Justified in Christ

Well, good morning, everyone.

What is a Christian?

That's really the question that we're unpacking over the course of this series.

It's an important question.

It's an important question for those of us who would say that we are Christian

because it's in fact possible that you have rejected Christianity

on a false assumption of what Christianity actually is about

and what it means to be a Christian.

And so if you are new amongst us today, welcome.

It's a great day to be in church because today we get to the heart of the Christian message today.

What it fundamentally is all about.

And it's crucial because you could sit in church for decades

and not understand what we're unpacking this morning.

You could call yourself a Christian for decades

and not understand what it is that we're unpacking this morning.

The language of the New Testament is that a Christian is someone who is in Christ.

Ash has already said that.

A Christian is someone who's united to Christ in such a way that everything that is Christ,

everything that is his, all that he is, belongs to you, the Christian.

And so today we're discovering how do we get into Christ?

That's the key thing that we're looking at today.

And I've got four points.

Unfortunately, I didn't get it done in time late last night in order to get it on the app.

So you'll just have to take notes or re-watch it later or something or get a copy.

Actually, you've got copies of it in front of you probably.

Okay, first of all, I've got four points.

First one is the need for justification.

Verse 21, Romans 3.

But now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made known.

Now, the word righteousness there is a word that we're not necessarily familiar with in the English language.

We don't kind of talk about it much, really.

It's not something that just flows around.

But the word righteousness in Romans 3, in fact, in the book of Romans,

is the same Greek word as the word justify.

Justify.

Justify.

So to justify your existence, if you like.

And so righteousness is, another way of understanding it,

is a performance record that validates you and removes barriers.

That's what righteousness is.

For instance, it's similar to a resume.

You have a resume, a CV, and it's a record of your employment history,

your accomplishments, your experiences.

And the purpose of a resume is to open doors for me,

to start a conversation, to potentially get a job.

But without the resume, you don't even get the door opened.

It's about the resume is the possibility of finding acceptance, approval,

of being granted something.

An academic record is the same thing.

You want to apply to get into a university, academic record does the same thing.

Without the academic record, you're not going to get the door of university open to you.

Interesting enough, it happens right through all of life.

All the way through life.

Even on a social level, the clothes you wear, the cars we drive,

the suburbs we live in, the holidays we have,

all the things that are an attempt to get into an approval in a particular social group,

or a family, or even in my own sense, that I fit as part of this society.

And all of our records of righteousness in their various degrees are ways of saying,

please approve of me.

Please accept me.

Here is my record.

And everybody is doing it.

Everybody is seeking righteousness, seeking justification,

seeking validation, acceptance, approval.

It's not just a religious thing.

One of the best pictures of this is the,

it's in the epic movie, Chariots of Fire.

It chronicles the rise of two Scottish sprinters up to the 1924 Olympics.

And it was the 100 meter sprint.

One of those sprinters was a guy named Harold Abrahams,

who went on to win the gold medal.

And Abrahams famously said,

I've got 10 lonely seconds to justify my whole existence.

When he was asked, why are you training so hard?

Why are you putting all this effort into the 100?

I've got 10 seconds to justify my whole existence.

He ran in order to prove himself to others that he mattered.

He ran to justify himself,

to know that he was worthy, acceptable.

Another example, Academy Award winning filmmaker Sidney Pollack

famously expressed that making movies was his way of justifying his existence.

Not long before he died, his family was pleading with him.

He was sick.

And they knew he was dying.

They were pleading with him to stop making movies because it's killing you.

The whole process is killing you.

And this is what he said in an interview.

Although the grueling filmmaking process is wearing me down,

I cannot justify my existence if I'm not creating something.

Of course, the great irony of it is,

because he had to keep making movies.

Because he had to keep making movies,

then it clearly wasn't justifying his existence.

It clearly wasn't filling up that thing that was inside of him that needed justification.

We do it in all kinds of different ways.

For instance, if being a parent with good and happy kids is our justification,

then psychologists will tell you that's a sure way of ensuring the kids are not good and they're miserable.

If that's your justification, it will never be your justification.

All self-justification is fragile.

All of it's fragile.

One more movie, just one more gold medal, one more promotion,

the kids being perfect,

or as the late American businessman and the world's very first billionaire,

John D. Rockefeller said,

just one more million and I feel I'm okay.

Just one more million.

You see, the problem is,

deep down,

deep, deep, deep down inside of us,

we all know that we should be better than we are.

And so justifying our existence

for all of us is something that we do,

but for all of us,

it's just, it's out of reach.

One more million,

one more gold medal,

just out of reach.

All of us want a life that counts

and are worthy and are worthy enough

in order to be accepted by others,

approved of.

All of us want that validation.

Every culture and society does exactly the same thing,

even if it looks different

in how we might pursue that validation,

that justification,

that righteousness.

And that's why

every culture

and every religion

thinks it's the same

when it comes to God.

To get in with the divine,

to get in with a God,

requires a spiritual

and a moral resume

of our performance

that says,

please validate me,

please accept me,

please approve of me,

please justify me,

please find me righteous.

And so we develop

our record of righteousness

and hope in the end

that we will be accepted.

And the problem

with self-justification

is that all of us know

that we should be far better

than we are.

Forget about living

according to anyone else's standards.

Forget about living

to the divine standards.

Forget about living

even in obedience

to the Ten Commandments.

Forget about all of that.

None of us even live up

to our own standards.

And that's why

we're constantly pursuing it.

In the chapter before this,

in Romans 3,

Paul writes,

you therefore have no excuse,

you who pass judgment

on someone else,

for at whatever point

you judge another,

you're condemning yourself.

Because you who pass judgment

do the same things.

And so when you,

a mere human being,

pass judgment on them

and yet do the same things,

do you think

that you'll escape

God's judgment?

He's saying there,

there's not a single

human being

who is able to live up

to their own convictions

of what is right and wrong,

let alone to God's.

How can we possibly

justify ourselves,

validate ourselves,

if we can't live up

to even our own standards?

And it's important.

Because the word justification

is a word that belongs

to a law court setting.

Where God is viewed

as the judge

and we are the accused

before him.

And by our own standards,

the evidence is against us.

Just by our own standards.

And so verses 22 to 23

say that all of us

stand accused.

There's no difference

between Jew and Gentile.

In other words,

for all of humanity,

all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God.

What Paul's pointing to here

is that early in Romans,

he's writing that

humanity,

people,

us,

we were made

by God

in his likeness

to bring him glory

and to enjoy his glory.

And sin

is the rejection

of the God

who has made us.

And so we have lost

his glory.

Sin means we can't

be in relationship

with him.

We rebel against him.

We want to live life

without him.

And we,

therefore,

do not enjoy

his approval.

We do not have

a right standing

before him.

We are not justified

before him.

We stand

accused

and condemned

before him.

And earlier

in chapter 3,

we are told

that all of us,

the religious

and the non-religious,

are under sin.

The moral

and the immoral

are under sin.

Our condition

is all the same.

Our legal standing

before God

is not justified.

There is no degrees

of unrighteousness

and justification.

We are all

unrighteous.

And then Paul

writes

these words

in Romans 3.

But now,

for the first

time

ever

and for the

only time

ever,

the righteousness,

the justification

of God

has been made

known.

in other words,

what he's saying

here is,

this is a totally

new approach

to getting in

with God

and it's just

been revealed.

And what has

been revealed

is that the

righteousness of God,

the justification

of God,

the perfect

record,

the validation

of God

has been

revealed.

revealed.

And it puts

an end,

what it does,

it puts

an end

to all

of our

striving

and struggling

for self-validation

because the

righteousness

has been

revealed.

world.

It's a gift.

And here's the

gift.

None of us

can justify

ourselves.

And verse

24 says,

all are

justified

freely

by his

grace

through the

redemption

that came

by Christ

Jesus.

Justified

freely.

Now the

word freely

there

is really

important.

it's

used

in

another

place

in the

New

Testament

in

John

John 15:25

chapter

15

verse 25

when

Jesus

says,

they

hated

me

without

a cause,

without

a reason.

Literally,

they

hated

me

freely.

without

reason,

without

cause.

And the

word freely

means there

in a way

that is

totally,

completely

unwarranted.

It is

something that

is given

or done

for no

reason at

all.

It's

unwarranted.

And here

we

penetrate

into the

core

difference

between

Christianity

and

every

other

world

religion.

We

become,

a

Christian

becomes

acceptable

and

beautiful

before

God

not

by

what

we

bring

but

by

what

Christ

brings.

Not

by what

we

do

but

what

Christ

has

done.

The

glorious

reality

is

expressed

in one

of the

most

significant

verses

in all

the

Bible.

I quote

it

regularly.

For

our

sake

he

made

him

to

be

sin

who

knew

no

sin

so

that

in

him

we

might

become

the

righteousness

of

God.

We

might

come

the

justification

of

God

justified

before

God

right

before

God

perfect

record

before

God

we

might

have

God's

perfect

record

that's

the

righteousness

of

God

Jesus

Christ

had

no

sin

of

his

own

but

at

the

cross

he

took

on

himself

all

of

ours.

Romans

back to

Romans 3

it

unpacks

this

for us

all

are

justified

freely

without

warrant

without

reason

freely

by

his

grace

through

the

redemption

excuse

me

through

the

redemption

that

came

by

Christ

Jesus

God

presented

Christ

as a

sacrifice

of

atonement

through

the

shedding

of

his

blood

as

I

said

justification

is a

legal

term

that's

connected

to the

law

courts

the

word

redemption

here

is a

word

that

is

much

more

uglier

it's

a

word

that's

connected

to the

ancient

slave

market

the

reason

why

humanity

none

of us

can

justify

ourselves

is

because

we're

enslaved

we're

imprisoned

we are

captivated

to a

debt

of

sin

against

God

that

we

can

never

repay

we've

got no

ability

to

repay

got no

ability

to add

things

to our

CV

to our

resume

morally

righteously

before

God

no

ability

and in

Christ

Jesus

freedom

from that

debt

has

come

because

Jesus

paid

for it

all

he

atoned

for it

Romans

3 says

through the

shedding

of his

blood

on the

cross

you see

on the

cross

Jesus

Christ

received

the wrath

of God

for our

sin

and in

doing so

he turned

God's

wrath

away

from us

as I

said a

couple of

weeks ago

the

ground's

been

burnt

there's

no more

you can't

light another

fire there

the wrath

of God

has been

removed

from us

turned

away

you see

God

does not

sit up

there and

go oh

it's

okay I

just

forgive

you all

he does

not set

aside

his

justice

he just

turns it

on himself

on the

cross

it's the

place where

God's

justice and

love are

fully satisfied

and God

imputes to

Christ

Jesus

it's the

great exchange

he imputes

to Christ

Jesus

our

rebellious

record

and Jesus

satisfies the

debt of

that rebellious

record as

God

pours out

his anger

on him

and punishes

him for

our record

and because

Jesus does

that and

fulfills it

completely

God

legally

imputes

Jesus

right record

with God

to us

and so

we are

redeemed

you see

when we

come to

Jesus

we enter

into this

kind of

union

with him

and the

union

in Christ

because of

his justifying

work means

that everything

that naturally

belongs to

Jesus

becomes

ours

at the

cross

everything

that naturally

is ours

becomes

his

and because

he was

successful

at the

cross

in bringing

justification

for humanity

everything that

is his

now becomes

mine

and yours

in Christ

that's what

it means to

be one

with him

the new

testament

language is the

language of the

Christ is our

bridegroom and

we're his

bride

it's the

marriage

the marriage

union

it's what

we say

you know

I do

weddings

in my

gig

and

you know

your bride

and bridegroom

are there

and they

say words

like

with all

that I

am

and all

that I

have

I own

you

it's the

great

exchange

I

did the

same

27

odd

years ago

or something

27 and a

half years

ago

I think

that's

right

yeah

yes

it is

right

in my

case

I was

a student

I had

a student

debt

I owed

my father

in law

$2,000

for our

honeymoon

and I

had

virtually

no money

in the

bank

and I

said to

Nat

all that I

am

and all

that I

have

is yours

you are

now bound

with me

in debt

and that's

what happens

to the

Christian

the infinite

debt is

now his

and he

pays it

you see

the death

and resurrection

of Jesus

is the

marriage

ceremony

for the

Christian

Romans

425

says

Jesus

was

delivered

up

for our

trespasses

and he

was raised

for our

justification

the

resurrection

I don't

know if

you've

thought

about

this

before

but the

resurrection

was the

act

by which

God

said

to

his

son

who

bore

our

sin

you

are

justified

you

are

justified

and

because

the

son

is

justified

Christ

is

justified

the

verdict

verdict

can

never

will

ever

ever

be

reversed

and

when we're

united to

Christ

the same

is true

of us

our

justification

is

participation

in

his

justification

and

so the

newest

Christian

in the

world

is no

less

justified

than the

most

mature

Christian

in the

world

the

saints

who are

currently

in glory

are no

more

justified

than the

most

recent

convert

to

Christ

we

receive

what is

properly

his

and he

receives

what is

properly

ours

and it

is the

fruit of

our

union

we

are

clothed

in

his

righteousness

because

we

are

in

him

justification

when we

read

we're

justified

in

Christ

Christians

have a

tendency

to go

that

means

I'm

forgiven

that's

what the

word

justification

means

justification

is not

less than

forgiveness

but it's

so much

more than

forgiveness

forgiveness

says

it's a

negative

term

forgiveness

it says

you are

you are

free

to go

there's no

more debt

to pay

you're free

to go

that's what

forgiveness

is

justification

says

come

come

you are

welcome

to

all

that is

mine

all of

my love

all of

my presence

everything

that is

mine

is yours

that's

justification

so how

do we

receive it

verse

22

25

26

it's

all

by

faith

we receive

it by

faith

a person

is justified

approved

by God

validated

in right

standing

with God

by faith

in Jesus

Christ

now

we need

to be

careful

here

because

there is

a bunch

of common

mistakes

with this

and

they're

subtle

subtle

mistakes

it is

so

often

that we

think

that the

faith

I have

it is

what the

thing

that

justifies

me

it's

my

faith

that

justifies

me

and

if I

think

it is

my

faith

that

saves

me

and

justifies

me

what

happens

is

I

stop

looking

to

Jesus

and

his

work

of

justification

and

I

start

looking

to

my

faith

in

Jesus

and

so

every

time

there's

a

failure

a sin

every

time

I'm

not

able

to

fulfill

the

Christian

life

it

crushes

me

every

time

there's

a

doubt

that

comes

in

I'm

stumble

when

I

don't

feel

right

with

God

I

stumble

when

I'm

not

excited

as I

once

was

in

the

presence

of

Christ

I

stumble

and

that's

because

I'm

trusting

in

my

faith

and

faith

has

become

a

work

so

imagine

someone

asked

you

this

question

if

there

is

a

heaven

how

do

I

get

into

heaven

here's

three

different

responses

that are

common

depending

on

your

answer

if

you

answer

well

what

you

need

to

do

is

try

your

best

at

being

a

good

Christian

in

other

words

self

justification

self

validation

my

own

record

of

righteousness

that

is

salvation

by

works

it's

salvation

by

my

effort

it

is

self

!

justification

!

you

will

what

you

need

to

believe

in

God

and

do

his

will

do

what

he

says

obey

him

in

life

be

obedient

to

him

in

life

follow

him

in

life

if

that

is

your

answer

then

it's

a

combination

of

salvation

by

self

justification

and

salvation

by

faith

if

you

answer

well

I

believe

in

God

with

all

of

my

heart

that's

how

I

get

in

that

is

salvation

by

faith

as

a

work

that

is

salvation

by

faith

as

a

work

that

is

you

are

trusting

in

your

trust

and

all

of

these

false

understandings

of

saving

faith

will

lead

to

insecurity

anxiety

lack

of

confidence

pride

devastation

when

you

morally

fail

and

both

the

religious

person

and

the

irreligious

person

at

this

point

can

be

just

as

lost

in

their

self

justification

just

as

lost

and

it

is

possible

to

sit

in

church

for

years

and

years

and

years

and

years

and

still

not

know

what

it

is

to

be

justified

in

Christ

to

sing

the

songs

we

just

sung

and

then

to

leave

here

to

work

for

your

justification

within

a

Christian

framework

you

might

know

for

instance

that

when

you

confess

your

sin

God

is

forgiving

because

Jesus

died

on the

cross

for

you

you

might

be

confident

of

that

you

might

know

that

and

once

you

confess

your

sin

you

recommit

yourself

to

now

really

really

living

for

him

I

gonna

I'm

just

gonna

live

for him

again

and

I'm

not

gonna

do

that

again

and

then

it

happens

again

you

confess

your

sin

and

then

I'm

gonna

live

for

him

again

and

it

happens

again

and

again

and

again

and

again

and

again

and

again

what

it

means

to

be

a

Christian

is

not

to

just

repent

of

your

sins

but

it

is

to

repent

of

your

false

righteousness

your

false

justification

that's

what

it

means

to

be

a

Christian

saving

faith

is

simply

the

attitude

of

coming

to

God

with

empty

hands

that's

saving

faith

coming

to

God

with

empty

hands

and

what

saving

faith

is

it's

the

end

of

one

kind

of

faith

and

it's

the

beginning

of

a

brand

new

faith

a

Christian

is

someone

who

stops

working

at

their

justification

and

they

trust

God's

gift

of

justification

in

Jesus

saving

faith

is

a

transfer

of

trust

and

it's

a

trust

in

God's

promise

to

save

this

matters

so

how

do

we

experience

justification

it

doesn't

mean

to

live

this

Christian

life

if

you

like

being

justified

in

Christ

August

2013

there

was

a

Nigerian

newspaper

that

it

released

the

story

I'm

not

in

the

habit

of

reading

Nigerian

newspapers

but

this

was

a

really

interesting

story

and

really

what it

is

it's

an

illustration

of

what

so

many

Christians

do

how

many

so

many

Christians

live

the

story

was

an

inmate

it

said

that

he

caused

a bit

of a

disturbance

in

a

law

court

the

judge

acquitted

him

of his

crimes

and

set

him

free

and

all

the

charges

against

him

were

dropped

and

in

that

moment

he

walked

at

the

end

he

walked

back

to

the

prison

van

and

at

the

prison

van

about

to

hop in

the

prison

guard

said

what

are you

doing

you're

free

to

go

I

don't

want

to

I

don't

want

to

go

and

instead

of

the

normal

jubilation

and

happiness

he

got

really

annoyed

and

then

a

ruckus

started

it

took

six

prison

guards

police

officers

and

court

officials

to

literally

subdue

the

guy

and

throw

him

out

of

the

court

and

then

he

turned

up

the

prison

knocking

on

the

door

let

me

back

in

and

that's

a

picture

of

so

many

of

us

we

are

free

in

Christ

and

yet

we

find

so

many

subtle

ways

of

returning

to

the

prison

of

self

established

standing

before

God

in