Justification by Faith
Preached at Naylor and Wright's Chapel UMC -- 1 August 2004

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Romans 3:20-26

"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. 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. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

-- talking with coworkers about heaven and hell -- been visited by members of cult that don't believe in Hell -- everyone goes to heaven -- loving God wouldn't send anyone to hell -- what about Hitler then? -- is he in heaven? -- "no" -- o.k., so not everyone goes to heaven -- then how does God know who to let in and who to keep out? -- when you die and stand before God and He asks you, "Why should I let you into heaven?" -- what are you going to tell Him -- "I'll just tell him that I'm a good person and tell him about all the good things I have done and then He'll let me in
-- How does a person get to heaven? -- or, in other words, how is a person declared righteous before God? -- this is one of the questions that separates out cults from true Christianity -- if you ask 100 people this question, you will probably get 100 different answers -- depending on the different religion or cult you are talking about
-- universalists -- "everyone goes" -- God would not allow anyone to be eternally separated from Himself -- for these people, there is no hell -- there is only heaven -- don't worry about salvation since all will be saved -- just live a moral life here and then enjoy eternity
-- good people -- try to get there on their own -- "I am a good person -- I live a moral life" -- "I do good things" -- works -- trying to get to heaven on their own -- make their own way
-- joke about minister trying to get into heaven -- works are like filthy rags
-- reincarnation -- don't believe in heaven -- believe in a spiritual state called nirvana where you just get taken into the matter of the universe -- of course, you have to live right and pure and moral on earth to get there, and since it takes more than one life to do this, you keep getting born again and again and again until you make it
-- so, how DO you get into heaven? -- this brings us to the doctrine of justification -- the result of Christ's life and death on the cross
-- foundational for Christianity -- doctrine of justification by faith is the center of Christianity -- it is what the cross is all about -- Martin Luther said that "if the article of justification be once lost, then all true Christian doctrine is lost" -- through Christ, God is offering righteousness -- justification -- to all those who believe -- this belief is what separates Christianity from all the other religions in the world
-- let's look at this passage from Romans in a little more detail and see what we can learn about justification and what it means for us

II. Scripture Lesson -- Rom 3:20-26

[read vs. 20] -- Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

-- this verse is telling us the reason why we need to be justified -- why we need to be made righteous in God's eyes
-- it all goes back to Adam and Eve and the fall of man in the Garden of Eden -- you all know the story of the fall -- originally, when man was created, he lived in perfect harmony with God -- there was no evil inherent in him -- every goal -- every plan -- every desire -- was to be with God and to serve God and to love God
-- but, then, Eve was tempted by the serpent and her and Adam disobeyed God -- bringing sin and death into the world -- we call this original sin
-- when Adam fell, death entered the world through him -- Rom 5:12 puts it this way, "sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned"
-- because of Adam and Eve, we are now born sinful -- we are this strange mixture of good and evil -- our basic disposition is to use our gifts and abilities -- not for God or for others -- but for ourselves -- you know that -- you parents really know that -- we are born sinful
-- you can see it in our kids -- you don't have to teach a kid to cheat when they play -- you don't have to teach a kid to be selfish and not share their toys -- you don't have to teach a kid to want everything they see -- they come by it naturally -- it is part of their nature -- it is a reflection of the original sin in their lives
-- that's why this passage tells us in verse 23, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" -- all have sinned because Adam sinned -- we are born sinful and live sinful lives -- that is why human governments and human social systems can never succeed in bringing about peace and harmony
-- someone once said, "when we're doing what comes naturally, we're not loving our neighbors as ourselves" -- and the bad part is, we can't make ourselves righteous by more education or by creating a better environment or by an act of our wills -- we can't become righteous by following a list of rules and regulations -- and we can't become righteous by doing good works or good things or living moral lives -- this verse tells us it won't work

-- but that hasn't stopped people from trying -- the Pharisees thought they would get to heaven by following God's commands to the letter -- so they came up with hundreds of other laws to follow to keep from disobeying God, thinking that they were working their way to heaven
-- we do the same thing, don't we? -- a lot of us put our faith in going to church, serving on committees, teaching Sunday School or Vacation Bible School or Bible Study, or other activities that we think will earn us favor in God's eyes
-- but this verse makes is clear that we can't work our way to heaven -- once we have broken one of God's commandments -- once we have sinned against Him in one little way, then we are guilty and condemned to death -- and there is nothing we can do -- no work that we can do -- that will get us to heaven -- "no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law"
-- that leaves us with our questions still unanswered, "How does a person get into heaven?" and "How is a person made righteous in God's eyes?"

-- let's see how God answers that question -- look at verse 21 [read vs. 21-26]
-- finally, we see the answer to our question -- because we are sinful from birth -- because there is nothing we can do to work our way to heaven -- because we were left facing the penalty for sin -- an eternity in hell, separated from God -- God gave us His righteousness so that the penalty for our sins would be paid once and for all
-- how can this be God's righteousness? -- because it came through Jesus -- Jesus was God, but yet He was fully man -- Jesus lived a life free from sin -- and in doing so, was declared righteous by God -- and, since He was the first man who had ever been righteous, He went to the cross on our behalf -- He gave up His life -- He poured out His blood -- to atone for our sinfulness -- to take away the curse of original sin

-- Romans 4:25 says, "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification" -- when Christ, the only sinless man, died on the cross, He took upon Himself the sins of the world -- He took upon Him your sin and my sin and the sin of everyone -- He freed us from bondage to sin and made possible for us reconciliation with God -- the restoration of the original relationship with God the Father
-- this is the grace of God -- God giving us something we don't deserve -- God offering us righteousness and justification in His eyes

-- this opportunity for righteousness is for all those who believe in Jesus -- who put their faith in His atoning death on the cross
-- this means more than just knowing that Jesus was God and that He died on the cross for our sins and rose the third day -- this means believing it in your heart -- this means that you put your whole faith -- your whole trust -- on the fact that what Jesus did on the cross has taken care of your sins, once and for all -- this means that you no longer trust in your own abilities or your own good works to get you to heaven, but that you trust only in Him

-- as Ephesians 2:8-9 says, For 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.
-- we are saved solely through the grace of God -- God's grace in making a way for us when no way existed -- and then we have to believe in faith that what God promised through Jesus is going to come to pass
-- it is the moment that you believe this truth and accept it in your heart that you are saved -- that you are made righteous -- that you are justified
-- the word "justification" is a word we don't use much anymore -- it is actually a legal term -- it is the opposite of condemned -- it means being found "not guilty"

-- when you are justified in God's eyes, that means that He looks at you and doesn't see any sin -- none at all -- there is no memory of it -- when you are justified through faith in Jesus Christ, God looks at you and only sees the blood poured out on the cross
-- the Bible says that your sins will be as far as the east is from the west -- Corrie Ten Boom always used to say that when God justified us, He put our sins in the sea of forgetfulness and put a "no fishing" sign on the shore

-- being justified is not the same as being pardoned -- when you are pardoned for a crime, the past is not changed -- you are still guilty of your crime -- the state knows that you did it -- but the state is just not holding you accountable for it
-- when you are justified, the past record of your sins are totally cleared -- there is no record or memory of wrong by God -- justification is "just as if I never sinned"

-- let me give you an illustration -- movie "Back to the Future" -- Michael J. Fox gets sent back in time to the point when his mother and father should have met -- but, because of him being in the picture, they never meet and go to the big dance and fall in love -- and, as a result, he can never be born and will cease to exist unless he can fix history and get them together
-- justification is sort of like that -- it's like God goes back in time and takes away all the sins that we have committed, so that they never existed
-- justification is more than being forgiven for your sins -- it is having your permanent record erased -- when you trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your sins are forgiven and erased by God
-- we call this "justifying" or "saving" grace -- and it is the one thing that separates Christianity from all the other religions on earth

III. Closing
-- we are the only religion that does not rely on ourselves to get to heaven -- all of the other religions and cults rely on their own good works to get them to heaven, in one way or the other
-- the Bible is clear that the only way to salvation -- the only way to be justified in God's eyes, is by grace through faith -- not a result of anything that we have done on our own -- not by works -- not by living a good life -- not by following all the commandments -- only by trusting in Jesus as our Lord and Savior

-- I am going to close now, and as I do, I am going to ask you to think about what you believe in regards to your sin and the payment for your sin

-- do you believe that you have to add something to what Jesus did on the cross in order to be saved? -- or do you believe that Jesus' death on the cross was all that you needed?

-- what about your sins? -- have them been forgiven and forgotten by God -- have you accepted and trusted Jesus as your Savior?

-- if not, then I would invite you to respond to His word right now -- all you have to do is confess to Him that you are a sinner and that you know that there is no way to Heaven except through Him and then ask Him to save you

-- maybe you are saved, but you've been relying on your own good works to help you along the way -- if so, then you have a need to ask God's forgiveness for that

-- whatever your need is this morning, I would invite you to respond to God -- either at your seat or by coming to the altar

-- the only one who can do anything here is Him, and He invites you to come

-- let us pray