Rom 3-Just & Justifier

| Both Judge and Justifier! Romans 3:19-31

May 14, 2006 New Century Version – 19We know that the law’s commands are for those who have the law. This stops all excuses and brings the whole world under God’s judgment, 20because no one can be made right with God by following the law. The law only shows us our sin.21But God has a way to make people right with him without the law, and he has now shown us that way which the law and the prophets told us about. 22God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all people are the same: 23All have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory, 24and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ. 25God gave him as a way to forgive sin through faith in the blood of Jesus’ death. This showed that God always does what is right and fair, as in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins. 26And God gave Jesus to show today that he does what is right. God did this so he could judge rightly and so he could make right any person who has faith in Jesus.27So do we have a reason to brag about ourselves? No! And why not? It is the way of faith that stops all bragging, not the way of trying to obey the law. 28A person is made right with God through faith, not through obeying the law. 29Is God only the God of the Jews? Is he not also the God of those who are not Jews? 30Of course he is, because there is only one God. He will make Jews right with him by their faith, and he will also make those who are not Jews right with him through their faith. 31So do we destroy the law by following the way of faith? No! Faith causes us to be what the law truly wants. PRAYScripture Memory:Romans 3:26 – God gave Jesus in order “to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”  Intro:Are the wrath of God and the love of God incompatible? Do they stand at odds with each other? Can God be thoroughly just and, at the same time, merciful? How can a holy God allow sin into His Presence when the very nature of holiness consumes sin? Our focus this morning: vv. 23-26, especially v. 26:(NCV) 23All have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory, 24and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ. 25God gave him as a way to forgive sin through faith in the blood of Jesus’ death. This showed that God always does what is right and fair, as in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins. 26And God gave Jesus to show today that he does what is right. God did this so he could judge rightly and so he could make right any person who has faith in Jesus. (NIV) There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. One Problem: Our Sin and God’s JusticeAnother Problem: God’s Justice and God’s MercyOne Final Problem: God’s Mercy and God’s Justice1. One Problem: Our Sin and God’s JusticeF    Our Sin:Sin is “willful rebellion”It is a refusal to worship God as God, preferring self and other things to Him. – more on that momentarilyF    God’s Justice:Justice is treating people according the letter of the law, not showing preferential treatment to any. The Question: How can God accept us and still be holy and just?The Problem:Ø   We resist GodØ   We ignore GodØ   We attempt to deceive GodØ   We work against God’s interestsØ   We acknowledge God only when we have some needØ   We consider our plans and desires before God’sØ   We do not love God with all our heart, soul and mind.Because of all this, & the fact that, apart from the grace of God working in us, we all continue in this pattern. If we want to have a hope of heaven, what can we do? False solution: Deny there is a God, but create our own god out of something or someone else.True Solution: Recognize the answer to our problem is faith and trust in Christ. False solution: Live in guilt, punishing ourselves and masking the guilt behind alcohol, drugs, work, etc.True Solution: Accept God’s gracious gift of forgiveness, believing in His love. False solution: Use religion (works, church attendance, service) as a substitute for faith, for loving God, for obeying Him.True Solution: Realize that God is willing to declare us not guilty, & that He alone can do that. False solution: Assume or vaguely hope God will save us anyway.True Solution: Live in the freedom provided by God, enjoying the opportunity to express our love and thanks by obedience, confident in his love, rather than trying to earn his acceptance. False solution: Conclude God is too demanding and live in despair, denial or apathy.True Solution: Humbly accept the fact that Christ’s substitution for us accomplished what we could not have done for ourselves. Before we can truly understand God Justice, we must come to grips with our sin. Before we can truly understand God’s mercy, we must understand His justice. 2. Another Problem: God’s Justice and God’s MercyThe Question: How can God be perfectly just and yet still show mercy?F    God’s Justice (His “justness”)Would we consider a judge just if he arbitrarily chose to dismiss the charges against those who are clearly guilty? Would it be just if a judge were to say, “You are clearly guilty, but I feel merciful today so I am not going to uphold the law with you today and I am going to let you go.”?!?  |   | F    God’s MercyMercy presupposes guiltGod’s wrath is just and his anger right.However, the wrath of God and the love of God are not incompatibleThe wrath of God “is not like the capricious anger of the pagan deities.” (Boice)God’s wrath against sin is every bit as much a character of God as his love is.In order for God to be consistent with Who He is, In order for God to be perfectly just AND merciful, He MUST uphold the law. He cannot merely decide to set the law aside and be merciful instead.The law’s just penalty MUST be satisfied. When we stand before Him, and our lives are laid bare, there is not a one of us who will not fully deserve the death the law demands for sin. We will find that even our most pure efforts at obedience were still impure, and most were far more self-serving than God-honoring.Without question each of us will find ourselves GUILTY as charged, with no excuse and no question. We will understand the penalty which the law demands, death, and we will have no defense.UNLESS, the law has already been satisfied.We each have a choice. We can stand before God on the basis of our own lives, our own goodness, our own sincerity, or whatever,ORWe can humbly acknowledge our guilt and thankfully embrace our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.We will not be able to plead ignorance.We will not be able to plead sincerityWe will not be able to plead “I’m only human!”Our only plea can be “God be merciful to me because of Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Savior, and my only hope before You!”This is one of the main things which sets Christianity apart from “religion”… 3. One Final Problem: God’s Mercy and God’s JusticeQ: Does God’s mercy eliminate His Justice?F    Is God unjust to save some and yet condemn others if we are all guilty?The picture of raging waters with people drowning & God deciding to save some and let others drown…The picture of a prison full of convicted murderers who fully deserve their punishment… F    If, indeed, we are all guilty, how can He be just when He pardons any of us without cost to us?We like the fact that He is merciful and full of grace. We like to dwell on His love and His mercy. We like to think of Him as a grandfatherly figure up in the sky. But this, in itself, is NOT the God Who has revealed Himself in the pages of Scripture!God is every bit as just as He is loving. He is every bit as holy as He is merciful. In fact, He cannot love apart from His justice. He cannot be merciful apart from His holiness. His love and mercy are integrally bound up in all of His other attributes. In fact, He would not BE truly loving or merciful apart from his justice and His holiness.So how is it that His justness is glorified at the same time that His mercy and grace are glorified?The gospel, at the same time, brings God’s elect to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, AND confirms the just condemnation of those who reject it.God’s mercy is made all the more glorious in the face of His justice. His love is all the more amazing in the light of His righteous wrath against the sin and wickedness of mankind.If we take out His justice, embracing only the fact that He justifies us through Christ, then we are taking the amazing out of grace.  Summary / Review:God is Just. His very nature DEMANDS that He punish sin with spiritual death. His nature cannot endure sin in His presence. And yet we all sin. So can He be both just and our justifier? Before we can understand this we must come to grips with our sin. Before we can truly understand God’s mercy, we must understand His justice.And when we begin to truly understand His justice, we begin to truly MARVEL at His mercy! Yet we need to remember that mercy presupposes guilt. God has every reason to be angry with us, to reject us from coming into His presence. In fact, if we truly understand this, we will be FAR more amazed that He accepts ANY of us than we are that those who reject Him will perish. As we understand His holiness and His justness, only then will we understand His grace and mercy. Only then will we understand why total surrender to Him is the ONLY way we can come to Him. Only THEN will our obedience be truly motivated by grateful love, rather than an insecure desire to prove our salvation!Are you prepared to stand before the judgment seat of Christ?If you know the grace of God here, this morning, are you committed to proclaiming it at every opportunity, understanding that God WILL be glorified no matter what the response? Does your heart ache for those around you to embrace Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Are you GRIEVED by the unbelief and refusal to surrender to Him that abounds all around us?2 Peter 3:9 – (NIV) [God] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. It is His desire that everyone would come to repentance. However, He allows most people to reject Him, choosing to change the hearts of His own people so that the glory of His grace and mercy might shine all the more brightly in the face of His completely just condemnation of those Who refuse to embrace Him here and now.Is it YOUR desire that no one should no one should perish? Are you doing anything about it?A Truth to Remember: God is every bit as just as He is merciful. He is every bit as holy as He is loving.A Challenge to Consider: Is it your desire that God might receive all the glory, and are you willing to boldly proclaim the gospel to that end? |