Why Do People Oppose Justification?

Chapter 2, Galatians chapter 2, why do people pose justification by faith alone? That is at the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, this teaching that God justifies the Godly by faith alone. In Galatians chapter 1, 2, and 3, the Apostle Paul is giving a bit of historical background to the Galatians to establish the fact that he truly is a disciple and apostle of Jesus Christ, one sent by Christ with the Gospel of Christ and that the message that he preaches is the authoritative message that Christ has sent him to deliver and so he gives a bit of his history and his exposure to the other apostles and then at the end of chapter 2 he speaks of one particular incident in his dealings with the Apostle Peter who was considered to be the chief pillar among the apostles and so Paul gives this incident in order to communicate to the Galatians that even Peter himself had to submit to the truth of the gospel that Paul was preaching because it was a very gospel that Peter himself believed and had preached.

And listen to these words and speak of this incident beginning in chapter 2 verse 11 of Galatians, but when Cephas and that is the Apostle Peter, when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned for prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles, but when they came he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. That is those in the church in Jerusalem who said in order to be right with God, you must come under the mosaic covenant, you must add to the work of Christ by keeping the law of Moses. He goes on in verse 13, the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.

When I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, if you being a Jew lived like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compelled the Gentiles to live like Jews? We are Jews by nature, not sinners from among the Gentiles, nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, since by the works of the law no flesh will be justified. Look at verse 16 again, and listen to those words again, nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, since by the works of the law no flesh will be justified.

The word justified, if you notice, in verses 15 and 16 is used four different times in these two short verses. It is at the heart of what Paul is speaking about here. Three times, in verses 16 and 17, he uses this word in a way that we want to look at this morning. First, I'd like to establish a couple of things, and that is, first of all, what does the word justification mean? It's a common word among Christians, because it's the very heart of the gospel many times we use words, and we really don't have a clue as to what they mean, or we might have a sense of what they mean, but not know exactly. Well, this is one of those biblical terms at every Christian ought to understand in a deep and a profound way, because it is at the heart of the work and truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is justification? Justification is when God declares a person to be righteous, that is, to be right with God, to be right with God. Think about that for a moment. Is it possible for a sinner, or as Paul called us in Romans chapter 5, for an ungodly person, to be right with God? What an amazing work of Christ, that God, based upon the work of Jesus Christ, is able to pronounce, accept, and treat sinners as righteous before Him, where one formerly condemned now becomes justified in the eyes and before God. He has pronounced us, accepted us, and treats us as perfectly righteous in His eyes. Now, all of us live every day of our lives and relationships, and some of those relationships are more difficult than others, and one of the most difficult things about relationships is when you have a person who makes it very difficult for you to be right with them, because they have so many expectations, or such a standard that you could never meet up to, that you never feel like you are truly accepted or right in their eyes.

Many people feel that way about God, their relationship with God is one in which they are always trying, everything that they do and think and say, they are trying to figure out how they could maintain being right with God. The Apostle Paul, at the heart of his message, wants to make it clear to us that we are right with God, in a very wonderful and profound way, based upon what Jesus Christ has done. So the one who was formerly condemned is now declared to be right in the eyes of God. Now, we shouldn't minimize this. I think the problem we have is we can't, often we assume why, well, of course, God is a loving, forgiving God, and everyone is right in His eyes. I'm sorry, that's not true. In fact, the first three chapters of Romans establishes the fact that there is no one who is right in the eyes of God in their own righteousness, not one single person, not the moral person, the immoral person, the Jew, the Gentile, the religious person, the non-religious person, no one stands right before God, outside of the righteousness that God provides in Jesus Christ.

Now, notice this, and this is key, this was at the key issue of the Reformation, in fact, this is why there was a Reformation. It is because in Roman Catholicism, by the time they got to the 16th century, it had been well established that justification was viewed as God making a person righteous, infusing them with righteousness, and then helping them throughout their whole lives to flourish in this righteousness until finally, at the end of life, they could be declared righteous by God based upon their life. I told you last week about these two images, this apocryphal story about Augustine, who was arguing with a Catholic theologian who said that justification is like God taking a little, is like a parent taking a child and holding their hands and helping them to take their first steps, and he hangs onto them until they can walk on their own.

And Augustine said, no, that's not what salvation is at all, salvation is like a caterpillar in a ring of fire, and someone from the outside reaches down and delivers them from the fire. That's salvation. That's the salvation that the Bible speaks about, and justification is judicial, not creative. All I mean by that, all that is knit by that statement, is that justification is what God declares to be true in your relationship with Him. It really has nothing to do with your changed heart. There is an issue of a changed heart, but that's not what justification is. Justification is God's declaration that the sinner who believes in Jesus, the biblical sins, is declared righteous before God. Notice how justification is used, and we can look at a ton of verses and passages in the Bible, but notice this one in the context of Deuteronomy 25, the way that justify and condemn is used.

If there is a dispute between men and they go to court and a judge decides their case, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. Now notice, the judge isn't making the guilty person wicked, he isn't making the guilty person wicked, he is condemning the wicked, and he isn't making the judge here is not making the righteous person righteous, he is declaring him to be righteous. And that's what justification is. It is the declaration of God about your standing before a holy God. So now that this is true, God can say to you, this is about you, this is my beloved son, my beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased. This is the base of your acceptance. It's what God declares about you, based upon the work of Jesus Christ.

There's a story about, I don't know if it's true, but I've heard it told many times, and so let me tell it to you about Sir Arthur Doyle who, as a joke, a British royalty, as a joke to his many friends in very high places wrote a letter to them, and in the letter he said, all is discovered, flee at once. And he claimed that 48 people left the country. If someone was to write you a letter like that that knew you well and said, made that statement to you, what would you do? All has been discovered about you. Of course, the Bible says that that's exactly what's going to take place. David said, if thou Lord should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? Who could stand before the righteous judgment of God?

But the Bible says because of justification now, you can stand, you, not somebody else, but you who have believed on Christ, you can stand before God and be declared righteous in his eyes. Now, why is justification necessary? Why is this so important that God has done this, that he has declared righteous every person who has rested their faith in Jesus Christ? Well, the reason is this. In fact, it's, you could say, it is both, the justification is both forensic and eschatological. Those are two big words, but all they mean is it has to do both with the fact of your standing before a holy God who is the judge of all the earth. And it has to do with the last days because of this. The reason justification is necessary is because people stand condemned and judgment day is coming.

Judgment day is coming. Now, I know that is not something that people think we should talk about in public. In the modern church growth movement, for example, you're told over and over again in the literature, this is not how to win friends, it's not how to draw people into your church by talking about the fact that there is a judgment day coming. Of course, God said, if you don't tell people that a judgment day is coming, you're going to be held accountable for their blood. In other words, it is our duty to tell the truth about the fact that there is a day of judgment coming upon this earth. In Matthew 25, Jesus says, but when the Son of Man comes in his glory, these are the words of Jesus. When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne and all the nations will be gathered before him.

And he will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Then he will also say to those on his left, apart from the accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. Eternal separation from God. Why is it important that you be right before God is because God is God and a judgment day is coming? This is why justification is so important as there is a future day of judgment that when which God is going to judge every person, based upon a standard of absolute righteousness.

Jesus says that God will mark the iniquities and no one will stand before that judgment. You know that the most that we know about hell comes from the lips of Jesus Christ. Read through the book of Matthew and you will discover that Jesus is more about hell than anybody else in all the Bible. Why does he do that? Why does the meek and lowly Jesus speak about hell and judgment so often because he loves people and he wants you to escape this final judgment. He wants me to escape this final judgment. During the great awakening, the heart of the message that turned this country on its head, it turned its heart around and at the heart of the message of the great awakening was flee from the wrath of God.

That mankind is accountable to God and they will stand before God and give an account. People begin to believe that message and they repented and they turned to God and entire communities were changed and transformed to the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Acts 17 when the Apostle Paul is preaching on Mars Hill, this is the message that he brings to them that this day of judgment is a reality. Hell is real. Judgment is certain and every person must give an account. In fact in Matthew 12, Jesus says that the last judgment you're even going to give an account of your casual words, words that just simply shoot forth from your heart in a given situation and reveal the true nature of your heart.

That's why justification is so important right now. It's so important right now because a judgment day really is coming. And then the question we need to ask is what is the basis of justification? How can someone like me be justified? Yesterday at the ministry treat Doug Thompson said, you saw my Romans chapter 7, as Paul describes this battle that goes on within him, the things that I want to do, I ought to do, I do not do and the things that I hate, I do. And he describes this struggle with sin and he was saying there's a lot of disagreement about this. Is this Paul before salvation or after salvation? And Doug says, well I know this, it's true about me after salvation. This is certainly the battle I struggle with.

And the more aware we are of our sinfulness, the more aware we are of our great need for justification to be right with God when this judgment day comes. It will be too late on that day to get right with God. But on what basis does God justify the ungodly? That's the phrase in Romans chapter 4, verse 5, God justifies the ungodly. If I own up to that, which I do, then this is an important issue. How does God justify the ungodly? Now he doesn't tolerate that in anyone else. He won't let human judges justify the ungodly and get by with it. He tells us that in Exodus and Isaiah that God brings special judgment on judges who justify the ungodly and yet God justifies the ungodly. And from the days of Paul to our own day, there have always been groups who've attacked this teaching that God is able to justify the ungodly by faith in Jesus Christ.

Christ righteousness imputed to the one who believes in Jesus is the basis of justification. And if we can get that deep down in our hearts, you will be amazed at how it will transform your daily Christian walk. If you can get it in your heart, that the basis of God's acceptance of you, of you being right with God, is the fact that the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to you through faith in Jesus Christ. That I don't have to struggle. There's a lot of things I set to struggle with. One thing I should never have to struggle with is what is the basis of my acceptance with God? Is it my performance? Is it my sinlessness? Is it my good deeds? My good works? Is it that I've done enough for Jesus?

No. It's based on what Jesus has done for you and it is enough. Jesus has done enough for you so that you can stand right as before a holy God. Second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 says, he, that is God the Father, made him, who knew no sin, that is Jesus, to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Let me go back. Philippians chapter 3, Paul says, in him not having a righteousness of my own, derived from the law, not through my own efforts, Paul was a great lawkeeper. In fact, in Romans 70, he says, he went through all of the commandments and kept them until he came to, thou shalt not covet, and he found out he couldn't control his heart. Maybe you've discovered that true too, that you can do all the external things.

But when it comes to controlling your heart, your mind, your imagination. And so Paul here says, I don't have a righteousness of my own, derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. I can tell you this, that Paul could stand before any Jew on, in his day, and be just in their eyes because of his performance. Before he started following Christ, he could stand before the leaders of Israel, and they would declare him to be righteous by his own acts. The Paul says, I don't want that. I don't want a righteousness based upon my works. I want a righteousness that will cause me to stand before God, the holy and righteous, logiver, and judge.

Why do people oppose this truth? First of all, they oppose this truth because it disregards our status. It disregards our status. The Apostle Paul was a leading man among Israel. He was a leading man in the religion of Israel, the people of God, and yet the Apostle Paul says, my standing among the Jews nothing when it came to my standing before God. If you'll notice in verse 15 what he says, he says, we are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles. What does he mean by that? Well, Jews by nature were natural born Jews who possessed the advantages and privileges of being a descendant of Abraham, a physical descendant of Abraham, who lived under the law and had a righteousness before God based upon that obedience to the law.

The Paul says that even we who are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles, even we must be saved through faith and it is folly to attempt to reestablish Judaism or any other work system based as a basis for Christianity or basis of being made right with God. We are not sinners from among the Gentiles. Here's an attitude that you might think is unique and limited only to these people Paul is talking about but it's not. It's often very common among Christians in certain contexts that we think of people outside of our groups as sinners among those out there. And that was the attitude of the Jews. It was the office of being born being a Jew and Jewish. They were sinners. Hello, Jennifer.

Good to see you. That's the baby we've been praying for. Praise the Lord. We'll look closer afterwards. I'm sorry for that. The Jews were sinners in the eyes of the Gentiles were sinners in the eyes of the Jews. They were outside the covenant. They had no status with God whatsoever but Jews had status because they were physical descendants of Abraham. Some of you grew up in contexts where you were baptized as infants and that brought you into the covenant community in the eyes of those who baptized you and you had a status before God even before you believed in Christ. I don't believe that's biblical. I have good friends who believe that but I don't believe it's biblical. There is no status with God apart from faith in Jesus Christ.

The only status we ever have is through faith in Jesus Christ. The Jews were God's chosen. They were set apart. The Gentiles in the eyes of the Jews were those who God winked at. He winked at their sin. He overlooked their sin but one day he would call them into account. Paul says, but we Jews were not saved. We have been who've rested our faith in Christ. We were not saved by virtue of being Jews. We needed Christ and His work as everyone else. There's no status apart from faith in Jesus Christ and notice this. I'm having a hard time using this thing. It's new and I forgive me for fiddling around. Notice this justification by faith alone puts all people on equal footing before God and that footing is we're all condemned.

That's the message of Romans chapter 1 through 3. We're all condemned. We all stand condemned before God. It doesn't matter who your parents are. It doesn't matter what country you were born in. It doesn't matter what your status before minutes. We all stand condemned before God as descendants of Adam. Every person must come with empty hands to God through faith in Christ. We have nothing to offer God that would cause Him to declare as right before Him. Nothing within ourselves. The second thing that Paul says is that the reason that people attack this doctrine of justification by faith alone not only does it disregard our status but it depreciates our efforts and we love to get credit for our efforts.

I love it, don't you? Don't you like to get credit for your hard effort to earn something, to earn a status, earn a degree, to earn a place, and yet before God this doctrine of justification by faith alone appreciates our own efforts. Notice what he says in verse 16. Nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus in Christ Jesus even we have believed in Christ Jesus. We Hebrews so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law since by the works of the law. No flesh will be justified. Throughout the entire lives of most Jews in the days of Paul in Paul's day they banked on the mosaic law and on the works of the law.

They banked on that as the source from which to obtain righteousness in the eyes of God. What do you look to as the basis of your righteousness before God? Have you ever thought about that? What is it that I am actually relying on? Is it my performance over the last few years? Is it my relationship with certain people or a certain church or a certain group or the things I've done? The way I've lived? Paul says none of that. None of that will gain to a standing before God. He depreciates our efforts. Notice the way this passage reads. Notice there's a trifold repetition here, a threefold repetition. It shows the importance that the apostle gives to the doctrine of justification by faith alone by saying in these three ways.

He first says, notice, nevertheless, knowing that a man, any man, every person, any person, any person is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. The second term is more particular and personal. He says, even we. Even we have believed. Here he's talking about weaned Jews who have rested of faith in Jesus Christ who come to realize that the law will not provide for us our rights of standing before God. And then finally, he says, no flesh will be justified. This is universal. Since by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. The words are literally, quite literally, in the Greek all flesh. No exceptions. There is no person on the face of the earth who's ever been a descendant of Adam who stands before God on the basis of anything else, but faith in Jesus Christ.

It is the only way we can be right with God. Chris Linsky in his commentary on this passage says, the road to righteousness by way of work is triple barred. He wants to drive home to their hearts and he wants God wants to drive home to our hearts that there is no way that we can be made right with God through any other means than faith in Jesus Christ. And so we might ask, what's wrong with the law? Why can't a man be justified by the works of the law? Why won't the law? Why cannot the law be a basis of justification if I keep the law? Why won't that be a basis of my standing before God and being right in the eyes of God? We'll look for just a moment at Romans chapter 3. Look at the way he states it here, the same writer, the Apostle Paul writes, in Romans chapter 3, verse 21, but now, since the coming of Christ, apart from the law, the mosaic law and its condemnation on sinners, the righteousness of God has been manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe, for there is no distinction, for all have sinned and continue to fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by his grace, the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith.

This was to demonstrate his righteousness because in the four barrens of God, he passed over the sins previously committed. And for the demonstration, I say of his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Paul tells us here that justification is of sinners. It's a reason a lot of people never become justified in the eyes of God. They never come to have a right standing with God because they've never come to God in repentance and acknowledgement that they are sinners rebels. Like all of us are who have refused about the need of the authority of Christ, it is a justification of sinners. It's a justification he said by grace, it's a gift, you can't earn it.

It's not based upon your work, it's not based upon your performance, it's not based upon your associations with people. It's not based upon the group that you belong to and it is through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from all works and despite all the merit. If you were to try to establish your righteousness based upon the law, you would have to keep the law perfectly. And God says, no one has kept the law perfectly except my son, the Lord Jesus Christ. No person who's ever lived in the face of this earth has kept the law of God, has loved God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength in their neighbor as theirself. And I could be so bold as to say this past week, there's not a person in this room who has fulfilled those commandments as they ought to be fulfilled.

All of us have fallen short. That's what he means, all have sinned and continue to fall short of the glory of God. But Jesus has fulfilled it. And so we come in faith in Jesus Christ. The third reason that this is such a doctrine that people reject is that it denies a man's or a person's autonomy. It denies my autonomy. It makes us totally and completely dependent. That is the most offensive thing about the gospel to many people. That it denies my autonomy. If judgment day is really coming, if hell is a reality, if no man has an inside track on God, then my best efforts are not going to merit justification before a holy righteous God, then what can I do to prepare for the day of judgment? What can I do to prepare for the day in which I will stand before Almighty God and give an account?

How can I prepare for that day? What can I do if I decide to give myself completely to the task of attaining righteousness before this tribunal of God? If I come to believe that this message that there is a judgment day coming and I'm going to stand before God, then what can I do? You can do nothing but turn to Christ and receive a gift. That's all you can do. It's turn to Christ and receive a gift. It's why we say we have to come with empty hands, open hands to receive a gift that God offers us through Jesus Christ. The basis for the justification of sinners cannot be found in yourself. It has to be found in Christ. It must be sought in Jesus Christ. Faith is the only means by which a man can receive Christ.

That's the emphasis always in the scriptures. That the only way I can receive the righteousness I need before God is through Christ and therefore I must take hold of Christ. See, that's the issue. There is one who is righteous. I just need to take hold of him and I need him to take hold of me. I have to have Christ to stand righteous before God. The basis of justification cannot be found in yourself. Justification can only be found in Jesus Christ. Faith takes hold of Christ so you can be found in Him. That's the biblical language. Take hold of Christ so you can be found in Him. I don't want to be found anywhere else. The Bible says when Jesus Christ comes back and is revealed to this world when their eyes are open and they see Him physically coming back, then they're going to hide in caves.

They're going to pray for the rocks to fall upon them to hide them from the presence of this righteous king. I don't want to be found anywhere else. You can't hide in a cave. You can't hide under a rock. The only place to hide is in Jesus Christ. It's the only place to hide and survive the day of judgment. Faith is the means. It's not the source of justification. It's not that you believe in God's is okay. I'll count that instead of righteousness for your righteousness. No faith is taking hold of Christ. Notice this. Faith begins with knowledge. It's coming to know the truth about Jesus Christ. The only way I can exercise faith in Christ after come to know who He is and what He has done. And so it's based on knowledge.

It's not blind. We're not encouraging blind faith. We're encouraging faith based upon God's revelation of who He is. In Christ Jesus, secondly, faith builds on facts. It's not just speculation. Faith grows becoming to understand God's revelation. The word of God. In third, faith stakes its life on the outcome. So it is not impractical. We are staking our life on the one we believe in. It is a very practical faith because we live in response to the truth that we have come to believe. We walk in line with the gospel. Notice this. Faith is an act of personal commitment to Jesus Christ. That's what faith is. Faith isn't simply believing a set of facts. It is believing facts, but it is taking hold of a person.

It's putting your full trust, personal commitment in a person. It is the ground of justification. It is not the ground of justification, but it is the means of receiving this justification, this righteousness that is in Christ alone. You know, coming to faith in Christ is very much like a married ceremony. When a bride and a groom stand before a preacher and they stand there and they take these vows and they make these promises before Almighty God to be joined together to give themselves to one another, he finally comes to the place where he asks, the man, will you take this woman to be your lawful, wedded wife? And she says, hopefully, I will. And then he turns to the woman, he says, will you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?

And she says, I will. When you rest your faith in Jesus Christ, it is that kind of commitment. It's covenant commitment. It's coming to rest your faith and trust and your future in Jesus Christ. It's coming to believe that you can be made right with God by being in Christ Jesus. And faith is fleeing to Jesus for righteousness. You know, John came preaching. John the Baptist introduced Jesus Christ and his message was flee from the wrath to come. The wrath of God is coming on the world. He says, God's wrath is coming. God's judgment is coming. flee from it. Well, how? Jesus gives the answer in Matthew 11, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, you're talking to people who are tired and weary, they had labor and they were heavy laden trying to accomplish all they needed to accomplish to be right with God.

And he says to them, come unto me and I will give you rest. See, that's his promise that we can come to rest in Christ so that we know we are right with God. It doesn't mean we know that we are perfect, that we are better than the unbeliever who is not believe on Christ. We know where as greatest sinners as they are, but we have come to rest our faith in Jesus Christ. And therefore, we have taken on by the work of the Spirit, his righteousness. And so God, when we flee to Jesus and he receives us because of our faith in Christ, we stand right just before God. In John 424, turn there with me, John 424, look at this. Claim of Jesus Christ, John 4, verse 24, that's not the verse I wanted, I'm sorry, that's the verse I need in theology proper, but that's not the verse I want.

And I wrote it down here in, let me move on. I was on a retreat this weekend, you can tell I'm a little befuddled here. But God has promised us this, that we flee to Jesus. He gives us a right to standing before Almighty God and he removes our guilt. He removes our guilt, which means pardon, remission, it means that my sins are not imputed to me. Wouldn't it be something? Some of you would really be pleased if you went and looked at your permanent record. In fact, you don't know what that term means, but most of you are, my is, never what the permanent record was. Anytime you did something wrong in school, they said, we're going to put this on your permanent record. I don't know where that permanent record is, but somewhere in this world, probably on a computer, now there is my permanent record.

But wouldn't you be surprised if you went and looked at your permanent record and you discovered that there was a huge mistake because all of those sins that you would commit weren't on the record. Wouldn't that be something? If they had not imputed it to your account and then it had a little, it had a little go-to button that you pressed, it went to Jesus record and you look at Jesus record and there were all your sins. Every one of them listed there on his permanent record and then over the top of it was written, paid in full. Wouldn't that be something? Well, that's exactly what the Word of God says. All of your sins have been imputed to him. When Jesus died on the cross, he went to the cross with your sins upon him and he received the wrath of God, the judgment of God for your sins.

But not only that, not only has God imputed your sins to Christ, but God has imputed Christ's righteousness to you. And so when you go back and look at your permanent records and you believe in Christ, you see there the righteousness of Jesus Christ attributed to you. You stand righteous in him and notice this. He receives your guilt, bestows Christ's righteousness and gives a title to all the blessings that are promised to the righteous. When you read the Bible, what does it mean to you to do? Go through the Bible and find out all the promises that have been made to those who are righteous and then realize because of justification all those promises are yours because you are righteous in the eyes of God.

For example, here's just an example, adoption. You've been made a son or a daughter of God. You sit at the table of his fellowship. You're in the inner circle of the fellowship of the dry in God because you're righteous. Because you're righteous, you've been given the promises to those who are righteous. You've been adopted in the family. That's why we call each other brother and sister. It's because we're children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Secondly, you are sealed as God's possession. Ephesians 1 13 says that it is the spirit who seals you as God's possession. He puts God's stamp upon you. When Paul wrote this letter, when the Romans wanted to ship something by sea, they would put a seal upon the boxes that they put those elements in.

Sometimes they would ship weapons, for example. They would put a Roman seal upon that box and it said this is the property of Rome. If you bake this seal, you have to deal with Rome. God says he has put a seal on your life. You belong to him. It is proof positive that you are the property of Jesus. And that seal cannot be broken because that seal, according to Ephesians 1 13, is the holy spirit of God. The third member that triune God had is the seal that is the proof that you belong to God. You are the property of Jesus. You're saved to the bone, as one man said. And you also, as a result of being a righteous person in Christ, you have eternal life now. Now, imagine that. You have eternal life now.

Look at Romans chapter 5, verse 18. Look at these words, that you have eternal life now. Not, we don't wait until we stand in the presence of Christ, although there is going to be a big change in the experience of eternal life is going to be far greater and immeasurable then, but the fact is that we experience it now. So then as through the one transgression, that is Adam's transgression, the resulted condemnation to all men, even so, through the one act of righteousness, there resulted justification of life to all men. That expression, justification of life means that because God has declared you to be righteous before him, that you experience eternal life right now. You are alive to God and God is alive to you.

Jesus said in John 173 that the purpose of eternal life is that you might know God the way Jesus knows God, that you might know the Father the way Jesus knows the Father. The implication of this truth or justification by faith alone in Christ alone is that the Father looks at you and he sees one in his eyes who is as righteous as his own son who has manifested perfect righteousness in our place. Now think about that. There are people that you have to meet this week, some appointments that you have this next week or the next couple of weeks, and some of those appointments are with people that you don't have favor with. We're going to go to the county in just a few days and offer before them our offering, which is a use permit application.

We have no idea what our standing with this county is. We don't know if we're going to have favor or not have favor. I passed by our proper this morning. There was a lady driving around the property taking pictures and she's a lady who's complaining about the fact we've knocked the trees down on our property and she's called the county a half a dozen times. Well, I can tell you now we don't stand right in her eyes. We don't know how we're going to stand before the county. You're going to face people this week. You don't know how you stand before their eyes. Some people you know that you are condemned in their eyes. What you need to understand every day of your life, every day of your Christian life, is that this God that you call upon, the one that you come to through Jesus Christ, you are right in his eyes.

If this doctrine is true, then every person who is fled to Jesus by faith, regardless of what they're going through, regardless of their status, their state in this world, regardless of how faithful they are in their walk at this moment. The fact is God says, you are right with me. Now, I warn you about this. That every person who's truly right with God means that you're a child of God and God disciplines his children. And so if you're right with God, one of the proofs, the right of Hebrew says, is God will chasing you. So there is that side of it. Don't forget that he chastings those who are right with him. He judges those who are not. God loves you. God has accepted you because you have placed your faith in Christ and because you're wrapped up in him.

You have a right to standing. Don't you dare this week, live as though you are not right with him. Don't think or act or speak or reason or imagine as though you're not right with God. Let your imagination control your imagination and your acts and your speech and your decisions as those who have a right standing before Almighty God because that's who you are in Christ. Glorify him. That's why he saved you is so that you could. Let's stand together and pray when we sing one more time. But stand with me. Let's pray. Plus, the God we thank you today, as we come before you, with all of our weaknesses, they're so apparent to us at times. All of our rebellious thoughts and stubbornness and pride and arrogance, pettiness, bitterness at times, so many things would stack up a mile high if you reckon them against us.

And yet we come today as those who have been made right with you through faith in Jesus Christ. We pray that your righteousness would not just be our possession but it would be our practice that we would live as we really are right with you. But I pray that we'd rest in that. I pray for those who are suffering those who are facing great challenges in their life, those who are overwhelmed with their life at this point. I pray that you'd give them great comfort in the fact, the most important fact that they are right with you. I pray you'd help us to live that out in a way that would truly reflect the reality of justification by faith alone in Christ alone. Be glorified in us and through us Father in Jesus' name.

Amen.