Justified

Let me pray for us.

Our Father and our Lord, we thank you that we can come and open your word.

And we ask, Lord, that by your spirit you will speak to each and every one of us.

Father, might you show us things that we might already know,

but might you illumine it and make it new and fresh for each of us.

We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Okay, well, Elsa Piper is an Australian writer.

And she was intrigued by the concept of individuals being made right with God

by walking the Pilgrim's Walk in Spain.

Walking 1,200 kilometres is all it takes.

Every time you pass through a village, you get a stamp to say that you've walked through.

And when you get to the end, voila, your sins are forgiven.

And you are classed as righteous before God.

Now, this story intrigued me.

It's a book that I heard about and read with great enthusiasm.

Here is a woman who didn't know if there was a God.

Well, she wasn't certain what constitutes a sin, if in fact there were such things as sins.

And if there were such things as sins, she wasn't absolutely sure that there was a God

who was going to do something about removing those sins.

But nonetheless, Elsa blogged and she said on her blog that she was happy to carry the sins of other people

and she would do the walk for them.

She'd walk the 1,200 kilometres.

And in that, they would have their sins removed from them.

Now, many people contacted her.

They confessed their sins to her.

Some of them confessed.

It was the very first time that they'd ever confessed their secret sins to another person.

And so she promised that she would walk the pilgrim's walk.

But interestingly enough, in the book, she never felt the need to confess her own sins.

It was actually carrying other people's, which I found quite fascinating.

And so she decided to do that.

But to do justice to the fact that she was carrying the sins of other people,

she decided that what she would do is read the page of sins or pages of sins every day.

Just in case there was a God, and if there was a God, that he would, in fact, deal with those sins

and see that she was dealing with them in an appropriate way, and hence God would then forgive the people.

Now, the intended result would be owners would be released of the sins.

And let me say, it's an exercise that is not new.

It has happened for many, many years with the Catholic Church, and it's called Buying Indulgences.

Now, it's nothing new that people believe that they have to do something for God to see them as righteous,

without sin, and therefore just as if they had never committed any sins at all.

Am I knocking all the time?

What is it exactly?

My earring, maybe?

So sorry, folks.

Just remind me I only have one earring on later.

Now, as many of you know, you know, sort of over the years, I've loved talking to people about Jesus.

And it's easy sometimes to understand where a person is at in their relationship to Jesus by asking a couple of questions.

Now, I'm not being judgmental of the people when I say this,

but if I asked a hypothetical question of why would God let you into his heaven,

then often the answer will be, I haven't murdered anybody.

I have kept the Ten Commandments.

I'm a nice guy and I do good deeds.

That would be the very, very common answer that people would give me.

And so then they would think that they could actually enter into heaven.

But like the author walking the pilgrim's trail in Spain,

and many others walking the trail, I might add,

there was even, Vanda reminded me today, we've seen a movie of this same thing,

walking the trail called The Way.

A very fascinating movie for anybody who wants to see it.

But there are many, many people who feel that doing good things,

being a good person, a nice person, will earn their way to God.

That is nothing new.

Now, when we look at Romans up to this point,

Paul's focus has been on the power of the gospel for all people who are locked in their sin,

and they are under sentence of God's wrath.

Sam preached about that a couple of weeks ago.

And we learned that through the preaching of the gospel,

God invites all people, Jew and Gentile alike,

to believe in Christ and enter into this new relationship with him.

And chapters 5 and 8, where we get to 5 now,

chapters 5 and 8 is where we see Paul tie it all together,

righteousness by faith with a future hope.

That's sort of the umbrella between 5 to 8 in Romans.

Now, in these 11 verses of chapter 5,

our attention is turning not to only the blessings that come from those who are in Christ,

but also these verses give us a picture of what it looks like to be one of Christ's people.

Verse 1 tells us we have been justified through faith.

The word here is a legal word,

and it's meaning that our debt has been cleared.

So that when we respond to the gospel in faith,

God declares us innocent,

and our relationship with him begins straight away.

It's as if we had not sinned.

Now, in Jewish theology, justification and its opposite, condemnation,

they were verdicts that would be delivered, they believed,

only on the day of judgment,

not something that one could experience now.

Don't get me wrong, though.

The day of judgment will actually occur.

Romans tells us that very clearly.

But being justified, Paul is saying,

is both now and it's in the future.

And now but not yet, as we say.

And Paul is asserting that God is justifying us.

He has already pronounced his verdict over us in doing so.

It neither can be rescinded, and it cannot be changed.

True, we still need to face God

and have our case disposed of on judgment day.

But we can face that day with utter confidence.

Since God in Christ has already decided our case in our favor,

justification releases us from any uncertainty or fear about that judgment.

We're justified through faith.

That is a radical thought.

Contemporary Judaism believed that a man was right with God

based on the works of the law.

Just like the pilgrim walking in Spain,

the thought was and continues to be

that people instinctively think that salvation

depends on human goodness and self-effort.

Look with me at Romans 3.20.

Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in his sight

by observing the law.

Rather, through the law, we become conscious of sin.

Verses 23.24.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

and are justified by his grace

through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

28 says,

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith

apart from observing the law.

And of course, Ephesians 2.8.

For it is by grace alone you have been saved through faith.

And this is not by works so that no one can boast.

Now, don't you find scripture absolutely amazing?

Because just in case you think that being saved

has anything to do with about how faithful you are,

how many people you might financially support,

how kind you might be to everyone around you,

how many ministries you might get involved in,

be they here at church or elsewhere,

being saved has nothing to do with anything

that you have done or will do

so that you can't boast.

How God understands us so clearly

that we innately would want to take some credit.

But clearly we're told that it's not about us

and that we can't boast.

I find scripture quite fascinating

with things so clear as that,

to know what we are like as people,

that we would want to actually take that credit.

But righteousness comes from God,

depends on his grace.

Arising from faith, not works,

is a great surprise.

And because God has declared those who have faith in him

to be right with him,

we therefore have peace.

Now, we all want peace.

People want to be at peace with themselves

and they want to rest in peace.

World peace is called for,

mainly in pageants, I feel,

and in Miss Congeniality.

Poems are written, songs are sung,

and, you know, sort of,

we know that that's what people call for.

We pray for peace.

Yet no ultimate peace is possible

for those who are searching for it

without coming to terms with God first.

Peace here has two aspects.

First is the peace of God.

And in a sense of security and serenity

that wells up in our hearts

when we appreciate the blessings that we enjoy in Christ.

We read in the verse in Philippians 4-7,

and we often say it in church here

at the end of our services,

and the peace of God,

which transcends all understanding,

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

But it's the second aspect

that Paul is referring to in verse 1,

which is peace with God.

The position we find ourselves in

because God has ceased to be hostile toward us

and has reconciled us to himself.

Verse 10 says,

For if, when we were God's enemies,

we were reconciled to him

through the death of his son,

how much more, having been reconciled,

shall we be saved through his life?

There existed a state of war

between God and ourselves

before any of us were made right before him.

That is, we were enemies of God.

We distrusted God and we resented God.

But now, for those who believe,

there is a peace,

but not a passive peace,

a mere absence of conflict,

but positive, harmonious,

and loving relationships with God

that he himself has initiated

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ephesians 2.14 tells us that Christ himself

is our peace.

And because we can have peace with God,

we can then enjoy the peace of God

that passes all understanding.

But the blessings of being justified with God

continue beyond peace.

We also have access to God

through faith into his grace.

This grace reminds us

that God intervenes on our behalf

of his rebellious creation

out of his own free will

and without obligation.

We not only get into relationship

with God by grace,

but we live out that relationship

day by day by day by God's grace.

The daily provision that we enjoy

comes not from our hard work,

but from God,

who has chosen in his grace to bless us.

So whatever good that we might accomplish

each day

comes because God has graciously worked through us.

We stand in grace,

as our verse tells us.

And we rejoice in the hope

of the glory of God.

We read that this hope

will not disappoint us,

meaning that we will not be disappointed

or ashamed on the day of judgment.

Our claim that God will rescue us

from God's wrath

will someday be vindicated.

God will do what he has promised to do.

How can we be sure?

Well, Paul gives us two basic reasons.

One is that God's love for us in Christ

and the second one is God's work for us in Christ.

God does not hold back his love to us

in any way whatsoever.

He pours out his love

into our hearts by his spirit

and the Holy Spirit

communicates God's love to us.

Verse 8 says,

but God demonstrates his own love for us

in that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.

The emphasis in this verse

is on the fact that we were still sinners

when Christ died for us.

You see, the wonder isn't that Christ should die for us,

but that he should do so

while we were powerless,

while we were ungodly,

while we were rebellious sinners,

while we were enemies of God.

He didn't die for his friends.

He died for his enemies.

He died for those who crucified him

and he died for you and for me.

So we have a hope

because of God's love for us,

but also because of God's work for us in Christ.

Since we have now been justified by his blood,

how much more shall we be saved

from God's wrath through him?

For if when we were God's enemies,

we were reconciled to him

through the death of his son,

how much more, having been reconciled,

shall we be saved through his life?

Not only is this so,

but we also rejoice in God

through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have received reconciliation.

We are to rejoice in the hope of Jesus,

but we're also to rejoice in our suffering.

In verse 3, it says,

not only so,

but we also rejoice in our sufferings

because we know that suffering produces perseverance,

perseverance produces character,

character produces hope.

And hope does not disappoint us

because God has poured out his love

into our hearts by the Holy Spirit

whom he has given us.

Boy, oh boy,

how many times have I wished

that verses talking about suffering

did not exist in the Bible.

At first glance,

there seems to be a contradiction.

We've seen that peace is given in Christ Jesus

and now we see that suffering is expected

and what's more,

we're to rejoice in it.

Let me say straight up,

these verses and the others in the Bible

that talk about suffering

are not saying that we must be happy

with our suffering.

No, it's about a joy and a confidence

in Jesus Christ

and a knowing that God is sovereign

in all things

and is working out his purposes.

Now, I have experienced

a great deal of personal suffering,

which I can't go into at this moment in time,

but one day I will share my testimony,

which is really our whole family's testimony.

And really,

suffering still continues day by day

in various ways.

But I knew this week

when I was preparing this

that I needed

to preach these words to myself

over and over and over again

before I had the right

to stand up in front of you

and to encourage you

to persevere in any suffering

that you might be going through.

I actually had to own these words

and believe the truths

of these words myself.

Sufferings are not an end

in themselves,

for they nurture

something inside of us.

They nurture a peace

and a patience.

As active people,

we want to change things.

And especially,

we'd like to change

the unpleasant circumstances.

So this patience and endurance

does not come easy

for any person.

The word that Paul uses here

comes from the world

of the blacksmith,

where it was used

for hammering

of the red-hot horseshoe

or plough

where they are shaping it

and testing it

on the anvil.

This shaping

and testing

engenders hope

that is the hope

of the glory of God.

Where do I go

when I suffer?

I go to the cross of Jesus

and hope

that,

and the hope

that comes in knowing

that I have a saviour

who in verse 6

tells me

he died

for the ungodly.

That is you and me.

It is God's

unconditional love

and his solution

that I cling to.

And when I go

to the cross,

it is God

who is glorified

because of Jesus.

To turn to Jesus

and the cross

is a choice

of each and every one of us

when we have suffering

in our lives

and also

just in the everyday,

day-to-day living.

But we're not alone.

That verse tells us

that we have

the Holy Spirit

who will guide us

and direct us.

Now,

I don't know

if you fully appreciate

the work

of the Holy Spirit,

but let me assure you

without the Holy Spirit

in our lives,

we would be

totally on our own

and unable

to do any of this.

And any time

that we're in a place

of suffering,

we need to turn

to the hope

that is Jesus Christ,

knowing that we are

being moulded

and shaped

into the person

that God

intended us to be.

After one endures

many difficulties,

there's a strength

of character

that develops

that was not present

previously.

Such testing,

such tested character,

in turn,

generates hope.

And why does it

produce hope?

Because moral transformation

is evidence.

That change in us

as people,

it's evidence

that one is really

being changed

by God.

And so,

therefore,

assures us

that there is

the hope

of a future glory,

that it's not

an illusion,

that we haven't

made it up.

Because we know

that we cannot

change ourselves

by ourselves.

Friends,

any time we're

tempted to doubt

God's love for us,

we need to go back

to the cross

as we constantly

say here at St. Paul's.

If you struggle

to believe

that God loves you,

think about this.

If God loved you

enough to give you

his son

to die for you

when you were

his enemy,

surely

he loves you

enough

to care for you

now that you

are his child.

Having given

such a priceless

gift as his son,

he will most

definitely

give everything

else

that is consistent

with his glory

and what is good

for you.

we've been

given

everything

in Jesus.

We are

justified

and the blessings

come

with being

made righteous.

We have

peace with God.

We have

access by faith

to the very

presence

of God

himself.

We have

a grace

and a hope

in a glorious

future

with the

King

of Kings.

friends,

we can walk

away from

here

tonight

from this

message

with head

knowledge

of all

that these

verses

have given

us

and still

not

appropriate

it

to our

lives.

Not apply

what this

actually means

and not live

it out.

Do not be

fooled into

thinking

that knowing

with your

head what

the gospel

is,

is going

to save

you.

but engage

your heart

and with

great

thankfulness

that brings

you to

your knees

in humility

knowing that

all that

the gospel

gives,

you do not

deserve one

iota of it

and yet

it is there

for the

taking.

Our passage

today is a

renewed

invitation

to take

advantage

of all

the blessings

all the

privileges

of being

a child

of the

king.

Cling

to Jesus

as i will

rejoice

in the

hope

that is

for all

those who

believe

and you

will know

the joy

and the

peace

that comes

from

only

from the

one who

saves

the one

who counts

you

as

righteous

before a

holy

God.

Amen.