Great Doctrines of Salvation
Mike Doyle · Feb 28, 2010
Great Doctrines of Salvation, No. 09
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/492615547446

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Okay, we are studying justification. What does justification mean? To regard as righteous, to declare as righteous. We have worked our way down to, we did number seven, on what ground are you said to be justified? The ground that you said to be justified is what? Holy ground. It's the redeeming death of Christ and guaranteed by his resurrection. So question number eight is why does man need to be justified? Why does man need justification and righteousness? So, I'll read one verse, but then we're going to look up a verse and kind of go through them.

Ezekiel 7.20 says, Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.

Some of you think different. So the verses I want us to spend a little time in. Turn to Romans chapter 3. verse 10 through 21 and what's interesting about these verses is that when we read these we always think it's talking about somebody else. That this is not me. Somebody else is this dirty dog. We're going to spend time this morning on Romans 3 and 4. Romans 3 and 4, because those are the two chapters in the Bible that really focus in on justification and righteousness.

So, Romans 3.10, as it is written, there is none righteous, not even one. So there is not a single human being on the planet that has a standing with God. There is not one who understands. There is none who seeks for God.

Really? How about all those religions in the world? Aren't those people seeking God? What do you think? What are they doing? If they're not seeking God, what are they doing? They're trying to cover their own problems is what they're doing. They don't care about God as long as they can keep Him from being angry with them. All have turned aside. Together they have become useless. There is none who does good, not even one.

Now I know that you who have young children, when they're born you think, oh this can't be true of them. And little Finnegan up in Children's Hospital is nine days old, this can't be true of him. Yeah it is. Because as we've talked about before, that's what we come from. We come from Adam. This is a description of the characteristics we all got from Adam. We didn't wake up one day and decide to be this way. This is the way we showed up. This was our viewpoint and attitude about our God.

Their throat is an open grave. With their tongues they keep deceiving. The poison of ass is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

That's quite an indictment, isn't it? We live in a world where every human being who does not know the Lord, this is really what's going on inside of them. I don't care how polished they are, or how politically cool they are, this is what's really going on inside of them. How do I know that?

Because the Word of God tells me so. Now, verse 19, Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God. Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. Why does man need justification, which is to be declared righteous? One is because he's such a dirty dog, as expressed in those eight verses. And two is because the natural bent of a man is to try to engage in some sort of legal enterprise in which he can get God to say, you're righteous because you've been really good or you've done something. And yet the Word of God says that the reason for the law is to shut everybody's mouth and all the world may become accountable to God. You become accountable because there are certain things you're supposed to do and certain things you're not supposed to do and when you do them and don't do them, you're accountable.

And that the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in the sight because what does the law bring? The knowledge of sin. So, when you read Romans 5, you find that even though there was no law violation from Adam to Moses, are you with me now? From Adam to Moses there was no violation of any law because there wasn't any law.

Yet people still die. How come? If they didn't break a law, how come they're dying? They are born in sin. They have a sin nature. It is the sin nature that is condemned and the sin nature has just been described how wonderful it is and how its activities are.

Galatians 2.16 Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus. Even we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, since the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." So, question. Why does a man need justification? Why does he need righteousness?

Because they're all guilty. It separates us from God. We are separated or it does separate us? We are separated. Yeah, we are. Until we're declared righteous because we can't earn it. That's right. It's the only way to get it. So it's important I think to understand that every single human being on the planet is separated from God and this describes them. I don't care if they're good guys. This describes them. It's who they are. It's what goes on behind their eyeballs that you don't ever see. Or sometimes you do see it.

And especially people that try to obtain a status before God based on obeying some sort of law principle. There is not a single one. So man actually, his greatest need is that God would declare him righteous. Because if God doesn't do that, if God doesn't justify a man, what are the consequences?

Separation. He stays separated. I guess the bottom line is, does man need it? Yeah, he sure does. But you will find in your discussions with people that our culture is into behavior modification, not in death, birth, and resurrection. Not new man. You just need to modify the behavior of this guy who is acting on principle and then he'll be acceptable to God. No, he won't.

So why did it take Calvary in order to allow God the ability to declare a man righteous? Why did it take Calvary? Pretty subtle answer here. Why does it take the death of Christ so that God can declare a man righteous? If he can justify a man. Required a clean offering. What's that? Required a clean or pure offering. Think about it maybe from this aspect.

Here's you and you're standing in front of God. What is it going to take for you to be acceptable to Him? You're standing there and there He is and here you are. What is it going to take on your part to be acceptable to Him? What are you going to have to have for Him to say, okay, aren't you going to have to be like Him?

It's interesting that, you know, to look in the face of God and to say about righteousness, God compares everything with himself, doesn't he? He does his creation, what does he say? It's good. Why? Because he did it. So he compares everything with himself, so there isn't any curve.

You know, there isn't any, you could say this, A sinner is anybody who has less than God's righteousness. What do you think about that? That's kind of condemning, isn't it? Well, less than really isn't righteousness. Less than God's righteousness isn't. Very good point. Anything less than God's righteousness really isn't righteousness.

So, next question then. What is the sole and singular qualification for what do you have to be? What kind of a person you have to be? I want to ask this right. What is the sole qualification for the position of a man who is to be justified? What has he got to have? What has he got to have going for himself in order for God to say, you're one of those guys that might be a candidate to be justified? Well, they're all chickens. See, I have to go down there. I have to make a point of embarrassing them. So what's the sole qualification for you or anybody to be a candidate to be declared righteous?

Death of the old man. What's that? Death of the old man. Nope. Are you talking about 11? I'm still on 9. This is my own question. My own question. Let's take a look at Romans chapter 4 verse 5. Somebody read it. does not work but believes on him who justifies the ungodliness, his faith is accounted for righteousness. So what's the only qualification you have to have to be one of those candidates to be declared righteous? No. No. No. You have to be ungodly. That's what makes you a candidate. Do you see that?

Because it doesn't say that he justifies the penitent or the one who stops being ungodly. He doesn't say only the one or the one who had been ungodly or the worker and the non-worker. In order to be a candidate to be declared righteous by God, you have to be ungodly. Because he only declares those that are ungodly righteous. The do-gooders don't qualify. Do you see that? Good for you. Sure they do. Everybody qualifies. That's the whole point. Everybody qualifies to be declared righteous because they show up ungodly.

The interesting thing about that is that if you come with that premise, you realize that you cannot make any additions to the salvation that God offers. Because He begins and ends on the premise that you came to the table ungodly. Not holy, not righteous, not anything. You're not like Him.

Do you see that? When you discover that what sin really is, is anything less than God's righteousness, or what sin is, is ungodliness, so you come to the table ungodly and by believing, you don't intrinsically become godly, you believe and God declares you righteous. He justifies you in an ungodly state. Do you see that? So everybody qualifies here. Laban's right. Okay? You alright with that?

Verse says, to him that works not, don't work, but believes on him that justifies, God justifies only ungodly people. So if you're the Pope, you're out of luck. Sorry. Catholic friends are going to We're going to get hate mail, aren't we, Courtney? No, not me. I'm the only Catholic here, Courtney is not.

OK, according to the author, question 10, what are the five aspects of justification according to the author? What was the first one? No, that was me. I have a list, but I made it. Romans 3.24. What does it say? And if you read what the author had to say. What was the first one? Somebody read 3.24, you'll get it. Justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Okay, the first thing is His grace. The first aspect of you being declared righteous is God's grace. What's grace? What is grace? Think about what grace is. Okay, the guys that have been in grace class, now you can answer.

Unlimited and unmerited blessings from God based on the completed work of the cross. So it's unlimited blessing and it's unmerited blessing, two key words. And it's not based on anything you did, it's not based on what Christ did on the cross. So God to declare you righteous, to justify you, is a grace operation only.

Only. What's the next one? 325 and 6. According to the author. Go ahead, read 325. Okay, so in order to be justified or declared righteous, the second aspect is you've got to have the commodity that declares you righteous. What is it? What is it? Loud, I can't hear you. Blood. Blood. Yours? No. It's the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the only commodity that satisfies God's holiness and righteousness is the blood of Christ. Okay, third one. and Acts 13, 30 and 39. So we have, it's done by grace, it's effectuated, or the price is the blood of Christ. The third one that the author says is what? Is the resurrection. And the resurrection guarantees to me that when God declares me righteous or justifies me, I can count on it because the resurrection of Christ shows me the proof that God is satisfied with his work.

So somebody read Acts 13.30. I know all of you went to school and all of you can read. But God raised him from the dead. But God raised him from the dead. Now read 39. and by him all that believe were justified from all things from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses.

So tell me why the resurrection guarantees my justification. Why does it, I mean what, the resurrection, why is it a guarantee maybe is the way to look at it. I've given you the answer but tell me. He's the only one resurrected. There's only one resurrection, but what does it prove?

Big deal. It proves that God accepted the payment. That his son died and shed his blood for us. And so he accepts it and he proves to us he accepted it by raising Christ from the dead. Because he didn't raise Moses or anybody else into newness of life. Fourth one. What's the fourth aspect that the author says? So we've got grace, we have blood, we have resurrection. What's the fourth one?

Romans 5.1. What does he say?

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. How did you get justified? by faith, right? So the fourth one is faith. It belongs to us and we enter into it because we believe in it. So the question has to be answered. If grace is the definition we've given, which is unmerited, unlimited blessings from God based on Christ's work, then how do you get into it?

Because you can't earn it. You get into it by faith. Faith is the one thing you can do as a human being that you can't take any credit for. because you're believing and trusting in what somebody else did. You didn't do anything. You're believing and so the merit is in the object of your faith, not in the fact that you believe. You alright with that?

Keeps it gracious that way. And the last one is an interesting one. What's the fifth one? So it's manifested by works. Oh, he did such a good job and then he got legal on us at the end. In order to answer this one, let's do something. Let's address, maybe ask it this way. If we are under a grace system, and if it's by faith in the blood of Christ.

And if it's by grace, then why would the author bring in this last part manifested by works? In other words, my justification or my righteousness before God cannot be by my works, can it be? It can't be by anything I did. So why would he say, well, if that's the case, it's manifested by works. How does that fit? These are the works that God planned for us to do through the Spirit.

Okay, He planned for us to do them, so He gave me my list, and He said, Mike, get out there and do this. No, I'm not giving it to you. Oh, who did He give it to? He gave my list to Courtney? Yeah, He's always picking up after me. He's my dependant. Well, Holly brought it up earlier.

So, when you look at James 2, 21-24, James asks the question, he's asked the question, so you say you have faith. And he says, I'll show you my faith by my works. So a Christian says, oh my goodness, I thought I was under this whole grace thing, and now one of the books of the New Testament says that he's going to demonstrate, I have to demonstrate my faith by what I do. So how does that all fit under the tent of grace? If grace is unmerited and unlimited blessings from God based on what Christ did, is there a little comma that says, and my works?

How does that work out? I think it's because you want to. It's not like you have to or you earn anything. It's because then you can't do otherwise. You can't want to do otherwise. Okay, maybe to help put this together, look at question 14, I said is justification by grace alone? You're going to say yes it is.

And if I say well the elements are you have to renounce, renunciation of merit is a prerequisition for justification. You have to come to the understanding that I have no merit, I have nothing to bring to the table. I also have to admit that my demerit, my weakness, my inability is not, is an admission of weakness is also a prerequisite to me being justified. Don't I have to have that? Maybe I repeat myself. I have to renounce the fact that I have any merit.

And I have to acknowledge the fact that I don't have any, that any of my demerits don't qualify me. In other words, I'm not a worse sinner than Courtney. So I deserve more grace than him. And justification is for the glory of God only and not for the glory of man.

I got to come to that understanding. So how then should I live? Here's the deal. My righteousness and my standing before a holy God is based solely on grace and my faith. My relationship, my standing, my intimacy, my justification before a holy God is based on the grace principle and my faith in the person and work of Christ. How about my standing or my justification before you guys? How do you know? Can you see my faith? Can you see that I have you know, renounced all my own merit that I believe in the person and work of Christ, can you see what I've done inside? Answer, no, you can't. Well, how do you know that?

By what I do. So my justification before men is by works. You should be able to tell by the way that I live that I have been justified. it's not that you have to. It's a logical result of who you are. Everybody understand that? You understand that? That's really an important point. You do not do anything to be righteous. But because you are righteous, you will act righteously.

Sometimes. It's like, this is an example I use all the time. I think almost everybody in this room, for a few exceptions, know that my dog Trickster, right? He's this 90 pound black lab. You know what? He's never spoken Spanish to me. How come? Because he's a dog, right? And he has the life of a dog. And he licks, and he barks, and he lifts his leg, and he does all the stuff that dogs do, right? When I become a son of God, by faith in Jesus Christ, This whole list of stuff that we just went through from Romans 3 isn't who I am anymore. I am now a son of God. I have a new resurrected life. And as I live by faith, it should be apparent.

You should be able to at least see something going on there. Okay. I'm going to take the opposing line here because the previous churches that I have attended the trolley is all of the programs and workspaces, faith that they have. So tell me the difference. I think the difference is right at the beginning. If one comes to understand that his righteousness, his standing before God is by grace through faith, and that gets clear, then it isn't going to be long before a right thinking or You know, a person who's not dancing around with God has to go to Him and say, well, you know, this isn't a program in which I just sit here in an empty room and contemplate you. You definitely have, in your Word, something for me to do. I have been recreated in Christ Jesus unto good works that God before ordained that I should walk in them. So I see that and I don't make the connection. Boy, my church has 25 programs, which one do you want me in?" He says, none of them.

So what do you do? How do you discover, if you understand your position, and you understand that there are imperatives there, that you're to live a life that lines up with your position, what do you do? Call it burning. What do you do? How do you find out? There you go.

The first thing is that you spend time in the Word of God and it will tell you what the life of Christ is like. You will behold His glory and this transformation process begins to happen and the life of Christ begins to be manifested out of you based on the power of the Holy Spirit, not you. What do you do? You walk by faith. You walk by trust and confidence in what you've learned from the Word of God.

So if I say to you, you're justified, you're righteous before God, that's who you are, that's the position you enjoy. Well, commensurate with that will eventuate a life that lines up with what your justification is. You see that? Therein lies the condition and probably the Christian struggle. None of us know how to live and walk by grace. We have to learn all that. Where do you learn grace? In the word of God.

I struggled with this one for 20 years. I'm a type A'er. Go out and do it. 59 programs. Do it. unmerited. It's nothing you do. Any of those programs may be fine, but it's out of the motive if you're doing it, because you're going to earn a little bit more grace. You're going to earn a little bit more position. God's going to smile at you because you did it. Totally negate it. It's hard to say, you know, the litmus test, if you have a metric. Once you have a metric, You're speaking to us in engineering. Sorry.

It's something that you measured that if I do it, I'm going to be a little better. If I the metric being a measurement that if I'm measuring something, grace is unlimited. because it almost puts in that metric, oh I'm at rest, so that means I'm okay and I'm doing it. You could abuse that principle too. But a lot of these programs are self-focused, self-aggrandizement or whatever, where you're doing things because you think God will smile on you a little better. And that totally negates grace. Totally negates it. So yeah, the two attitudes are one is that I'm working for the kingdom or two, more jewels in my crown so that God would be more satisfied. Well, both of those negate the grace.

What are you doing? It seems like when I have been involved in things, it's almost like I have the right motive. But after I get in it in my mind, you know, I'm I'm thinking about, oh, this doesn't make me look good or Those people are going to think this of me, or, you know, God likes this. Do I just get out of it? That's a great question. Just because you have those kind of thoughts? Yeah. Oh, man.

I think that if you understand that God works all things together for good, that there isn't anything in your life that's accidental, or that, you know, He uses every single circumstance to approve you. So if he has you in an environment that isn't sinful, and you're demonstrating God's grace, even though it looks difficult, you can judge your own motives and say, look Lord, this is what's going on, but this is not who I am. I have specifically exercised my will to believe you, and no matter what my sin nature is telling me about, well maybe I'll stop this, or maybe your motive isn't right, you go, I think.

Especially if it's something of the Lord, there's going to be opposition. You're going to have criticism. You can't function in an environment like we live in graciously without criticism, because people think you're apathetic. They just do, or they think your motives are wrong. Well, you get your marching orders from the Lord. Here's the best example I know of.

In John, I think it's about 8 or 9, Lazarus gets sick. Martha and Mary send somebody down to the Lord Jesus and say, Hey, you know, Lazarus is sick. He's going to die. You need to get up to Bethany and heal him. What does he say? I'm not going up there today or tomorrow, but I might go up there the day after. And the reason I'm not going up there is because God is going to be glorified when I go. So what happens? Lazarus dies. Jesus goes up there. Both Martha and Mary are in his face. They say, Hey, if you had been here a couple of days ago, he wouldn't have died. And he looks at him and what does he say? Where's your faith? I'm about to do something that will glorify God greater than what your perception is. Do you see that?

Well, a couple of things are at play there. Number one, the Lord Jesus has intimacy with the Father like we have the right to have. And circumstances come along and we see things different than everybody around us sees. So we may wait. or we may move ahead. You never go into a ministry because the need is great. You go because God has called you. Okay? I hope I didn't dance around the answer.

You know, this is one of those ones where I've worked through many, many years and trying to have more rest now. I use that a lot in peace. You know, when you know God's in control of all things, He had you there for that reason. got you in the ministry so he could filter out that motive. If you understand he's in control of all things, when you go through, and that's why James considered it all joy, my brother, when you encounter various trials, knowing the test of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect result that you may be perfect and complete. He lets you go through those things and drawing to it and so in those motors when you you know I like said I spent 20 years in programs and doing stuff and things you know I have a flat forehead from hit the walls many times but now I realized God was in control of all that and when you do that What happened?

He got bound, taken away, and he did it. God allowed him to do that. Even though the warden told him, he allowed him. And look what happened. All the letters, all the different things. God lets you do these things. And it's for his glory and to draw you closer. So when you make a mistake, or you finally find that moment, Satan's a defeated foe. Who allowed that? God did. God uses Satan to work in our lives for his purposes.

I want to make one point about that, though. That resting frame of mind does not give you license to be a sinner. No, it doesn't. Because it presupposes that you have in your heart the desire to be pleasing to God, which you do because your life has it. So you can't say, well, you know, you let me sin, and it's okay for me to sin because I'm learning something from it. Yeah, you're learning something, alright. And you also have consequences for those sins. Totally. It's not that you're free from the consequences.

I mean, if you play in the middle of traffic, you can say, you know, God will protect me. Well, you know, but you learn through it. And I go, man, I've learned so much from my mistakes and my trials. And that's why I think the trials, God uses that so much. Yeah, he does. You know, to bring you closer.

Question 11, what's the difference between Old Testament and New Testament justification? One, is there a difference? Yes. What is it? Well, I think the Old Testament one is they believe what God revealed. And what's the New Testament one then? They accept and believe Jesus' sacrifice. Isn't that what God revealed? He didn't reveal all of it back then. So the method is the same. Would you say that the method of being justified in the Old Testament is exactly the same as the New? The method.

In Romans 4.4, when you take a look at Abraham's doctrine, not to him that works is a reward reckoned, not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

So how is Abraham declared righteous? By faith or by works? By faith. How are you declared righteous? By faith. Now, here's the difference. Abraham's declaration of righteousness was what? Just a declaration that he had a standing before God because he believed God, right? So, you're declared righteous by God. Who is your righteousness?

Is it yours? Or can you stand before God and say, oh, you declared me righteous. Boy, have I got it. What do you have? That's the difference. You will not find where it says that Abraham was the righteousness of God in Christ. You see the phrase? The righteousness of God in Christ. Whose righteousness is it? It's God's very own righteousness and it's in Christ. That's what the believer has. Abraham does not have that. He has the declaration that he is righteous before God. See the difference? You alright with that? Now, just to reiterate, the reason that they're the same in terms of the way in which you're declared righteous is because you don't earn it. And Abraham didn't earn it.

He believed God. If you had to earn it, then you would put God under an obligation, and there would be a favor due. Don't you, when you go to work on Monday, expect to get paid on Friday? You put your boss in a position where he owed you. Well, God is never in a position where he's a debtor to man. Never.

Because he's grace. So justification has to be apart from works, whether you're an Old Testament saint or a New Testament saint. It has to be contrary to works, because like we said, only the ungodly get to be declared righteous. By the way, what did the ungodly person earn? He earned something, what did he earn? Nothing. Oh yeah, he earned death. He was declared. Sure, the wages of sin is death. You work really hard at being a sinner. You just don't happen into it, you work at it. You'll always see in the Bible where the issue of sin comes up, you're working there. You're working really hard to be a sinner. And you're earning your wage. But to him that works not, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Question 12. Why is the justification provided for man eternal in character? Why is it eternal? Let me run you through some logic. Justification is by faith, right? Thus, it is of grace. Thus, it is of God. Are you with me so far? So, the only way to have absolute assurance is to take man out of the equation. Therefore, it has to be eternal because God is the one who justifies. Do you see that? Do I need to repeat?

And the perfect aspect of Christ was God, which is eternal. Well, when God does something, he does it eternally. Everything he does is eternal because he's an eternal being. But when you look at the logic, Because God is outside the boundaries of time, so all of our past, present, and future. So he says, justification is of faith, it is of grace, so it is of God, and if it is of God, then it is eternal. 13, 14 we'll do next week, and then let me hand out the questions that are going to be pondered next week. Next week we talk about forgiveness, which all of you really need.

No one says you had a great party. I added a few more. OK, let's close and get. Father, how we thank you for your grace towards us. We thank you that we do live in an environment and an operating system of grace where we don't earn anything, we can't earn anything, yet you have blessed us way more than we even can know or understand all the time, Father. So we thank you and we pray in your Son's name. Amen.