20261004 Results of Justification Sunday Sermon Tim Dickmann

Alright, so we're in chapter 5, and let's read

here the first couple of verses. Therefore, having

been justified by faith, we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also

we have obtained our introduction by faith into

this grace in which we stand. And we exalt in

hope of the glory of God. And not only this,

but we also exalt... In our tribulations, knowing

that tribulation brings about perseverance and

perseverance, proven character and proven character

hope. And hope does not disappoint because the

love of God has been poured out within our hearts

through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

So this morning I want to begin here in verse

1 here where it says that we have peace with

God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So we've been

talking about justification. We talked last week

about sanctification and our regeneration and

all what those things mean and how we can be

encouraged in those things. And so Paul then

is going to go on here and talk about other things

that have been accomplished through our justification.

He says here, having been. So since we've been

justified. We have peace with God. So we'll start

right there. Peace with God. What's the opposite

of peace, though? So when you think about having

peace with God, that means at some point we didn't,

right? So because we've been justified, we have

peace with God. But before we were justified,

we had no peace. So what were we before this?

If you jump down to verse 10. It says, for while

we were enemies, we were reconciled to God. So

we were enemies. We were once enemies to God.

If you remember back in chapter 1, verse 18,

for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven

against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of

men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

So before we were justified, the wrath of God

abided upon us. Okay, so we were enemies. We

were under the wrath of God. And then in Ephesians,

we're told similar things. Ephesians 2 .15, Paul

says, well, if we start in 14, he says, For he

himself is our peace, who made both groups into

one and broke down the barrier of the dividing

wall by abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which

is the law of commandments contained in ordinances.

so that in himself he might make the two into

one new man, thus establishing peace, and might

reconcile them both in one body to God through

the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

So all of those things that we're mentioning

there, enmity, wrath, contrary to God. I want

to make one thing, I want to make sure we're

clear on this. What was the issue here? Was it

just our... enmity towards God that we didn't

want anything to do with God? Was that the issue?

Or was it God was against us? That's the reality

of it. It's not just that God's up there saying,

boy, I just love everybody and I just wish they

would all be saved and that they would just decide

for me. That's not how God is. God's not in heaven

looking down upon us. in our unconverted state,

and just sitting there thinking, I just love

all these folks. I just love them so much. That's

not what the Bible says. That's not how the Bible

portrays God in heaven. What does it say? The

wrath of God. Verse 18, chapter 1. The wrath

of God abides upon us. The wrath of God is on

all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. What

is it? That's not us against God. That's God

against us. The wrath of God is upon us in our

unconverted state. If you view God as this loving

God to all men in the sense that he loves his

children, then you have a false view of God.

Think of this. Charles Lyatt pointed this out.

If God loves everyone the same, that means he

loved Hitler just as much as he loves us. Where's

Hitler? He's in hell. Is that the kind of love

that we're looking for from God as our Father,

that He would send us to hell? It's a totally

warped view to view God in this way, that He

has this same love for me and the guy on the

street who hates Him. That's false. That's the

foolishness of the world. That's the religion

that is preached today, though, right? Smile,

God loves you. No, He doesn't. Frown because

the wrath of God is upon you. Be warned. God

is against you. And there will be judgment for

your sin. Now did God show love towards man?

Yes. He sent His Son to die, right? We see the

love of God displayed in all of that. But we

see the wrath of God clearly portrayed in Scripture

as God against us. But then again, it's the other

also, right? We are against God. There is enmity

between us. We hate God. Men in their sin hate

God. They're not neutral. We've always said this

time and again. It's one or the other. You're

either for God or you're against God. You either

love Him or you hate Him. You're not just out

here saying, well, you know, God's great. That's

wonderful. I don't hate Him. I don't love Him.

I'm just kind of in this neutral zone. No, that's

not how it is. So justification, one of the results

of our justification is that we are at peace

with God. So the relationship has changed. No

longer are we against God and no longer is God

against us. But it's more than just that God

is not against us. God is for us. It's a totally

different relationship now. You think of peace,

this is the definition of peace. Removal of divine

wrath, the end and absence of hostility. That's

true. That is true. But it's more than that when

we speak of this peace that we have with God.

God is not neutral toward us. He is for us. Verse

31 of chapter 18. What does it say? I'm sorry.

Chapter 8. Chapter 8, 31. What shall we say to

these things? If God is for us, who is against

us? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered

him for us all. How will he not also with him

freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge

against God's elect? God is the one who justifies.

Who is the one who condemns? And on he goes then.

What's his point? We've been justified. Verse

1. No condemnation now. Verse 1 of chapter 8.

And God is for us. God is on our side. God delights

in us. God wants good for us. It's totally different.

So this relationship has changed. We now have

fellowship with God, right? Before we were at

enmity, there was no fellowship. There was no

relationship. There wasn't this desire for one

another. All of that has changed in our justification.

Our relationship with God has changed dramatically.

So we are at peace with God. Let's read a few

other verses that says the same thing but says

it a little bit differently perhaps. So Ephesians

Ephesians 2:13

chapter 2 verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus you

who were formerly far off have been brought near

by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our

peace. So we were far off. We were estranged.

We were alienated. We were nowhere near God.

But now where are we? We've been brought near.

Near, we are at fellowship. We are at peace with

God. We already read this. Verse 16, we've been

reconciled to God. And then back in Romans 5,

Romans 5:10

verse 10, he says the same thing there. For when

we were enemies, for while we were enemies, we

were reconciled to God through the death of His

Son. This word reconciliation, that's very similar

to peace. They're synonymous. So when you see

that word reconciled, think peace as well. We've

been reconciled to God. What does that mean,

reconciled? Talking to Dad, nobody knows this

anymore because nobody does this anymore. But

you know, you used to have to reconcile your

checkbook. I remember doing it when I first got

a checkbook. And you know, you're writing checks.

And you've got to do all the math, right? You've

got to make everything line up so that these

two things are reconciled, your bank account

and your checkbook. It means they've got to agree.

Well, that's where we're at now. We've been reconciled.

We agree with God. We're in agreement with Him.

At one time, we weren't, right? God said one

thing. We said another. God said do this. We

did that. Totally contrary to one another, we've

been reconciled. We've been brought into a relationship

of agreement and of oneness. We've been reconciled

to God. Another thing about this peace, and again,

I hope we all understand this. We've said in

all of these things that we've talked about,

these aren't feelings. Our justification, our

sanctification. Our regeneration. This isn't

a feeling. We don't feel these things. And it's

the same with this peace. Peace is not a feeling

that we have towards God necessarily. We are

at peace with God whether we feel like it or

not. We have been justified whether we feel like

it or not. And the result of that justification

is peace. When we have all these feelings that

come in. Right? We are all emotional. We have

feelings. Some days I feel good. How are you

doing today, Tim? Oh, I feel pretty good. Normally

what I mean by that is, you know, yeah, I mean,

things are fine. I'm not in this state of depression.

I'm not in this state of ecstasy and everything's

just wonderful. I'm good. I'm doing all right.

But that's not what we're talking about, this

feeling. It doesn't matter how we feel. We will

feel good and we'll feel bad. We'll be tempted

to despair. We'll be tempted to disbelieve these

things. These are truths. These are realities

that we need to remind ourselves. It doesn't

matter how we feel. This is what God has said

about me. What has He said about me? He's for

me. Do I feel like He's for me today? Maybe not.

Maybe I've got everything coming against me.

I don't really feel. Like God is for me. But

what does the Bible say? He is. And He's going

to work all things out for my good. And for His

glory. Whether I feel a certain way or not. Remind

yourself of these things. Be encouraged in these

things. These are objective truths. Realities

accomplished by Christ. When we doubt these things.

When we doubt our peace with God. What are we

doing? What are we saying? seeing jesus wasn't

enough what jesus said isn't really true what

jesus accomplished he really didn't accomplish

that's what we're saying and i know none of us

would say that right we wouldn't really if we

came out and said do you really think that jesus

wasn't enough we'd all say no jesus was enough

but when we doubt when we don't believe these

things that's essentially what we're saying god's

a liar right i mean that's that's what we're

saying when we doubt We're saying, God isn't

true. Don't doubt. When those feelings, when

those emotions, when those doubts come, put them

aside. Believe the truth. Believe what God has

said. And hold on to that. Because that's all

that matters. So it's not a feeling that we're

talking about here. Now, we will have peace with

God. True peace, this peace that we're speaking

of, results in rest. and contentment in the heart

of the believer. We can rest in this fact that

I am at peace with God. And then what? We'll

have the peace of God. Everybody always tries

to make that clear distinction there. We're not

talking about peace of God when we talk about

peace with God. But the peace of God passes all

understanding, Philippians 4. Right? We can be

at peace in all situations. We can rest that

God is sovereign. God is in control. And God

will keep me in whatever comes. So true peace

results in this peace of God in our hearts. We

feel that. We experience that. We know that in

our day -to -day lives. So this has been accomplished.

We are no longer enemies. We are no longer at

odds with God. We have been. We are at peace.

I was reminded then, this whole idea of being

brought near, that we are now children of God.

What does that remind us of? What does it mean

now that we weren't children of God, but now

we are? What do we call that? Adoption, right?

We've been adopted. That's not specifically in

this passage, but it's true. We are now children

of God. That is a result, another result of our

justification. We have been brought near. We've

been adopted into the family of God. We are his

children. That in and of itself is another wonderful

and encouraging thing to think about. We are

the children of the king. He is our father. We

have this relationship. It is no longer a relationship

of. the judge and the law, right? Condemned under

the law, the defendant and the sinner, but it's

a relationship now of family, of love, of blessing.

If you want a couple of verses, Romans 8, we'll

just read them. Romans 8, 15. For you have not

received a spirit of slavery leading to fear

again, but you have received a spirit of adoption

as sons, by which we cry out, Abba, Father. The

Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that

we are children of God, and if children, heirs

also, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ.

Think of that, right? Heirs, right? What do the

children receive? They receive this inheritance.

They're heirs of something. Maybe here on this

earth you're not going to get much as an heir

of your father and mother, but as an heir with

Christ of God. What are we going to receive?

Heaven. Glory. That's our inheritance. Christ.

Right? To be with Christ. That's the inheritance

that awaits us as children. As a result of our

justification. And then one more I wrote down

here. Galatians 4. 4 through 7. But when the

fullness of the time came, God sent forth his

son, born of a woman, born under the law, so

that he might redeem those who were under the

law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

And because you are sons, God has sent forth

the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying,

Abba, Father. Therefore, you are no longer a

slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir

through God. A total transformation has occurred.

Totally new relationship. Father and son. Father

and daughter. Totally different. Again, I said

this last week, I'll say it again. What does

he say here? All of this has been accomplished

through our justification or by our justification,

but through Jesus Christ. All blessings come

through him. Our union with Christ. results in

all of these things all right so he says that

we have peace with god and then then he says

that we've been introduced is what my uh the

new american says um we have peace with god through

our lord jesus christ through whom through christ

we also have been introduced or have obtained

our introduction by faith into this grace if

you have the king james it says access we have

obtained this access by faith into the grace

in which we stand. I was reminded this morning.

So what's he talking about here? What is this

access? What is this introduction? And I think

I said this last week. Access is better there

because it gives the idea of not just an introduction,

not just a one time, now all of a sudden I can

come into the king, but a continual. Coming into

the kingdom. We have access. We have this full.

Unhindered. Access. Again. This is a reality.

How many times. Do we struggle. Well. I shouldn't

say we. How many times do I struggle to pray.

Because I don't feel like I have access to God.

My sin. Weighs me down. I feel guilty. I feel

like I have no right to come to God and to ask

anything of him. Who am I? I'm just terrible,

right? No. That's the lies of the devil. I'm

not terrible. Yes, I've sinned. I need to repent.

But I have full access to the king. And I know

full well that he'll be more than willing to

forgive. In fact, he has already. Right? It doesn't

matter how I feel. I have this access. To God.

I was reminded of this. In Esther. We all know

the story. Probably Esther. She's the queen.

She's a Jew. And Mordecai comes up with this

plot. To kill all the Jews. Hates all the Jews.

He's an Agag. Which I didn't really realize what

that meant. Until just a few years back. But

Agag the king that was slain. By I forget who

it was. Was it Samuel? I think Samuel killed

him, but Saul was supposed to. Saul spared him.

Anyway, he hates the Jews, and so he's got this

plan to kill all the Jews. And so Esther, her

uncle, says, go to the king and plead for us

Jews. And what does she say? I can't, right?

And Esther 4, she can't go because why? She doesn't

have an introduction, right? She's not been invited.

She has no access to the king. What happens if

she goes? She might die. If the king doesn't

put the scepter out to say, come on in, she's

dead. And so she can't go. At least not boldly,

not confidently. She can go, but she's timid.

And so she does. She says, pray for me. Tell

everybody. Pray and fast. I'm going to the king.

And I might die because of it. That's where we

were. We had no access to God. We had no standing

before him. We'd not been given the scepter to

come in. In fact, like we said, we were enemies.

What should the king do when the enemy shows

up in the court? Kill him. Be done with him,

right? But no, now we have access. The scepter

has been put out for us and it stands out so

that any time that we desire to come to the king,

we can come. So we've been changed in this regard.

This access has been granted to us through Christ

Jesus. He has given us this introduction. What

has he introduced us to? What has he given us

access to? We mentioned this last week into this

grace. What is this grace that Paul is mentioning

here? I've got a couple of definitions for you.

When we think of grace, normally what do we think

about? Unmerited favor, right? That's the simple,

basic definition of grace. And that's true, but

grace is so much more than that in Scripture.

It is that at times, but it's used in multiple

ways. And here, what Paul is saying here, he's

talking here of the realm of grace. You've been

under one rule, one realm. What realm was that

in before we were justified? Where were we? Law.

Sin. Right? That's where we were. That was our

king and our master was sin. Satan. We were dominated

by that. Now we've been transferred from that

kingdom to this new kingdom where grace reigns.

So we're talking here about The reign and the

realm of grace. That's what we've been introduced

into. That's what we have access to. That's where

we are now because we've been justified. So,

Douglas Moo says, not the manner in which God

acts, as in merciful and gracious, or the gifts

that he gives, but the state or realm into which

the believer is transferred. We've been transferred

from one realm to another. From sin, law, death,

to the realm of grace, life. Thayer says, the

spiritual condition of one governed by the power

of divine grace. Governed. Now our lives are

governed by this new power. No longer the power

of sin, but the power of grace. We've said this

before, what is grace? It's the power of God

in our lives to overcome and many other things.

So that's what Paul is saying here. We've been

introduced. We have access. We are continually

in this new realm of grace. Now, I just wrote

down a few things here having to do with these

two realms. The realm of grace and the realm

of sin, I have these. They don't necessarily

correlate as I put them on my page. Some do.

We've been transferred from the realm of demand.

Do, do, do. This is what's required of you. Always

being beat over the head to the realm of supply.

It's been given to us. We've been enabled. It's

totally different. The law always said you're

condemned. You've not been good enough. What

does this new realm say? The grace of God is

upon you. Christ has done it all. Rest. Rest

in Him. You've been given all that you need.

Totally different. From sin. What's the opposite

of sin? To righteousness. From condemnation to

justification. We were enemies. Now we're children

and friends. From love. Our true love. Access

to God versus rejection, enmity. Through this

access we're heard. We can pray. What does God

hear from the wicked? Nothing. They can't ask

God of anything. Certainty and assurance in this

realm of grace. That's one thing. We've mentioned

this in the beginning. What is Paul's point of

all of these things? What is he wanting to drive

home? The hope of glory. The certainty of glory.

certainty and assurance in this new realm. And

then from the power of sin to the power to overcome

sin. Two totally different realms. This is the

new realm in which we're in. And we'll deal with

some of these things that I mentioned here further

on as we go through 5 and 6. This new realm that

we are a part of in Christ because of what He

has done for us. So, that is what has been accomplished

in our justification. And then he says here,

this grace in which we stand. Again, this word

stand is an important word for us. We talked

about it briefly when we went through Ephesians,

the armor of God, Ephesians 6. Paul says, stand

therefore. And he tells us here that we're standing

in this grace. What does it mean to stand? To

persist, to continue, to persevere. One who holds

this position in the midst of the fight so as

not to fall. Not to fall from faith. So that's

the idea here. We're standing and we're not falling.

We're unable to fall. Really. Because Christ

has accomplished all of this for us. And Christ

will see to it that all of these things continue

to the end. So we're standing in this grace.

We're standing in the power of Christ. We're

standing through the power of grace. Grace will

complete these things, will accomplish these

things in our lives to the end. These are two

things that have been accomplished because of

our justification. These are two blessings, you

could say. Again, this isn't all. There's more

to come here. But two things. Peace with God.

And a transfer from one realm to another. From

one kingdom, kingdom of light, to the kingdom

of darkness. From the kingdom of darkness to

the kingdom of light. Right? Truly you've been

transferred from one to the other. Now, again,

I just want to emphasize, these are realities.

These are sure and certain things. Paul is going

to go on here. He's going to talk about hope.

And hope is not this wishy -washy thing, right?

I hope we get to go to Six Flags on Sunday. That's

not what Paul means when he starts talking about

hope. Paul's hope is confident expectation, certainty.

When you see that word hope, that's what Paul

is saying. All of these things give us hope that

what? That we will make it to glory. That we

will be with Christ. That our salvation will

be completed one day. We've been saved, and yet

there is a future salvation for us. The complete,

final, done deal when we are in glory. It is

certain and sure. That's what Paul is trying

to emphasize for us here. The certainty of all

of these things. They won't change. It'll never

change. We can go out from here and sin. Our

certainty is still the same. Glory. Again, Paul

will go on to say, it doesn't give us a license

to sin. Because we've been changed, that's not

our desire. But that's the reality. We will stumble

and fall. And yet our position in Christ is unchanging.

The hope and glory that awaits us. It will not

change. It will not be taken from us. Right?

It's not something we've earned. It's been given

to us all through Christ. Rejoice in these things.

Be encouraged in these things as we walk through

this world. Dwell upon them. Let them affect

your daily life, your daily thought. Rejoice

in them. Rejoice in Christ because He is the

one who's accomplished all of these things. Amen.