Justified Freely

Justified Freely

Romans 3:24

http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/JustifiedFreely.html

Justified = just as if I'd never sinned

A one time event that happens at the moment of salvation.

Sanctified = an ongoing process of growing in the Lord.

Righteousness breaks down along the above lines...

Imputed vs. Imparted

Positional vs. Practical

Why do we need righteousness?

see. v. 23 -- we come short!

v. 24

Justified freely.

The word freely is the Greek word 'dorean'.

John 15:25

But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

'without a cause' is 'dorean' in this verse.

Jesus: to know Him is to love Him. To know Him better is to love Him more. He's the only person you can say that about. Familiarity breeds contempt usually. But many get to know Jesus and hate Him...but without cause.

Apply the same concept in v. 24. We are justified 'without a cause'.

ill.--a surgeon needs to do a transplant. He needs a healthy heart. I say, I know of one, and lead him to a graveyard where a man has been buried for years. I dig him up and open the lid. Can the surgeon use that heart?

God opened up the lid on my life and looked inside and I was dead in trespasses and sins. But He loved me anyway, and did not walk away, but did a spiritual transplant on me!

Imagine you painted a beautiful piece, and got an expensive frame. You put it in the main room of the house, and you'd think it would appreciate how you treated it, but each time you walk by it it slaps you.

When God created us perfectly we responded with rebellion and sin...what a slap in the face to our Creator!

Ask me why I love my wife and I'll have laundry list of reasons she's lovable. But Jesus loved me while I was yet a sinner.

Justified by His grace.

Grace is a key word...used 100x's by Paul in his writing. Not by means of baptism, works, hope, offerings, service, etc...but by grace!

God's love wasn't enough to save us. It took His grace. Because we cannot get to heaven without perfect righteousness. Grace is receiving something you don't deserve...and we don't deserve to be considered righteous, for we are not!

Some accuse those of us who preach salvation by grace as promoting 'cheap grace.'

If being saved seems too easy to you, consider that Christ did the hard part. Salvation is free, but it wasn't cheap. There's no such thing as cheap grace.

G. Campbell Morgan was preaching in a small coal mining town. He preached salvation by grace alone. A miner approached him afterward and said, your salvation is too cheap. Morgan asked the man, how do you get down into the mine? The elevator. 'How much do they charge you to ride it?' Nothing. [it cost the company a high price, but all he had to do was get on board, and put his faith in it to take him to his destination.]

Justified through the redemption...

Redemption has roots in slavery where slaves would be auctioned off on the block. What a great picture of our situation and how Christ purchased us w/ His blood...and upon redeeming us, set us free...free to sin? No! Free to serve!

ill.--there's stories of some in times of southern slavery who would buy slaves and set them free. They were often resented for doing so. Just as Christ is seen by others who haven't experienced it for themselves. I like the stories where the slave set free CHOOSES then to go w/ their redeemer as their new master!

'Thank God I am free, free, free from this world of sin.'

Free from the power of sin, the penalty of sin, and someday, from the very presence of sin!

Justified thru the propitiation.

v. 25 We are not saved because God overlooked our sin, turned a blind eye, or swept it under the rug.

ill.--ever told your kids you're going somewhere special, but they have to be good? You know you're going anyway...but then you see them do something wrong...and pretend you didn't?! God doesn't do that!

Jesus is the propitiation thru Calvary. Justice had to be done, payment had to be made, no exceptions.

ill.--if I got myself into debt and couldn't pay, I would be held accountable. It wouldn't matter if my creditor was my friend, family, or anyone, they couldn't write it off...someone has to pay! [Seinfeld episode about the 'writeoff']

The propitiation is the appeasement of God's wrath. There's only one way a man could appease the wrath of God on his own...by going to hell for all eternity. But someone who was innocent died in our place!