Christ Took Our Punishment
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Made Righteous and Justified through Faith
Made Righteous and Justified through Faith
Tonight we are going to unpack what Martin Luther stated is “the chief point, and the very central place of the Epistle, and of the whole Bible.” The rest of this chapter explains to every mature believer and new believer that it is impossible to be made right with God outside of Jesus Christ.
21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.
Made right with God refers to the “righteousness of God.” This means an action on God’s part, not on our part. We can define “righteousness” as:
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Righteousness
Conformity to a certain set of expectations, which vary from role to role. Righteousness is fulfillment of the expectations in any relationship, whether with God or other people.
The prophet Micah summed it up when he said:
8 No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
We work to fulfill the expectations of others in our lives. With our spouses, with our children, with our parents, with our employers, with our friends. We do our best to do what is right in each of those relationships, and we should.
We are talking about the righteousness of God here. God’s very character. Perfect justice, perfect mercy, perfect love, and perfect grace. We try to claim righteousness all the time. “ I am right, and they are wrong.” “They should be punished for what they did, but I should slide for what I have done.” At what point do we care more about being right than showing grace, mercy, and love? Who among us is truly righteous by God’s standard?
Does this mean we do not concern ourselves with being righteous before people? Absolutely not! We are to strive in life to be beyond reproach and represent Jesus Christ to this world. Paul tells us in one of his Pastoral letter to his son in the faith Timothy:
22 Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.
Strive for righteousness in this life.
21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.
As we continue, when we use the terms Mosaic Law, law of Moses, or the law in New Testament discussion, we are referring to the first five books of the Bible.
TORAH (תּוֹרָה, torah)
Torah in the original Hebrew means “instruction or direction.”
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
The Hebrew Torah or Pentateuch is known as Jewish Law.
The law (Torah) of Moses led people to believe that it was through human accomplishment and works that we earned our way into heaven.
Being good does not make us perfect. Good intentions do not make us perfect. The Mosaic law shows us that we are imperfect and incapable of claiming righteousness on our own.
22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
The righteousness that God provides has everything to do with what God did, and not in what people can do or accomplish. Righteousness is received, it is not earned. It is received through faith in Christ. From God’s perspective, an eternal gift has been given that Jesus died in the flesh to deliver to each of us.
Read that last sentence. “And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” How many times I have heard people say that Christianity is an exclusive religion, that only some people can be Christians. Number one, it is faith defined as a religion by mans standards. And two, Christianity is the most inclusive faith that exists. Open to all people.
Everyone who makes the choice to believe in Christ, no matter who they are, and they will be called children of God.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
We are all sinners. The word sinned (harmartano) is in the Greek tense; meaning that it is a once-for-all happening. When we hear pastors say “all sin, past, present, an future,” this is where it comes from. It looks back to the historical entrance of sin into the world.
This means that all people …
• inherited the nature of their sinful fathers and mothers
• have sinned and are sinners
• cannot keep from sinning and will sin
Through “the way,” Jesus Christ, righteousness is not only given to the believer as a possession, righteousness is laid upon the believer as a covering. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God’s righteousness. His blood covers our sins.
Justified through Faith
Justified through Faith
When we talk about being justified through faith, we are talking about the justice of God. There had to be a sin sacrifice. There was only one capable of doing it, and only one who did do it.
25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,
That word “presented”, pro-tee-them-ee, means that God purposed Christ to be the propitiation for our sin.
Propitiation:
A sacrifice, a covering, a satisfaction, a payment, an appeasement for sin.
God set Christ before Himself, and publicly before the world to carry the sin of all people. Those who came before His time, during His time, and after His time. Christ bought us out of slavery to sin.
God could very well have let everybody suffer spiritual death, but in His mercy, in His long-suffering, He presented Christ as the atoning sacrifice.
Note that it was not through Jesus teachings, nor His power, nor His life, but through His blood. The blood of the perfect lamb brings justification in the eyes of God.
26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
God was looking ahead! This is nothing for God, the great I AM. The alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. The point is this:
God is the ultimate judge. Truly fair and truly just. He knows all sides of the story, he knows what is in the heart and mind of all people. Only God knows the full truth of each and every precious life on this planet.
God Himself makes sinners right in His sight. This is not to say that He justifies our sinful acts but that he judges us through the blood of Christ.
It is through the believers faith that God judges us acceptable to Him. The law of Moses was meant to teach us that we are not perfect and in need of a savior.
There are laws we memorize, there are laws we recite, but it does not mean we keep those laws.
I do not know about you, but the longer I am in this walk, the closer I become to Christ, the more dependent I become on Him, the more I realize how much I need His ongoing sanctification.
11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Sometimes we will point at believers who are not as far along as we are. We may criticize others who struggle with different issues than we may struggle with. Sometimes we forget that we were once in that same place and still fail at times.
We all need the ongoing sanctification of Jesus Christ. Pick that cross up daily, and receive His cleansing. We are justified and made righteous through Him alone, through His redemptive act at the cross. We must remember that new believers and old believers alike struggle with this flesh.
27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith.
Imagine this for a moment. Most of us have been in a court room. There you sit as the defendant. Satan is right there as the prosecutor. God is the Judge. Satan is just ripping in to you, every misdeed, every sin, every thought, every action. Then your attorney walks in, Jesus Christ. He says “Hey dad” to the judge. Points at you, and says “This one is mine.”
You have been acquitted of all charges based on your faith in Jesus Christ. Nothing you could have done, nothing you have done, nothing you could ever do can measure up to that.
Satan keeps screaming, but the case is closed. We repent, we live in active faith, we become bond-servants remaining obedient unto Christ. We then share our attorneys name with all of the other ungodly people set to stand trial.
No boasting. You did nothing to earn it, you did not work for it, you did not have to pay for it, and there is no way you can repay it.
28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
It is impossible to be made righteous through the law of Moses. We cannot perfectly uphold the 613 laws of the OT. If we could, this world would not need a Savior.
Jesus says “I did at the cross that which you could not” making those who believe acceptable. God says “I Am” the one who preexisted, the perfect judge, and the perfect Father, who through the blood of my Son judges you as acceptable.
Now, Holy Spirit guides us in our faith bringing us to a place where we naturally begin obeying the law and the prophets as a result of our faith in Christ.
The Good news tonight is that God proves His great love, mercy, righteousness, and justice through His forbearance and patience. In giving to this world His free gift of eternal salvation in His son, Jesus Christ.
God bless you tonight. Please pray with me.