JUSTIFIED BEFORE GOD

Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Today I wish to speak upon the subject of justification. If a man is JUSTIFIED it means he is declared to be righteous and true. For a man to enter into the Kingdom of heaven he must be justified by GOD.

The first discovery that a man is led by the Spirit of God to make before he is saved is, that it is important to be justified in the sight of God. Many people do not know this. The Pharisees of Christ's day wanted to be 'justified' by men. They wanted men to look upon them as just and righteous and true; even though their hearts were an abomination before God.

Today we encounter many people who are like this. And I am sure that some of you have met them. You invite them to Church or attempt to tell them about Christ and they will begin to lift up their character: "I work hard, I am good to my neighbor, I give to charity, I'm not a drunkard or a thief... Everyone knows that I am a good person".

If all of these things were true, the person would still just have half of a good man's character; for there are two parts. We are to be just to our fellow man; but we are also to be just to Almighty God.

In fact our highest obligation is to be just before our Creator. No matter how just we are before man, if we are unjust in any matter toward GOD we cannot be escape damnation. And it is thus, until the Holy Spirit causes us to realize that we need to be JUST before GOD, we will never see our need to be saved.

REALIZING OUR SINFUL STATE

Romans 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Once a man has been stirred by the Spirit to see his need to be just before God, he will examine his life and see if it passes the test. When we do this we quickly discover that our past life is marred badly with sin.

Before the Spirit works upon us we may say: "I have lived a very godly life for the commandment says: 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' and I have never done it." But once the Spirit moves in it convicts the sinner with the fullness of the Law. Christ explained this command by saying: "If a man looks upon a woman and lusts he commits adultery in his heart". And with this, what man can say, I am clean?

The Holy Spirit is a light, it is a lamp, and when the Spirit begins to draw a man to Christ it reveals his sinfulness. For instance, if I lived in a dark room, I may sit and think, "My room is very clean, I do not see a spot of dust any where". But when a bright light is turned on the cob webs appear, the stains upon the carpet becomes visible, the roaches are seen. The spiders and their webs are very apparent, and so it is when a man falls under the convicting power of the Spirit. He can no longer pretend he is just before GOD, but he realizes fully that he is a sinner.

WE CANNOT BE JUSTIFY OURSELVES

Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Then there comes another discovery, namely, that it is utterly impossible for us to hope that we ever can be just before God by our own works. Many men have realized that they were sinners and then they have made the mistake that they shall 'reform their life'. I will stop practicing my obvious sins they declare. But this will not make a single person just before GOD. Consider the example of the dark room again. The light has been turned on and you have seen the filth that is on the floor and upon the walls, you have seen the spiders and the roaches; and you say: "From here on out I will not track any mud into this place, or bring anything else into it that defiles". And let's pretend you are able to keep anything new from coming in that would stain your room. Yet, the filth of the past still remains, the cobwebs of the past still hang upon the wall. There are still stains on your carpet. If you shall be just before God the room must be swept and garnished. The Room must be without a single spot or a single blemish. How are you going to remove the stain?

No matter how hard you scrub, no matter how much you sweep, they remain, and it is as if it is untouched. We labor until our bodies give out, but not even the smallest stain is lightened one bit.

If we had any wisdom we would give it up now, as an utterly lost case. The past is past: and the sins of the past can never be by us blotted out.

And how about the present? How about your declaration of reformation? You may say "I have a strong will, I can reform my life completely". Yet, You are greatly deceived if you think you can live righteously before God by the strength of your will.

First your will is not strong, it is weak. And it easily falls into the slavery of sin. The Bible says that sinners are "Taken captive by the devil at his will" 2 Timothy 2:26. Those who have faith in their "Will" are blind and have never looked in the mirror long enough to see what manner of man they truly are. It is not the "strong willed" that are saved in the end, it is the ones who admits that they are weak willed, the one who comes humbly before Christ and says: "NOT MY WILL, BUT THINE BE DONE", it is the weak willed who says: "My will is weak and broken and I cast it at your feet dear Lord, May I be kept by your will, and may your will be done in my life".

If those who have confidence in their will could see the future they would see quickly that they will be none better. And they will see quickly that they are still far from GOD.

THOSE WHO ARE NOT JUSTIFIED ARE CONDEMNED.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death....

Now the man who is on the road to salvation has found all of this out. He realizes he needs to be just before GOD, he realizes that he is a sinner, he realizes that he cannot justify himself, and now he realizes that he is presently under condemnation.

You see there are only two states in which a man can be in. He is either perfectly justified before GOD, or he is under condemnation. The wages of sin is death, that is the second death in the lake of fire and brimstone.

God is not indifferent toward sin. A man is either justified or he is already condemned. He either is saved or the wrath of God abides upon him. If you are not just before God, you are condemned at this very moment. There is no middle ground. And now with this knowledge the sinner under the convicting power of the Spirit becomes desperate and he cries out, "What must I do to be saved?"

JUSTIFIED BY GRACE

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Where shall we receive our justification and thus our eternal life? We must receive it as a gift from Almighty God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

How shall we receive it?

Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

How shall we receive the gift of Grace and thus be justified by Almighty GOD? By What? Simply by Faith!

"Being justified by faith." The way of reaching this state of justification is not by tears, nor prayers, nor fasting, nor working, nor Bible-reading, nor church-going, nor sacraments, nor priestly absolution, but by faith.

What is this faith? This faith is a simple and utter dependence and believing in the faithfulness of God, a dependence upon the promise of God, because it is God's promise, and is worthy of dependence. It is a reliance with all our might upon what God has said. This is faith, and every man who possesses this faith is perfectly justified tonight.

HOW DOES THIS JUSTIFICATION WORK?

Romans 4:23-24 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it [Righteousness] shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

By placing your trust in God through Christ the Righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to you. What does that mean? It means you receive credit for the righteous life of Jesus Christ.

If you believe in Jesus, that is to say, if you trust him, all the merits of Jesus are your merits, they are imputed to you.

THE SUBSTITUTION

When Jesus hung upon the cross the Father laid upon Christ the iniquity of us all. Jesus took credit for our sins. He that was without sin, became sin for us. And he suffered in your place for all of your sins. When God looked at his Son, he saw you, and he punished you in his Son.

When you trust in Jesus Christ everyone of his merits is imputed to you. You stand before God as if you were Christ, because Christ stood before God as if he were you--he in your stead, you in his stead. It is called Substitution!

Jesus Christ is the Substitute for sinners: Christ stood for men, and bore the wrath of GOD against our sin; so that Man could stand in Christ's place of perfect righteousness and receive the sunlight of divine favor. Some men think that they shall have more favor with GOD when they are glorified at the coming of Christ, but it is not so. If you are in Christ today then you are under the full favor of Almighty God.

OUR STANDING BEFORE GOD

Where is your standing with God today? How far has the Holy Spirit lead you? Has He taught you that you need to be just before GOD? Has he revealed to you that you are a sinner? Has he showed you that you cannot save yourself? Has he showed you that without justification you are condemned already? Has he revealed Jesus Christ to you? Has he showed you Jesus the sin bearing Savior? Has he showed you Jesus "The Lord our Righteousness"?

If so, have you believed upon the Lord and trusted him for salvation? These are his words, and these are his promises:

Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

If you believe him let it be known by your obedience to the command of Baptism.