The treasures of justifcation

Introduction

Martin Luther was a man that we could say was desperate to be made right with God. He was an augustinian monk, living a life of self denial. He would confess his sins meticulously for hours, he would punish his body severely, one time till near death. He was trying to find a way, any way to be made right with God. He knew he was a guilty sinner, deserving of the wrath of God and he was desperately trying to solve the problem of his guilt.

It wasn’t until he discovered from studying the scriptures we are justified by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, that he found what he was looking for. This teaching was well known in the early church, but sadly had become obscured by a man made system of salvation that dominated the medieval church.

Martin Luther’s rediscovery of the doctrine of justification by faith eventually resulted in the protestant reformation where this biblical truth was proclaimed through out Europe.

The problem of the modern man is the same problem as the medieval man. Today we still face the same problem that Martin Luther had. Every person has the same problem; we are guilty sinners who are accountable to a holy God.

How can we be made right with God? in order to be made right with God we need to be justified. That means we need to be declared righteous by him. How can that happen, and what can we expect if it does happen?

We find the answer in our passage this morning. It will help us this morning as we look at this passage if we think of justification as a magnificent palace. In our passage we find out how to enter the palace of justification and what kind of treasures we can expect to find inside.

The palace of justification- the door is faith, the treasures inside peace with God, grace to persevere, joyful hope of future glory

Two points this morning. I. The door of justification II. The treasures of justification

I. The door to justification 5:1

Firstly then, in our passage we see the door to justification.

a) What is justification?

In Romans chapter 4 the Apostle Paul has just been explaining the way to be justified. He uses the life of Abraham as an example. Then in Romans 5:1 He sums up for us the point of his argument. He says “Therefore, having been justified by faith...”

Here we find the door to justification, we see how someone can be justified. But before we look at that it will be helpful for us to understand properly what it means to be justified.

The word justification is a legal term. It means to declare somebody to be righteous.

We might use the term today by saying someone is trying to justify themselves. Normally we use it when someone has done something wrong and they are trying to prove their own innocence.

It is being used in this verse to mean that God has justified believers, meaning he has declared them to be innocent, to be righteous in his sight.

The reason we need this is because we are not righteous, we are not holy. The Bible tells us “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

The problem is that God is holy and just and he must punish sin. In order for us to be accepted by him and not condemned we need our sins to be taken away and we need to be given a righteousness which we do not possess.

This is what it means to be justified. This is what Jesus Christ does for those who believe in him. This was why he died on the cross, to pay the penalty of our sins and this was why he rose from the dead. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

To be justified means that your sin is imputed to Christ and he paid for it on the cross, and the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to you. Therefore, you are counted righteous.

Illustrate- Dirty coat, swapped for pure robe.

This is what everyone needs if they hope to be right with God, if they want heaven and not hell. They need God to declare them righteous, this is only possible if they are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

This is the palace of justification. How do we enter?

b) justified by faith

The door to this palace is faith.

This is what Paul says in Chapter 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith...”

What does this mean? You can meet people all across England and they will tell you they have faith, but it is clear they do not mean what the Bible is speaking about here.

The faith spoken of here is a whole hearted trust in Jesus Christ. Elsewhere the Bible says “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” the faith that justifies is the faith that trusts in Jesus Christ as its only hope of salvation.

In other words to have faith in Christ is to abandon all trust in your own righteousness. It is to say my sin has made me unable to make myself acceptable to God, my only hope is the finished work of Jesus Christ. His death that atoned for my sins, and his resurrection that defeated the power of death. My trust is in what Jesus Christ has done for me.

As the hymn says “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.”

By faith we must lay hold of the righteousness of Jesus Christ which is offered to us in the Gospel.

c) Not by works

If justification is by faith it means that it is not by works. We cannot earn it or contribute anything to it.

If a person says God will accept me because I am a good person, then they do not have the faith spoken of in this verse. They are trusting in themselves and not in Jesus Christ. Their faith is in themselves and not Christ, they are trusting in their own works and not the finished work of Christ.

The Apostle Paul elsewhere puts it like this “that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;” Php 3:8–9.

So the door to the palace of justification is faith. It is only be faith that a person can be justified, not by works. If a person tries to enter by works they will find the way blocked.

Application-

The Apostle Paul in this verse is speaking to people who have experienced this for themselves. but, the question that must be asked this morning is are you justified? Has your sin been forgiven, and has the righteousness of Jesus Christ been imputed to you because your faith is in him?

If your life was called to account by God today, would you stand before him in your own sin and be lost for ever, or would you stand before him in the righteousness of Christ and be welcomed into his everlasting kingdom?

As Christians we need to keep coming back to this truth. So often as Christians we fail. So often we sin and we let the Lord down. We know we should read the Bible more, we know we should spend more time in prayer. If we are not careful we can be weighed down with fear, we can think that God does not accept us because of our bad performance as Christians. But here we are reminded God doesn’t see us in the light of our half hearted obedience but he sees us in the light of the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ.

We are the righteousness of God in him, he has been made to us righteousness and sanctification and redemption. The reality is if we are in Christ, if we are justified by faith, then we cannot become more pleasing to God than we already are. God is infinitely pleased with his beloved Son. We are clothed with his righteousness. God sees us not as we are in ourselves but as we are in Christ.

This doesn’t mean we have license to sin, but it does mean we can press on in holiness, having confidence towards God because we are justified by faith. We live lives of gratitude not fearful duty.

Well having entered the palace of justification by the door of faith, what kind of treasures can we expect to find inside?

I. The door of justification II. The treasures of justification

II. The treasures of justification 5:1-2

The passage tells us about three benefits of Justification, three blessings we enjoy if we are justified. Inside the palace of justification three treasures we find are peace with God, grace that keeps us in the faith, and a certain hope of future glory.

a) Peace with God v.1

The first treasure then is peace with God.

Paul says “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...”

Peace with God. This is important because the Bible presents sinful people as the enemies of God. Paul says elsewhere “The carnal mind is at enmity with God.”

The bible presents the picture of the human race at war with God. Rebelling against him and refusing to submit to him.

There is hostility between God and men because of sin. Sin is an afront to God. It is offensive to him, it is ultimately against his majesty and honour. It demands his vengeance, it demands his condemnation. This is why God sends people to hell.

But the wonderful truth in this verse is that justification by faith brings peace with God.

The moment you are justified there is peace between you and God.

It isn’t a temporary peace, but an everlasting unchanging peace.

There is the famous story of the Christmas truce along some parts of the western front in WWI. It is recorded that on Christmas day British and German troops met in No man’s land to exchange gifts and play football. For a few hours there was peace between the hostile armies. But after boxing day had ended they were one again trying to kill each other.

This isn’t the kind of peace we have with God, rather it is an everlasting peace.

To have peace with God means to have his friendship and his love. It doesn’t merely mean that now God tolerates us but he blesses us, he wants to do us good. In this life and in the life which is to come.

How was this possible? Paul reminds us that this treasure can only be enjoyed by us because of what Jesus has done on our behalf.

He says “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...”

We enjoy this peace with God because Jesus Christ came as the peacemaker and took the punishment our sins deserve upon himself on the cross.

The peace spoken of in this verse is the peace that we have between us and God and includes all the blessings that follow. But having peace with God means that we also experience peace in our hearts.

Until we have peace with God, we will never have true peace within ourselves. Augustine, an early Christian writer, said The soul is restless until it finds its rest in God. True peace is only obtained when we have peace with God.

Application-

Is there peace between you and God because you have been justified by faith in Christ?

Has your sin been taken out of the way? Or are you still at war with God?

If we are justified today then we have peace with God. He is our Father we are his children. He will never turn us away. He makes all things work together for our good. He is rich in mercy towards us, and showers us with good gifts.

The first treasure- peace with God. The second treasure- Grace that keeps us

b) grace that keeps us v.2a

In v.2 of our passage Paul says “through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand”

Through Christ we not only have peace with God but we also have access by faith in the grace in which we stand.

What does this mean?

Again we must note two important points firstly whatever it means we can only enjoy it because of what Jesus Christ has done for us, it is based on his merits, his finished work and not ours. He has earned this treasure for us. It is a fruit of our justification.

Secondly, we can only enjoy this treasure by faith. You cannot earn it, but you must lay hold of it by faith.

So what is it?

It is access into the grace in which we stand. In other words we are able to have free access to the favour of God which saves us, keeps us saved, and preserves us for eternal blessings in heaven.

This is the grace that causes us to stand firm. This is persevering grace. This is the grace that keeps us believing until the end. The grace of God.

Jesus described this very vividly in John 10:28-29 “28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”

Peace with God, grace that keeps, finally future hope of glory.

c) Future hope of glory v.2b

Paul finishes v.2 by saying “and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

His point is that if you are justified you have a certain future ahead of you. It is a future that should cause you to rejoice as you wait expectantly for it.

What is that future? Paul describes it as the hope of the glory of God. By this he means that God will glorify those who have been justified by faith in Christ.

In Romans 8:30 Paul says “30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

That glorification is what Paul is referring to here. It means that they will be made to be like Jesus. The verse before what we have just read says that believers will be conformed to the image of Christ so that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. In other words those who are justified will be heirs of God and co heirs with Christ. They will rule with Jesus in his heavenly kingdom.

Paul is saying if you have been justified. If you are trusting in the righteousness of Jesus Christ as your only confidence before God then Paul says you have have this certain hope. If you have been justified you will be glorified.

Peter described it as an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. 1 Peter 1:4

If we were to sum up the treasures of justification we could say our past, present and future is all taken care of by the bountiful grace of God. Our past is dealt with, we have peace with God. Our present is under his care, we have access to the grace in which we stand. Our future is certain, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

That is why Paul could say in Eph 1:3 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

Application-

Conclusion