Sermon June 6, 1999 The Question of Justification based on Romans 3:21-28
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Especially: There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
There is a question lying in you. It is behind all the hustle and bustle of life. It is below the concerns over health, family, work, money, and all the other cares we have from day to day. This question is one you may have an answer to or you may still be searching. It may be a question to which you have an answer, but your answer is not satisfying. Your are just not sure you have the right answer. The question lurking beneath all the cares of this life is the question of how to become right with God. How can we satisfy God? How can we ensure a pleasant outcome for us?
Nearly all people seem to have a sense of right and wrong. We certainly don't all agree on what we think is right and what we think is wrong, but regarding there being a division between right and wrong we probably agree. Along with this sense of right and wrong is a feeling of guilt. We know what is right, and we know that we fall short of that standard. There is a feeling that we have violated God's laws. We have missed the mark. Now, how shall we make up for it? How do we satisfy or appease God?
This was the same question posed to Jesus, as recorded in Mark 10, when the man came up to Him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" In other words, What must I do to keep God happy, to avoid punishment, and to instead be rewarded with eternal life? How can we satisfy God so that He is not angry with us for our sins? How can we stay clear of His wrath? This question is about justification. What can settle the charges against us? What can bring justice for our sins? Justification has to do with justice being settled and finished.
There are several answers to this question. Some say that God automatically saves all people, and punishes none. In other words, there is no punishment. This is called universalism.
Another answer is God will punish all people. This may mean that people die and that is the end of it. There is nothing beyond death. It may also mean that God punishes all people forever. This is a negative, pessimistic answer in which no one is saved.
A third answer is that some who do well enough will not be punished. If we just avoid sinning, then there will be nothing to punish.
The next answer is that if we do enough good things it will offset the bad things we do. We can make up for the bad deeds by doing good deeds. This is the idea called works righteousness, which means we gain our righteousness, our goodness, from the things we do.
The last answer is that for us to be saved takes someone else to step in for us. It takes a Savior. The extreme form of this answer says that this savior does everything needed to save us. We don't contribute to it at all, but instead we get it as a free gift.
The question of our justification may be underrated. As I said this question is perhaps hidden behind the cares of this life. This question may not occupy much of your attention. Some people never ask it. They are too focused on the "here and now" to be concerned over the "when? and what then?" This question is actually an important one. We each need to stop and consider it. We need to slow down and meditate upon it.
Our Bible text today points to the importance when it says: "...All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." This shows our failure. Our sin, where we have broken God's law and we owe Him a debt. All people do. Do not think you are excluded. Do not think you are beyond God's Law. Do not think you are better than the rest and you are not a sinner.
All people need to ask how they are going to be saved. How are you going to be justified? This is a question for every man, woman, and child. Have you asked the question?
To get us to the point of seeing the need to ask about our justification, we have to understand that we are sinners. We must see ourselves in that statement, "All have sinned." That is about you. Our sermons are written to include God's Law, so that you might come to see your sins. We could talk about specific sins, such as gossiping, stealing, lying, speeding, sexual sins, misusing God's name, failing to honor the Sabbath, and so forth. We could talk about sin in general: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We could talk about original sin, that which we are all born with, inherited through Adam.
Some pastors will not talk about sin. It is an unpleasant topic. It makes us feel bad. It brings on guilt. We do not like to hear about our sins. Maybe we are willing to listen to a discussion of other peoples' sins, but if we hear about our own, it can be hard to listen. Some pastors avoid the subject.
We need to hear the law, however, for it drives us to ask the question. It drives us, by showing the mess we have. How are we going to get out of the mess of our sins? How are we going to be saved? How can I become justified?
Once driven to the question, we are then ready to look to God to give us the answer to the question. Sure, there are lots of answers as I explained, but there is only one right answer for how we are made right with God. To find the right answer, we better ask God. We better go to His Word, where He reveals the truth.
Our text from Romans is powerful in conveying the right answer to the question of how we are justified. In it, all the other answers are eliminated. We can see that justification comes through the righteousness from God. This righteousness, or goodness does not come from us, but rather from outside of us, from God. This righteousness comes to the ones who believe. This means that those who do not believe, who reject the righteousness, will not be saved. We know that the all or nothing answers to the question of justification are not right. Those who reject the salvation will not be saved, but those who believe will be saved.
Do some do well enough to be saved? Is that the right answer? No. You can tell this is not the answer from the statement that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." No one does good enough. No one can be without sin, for we all inherit it from Adam.
How about the answer that our good works can make up for our sins? The text talks about a righteousness from God, but doesn't mention a righteousness from ourselves. Righteousness from ourselves is ruled out, because the righteousness comes apart from the law. A man is justified...apart from observing the law. If our works are good, then they are good because they agree with God's law and follow His will. Those are the only works that can be good. Instead, we depend upon righteousness which comes from God and is independent of the law.
We also know from the text that good works are not what save us because boasting is excluded. If good works saved us, then those who had done those works could boast about what they did. If coming to church every Sunday was a good work that saved us then those who came to church every Sunday could brag about how well they do. There is, instead, nothing we can boast about in regard to our justification. It all comes from outside of us, and we are only recipients.
Dr. Howard A. Kelly was a renowned physician and surgeon, and also a devout practicing Christian. During the summer holiday when in medical school Dr. Kelly sold books to help with expenses. Becoming thirsty, he stopped one day at a farmhouse for a glass of water. A girl came to the door. When he asked for a glass of water, she sweetly said. "I will give you a glass of milk if you wish!'' He drank the cool, refreshing milk heartily.
As the years passed, Dr. Kelly graduated from medical school, and became the chief surgeon in the John Hopkins Hospital. A patient one day was admitted to the great hospital. She was from the rural area and was seriously ill. She was given special care, being placed in a private room with a private nurse. The skilled chief surgeon spared no effort to make the patient well. After undergoing surgery, she convalesced rapidly.
One day, she was told by the head nurse, "Tomorrow you go home!" Though her joy has great, it was somewhat lessened by the thought of the large bill she must owe the hospital and surgeon. She asked for the bill. The nurse said, ''I will bring it to you!'' She brought the itemized bill. With a heavy heart, the patient began to read the different items from the top downward. She sighed. But as her eyes lowered, she saw the following notation at the bottom of the large bill. "Paid in full with one glass of milk!" It was signed: "Howard A. Kelly, M.D."
You might think this is a good illustration for how we are saved. It is not, however. Rather, this story illustrates being saved by works. The girl gave the doctor a glass of milk when he was thirsty, and the doctor later rewarded her for that good work.
For the illustration to reflect how we are saved by our Lord, we would have to make some changes. The girl would have had to slam the door in the doctor's face when he came by, thirsty. Later, the doctor would pay the bill for her as a free gift. Paid-in-full, not because of what the girl had done for the doctor, but paid because the doctor was gracious and loving.
This is how our Lord relates to us. We don't deserve to be justified. We all sin and fall short, yet, our Lord steps in and saves us by His grace. Unearned and undeserved. A free gift.
Our Lord saves and justifies us by Christ Jesus. We have the redemption that came by Him. We know how it worked. Christ was presented as the sacrifice for our sins. A sacrifice of atonement, of payment for our sins. Christ satisfied the requirements and took away God's anger and wrath over our sins. Because Christ was our substitute, He suffered so that we will not have to suffer.
This justification came through Jesus' blood. He died for it. Upon the cross our Lord hung, suffered and died. The sinless one bearing the burden of all our sins. Our sins were cast upon Him and in return, His righteousness was given to us. We exchanged our sins for His righteousness. With our sins forgiven, God declares us as innocent of any sin and we are justified. God declares us as righteous.
This is the righteousness from God. It comes through the channel or pipeline of faith. Faith is the way we connect to this righteousness. We are given it freely.
This precious gift of righteousness is offered to all. The Holy Spirit creates faith in us which believes that in Christ we have righteousness from God. Some will reject the Lord and His gift. They will thereby turn down justification. Among those who believe, however, there will be no difference. All who believe are justified. This is independent of their works, apart from the law. So a person can only be justified by faith apart from observing the law.
The question we all need to be asking is how are we made right with God. We are led to this question of justification by God's law. The point of God's law, especially in sermons, is to lead us to ask, "How can I be saved, the?" Then answer is given from the Gospel, where we hear that Jesus Christ is our savior. We hear that God freely offers us Christ' righteousness. We hear how the blood of Jesus was shed as the payment for our sins. Our atoning sacrifice is Jesus Christ. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.