Justification, Part 3

Review: The Author of Justification and the Westminster Standards

0:06 We turn again tonight to the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel according to Luke, and the teaching of our Lord couched in this parable concerning the publican and the Pharisee, and I shall read this brief section of the Word of God, spend a few minutes in basic review, and then proceed with our study of what is bound up in the tremendous statement of verse 14, I say unto you, this man went down to his house justified, Luke 18, beginning with verse 9,

0:47 and he, that is our Lord Jesus, spake also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at naught. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I get, but the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God, be thou merciful to me, the sinner. I say unto you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other, for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled, but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

2:04 This parable, provoked by our Lord's detection of a spirit of self-righteousness, is one of the statements in all of the word of God concerning this most fundamental issue, namely, how do guilty sinners find acceptance with a holy God? And the Pharisee and the publican become specimen examples of the only two possible answers to that question. The Pharisee is the picture of the man, the woman, the fellow, or girl who thinks that there is something in himself, that is, in his own character. Or, in his own religious performance, that will commend him to God. The publican, of course, becomes a specimen of those who are brought through the teaching of the word and the spirit to see that the only hope of acceptance with a holy God is to be found outside of themselves in provisions which that God, against whom they have sinned, provisions which he himself makes for them. In the process of opening up this parable, we will see that the Pharisee and the woman, in the process of opening up this parable, are attempting to do so. We come tonight to the, I believe tonight is the seventh in our studies, and we are focusing our attention now upon our Lord's statement

3:28 at the conclusion of the record of the two prayers, the prayer of the Pharisee and the prayer of the publican, namely, that the publican went down to his house justified. And we are seeking to expound precisely what is meant in Scripture by the Lord's statement at the conclusion of the record of the parable, by that statement. When he went down to his house justified, what was the exact state in which he went down to his house? And this has brought us then into the heart of the whole biblical doctrine of justification by faith. Tonight, that is the third in the series of studies in which we've been seeking to open up what that great blessing of justification is. We have seen in our previous studies that the word justified is the word of God. And we have seen in our previous studies that the word justified is the word of God. And we have seen in our previous studies that the word justified is the word justified by itself basically means to pronounce just or righteous. It is a legal term. It has nothing to do with

4:26 what is done in someone. It has solely to do with what is pronounced concerning someone. It is the opposite of condemnation. And we looked at a number of biblical lines of evidence which demonstrate that any other meaning put upon this word is a resting of the Scripture.

4:46 Then, last week, we began to open up the doctrine in a formal way, and I suggested that the best way to do so was to use the Westminster standards, that is, the Westminster Confession, the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, as a guide in opening up the doctrine. And apparently a number of you were convinced of my little polemic on the benefit of confessions and catechisms, and we shall be ordering a number of the ones we recommend. We have a Baptist Catechism, which is the Westminster Shorter Catechism, just altered in the area of how much water and on whom and on church government. And then also we have the Baptist Confession, which is the Westminster Confession altered again on those two vital points and brought, we believe, a little bit more into line with what the Scriptures teach. But the overriding area of doctrinal perspective is precisely the same in the Westminster Confession. The Westminster Confession and catechisms and the Baptist Confession and catechisms. And so we looked then particularly at the definition of the

5:55 larger catechism, and I suggested that that definition would guide us in our approach to this doctrine. So what we did last week is exegete the confessions, try to give the main leading thoughts of the biblical doctrine, then we turned to the Scriptures and began to expound the doctrine within that confessional and catechism. And then we started to look at the catechism in a more archaic framework. What I'll do tonight is simply read that definition of the larger catechism, spend a moment or two emphasizing what we studied on the first phrase of it, and then we'll be right up to date, ready to start with our fresh study tonight. In the larger catechism, in answer to the question, what is justification? That is, when Jesus says the publican went down to his house justified, how did he go down to his house? The answer is justification. is an act of God's free grace unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all their sins, accepteth and accounteth their persons righteous in his sight, not for anything wrought in them or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ by God imputed to them and received by faith alone.

7:14 And when you break down that catechetical definition, you have your six major divisions of thought, and those are the six which we hope to cover in the course of this study. You have, first of all, the author of justification. Justification is an act of God's free grace. It is God who justifies.

7:35 You have the source of justification. It flows out of his free grace. Thirdly, you have the objects of justification. It comes unto sinners.

7:47 Fourthly, you have the essence of justification. It is an act of pardon and acceptance. Then you have what we could call and what we will be calling the grounds of justification, not for anything in them, but wholly found in the obedience and righteousness of Christ. In the fifth place, the method of justification.

8:10 It is imputed to them, and then the means, in the means of receiving the blessing, it is received by faith alone. Now I say, as I did last week, that those six lines of thought comprise all the essential biblical elements of this doctrine, and they carefully hedge up the doctrine from all the historic heresies which have departed from that doctrine. And so it is of particular help to us, both in its positive instructive value and in its protestant, protective value. It's one thing to have a beautiful piece of property and look upon it and enjoy it.

8:50 It's another thing to have it guarded so you'll know you'll have it tomorrow. And the Westminster divines were concerned not only to have the people of God understand this great heritage of justification and to admire God for this great blessing, they wanted to put some fences up and to protect it from those who would rob the people of God of their great heritage. Now we can, included by just briefly focusing last week on the first of these six aspects of the doctrine, namely the author of justification, God Himself. And we looked at numerous passages in the Word of God in which God the Father is declared to be the author of justification.

9:33 It is God who justifieth. Romans 8 and verse 33, Who is He that condemneth? And the last thing we shall say concerning that, by way of review, is that because God is the author, it is essential for us to remember that it is before His tribunal that we must all appear. Hence it is right that He and not any other should pass this sentence upon us.

10:03 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. He alone is the judge.

10:13 He alone is the judge. He alone is the judge. He alone is the judge. He alone is the judge.

10:14 He alone is the judge. He alone is the judge. No one has jurisdiction but Himself. No one can effectually or really justify or condemn but the living God.

10:25 So when our Lord says of this publican that he went down to his house justified, He is saying, unlike in the case of the Pharisee, who went down to his house saying something about himself, I'm not his other man. My performance must be acceptable. This man went down to his house with God saying something about him. The Pharisee, and this was what provoked the whole parable, was one of these who trusted to themselves that they were righteous, who made sentence upon themselves concerning their acceptability before God.

The Source of Justification: Free Grace

11:03 However, the publican went down with the living God making a pronouncement about him, and unless God before whom we stand as judge of the universe, unless He, He declares us righteous, what good will it do to have a billion fellow preachers declare us righteous if the one judge who has the right to pass sentence fails to declare us accepted? Now then we come to the second main area of thought in the framework of the larger catechism and in the thought of the scriptures, namely the source of justification. What was it in God that would have caused him to say to this publican who pleads nothing but his sinfulness, who pleads nothing but divine mercy, who cries out, God be merciful to me, the sinner. What is there in God that would ever dispose him to send that man down to his house declared perfectly righteous? Well, the answer of the catechism and the answer of the word of God is free grace and free grace alone. And when the old writers used free grace, they didn't mean free grace in the sense that it was grace you couldn't buy.

12:21 They meant free grace in the sense that it was unbounded. It was unstettered grace as it flowed out of the heart of God. Nobody telling God, now look God, we've cut a channel here, your grace must run through that channel. Or Lord, we've made a conduit here, your grace must flow down this conduit.

12:40 No, no. Just as God in the perfection, of His sovereign being, is utterly free from all the fetters that men would put upon Him, so He is free when He would show mercy. God never gives up His sovereignty simply because He would show mercy. That simple biblical concept has well and I've been lost by our generation.

13:03 God's free to make a world when He wants to and people won't question that. God's free to permit a fall if He chooses, but let God be free in terms of showing mercy when He wants to. And men say, no, no, He must show equal mercy to all men. No, no.

13:18 God is just as sovereign in the exercise of His mercy as He is in the creation of worlds and of galaxies of men and of angels. So then the source of justification is free grace, that is, unbounded, unfettered grace as it flows out of the heart of our sovereign God. Now let us look at several of the classic biblical stories and statements and then seek to draw some practical implications from those statements. Turn, please, to that which is probably the most explicit statement of the source of justification being free grace to be found anywhere in Scripture.

Defining 'Freely by His Grace' in Romans 3

14:00 Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3.

14:09 And I shall begin reading with verse 21.

14:12 Having corralled, as it were, the whole human race before the judgment bar of God and declared them, the apostle now says, But apart from the law, a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe. For there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Now here's the text.

14:45 Being justified freely, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The moment Paul brings his first formal statement of the method by which guilty sinners will find acceptable with God, he puts, as it were, this capstone over the very introduction, being justified freely by His grace, so that, free grace, becomes the great capstone of this grand biblical doctrine. Now let's define those two biblical words. When Paul said, being justified freely by His grace, what did he mean? Well, this is exactly the same word that is used in John 15, 25 when speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, the scripture says, they hated Him without a cause. Exactly the same word. They hated Him, freely.

15:51 That is, there was absolutely nothing in our Lord to provoke the hatred of men. He could face men and say, which of you convinces me of sin? He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. In other words, the cause of the hatred did not lie in Him, but it lay in the hearts of men.

16:13 Now, transfer that word here. Being justified without a cause, in us, in us. That's the meaning of free grace. Being justified without any cause, in us.

16:27 When the publican went down to his house justified, and you say, how is it that this man goes down pronounced righteous, accepted before God, entitled to all the blessings of one who had perfectly kept the law, though in himself he was nothing but a sinner. What's the cause of it? God says, don't look for the cause in him. Nothing in his heart.

16:48 Look for my heart. Justified freely by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Then, the word grace, what does that mean? Well, trying to define that is just to show yourself a fool.

17:02 Can't be done. You can't define grace. But certainly it points in the direction of undeserved mercy and kindness to those who deserve just the opposite. Those are the leading elements of thought in the biblical concept of grace.

17:19 Undeserved mercy to those who deserve just the opposite. Now, you see, Paul was being a bit redundant when he put those two words together. The very word grace means without a cause in us. The very word freely means grace, but lest we miss the point, he puts the two things together.

17:39 So there's no way to squirm out from underneath the pressure of this biblical concept that justification has as its source free grace. Grace, sovereign mercy. I quote from Professor Murray's comment in his commentary on Romans, speaking to this very fact of the bringing together of these two words, freely by His grace. The combination of the terms freely and by His grace has the effect of emphasizing the completely unmerited character of God's justifying act.

18:13 The free and sovereign graciousness of the act is the positive complement to that which it is. It had been asserted in verse 20. Look at it, verse 20 in Romans 3. By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight.

18:29 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. That was the great fallacy of the Pharisee. He said, Lord, what I am like other men and what I have done, I fast, I tithe you to pronounce me righteous.

19:01 And as long as a man is in the orbit of that mentality, whether he thinks of it in terms of the Muslim who says, pray five times a day, or if he thinks in terms of the deceived fundamentalist who says, I made my decision, God must accept me. Your decision doesn't save you. Your profession doesn't save you. It's Christ who saves you in the order of your decision.

19:30 He sends you to the place where by His grace you decide to turn from your sins, to turn from your self-righteousness, to turn from your rebellion to self upon Him. But if He's brought you to that decision, you do not rest in a decision made in the person of Jesus Christ. And so it goes on to say, this justifying act does not constrain anything in us or done by us. And not only is this the case that nothing in us or done by us constrains or justifies, but everything is in us condemnation.

20:14 Isn't that the whole thesis of the first three chapters of Romans? Everybody is guilty. If God gives me what I deserve, it'll be judgment, condemnation, wrath, and hell. Hence, if I get a sentence from that God, righteous, I must understand that its source lies wholly in myself.

20:39 Merit of any kind on the part of man when brought into relation to justification, contradiction, contradicts the first article of the biblical doctrine and therefore of the gospel. It is the glory of the gospel of Christ that it is a gospel of free and sovereign grace. Hence, it is God Himself moved by nothing but factors in Himself that brings this grace to men. But now listen carefully.

Free Grace in Provision and Application

21:09 Not only is the source free grace in the provision of justification, but in the application of it as well. And there are many people who'd say, oh yes, it must be uncaused grace, free, unbounded mercy in God that makes provision for guilty sinners to be accepted, but whether or not they will accept that provision is wholly up to them. And though grace is upon their lips in the provision, works is upon their lips in the application. But the Bible knows nothing of a salvation that's so great and so divided between grace and works.

21:48 Not only is it free grace in the provision, but in the method of application as well. For by grace are we saved.

21:59 Not of yourselves. That has to do with the application, does it not? Isn't faith in the realm of the application of this great provision? And Paul says even in the application, free grace is the dominant word.

22:13 Lest any man should boast. Well, you see, if I can boast even of the application, my wicked heart will find its niche for boasting and it will begin its work of boasting. But when I must stand and say, O God, it is wholly of free grace that such provision should ever be made and wholly of free grace that I should be brought to embrace such provision, then I cry from beginning to end, grace, grace, all of grace. And isn't that the language of the Bible and of the saints of God?

22:50 Listen to those great words of Newton. T'was grace that taught my heart to fear. That's application, isn't it? And grace my fears relieved.

23:03 How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come. T'was grace that brought me safe thus far. And grace will lead me home.

23:17 Amazing grace will sweep the sound that saved. And in that word saved, you see what Newton had, not only provision, but application from beginning to end. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

23:36 The source of justification, free grace. Let me say then briefly by way of application, any theory of justification that has as its practical effect our glorying in anything other than free, uncaused, sovereign love and mercy cannot be the biblical view. Therefore, the Roman Catholic concept that draws men to glory in the merit of their own performance or the merit stored up in the saints is under the indictment of the word of God. The scheme of theology which leads men to glory in their so-called evangelical obedience or in their own faith, in their own decision, cannot be of God.

The Recipients of Justification: Sinners and the Ungodly

24:19 Nothing but the statement of this doctrine as we find it in Romans 3 and reflected in the great reformed confessional standards does justice to the biblical concept of free grace being the only source of justification. So we've got two things now. The author of justification, the living God himself. This man went down to his house justified.

24:45 The God before whom he stood had a sentence. The source of that justification, free grace. Now we come in the third place to what I'm calling the recipients of justification. Listen to the statement of the confession again.

25:03 Justification is an act of God's free grace unto sinners. Unto sinners. The recipients of justification are sinners considered actors. Go back to the parable.

25:20 And if anything is made clear, it is this point. The parable. The publican stood according to our Lord and his plea was this. God, be thou propitious or merciful to me, the sinner.

25:33 No qualification. All he does as it were is unzip his own heart and open it up before God and say, God, look upon sinful through nothing but sin. Holy sin, have mercy upon me. Be propitious towards me.

25:51 And it was such a man, Jesus said, that went down to his house justified. Hence, the recipients of this great blessing are indeed sinners. Now look again, please, at several key texts in the Word of God. Romans chapter 4.

26:09 Romans chapter 4 and verse 5. This is perhaps the classic statement and I'm trying to be selective and rather than bombard you with many scriptures, give you several of the key scriptures under each heading. Paul is developing the great theme of justification by faith alone. He is now using Abraham as an example of one who was justified in that manner.

26:35 After using the example of Abraham and prior to moving on to the example of David, he says in Romans 4 and verse 4, Now to him that worketh the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt. In other words, if there's something I can do like that Pharisee who thought that what he was and what he did, merited the pronouncement of righteousness, he says that would take us out of the orbit of grace. It would bring us into the orbit of debt. God owes it to this man to justify him because of what he's performed.

27:12 Now Paul says, if justification comes by what you do as the Pharisee thought it did, then we can no longer talk about justification by grace because grace takes no account of merit. Grace operates in a realm where there is no merit. So his reasoning should be clear. Now to him that worketh the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt.

27:33 When you get your paycheck on Thursday or Friday and the time clock shows that you put in your 40 hours, you don't run up to the boss or to the head of the company and say, oh, how gracious you've been to me. I can't understand such grace. Why, look at that. There's 40 hours for 40 hours.

27:52 You don't do that. You have performed a certain amount of work and on the basis of a contractual agreement you've received so much. Double payment.

28:05 Now if you had double pay and you found out that the computer didn't make a mistake and the rest, but that the boss just felt great and profits were beyond the measure for the week, then you'd have to say, well, everything beyond what my 40 hours did, that's all grace. That's undeserved. That's something I couldn't count on. But if you simply get your 40 hours pay for 40 hours work, that's debt.

28:27 That's owed to you. That's what Paul's saying here. So the orbit, he says, of justification is totally different. Verse 5.

28:34 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth, who? The ungodly is reckoned for righteousness. What does God justify? He justifies the ungodly.

28:52 Now that's a strong word. Not only are they sinners, but the worst part of their sinnerhood is that they are not like God. They are ungodly. They don't think God's thoughts.

29:03 They don't conform to God's laws. They don't seek God's presence. They are, they are all ungodly.

29:13 Recipients of this blessing are called here the ungodly. We've already looked at the allusion in our parable. It is the publican who pleads his sinnerhood who goes down to his house justified. Now listen carefully as I mention a caution, a word of caution.

Caution Against Subtle Self-Righteousness

29:31 In both cases, Romans 4, 5, in which you have the justification of Abraham and David, illustrative of how God justifies every true Christian, every true believer. In the case of the publican, they did not stay ungodly after they were justified. Nor were they totally ungodly in the sense that there was no work of grace working in the heart producing dispositions of godliness at the point of their justification. That's not what the Bible is saying.

30:03 What it's saying is as far as the sinner in his own mind finding anything himself that can be the ground of his acceptance before God, he finds nothing, he pleads nothing, he stands before God saying, nothing in my hands I bring to the fountain fly. Waiting not to rid my soul of one dark to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come. That's what the Scripture is teaching and it is that facet to which we must cling with every fiber of our being. By way of application let me say that it is the teaching of the Word of God at this point that underscores the fact that when God justifies He does so as dealing with those who in themselves have nothing to commend themselves to God. Nothing to bring as suitable preparation. And in the history of the church and this is vital for your own well-being in the history of the church there have been those who have insisted that the only person who can look to God through Christ and accept the blessing of justification is an awakened sinner. In other words the sinner had first of all to discover in himself some genuine sorrow for sin some deep conviction for sin and whole movements have been blighted

31:32 with sinners looking for some qualification in their own hearts before they dared to venture on Christ as the grounds of their righteousness. Oh my friend what a terrible deluding and deadly heresy this is. It's a terrible thing when a Pharisee says be accepted because I'm not as bad as other men I've done great works that's a terrible thing see how much more subtle it is this fallacy of that kind of reasoning is nonetheless looking for something in himself oh God you must justify me because I have a real real deep dose of conviction oh God you must justify me because I have a deep spirit of repentance what is that for subtle Phariseeism you don't bring to God your conviction you don't bring to God your repentance nothing but the total wretchedness of your own sinful state now if you're coming to him truly you'll come with a repentant heart but it's the true penitent who feels most keenly his impenitence it's the man who's truly broken for his sin who mourns broken for his sin it's the man who feels most keenly his hard heart repents and believes and the very confession of his hardness is what he doesn't even realize

33:02 is the indication of his repentance and his brokenness hence to cause the sinner to look inward upon himself is to produce on the one hand hopeless and terrible bondage and I've seen this you think this is not a very needful warning it is dear ones I've seen people laboring for years under the delusion that they were awakened sinners who yet were not warranted to cast themselves upon Christ because their conviction wasn't deep enough yet and in some cases it leads to despair and to skepticism but something worse than that in many cases it leads to the most subtle form of self-righteousness because it sounds so humble to say I'm not yet convicted enough to trust Christ doesn't that sound humble that's a Pharisee's heart that's saying I have not yet discovered in me something that will warrant me to come to Christ that's a Pharisee's heart isn't it sure it is that's looking for something in yourself when God's God says no the recipients of justification are sinners contemplated as sinners nothing but sinners looking to nothing in themselves but wholly out of themselves this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save awakened sinners is that what it says no he came into the world to save sinners Christ Jesus

34:31 came into the world to save seeking sinners no he came into the world to save sinners Christ Jesus came into the world to save convicted sinners no he came into the world to save sinners now will anyone truly believe who isn't convicted of his sin no will anyone truly believe who isn't repentant no but the warrant for my believing is not the discovery of my repentance or my conviction it's the discovery that my only promised mercy that's the warrant for my coming and I say to some of you who perhaps in your reaction against the shallow teaching that cursed you for years and you've seen the fallacy of it this cheap easy believism and this nod your head to Jesus and go your way and in your rightful reaction against it oh how the enemy would love to torture you and say ah now you're repentant you're convicted and he'd love to get you where from Christ he kept you from Christ before by substituting your decision for the Lord Jesus now he'd keep you from Christ for substituting your own conviction for Jesus he'll keep you from Christ to keep you from embracing the Son of God and I plead with you tonight recognize the subtlety of his ways and be satisfied

The Threefold Importance of Free Grace to Sinners

36:00 with nothing less than resting upon Christ and Christ alone Plummer a godly preacher and theologian of a bygone day points out so clearly in his excellent sermon on the subject of justification that maintaining these two things bound up in this third part of our study free grace to sinners is absolutely essential in three ways it'll keep the gospel good news to needy sinners the only gospel that's good news to needy sinners is God justifies the ungodly that's good news but you start telling the sinner he justifies the ungodly comma if they feel so much weight of sin if they feel so much conviction if this if that and you know what you've done you've turned the gospel into a new legalism and you've put men under the whiplash of the law because you've turned them inward upon themselves Plummer saw with keen perception that if we would keep the gospel good news to sinners it must be a gospel in which God justifies the ungodly oh what a thrill to preach that gospel tonight to say to whoever is here in a state of ungodliness almighty God promises to declare you righteous for the sake of his son if you'll believe on the Lord Jesus Christ

37:30 if you repent of your sin and cast yourself upon the Savior there is promised mercy you say how much conviction must I feel how deep my repentance be you must feel enough of your sinfulness to know there's no hope in yourself there must be enough repentance to know you can't come to Christ while you're deliberately willingly clinging to your darling lust beyond that I dare not pronounce because God doesn't second thing Plummer says is God's glory is bound up in keeping this card of the gospel free grace to sinners heaven's honor is more completely staked on the maintenance propagation and reception of this than any other doctrine of revealed religion it's a pretty strong statement isn't it God's honor is more completely staked on the maintenance propagation and reception of this that is free grace to sinners than any other doctrine of revealed religion and you read the history of the church and I believe you'll find this to be true Dr. Packer in his very very helpful introduction to the great treatment on this doctrine by Buchanan says that every true spiritual revival if rightly interpreted can be seen as a work of God in which God has brought home with fresh power to the hearts of men the doctrine

38:59 of justification by faith alone now that's no little flea-picking theologian saying that's a man who's well read very perceptive and sensitive and I believe he's stated it accurately I began to think of the histories of the two revivals that I'm acquainted with and you'll find at the heart of those revivals every revival starting with that mighty movement of God in the apostolic age has been the Holy Ghost bringing home with fresh power to men this grand truth free grace to sinners and if the Lord is doing anything to encourage us in our day and I think particularly of you young men with aspirations to and some indications of God's providential pressure in the direction of the ministry oh that you might be known as free grace preachers not cheap grace preachers but free grace preachers never let it be said that we've spawned a generation of young men who in a false overreaction against the non appreciation of the law and the non appreciation of repentance and the lordship of Christ never let it be said that we've sent out a generation of legal preachers who cannot without any tongue in cheek invite sinners to Christ without qualification say to sinners come ye sinners poor weak and wretched

40:27 sick and sore Jesus ready stands to save you full of pity joined with power he is able he is willing doubt no more let not conscience make you linger nor all the fitness he requireth is to see your need of him this he gives you this he gives you tis the spirit's rising beam lo the incarnate God ascended pleads the merits of his blood venture on him venture holy no other trust intrude none but Jesus none but Jesus can do helpless sinners oh young men what a gospel to preach and let men sit on the sidelines and carp and pick about these people that are fatalists and don't believe in evangelism let them carp and pick you and the Holy Ghost will own it and you'll have the joy that's been mine time after time to have sinners come and say oh brother Martin thank God for preaching the simple message of free grace to sinners because God found such a sinner through the preaching of that message the objects sinners Mr. Plummer says keep that why because only that is good news secondly God's glory

41:56 is bound up in it and thirdly and follow closely holiness of heart and life are bound up in it I quote Mr. Plummer this is the only doctrine which produces genuine holiness of heart and life and that's why the gospel is a mystery people say you mean if I believe that I'm saved on the basis of the merits of another I'll serve God more fervently and purely something that what I the answer of the Bible is an emphatic yes and the Roman Catholic says oh no that's a dangerous doctrine if we told our people that they're saved by the merits of another they'd go out and live like the devil we've got to keep them in line by saying if you don't live up to certain standards you may end up in purgatory and if you don't live up to certain other standards something worse mortal sins you may end up in hell itself and they say that's how we keep our people in line we'll tell them that the issue of their salvation hinges on their performance that'll keep them devoted that'll keep the money coming in that'll keep them coming to penance to confession that'll keep them coming to mass the way we produce good works is to hold the salvation in jeopardy based upon their own performance that's the heart of the heresies of all heresies that's at the heart

43:25 of the teaching of the Jehovah's Witness and the Mormon all the rest it has at its heart the damnable lie that's something that I have accepted before God and therefore becomes the spring of good works whereas the doctrine of the Bible is being justified freely by His grace we love Him who justified us and loving Him we obey Him and produce true good works and we will not inverted forms of self-love if I do this I will then merit something but true love as with the Apostle Paul to me to live is Christ and to die is gain that says with the Apostle Paul we make it our aim whether present or absent that is in this life or out of it to be well pleasing unto Him the love of Christ constraineth me that's it the love of Christ constraineth me and so with Mr. Plummer I would say to this congregation tonight cling to this facet of the doctrine of justification that the recipients of this blessing are sinners contemplated as nothing but sinners in themselves and the clinging to this alone will keep the gospel good news will maintain the glory of God bound up in this doctrine

44:53 and will produce the holiness of heart and life which alone can be produced by God by this truth you see the sad thing in our day is to see so much of evangelicalism pumping up all kinds of schemes to produce something that resembles good works in the hearts of God's people rubbing their consciences raw about they ought to be doing this and they ought to be doing that and the checklist of what's right what's wrong and this is the poor imitation of true godliness whereas if God's people begin to catch a sight of the glory of what it is to be accepted in the beloved they want to tell others about so great a savior as many of you do consistently week after week in your place of business in your schools and you're witnessing fervently and actively why? because you get an exhortation ten minutes every week you gotta witness you gotta witness you gotta witness no no but because in some little measure God's given you a sight of the glory of your savior and you can't help but want to share the knowledge of him with others and there is a high standard of conduct in our midst in the externals as well as in the internals and the intangibles why? because we've got a little checklist and we measure everybody's skirt when they come in the door and we ask you whether you've been to a theater of course not never and God forbid the day should ever come

The Essence of Justification: An Act of Pardon and Acceptance

46:22 but because in some little measure you've seen the glory of God in the face of Christ and when you buy a dress you want to please Christ in terms of whether it's modest or not and if you contemplate going to a theater you love Christ enough to say can he be honored if I go and you don't need to be constantly rubbed raw on your conscience with little nitty-pitty external things why? because you found the truth that Mr. Plummer says that this doctrine understood and received produces the driving motivation of good works well I hope to get on to the essence of justification perhaps we can just introduce it tonight time is just about gone this is the end this is the fourth facet of the teaching what is the essence? we've looked at the author is God justification is an act of God's free grace the source free grace the object sinners now what's the essence of it? it's bound up in these words of the larger catechism it is an act that's the first thing about the essence of it it is an act of God whereby he pardons all their sins and accepts and accounts their persons righteous in God in his sight it is an act of pardon and acceptance and if you want to go out with just a brief statement that summarizes what the scripture teaches what the confession

47:48 bears witness to it's found in those words the essence of justification an act of pardon and acceptance we'll have time just to touch the word act it is an act of God and they use the word act purposely you see an act is different from a process process always speaks of imperfection and continuance you and I are in the process of being sanctified if we are believers we have experienced an initial sanctification in which we're set apart unto God through union with Christ and the dominion of sin is broken but now there is the process of sanctification by which we are dealing with remaining corruption and sin and imperfection a process which will continue until we are glorified but justification is an act in contrast to the process no degrees are admissible a man is either wholly justified or wholly condemned in the sight of God and there's no neutral ground every one of you here tonight is as justified as the apostle Paul after the road to Damascus after the road to Damascus after the road to Damascus or you're as condemned as he was before the road to Damascus now maybe stating it that way will make the emphasis

49:18 that I want to make no neutral ground it is an act and if God has declared you justified you are wholly justified and if God has not declared you justified you are wholly condemned as we saw last Lord's Day morning there's no neutral ground no DMZ no demilitarized zone no no man's land no no man's land well I'm not in Christ and yet I'm not quite fully in Adam I'm somewhere in the middle no you're not my friend God has either declared you righteous and accepted you in Christ or the sentence of condemnation hangs upon your head tonight and there is no neutral ground look at the emphasis of this in the scripture several passages Romans 5 verse 1 Romans 5 and verse 1 to show that it is an act of God the essence of the doctrine is bound up in that word Romans 5 1 being therefore justified by faith we have peace with God a better translation is having been justified by faith for you Greek students it's an aorist passive participle something was done and it was done with a settledness and a finality and a once for all-ness having been justified not being as though it were a process but having been as my good English friends would say having been justified by faith alright

50:46 Romans chapter 8 and verse 1 another statement of it there is therefore now how much condemnation no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus it is a present reality it is an act of God and I'm as wholly justified now as I'll be a billion years hence in eternity proved!

51:15 it's going to improve on my justification hallelujah it's going to improve a lot on my sanctification and I'm sure it's going to improve on yours but it can't improve on your justification not one iota will Christ become any more perfect in the world to come? will his righteousness be any more spotless or acceptable in the world to come? of course not! and if my justification is bound up in my union with Christ and being partaker of his righteousness just as eternity can last it cannot improve his it cannot improve mine for mine is in him and he has made unto me righteousness thank God for the act of justifying grace having been justified there is no condemnation I come back now to the publican when Jesus said he went down to his house justified what did he mean? would it be any comfort to know look instead of having the full weight of God's wrath you'll only have the full weight of God's wrath you'll only have half of it now instead of having the full weight you'll only have a tenth of it could that bring comfort? no, no when Jesus said this man went down to his house justified he's saying he went down to his house wholly and completely justified the sentence of condemnation passed and he could sing my sins oh the bliss of this glorious thought

Distinguishing How to Be Saved from How to Know You Are Saved

52:42 my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more praise God praise the Lord praise the Lord oh my soul Jesus thy blood and righteousness my beauty are my glorious dress midst flaming worlds in these arrayed with joy shall I lift up my head bold shall I stand in thy great day for who ought to my charge shall lay fully absolved that's it fully absolved in death and shame there is a moment when a man comes out from under the awful canopy of divine judgment and into the smile and the warmth of the favor of God he comes out from under the billows of divine wrath into the sunshine of favor Jesus stated it again beautifully in John 5 24 verily verily I do he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me is unto life he shall not come into condemnation now I am saying because the Bible does not that a man must know when he came from condemnation to justification I am not saying that every man who is under this justifying act will be absolutely certain that he is that's the realm of assurance

54:10 the former is the realm of being able to discern the ways of the spirit with you and Jesus said the ways of the spirit are like the wind and many times we can't trace out the precise way in which God brought us into the justifying state but listen though I am not saying because the Bible does not that we must know when we came into the blessing of this act or that we must be one hundred percent infallibly assured that we are under its blessing what I am saying is what these verses say all who are justified have been justified by a final declarative absolute act of God which bears no degrees and which will never undergo reversal and so the important thing is not to say well when did I consciously when did I in my understanding pass radically from this to that you may not be able to trace out the ways of God the important thing is this are you in the kind of relationship to Jesus Christ tonight that warrants you to believe that he is your righteousness have you been born of the spirit have you known and do you know something of what it is to be a new creature in Christ by the fruit of that work of a new creation if that's so then you can say thank God thank God thank theён thank the payer

55:35 thank the what thank the Almighty heaven I'll go that's the question if I a if a I think you need to know you changed your perspective absolution. I'm asking you, do you have biblical grounds to believe Almighty God has justified you? Do you have biblical grounds to believe that He has said to you, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee? Do you have biblical grounds to believe that He has said to you, Daughter, thy sins be forgiven thee?

56:20 You say, well, what are those grounds? Well, you read the book of 1 John seriously. It was written for just such a question as that. Hereby do we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments, if we love the brethren, if we walk in the light, if we believe upon His Son, if we love not the world.

56:36 Those are the tests of life. But listen, that is not a direction as to how you get out of condemnation into acceptance. That direction is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And don't mix the two. All the harm that's come when people don't know the difference between these two questions, how may I be saved? And how may I know that I'm saved? Those are two different questions. And the Bible gives two different answers. And if you ask me tonight how may I be saved? My answer is clear. Repent and believe the gospel. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. All the grace of justification is bound up in Him. Believe upon Him. Cast yourself upon Him. Embrace the Lord Jesus.

57:24 Well, you say, what must I find in myself? I say, you're looking in the wrong direction. Look unto Him, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved. That was Spurgeon's problem for years.

57:35 He was looking in himself, looking in himself, under conviction for those years until that Methodist preacher on that snowy night looked up in the gallery, as they say in England. We say the balcony and said, young man, you're sad. And the sadness is upon your face. And it'll be upon your face until you look to Christ.

57:52 Look unto me, all the ends of the earth, and be ye saved. God helped him to look, and he was saved. And he knew the joy of that justifying act. And now the second question, how may I know that I'm saved? That's a different question.

58:07 That's not a matter of what's the ground upon which God will pronounce a sinner righteous. That's a question as to the ground upon which I can know that I have been pronounced righteous. That's a different thing. And the answer is different.

58:22 It's examine yourself. Prove yourself whether you be in the faith. Examine yourself by the test and the evidences that are always attendant upon the genuine work of grace. And I say to you young preachers, in reacting again against easy believers, and don't you start giving the answer to the second question when people ask you the first one. And when people say what must I do to be saved, don't send them the book of 1 John. Send them to Acts 16. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Send them to Acts 20-21. Repentance toward God and faith toward Christ. Don't get those things mixed up. And some of our younger brethren in their zeal, and that unwise zeal, and they've been given the answer to the second. The second question when people have been asking the first one.

59:06 And the tragedy is, and I have much more gripe with this second class, is that the church has been full of people who when people ask the second question, they just turn to John 3-16. How can I know I'm saved? Well, the Bible says, either believe it, say, put your name in there, you're the whosoever, so now you know you're saved. Oh, what a butchering of the souls of men. The question is not whether believers are saved. I have no doubts about that. The question is, am I a true believer? That's what I want to settle. Because my Bible says there's lots of phonies. Now I'm in the day of judgment. How do I know I'm not a phony to whom the Lord's going to say, depart from me. I never knew you. But when a man asks me that question, I better give him the right answer.

Practical Application: Believe on Christ and Examine Yourself

59:48 And the answer of the Bible is not believe in the Lord Jesus, but examine yourself, prove yourself, whether you be in the faith. And if I'm speaking to some who are asking the first question tonight, how can I come out of condemnation into acceptance? How can I leave tonight knowing that God has justified me? Oh, I entreat you tonight.

60:08 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Cast yourself upon Him. Say with that public in God, I find nothing in me to be the grounds of my acceptance. Be thou merciful to me, the sinner. All I bring to you, Lord, is my sin. The sin of my nature, the sin of my practice, the sin of my life, the sin of my heart. But, oh Lord, I do believe that Jesus is willing and able to save even such as I. And you come to Him.

60:40 I didn't say come down an aisle. He's not here. You come to Him. Where is He?

60:44 The word is nigh thee, Paul says. In thy mouth and in thy heart. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart, thou shalt be saved. People accuse us, they say, because we don't give altar calls.

60:56 We don't believe in inviting men to Christ. Oh, listen, listen. People who put Christ up at the front and say, to get to Christ you've got to come here. They put Christ too far away from sinners. I put Him nearer.

61:11 I'm not saying that to be funny, dear ones. I mean that with all my heart. He's nearer than that. He's as near as the heart that right there in the seat embraces Him. The word is nigh thee in thy mouth and in thy heart, Paul says. If thou shalt believe in thine heart the gospel has come to you. Where? Not up here in the front, but it's come to your conscience, to your understanding, to your heart. And those are the overtures of grace. Say, hallelujah. You're saved. You leave saved.

61:43 He's nigh in the gospel. And if you're asking the first question, what must I do to be justified? What must I do to be saved? My answer is believe on the Lord Jesus.

61:53 If you're asking the second question, how can I know that I'm justified? My friend, if you're dead and earnest about that, you go home. And this week you get down before God and you open up the book of 1 John and you say, Lord, you wrote this book that men might know whether or not they have the Son and have eternal life. Now, Lord, you show me. And you just study all those tests of life and you say with judgment day honesty, O God, help me to see if indeed the birthmarks of a true believer in me. And if they aren't, then you begin to cry out to God to have mercy upon you and to reveal His Son to you and enable you to embrace Him as He's offered in the gospel. Dear ones, I'm anxious that we understand the doctrine of justification, but I'm much more anxious that sinners be justified and that saints who are justified know it and have a good grounds to be assured of it. May God thus help us to bring our study to that kind of practical, personal application for our blessing and for God's glory.

62:51 Let us pray.