0:25
Central book in the Pauline Corpus the quote on the screen this morning all load all roads in the ancient world
0:38
LED to Rome to Rome in all roads in biblical exegesis lead eventually to Romans I think that's quite true however I do think that the topic that
0:49
seems to run through Romans throughout the topic of justification by faith has been narrowly interpreted
0:59
in our own Protestant history and perhaps so in our own minds so as we return to Romans I want to ask that you do two things
1:14
keep your minds firmly fixed on the fact that salvation is by grace through faith alone and secondly to allow your minds to open to the possibility that Paul has more to
1:26
say about justification than just that so we return to where we were last summer slight review and a preview of Coming
1:39
Attractions this morning I'm going to read Romans 3 verses 23 through 28. I'd like to ask Tim faler if he prayed for the ministry of the word this morning
1:50
Romans 3 beginning in verse 23. for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God being justified as a gift by his grace
2:01
through the Redemption which is in Christ Jesus Christ Jesus whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith
2:11
this was to demonstrate his righteousness because in the forbearance of God he passed over the sins previously committed previously committed for the demonstration I say of his
2:23
righteousness at the present time that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus where then is boasting
2:34
it is excluded by what kind of law of Works no but by a law of faith for we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works
3:07
to guide our hearts and Minds keep them open to your moving through talking and allow us to and partake in this this blessing of reconciliation that you've included Us in this reconciliation
3:19
Ministry this um through Christ indeed made into the righteousness of God through this one to ask your question Frank Jesus saying
3:45
justification by faith by faith while he was studying and lecturing on Paul's letter to the Romans particularly in chapter one that famous passage verses 16 and 17 for
3:58
I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from Faith to Faith
4:12
if you know anything about the story of Martin Luther you know that for many years he struggled with that phrase the righteousness of God thinking that he had to somehow attain
4:23
to the same righteousness himself in order to be accepted by God in order to be justified before God and he tried every available method to him in the
4:35
Roman Catholic Church of that time pilgrimage Penance confession all sorts of things realizing after he did each one how insufficient it was because the
4:47
sin remained in his heart and he remained Unforgiven unjustified before God and then he had an epiphany and realize that this phrase the righteousness of
4:59
God does indeed refer to the righteousness that God himself has but he realized that it is faith that connects the sinner to that righteousness not a righteousness that the sinner
5:11
himself or herself generates through works of the law and so justification by faith became his Battle Cry from that moment until the
5:21
day of his death and it colored the Reformation as well the Reformation of others rather than other than Martin Luther
5:32
so that as time went on the idea of justification being a declaration of our forgiveness became settled within reformed theology and it
5:45
should be should be because it is true the problem is that it became exclusive of any other perspective that Paul includes in his use of the
5:57
word justification word justification one of the problems that historically we can look back and that we can see is that Martin Luther Drew an analogy
6:08
between his situation and the Roman Catholic Church and the situation of Paul and Judaism
6:19
and Judaism and in Luther's mind he connected himself with Paul Luther was a 16th century Paul and the same connection was made between
6:29
second temple Judaism and 16th century Roman Catholicism and so he approached the scriptures from his own situation in life
6:41
and read back into them a problem that Paul had with Judaism that unfortunately we don't read Paul speaking of at all
6:53
and so a misunderstanding becomes part of our understanding of Paul as he writes about what God has done for us in
7:04
Christ that misunderstanding has inevitably will in fact infect or impact our understanding of the word justification which is a major theological term for
7:17
Paul in Romans and in Galatians now it's worth noting that he doesn't use it nearly as much in his other
7:27
so another issue that came out of Luther's Discovery Luther's epiphany is that reformed theology tends to put on everything under the umbrella of
7:40
justification well Paul uses other words as well and there are words that actually are not synonymous with justification but are associated with it
7:53
the point being that while it is true and wonderfully true that God has saved Sinners by Grace as we read as we read being justified as a gift by his grace
8:06
again never let go of that that's a truth it's a powerful truth that our Salvation our justification is a gift by his grace
8:19
and has nothing to do with anything in us or anything we have done to deserve it Paul reiterates that of course in Ephesians chapter two so that is Central to Paul's understanding
8:30
but he uses other words because to him the Salvation that God has wrought in Jesus Christ
8:41
Jesus Christ didn't start with Jesus Christ that it actually is the Fulfillment of a promise that started with Abraham
8:52
and it's the Fulfillment of a covenant that God that God monergistically made in other words on his own part with Abraham
9:04
with Abraham and that God in Christ was not starting something new something new but finishing something very very old promises that he had made two thousand years earlier promises that he made even
9:16
earlier to Adam and Eve that the seed of woman would crush the Serpent's head Serpent's head so in that big picture that Paul had
9:28
he has many ways of speaking of what God has done for us in Christ and understanding each of these words that Paul uses as they are used in
9:40
conjunction with the word justification or sometimes entirely separate they're all referring back to the same thing and that is what God has done in Jesus
9:52
Christ and so preview of Coming Attractions we're going to look at some of those words this morning but I want to start with showing that our understanding of the word justification
10:04
has been further complicated by the fact that the word in the Greek leads to two words in the English
10:16
now I have a quote here from someone who is definitely British with regard to that and I think you'll pick up on on why he writes English
10:26
and American and American have two quite different root words I thought we spoke English here
10:38
but obviously over there they don't think we speak English here so English and American have two quite different root words just and righteous where Greek and Hebrew have one each
10:50
now I just read a passage in which I'd said righteousness Justified just justification they're all the same word in the Greek
11:01
listen to just two of those the righteousness of God in verse chapter 1 verse 17 and again in the passage verse 25 his righteousness that word is
11:18
and then verse 28 our key verse for this morning that a man is justified by faith the word is it's the same root but we don't have
11:30
a verb for righteous I don't know why we have a verb for Google we have we have a verb for just about every other noun why can't we have righteousing righteous sizing right sizing no that
11:41
doesn't work see we don't have it but it's the same word that Paul's using which tells us that in Paul's mind these words are a family
11:53
they are they are inseparably united inseparably united righteousness and justification are not two different concepts justification is in a way that we attain righteousness
12:05
these words are the same and so as we read them you have to remember that because the English translators have done the best they can
12:17
because we don't have one word that will cover the range of meaning of the Greek word the Hebrew sidaka is the same it's sometimes justified in a courtroom
12:29
setting when someone is acquitted other times it refers to the righteousness of God but it's the same Hebrew word now that tells us that that God isn't
12:41
he isn't trying to confuse us here you know that by his Providence he did choose the Jews right well associated with that is that by his Providence he
12:52
chose to bring his revelation of himself in the Hebrew language do you ever think of that and then in the New Testament he chose
13:02
to bring his Revelation in the Greek language now that doesn't mean that there's anything especially holy about Hebrew or Greek and it also doesn't mean well it might
13:13
mean for the Greek that the language was more Universal more Universal although by the time of Paul Latin was more Universal than Greek and in the church by the fourth Century
13:24
the Bibles were all in Latin which has different words for this root okay so we begin the confusion very early
13:35
in the church by translating everything into Latin and then from Latin it comes into all the romance languages including English which is Anglo-Saxon but the
13:47
confusion begins God chose one reason Hebrew and Greek he chose them for his own purpose but it's not an accident that these
13:58
Central principles of our relationship to him and of his revelation of himself to us to us are captured in the Hebrew by one word and in the Greek by one word
14:11
that teaches us not that we need to know Greek and Hebrew but in God's mind righteousness and justification are one concept
14:22
so when you read those words please keep in mind their interchangeability in the so it's also further complicated our
14:33
understanding of justification by faith by the various contexts in which Paul uses the word now we tend to think of justification in
14:44
terms of the Forgiveness of an individual a sinner's sin right and we think of justification we think of Salvation we think of forgiveness but Paul's first example as it were and
14:55
it's not an example because it's really his bedrock his bedrock in understanding the faithfulness of God to his promises but that first example is Abraham
15:06
is Abraham and the phrase that Paul uses both here in Romans and then in Galatians and James actually uses it in his letter is that Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness
15:19
we could say Abraham had faith and it was credited to him as
15:31
but if you read that narrative in Genesis 15 Genesis 15 you'll see that Abraham's sin isn't mentioned at all that what Abraham believed was the
15:41
promise of not only an heir but a progeny that would be more numerous than the Sands of the seashore so the context of that seminal promise
15:53
was not even Abraham's sin okay now as soon as you say that in a Protestant congregation normally charges
16:04
of heresy start flying because obviously everything is about my sin and forgiving me my sin that's what it's all about no that's part of what it's all about
16:15
what it's all about is God fulfilling his promise to restore not only mankind but all of creation
16:26
why to the glory of his grace to the glory of his name so it's really not all about me
16:37
it's not all about you it's all about God in Christ and that's what Paul's all about
16:47
and so that means that what God did with Abraham did God forgive Abraham's sin yes because if Abraham's sin hadn't been
16:57
forgiven Abraham would not have been Justified as an undeniable component of
17:10
but it's not mentioned in the text Abraham believing God's promise of an heir was the cause or at least the circumstance we should say of his having
17:20
righteousness credited to his account so that tells us there's more to it then maybe we think of immediately
17:31
there's more would it surprise anybody that there's more to Paul than we have thus far understood okay wouldn't have shocked Peter any remember in Paul there's some things
17:41
hard to understand and it's quite amazing how I have observed people get all up in arms because you're you're not saying it the right way
17:52
right way and there are those within the church who honestly fully fully think that they have figured Paul out men who would freely admit that they
18:02
have no clue what Revelation means well act as though they have figured Paul out to a T I don't know either one of them Revelation or Paul
18:14
these are complexities that we study that we expose ourselves to that we read
18:24
and re-read and cross-reference but in order to gain an understanding of Paul one thing is necessary and that is to keep our ears open to hear what it is
18:35
he's saying he's saying book after book letter after letter comparing one with the other we have by the grace of the Holy Spirit the ability to understand the
18:47
multi-faceted doctrine multi-faceted doctrine that is Paul's understanding of what God has done for us in Christ
19:00
another British scholar by the name of Tom Holland Tom Holland not Spider-Man not Spider-Man says justification is an all-encompassing Doctrine all-encompassing Doctrine and as such it cannot singularly be
19:12
about any one meaning but working together each of these meanings complements or enriches the other depending on the context in which
19:24
it is used an example of that context is what I just mentioned Abraham and the initial promise of a son and of a progeny but
19:34
there are categories that we can mention not exhaustively but help to to help our minds think
19:47
about what Paul is saying concerning justification and in justification understand what God is doing or has done and will do for us
19:59
in Christ Jesus the first of these is acquittal and imputation this is the basic understanding that Luther rediscovered in his Epiphany concerning
20:10
Romans 1 16 and 17. that we are justified in the sense of a law Court a legal
20:22
concept that we are declared not guilty now Paul has established already in Romans how we are all guilty earlier in chapter three he says that verse 19 now we know that
20:35
whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law that every mouth may be closed and the whole world become accountable to God
20:47
to God so no man can stand before God and plead innocent not guilty not guilty no man who is aware of the truth of his
20:57
own heart can say anything else but guilty as charged as charged so God has revealed God or man as
21:08
indicted under sin I should say Paul has and Paul has revealed God as a righteous and holy judge now when you bring those two together
21:19
there can only be condemnation there can be no hope and we have to understand that that is the that is the basic
21:29
ground Foundation upon which the gospel is built is built if we do not establish in our own minds the absolute lack of any Merit within
21:42
ourselves our absolute need of gracious forgiveness then the gospel has no ground in which to bear fruit if we maintain any
21:54
thought that we ourselves have done something then the gospel has not yet taken hold of us in a saving way and if we think that preaching the
22:05
gospel is telling people that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life that's blasphemy and it's deception from the pit of Hell to allow anybody to hear the good news
22:18
without being told the bad news is not half the gospel it's a false gospel and as Paul says let that man be anathema
22:29
let that man be accursed but God in Christ has entered into that legal terminology and in Romans 3 the passage
22:39
I just read when he says he is the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus those are legal terms that he's using it's a law Court environment
22:49
and so God in Christ has pronounced not guilty not guilty upon the one who has faith in Jesus Christ a guilty sinner is pronounced
23:02
acquitted so there is this sense of legal acquittal that you are no longer guilty Paul will go on in chapter 4. quoting David from Psalm 32 blessed are
23:14
those whose Lawless Deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have not have been covered blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account
23:26
that word account is the same word as reckoned unto righteousness so on the one hand God has not reckoned your sin against you
23:39
he's taken that off your books and that would be great in and of itself but what he has done is even more
23:50
he has credited the righteousness of God in Christ to your account that's called imputation that's another glorious truth of justification he takes away the guilt he takes away the sin
24:02
and he doesn't leave you there sinless powerless sinless but not yet Justified he goes one step further and he accounts
24:15
the righteousness of Jesus Christ to that account that account so now that your Ledger is entirely in the black
24:25
and that's wonderful but I would submit to you that for the most part that is where Protestant theology has stopped has stopped that is where Modern evangelicalism
24:36
to a large extent has stopped that's only the beginning and if we read Paul and hear what he's
24:46
saying we can Rejoice that we have been Justified as a gift by his grace through the Redemption which it is Christ Jesus
24:59
we can Rejoice that he has made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might be the righteousness of God in him Paul in second Corinthians 5.
25:19
because God has also reconciled himself reconciled himself that's another word that Paul uses in fact in second Corinthians 5 he refers to his own Ministry now for
25:29
the most part we would refer to Paul's Ministry as the preaching of the Gospel he makes it clear that that's what God commissioned him to do that's what he was constrained by love to do he even
25:39
called it my gospel but in second Corinthians 5 he calls it the ministry of reconciliation so not only has God said not guilty
25:50
not only has God cleared the books of the demerit and replaced it with the Merit of Christ so that there is no need of the Merit of Mary or Joseph or Christopher or any
26:03
other saint other saint that our account is fully righteous in him now God said you who were once my enemy
26:15
you are as Abraham was my friend my friend Romans 5 therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through
26:28
our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand and we exalt in Hope of the glory of God
26:40
again preview of Coming Attractions that word in the English exalt is the exact same word as boast so when Paul says in Romans 3 where is the boasting in Romans 4 does Abraham
26:52
editing the boast up he says in chapter five we have reason to boast and I wish the English would use the same word same word because Paul's doing that for a reason
27:05
he's saying in and of ourselves we have no reason to exalt no reason to boast but in God we can exalt to the heavens we can boast Paul boasts
27:18
in the work of Jesus Christ so he says we exalt we boast in Hope of the glory of God and not only this but we also exalt we boast in our tribulations
27:28
that's weird that's weird but James says the same thing knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance and perseverance proven character proven character hope and hope does not disappoint because the love of
27:41
God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us okay this is all under the rubric of justification that he has not only said you're
27:52
forgiven you're acquitted and he's not only said you are righteous in him he's now said now said I am making a covenant of peace with you
28:04
sealing it with my Holy Spirit in your heart in fact that same terminology of sealing with the Holy Spirit is what Paul uses
28:14
in Ephesians in Ephesians this is all wrapped under what God has done in Christ It's all under that rubric of justification we are reconciled we are God's friends
28:27
that that in and of itself is is just a amazing truth again Paul writes in Romans 5 verse 10 for
28:38
while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son that's justification
28:49
much more having been reconciled we shall be saved by his life acquitted declared righteous declared righteous declared friends that's really fantastic
29:02
I would think all of us would be happy even at that point but God hasn't stopped yet stopped yet Because by the same Act of justification he has adopted us
29:14
he has not only made us friends he has made us sons and daughters he has not only made his sons and daughters he has made us joint heirs with his only begotten son
29:26
in dividing up the glory of the universe he is given an equal share to every one of his children there's no
29:38
primogenitor here primogenitor here there's no the firstborn gets the rat it all and we don't get anything we are joint heirs Paul writes
29:48
in Romans 8 for you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again but you have received the spirit of
30:05
as Sons by which we cry out Abba Father the spirit himself Bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God and if children heirs also Heirs of God and Joint heirs with Christ
30:18
in in Ephesians Paul tells us that we have inherited all spiritual blessings in the Heavenly places
30:28
under the heading the heading of justification of justification this is all part of what God has done in Christ for each and every one of us who
30:39
have believed in him this is all part of what that gift of faith that gracious gift by which we believe also brings this immeasurable
30:50
Treasure of God's grace to every single child of God that is so much more than just I've been forgiven of my sins
31:01
I mean again that is so wonderful blessed is the man whose transgressions will not be counted against him blessed is the man whose sins will be forgiven him that's true
31:13
but it is not to the glory of God to stop there when he didn't does that make sense go with God on this I didn't just forgive you I didn't even just make you
31:25
righteous I didn't even just say and okay you once were my enemy now you're my friend you're my son you're my daughter you are joint heirs with Jesus all that
31:47
there is a raging debate sadly over what is called the New Perspectives of Paul of Paul and what is so sad to me is while some of what has been written is wrong that has been true for two thousand
32:00
years among both the old perspective and the New Perspective we what's the word uninfallible double negative we fallible men write error
32:13
we can't help it we don't try but we do but what bothers me about this debate is to think that Paul is monolithic
32:25
that understanding Paul is just one facet of what is really a beautifully cut gem of Revelation
32:35
of Revelation the greatness of the Revelation Paul says that was given to him is a beautifully multifaceted gem that as we turn it in our hand the light
32:46
shines in God's glory from every face of that stone that stone and so what is a new perspective it's just turning the stone a little bit then turning it again and letting the
32:59
Holy Spirit shine forth from the different facets of acquittal oh there's imputation oh look at that reconciliation well there's adoption
33:09
and there's glorification it's all there why would we argue about it why should we call one another Heretics
33:19
because we don't lock down on Jesus faith in Jesus is the way you are saved well yes we do lock down on that but there's so much more to what God has
33:31
done for us and it is as I said to the glory of his grace that we read it study it Rejoice exalt in it because he didn't just do it for us
33:44
either and that's another part of justification that's in Romans and that he's doing it for the entire creation okay he's not just reconciling man to
33:54
himself listen to what he says in Romans 8. he says he says for the anxious longing of the creation Waits eagerly for the revealing of the
34:05
sons of God for the creation was subjected to futility not of its own will but because of him who's objected subjected it in hope that the creation itself also will
34:16
be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God
34:27
all of this the entire universe suffered because of Adam's sin and will be redeemed and reconciled because of Christ's righteousness
34:39
that's all under justification the ground that you walk on the paths that you hike the lakes that you sail on are beautiful
34:50
but they're nothing compared to what they will be in Christ in Christ and you as a Believer walking those Trails sailing those Lakes skiing those
35:03
mountains are part of what's going to bring about their Redemption they're actually waiting for the revelation of all y'all
35:14
that's really a powerful thought when you hike when you consider as the scriptures exhort us to do when you consider the
35:25
Beauty and the power of God's creation consider that it is waiting for your revelation it is waiting for the consummation of what God has done in Jesus Christ it is
35:37
waiting for the fullness of justification to be revealed in the universe and why has God done all of this what what is there anything above
35:48
justification you know I put so many things underneath it there's one thing above it love
35:59
something that you often don't hear much especially in the debates about the love for God so loved the world okay well listen to what he says in Romans 5.
36:10
Romans 5. he says for for while we were still helpless at the right time Christ died for the ungodly well that's justification he says that back in chapter three for one will hardly die
36:21
for a righteous man though perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die but God demonstrates his own love all of this is to the glory of his grace
36:33
but it's to the revelation of his love but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us much more than having
36:46
now been justified by his blood there's that word we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him acquittal imputation reconciliation adoption
36:58
glorification all of those words are subsumed under the truth that God has loved us with an everlasting love
37:08
everlasting love he has loved us with a gracious love loving the unlovely loving those who hate him hate him loving those who have rebelled against
37:19
him and in that love in that love alone enabling us to love him in return and to love one another
37:31
there's the doctrine that is greater than justification there's the doctrine that is greater than the law there is the doctrine that is the outworking as Paul says in
37:41
Ephesians I'm sorry Galatians that it is Faith working through love so again coming a preview of Coming Attractions we're going to hit all these
37:52
words all these Concepts as we work our way through Romans all of them somewhat under the theological umbrella of justification but all of them flowing from the love of God which motivated all
38:05
of this to begin with God loves what he has made he will redeem what he has made and he will make it again lovely
38:17
but even with all of that as we seek to hear listen to Paul try to understand the multi-faceted way that he reveals God's gracious work to our ears
38:31
realize that even he did not Plumb the deaths he would Echo job in saying about all of God's marvelous works these are but the
38:42
fringes of his ways and as we hear Paul let us keep in mind that eruption of doxology in chapter 11 oh the depths of the riches both of the
38:55
wisdom and the knowledge of God how unsearchable his judgments and unfathomable his ways let us pray
39:09
father we do exalt in you and even our limited and feeble understanding of what you have done for us in Christ
39:20
is enough for us to sing for joy and we do pray father that you would continue to reveal to us through your word and by your spirit more and more
39:31
of what you have done for us in Jesus Christ and not only for us but for all your creation that you are reconciling the world to
39:43
yourself Humanity as well as the rest of creation help us to see the big picture as Paul saw it saw it and help us to hear
39:53
with open ears and spirit guided Minds what Paul is saying about the great and gracious work that you have done for us through our Lord Jesus Christ
40:06
for it is in his name and for his glory that we pray amen please rise for the benediction this morning from Romans chapter 15.
40:23
thou May the god of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit
