Justification & Peace

Well, do you think forgiveness is important and good?

Sounds like a pretty obvious question.

I know it's probably not gripping you yet,

but perhaps your mind is already starting to work out

when forgiveness isn't good.

Like, is there a frequency limit?

They have done the same thing again.

I can't forgive.

Or is there a severity limit?

They've caused me way too much pain.

They don't deserve forgiveness.

Or are there other conditions?

Like forgiveness is given for as long as the relationship is going well,

but if it's starting to break down, you can call in past hurts

and bring them to the surface again.

Or when has forgiveness actually occurred?

When you no longer engage in the fight,

but you still decide to avoid that person for the rest of your life?

Or when trust and intimacy and affection even starts to be rebuilt?

Well, what do people even mean by the idea of forgiveness?

Roughly speaking, everyone has some idea that forgiveness is no longer seeking justice

or revenge on the person who has wronged you.

But is forgiveness something that can only happen between two people

where forgiveness is offered and received,

or is forgiveness something that can happen just in your own mind?

I think it's more common to hear today that forgiveness is something you can do by yourself in your own mind.

The top Google result, I know that doesn't bring much authority with it,

top Google result.

But then again, people do go to Google for direction in life, don't they?

What is forgiveness?

Forgiveness, it goes to a health organisation and it says, among other things, says this,

forgiveness can help free you from the control of the person who harms you.

Do you see the motivation there?

It's to free you from the control.

It goes on to say, and I agree with this bit,

forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting or excusing the harm done.

I definitely agree with that.

I don't agree with this next bit.

Forgiveness doesn't mean making up with the person who caused the harm.

Forgiveness brings a kind of peace,

talking about your peace, inner peace,

that helps you get on with life.

That's a common view of forgiveness these days.

Or do you wish I stopped asking these questions?

Are you sick of these questions?

This simple topic of forgiveness is starting to unravel.

People have so many different ideas of what it means

and so many different ways of practising it.

When people say all is forgiven, how forgiven is that?

What do they mean?

It's really hard to know.

And I realise, I'm skimming, I'm just bypassing so many other aspects

that we're not looking at today.

Like the difference between genuinely forgiving but still requiring real consequences for actions.

We're not going to touch on that.

Or the need to rebuild trust over time.

Or the fact that sometimes you can have the desire to forgive in your heart,

but the person has passed away or they are unwilling to talk to you.

So there's a difference there as well, an attitude of forgiveness.

Just leaving all that to the side.

The main thing I want to focus on today,

and the point of this whole series of key words of salvation,

what we need to get straight today in our mind is,

what does God mean by forgiveness?

When he says all is forgiven, what does God mean by that?

When people say it, it's really hard to know.

But what does God mean by that?

That is, we need to know what he means.

How forgiven is that?

So we're up to the third of four sermons in this series on salvation.

We've looked at the problem in the first week,

sin, that all of us do evil things and evil words come out of our mouths.

And the Bible says that's because our heart has a problem.

We look for life outside of God.

It's called idolatry.

We look for other things to give us life.

Fundamental to all that is we think we can rule our lives better than God can.

We can play God.

So our heart problem, which expresses itself in evil behaviour,

it deserves God's judgement and his anger, his eternal wrath.

That's the problem.

But last week we saw the solution.

Redemption, what God has done.

Like a prisoner of war, captive in our sin.

He has bought our freedom.

If God wants us back home, he had to pay the price.

And he did.

The blood of his son.

We are not captive anymore.

We are now at home.

Restored relationship to God.

Today we're looking at the result of that redemption.

What is the result?

And the Bible terms for that is justification and peace.

So when God says all is forgiven, how forgiven is that?

So let's get into this word justification.

And you're going to notice that this series in Colossians really is just a launching point.

I'm spending our time in Romans today looking at, but the idea is there in Colossians.

I think it says it just a little bit clearer in Romans.

So justification.

It's a legal picture.

We looked at redemption last week.

Redemption pictures our captivity as slaves to sin being set free at a price.

Whereas justification, it pictures the final day of judgment.

When each of us, we're told, have to give an account for our lives.

We're in the cosmic courtroom at the end of our lives with God presiding on the bench.

And Jesus says that we're going to have to give an account for our whole lives,

even every careless word that comes out of our mouth, even the ones in secret.

Our whole lives.

I remember this one time when I was a youth, I made the whole youth group laugh.

I said this joke and I made the whole youth group laugh.

And I was enjoying my joke, all the laughter.

But then my eyes locked onto one person whose look on his face just cut me.

I knew that that word was really disparaging of another person.

Everyone else was laughing.

One person just goes, oof.

I still remember it.

For some reason, it's stuck with me.

I'm not going to tell you what that word was.

I've got you all curious now.

And whenever I make these comments, my parents call me up every week,

what were you referring to?

You don't need to know right now.

You'll find out on the day of judgment.

You'll hear it then.

Every careless word.

I've got a lot of careless words.

So picture the courtroom.

All the evidence brought in.

All of it.

And there's only two verdicts.

Guilty.

Righteous.

Depart from me forever.

Come, enter your master's joy.

Now, the reason we need to...

I'm not sure if you find that picture impersonal of God.

But despite the fact that the Bible talks a lot about justification,

the reason we need to understand this image is because of who God is at heart,

who he is in his character.

Because God is completely righteous.

He is just.

God is so reliable.

He only ever acts according to what is right.

Unlike anyone else you know, you can count on God to be totally just.

And hopefully you're starting to feel the problem that that's a terrifying prospect.

If you think of God and the question in your mind is,

how can a loving God not forgive me?

That is a wrong starting point for thinking about God.

You've got to start with who he is, his justice.

How can a good, just God forgive me?

That's the right question.

How can the God who said in Proverbs 17, 15,

he who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous

are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

How can the God who said that in his courtroom declare me,

a guilty person, righteous, forgiven?

If the problem hasn't been clear enough,

I'm going to use the imagery from the prophet Micah.

Listen to what Micah says.

Hear what the Lord says.

Arise.

Picture that courtroom.

Arise.

Plead your case before the mountains,

the mountains that were there since the beginning,

so they've observed it all.

Let the hills hear your voice.

Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord

and you enduring foundations of the earth,

for the Lord has an indictment against his people.

And then Micah responds a few paragraphs later.

With what shall I come before the Lord

and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

If God is to forgive you,

if he is to acquit you of all guilt,

he has to do it in a righteous way.

He's got to do it in a just way because that's who he is.

And that's the good news of Romans 3,

of all of Scripture,

but Romans 3 just says it so succinctly and clearly,

unlike me.

But can you turn to Romans 3,

if you're following in your Bibles?

I know I've had two passages previous weeks

and you're probably not sure where I'm going,

so today we're sticking in Romans 3,

from verse 21.

Just before we read some of these verses,

how would you feel if you met King David,

who lived a thousand years before Christ?

Israel's greatest king.

How would you feel in his presence,

as you go to shake King David's hand?

Would you just be like shaking

because you're in the presence of this great man?

Or would you even shake his hand?

This man who took Bathsheba in his lust

and then plotted the murder of Uriah,

could you shake his hand?

I don't know,

does it matter how remorseful he was?

How could a just God say to King David,

and he did,

through the prophet Nathan,

the Lord has put away your sin.

You shall not die.

How can a just God say that?

That's scandalous.

Romans 3 tells us how.

Romans 3,

I'm going to start reading from verse 23.

For all have sinned

and fall short of the glory of God

and are justified,

declared righteous,

by his grace as a gift,

through the redemption

that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forward

as a propitiation by his blood

to be received by faith.

This was to show God's righteousness

because in his divine forbearance,

forbearance he had passed over former sins.

It was to show his righteousness

at the present time

so that he might be just

and the justifier

of the one who has faith in Jesus.

God put away David's sin,

not by sweeping it under the rug,

but by placing his sin on his son

who paid the penalty.

So many religions claim

to provide a way to be forgiven,

whether it's praying to ancestral spirits,

ceremonial washings in water,

building shrines to Buddha,

a pilgrimage to Mecca,

going again and again and again

to a human priest

and eating the mass

to pay for your sins,

or as secular Australians say,

to forgive yourself.

The question is,

do any of these

claims of forgiveness,

do they deal with it justly?

Is the penalty actually paid?

It's not.

None of these ways

clear the conscience.

They don't work.

And there's a reason it doesn't work,

because they don't deal with sin

in a just way.

When God says all is forgiven,

the sins are actually dealt with.

They're actually paid for.

Not by you,

but by his son.

Only in Jesus

is all your sin forgiven.

Now, I've got the privilege

in a few weeks

to preside over the marriage

of Zach and Caitlin.

You're probably nervous

now that I'm putting

the spotlight on you.

Now,

during the marriage ceremony,

when it's done legally

and righteously,

in the eyes of the state

and more importantly,

in the eyes of God,

now I've got the privilege

of making this

very profound statement.

I pronounce you

husband and wife.

That doesn't count.

All right?

It's not yet.

Not yet.

All right?

Now,

people are so focused

on the next bit.

You can kiss the bride,

and I'm sure, Zach,

it's going to be kissing

for the first time, right?

Everyone's waiting

for that moment.

But more profound

is that statement.

And I get to say it.

I pronounce you

husband and wife.

Before I say that,

Zach is Zach,

Caitlin is Caitlin.

But in saying those words,

the very words,

changes your reality.

You are now one flesh

because of those words,

that declaration.

You're not individuals anymore.

You're one flesh.

That pronouncement

changes you.

Do you hear what

Romans 3 is saying?

That future verdict,

righteous or guilty,

that declaration of righteous

is now in the past.

The declaration changes you.

You are righteous.

You are completely changed

at that point

through this pronouncement

that has occurred

when Jesus rose

from the dead.

You are righteous.

All your sin

has been transferred

to Jesus.

He paid the penalty.

All his righteousness,

the life of obedience,

is transferred

to your account.

When God looks at you,

he sees Jesus.

Righteous.

The verdict of the future

is already in the past.

It's done.

When God says,

justify it,

all is forgiven,

he means it.

Unlike everyone else,

he means it.

Today apparently

is the anniversary

of Martin Luther,

the father of the,

is he the father

of Protestant?

I should probably know

that as a pastor.

Anyway,

he nailed the 95 theses

on that door.

This is the anniversary,

but for those

who don't know

the story of Luther,

Martin Luther,

he was a Catholic monk

before that.

And he annoyed

his superiors

because he would just

be in the confessional

for hours.

His superiors are like,

you're confessing piccadillos.

I don't know,

it's an old-fashioned term,

but he was so burdened

by his sin

that every day

he would be spending

hours confessing

every single sin.

He was so tormented

by this idea

of a just God.

Here's how he put it.

I had hoped

I might find

peace of conscience

with the fast,

going without food,

and the prayer

and the vigils

with which I miserably

afflicted my body.

But the more

I sweated it out

like this,

the less peace

and tranquility

I knew.

And it was this passage,

Roman 3,

that changed everything

and opened his eyes.

This is how he put it,

his famous paragraph.

Thereupon,

I felt myself

to be reborn

and have gone through

open doors

into paradise.

Now the whole of Scripture

took on a new meaning

and whereas before

the justice of God

had filled me with hate,

now it became to me

inexpressibly sweet

in greater love.

This passage of Paul

became to me

as a gate

into paradise.

Because before

he was trying to earn

his righteousness

righteousness

and now

he understood

it's a gift.

It's a gate

of paradise.

But this gift

of being declared

righteous,

it's not automatically

applied to everyone.

It's only for those

with faith

and not just any

religious faith

but a very specific faith

as verse 26 says.

God is just

and the justifier

of the one

who has faith

in Jesus.

Now

this faith,

it doesn't,

faith isn't just

a lowering of the bar.

He tried,

it's not as if

God tried the law

with Israel

and they just

failed at the law

because,

okay,

at least

try a bit,

try and have some faith.

That's not what's

happening here.

Faith is not

a merit.

It's not

saying you do.

It's a receiving thing.

Even our faith

is a gift.

And Romans chapter 4

Romans 4 · chapter mention

clearly demonstrates

this with the life

of Abraham

that God

is always,

not just post-Christ

but always

since Abraham

has counted

a person righteous

not based on

what they do

but on their faith

in God's promise.

So in chapter 4

of Romans

he quotes

Genesis 15, 6

Abraham believed God

and it was counted

to him

as righteousness.

It's always been

by faith.

So what is faith?

Faith is taking

God at his word

despite all

the evidence

that makes it

seem impossible.

It's taking

God at his word

and we see this

in the life

of Abraham

in chapter 4.

We see it

described

from verse 17

onwards.

Paul is saying

picture Abraham.

What was going on

in Genesis 15?

What was happening

in the life

of Abraham?

Well Abraham

was about

100 years old.

His wife

in the 90s

never had a child.

They had no

heir

to inherit

their name,

to inherit

all the promises

God had given

that he would be

a blessing

to the whole world

and the land

and all the promises.

They had no heir

to keep going

in those promises.

Now that must have

been incredibly painful,

just a hopeless

situation.

How would they

have a child?

But,

verse 17,

Abraham knew

who God was.

He's the God

who gives life

to the dead

and calls

into existence

the things

that do not

exist.

So when God

showed Abraham

all the stars

in the sky

and said,

so shall

your offspring be.

I love this

phrase in here,

in verse 18,

in hope

he believed

against hope.

What a beautiful

description of faith.

In hope

in what God

promised to do,

he believed

against hope

in anything

he could do.

That's the

description of faith.

It seems impossible.

He looked at

all the evidence.

There is no way

we can have an heir.

But God said,

so shall it be.

And he took him

at his word.

That's faith.

And it's God's word

that creates

the faith.

I'm not going

to add to that.

If you want to

know what I mean,

come talk to me

later.

Now,

as you weigh up

the evidence

of your life,

think of all,

think of your life

and whether you'll

be counted

righteous or not.

Look at,

let's bring all

the evidence in.

All your regret,

those big sins

that you just

can't forget,

all the

half-hearted

worship,

all the lack

of compassion

for people,

all the inconsistency

of your zeal

for living for Christ,

all the feelings

of guilt and shame,

even how weak

you feel your faith is.

It feels like

a flame that is

flickering,

barely burning

sometimes.

All that evidence

says impossible

for you to be

forgiven.

But God says

justified.

Faith is to

take God

at his word.

In hope,

believe against

hope.

It's not the

strength of your

faith that matters.

It's the strength

of the one you

have faith in.

That's everything.

Now,

I think I'm

borrowing from

Carson here

this next

thought experiment

to describe

that it's

all the

faith of the

one.

It's not

about how

strong your

faith is.

So imagine

in Egypt

in the

Passover,

they hear

through Moses

that God

is going to

come and

kill the

firstborn

throughout

Egypt.

And two

neighbouring

Israelite

families hear

this message

and they hear

the message

that you need

to sacrifice

a spotless

lamb and

paint the

doorway of

your house

in its

blood.

Now,

one father

is just

full of joy

and sacrifices

the lamb

in thanksgiving

to God

and paints

the doorway

and sits

down and

enjoys the

meal at

ease with

the family

knowing that

God will

keep his

word and

goes to

sleep knowing

that they

can trust

that God

will do

what he

promises.

He can

look into

the eyes

of his

ten-year-old

son and

go,

I'll see

you in

the morning.

But then

next door

another

father is

just full

of dread.

Maybe his

own guilt

is coming

up and

he does

do the

sacrifice

of the

lamb.

He paints

the doorway

but he

cannot

eat.

He cannot

sleep.

He looks

at his

ten-year-old

son and

he's just

watching the

chest going

up and

down.

Is God

going to

keep his

word?

Now,

both will

be saved

in the

morning

because it

doesn't matter

about the

strength of

your faith.

It matters

that God

keeps his

word.

When he

offers a

sacrifice in

Jesus,

he will

keep his

word.

That's all

that counts.

When God

says all

is forgiven

by faith in

Jesus,

he means

it.

he means

it.

So let's

spend our

remaining

minutes just

looking at

a passage

that was

read in

Romans 5,

just looking

at how

much he

means it.

So Romans

Romans 5:1

5 verse 1,

therefore,

since we

have been

justified by

faith,

we have

peace with

God through

our Lord

Jesus Christ.

peace isn't

here about

an inner

feeling of

tranquility.

Peace here

is a

relational

term.

We are no

longer enemies.

We're not

trying to rule

our lives

anymore.

We are

reconciled,

verse 11

says.

God's

justice and

anger has

been dealt

with.

We are

at peace.

That's the

goal of

justification.

He doesn't

give the

blood of

his son so

that we

can exit

that courtroom

and then

go on

living for

ourselves.

No,

he justifies

us in

his courtroom

so that we

can then

go home

into his

home and

have peace

and enjoy

the father

again and

live for

him.

Because

justification

is already

sorted,

we have

been justified.

Past tense.

It's already

sorted by

his grace.

Nothing we

do, not

even the

strength of

our faith

adds to

it.

We can

be 100%

sure that

we and

God are

good.

Verse 2

states this,

Through him,

through Christ,

we have

also obtained

access by

faith into

this grace

in which

we stand

and we

rejoice in

hope of

the glory

of God.

Now,

please notice

at this point,

none of this

is telling you

what you must

do.

this is all

saying what

God has

done in

Jesus.

It's not

saying you

need to

obtain access

by praying.

It's not

saying that.

It's saying

you have

access.

He's done

this.

You are in

grace.

If you're a

Christian,

that's where

you live.

You are in

grace.

That's where

you stand.

That's all

you'll ever

receive from

God.

Now and

forever is

grace.

grace.

And I

think that's

why it

talks about

sufferings in

the next

verse.

I was

wondering,

why talk

about

sufferings as

the first

thing?

Because once

you understand

justification is

sorted, it

changes your

perspective on

sufferings and

any other

evidence that

you don't have

peace with

God.

You can even

rejoice in

suffering now.

Not that you

love pain,

but you can

see a meaning

to it now.

There's hope

now.

It's a pretty

wild thing for

a Christian to

think, I've

got peace with

God and yet

he's given me

this medical

diagnosis.

Really?

You've got

peace with

God but your

mental illness

just won't

get better?

Really?

That's what

you're claiming?

sure seems

like punishment.

Or is

Martin Luther

trembled before

the council that

told him you

better retract or

you will be

excommunicated from

the church and

you'll die?

You sure you've

got peace?

You sure you've

got peace?

God says your

justification is

sorted at the

cross and

resurrection,

then we can be

sure that not a

drop of

suffering is

punishment.

Not a drop.

this came home to

me once when I

was doing the

washing up.

It was a bit

random but it

just, this is just

my personal, it

just came home to

me afresh for some

reason.

I cut myself

washing up on a

pair of tongs, I

don't know how you

do that but I did

it.

And sorry for this

image but I was

just bleeding into

the sink and I

was, I don't know,

it just came home to

me that this blood is

not punishment.

Because Jesus'

blood is spilled.

I will never

experience a drop

of punishment.

Discipline, yes,

but that is very

different.

If you are

disciplined because

you're forgiven,

because you are a

legitimate child,

you're disciplined.

That's not

punishment.

Because our

justification is

sorted, it

changes your whole

view on

suffering.

It's God making

sure you make it

home to glory.

So Christian,

don't look at your

circumstances or

what people say or

what your mind says

even about your

peace with God.

Look at the

cross.

All you ever

receive is grace to

make sure you make

it home to glory.

You may not

understand how but

that is where you

live.

You live in grace.

And we've got the

down payment of it.

In verse 5,

God's love has been

poured into our

hearts through the

Holy Spirit who has

been given to us.

I think that as we

look at the cross,

we know we are

loved.

The Holy Spirit

testifies to us.

What about the fact

that I still wrestle

with sin?

I still sin every

single day.

Surely that's

evidence that I'm

not fully forgiven.

I think that's what

verses 6 to 11 in

chapter 5 are about.

Verse 8,

God shows, he

demonstrates his

love for us in that

while we were still

sinners, Christ died

for us.

Jesus has already

done the hard

part.

When you're an

enemy, he's now

reconciled you.

You're a child

now.

While you're a

sinner, he died for

you and demonstrated

his love.

He's done the

hard part.

Trust him to do

the rest.

He's already

paid for that

sin today and

that sin tomorrow.

He's paid for

that in the

past.

He's living to

make sure you

will get home.

We're not to

look at our

ongoing sin as

the measure of

how much peace

we have with

God.

We're to look

at the cross to

tell us how

much peace we

have with

God.

Even, dare I

say this, even

in that moment

when you are

loving sin, you

just don't want

to do what

God says and

you are

hardened, you

just don't

care and you

are choosing to

do what you

know is wrong,

even in that

moment, you

have peace with

God.

He loves you

with all he

has.

You are

robbing yourself

of enjoying that

peace, but

that doesn't

change the

fact that you

have peace.

I think that

thought, for

me at least,

it ruins the

enjoyment of

sin.

God loves me

right now.

So let me

finish.

When God

says all is

forgiven, how

forgiven is

that?

Well, you can

rely on God

being just.

Like the

prophet Micah

said, not

even offering

your firstborn

child will pay

for the sin of

your soul, but

God's firstborn

has.

He has, all

his justice has

been poured out

on his son, and

you can trust him

to be just, to

only give you

grace from here

on.

He did it so

that he might be

just and the

justifier of the

one who has

faith in Jesus.

We can walk in

hope knowing

that even in

suffering and

ongoing sin, all

we've got is

grace.

Because the

final verdict over

your life,

righteous, is

now in the

past, when

Jesus rose from

the dead.

We've got to

take God at

his word.

Despite all the

evidence, we

take God at

his word.

So brothers

and sisters

who already

do believe,

such a God,

such a just

salvation, as

Romans 12

says, in

gratitude,

deserves a

whole life

of worship.

That's how we

are to respond

to this.

And if you

haven't yet

tasted such

full forgiveness

and peace with

God,

if God is

giving you

even a glimpse

this morning

into that

gate of

paradise, if

he's giving

you a glimpse,

don't linger at

the gate.

Why would you?

What are you

waiting for?

Let me pray.

Let's pray.

Father, in

light of what

you've done

for us, I

just want to

pray and

say thank

you.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.