Isaiah 64:5-7 NKJV "You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned— in these ways we continue; and we need to be saved. But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us because of our iniquities."
The Apostle Paul discovered that he wasn’t good enough even though, compared to others, his life and credentials were very impressive.
Philippians 3:4-7 NIV "If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ."
Take note of these facts:
(1) He was a Jews Jew. In other words, whatever was required of him to honor his heritage that's what he did.
(2) He was full of zeal as he proved by persecuting and seeking the destruction of the church.
(3) He also kept the law of legalism to the tee and would not cross over the line.
Yet he came to the conclusion that his righteousness was not enough and considered everything that he had done to be loss for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. He even wrote to the church at Rome and said:
Romans 3: 20 NIV "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."
Paul reminds us that we cannot earn our salvation through works or even be just observing the laws of God. We can never achieve enough goodness on our own to ever deserve God's mercy or His grace.
Today, people have their own Christian list of accomplishments:
(1) I was born into a Christian family.
(2) I was baptized when I was a child.
(3) I have been a church member for 40 years.
(4) I give ten percent of my income to the church.
(5) I have served on church boards and committees.
(6) I never miss a church service.
We can never be good enough to achieve our salvation, yet Jesus justified us so that by faith we could be free!
We can never be good enough to achieve our salvation, yet Jesus justified us so that by faith we could be free!
Paul said this about his salvation in Philippians 3:8, 9 NIV: "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
Again He also declared this to the church at Rome in Romans 3:21, 22 NIV: "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood."
Again He also declared this to the church at Rome in Romans 3:21, 22 NIV: "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood."
-Justification is God’s declaration that a sinner is righteous in His sight.
The word “justify” in the NT (Gk. dikaioo) has a range of meanings, but a very common sense is “to declare righteous.” For example, we read in Luke 7:29 that “even the tax collectors justified God.” The tax collectors did not make God to be righteous. Rather they declared God to be righteous.
The opposite of justification is condemnation. To “condemn” someone is to declare that person guilty. To justify someone is to declare that person not guilty. Paul writes in Romans 3:33, 34 NIV “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns?”
God’s people cannot be condemned (declared to be guilty) because they have been justified (declared to be not guilty). “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
-Grace alone brings justification!Ephesians 2:8, 9 “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” God’s “grace” means His “unmerited favor.” Because we are completely unable to earn favor with God, the only way we can be declared righteous is if God freely provides salvation for us by grace, totally apart from our works. Grace is clearly put in contrast to works as the reason why God is willing to justify us.
-Faith alone confirms justification!
Romans 5:1 NIV “We have been justified through faith.”
Why did God choose faith as the means by which we receive justification? Why did God not decide to give justification to all those who show love? Or who show joy? Or humility?
It is apparently because faith is the one attitude of heart that is the exact opposite of depending on ourselves. When we come to Christ in faith we essentially say, “I give up! I will not depend on myself or my own good works any longer. I know that I can never make myself righteous before God. Therefore, Jesus, I trust You and depend on You completely to give me a righteous standing before God.”
-Christ’s righteousness credits our justification!
Romans 4:1-8 "What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
Three times in Scripture we find the idea of God crediting guilt or righteousness to someone else:
• When Adam sinned, his guilt was credited to us. God saw Adam’s sin as belonging to us.
• When Christ suffered and died on the cross, our sin was credited to Him. God saw our sin as belonging to Christ.
• When we put our faith in Christ, His righteousness is credited to us. God sees Christ’s righteousness as belonging to the believer.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
The word “justify” in the NT (Gk. dikaioo) has a range of meanings, but a very common sense is “to declare righteous.” For example, we read in Luke 7:29 that “even the tax collectors justified God.” The tax collectors did not make God to be righteous. Rather they declared God to be righteous.
The opposite of justification is condemnation. To “condemn” someone is to declare that person guilty. To justify someone is to declare that person not guilty. Paul writes in Romans 3:33, 34 NIV “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns?”
God’s people cannot be condemned (declared to be guilty) because they have been justified (declared to be not guilty). “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
-Grace alone brings justification!Ephesians 2:8, 9 “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” God’s “grace” means His “unmerited favor.” Because we are completely unable to earn favor with God, the only way we can be declared righteous is if God freely provides salvation for us by grace, totally apart from our works. Grace is clearly put in contrast to works as the reason why God is willing to justify us.
-Faith alone confirms justification!
Romans 5:1 NIV “We have been justified through faith.”
Why did God choose faith as the means by which we receive justification? Why did God not decide to give justification to all those who show love? Or who show joy? Or humility?
It is apparently because faith is the one attitude of heart that is the exact opposite of depending on ourselves. When we come to Christ in faith we essentially say, “I give up! I will not depend on myself or my own good works any longer. I know that I can never make myself righteous before God. Therefore, Jesus, I trust You and depend on You completely to give me a righteous standing before God.”
-Christ’s righteousness credits our justification!
Romans 4:1-8 "What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
Three times in Scripture we find the idea of God crediting guilt or righteousness to someone else:
• When Adam sinned, his guilt was credited to us. God saw Adam’s sin as belonging to us.
• When Christ suffered and died on the cross, our sin was credited to Him. God saw our sin as belonging to Christ.
• When we put our faith in Christ, His righteousness is credited to us. God sees Christ’s righteousness as belonging to the believer.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
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