arose from the dead and returned to heaven so he could enforce the will Himself and distribute the inheritance.
Because of that we are saved by his life.
In it says being reconciled.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Not once in the bible is it said that God is reconciled.
That is because we are the ones that are enemies.
We are the ones that must be reconciled TO God not God to us.
And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
The word atonement means reconciliation, brought back into fellowship with God.
In Paul explained how men declared war on God and deserved to be condemned forever.
But God didn’t declare war on man, instead he sent his son as the Peacemaker so men could be reconciled to God.
Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
We who were at war with God now have JOY in God through Jesus.
What an amazing truth that is.
There is a sense in which Paul has saved the best kind of rejoicing for last.
Sure, we rejoice in hope and in troubles.
We rejoice in salvation and in our spiritual position.
But more than all of that WE REJOICE IN GOD!!!!!
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
As we look at these amazing blessings we must realize that Paul is teaching us two things.
First he is telling us how amazing it is to be a Christian.
Our justification is not just a guarantee of heaven, as amazing as that is but it is also the source of tremendous blessings that we enjoy here and now.
Remember with me the first words of this passage. Therefore being justified.
There is something that happens to us when we realize that we are truly justified.
It changes everything about us.
I remember after arriving at our small apartment after getting married.
We were tired and got in bed.
I woke up early the next morning and it hit me.
I really am married to her.
It is something I will never forget and something that changed me deeply.
Can I tell you this morning that when you realize that you are truly loved and have been justified by the creator of heaven and earth it changes things more than you can even imagine.
If you don’t know that you are justified before him today then now might be the time to make that decision and believe in him.
Christian you do understand that this joy is contagious right?
You do understand that when we truly live in a way that shows this that others will want to know what our hope comes from.
Joy is the great marker of the person that is justified.
This is unique to Christianity because it doesn’t depend on our performance or your circumstances.
When you give your heart to anything except God and seek happiness there, you will be disappointed.
This is not what it is like with Christ.
If you are saved REJOICE, if you have not placed your faith and trust in Christ can I invite you into a relationship that will lead to this rejoicing?
Questions for Discipleship / Small Group
Questions for Discipleship / Small Group
Does anything make you doubt you are justified?
If so, what—and how will these verses encourage you?
Where, other than God, are you tempted to seek joy?
What do you need to remind yourself about God in order to rejoice in him instead?
Which of the signs of rejoicing in God in the passage can you see in your own life?
How does fear vs. faith play into your life?
What tends to be your habit when it comes to tribulation in your life?