Definition; Author; Source; Recipients

Pastoral Exhortation for Fellowship and Prayer

0:00 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

0:43 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,

1:23 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.

Review of Justification's Context: God, Man, and God's Ultimate Intention

1:37 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 are 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.

2:18 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,

3:00 these three laws 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.

3:14 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.

3:46 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.

4:23 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,

5:04 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.

5:43 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.

6:27 A deep conviction of sin is the one for which we are to live, regardless of how much thisaven seems needful. So, shall the Lord, by harming the nature of our infMC claim it that we have upon ourselves the power and the baggage of the Holy Spirit, but which, mate with me, may be bearable, so that to us ourselves a conviction of the potential error which lies in theどうning, 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 inner most 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, of us individually, and which, however he may be pleased to deal with it, has deserved his wrath and righteous condemnation.

7:07 And 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 invariably

7:46 among all parties, in all lands, and in all ages, the views which men held of the evils of sin were not the same as the views of sin. The views of their condition and character which required to be redressed affected their views of the nature, necessity, and value of the remedy proposed to them in the gospel.

8:13 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 beliefs. They have more or less vivid apprehensions of the evil and malignity of sin.

8:36 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. In that context alone will there be an appreciation of this grand doctrine. Now, so much for review.

Defining 'Justify': A Forensic Declaration

9:04 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 Buchanan, having read in all the standard theologies the sections dealing with it, Hodge, Shedd, Berkoff, Dabney, and so on, I have come to 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.

9:44 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 have to 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.

10:22 The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 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 the world, into an understanding of the mind of God, but to express the mind of God in the very words of God.

11:06 Hence our Lord says, I have given them thy 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 practice. We are 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.

11:49 What does it mean? The whole fabric of the Roman Catholic perversion of this doctrine is determined by a failure rightly to define the doctrine of inspiration. The word means to declare, or to pronounce, just. This pronouncement, or this declaration, is a legal declaration.

12:14 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 the Roman Catholic tradition, the word of God is asserted in a very formal and formal statement, and so it applies in the same way.

12:29 It applies to the court of law. We must never forget of that, we should never forget that. 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.

13:06 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.

13:31 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.

14:13 Deuteronomy 25 and verse 1. There is 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.

14:43 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.

15:05 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.

15:28 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.

15:47 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.

16:11 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.

16:39 Now, can anyone make God more righteous than he is? No. All men can do is recognize that he is righteous and make a declaration of that. And so to justify God is to declare Him to be what He is in Himself, namely, infinitely and perfectly righteous.

17:01 Over in Luke chapter 16 and verse 15, you have a similar example. Luke 16 and verse 15, And He said unto them, And there there is a textual problem.

17:42 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, 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.

Biblical Evidence for the Forensic Meaning of 'Justify'

18:18 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.

18:44 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.

19:13 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?

19:30 It is God that justifieth. Who is He that condemneth? God justifies condemnation set in opposition to one another. We found it in the Proverbs 17-15 passage.

19:43 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.

20:06 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

20:26 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 sent not

21:02 his Son into the world to condemn. 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,

21:19 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.

21:40 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 3, 20. What is he dealing with? The problem of human guilt.

22:12 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 the word can mean nothing else, and the number of places where the word can justify and condemn or 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.

22:54 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 which the word can use to justify. Re-generation 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

23:31 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

23:53 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 am convinced that it's true that I have spent so much time just looking at the meaning of the word just 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

24:30 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 in us as a surgeon. But if you confuse what He does in us as a 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.

Overview of Justification in the Westminster Standards

25:11 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 likened 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,

25:54 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 doctrine of justification is written. Take the shorter catechism and you get the distant, long-range view in which the doctrine of justification is written.

26:07 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.

26:37 So then, let us... 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.

26:47 What is justification? The answer? Justification is an act of God's face, 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, and only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith, alone. Now, again, I have the pastors primarily in mind.

27:17 You layfolk who 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.

27:43 He 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.

27:56 Thirdly, 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.

28:29 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 pardon and acceptance, the essence, the righteousness of Christ, the ground, imputation, the method, faith alone, the means of reception.

28:57 Now moving over to the larger catechism, we see these additional aspects brought before us. Found on page 164. Sorry, 163. What is, what is justification?

29:17 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. ...to sinners.

29:30 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 has plagued the church, given a broadside by those two works.

29:48 The work 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.

30:14 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.

30:37 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.

31:04 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 has 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 transaction, how can you call it a gracious transaction? And that's one of the historic objections of Arminianism, and also of Romanism. And they answer that in the 71st question.

31:45 And they show how it can be a ground of acceptance that meets all the demands of God. 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.

32:05 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 source, the nature, and the act 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?

32:33 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 Arminian theology. They put faith in the place of the Savior, and hence the divines of the Westminster assembly dealt with that particular heresy.

32:58 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 in justification, and as a surgeon in judgment, and sanctification and regeneration, they will understand neither with biblical accuracy.

33:26 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.

34:11 That's redundant. Clearly. Period. Or precisely in place of clearly.

Detailed Examination of Justification in the Confession of Faith

34:15 Now moving on to the confession of faith.

34:20 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.

34:30 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.

34:38 Chapter 11.

34:41 Zoom God effectually calleth. He also freely justifieth. Here's a new thought added. ...into this by effectual calling.

34:53 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.

35:07 Romans 8.29. Then it goes on. God is the author.

35:12 He also freely justifieth. Free grace is the source.

35:19 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.

35:38 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. 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.

36:09 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 Arminianism, Romanism, and Communism.

36:27 Three of them. The greatest plagues upon the church are carefully slain in that one paragraph.

36:36 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 Semipalatianism and freewillism. 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 believism. And it's beautiful when you see the carefulness with which they came to the scriptures, discovered the biblical doctrine,

37:20 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.

37:54 And then in paragraph five they deal with the problem of the relationship of presence. They deal with the 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.

38:19 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

Pastoral Exhortation to Use the Westminster Standards

39:03 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.

39:46 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 slight 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

40:29 those attempts of the enemy. To all among us who think that this is all a lot of tempest in a 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?

40:51 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 as set before us.

The Author of Justification: God Himself

41:34 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.

41:57 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.

42:23 If so be that God is one and He shall live. Who 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.

42:41 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?

43:02 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 will come and alter or cancel God's declaration?

43:35 We have a system of appeals in our system of jurisprudence if we still may call it that in our country. It 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.

43:58 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 accept all the blessedness of knowing that there is none in earth and heaven or hell that can cancel or change the declaration

44:41 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 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.

45:10 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 you are fully accepted before me as righteous in the light of the inflexible

45:52 expansive demands of my law if God justifies 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.

46:28 So if it is God the righteous God who declares us 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 is 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

47:13 and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus Christ. And so if God is 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 will 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

47:58 we are 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 wedded in our thinking and in our experience. And all of that and certainly more that I have 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.

The Source of Justification: Free Grace

48:39 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.

49:00 Romans 3 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 am 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

49:43 in whom I am well pleased even his bitterest enemies had to confess his innocence. That's the word used. Being justified freely without any in us. The source of justification is free grace.

50:03 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 5 and verse 21 a similar thing that brings these strands of thought together. Romans 5 and verse 21 that as sin reigned in death so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The great blessings of justification conferred now and the blessings they shall bring in the world to come are a demonstration of the reign of grace.

50:48 It's grace diffusing 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

51:32 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. Not only that there's nothing in us to constrain Him to declare us righteous there is everything in us to call forth with sentence of condemnation and of judgment.

52:14 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.

52:48 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.

53:06 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 objects the elect of God but it's all of grace in effecting its application so that even the saints

53:49 we embrace the blessing as its source in grace for by grace you save through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift. 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

54:31 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 Baptists. I'd say that by God's grace wherever I was seeking to expound this doctrine.

The Recipients of Justification: Sinners

55:06 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.

55:39 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

56:23 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 asks the question what must I be or do to have the blessing of acceptance God? God says you must look out of yourself to me the God who justifies the ungodly who stand before me

57:08 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 and his own creatureliness he dares not even look up in the direction

57:51 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 but nothing to plead before God a sinner in all the holiness 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

58:34 a sinner by what I've done a sinner through and through 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 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

59:16 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

59:58 the liberty of access of needy sinners has been clogged with conditions and regulations which tend to Phariseeism 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 Arminianism to end up in the deep dark damp forests

60:41 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 his 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 and no longer been able to move from describing Christ in the perfection of his work

61:26 and then actually put Christ to the lips of sinners and tell them drink, 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 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 save you

62:08 Christ died 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 and verse to say he is offered to you the faithful saying not worthy of all exegesis but patient that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners this is his commandment that ye believe in the name of his dear and only begotten son God commandeth all men every day commandeth all men everywhere to repent

62:52 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 well in all her life he says if you only knew who was to come to talk unto you you would have asked and he would have given you the water of life isn't that what he said if you knew he would have given

63:35 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 in love with the Holy Ghost in true conviction who is the least likely individual to feel that he's really a convinced sinner as unconvicted as he ought to be didn't you find that true when God was dealing with you the things that made you feel the weight of your sinfulness was that you didn't feel more sinful when you knew you ought to have

64:19 in the light of all your crimes against God to tell a man you must be an awakened sinner or an interested sinner or a seeking sinner no 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

65:01 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 claim Apostle Paul wasn't a new convert still struggling with a lot of besetting sins in 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

65:46 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 great that has come to us justifying us as ungodly and the wonder and the glory of that is ever kept fresh in our spirit what a gospel we have to preach what a gospel we have to preach and oh that it might ring from the pulpits of those of us who call ourselves reformed Baptists oh that it may ring from our pulpits

66:31 and that the Holy Ghost will make it fresh and living and powerful this gospel that come declaring that the recipients of this great blessing are sinners simply as sinners without any other adjective you start putting them in you are going to hunt far for any Bible to justify it well God willing we will pick up the thread of thought tomorrow night dealing with the essence of justification it is an act whereby he pardons and accepts the ground the righteousness of Christ how that ground was formed has worked out for us in our mediator the instrumental means of our justification

67:16 by faith alone and then maybe at another conference we will finish up the doctrine Amen