A Laborer and His Wage.

Opening:

Good morning again Connection Church. It is good to be back with you and in the pulpit. Again I just want to express my gratitude to my wife and pastor Cory who conspired to give me a week off and a few days of rest. While I love being here and pastoring this beloved church, it was such a blessing to be able to take a couple days and rest. That being said I am so glad that you have come to worship Christ together today. It is such a beautiful thing to gather together on the Lord’s Day and worship our great God and King. He is worthy of our worship and faithfulness. He worthy of our singing praises to Him. He worthy of our worship through teaching and training our children. He is worthy of our worship through giving. He is worthy of our worship through the learning of truths. And He is worthy of our worship through hearing and submitting to His Word.

As I am now back, we are returning again to our series through the gospel of Matthew. Open with me to Matthew 20:1-16. If you do not have a Bible, we have Bible’s on the table by the door. If you do not own a Bible, please keep that as our gift to you. We want everyone to have a copy of God’s Word. The Bible is the “Verbum Dei,” the very Word of God. We can and should study this. It holds the same authority as if God were verbally speaking to us. Because of this, we hold to it as our authority and guide. It is the foundation of the Church Universal and this church.

Introduction of the Text:

We are now entering the twentieth chapter of Matthew’s gospel account. Though this account we have learned so much. We have seen Matthew present who Jesus is. Jesus is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Jesus is God. He is the Lord. He has all power and authority. Matthew has emphasized this again and again. Matthew has also shown us much of Jesus’ teaching of the Kingdom of heaven. Jesus has shown that the kingdom is coming, has come, and is yet to come. Jesus has shown us much of what this kingdom is like and how we are to act as members of this kingdom. Jesus is continuing this teaching.

Reading of the Text:

With this in mind, I would ask the congregation to stand with me for the reading of God’s Word.

Matthew 20:1-16 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

The Word of God. Let’s pray.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for who you are. Thank you for revealing the truth through your Word. You are faithful to us. You spoke the universe into being. You spoke and light came into being. You spoke and the earth was formed. You spoke and life began. Trees sprouted, birds began to fly, fish began to swim. You spoke and Your will was accomplished. You formed man from the dirt and breathed life into him. You made mankind. Yet we sinned. We have broken the covenant. But you have stepped in. Your plan is never altered. Your will is never challenged. Your plan of redemption played out exactly as you decreed it to. You stepped in and came to pay the debt we owed.

Lord, you called us out. We, your church, have been saved by your will. It is not by our strength, our planning, our will that saves us. It is your will, oh God, that has saved us. Because of this, we bow before you. We humble ourselves before you. We come before you and lift our voices in praise. We come together today to worship you. We dedicate this day to you, Lord. It is your day. We come to worship you, for you alone are worthy of worship. You alone are good. You alone are pure. You alone are holy. May our worship join with the worship of all the church from all time and be honoring to you. You deserve this worship. You, who owe us nothing, have called us out. You have saved us. You brought us to life and bring us to worship you. May we worship you with passion. May we declare amen to your word. May we declare amen to the truth of who you are.

Lord, in these trying times, may we look to you and have peace that nothing happens outside of your will. May we have peace that you are in complete control. May we look to you and feel the swell of relief that no matter what happens, all will work to the glory of your name. May we have peace in your strong right hand. May we see the fail of our culture and declare, Jesus is King. Lord, may we see the folly of the wicked and declare, “Jesus is King.” May we, as we see our world running to evil, never cease declaring “Jesus is King.” Give us strength to declare the kingdom of heaven. You are King.

And Lord, may we humble ourselves before your word. May we submit to what you, our King, have said to us. Crush our arrogance. Crush any desire within us to refuse to submit to your Word. May it be evident that you are our King through our submission to what you have said. Sanctify us in the truth, Lord. Your Word is truth. And please be with me. Use me, a broken vessel. Use me, a vastly unworthy servant to communicate the truth. Keep my mouth from lies. Help me be bold and lead us in the truth of Your Word.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Transition: Two primary ways to understand this text:

As we open this text, we see that it is a parable of Jesus. Matthew has already walked us through multiple of Jesus’ parables. Because of this, we should be able to clearly identify that this is in the same vein. What is this parable regarding? Jesus tells us in the first words. “The kingdom of heaven.” Jesus is again teaching about the kingdom of heaven. Specifically, Jesus is continuing his teaching of the disciples. If you recall, in the last text Jesus encountered the rich young ruler. Jesus then began to teach the disciples that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom. He also taught that the disciples would rule with Him on twelve thrones. He then made the statement, “30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Now Jesus is continuing this exact teaching. However, there are really two primary ways to understand this text. Jesus is using a very earthy example. He does this often. He gives a picture that His audience would easily understand. He then applies the Spiritual significance to it. Many of these examples are still easy for us to grasp. However, we are disconnected from that specific culture by two thousand years, so there are details that we may not specifically understand. Because of this, it is helpful to study and come to an understanding of the earthly understanding before we jump right into the heavenly understanding. If we miss the picture Jesus is giving, we may miss the clear heavenly teaching. So let’s look first at the earthly understanding.

1. The Earthly Understanding.

Explanation:

Jesus uses an example of a master of a house. This master is the owner of a vineyard. He is clearly a wealthy and powerful man. He goes into the city and hires laborers at the start of the day. This was the first hour. In the culture of the day, the first hour was six in the morning. It was the start of the day. He hires these workers for a denarius. This was a very fair days wage. It was the wage that a soldier or long term hired man would earn for a days work. This is good pay for a day laborer.

It was common for workers who had no steady job to go and resent themselves in the marketplace. They would wait for someone to hire them for one days work. This owner strikes this very beneficial deal with these workers. They go with him and work in his vineyard starting at the start of the day.

At the third hour (9 a.m.), the owner returns to the marketplace and finds more men who are looking for work. He approaches them and tells them that he will give them what it right. It is not stated, but likely this man was known as an honest and generous man, so these workers accompany this man, trusting he will treat them well. The owner does the same at sixth hour, (mid day) the ninth hour, (Three p.m.) and finally at the eleventh hour (five p.m.). Each time the owner has promised fair compensation. They all accompany the owner to the vineyard.

Then comes the twelfth hour (6 p.m.) the common end to the work day. The owner stands with his foreman and tells him to pay the workers. This was God’s command concerning the daily laborers. Deuteronomy 24:14-15 “14 “You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. 15 You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.” Leviticus 19:13 13 “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.” Reaffirmed in James 5:4 “4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.”

Remember from a few weeks ago? The Word of God is sufficient. It is our rule for faith and life. We can learn all we must know from what Scripture directly says or we can draw correct implication from it. Even how we are to tread day laborers. The owner here is shown to be correctly obeying God’s Law. He is presented as a righteous man. So he goes to pay the workers. He begins with the most recent hires and ends with the first hired. He gives the first hired a denarius. It is implied that each of the workers, no matter when they are hired receive a denarius.

Those hired first begin to think they will receive more than the others. However, they are wrong. They also receive a denarius. At this, they begin to complain. They say, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ They are clearly upset at this and consider it unfair treatment. The master however does not share this sentiment. He replies to them and says, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’

He is right, he had done them no wrong. They had come to an agreement and the master had kept the arrangement. He had not cheated them. He kept the contract they had made together. He simply was generous with those who came after. In fact, the master had been generous with all. He was under no obligation to go to the marketplace and hire anyone. In grace, he gave these men work. He kept God’s law and was honest and paid them all.

Argumentation:

In our day of labor unions and hourly wage laws we can tend to miss this point. In our culture, I think we would tend to take the side of these workers. “Wait a minute, that’s not fair. The workers who had been there longer should be paid more.” Our minds would tend to skip to the idea that if those who worked one hour got one denarius, those who worked three should get three and those who worked twelve should get twelve. However this is not the case, nor is it how the kingdom of heaven works. More on that in a bit.

Transition:

This is why I say it important that we grasp the earthly understanding before we move to the heavenly understanding. Jesus is reaffirming the biblical idea of work. The Bible has laid down principles for dealing with employers and employees. First, we see in scripture that employers are free to hire employees.

A. Employers Are Free To Hire Employees.

Explanation:

I know, I know, this seems basic right? But a person is fully able to enter into an employment contract with employees. This is a good thing. The Bible completely allows and encourages hiring laborers, even for simple things like day labor. The Word of God however teaches principles on how this should be handled. A common command in the Law and one that is reaffirmed by Jesus and by Paul is that a laborer is worthy of his pay. 1 Timothy 5:18 “18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” This is the clear teaching of Scripture. When an employer hires an employee, he is to pay his employee fairly. He is to fair and honest with his employee. Employers, hire labor and pay them what they are worth. Employees, the Bible speaks often against being slothful. I’ll let Paul take this one. 2 Thess 3:10-12 “10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.”

Argumentation:

You may think this does not need to be said, however I disagree. I think we must get this principle. Remember, I am bi-vocational. This means I work during the week at a different job. I’ve worked for professing Christians and I’ve worked with many professing Christians. It is my personal experience that this is a lesson many Christians need to learn. Employers, treat your employees well, as Christ would have you. Pay them what they are worth, do not cheat them and pay them on time. Employees, work hard, as to the Lord. Do not be slothful or poor workers. Honor your employers.

Transition:

It is a good thing to faithfully hire employees and it is a good thing to be a faithful employee. But there is another biblical principle. Employers and employees should honor the contract made with each other.

B. Employers and Employees Should Honor The Contract Made With Each Other.

Explanation:

We have already touched on this but I will make the point again. When an employer hires an employee, they are entering into a contract. It is wrong of either party to simply break this. Employers hire someone to do a task and then pay them for it. It is dishonest to require things of the employee you did not hire them for and it is dishonest to refuse to pay them. Remember that passage in James? James 5:4 “4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.” What a terrifying prospect. If an employer cheats an employee out of pay, God Almighty takes notice. The Lord of Hosts takes notice of this.

In the same way, employees who do not honor their contract with their employers are dishonest and sinful. God does not ignore such things. If you wilfully cheat your employer, you are stealing from them. If you are slothful, you are stealing from them. Many of Jesus’ parables address this as well.

Argumentation:

Why does this matter? Because it is the context of this passage. The laborer and the master in this passage enter into an agreement. The laborers accuse the master of unfairness. However the master was clearly not being unfair. He was honoring the agreement. This is clearly demonstrating the biblical principle of honoring your contracts with employers. If the employer does violate this agreement, the Christian employee is free to leave the job without regret.

Illustration:

Let’s say a Christian employer hires an employee. Then the employer then cheats the employee and doesn’t pay them on time or the agreed amount. He somehow dishonestly changes the contract on the employee. That employee is fully in his or her rights to call that fellow Christian to repentance. If the employer is Christian, they should repent and make it right. Even so, the employee is not required to stay in that employment. The employer broke that agreement. He can quit, respectfully, and still worship along side that employer. He or she can say, “I forgive you, but I need to find new employment. See you Sunday!”

Let’s say it is reversed, and the employee breaks the agreement. The employer may call the employee to repentance. The Christian employee should repent and the employer should forgive them. But the employer can say, “I forgive you completely, but you do need to find new employment. See you Sunday!”

Transition:

In short, the employer and the employee should honor the contract they made with each other. This is earthly understanding of what is happening in this text. Now that we have this out of the way, let’s look at the beauty of the heavenly understanding.

2. The Heavenly Understanding.

Explanation:

Remember, this is a picture of the kingdom of heaven. What is the kingdom of heaven like? It is like a faithful, godly, and merciful master of a vineyard who calls workers giving them labor. He hires the first group for a set wage. He then hires other workers later and later in the day. When the end of the day comes, he pays them all the same agreed upon wage. He is fair and gracious to all of them.

Argumentation:

How is this like the kingdom? The ruler is the Father. The foreman is the Son. The day is life. The denarius is salvation. In the kingdom, those called at the first hour are saved. Those called at the third hour are saved. Those called at the sixth hour are saved. Those called at the ninth hour are saved. Those called at the eleventh hour are saved. God gives salvation to all He calls. God is gracious. He gives salvation freely to all those He calls. He gives the call and gives salvation. This is gracious beyond words.

Transition:

But let’s break this down this beautiful picture of the gospel down a little further. First, God calls whom He wills.

A. God Calls Whom He Wills.

Explanation:

God is the Master of the House. He is the owner, the ruler, the king. He is Lord of all. He is under no obligation to go to the marketplace. He was under no obligation to come to earth to call people to the kingdom. However, He in great grace does this. He condescends to call lowly sinners like us. He came to earth and provided salvation. He came to earth and called sinners. He made us clean, He brought us into the kingdom and now we work in the kingdom. We were not called to be idle. We are to work for our Master.

But wait, does this teach a works based salvation? By no means! For no one works to earn their salvation. This picture is true. The denarius does not depend on the work done but on the gracious Lord who calls. At the end of the day, we are saved. Christians receive ultimate salvation at the end of life. We are saved now. We are called out by God now. We are saved from our sins at the moment of salvation. At that moment we are promised the fulfilment of our salvation at the end of our life. We will receive the full measure of our salvation then. We are saved now and are to work for the kingdom and will receive the full reward at the end.

In this sense, we are saved, are being saved, and will be saved. We are saved. The Master came and called us to the kingdom. We are being saved. We are becoming more like Christ day by day. We will be saved. At our death or the return of Christ we will fully receive the fullness of our salvation. This is beauty incarnate. We are saved by the work of Christ!

But notice that all that the Master hires come with him to the field. The account does not say that the Master comes and hires many but only pays some. All those He calls receive the payment. Why do I stress this, because God calls those whom He wills. No man knows the will of God, but the will of God is always good. Those whom He saves are saved by His will. And this is beautiful because those whom He saves are saved to the end. No one was neglected the payment. At the end of the day, those whom the Master called received the payment for the reward depended not on them but on the one who called.

John 1:12-13 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 6:37-40 “37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:43-44 “43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”

What beauty! Are you saved? Then you are called out by God and He will raise you up on the last day! This is peace. This is the gospel! We are the workers who did nothing to deserve the affection of God. But God, in His great mercy and grace came and called us out and gave us work in the kingdom. He will pay us on the last day. God calls whom He wills.

Transition:

But what of these five groups in this passage? Lets look at the five groups God calls.

B. The Five Groups God Calls.

Explanation:

In this passage we have the five groups. 1. Those called in the first hour. 2. The third hour. 3. The sixth hour. 4. The ninth hour. 5. The eleventh hour. What is so significant of these? There are a couple different views that come down to the view of what the day is. Is the day the life of the church? Or is the day the life of the believer?

If the day is the life of the church, then those called at the first hour are those saved at the beginning of the church. This could mean the apostles or even before them. Then it would track till the eleventh hour which would be those saved right before the end. This would be those saved right before Christ coming to establish the consummate kingdom.

If the day is the life of a believer, then those called at the first hour would be those who are saved at the beginning of their life. It would then track to those saved young, those saved old, and finally those saved right before death.

I personally think there is merit in both of those views because this particular issue is not the central theme of the text.

Transition:

The central theme of this text is our next point. God gives life equally.

C. God Gives Eternal Life Equally.

Explanation:

If the day is the life of the church and those called at the first hour are the first members of the church universal, then they are saved. Those called right before the last day are saved. They are all saved equally. It does not matter if we are speaking of Noah, Abraham, Peter, Simon, or the last person who will call upon Jesus as Lord before He comes at the end. Each one is saved fully by the grace and mercy of God. The early have no right to begrudge any other. The early Christians do not have the right to begrudge the salvation of any who come after them. Peter cannot look at Paul, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, MacArthur, or you and I as any lesser. We are all equally saved by the grace of God.

If the day is the life of a believer and those called at the first hour are those who grew up in the faith, then they are saved. Those who call on Christ at their last breath are saved. They are all saved equally. Those who grew up in the faith have no right to begrudge the salvation of any others. It does not matter who the Christian is, if you truly cry out to Christ as Lord, you are saved. I cannot tell you when I was saved. I grew up in the faith. I could not for the life of me point to a specific moment of salvation. I am not saying that there was no moment I was saved, but my parents raised me in a faith filled way. I was raised from my birth on the truth of the gospel. I have no right to look at someone saved in their old age as any lesser. If I have the blessed privilege or leading someone at the end of their life to the Lord, I cannot claim to be more saved than they are. Why? Because we are all saved by the grace and mercy of God.

Think of how helpful this was in the early church. Imagine being in the church during the book of Acts. Imagine being there when the gentiles began to be saved. That moment when the Spirit falls on the gentiles. This teaching would have completely prevented pride. The gentiles are saved by the grace of God just as the Jews. Those who sat under Jesus’ teachings were not more saved than any who came into the faith. We are all equally saved by the grace and mercy of God.

Transition:

Why are we all saved equally? Because God is free to give life to whom He wills.

D. God Is Free To Give Life To Whom He Wills.

Explanation:

Again I belabor this point. God is free to give salvation to whomever He wishes. We are not saved by anything we do. We saved by the grace of Christ. We call out to Him because He calls us. This means we are all equal. The Master comes to us and calls us. If He calls us early, we are saved! If He calls us late, we are saved! No one is more saved than anyone else because salvation is not of us! Salvation is all of God. It is He who saves. It is His work. It is His Will. God saves us.

Do you want the short of it, We are saved equally because we are saved by God. God does not partially save anyone. If you are saved, you have no right to boast. Romans 3:23-27 “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 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. 26 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. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.”

No one who is saved can ever for even one moment claim to be more saved that any other Christian. Was that person saved by the grace of God? They are as saved as you. Was that person saved from some horrific sin by the grace of God? So were you! Was that person saved as a young child? They are as saved as all the saved. Was that person saved at the end of their life? They are as saved as all the saved. Romans 9:16 “16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” Praise God!

Transition:

There is such beauty in this passage. And we can easily apply it to our own lives.

Application:

First, I think a very practical application is employers, be fair to your employees; and employees, be fair to your employers.

1. Employers, Be Fair To Your Employees; And Employees, Be Fair To Your Employers.

If you are an employer, or manager, or in authority over employees, be fair. Treat them as God commands. Be fair and honest. If you are an employee, treat your boss as God commands. Be fair and honest. I feel this is fairly straight forward, but is something that should often be said and taught. We as Christians are to conduct ourselves with honor while we are here. We are to build the kingdom and a great way to do that is be honest and fair in the workplace. Show the reality of your faith in the workplace.

Transition:

Second, Christians, do not begrudge other Christians.

2. Christians, Do Not Begrudge Other Christians.

We are not to view ourselves as any better than any other Christian. Salvation is not a work of man. We are not the active participant in our salvation. God is the one who saves. Because of this, we cannot pretend to be better than fellow Christians. We are not allowed to treat any other Christian as a second class citizen of heaven. We are all equally saved. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. It is all the work of God.

If you are not saved, you can be. Salvation is the free gift of God to all who call upon the name of Jesus. If you will repent of your sins and trust in what Jesus did on your behalf, you will be saved. What does this mean? To repent is to turn away. It means that you reject your sins. You acknowledge that you are a sinner and that sin is cosmic treason against God. You confess your sin and trust in Jesus’ death on the cross as the payment for your sins. Jesus died in the place of sinners like you and I who deserve death for our sins. If you will repent and believe on Christ, you will be saved.

To all who have or will do this, salvation is freely given. To all who are called by God, salvation is given equally. No one is less saved. No one is partially saved. No Christian can pretend to be better than any other.

Communion:

This is the beauty of the Christian walk. All who gather around the table of Christ are on equal footing. Kings hold no special place, the poor and destitute hold no special place. The Lord’s table is a level table. No high seats, no low seats. We as Christians gather together and partake of the body and blood of Christ, as He commanded us. This is an act reserved for Christians. This is because it is a physical remembrance of the gospel. Only those who are saved can physically remember this properly. So if you are trusting in Jesus alone for your salvation, I invite you to come as equal members of the body of Christ to partake at the Lord’s Table.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 “23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Closing prayer:

Closing Hymn:

Closing Benediction:

Romans 3:21-27 “21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 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. 26 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. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.”