“The Gift of Innocence”
Romans 3:23-24
October 26, 2008
Said Martin Luther, “The doctrine of justification by faith alone is master, prince, lord, ruler, and judge over all kinds of doctrine.” In other words, get this one right, and most of the others will fall into place; get this one wrong, and the rest don’t much matter. If a church gets this one wrong, it’s a false church, an invalid expression of God’s design. There are other important doctrines besides the doctrine of justification, but none is more critical to us, and we need to know only have an intellectual grasp on it, but we also need to check the condition of our own hearts to make sure that what we’re talking about when we speak of being justified is true of each of us as well. With those things in mind, let’s read together Romans 3:23-24.
We’ve all watched courtroom scenes on TV, either true life stories or those invented for our entertainment. But have you ever imagined what it would be like to be the defendant, to stand accused of some terrible crime, to hear the airtight case woven by the prosecuting attorney, the desperate attempts by your overmatched defense attorney attempting to win an acquittal, knowing all the while that the evidence was incontrovertible, that you were guilty beyond a single doubt—and that everybody in the courtroom knew it. The trial is wrapping up; closing arguments are over; the judge is about to pronounce his verdict, and everyone knows what it will be: “guilty on all counts”; the conclusion is foregone. And you rise at his bidding, inwardly cringing as you await his words. “I find the defendant…not guilty!” Waves of shock ripple through the assembled crowd; you drop to the ground with astonished relief, wondering how it could be that you’ve been declared innocent, free from guilt. This is the picture of justification.
I. The Definition of Justification
“to declare, accept, and treat as “innocent”, and as “righteous” in the sight of God”
From now on, whenever you hear the word “justified” or “justification”, in a theological context, the association that I want your mind to run to is a courtroom scene. It is a declaration of utter and complete innocence in the eyes of the judge; its opposite is condemnation, the judge declaring “guilty”, ringing the gavel down, and preparing to pronounce sentence. But beyond this, justification gives to the guilty sinner a positive declaration of “righteous”; in other words, it is more than full forgiveness, though it includes that. One writer put it this way: “The voice that spells forgiveness will say ‘You may go; you have been let off the penalty which your sin deserves.’ But the verdict which means (justification) will say: ‘You may come; you are welcome to all my love and my presence.’” Justification is more than pardon. Pardon says, “you are guilty, but we’re not going to make you pay for the consequences of your crime.” Justification says, “no basis for punishment exists”. It’s not just that God is unwilling to send you to hell for the sins you’ve committed; it’s that He sees you as though you’ve not committed them, and thus that there is no basis for punishment at all. Now that’s pretty heady stuff, particularly when we remember
II. The Need of Justification – “All have sinned”
This is not a point we will belabor, not because it doesn’t need belaboring, but because we have dealt with it in detail already: “all have sinned”. We have all failed to live up to the glory of God, the glory in which we were all made (in God’s image), the glory of His eternal presence, the glory of His righteous eternal standard. Bishop Handley Moule put it eloquently when he wrote, “the harlot, the liar, the murderer, are short of (God’s glory), but so are you. Perhaps they stand at the bottom of a mine, and you on the crest of an Alp, but you are as little able to touch the stars as they.” Condemned, you deserve nothing but judgment for your many transgressions, and yet the judge rings down the gavel and declares “innocent” despite the fact that you’re dead-to-rights guilty.
III. The Nature of Justification – “Gift”
Cement this into your minds as well: justification is a gift (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8). Innocence is a gift, and thus the title of today’s message. The significance of this is that a gift is something which is not, indeed cannot be, earned or merited. My parents are like a lot of folks; they want to give Christmas gifts that will be appreciated, that are truly needed, instead of just guessing what we’d like or could use for Christmas, and so they ask us to make out lists for Christmas, helping them to know what would be good. And since Mom likes to finish her shopping early, we put these lists together in October. But never once has this conversation gone on: “Granddaddy, here’s what I’ve earned this Christmas; pay up”. It doesn’t happen, because that would undermine the very nature of the word “gift”; a gift, by its very nature, is freely given (and then returned the day after Christmas for something the right size). But the point is that when Scripture uses this terminology to describe our justification, it’s not throwaway language, but rather is stressing a critical concept: justification is not, indeed cannot be, earned, but rather is received as a gift.
The judge rings down the gavel and declares “innocent” without you doing anything to bring that about.
IV. The Source of Justification – “Grace”
The Giver of the gift of justification is God, and the source is His amazing grace. He is under no compulsion other than that of His own character; He is not under obligation to you or to me.
Remember that we spoke last week of the fact that it is God Who seizes the initiative in our salvation; any formulation of theology that denies this is sub-Christian, indeed anti-Christian. Now, Christians of good faith can debate some of the particulars of how that works out, to be sure, and there are Christian friends who see more, and others who see less, of man’s activity in responding to God’s grace; those intramural debates have some merit, and in the context of a church like Red Oak, they can make for lively discussion and learning as “iron sharpens iron” and we grow by considering different explanations on the subject. But the point remains: God’s grace is the source, for it is God Who takes the lead in bringing about our justification. As John Stott wrote, “grace is God loving, God stooping, God coming to the rescue, God giving Himself generously in and through Jesus Christ.”
I’m afraid that there’ll be professing Christians, on the day they stand before God, who claim their own religiosity, with the reasoning that “God will surely take my church involvement into account!” Sure He will—and that will make His judgment all the more unbearable. I can imagine God asking, “how could you have been so frequently exposed to my gospel of grace, and yet reject it?”
The judge rings down the gavel and declares “innocent” because the Judge Himself determines to act toward you with undeserved favor.
V. The Cost of Justification – “Redemption”
Justification is free, but it is not cheap! “Redemption” is the word which refers to the act of paying a price in order to set free one who had been in bondage; we’ll unpack that word further next Sunday. For now, suffice it to say that Jesus is the One Who paid a great price and purchased us out of the slavery to sin that Paul has already described when he said we were, by nature, “under sin”. Mark 10:45 was our keystone verse for the Men’s Summit on Friday evening; we focused on the part of that verse where Christ says that He came “not to be served, but to serve”, but in the last portion of that verse, He tells us exactly how He accomplished that: “to give His life as a ransom for many”. A ransom suggests captivity, and the payment of a sum to win freedom. That’s the picture of redemption, one we’ll get into next week.
The judge rings down the gavel and declares “innocent” because a price has been paid for my deliverance.
VI. The Grounds of Justification – “His blood” – Romans 5:9
According to Paul in Romans 5:9, we have been “justified by His blood”, and by this, as we see from the preceding verse, He means Christ’s death on the cross, His blood sacrifice for our sins. God’s justice demands that payment be made for sin, and when we look at the cross, that’s what we must see, Jesus by His voluntary death satisfying the demands of God’s holiness and justice.
Justification does not equal “amnesty”; this is no pardon without principle, no overlooking of sin or sweeping it under the rug; instead, a great price was paid for your justification, and so while it is free to you, it is anything but cheap. God is not saying, “ah, your sin isn’t that bad a thing”; He’s saying that it is a terrible thing, and that’s why nothing short of Christ’s death could atone for it. Jesus identified with me and died for me, in my place, taking my punishment and shame.
The judge rings down the gavel and declares “innocent” because the price that has been paid, once and for all, is the sacrificial death of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ.
VII. The Authentication of Justification – “Resurrection” – Romans 4:25
Christ was “raised for our justification”, Paul writes in Romans 4:25. In what sense is this true? Without the resurrection, Jesus Christ would have been another man dying, no reason for us to place faith in Him, no reason for any confidence that He was anything more than just another teacher who walked the countryside with delusions of grandeur. But the resurrection provides proof, authenticates the teaching of the Bible, that He is indeed the One Whose death secures our justification.
The judge rings down the gavel and declares “innocent” because the resurrection of Christ validates the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross.
VIII. The Means of Justification – “Faith” – Romans 5:1
“We have been justified by faith”, Paul says in Romans 5:1, and he’s doing nothing more than echoing what he’s also said in the surrounding context of today’s passage; we note that same type of phraseology in :22, in :25, and in :26. We are saved by faith, and when we say that, we believe that what Paul means there is to say that it is by faith alone that we are justified, that our good works play no role in it, that if they did, the word “gift” would be meaningless to describe how God does it. To add the word “alone”, though not in the original text, doesn’t obscure, but rather clarifies, Paul’s clear meaning.
That’s what God is looking for from you today: faith, period. He’s looking for you to simply receive the gift that He freely offers, to take from Him what you can’t otherwise attain, and what He alone can provide: justification through faith in Christ.
The judge rings down the gavel and declares “innocent” because you, the guilty party, simply accept the sacrifice that Jesus has made on your behalf. And the question is, is that true of you? God is calling each of us to Himself, and our response is simple faith.
Table Talk
• Do you think it’s sometimes difficult for Christians to grasp the fact that God sees them as totally without sin? If so, why?
• Why is it so critical to see justification as a gift?
