Understanding How We Can Be Right with God

Good job, Clark.

Thank you very much.

What is special about October the 31st?

What happens, okay, Halloween, October the 31st.

First thing that comes into your mind, a lot of people, Halloween.

You know what that says about you, don't you?

You're a pagan.

Absolute pagan for thinking.

October the 31st is all about Halloween.

No, I'm joking.

If you've got a calendar on your calendar,

most likely there's little writing that says October the 31st is Halloween.

But there is a much more significant celebration, observation,

that we should be acknowledging on October the 31st.

What is it?

Somebody say the Reformation?

October the 31st is Reformation Day.

And this year, in 16 more days,

this will be the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

It all began on October the 31st, 1517,

when a Roman Catholic monk by the name of Martin Luther,

I've got to move this or I might break out into song.

And that would clear this building quicker than a fire.

A Roman Catholic monk named Martin Luther

posted his 95 theses

on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

Now that was like a community bulletin board.

I'm sure from history or in some place,

you are familiar with Martin Luther posting these 95 theses

on that castle door.

What's not always known is

that was like a community bulletin board.

And Luther posted that to get a discussion started

mainly among scholarly people,

church theologian types.

But what those 95 theses,

what those 95 protests or criticisms were

was of the Roman Catholic practice of selling indulgences.

Now an indulgence was something like a pardon,

a pardon for your sin.

It was a gift of forgiveness granted by the Pope

for a price.

You heard me right.

The Roman Catholic Church was selling,

for all practical purposes,

the forgiveness of sins.

Now you think, well that couldn't happen.

That's not possible.

Well, truly it couldn't really happen,

but they did it.

And the people,

wherever this was done,

people lined up

to buy their way into heaven

or to pay the price

for their relative to get out of purgatory.

That was part of what the indulgences were.

You can buy forgiveness from the Pope,

bypass purgatory,

go straight into heaven.

Or for your relatives.

I mean, you think about it.

If you didn't know any better,

you've got a mother or father,

brother or sister who's died,

and you think they're in purgatory,

which by the way does not exist.

But you're told by the authorities from the church,

if you pay this amount,

you can get them out of purgatory

and on into heaven.

Well, one well-known preacher of that day,

Johann Tetzel,

he went around Germany selling indulgences.

He was a real salesman.

He knew how to attract the crowd.

He had little jingles that he would say or sing.

And one of them,

his most well-known was this.

As soon as the coin in the coffer rings,

the soul from purgatory springs.

And that was not intended to be funny.

That was intended to say to people,

you can buy your way out of purgatory

or your relative's way.

Well, that enraged Luther,

who was a Roman Catholic monk.

But he knew that was not right.

He knew that they were leading people astray.

And so he wrote those 95 articles of protest.

And what he wrote was so well-received

that it was published

and widely circulated.

And Luther's protests

were the sparks that ignited the fire,

the fire of change

that started the Protestant Reformation.

As we are approaching this significant milestone,

the 500th anniversary,

it's important for us to understand

that the Protestant Reformation

was one of the most important,

most significant events,

not just in the history of the church,

but in the history of the world.

Over time,

it changed

not only the religious practices,

but the political, social,

and intellectual practices

of Western civilization.

Now, what I want us to do today

is to focus on the most important contribution

of the Reformation,

really to all the world,

the recovery of the gospel.

Yes, the Protestant Reformation

was what really brought back

to the forefront

the biblical truth

of how a person is made right with God.

What salvation really is,

is by the grace of God

through faith in Jesus Christ.

The underlying problem

in the Roman Catholic Church at that time

was that they lost the gospel.

Or they changed the gospel.

And that's what led to things like

the selling of indulgences.

They were basically teaching

that salvation comes from the church.

And salvation is dependent upon

how good you are,

how righteous you are personally,

what you do,

what you don't do.

Well, the Reformers,

like Luther,

and the other major ones,

like Calvin, Zwingli,

there were many.

The Reformers challenged

those false teachings

by calling attention

to what the Bible said.

They called attention

to what the Scripture

clearly taught

about these matters.

They emphasized

the authority of Scripture

over the authority

of the church.

And they recovered

the biblical gospel

that salvation

has always been

and still is

by the grace of God

through faith in Jesus Christ

plus nothing.

It's all of God.

What He's done for us

in Christ.

And our response

is simply to believe it.

As we prepare to observe

the Lord's Supper this morning,

I want us to look at

the way this discovery

of the gospel

is usually explained.

It was recovery

of the Bible's teaching

about justification.

How we are made right

with God.

If you want to look

in your Bible,

I'm going to put most of this

on the screen,

but look in Romans chapter 3,

Romans 3 · chapter mention

and I want to see

how this important concept

of being declared

right with God,

being justified,

is the only way

that anyone

has ever,

can ever

be made right

with God.

Let's read in Romans 3,

Romans 3:21

verse 21,

to start with.

21 through 24.

But now,

apart from the law,

the righteousness of God

has been made known

to which the law

and the prophets testify.

That last phrase,

to which the law

and the prophets testify,

what Paul was writing is,

saying is,

the Old Testament.

The Old Testament writers,

they spoke

about how salvation

comes through faith.

The Old Testament,

where it all begins,

Genesis chapter 12.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

Abraham,

the father of all

the faithful.

Abraham believed God,

it says,

and it was credited

to him as righteousness.

Genesis 12

and Genesis 15.

Abraham believed God

and his faith

in God's promise

is the reason God

declared him

to be right.

Not because of what he did,

but because he trusted God.

But now,

look at it again,

verse 21.

But now,

apart from the law,

apart from keeping the law,

apart from you trying

your best

to do what God says,

the righteousness of God,

being right with God,

has been made known

to which the law

and prophets testify,

this righteousness

is given

through faith

in Jesus Christ

to all who believe.

There is no difference

between Jew and Gentile,

for all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God,

and all are justified

freely by his grace

through the redemption

that came by Christ Jesus.

Look at verse 28.

For we hold

that one is justified

by faith

apart from works

of the law

or apart from any good works.

Romans 5.1.

Therefore,

since we have been justified

by faith,

declared right with God

by faith,

we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let's think about it.

What does it mean

to be justified?

Justification is God's response

to our faith

in the Lord Jesus.

That's what we've

just been reading.

Look at a very simple definition

of what justification is,

to be declared righteous,

to be declared right with God.

It is important

that we understand that.

Every person in here,

most every person in here,

has some kind of interest

in being right with God

or you wouldn't be here,

I'm going to guess.

We need to understand

fully, clearly,

what the Bible teaches

about how anyone,

you and me,

can be right with God.

A person who is right with God

is someone who has been

declared right with God

by God Himself.

To be justified

means to be declared righteous,

to be declared right with God.

But let's look at a more

detailed definition

from Wayne Grudem.

He says justification

justification is an instantaneous,

legal act of God

in which He,

number one,

thinks of our sins

as forgiven

and Christ's righteousness

as belonging to us.

And number two,

declares us to be righteous

in His sight.

Let's look at the second part

of that definition first.

Justification is a legal declaration

by God.

justification,

justification,

God declaring

that you are right with Him

is something that God

actually does to us

is not something

that God does to us

but something

that He declares about us.

Justification,

being declared right with God.

That's something

that God declares

is true about us.

It's not something

that He really does

to make us that way.

Now don't misunderstand.

When God saves a person,

He brings about a new birth.

It's called regeneration.

When God saves a person

who turns from their sin

and puts their trust in Jesus

as their Savior,

God brings about

new life,

a new way of looking at life.

He puts His Spirit in us.

So in that way,

we certainly are changed

when we become a Christian.

But we are still sinners.

We're not perfect.

So God declares us to be right

like a judge would declare

someone who stood before Him

guilty or innocent.

Think about it.

A judge would,

if you had to go to court tomorrow

and your case was going to be

before the judge,

he was going to make the decision.

No jury, just the judge.

If He declares that you are not guilty,

then legally you are not guilty,

even if really and truly you are.

If He says you are guilty,

but you really aren't,

legally you're guilty

and you're going to jail.

Justification

is God's declaration.

And whatever God declares,

it's the way it is.

He's the greatest judge.

If God declares that we are right

in His sight,

that means we're no longer guilty.

It means we no longer have to fear judgment

if God declares that we're right.

And unlike a human judge,

God's always right.

He never makes a mistake.

He knows who we are,

how we are,

and when God declares us

to be right with Him

because we're trusting in His Son,

Jesus is our Savior,

we are right with Him.

We are no longer guilty.

Now, a natural question comes up,

how can this be?

I know most everybody in here.

And you know me.

And I know you're not perfect.

And if you have any slight knowledge of me,

you know I'm not perfect.

So how in the world

can we sit here,

stand here,

and think to ourselves,

I'm right with God.

I'm going to heaven when I die.

I'm no longer held responsible for my sin.

When you know well and good

that you are guilty still

of sinning against God,

living life your way instead of His way,

being selfish a lot of the time,

not pleasing God a lot of the time,

well,

here's how it happens.

Our justification,

our being declared right with God

is based on the fact

that we are united with Jesus.

We're one with Him.

He is in us.

We are in Him.

Think about it this way.

When we turn from our sin

and put our faith and trust in Jesus,

from God's perspective,

we are one with Christ.

We are in Him.

In Christ.

Paul uses that little phrase

over and over again in his letters.

That means what Jesus Christ did

in His life and His death,

that's credited to us.

Think about it this way.

Jesus died on the cross

to pay the penalty for our sin.

His death is credited to us

when we trust in Him.

Therefore, we are forgiven.

The penalty for our sin has been paid.

Jesus lived a perfect life.

He perfectly obeyed God,

perfectly obeyed God's law.

So His perfect obedience

is credited to us

when we trust in Him.

Therefore,

that's how we can be right with God.

That's what God declares

our condition to be

by virtue of our faith in Christ.

Look at how Paul says it in Romans 8.1.

There is therefore now

no condemnation for those

who are in Christ Jesus.

Now,

this is maybe hard to grasp hold of,

but you need to understand.

You and me right now,

if we're trusting in Jesus,

we're one with Him.

And even though we are not perfect,

God declares us to be

because of the perfect life of Jesus.

That's credited to us.

We haven't done anything

to suffer for our own sins.

We haven't paid for our own sins.

Jesus did, though,

when He died on the cross.

He suffered the wrath of God against sin.

When we trust in Jesus,

the penalty for our sin has been paid.

Jesus did it for us.

We didn't do anything.

We might picture it like this.

God accepts us

based on Jesus,

on the merit,

the value,

the love He has for Jesus.

Let's put it this way.

Suppose you have a daughter

who marries a man

that you consider

unworthy of her.

And some of you,

I can see it right now,

my daughter did that.

I was originally

going to tell this

in the form of,

suppose you had a son

who married a girl

who was unworthy

of your son.

But I didn't want

my daughters-in-law

to read anything into that.

Because I'm glad

that my daughters-in-law

married my boys

and took them away.

I'm no longer responsible.

They are now responsible.

No, I love my boys

and love my girls.

But I want you

to think with me.

Suppose you have a daughter

or, if it's true,

have a son.

You have a daughter

who marries a man

you consider unworthy of her.

Even though that man

in and of himself

is unworthy,

you receive him

into your family

because of your daughter.

By the way,

that's what good parents

do when at all possible.

When you look at that guy,

you see your daughter's husband.

You focus on your daughter.

He's accepted,

not because of who he is,

what he's done,

but because he is married

to your daughter.

He is united

to your daughter

in marriage.

As Christians,

our acceptance by God,

our forgiveness,

our right standing with him

has absolutely nothing to do

with who we are

or what we've done.

It has every single thing

to do with

who Jesus is

and what Jesus

has done

for us.

none of us

can undo our past.

None of us

can start right now

being perfect.

But the good thing is

we don't have to.

If we have truly

repented of our sin,

we hate it,

we've turned from it,

we've put our trust

in Jesus'

absolute confidence.

He paid the penalty

for our sins

when he died on the cross.

We're trusting him

and him alone

for our salvation.

That our sins

are forgiven.

He paid the penalty.

We are accepted by God.

We are right with God

because Jesus is perfect.

And that is credited

to us.

The importance

of this Reformation's

emphasis on

justification by faith

cannot be overstated.

The fact that God

accepts us

when we are

united to Jesus

by faith

means

some very important things

that we need to think about

right now

just quickly.

Number one,

we can have confidence

that our sins are forgiven.

You can be certain

right now

if you are united

to Jesus in faith

your sins

are forgiven

because of him.

You don't have to worry

about being good enough

for God.

You aren't.

I'm not.

And never will be.

But God accepts us

based on

the perfect life

of Jesus

and not our own.

And this means,

listen to this,

we can offer genuine hope

to the worst

of sinners.

No matter what a person

has done,

they can be forgiven,

made right with God,

accepted by God

because it's Jesus.

Think with me for a moment.

What if this morning

you think about it personally,

the worst human being

you know

was standing right there.

The absolute worst,

sorriest,

low down,

sinful person you know

on the face of the earth

was standing right there.

And over here

is the best,

most kind

and gracious

human being

you know

standing right there.

If they both

were standing there

and they looked up

and said to us,

I'm not a Christian.

But I right now

want to turn from my sin,

admit it,

I hate it,

I'm sorry,

I truly trust

that Jesus died for me.

I'm counting on him

and him alone

for my salvation.

God would save them both

the exact same way

they don't,

either one deserve it.

It's by his grace.

He's going to save them

because they're trusting in Jesus.

Jesus lived a perfect life.

Even the best person you know

is not perfect.

And Jesus paid the penalty

for the worst person you know sins.

That's how we all

come to faith in Christ.

That's how we all

experience salvation

or rightness with God

if we are Christians.

So when you partake

of those elements

of the Lord's Supper

this morning,

you think about what

God has done

for you in Christ.

You think about Jesus

giving up his life

to die for you.

But also you think about

how he lived

a perfect life

in this world

for you.

Let this be a time

of real worship

and thanksgiving

before God.

And if you're not a Christian,

right now I encourage you

if you want to be different,

you want God to save you,

you're tired of living

for yourself,

you will turn from your sin.

If you will do that

and put your trust in Jesus

and call upon him

to save you,

he will.

And let's just all

bow together right now

and I want to encourage you

if you're not a Christian

call upon Jesus

to save you,

trust him.

He will.

If you are a Christian,

thank God

for what he has done

for you.

Thank him

for the salvation

that is yours

as a gift of his grace

through faith in Jesus,

his perfect life

and his death on the cross

for your sins.

Let's all pray together.

Dear God,

help us now

to respond to you

appropriately.

Help every Christian

in here to prepare

to observe

the Lord's Supper

together.

and in an attitude

of prayer,

let's get ready

to do that.

Thank you.