God’s Declaration of Righteousness
Romans 5:1-3
Purpose: To explain what justification means.
Aim: I want the listener to rejoice in God’s salvation and give continual thanks for it.
INTRODUCTION: A few weeks ago we celebrated America’s Declaration of Independence from King George III of England. Our founding fathers decided that they did not want to be subject to the whims of the king of England so they drew up a document and declared that they were free from his authority.
From that moment forward the 13 American colonies considered themselves completely separate from England, even though they had to fight a bloody war to prove it. This is a good illustration of what God’s forgiveness is like. When we place our faith in Christ, God views us as being completely separated from sin, but we will battle with sin the rest of our lives.
The Bible explains that God has issued a declaration of righteousness. He has declared that His followers are without sin. The Bible makes it clear that “God is a righteous judge” (Psalm 7:11 NAU) but there are two things that a good judge will never do. He will never declare a guilty criminal innocent and he will never condemn an innocent person. The Bible is clear that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NAU) so we don’t have to worry that God might condemn the innocent – there aren’t any!
Charles Spurgeon, a famous Baptist preacher in London during the late 1800’s said: “I know that it is to me even to this day the greatest wonder that I ever heard of, that God should ever justify me. I feel myself to be a lump of unworthiness, a mass of corruption, and a heap of sin, apart from His almighty love.
“I, who am altogether undeserving, am treated as if I had been deserving. I am loved with as much love as if I had always been godly, whereas before I was ungodly. Who can help being astonished at this?” [All of grace: An earnest word with those who are seeking salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ. Published in electronic form in 1996 by Christian Classics Foundation. Index created by Christian Classics Foundation. (electronic ed.) (0). Springdale PA: Whitaker House.]
So here is a mystery, how can a good God forgive guilty sinners like you and me and still be a righteous judge? Or, to put it another way, how can a pure and righteous God allow sinners into His eternal presence? “Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?” (Job 8:3 NAU)
If God were to forgive our sin without punishing it, then He would no longer be righteous. Genesis 18:25 “Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” (NAU). God cannot allow sin to go unpunished and still be a holy and righteous God. But, the Bible says that there is a way for this to happen: Romans 3:26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, ✔ so that [God] would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (NAU) Job cried out: ✔ Job 9:2 “how can a man be in the right before God?” (NAU)
Today, we will discover how God can be just and still forgive our sin. The answer is found in what the Bible teaches about justification. ✔ Justification means that God issues us a declaration of righteousness.
I. What Does it Mean to be Declared Righteous?
A. It means that we will not be punished for our sin
✔ Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (NAU)
B. It means that we will have eternal glory
Romans 8:30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these ✔ whom He justified, He also glorified. (NAU)
C. It means that we will have peace
✔ Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (NAU)
D. It means that we own Christ’s righteousness
2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, ✔ so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (NAU)
II. Who Declares Us Righteous? – God the Father
Romans 8:33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? ✔ God is the one who justifies; (NAU)
If you were arrested for a crime it would not help you a lot to have your mother declare you innocent. The only thing that matters is what the judge says, so who declares you righteous is vitally important.
Hebrews 12:23 “God, the Judge of all” (NAU)
III. How Can We Be Declared Righteous? – By the Blood of Christ
☛ Romans 3:24-25 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a ✔ propitiation [a total satisfaction of God’s punishment for sin] in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, . . . (NAU)
When we sin, we sin against the most holy Person in the universe. The only acceptable payment for that sin would either be our eternal punishment, since God is eternal, or the voluntary suffering of that eternal God. ✔ Christ suffered a hell for us. So, when Jesus died He satisfied the righteous demands of a righteous God.
“Preachers are not salesmen for they have nothing to sell. They are bearers of Good News, the good tidings that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” Money can’t buy it. Man’s righteousness can’t earn it. Social prestige can’t help you acquire it. Morality can’t purchase it. It is, as Isaiah said, “without money and without price.” God is not a bargaining God. You cannot barter with Him. You must do business with Him on His own terms. He holds in His omnipotent hand the priceless, precious, eternal gift of salvation, and He bids you to take it without money and without price. The best things in life are free, are they not? The air we breathe is not sold by the cubic foot. The water which flows crystal clear from the mountain stream is free for the taking. Love is free, faith is free, hope is free.” [From Day by Day with Billy Graham by Joan W. Lucado, M. (1996). Life lessons from the inspired word of God, Book of Romans. Inspirational Bible study series (30). Dallas, Tex. Word Pub.]
IV. Who Applies This Declaration to us? – The Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 6:11 “you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (NAU)
✔ The Father declares us righteous, the Son purchased our righteousness, and the Spirit applies that righteousness to us.
✔ 2 Corinthians 3:6 “the Spirit gives life” (NAU)
V. Who is Declared Righteous? – Those who believe
✔ Romans 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. (NAU)
Romans 1:17 For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” (NAU)
Faith has to do with our attitude about the Cross of Christ. Do we look at it the way God does?
✔ God sees the Cross as a complete and satisfactory solution to our sin problem. Are you willing to trust that Christ’s work on the Cross is all you need to have forgiveness? Are you willing to completely trust Christ’s work and Christ’s work alone to insure that you are going to heaven?
VI. How is the Declaration of Righteousness Given? – By Grace
Paul explains that we are, “justified as a gift by His grace” (Romans 3:24 NAU). We cannot earn it because we are sinners, but we don’t have to because Jesus has earned it for us.
One of George Barna’s surveys discovered that:
• 53% of Americans believe that if a person is good enough, or does enough good things for other people, they will earn their way into Heaven.
• One-third of all who claim to be born again Christians (34%) accept this notion.[From Barna Research Group, Ltd., Oxnard, CA. 10,000 sermon illustrations. 2000 (electronic ed.). Dallas: Biblical Studies Press.]
But, what does the Bible say?
Titus 3:5-7 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (NAU)
VII. How Can We Know if We Have Been Declared Righteous? – Good works
I found a story about former world boxing champion Mohammed Ali, that is very sad.
Though suffering from the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, Mohammed Ali still can joke about his illness. “It’s a blessing,” he says. “I always liked to chase the girls – Parkinson’s stops all that. Now I might have a chance to go to heaven.”
The former boxing champ sees his disease as creating another destiny for him as well. Ali’s travels now take him to charity benefits for organizations such as UNICEF, the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, and Best Buddies, an organization for the mentally retarded. Wherever he is, he plunges in among the sick and the poor, offering himself up as vehicle for worldwide healing.
“With everything I do,” he says, “I ask myself, Will God accept this? One day you’ll wake up and it’ll be Judgment Day, so you need to do good deeds. I love going to hospitals. I love sick people. I don’t worry about disease.” [FromReader’s Digest, quoted from William Plummer in People Weekly, August, 1997, p. 83.]
Mohammed Ali is struggling to get God to accept his good works so he can go to heaven. He will not succeed. ✔ The only work that is good enough to get us to heaven is Christ’s work on the Cross.
The good news is that when we surrender to God’s free gift, He sets us free so we can do what pleases Him. Romans 6:17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, (NAU)
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (NAU)
When Christ enters our lives, He begins to make changes. If you are longing for Christ to change your life from the inside out, then turn your life over to Him and trust in Him. What a joy to know that God’s gift of declaring us righteous never ends:
Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. (NAU)
There is no death of sin without the death of Christ. John Owen
