THE HOW-TO of Perfect Righteousness & a Glorious Inheritance
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Dear Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Our catechism with the help of the Apostles’ Creed has just summarized a most full salvation and eternal life that God has planned, the Son has accomplished, and the Spirit is applying through the church. In asking you what good is it to believe this, what change? It summarizes it in two parts: I am in Christ, and in himI am right with God - do you feel that your are in Christ, united to Him, do you feel that in Him God looks at you and says We are totally and completely good - he has alreadyrendered a jusgment - notjust given you a pardon,OKK you sin,are a sinner, have done sinsbut I letyou go, that would just be grace and mercy, which would be great but isn’t the whole deal. Do you feel it that God looks at you in Christ and says in the most important official pronouncement of your life - Perfectly Righteous - I totally accept you;andon the basis of that pornounement you cansay I have an inhertiance asGod’s adpted son or daughter to claim. I am an heir to eternal life reconcilced to God!
Imagine you are on death row - even repentant, and society pardons you from the penalty- still have to live life - unjustified what you did leaves marks that keep you shut out from the family you did them against, your own conscience, and living God. Rest of your life live like Saving Private Ryan - earn this… maybe change enough, pay it back ..but how?
Some pepople wrongly think that is all that’s offered in the gospel. They agreee justificaitonin the end by God is necessary, but they believe that justification will happenonly as you accept God’s pardon, but he will only declare you just - as you take his grace and you yourlsef liverighteously cooperateingand thenonthe basis of how hard you have tried with GOd’s grace, with a mixture of Christ’ righteousness that was infused into you andyour own righteousness - then God willjustificy you on the basis of our righteousness. The idea is not thatGod declares you righteous in Christ, but that he is shapping, you and making you righteous. There is no certainty that you’ll keep it, and no certainty after death that got enough,so since we all have lacking righteousness and venial sins eft when we die-go to place of purging! - why the necessity of purgatory in RomanCatholicism - place where we are made rightouesn sowe canbe admitteed into God’s heaven! But in the Book of Romans and in theProtestant Reformation agreementthat God must make a judicial act of justification, must delcare you perectly righteous and the goodnews is that you can have that today and you can have that completely in Christ. Justification isn’t being made righteous (that’swhathappens afterin sanctifcation, in Christianliving),Justification is which isn’t thebibilical word, but the Latin and tied to the iea of making righteousnes, is diakaioo - to declare reighteousness.
The idea is that of CSI- a grandaughter, forensic science, duaghter forensic psychology. In shows iand itheseprofessions theygather forensic evidence. And what do ythey gather that for, forenseic means to make a judicial judgmentand declaration. Romans 3andour catechism says this justification is at the heart of howyou receive salavation, how you’re made right with God, how you inherit all the other blessings God planned, Christ acocplished, and the Holy Spirit applies! And so tonight I want to unpack the how-to of justification! The first is the how-to from God’s side, the Second is from your side!
A. How God GIFTS a Perfect Righteousness and Eternal Life
In the first 3 chapters of Romans, Paul has spelled out that bad news that we are all equally under the gravest guilt of sin before a holy God. He explores how for Jews following the law to be made right- can’t do it;and for Gentiles living by light of nature can’t do it
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
But while our sinfulness not really debated, what is debated is how we can be saved from it; and the idea that we can be saved by nature or by law/religion is completely shot apart by Paul, we can never have a righteousness in our self as fallen sinners that could ever be accepted by God. And so in Paul first stating
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
He is saying that the cause of you being saved is going to have to be not in yourself or any righteosuness you can work; but pure grace, pure gift that you can’t earn orwork for, or perform to merit. No the it’s pure grace and that means the cause is in God alone not us. I love the way we come to the table, in prepratory form two most powerful lines - one increase in us the greatest gift Christian love; that’s for Christian living, sancrtifcaiton, buthe geratest line in the form is that those who live in self-righteeousnes, whohope in works or virtues of ther own - arelost, but all Christian hope rests upon the ffinished work of Christ as Saviour. All our righteouness is in him alone. We rely wholly on the merits of Christ and find inhim our strengthand vicotry!
Do you get this? It is what Paul sums up in
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:
This justification,this righteousness is not found in us,it is an alien righteousness. It is not going to be received by judging our faith or our works or even our lives;but by us being found in Jesus Christ, and being made a partaker of the reconciliatio that’s in him! That is our only hope to be found in him, whom God put forward, whom he offered to us!
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
It was a mercy that God didn’t judge us as our sins deserve, but that he found another way -completely undeserved, by which He would not only pardon us, but change our status and by declaration on the basis of what Jesus did. Tonight are you receiving the gift, not just Christ, but the righteosuness of Christ imputed to you. Given as the new clothes that God would dress you in? That’s really exhibit A in our CSI investigation. Are you relying on evidences of your own, or on Christ’s
That’s the second part of our text:
B. The Effective Cause and Merit of Your Justification is in the offering of Jesus’ Life
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Similarly :
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
Now this is the how-to still from GOd’s side. He loved you so much that seeing you don’t have the merit to be declared righteous, he engrafts you, like a wild unprdouctive shoot from a badvine, into a new vine, even into His own Son. And uniting you to his Son, he makes you a partaker of the reconciliation that’s in Him. So your questionmust be what is in Chirst that joined to him I canmake my own?
This redemption is described as his offering as “a propitiation by his blood.” This is how God solved the problem that humanity never could.
It isn’t enough just to believe Jesus died on the Cross and again, to trust into those events,we must trust that event as the sacrifice that God offered up on my behalf. AndtheNT goes on to desribe that sacrifice with OT pictures and two greek words that summarize what a sacrfice to God must do if it is going to be effective in making atonement for our sins. First word is expiation, and the second propitiation. Just flattened in the 1950s RSV and 1970 and 1980s to sacrifice. Though peoplecan’t understand old fashion words, so give up on the idea behind them. ESV, NAS, NKJV modern translations that describe how God justifiesusing these words:
Expiation -like exit is focused on what the Cross does for us -Ex = away from, out of; it like a scape goat - makes an exit of our sin, horizontally you and me, sin E to W - CHrist’s death accomplished that- borethe punishment diedinmy place.
But propitiation is not what the sacrifice does for us, but what it does for God, vertical access. This is the problem with how the contemporary church thinks about sin. We only think about what it means on a hoizontal level - howiteffectsus, makes us guilty, brings punshment on us. So ideas of salvation, justself-therapy. But propitiation, the OT sacrificial system, says our sins areprimarly against God - they effect Him! Your foul mouth doesn’t just degrade,and debase others bring conversation down, - it offends God! Your sin and your sinful nature not only brings you guilt and makes you feel bad; it violates and angers God. Psalms says he is angry with the wickedallthe day. Sin in this right and good universe that God upholds, demands God’s wrath and his justice. Deep in theology and everyhuman heart there is an understanding that sin and crimes- require satisfaction!
And the crux of our problem is that by the law and legal justice, we could never workthis satisfaction:
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
But the inifitely good and opowerful Son of God, he was able to make inifite satisfaction for your sins and mine. He endured the full wrath of God against our sin and sinful nature - he who had no sin became sin for us. And why?
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
This is what the Cross is all about. Christ by his blood made a complete satsifaction of God’s wrath and His justice, so that now with those demands paid for, the penalty expired justly in Christ. Its not just that our sins have been sent away from us, but now as Christ says notonly wrath paid for, but here is my perfet righteousness - my perfect obedience, my record of Aplus inhuman living - They arern’t that in themselves, but united to me, partaking in me, in my crucficition and resurrection- Ideclarethem righteous!
This ios what Luther meant - when he said, I am at the same time still a sinner and alsonow a saint. My standing with God is in Christ and His record, and my participatioon in him - that’s my new status and I am totally accepted by God, as much as Christ is - and I live in his favour and lbessings, and inheritance.
That’s the Great exchange, the double transfer, the double imputation; my sinandsinfullnature imputed to Christ, His rightesouness and right standing andsttus with God imputed to me! This iis why says:
It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
The modern idea that God forgives sin by just saying forget aboutitwith a shrug, that His love is opposite to his justice is just wrong. In His great love for us, he doens’t loveus witout justice, but in Christ is both just and lvoing for our good and salvation!
And this is the foundation of my salvation and my Christian living. God’sgrace to me -isn’t just a booster vitamin of grace, that gets infused in my soul andmind and will and as I start to live better and love more - then God declares me rightesouness. As if my justification and God’s favour depends on my performance. No,standing in Christ alone,accepted in the beloved, jsutified by his righteousness - I contribute nothing to that salvation, it is 100% gift,and receivingthatgift, living in that new status of reconciled to God - now I perform knowing that God has been completely just with mysins in Christ, and that his justice and righteouness is not at war with his grace! And so I want to live for that righteounes and grow in it, even though I know it is not my rightesouness that justifies me, but soellytherighteousness of Christ!
So that is that is the how to from God’s side, but God also doessomething in us, that we are verymuch involved in andthat is the insturmental cause. Thetool by which this justification is activated in our lives and that is our faith!
C. Your Faith is Instrumental Cause of Justification
If this is how-to sermon, we must concludemoving from the How-to’s of God providingthis atonement, to the how-to’s of you receiving and living at-onewithGodthrough Christ!
We have seen it twice - the gift has to be received by faith.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Do you hear that? You are not only to receive Jesus into your life, you are to receive hisblood as your propitiation! And how do you receive the blood of Jesus asyour propitiation? We read in the Biblethat His blood still speaks today, that he have himself up as as asacrficeby the eternal Spirit …the blood of Jesus is not only the objective substitute that a scarifice is part of for the remission of sins; it is alsothe symbol that speaks of its own going effectiveness - The priest,who is ultiately Jesus, would not only make the sacrfice, but take the blood of the sacrfice and make atonement in the holy of holies. Jesus has done that in the heavenly temple/holy of holies; ever lives to make interecession. And the how-to of receiving andliving in the gift of justification - is trusting inthat blood for your status with God.
You know what it is like to be unforgiven in human relationship. Sometimes we don’teven believe a person would forgive us, sometimes they take it back, have to forgive us again. But it takesfaith to believe not demnding justive, nolonger holding it against me. Weneed to live with God like that and can only do so through the blood of Jesus -tokenof that forgiveness. Empty hands of faith- justreachingforwardto grasp allthe promises of newlife acceptance, forgivenss, sonship, inheritance, the gifts and pweor of the Spirit - the greatest of which is the remissios of our sin in Christ!
And here it is so imporant to be clear - faithcalls us to manythings, obedience of faith, there’s faith working through love as allthat counts. But when it comes to our justification - being rightwith God- our only concern is not our performancebutto direct, and stir up and sternrgthen our faith and confidence towards Christ! That in the end is our only comfort in livfe anddath - nolonger our own, but belong to him - fully paid for my sin, set me free and in that justifcation has granted me a new status to live a new life!
And I’veused the illustration before but this what makes this teaching and experience of justification the Atlas of the Christian Faith! As Luther says it is the doctrine by which the church rises or falls.