Sermon: "Righteousness - An Essential of the Christian Faith"
If someone asked you … what is the best gift you ever received, what would your answer be? Of course if our minds go to the spiritual realm, and if we are a follower of Jesus, we are going to say something like eternal life, forgiveness, salvation, justification, or righteousness. But if our minds don’t immediately go to the spiritual realm that can be a tough question to answer since most of us have received lots of nice gifts. Two things come to my mind. First would be the nice vacation homes where Connie and I have been able to spend some wonderful weeks, thanks to generous friends and business associates.
The second thing that comes to my mind is a Garmin GPS unit. As I opened the present I was expecting some cookies or a can of mixed nuts. You can imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a GPS unit.
As I think back over the years I can think of another nice gift I received. Some college professors will allow students who have reached a certain score in all their tests throughout the semester to skip the final exam. What a wonderful gift to not have to study for, and take, the final exam.
I am going to give you a similar gift this morning. If you can remember the title and the three main points from the sermon of November the 18th of last year, you have my permission to sleep through the message this morning. Is there anyone here who would like to try to opt out of listening to this morning’s message by giving me that information?
The reason I am offering you that opportunity is because the two messages are very similar. They both in some way deal with the subject of righteousness. If no one wants to opt out I can then expect you all to remain awake and alert. That message was titled “The Gift of Righteousness.” The three main points were …
I. Understanding Justification
II. The Role of Faith
- An Offshoot of Justification – Assurance
We are coming back to the subject this morning because it is one of those teachings that is an essential of the Christian faith.
You can live a more joyful and victorious life as you accept and understand the incredible assurance that comes from being declared “not guilty.”
We will begin by looking at our Scripture lesson for this morning, four verses from the third chapter of Romans.
ROMANS 3:21-24 - 21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.
To help you make this lesson personal I want you to fill your name in the blanks that appear in our outline.
I. ___(Buck)____________ CAN’T JUSTIFY HIMSELF/HERSELF
Our lesson says…
ROMANS 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
One of the Apostle Paul’s key points in the Book of Romans is that because of the universal sinfulness of humanity, no one will be able to stand before God on the day of judgment and justify himself.
This is hard for us to accept. Many, many people believe that if their good deeds outnumber their bad deeds that will be enough to get them into heaven.
This is not a new way of thinking. Paul’s teachings flew in the face of the belief held by many of the Jews who lived in his time. They believed they could gain God’s approval by scrupulously obeying the laws God had given them through Moses.
They were confident that by amassing enough good works, the scales of judgment would tip in their favor on Judgment Day and they would be vindicated and rewarded.
You can imagine how they must have reacted when Paul wrote…
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.
As human beings we don’t like to be told that we deserve to go to hell and that we can’t do enough good things to make ourselves good enough for God.
For a period of time even that godly man in the Bible called Job fell victim to this kind of thinking. Listen to what he said concerning God
JOB 23:2-7 - 2“Even today my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning. 3If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! 4I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. 5I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say. 6Would he oppose me with great power? No, he would not press charges against me. 7There an upright man could present his case before him, and I would be delivered forever from my judge.
Job thought he could justify himself before God because he had tried to live a godly life. Thankfully Job came to see that he could not justify himself before God. Here is a little of what he said in repentance.
JOB 40:4 - “I am unworthy – how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.”
JOB 42:5-6 - 5My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.
It is important that both those who have not received Jesus as their Lord and those of us who have received Jesus as our Lord understand and accept the truth that on Judgment Day our good works and godly lives will not justify us before God.
God thought highly of Job.
JOB 1:8 - Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
But even God’s high praise for Job was not enough for Job to stand before God based on his own righteousness. When he tried to do that he quickly came to realize just how unworthy he was.
To stand before God we need to be righteous … that is we need to be justified but we can’t justify ourselves. So let’s move to our next point …
II. GOD IS WILLING TO JUSTIFY ____(Buck)____________
Our Scripture lesson says…
ROMANS 3:24 - 24And they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Justification is an act of God where he declares that the sinner is absolved from his sin, released from its penalty, and is restored as righteous. God does this on the basis of Jesus dying on the cross to pay for the sin of sinners.
Since justification is an act of God by which he declares a sinner to be righteous, let’s look at…
THE ESSENTIALS OF JUSTIFICATION
1. REMISSION OF PUNISHMENT
A believer in Jesus is declared by God to be righteous and is therefore no longer exposed to any punishment. It is more than a pardon, it is a declaration by God that though the person was guilty that guilt has been taken away.
The next essential of justification is even better. Justification includes…
2. RESTORATION TO FAVOR
The justified believer is declared to be personally righteous and is adopted into God’s family.
God treats the sinner as if he had never sinned. In this restoration of our relationship with God we are not only acquitted of our sins, we are given God’s stamp of approval.
Next we see that justification includes the…
3. IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
This righteousness comes to us through Jesus living in us though his Holy Spirit. That’s why you hear Christians talk about having Jesus in their heart. We have “The Righteous One,” Jesus, living in us. That gives us his righteousness.
The final essential of justification is a…
4. NEW LEGAL STANDING BEFORE GOD
When you are justified in God’s sight you are no longer under his condemnation. Here is what Paul wrote about this.
GALATIANS 4:4-7 - 4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
That is almost more than we can believe. When we are justified we become a legal heir of God. He sees and will treat us as his own.
Now that you know you can’t justify yourself but that God is willing to justify you, let’s look at…
III. THE GROUNDS ON WHICH __(Buck)_________ CAN BE JUSTIFIED
We have touched upon this subject various times this morning but let’s make it so clear that everyone can understand this great truth.
The grounds upon which justification rests is the redeeming work of Jesus’ death on the cross.
Again let’s return to our scripture lesson.
ROMANS 3:24-25a - 24and they are justified freely by his grace though the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25aGod presented himself as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.
And later in Romans, we read…
ROMANS 8:1-4 - 1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live accordingly to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
Paul writing to the Corinthians said…
I CORINTHIANS 6:11 - And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Do you understand why Jesus is such an important part of Christianity? Without Jesus we have no hope of ever being justified in God’s sight. Without Jesus we can never stand before God on Judgment Day clothed in righteousness.
There is a passage in the book of Titus that explains this in a very clear but marvelous way.
The Apostle Paul is writing to a young man, Titus, whom he calls a true son in the faith. Listen to what he writes.
TITUS 3:3 - At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
That is just a different way of saying that all have sinned and fall short of meeting God’s standard. Paul confesses that both he and Titus were in need of being justified in God’s sight. He goes on to say what God did for them.
TITUS 3:4-6 - 4But when the kindness and love of God our savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Sprit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.
God saved them, justified them, not because of what they had done but because of his mercy. He saved them, justified them, by giving them a new spirit, his Holy Spirit. God could be that generous with them because of what Jesus had done on the cross. Jesus received the punishment for their sins.
And look what they could look forward to because of God’s mercy and generosity.
TITUS 3:7 - So that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
They had become heirs of God and now had a hope of eternal life. Of course their hope was grounded in the redeeming work of Jesus’ death on the cross.
Since this lesson is intended to be personal to each of us, let’s fill in the blank and complete the statement we started with on this section of our lesson.
The grounds on which _____(Buck)__________ can be justified is the redeeming work of Jesus’ death on the cross.
It is a wonderful freeing experience to accept righteousness as a free gift from God. Does this mean we can do whatever we want since our good works have nothing to do with out salvation?
The Apostle Paul answers that question. Allow me to reread what he wrote to Titus along with some of his additional comments.
TITUS 3:3-8 - 3At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4But when the kindness and love of God our savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Sprit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
Paul says once you have trusted in God you should devote yourself to doing what is good because it is excellent and profitable for everyone… you, God, your family and friends, your brothers and sisters in the Lord, and unbelievers you encounter.
Let’s wrap up this lesson by looking at…
IV. WHAT DOES _______(Buck)_______________ HAVE TO DO IN ORDER TO RECEIVE GOD’S FREE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS?
Let’s return to our scripture lesson for the answer.
ROMANS 3:22 - This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
We are justified, we receive God’s gift of righteousness through faith in Jesus.
Listen as I read some other scriptures which emphasize this truth. Of course we start with…
JOHN 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
And then there are those well known verses in Romans chapter 10…
ROMANS 10:10-13 - 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
John sums it up like this.
JOHN 1:12 - Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
And Paul sums it up like this.
GALATIANS 2:16 - Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
CONCLUSION
Faith is not a work that we do. Faith is an attitude of the heart that accepts what God has done for us.
Faith understands there is nothing we can do to deserve to be declared righteous by God. Faith accepts that the only hope we have when we must stand before God’s judgment seat is the completed work of Jesus on the cross.
We have been trying to keep this lesson very personal all morning, so let’s close it in the same manner.
Today _____(Buck)_______ chooses by faith to trust in what Jesus did on the cross and thereby receives God’s gift of righteousness. No longer will ____(Buck)______ fear what comes after death.
Since ___(Buck)__________ has in faith trusted in Jesus, ___(Buck)___________ will devote himself/herself to doing what is good, as long as life continues, because this will be excellent and profitable for everyone.