Justification, Part 4

Driving home: They do not stand over the Word of God to mold it, but rather they stand outside of it, of the Word of God, as an aid to tell us what is in the Word of God.

Martin explains that creedal and confessional standards are not above God's Word but stand outside it as aids to understanding what is in the Word, like a guide to a complex text.

what it meant for the publican to go down to his house justified, is to take the framework of the larger catechism of the Westminster Standards and using that, definition of justification to bring together the biblical materials under the six distinct lines of thought set before us in this confessional standard. And for those who were not with us several weeks ago, I would just briefly say in an aside, this is the proper way to use creedal and confessional standards. They do not stand over the Word of God to mold it, but rather they stand outside of it, of the Word of God,

5:03 - 5:46 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin briefly reviews the first three points of the Catechism's definition: God is the author, free grace is the source, and sinners (with nothing to commend them) are the…

The Westminster Catechism's definition of justification is described as a 'massive verbiage that just sort of overwhelms you and hits you like an M1 bulldozer,' to convey its initial impact and density.

Now I suggest that that massive verbiage that just sort of overwhelms you and hits you like an M1 bulldozer when you read it for the first time, can be broken down into six distinct categories of thought which bring together every major line of biblical truth on this doctrine. First of all, we see that the author of justification is God Himself. Justification is an act of God's free grace. And every passage in the Scripture that speaks of this subject clearly indicates that justification is not something that I do with reference to myself.

7:04 - 7:46 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It is not enough that we be declared no longer guilty. We must be declared as those who have a title and a right to eternal life and all the blessings that flow from it.

Martin uses the analogy of a pardoned criminal to distinguish between mere pardon and being regarded as having perfectly kept the law, illustrating the greater scope of justification.

A thought which Paul amplifies by linking justification with the adoption of believers as God's sons and God's heirs. A man may be a criminal and for years find himself in a penal institution, but it is one thing for a decree to go forth that he is pardoned, that society will no longer deal with him as one who has broken a law, stolen a bank, killed a man. But suppose you ask men to regard him as though he not only had never done those things, but as though he had perfectly kept the law and had never stolen anything. You say, that's too much to ask.

23:21 - 24:06 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He further explains the scope of justification, quoting J.I. Packer and illustrating how it involves not only pardon but also the bestowal of a righteous man's status and title to…

He lists specific past sins of the publican (dishonesty, nastiness to wife, cheating as a kid, stealing from mother) to emphasize that God not only pardons these but regards him as a perfect law-keeper.

Did he simply say, now Mr. Publican, I no longer will remember all the times that you were dishonest in your business dealings, all the time you were nasty to your wife, and all the times you cheated when you were playing ball as a kid in the playground at the local school. I won't remember the times when you stuck your hand in your mama's pocketbook and took a quarter. Is God simply saying, I will no longer remember your sins against you, you're forgiven, and you're now as it were as Adam was in the Garden of Eden?

26:33 - 27:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Dare you meet Him who is holiness in the entirety of His being with one unpardoned sin?

Martin quotes Mr. Plummer, stating that 'one unpardoned sin would destroy a soul forever' and 'a single transgression can rouse an enlightened conscience to the wildest fury,' to highlight the gravity of sin and the necessity of full pardon.

when God pardons, He pardons all sins, original sin, actual sin, sins of omission, sins of commission, secret sins, open sins, sins of thought, word, and deed. One unpardoned sin would destroy a soul forever. And listen to this next statement. A single transgression can rouse an enlightened conscience to the wildest fury. My friend, you lay upon your bed at night and

28:35 - 29:06 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Yes, I will labor it, my friend. For failure to see this will land multitudes in hell.

He uses the example of preferring a self-righteous hypocrite as a neighbor over an outright thief to illustrate that while external morality is preferable, it does not form the ground of justification before God.

We find the same error in our poor, deluded, liberal people who think that because of some ethical virtue in themselves that makes them better than other people in their external conduct, and we don't despise that. Any man who's a good, law-abiding citizen, even if he's proud as the devil because of it, I'd rather have him as my neighbor than some guy that would pick my pocket and chase around with my wife. And steal stuff off my back porch, wouldn't you? I'd rather have a self-righteous hypocrite from my neighbor than some outright thief. Sure. But the delusion of teaching that does

35:00 - 35:40 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin provides biblical warrant for Christ alone as the ground of justification, expounding 1 Corinthians 1:30-31. He illustrates this through the publican's transformation…

Martin vividly describes the publican's transformation from a red-eyed, bent-down man burdened by sin to one walking home with a lifted face and the light of God, mumbling 'praise the Lord,' to illustrate the experiential reality of justification.

That Lord who alone is made unto us righteousness, but who when He is made unto us righteousness, is made unto us such a perfect righteousness, such a righteousness external to ourselves, that the only thing we can glory in is Him, and Him alone. When that publican went down to his house justified, and you saw him come down from the temple, a man who went up red-eyed, and with his head hanging low, bent beneath, the weight of his sin, and the consciousness of impending wrath, and you see that same man walk by your house on his way home, and his face is lifted up, and the light of God is upon h...

41:42 - 42:27 Read in full sermon