SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). We have peace with God (vs 1)
(2). We stand in grace (vs 2a)
(3). We have hope (vs 2b).
(4). We have daily confidence (vs 3-4).
(5). We rejoice in God (vs 5-11).
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
Word definitions:
• SWAETER: a garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly.
• COMMITTEE_ a group of people who keep minutes and waste hours.
• ANTIQUE:
• An item your grandparents bought, your parents got rid of, and you're buying again.
• GROCERY LIST:
• What you spend half an hour writing, then forget to take with you to the stops.
• FULL NAME: What you call your child when you're mad at him/her.
• VEGETARIAN: Old Indian word for bad hunter.
• TRANSITION: from the humorous to the series.
• JUSTIFICATION: in theology, it means,
• To declare someone who is guilty to be made righteous in the sight of God.
NOW CAST YOUR MINDS BACK TO LAST WEEK,
• The apostle Paul ended chapter 4 of this letter with the words,
• “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
• And he starts chapter 5 verse 1.
• “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith”.
• So “justify” or “justification” is a word found in both those verses,
• We may be in a new chapter,
• But it is the same theme – justification - that the apostle Paul is teaching.
THE WORDS “JUSTIFY”, OR “JUSTIFICATION” IS LEGAL JARGON,
• It comes from a court of law.
• Note: In a human court of law, a person who is guilty can never be made not guilty!
• Now don’t miss that point!
• In a human court of law, a person who is guilty can never be made not guilty!
Ill:
• Suppose you commit a crime & it goes to court.
• Let’s say, you steal something, and you were caught red handed!
• But because it’s your first offence,
• Instead of sending you to prison, the court decide to fine you,
• Now just suppose you cannot pay the fine, it's too much for you:
• But somebody else (Auntie Mable) comes along and pays the fine for you.
• You can now leave that court room,
• And you can walk right past the police officer who arrested you,
• And the police officer cannot touch you because the fine has been paid,
• The penalty of the law has been met,
• And therefore, the law has been satisfied!
Now Christians often use that sort of situation as an illustration:
• To describe Jesus has done for us when he died on the cross.
• We say He has died as a substitute for us (He has paid the penalty for our sins).
• Now that is true.
• But it is not the whole truth!
• You see if you are fined in a court of law:
• And that fine is paid by yourself or by someone else:
• The law has been satisfied and you are free to go!
• BUT and it’s a big but! You are still guilty of the crime!
• The guilt of your crime has not been taken away.
• And if you commit another crime six months later and are caught again,
• You will probably find at the end of the trial,
• Someone will get up before the sentence is proclaimed, and they will say:
"This person has already committed an offence six months ago,
They were found guilty, and the record of that guilt is still on the statute books".
• Although your fine was paid, and the law was satisfied,
• You will forever remain guilty of that crime.
• And you can never, ever get rid of your guilt!
• Yet the Bible teaches:
• That men and woman who have been declared guilty by God:
• Guilty because of their sin, can be justified.
• Just as though they had never done it (committed their crime).
• Being justified is a recognition of innocence, “Not guilty!”
Never in a human court of law someone who is guilty of a crime cannot be made innocent.
• Someone may be granted a pardon because of a mistake.
• But that is different.
• But a person whose guilt has been established,
• Can never be declared innocent.
• Yet, this is precisely what God has done!
• God can justify, make right a guilty sinner!
• God declares or pronounces every true believer to be justified before him.
• That is God sees them, ‘Just as though they had never sinned’.
• He can do that, not because they are perfect,
• But because Jesus Christ is perfect!
• And we are accepted and made right before God the Father through him.
Ill:
• Think of a marriage between a prince and a pauper.
• The prince is wealthy and the bride to be is poor, even worse in great debt.
• Yet the prince loves her and offers himself to her in marriage,
• As soon as they're united what happens,
• Do you remember the traditional wedding vows?
“I give you this ring as a symbol of our love. All that I am I give to you. All that I have I share with you. I promise to love you, to be faithful and loyal, in good times and bad. May this ring remind you always of the words we have spoken today.”
• “All that I have I share with you.”
• He takes all her debts, and she inherits all his riches,
• Because of the marriage union there has been a change,
• The bride is no longer in debt but credit!
• TRANSITION: Christians believe that is what happened at the cross,
• 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17-21.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
• We gave to Christ our debts, our sins, our transgressions,
• And he gives to us his righteousness and we stand complete in him!
• No guild, no shame, no condemnation!
• If that doesn’t cause you to say, “hallelujah!” Check your pulse you might be dead!
Question: What are the blessings of justification?
Answer: 5 things are mentioned in these verses.
(1). We have peace with God (vs 1).
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,
WE HAVE peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”
Ill:
• The war in Ukraine has been headlining the news,
• But sadly, Russia & Ukraine is one of many conflicts taking place around the world!
• There are currently about a dozen major global conflicts,
• That due to the level of mayhem and violence caused,
• Ought to make them regularly front-page news.
• Sadly, some of these conflicts have been going on for decades,
• The conflict remains unresolved.
• And they have long been front page news!
• TRANSITION: The Bible speaks of humanity as a whole being at war!
• The war is between mankind and God.
• e.g., Verse 10: “…we were God’s enemies…”
• People are according to the Bible,
• In a state of militant hostility and rebellion towards the God of the universe,
• e.g., God is God, and we are ungodly (vs 6) – different attitudes & morals.
• e.g., God is perfect, and we are sinners: (vs 8) we were missing the mark set by God.
• e.g., Enemies (vs 10) people live in open rebellion against God.
• We are at war,
• And someday we will realise what a mismatch this situation is.
• Mankind might appear to win the battles, but God will ultimately win the war!
Yet:
• Every Christian ‘through faith’ in Jesus Christ (i.e., Conversion)
• Has raised the white flag of surrender,
• And ironically when we dropped to our knees in defeat,
• We actually gained the spiritual victory.
• We changed from being those at war against God,
• To being willing conscripts in God’s army fighting against unrighteousness.
Now this word translated as ‘peace’:
• Means much more than the cessation of hostilities,
• The word parallels the Old Testament word ‘Shalom’.
• Which implies a relationship of wellbeing, prosperity and good intentions.
Quote: I love what John Witmer says:
“A believer is not responsible for having peace in the sense of making it but in the sense of enjoying it.
(2). We stand in grace (vs 2a).
“through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.,”
Ill:
• Long ago, a poor woman from the slums of London.
• Was invited to go with a group of people for a holiday at the ocean.
• She had never seen the ocean before, and when she saw it, she burst into tears.
• Those around her thought it was strange that she should cry,
• When such a lovely holiday had been given her.
• So, they asked her: "Why in the world are you crying?"
• Pointing to the ocean she answered,
• “This is the only thing I have ever seen that there was enough of!"
• TRANSITION: When it comes to grace, God has more than enough of!
• In fact, the Bible says three things concerning God’s grace.
FIRST: We are SAVED by grace (Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8)
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God”.
SECOND: We are SUSTAINED by grace (2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9)
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
THIRD: We STAND in grace (Romans chapter 5 verse 2).
“through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.,”
Ill:
• Story of the prodigal son.
• Luke chapter 15.
• TRANSITION: At the end of the story the son is ‘standing in grace’,
• He came home with nothing,
• Even the clothes he was wearing were filthy rags that needed burning.
• i.e., "Bring the best robe and put it on him”.
• By placing the best robe on him,
• The Father was telling the Prodigal as well as all observers,
• That his position as son was being restored.
• i.e., "Put a ring on his finger”.
• In ancient times, presenting a ring to someone was a sign of great affection,
• But also, a symbol of being placed in an office of authority.
• This son is receiving back all the rights he lost when he rebelled and went away.
• i.e., "Put sandals on his feet”.
• The prodigal returned home without shoes,
• In ancient biblical times only servants and slaves went barefoot.
• When the Father ordered shoes to be brought out and put on the Prodigal's feet,
• He is saying for the third and final time,
• The Prodigal son was not to be treated as a servant but as a son with all entitlements.
• That is what it means to stand in grace.
• He lost everything, but now he has more than he could have ever imagined!
(3). We have hope (vs 2b).
“through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.”
Ill:
• In an old Calvin and Hobbes comic strip - this conversation takes place.
• In the first frame Calvin speaks to Hobbes and says:
• "Live for the moment is my motto. You never know how long you got".
• In the second frame he explains
• "You could step into the road tomorrow and WHAM, you get hit by a cement truck!
• Then you’d be sorry you put off your pleasures.
• That’s what I say - live for the moment."
• And then he asks Hobbes: "What’s your motto?"
• Hobbes replies: "My motto is - Look down the road."
• TRANSITION: Every believer has hope!
• Question: Did you notice how these first three benefits link together?
• Answer:
• FIRST: ‘Peace with God’ – takes care of the past.
• God no longer holds our sins against us.
• SECOND: ‘Standing in grace’ – takes care of the present.
• As sons we have access to God. We can come to him at any time.
• THIRD: ‘Hope of the glory of God’ – takes care of the future.
• One day we will share in his glory.
• Wow! We can rejoice and boast about what God has done for us.
(4). We have daily confidence (vs 3-4).
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Ill:
• Corrie ten Boom in her book ‘The Hiding Place’
• Relates an incident that taught her always to be thankful.
• She and her sister, Betsy, had just been transferred to Ravensbruck.
• This was the worst German prisoner of war camp they had ever seen.
• As they entered the barracks, they noticed two things.
• It was extremely overcrowded, and it was infested with fleas.
• That morning, their Bible reading was in 1 Thessalonians and the passage they read had said.
• “Rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in all circumstances”.
• Betsy told Corrie to stop and thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters. Corrie at first flatly refused to give thanks for the fleas,
• But Betsy persisted, and Corrie finally succumbed to her pleadings.
• During the months spent at that camp,
• They were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible study & prayer meetings.
• Without the guard’s interference.
• It was not until several months later that they learned why.
• The reason the guards would not enter the barracks was because of the fleas.
• TRANSITION: to rejoice is to recognize in trials that God is in control.
• He has not forgotten you,
• He is able to use all things to work out his glory in your life.
• Not all things are good but rather God can use all things for his glory!
Note:
• The apostle Paul tells us that, trials in life are really working for us, not against us.
• They are allowed to happen by God not because he does not care,
• But because he does care!
• The apostle Paul says, he knows what He’s doing.
• God loves us and he allows trials to come into our lies.
• Because they are one of the ways we will grow (put on spiritual muscle).
• And become more godlike in our character.
Ill:
• Remember the words of Job in the Old Testament (chapter 23 verse 10):
• Job recognised God’s purposes in His sufferings.
• He could testify:
“But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”
Ill:
• No goldsmith would deliberately waste the precious ore.
• Instead, He puts it into the smelting furnace.
• But only long enough to remove the cheap impurities.
• After this he pours out the pure molten ore to make a beautiful article of value.
• It has been said that the Eastern goldsmith.
• Kept the metal in the furnace until he could see his face reflected in it.
• TRASNSITION: God allows his people to go through the furnace of suffering.
• Until we reflect his glory and beauty.
(5). We rejoice in God (vs 5-11).
“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
Ill:
• I'm sure most of you have seen those vacuum storage bags advertised on TV,
• Some of you like my wife may even have purchased one.
• In case you don’t know they are these thick plastic bags.
• That you stuff clothes, quilts, pillows etc into the bag,
• You then hook up the vacuum cleaner to a valve,
• And it sucks the air out of the bag causing it to compress to a much smaller size.
• The result is that you end up with more stuff in a smaller space.
• Here’s my point.
• If you did not know everything that was in the bag to start with,
• You might be surprised when it is unpacked.
• TRANSITION: This cluster of verses (5-11) are like one of those bags,
• In these 11 verses or 165 words are contained so much good stuff!
• The problem for me as a preacher is what to pull out and mention,
• And what to overlook because of time!
Let me focus our thoughts on two things.
• We noticed that in times of suffering it is easy to doubt God’s love,
• Many people ask the question, “Why me?” – “Why am I suffering like this?”
• What the apostle Paul does in these verses,
• Is to remind us of the Jesus Christ is the portrait and proof of God’s love.
• Quote: Verses 6-8:
“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
• We have a saying that actions are louder than words.
• And if we ever doubt God’s words to us, he says then look at my actions.
• “While you were an enemy, ungodly” God sent his son Jesus!
• Every time we think of the cross it shouts out to us God is love!
Note:
• When a gift is given.
• You can measure the degree of love behind the gift in two ways.
FIRST: the cost of the gift.
• Maybe in monetary terms (its price).
• Or it may be in the time it took to make that gift.
• TRANSITION: Love is proved by the cost of the gift.
• Maybe in monetary terms (its price)
• Or even better by the time it took to make that gift.
• e.g., painting or some embroidery.
SECOND: Love is proved by the worthiness of the one receiving the gift.
• Maybe you have been given a gift and your response was.
• “It’s too much” or “I don’t deserve that”.
• But the gift is all the more valuable when you appreciate those truths.
• When Jesus Christ died on the cross the cost could not have been higher,
• And humanity could not have been less worthy of his love.
• Wow! No wonder we can rejoice in love!
• We rejoice in all that God has given and done for us!
In Conclusion:
• The benefits of being justified are:
• Faith (vs 1), Hope (vs 2), Love (vs 5).
• These combine to help us grow though the trials of life.
• We rejoice because we have salvation from future wrath (vs 9-10).
• We rejoice because we have reconciliation with God (vs 11).
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=wJb93hr9LvODtO9MYaVz07pbjaLl9mGI
SERMON VIDIO:
https://youtu.be/augJIzvlees
