Before we turn to this second of our studies together in this great doctrine of the word of God,
there is, or there are, two practical suggestions I would like to make,
and rather than trouble one of the other brethren to say these things,
I feel it would not be inappropriate if I were to say them.
First of all, I've noticed today on several occasions there have been some of the brethren
sort of off by themselves not quite knowing, appearing to just wonder if there's anybody
around who either knows them or notices them, and it's so easy when we have friends we haven't seen
for months or years to gravitate to those whom we already know, and folk who've come amongst us as
relative strangers can kind of get left out of it. I for one have appointed myself a committee of
one to try to take the initiative to introduce myself to anyone whom I do not know by name,
and I think it would be helpful if more of us made that extra effort and then tried to plan to share
a meal together with someone that we have not previously met and introduce someone we do know
to someone whom we have met, so that out of these days will come a maximum measure of interchange
and contribution one to another. And then when we gather to pray in the morning,
perhaps sensing that we know one another a bit better, there will be a greater
liberty then to lead out and to sense that oneness of sharing together in the fellowship of the
Gospel. Now it will be necessary just to spend a few minutes to review the main threads of truth
that we covered last night, since there's some with us tonight who were not here last evening,
and these messages do form some measure of an organic whole. The subject which has been
announced is that of the doctrine of justification, the doctrine which Luther called the article of
the standing or the falling church. And last night what I attempted to do was to set before you,
first of all, some elements of biblical and practical truth relative to the importance
of this doctrine. We saw its importance with relationship to the glory of God and secondly
with relationship to the good of men. And then we spent the remainder of our time considering what
I called the context of the doctrine of justification by faith. That is the setting in
which that doctrine comes to us and without which it cannot either on the one hand be properly
understood or on the other hand be sustained in the thinking and in the life of the people of God.
And I suggested to you that there were three truths of scripture or three segments or
collections of divine truth which form the context of the doctrine of justification.
First of all the character and position of God. He is holy and just. He is creator and judge.
Secondly the position and character of man. He is creature and accountable to God. He is guilty
and depraved. And I would emphasize again that apart from the problem which arises
out of those two things, the character and position of God and the character and position of man,
apart from the question that arises in the light of that relationship,
the doctrine of justification cannot be understood. For that relationship between
a holy and a just God and a sinful and accountable creature called man
brings into focus this burning question, how can that man be just with such a God
as that God? And it is that question which the doctrine of justification answers.
And then the third part of the context of this doctrine is what I call the ultimate intention
of God in the salvation of his people, namely to conform them to the image of his son Jesus Christ
our Lord. Romans 8 29 and 30 makes very clear that calling and justification and glorification
are all parts of this grander, this more expansive and all-encompassing perspective
of the purpose of God in salvation. And therefore we must never wrench this great blessing
from that context lest thinking it is an end in itself we cease to understand it in the overall
purpose of the living God. I would in closing my review quote briefly from Owen and then a couple
of paragraphs from Buchanan and then we shall move into our study for this evening. John Owen
said and I quote, wherefore if we would either teach or learn the doctrine of justification in a
due manner, a clear apprehension of the greatness of our apostasy from God, a due sense of the guilt
of sin, a deep experience of its power, all with respect to the holiness and law of God,
these are necessary to us. We have nothing to do in this matter with men who through the
fever of pride have lost the understanding of their own miserable condition. And then
quoting from Buchanan who speaks to this same issue in greater length the best preparation
for the study of this doctrine is neither great intellectual ability nor much scholastic learning
but a conscience impressed with a sense of our actual condition as sinners in the sight of God.
The best preparation is not intellectual ability nor much scholastic learning but a conscience
impressed with a sense of our actual condition as sinners in the sight of God. A deep conviction
of sin is the one thing needful in such an inquiry. A conviction of the fact of sin as
an awful reality in our own personal experience of the power of sin as an inveterate evil cleaving
to us continually and having its roots deep in the innermost recesses of our hearts and of the
guilt of sin past as well as present as an offense against God which once committed can never cease
to be true of us individually and which however he may be pleased to deal with it has deserved
his wrath and righteous condemnation. Then after enlarging on that thought of the sense of the
guilt of sin and the power of sin he concludes by saying it might be shown both from the history of
the church and from the personal experience of individuals that in both cases alike
partial and defective views of sin have always been associated with partial and defective views
of salvation. The whole history of Christian doctrine with all its vicissitudes and fluctuations
from the apostolic age down to the present times teaches this great lesson that is invariably
among all parties in all lands and in all ages the views which men held of the evils of their
condition and character which required to be redressed this affected their views of the nature
necessity and value of the remedy proposed to them in the gospel. Such has been the experience of the
church as a collective body such has been the experience of individuals their views of the
nature necessity freeness and efficacy of divine grace have uniformly varied with their more or
less vivid apprehensions of the evil and malignity of sin and those words deserve to be memorized
for they come to the very heart of what I tried to establish last night that the only context in
which this doctrine can be understood is the context of God in his holiness and justice
man in his sin and vileness and pollution in that context alone will there be an appreciation
of this grand doctrine now so much for review as we come to deal with the substance of the biblical
doctrine of justification by faith how shall we come at so massive a doctrine well after reading
clean through several whole treatises given to this doctrine alone such as owen on justification
and bucannon having read in all the standard theologies the sections dealing with it hodge
shed burkoff daphne after reading numerous sermons and essays on the subject i've come around full
circle to the place where i'm convinced the best way to treat it is to treat it after the pattern
of the larger catechism of the westminster standards so after establishing with you first
of all the meaning of the word justify we shall then turn to the westminster standards
and take a broad overview of the doctrine as found in the shorter and larger catechisms
in the confession of faith and then we'll go back and begin to exegete the larger catechism
phrase by phrase first of all then we must establish the meaning of the word to justify
our view of the nature of the bible demands that we be careful students of the words of the bible
the apostle paul says in first corinthians chapter 2 verses 12 and 13 now we have received
not the spirit which is of the world but the spirit which is of god that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of god which things we speak not in words which man's wisdom
teaches but in words which the holy ghost teaches combining or comparing spiritual things with
spiritual so the apostle says the spirit has been given to him not only to lead him into an
understanding of the mind of god but to express the mind of god in the very words of god hence
our lord says i have given them by words and they have received them now it's relatively easy to see
the force of the biblical doctrine of plenary or full verbal inspiration but my preacher brothers
the onus is on you and me to prove in our teaching and preaching that we really believe
the doctrine of inspiration that we espouse at our ordination exams
hence there is no valid way to begin a study of this great doctrine as to its substance
except that which begins with the biblical word justify what does it mean
the whole fabric of the roman catholic perversion of this doctrine
is determined by a failure rightly to define this word to justify
basically the word means to declare or to pronounce just this pronouncement
or this declaration is a legal declaration the term you will find again and again in
any formal treatise on the subject is that it is a forensic term it applies to the court
of law it has reference to our objective standard of right and of wrong in his excellent article on
justification in baker's theological dictionary dr packer says with reference to this biblical word
justify and i quote the biblical meaning of the hebrew and greek words for justify is to pronounce
to accept and to treat as just that is on the one hand not penally liable that is liable to
punishment and on the other hand entitled to all the privileges due to those who have kept the law
it is a forensic term denoting the judicial act of administrating the law in this case
by declaring a verdict of acquittal and so excluding all possibility of condemnation
justification then settles the legal status of the person thus justified end of quote now we should
believe that that is the meaning of the word not because someone who has a doctor of theology tells
us so but because scripture forces that meaning upon us and so will you please take your bibles
and follow with me four lines of biblical evidence which conclusively demonstrate that the meaning of
the word justify is to pronounce or to declare just in the light of the standard of the law
first of all there are the numerous places where any other meaning is impossible look at
deuteronomy 25 and verse 1 as a classic example from the old testament deuteronomy chapter 25
and verse 1 if there be a controversy between men and they come unto judgment and the judges
judge them then shall they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked now it is obvious in this
context what the word means the judge is to weigh the evidence and if the man is demonstrated to be
righteous that is he has not broken the law he is to be justified not made righteous it is the
examination that is determined whether or not he is righteous the act of the judge in justifying
does nothing in the righteous it simply declares the condition that has been discovered before the
law and then he is to condemn the wicked in this context any thought that to justify means to
infuse righteousness is utterly impossible proverbs 17 and verse 15 is a similar example
proverbs 17 and verse 15 he that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the righteous
both of them alike are an abomination to the lord now is to justify meant to make a wicked man
righteous this would not be an abominable practice this would be a virtuous practice
for a man who could take the wicked and actually make him righteous that would not be abominable
to the lord what is an abomination to the lord is to declare the wicked righteous when he is not
and any other meaning to the word in this context is absolute butchery of its obvious sense
then again in the new testament luke chapter 7 and verse 29 luke chapter 7 and verse 29
and all the publicans when they heard and all the people when they heard and the publicans
justified god being baptized with the baptism of john now can anyone make god more righteous than
he is no all men can do is recognize that he is righteous and make a deck a declaration of that
acknowledgement and so to justify god is to declare him to be what he is in himself namely
infinitely and perfectly righteous over in luke chapter 16 and verse 15 you have a similar
example luke 16 and verse 15 and he said unto them ye are they that justify yourselves in the
sight of men but god knoweth your hearts for that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the
sight of god they declared themselves to be righteous though that was not their condition
if justifying meant they were to make themselves so this again would have been a virtue and not
an evil thing and so with but perhaps one exception revelation 22 11 and there there is
a textual problem the universal meaning of this word justify has this concept of a declaration
that is made concerning this person so we may say with charles hodge quote the usage of common life
as to this word is just as uniform as that of the bible if such be the established meaning of the
word it ought to settle all controversy as to the nature of justification we're bound to take the
words of scripture in their true established sense and therefore when the bible says god justifies
the believer we are not at liberty to say that he pardons or he sanctifies him it means and can only
mean that he pronounces him just end of quote now in the second place you have passages where
to justify is the opposite or the antonym of to condemn and you often determine the meaning of
a word by its antonym we set hot and cold against one another as antonyms with reference to
temperature big and small with reference to size and so when god wants to point out the declarative
aspect of justification that it is a judicial a forensic blessing he does so by putting it
opposite to condemnation the example you have in romans 8 verses 33 and 34
who is he that condemneth and that question comes hard on the heels of what preceded
who shall lay anything to the charge of god's elect it is god that justifieth who is he
that condemneth justify condemnation set in opposition to one another we found it in the
proverbs 17 15 passage he that justifieth the wicked and he that condemns the righteous both
are an abomination unto the lord you have a similar example in isaiah 50 verses 8 and 9
and so we are given to understand from our understanding of condemnation to condemn a man
is to make a declaration concerning him before the law he is judged worthy of some punishment
to justify is to say before the law he is cleared of all grounds of punishment he is innocent he is
accepted before the standard of the law and then thirdly there are passages where equivalent forms
of expression are used romans 4 4 to 6 david speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom
the lord imputeth not iniquity the non-imputation of sin the covering of sin is the parallel or
equivalent expression of justification john 3 16 to 18 god so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but should have an everlasting
life for god set not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him
might be saved he that believeth not is condemned already he that believeth is not condemned saved
condemnation these words equivalent words showing that the meaning of the word to justify
is a legal a forensic concept you have the same thing in romans 5 18 the judicial sentence came
on all men to condemnation a contrary sentence has come to justification of life and then the
fourth line of evidence showing that the meaning of this word can be nothing other than the accepted
reformed protestant meaning or that given in the accepted reformed protestant tradition
is that the setting in which the doctrine is formally treated leaves us no other alternative
what is paul dealing with in preparation to open up this doctrine in romans romans 1 18 to romans
320 what is he dealing with the problem of human guilt man is guilty before the law and the answer
to his guilt is the great blessing of justification the same strand of thought is before us in the
book of galatians so we may see by these four lines of biblical evidence the numerous places
where the word can mean nothing else passages where justify and condemn are set in opposition
to one another passages where equivalent expressions are used and the setting of the doctrine
we can come to the conclusion that the meaning of the word to justify has to do with a judgment
given declared or pronounced to quote professor murray the main point of such terms is to
distinguish between the kind of action which justification involves and the kind of action
involved in regeneration regeneration is an act of god in us justification is a judgment of god
with respect to us the distinction is like that of the distinction between the act of a surgeon
and the act of a judge the surgeon when he removes a cancer does something in us this is not what the
judge does he gives a verdict regarding our judicial status if we are innocent he declares us
accordingly the purity of the gospel is bound up with the recognition of this distinction what
god does in us in regeneration and sanctification is in a totally different sphere than what he
declares of us in the grace of justification and professor murray says the purity of the gospel
is bound up with the recognition of this distinction and it's because i'm convinced
that's true that i've spent so much time just looking at the meaning of the word to justify
if justification is confused with regeneration or sanctification then the door is open for the
perversion of the gospel at its center justification is still the article of the standing
or the falling church now granted as i suggested last night god never operates on us or god never
takes a stance toward us as a judge in justification but what he also does something
enough as a surgeon but if you confuse what he does in us as surgeon and towards us as judge
you are perverting the gospel you're confusing the saints of god you're robbing god of glory
and the people of god of their peace and of their joy in the holy ghost
well then so much for the meaning of the word now we come to the substance of the biblical doctrine
of justification some of you will remember i trust when it was my privilege to speak at
the family conference several summers ago on the doctrine of sanctification
that i approached the doctrine by reading the westminster standards in reverse order and i
would just remind you who were there and for the sake of those who weren't that i liken this to
looking at an object first of all from a distance with the naked eye and you see the broad outlines
of whatever form or figure is there then you might take a set of binoculars and look at it
and now you see finer detail and if they have a zoom lens and you push the button for the zoom
lens you see even greater detail well the westminster standards are like this take the
shorter catechism and you get the distant long-range view in which the dominant facets
of a given truth stand out in sharp relief take the binoculars that's the larger catechism and
you get a much more detailed look at the same object then take the confession of faith that's
the zoom lens and you move up very close and see distinctions that could not be seen either with
the naked eye the shorter catechism or your regular binoculars the larger catechism those
things then are filled out in the confession so then let us begin with the definition in the
shorter catechism found on page 297 of the edition that i have and i think this is the one that's
available on the book table what is justification the answer justification is an act of god's
faith wherein he pardoneth all our sins and accepteth us as righteous in his sight only
for the righteousness of christ imputed to us and received by faith alone now again i have the
pastors primarily in mind you lay folk are with us tonight we're glad you're here but you forgive me
now if i address more of my detailed instruction to the pastors what you want to do when you're
using the westminster standards as a guide in your own study and in your own ministry
is to read a statement like this and then break it down into its elements its constituent elements
and what do you have here well the first thought is that god is the author of justification
justification is an act of god's free grace the second main thought is that free grace is the
source it is an act of god's free grace thirdly pardon and acceptance are the essence of it
wherein he pardoneth all our sins that's the negative and accepteth us as righteous in his
sight fourthly the righteousness of christ is the ground of justification he does these two things
in his sight only for the righteousness of christ the fifth line of thought is
imputation is the method imputed to us and last of all faith alone is the means of reception
received by faith alone so you have these six dominant aspects of the substance of the doctrine
of justification god is the author free grace the source pardon and acceptance the essence
the righteousness of christ the ground imputation the method faith alone the means of reception now
moving over to the larger larger catechism we see these additional aspects brought before us
found on page 164 i'm sorry 163 what is justification justification is an act of god's
free grace god is the author free grace the source but now you've got an added thought
unto sinners and we're going to see a little bit later tonight that that wasn't just put in to make
it a little bit bigger so people think they were doing their work down there in the parliament when
they're working on the catechisms no no one of the constant heresies that is plagued the church
is given a broad side by those two words an act of god's free grace unto sinners in which he
pardoneth all their sins here's the essence of it pardon and accepteth and accounteth their persons
righteous in his sight no new thought there now you have a negative statement of the grounds not
for anything wrought in them or done by them now the positive statement of the grounds but only
for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of christ instead of saying righteousness they
tell you what comprises or what that righteousness is comprised of the obedience of christ and the
satisfaction of christ so they've just enlarged on the ground of justification the righteousness
of christ what constitutes that righteousness by god imputed to them that's the method
and received by faith alone that's the means of reception one very able preacher in a bygone
generation said of this definition in the larger catechism quote you will hardly find a better
definition than this in uninspired writings it is true complete guarded and comprehensive
then what the larger catechism does in question 71 it asks this question how is justification an act
of god's free grace they anticipate the problem that if justification is rooted in the fact that
jesus christ made full satisfaction to the demands of divine justice and has wholly kept the law for
his people then it seems to be such a legal translation transaction how can you call it a
gracious transaction and that's one of the historic objectives objections of armenianism and also of
romanism and they answer that in the 71st question and they show how it can be a ground of acceptance
that meets all the demands of law and yet it can be perfectly and fully and gloriously
gracious then they deal with another problem question 72 what is justifying faith
it's received by faith alone but they realize that many people have confused what justifying faith
is hence they have a whole question given over to that means of receiving this blessing by faith
explaining the force the nature and the actings of justifying faith and it's a beautiful statement
of what justifying faith is then in question 73 they say how does faith justify a sinner in the
sight of god and they're combating another heresy all right granted we know what justifying faith
is and we're justified by faith alone but what is the precise function of faith in our justification
great confusion has existed particularly in armenian theology they put faith in the place
of a savior and hence the divines of the westminster assembly dealt with that particular
heresy and then in question 77 they delineate the essential distinction between justification
and sanctification wherein do justification and sanctification differ why because they know unless
people keep distinct in their minds god's dealings with them as a judge and justification and as a
surgeon in sanctification and regeneration they will understand neither with biblical accuracy
so if you go through the larger catechism and carefully study these statements you have a
comprehensive view of all the facets of this doctrine and i say that after having done
many hundreds of pages of reading coming back and reflecting upon all that reading i did not find
one dominant heresy or aberration that was not somehow undercut by the larger catechism
in the questions surrounding the doctrines of justification by faith and on the other hand
positively there is not one strand of biblical emphasis related to this doctrine that they do
not enunciate clearly and precisely that's redundant clearly period or precisely in place
of clearly now moving on to the confession of faith page 56 and i hope you don't find this
tedious if you do you're going to have to find it tedious because i'm plowing right through
page 56 now notice how these thoughts are added now we've got the zoom lens on and we're really
looking at it in some detail chapter 11 those whom god effectually call it he also freely
justifies here's a new thought added the entrance into this blessing is by effectual calling so now
justification is being traced not to its source in divine purpose and provision but to its source in
application and when men are called then they are justified romans 8 29 then it goes on god
is the author he also freely justifies free grace is the source pardon and acceptance the essence
not by infusing righteousness into them but by pardoning their sins and accounting and accepting
their persons as righteous then the grounds not for anything wrought in them or done by them but
for christ's sake alone not by imputing faith itself the act of believing or any other evangelical
obedience to them as their righteousness but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of christ
unto them please turn over the tape
take alone not by imputing faith itself the act of believing or any other evangelical
beatons to them as their righteousness but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of christ
unto them they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness by faith which faith they have
not of themselves it is the gift of god so you have the main thoughts of the larger and shorter
catechism woven together in this beautiful statement of the doctrine and they add a few
things they say that this faith is the gift of god it is the alone or only instrument of justification
and they go on in this second paragraph to show that that faith is never alone and in that one
paragraph they slay armenianism romanism and antinomianism three of the greatest plagues upon
the church are carefully slain in that one paragraph when they say in paragraph two faith
thus receiving and resting on christ and his righteousness is the alone instrument of
justification they're slaying romanism when they concluded the first paragraph by saying this faith
they have not of themselves it is the gift of god they're slaying semipelagianism and free willism
and when they say but this faith is never alone but is accompanied with all other graces and is
no dead faith they're slaying antinomianism and easy believeism and it's beautiful when you see
the carefulness with which they came to the scriptures discovered the biblical doctrine
then looked over their shoulders and saw how that doctrine had been attacked and undercut
and carefully hedged it about with these judicious statements concerning this great blessing of god's
grace then they go on in paragraph three to show how christ provided this righteousness for us then
in paragraph four they teach that god does not justify a man until in time he calls him and they
touch another heresy the eternal justification of the elect and then in paragraph five they deal
with the problem of the relationship of present sin in the life of a man who's already been
justified and in paragraph six they deal with the fact that god has always had but one way of
justifying and there they were prophets anticipating the errors of dispensationalism
and they slay it before it can even rise up and take the field this justification of believers
under the old testament was in all these respects one and the same with the justification of
believers under the new testament now i believe having gone through these standards very quickly
it is accurate to assert that in the statements of the westminster confession and catechisms
every essential element of the biblical doctrine has been included no major heresy or deflection
from the biblical doctrine has escaped notice and no major objection to the doctrine has been left
unanswered and when you can get all of that in those few statements instead of plowing through
2 000 pages like i did you better capitalize on it and count yourself fortunate to have it there
before you now if this is true and now i'm serious with you my brethren let me urge upon all of you
who are pastors and it's so good to see so many new faces this conference hence i hope this will
not be tedious to some of you who've been around a long time make frequent use of the westminster
standards in your own study bring your own mind into the fruitful and devotional exercise of
these great and godly men of a bygone day in your preaching don't be afraid to quote from the
confession and from the catechisms encourage your people in family worship to catechize their
children that is if you've already started with your own and see the benefit of catechetical
instruction amongst your people let us not personally be content with dim and indistinct
views of such a subject as this thus leaving our people with dim and indistinct views and thus
susceptible to all the subtle nuances of error for error is a subtle thing that's why paul speaks of
the sleight of men whereby they lie and wait to deceive all these standards burned into the minds
and hearts of people are a great tonic against those attempts of the enemy to all among us who
think that this is all a lot of tempest in the theological teapot and wasted time and energy
you begin to see god as he really is you begin to see yourself as you really are you begin to
take seriously how can i be just with god and you'll be thankful for this kind of precision
in the enunciation of this doctrine as is found in the westminster standards well so much for
that broad overview now let us direct our attention and we'll go as far as we can within reasonable
measure of time to go back and exegete these biblical standards having seen that the meaning
of the word to justify is a declaration a legal declaration having looked at the broad outline
of the doctrine now we go back to the larger catechism and let's take the first two possibly
we'll have time for three facets of the doctrine is set before us first of all the author of
justification the living god himself justification is an act of god's free grace the biblical
statements that justification has as its author god himself are many let's look at several very
quickly romans chapter 3 and verse 26 romans chapter 3 and verse 26 for showing i say of
his righteousness at this present season that he might himself be just and the justifier of him
that hath faith in jesus verse 30 if so be that god is one and he shall justify the circumcision
by faith and the uncircumcision through faith romans 8 33 who shall lay anything to the charge
of god's elect it is god that justifies first corinthians 1 30 but of him god are ye in christ
jesus who of god is made unto us righteousness and on and on we could go quoting the verses
that are careful to point us to god himself as the author of our justification now why is it
important to underscore that principle well let me give you three reasons number one if god is
the author then it is a declaration which none can cancel or alter since all sin is against god
and all judgment is by god when he has declared a guilty sinner to be righteous before his law
and having a title to eternal life and full acceptance who come and alter or cancel god's
declaration we have a system of appeals in our system of jurisprudence if we still may call it
that in our country may more likely be called farce prudence than jurisprudence nonetheless
there is a system of appeals and if you were convicted of a certain crime at a certain court
in your county you might appeal to the next highest court and then to the court of your
own state and all the way up to the supreme court of the united states of america but once
the supreme court made a disposition there was no higher court to which you could appeal appeals
can only be carried out at a lesser level and so in this doctrine of justification when we come to
that awareness that in justification god himself is the author when he the living god makes the
declaration pardon and accepted oh the blessedness of knowing that there is none in earth in heaven
or hell that can cancel or change the declaration that god himself has made as one has said as it is
god's government that we live under as it is his law we have broken as it is his son that died as
it is his tribunal before we much must all appear so it is right that he and not another should pass
sentence upon us in the moral government of the universe god's authority is sole supreme
and exclusive he alone is the lawgiver he alone is the judge no one has jurisdiction but himself
no one can really or effectually justify or condemn but he when you have biblical reasons
to believe that god himself the moral governor of the universe to whom you are accountable
who knows every one of your sins in all of the windings and twistings of the human heart
in all of the secrets when he says all your sins are pardoned you are fully accepted before me
as righteous in the light of the inflexible expansive demands of my law if god justifies
who who is there that can condemn in the second place it is important to know that god is the
author of justification because if he is it is a declaration which must be founded on
truth and on reality since god himself condemns any judge who pronounces guilty people innocent
and innocent people guilty he will not be guilty of the crime he condemns in others
so if it is god the righteous god who declares us pardoned and accepted why that declaration
must be rooted in factors of reality which make it right and proper that he should declare us
righteous and that's the glory of the gospel of justification by free grace that god in his
infinite wisdom has conceived a way whereby he may say to guilty sinners i declare you justified
and have right grounds to do so what paul says in the words of romans 3 24 5 that he himself
may be just and the justifier of him that believeth in jesus christ and so if god's the
author we not only derive comfort that his is the highest court of jurisprudence and none can
cancel that declaration but since it is a court of equity and justice there must be some genuine real
basis for the declaration and that brings us as we'll see in our study tomorrow night into the
heart of this doctrine the imputation of the righteousness of christ but thirdly since it is
the very god against whom we have so foully and wickedly revolted who now declares us righteous
we should at the outset realize we're entering the realm of grace and undeserved mercy if it is god
who justifies the god before whom we stand condemned then the words grace and justify
should be absolutely and inseparably wedded in our thinking and in our experience
and all of that and certainly more that i've not traced out is bound up in the little statement
justification is an act of god's free grace the author of justification the living god himself
secondly now the source of justification justification is an act of god's free grace
the source of justification free grace the biblical statements again are many
i shall direct your attention just to two or three romans three and verse 24
back in verse 23 he says for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in christ jesus and this word
freely as some of you i'm sure are aware is the word translated in john 15 25 that they hated him
without a cause there was no reason for him to be hated he was the one who did the father's good
pleasure of whom the father could speak and say this is my son my beloved in whom i'm well
pleased even his bitterest enemies had to confess his innocence
that's the word used be justified freely without any cause in us the source of justification is
free grace that word that cannot be defined but points in the direction of undeserved mercy
and kindness to those who deserve just the opposite hence paul says in romans five and
hence paul says in romans five and verse 21
a similar thing that brings these strands of thought together romans five and verse 21 that
is sin reigned in death so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through
jesus christ our lord the great blessings of justification conferred not and the blessings
they shall bring in the world to come are a demonstration of the reign of grace its grace
and dispensing all of these blessings to the people of god i quote from professor murray
who commenting on this phrase justified freely by his grace says the following the combination of the
terms freely and by his grace has the effect of emphasizing the completely unmerited character
of god's justifying act the free and sovereign graciousness of the act is the positive complement
of that which has been asserted in verse 20 that from the works of the law shall no flesh be
justified in god's sight no element in paul's doctrine of justification is more central than
this god's justifying act is not constrained to any extent or degree by anything that we are or do
which could be esteemed as predisposing god to this act and not only is it the case that nothing
in us or done by us constrains to this act but all that is ours compels to the opposite judgment
it is not only that there's nothing in us to constrain him to declare us righteous there is
everything in us to call forth the sentence of condemnation and of judgment hence this action
on god's part derives its whole motivation explanation and determination from what god
himself is and does in the exercise of free and of sovereign grace merit of any kind on the part
of man when brought into relation to justification contradicts the first article of the pauline
doctrine and therefore of his gospel it is the glory of the gospel of christ that it is a gospel
of free grace and when the old writers mean talk of free grace they don't mean
grace that you don't pay for i got a free meal i didn't pay for it they mean grace that pours out
along channels determined by no one but god himself free unbounded grace it is the grace
of god hence it is sovereign grace and sovereign mercy it is god himself
moved by nothing in us but holy in the pure energy of his own sovereign grace and love
that was the source of this great blessing of justification and i would remind you that not
only is the source of justification free grace in its provisions in its designed object the elect
of god but it's all of grace in effecting its application so that even the faith by which we
embrace the blessing has its source in grace for by grace you save through faith and that not of
yourselves it is the gift of god let me say then by way of application any theory any concept of
justification that has as its practical effect our glorying in anything other than free uncaused
sovereign love and mercy cannot cannot i say be the biblical view hence away with the romish theory
which draws men to glory in the merit of their own performance down with the armenian scheme which
leads men to glory in their evangelical obedience the imperfections of which is made up by the merit
of christ and hence they are justified nothing but the statement of this doctrine in the reformed
tradition does justice to its source in free and sovereign grace and i'm not simply saying that
because this is a conference of free grace baptist i'd say that by god's grace wherever i was seeking
to expound this doctrine well then we'll close tonight by touching the third facet of this truth
the recipients of justification having looked at the source god himself
free grace sorry the author god himself the source free grace who are the recipients listen
to the larger catechism justification is an act of god's free grace to sinners the recipients
of justification sinners sinners now from what has been considered in the opening lecture
and all the way through our study tonight this should be obvious but since so many heresies
have arisen by a failure to lay hold of this little phrase it is essential that we look at
it for a few minutes the key text showing that the recipients of this blessing are sinners
the classic text romans 4 and verse 5 romans 4
and verse 5 but to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly
his faith is counted for righteousness when god justifies a man he is justifying the ungodly now
granted as we shall see at the moment of the justifying act he is doing something
both with reference to the demands of his law and in the heart of the man so that he is no longer
ungodly but the emphasis of this text is that the man standing before a holy god in his guilt and
his sin and ask the question what must i be or do to have the blessing of acceptance god says
you must look out of yourself to me the god who justifies the ungodly who stand before me
conscious of nothing else but their sin and their undoneness i justify such in my grace
the classic example of this text in operation of course is luke chapter 18 luke chapter 18
the classic text romans 4 5 the classic example of the text in operation luke 18 verses 13 and 14
but the publican standing afar off would not lift so much as his eyes unto heaven as he contemplates
the god who dwells in the heavens feeling his own uncleanness in his own creaturelyness he dares not
even look up in the direction where that god dwells upon his throne of glory he would not so
much as lift up his eyes to heaven but smote upon his breast saying god be thou merciful to me
a sinner he had nothing to plead before god he had much to plead from god but nothing to plead
before god be merciful to me a sinner in all the ugliness of what that word means
when described and defined biblically a sinner in my guilt a sinner in my pollution a sinner
in my defilement a sinner by what i failed to do a sinner by what i've done a sinner through and
through and what does god do when someone stands before him pleading nothing but mercy
pleading nothing in himself well look at verse 14 i say unto you this man went down to his house
justified god justified this ungodly man and i say by way of application that this teaching of the
word of god enunciated in the westminster catechism underscores the fact that when god
justifies he does so as dealing with those who in themselves have nothing to bring to god as a
commendation nothing to bring as suitable preparation and brethren this is a necessary
distinction to make by the insistence that men must be awakened sinners before they can
sue for the blessing of justification by insisting that they must be sensible sinners
or anything other than just plain sinners men have obscured the way of justification by faith alone
through the imputation of the righteousness of jesus christ and the nerve of the free offers of
the gospel has been cut the liberty of access of needy sinners has been clogged with condition
and regulations which tend to Pharisaism and self-righteousness or to absolute despair
and when god in mercy begins to open a man's eyes to the doctrines of grace he needs desperately to
pray lord open my eyes to those other facets of that doctrine without which i'll kill myself and
others even with these great and glorious truths and in my own brief history i've seen men come
out of the woods of harmonianism to end up in the deep dark damp forests of hyper-calvinism
they could no longer preach with unfettered liberty he justifies the ungodly they could
no longer in their preaching not only set forth christ and say to men see him behold him in the
glory of this person behold him in the perfection of his work he lived as the surety of his people
perfectly kept the law fulfilled all righteousness he died as the surety of his people through the
eternal spirit he offered himself unto god in christ there is a basis for god's declarative
act that men are pardoned and accepted they've no longer been able to move from describing christ
in the perfection of his work and then actually put christ to the lips of sinners and tell them
drink he's for you if you will drink put him to the lips of sinners as the bread of life and say
eat he is for you eat he is for you the free offers of the gospel are not just all who believe
can find pardon and acceptance but that god sincerely offers christ to you
i did not say it involves saying to the sinner indiscriminately christ died for you with an
intention to save you christ lived for you with an intention to work out a perfect righteousness for
you i did not say that and you'll never hear me say that in my preaching because i'd be
lost for a chapter and verse but i've got many chapters in verse to say he is offered to you
he is a savior for you as a sinner right now this is a faithful saying not worthy of all exegesis
but worthy of all acceptation that christ jesus came into the world to save sinners
this is his commandment that you believe in the name of his dear and only begotten son god
commandeth all men everywhere to repent oh my dear brothers when anyone says oh that calvinism
will take away free preaching they're either ignorant or just parroting what they heard
someone else say or could it be that they've heard an imbalanced calvinist preach oh what
joy it is to put christ to the lips of sinners and say drink he's the water of life for you if
you will drink isn't that what he did with the woman at the werewolf in all her messed up life
he says if you only knew who was talking to you you would have asked and he would have given you
the water of life isn't that what he said if you knew you would have asked he would have given
the recipients of this grace of justification
sinners and oh let us not be fastidious overly fastidious more fastidious than god in proclaiming
free grace to sinners this is absolutely essential to keep the gospel good news
for it's the person who is truly plowed with the holy ghost in true conviction who is the least
likely individual to feel that he's really a convinced sinner part of his conviction is that
he isn't convicted as he ought to be and you find that true when god was dealing with you
one of the very things that made you feel the weight of your sinfulness that it was
that you didn't feel more sinful when you knew you ought to if in the light of all your crimes
against god to tell a man you must be an awakened sinner or um an interested sinner or a seeking
sinner how does he know he's one of those things the offer of the gospel is to men as sinners
and not only is this necessary to keep the gospel good news but it's necessary again to god's glory
god's honor is staked upon his commitment to save sinners to justify the ungodly and true
gospel holiness is dependent upon an understanding of this so that although i may rejoice in what
little evidence i see of the work of god in me i never think that my access to god is in any way
aided or based upon any measure of gospel obedience i may have been able to render to him
but i say to my dying day nothing nothing in my hands i bring simply to thy cross
i cling the apostle paul wasn't a new convert still struggling with a lot of besetting sins
when he wrote philippians 3 he was a mature seasoned saint about to have his head roll off
and he says i have one ambition to count everything as done that i may what win christ
and be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law but the
righteousness which is by faith that i may know him and oh my preacher brothers if you and i live
in the glory of the grace that has come to us justifying us as ungodly and the wonder and the
glory of that is ever kept fresh in our spirits what a gospel we have to preach what a gospel we
have to preach and all that it might ring from the pulpits those of us who call ourselves reformed
baptists all that it may ring from our pulpits and that the holy ghost will make it fresh and
living and powerful this gospel that comes declaring that the recipients of this great
blessing are sinners simply as sinners without any other adjectives you start putting them in
you're going to hunt far for any bible to justify it well god willing we'll pick up
the thread of thought tomorrow night dealing with the essence of justification it's an act whereby
he pardons and accepts the ground the righteousness of christ how that ground was worked out for us
in our mediator the instrumental means of our justification by faith alone and then maybe at
another conference we'll finish up the doc amen this recording is brought to you
by thechristianlibrary.org.au