Act of Pardon and Acceptance

Driving home: The only thing that matters is your standing before the real court and the real judge and the real law. It doesn't matter if you by mental gymnastics have absolved yourself. It doesn't matter if others seek to absolve yo…

An analogy of a man convicted of a crime in a country's court illustrates that self-absolution, family's belief in innocence, or external courts' opinions do not change the real verdict of the authoritative judge. This emphasizes that only God, the Judge of the universe, can truly pardon our sins.

And first of all, we will look at the statements of Scripture which underscore the fact that justification is an act of pardon and remission by the judge of the universe. Justification is an act of pardon and remission by the judge of the universe. Now, just as surely as our sin is real, as certainly as it brings real guilt and real condemnation, so we must have a real pronouncement from the court of heaven that all is pardoned and forgiven, or we are utterly and eternally undone. In other words, a sentence of condemnation that comes from the court of heaven can only be forgiven by the judge o...

11:59 - 13:16 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The only thing that matters is your standing before the real court and the real judge and the real law. It doesn't matter if you by mental gymnastics have absolved yourself. It doesn't matter if others seek to absolve yo…

Building on the previous analogy, this illustrates that even if a judge could transform a criminal's heart from hate to love, it would not satisfy the broken law or get him 'off the hook' for past crimes. This highlights that internal change (regeneration) does not solve the legal problem of guilt; only forgiveness does.

Furthermore, consider that man and examine his crimes a little more. We come to find out upon examination that he had an angry, bitter, sour heart that led him to commit murder and rape and pillage. Now suppose, while he's in his place of incarceration, the judge had power to completely change that man's personality from a heart full of hate and murder and uncleanness that would lead him to rape, to murder, to murder, to murder, to murder, to murder, to murder, to murder, to murder, to murder, to murder, to murder, and to rape, and to pillage. Suppose the judge had the power to utterly transfo...

16:44 - 17:52 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin transitions to the second aspect of justification: acceptance. He explains that justification is not just pardon but also the conferral of a positive standing as righteous…

A story of a master and two servants, one obedient and rewarded, the other disobedient, punished, and then seeking the reward without having performed the duties. This illustrates the distinction between pardon (paying the debt/punishment) and acceptance (receiving a positive reward based on obedience), showing that justification includes both.

Would you form some true sense of the value of this privilege? Then you must grasp this distinction. And perhaps I can illustrate, To set the framework for the few verses we shall look at. Imagine a master who had two servants, And he is about to leave them for a time, And he leaves very, very clear instructions to both servants.

42:11 - 42:37 Read in full sermon