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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God sometimes I think we should move some people over to to balance it out I feel like the building's going to tip well for our call to worship tonight you can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 22 Psalm 22 a familiar Psalm a Psalm of the Cross but it moves from the the the cross and crucifixion of Our Lord to his exaltation so I want to read the latter verses beginning in verse 25 to the end of Psalm 22 my praise shall be of you in the great assembly I will pay my vows before those who fear Him the poor shall eat and be satisfied those who seek Him will praise the Lord let your heart live forever all the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the Nations shall worship before you for the kingdom is the Lords and he rules over the Nations all the prosperous of the Earth shall eat and worship all those who go down to the dust shall bow before him even he who cannot keep himself alive a posterity Shall Serve him it will be recounted of the Lord to the Next Generation they will come and declare his righteousness to a people who will be born that he has done this amen we please turn to Psalm 93 Psalm 93 will stand as we sing together [Music] the Lord [Music] [Applause] Mighty the Lord for and of the oers of the unchanging is the and the US [Music] for let us pray our blessed God we praise you that your Holiness does adorn your house house and we praise you that your grace and your mercy has brought us nigh we bless you for this glad hour we pray that you would be honored and enthroned upon the Praises of your people here you would be glorified and praised and as we hear the word of God proclaimed you would give us ears to hear and hearts to receive that truth and may you sanctify Us by it we ask God in heaven that you would be well pleased to send forth your Holy Spirit promote in us that reverence that is fitting and due for such a great and awesome God and may it be mingled with that joy and that Thanksgiving and gratitude for those who have been saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ Alone we ask now that you would forgive us for all of our sin and unrighteousness we pray for that cleansing uh Power uh that we have in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that it would be applied to us you would fit us for corporate worship and in all of this Lord God may we respond in a way that is well pleasing in your sight we pray for our brother tonight that you would fill him with the holy spirit that as we hear this wonderful doctrine of justification by faith alone that it would encourage us build us up in our Most Holy Faith and cause us once again to reflect on what we have in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for that life of of perfect obedience under the law and that death is a a substitute and a sacrifice on the cross that Resurrection the third day and his Ascension on high in that current session now at the right hand of God Almighty we look forward to his return again in glory to judge the living and the dead and we thank you that we are clothed in his righteousness we pray for any and all here tonight that are dead in their trespasses and sins that you would give them ears to hear and hearts to believe that truth that by Jesus Christ Alone is their salvation we've asked that you would look with favor upon the temporal needs in our congregation we think of anakah we pray that she would recover well from this surgery we pray that you would bless her just cause her body to to heal properly we also pray again for the for the stules that you would bless them in that long journey to alasa may they settle there and may it be a great means of encouragement to them and may you help them and guide them and just cause them to walk in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit we pray for those sick in our midst we just commend them to you and to the word of your grace we pray that they would know The Nearness of God as their good in the midst of trial and affliction and hardship for all of us God as as with reference to the spiritual trials that we face and the various Temptations we pray that you would fill us with the power of the spirit that we might resist those things that we might pursue Holiness those things that are pleasing in the sight of a Thrice holy God we ask for your blessing to be upon other churches in our community we thank you that we're not alone in this town of chilak we pray for those who are Faithfully proclaiming Your Truth we think of Pastor cman and Pastor champ and others Lord we pray that they would be bold men and courageous men to Proclaim that glorious truth of Jesus Christ and him crucified we pray for the churches in our association we think particularly tonight of the brethren in sui we thank you for pastor Kirk Patrick and pray for your blessing upon this man that he would Faithfully handle the word of God and that you would just use him for your glory in that part of the world be with Pastor arm uh Pastor malar's in Armstrong and just look with favor upon that church bless him and hunts as they labor in the word and in Doctrine and as they minister to that congregation be with the brethren in pinoca and in Medicine Hat and in Regina and God be glorified in each of these places we thank you for the good reports that we receive on a regular basis from Elder we pray for those men that they would glorify you and that they would be found faithful as well God bless the Saints in mianmar the great suffering that goes on there regularly we do pray for a ceasefire in that land we pray for your protection to be around that compound for Peter and for his family and for all of the orphans under his care God just give them the grace to persevere in the midst of these things and Supply their needs for food and shelter and clothing and that protection from from bullets and bombs and all the other ravages of war and God bless the persecuted Church those suffering for your cause throughout this world we know just a tiny tiny fraction of what's actually happening we pray for your people under oppression under persecution we pray God that you would give them what they stand in need of to Faithfully uh testify concerning the Lord Jesus Christ even unto death and God be glorified throughout the world bless the proclamation of your truth may it run swiftly and be glorified and may you save from every tribe and tongue and people and nation and God give us that that bold confidence that the Book of Revelation sets forth when that great day comes there'll be a great multitude that no man can number we know that Jesus builds his church and that the Gates of Hell cannot Prevail against it and in this we greatly Rejoice so God be with us now we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen we can turn again with me in your hym books to 450 450 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] of my soul let to th the still is I the oh my savior High Till the S of my sing to the will receive my soul and [Music] God my hel andfor all my on is oh I the I sh of want in the I prise the of p s and of just and holy is my name I am all un ch all of s I am of Truth and prise found praise to God all my S the heing stre keep the let he take [Music] bring with my [Music] heart turn with me in your Bibles to Judges chapter 6 for our scripture reading this evening Judges chapter 6 as we work our way through the Old Testament as we remember in the book of Jos judges you've got a series of Cycles you've got sin on the part of the people God raises up foreign oppressors the people repent actually not repent they usually cry out in distress not with repentance and then the Lord raises up a deliverer for them in this particular section we've got the call and commission of Gideon so I'll begin reading in judges 6 at verse one then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of of the Lord so the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years and the Hand of Midian prevailed against Israel because of the midianites the children of Israel made for themselves the dens the caves and the strongholds which are in the mountains so it was whenever Israel had swn midianites would come up also am malachit and the people of the East would come up against them then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza and leave no sustenance for Israel neither sheep nor Ox nor donkey for they would come up with their Livestock in their tents coming in as numerous as locusts both they and their camels were without number and they would enter the land to destroy it so Israel was greatly impoverished because of the midianites and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord and it came to pass when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the midianites that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel who said to them thus says the Lord God of Israel I brought you up up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you and drove them out before you and gave you their land also I said to you I am the Lord your God do not fear the gods of the amorites in whose land you dwell but you have not obeyed my voice now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the tabin tree which was in ofra which belonged to joash the Abby AB eite while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the wine press in order to hide it from the midianites and the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him the Lord is with you you mighty man of Valor Gideon said to him oh my Lord if the Lord is with us why then has all this happened to us and where are all his miracles which our fathers told us about saying did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt but now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the midianites then the Lord turned to him and said go in this might of yours and you shall save Israel from the hand of the midianites have I not sent you so he said to him oh my oh my Lord how can I save Israel indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my father's house and the Lord said to him surely I will be with you and you shall defeat the midianites as one man then he said to him if now I have found favor in your sight then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me do not depart from here I pray until I come to you and bring out my offering and set it before you and he said I will wait until you come back so Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and and unle bread from anha of flour the meat he put in a basket brought them out to him I'm sorry the meat he put into a basket and he put the broth in a pot and he brought them out to him under the tabin tree and presented them the angel of God said to him take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock and pour out the broth and he did so then the angel of the Lord put but out they ended the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread and fire rose out of the Rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread and the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight now Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord so Gideon said alas oh Lord God for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face then the Lord said to him peace be with you do not fear you shall not die so Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it the Lord is peace to this day it is still in ofra of the ab asites now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him take your father's young Bowl the second bowl of 7 years old the second bowl of s years old and tear down the altar of baale that your father has and cut down the wooden image that is beside it and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper Arrangement and take the second bowl and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down so Gideon took 10 men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him but because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much to do it by day he did it by night and when the men of the city arose early in the morning there was the altar of Baal torn down and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down and the second Bull was being offered on the altar which had been built so they said to one another who has done this thing and when they had inquired and asked they said Gideon the son of joash has done this thing then the men of the city said to joash bring out your son that he may die because he has torn down the altar of Baal and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it but joash said to all who stood against him would you plead for Baal would you save him let the one who would plead for him be put to death by mourning if he is a God let him plead for himself because his altar has been torn down therefore on that day he called him jerb Bale saying let Baal plead against him because he has torn down this altar his altar then all the midianites and amalekites the people of the East gathered together and they crossed over and encamped in the valley of jezel but the spirit of the Lord Came Upon Gideon and he blew the trumpet and the ab asites gathered behind him and he sent Messengers throughout all manessa who also gathered behind him he also sent Messengers to Asher zebulun and naph and they came up to meet them so Gideon said to God if you will save Israel by my hand as you have said look I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor if there is dew on the fleece only and it is dry on all the ground then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand as you have said and it was so when he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together he rung the Dew out of the fleece a bowl full of water then Gideon said to godo not be angry with me but let me speak just once more let me test I pray just once more with the fleece let it now be dry only on the fleece but on all not only on the fleece but on all the ground let there be due and God did so that night it was dry on the fleece only but there was due on all the ground amen well you see the nature of this particular oppressor the midianites would come and go scorched Earth basically depriving the Israelites of their food and all that they stood in need of in terms of sustenance and as I mentioned in verse 6 Israel was greatly impoverished because of the midianites and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord so basically in these Cycles they don't cry out in Repentance they cry out because they're hurting they're in distress but the wonderful thing is is that God nevertheless comes God nevertheless promises a deliverer and in this particular instance he he calls Gideon if you drop down to verse 14 notice and you shall save Israel from the hand of the midianites very typical prefiguring our lord Jesus who will save his people from their sins but back up to verse six so they cry out to the Lord God and then in verses 7 to 10 notice what the Lord God does he sends them a prophet Dale Ralph Davis makes a a similar analogy or an illustration he said if you broke down you were driving somewhere and your car broke down and you called the garage and the garage sent a lawyer you would be a bit distressed you'd wonder why would he send a lawyer that's not what I need I need somebody that can fix my car well in this particular instance God doesn't send the deliverer right away he sends a prophet and basically what Israel needed to know was that they didn't just need deliverance from this present distress they needed ongoing repentance they needed to live in light of God's holy law they needed to live in light of God's covenant that they had sworn to be faithful in so the prophet comes to first point out the real issue involved it's not just a midianite problem it's a sin problem and if you don't repent before God most high you're going to have midianites you're to have a malachite you're going to have every I that this hostile world has to throw your way so God deals with them according to his grace and according to his mercy and according to what they desperately needed to hear and then on the heels of that prophetic warning he raises up Gideon who would be the Savior for his people well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for This Book of Judges and how it prefigures and typifies for us the Lord Jesus Christ who saves his people from their sins as well God may we learn what we see in passages like these how good that you are these people called out in distress not because they wanted to repent or get things right but because they were hurting and impoverished and you never the less heard them we ask God that you would help us to be faithful before you and to that end fill us with your Holy Spirit for we know that in our own selves in our own strength we can do nothing we thank you for your provision in the gospel we thank you for all that you give us every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus so sanctify Us by your truth your word is truth and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen will you can turn with me for our hymn before the preaching of God's word 381 381 will stand as we sing together and glor and power and to and are the king of the ground and [Music] the his Earth with glor [Music] and and mountain and power his PR and of his [Music] I the S and a Jo [Music] end BL and and glory and praise this is the of the we the glor and praise to the L we are and the sing a song of the that was [Music] SL to [Music] good evening to everyone you can turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Galatians Chapter 2 Galatians 2 just a a reminder where we finished off last time we were looking at uh continuing to look at the Apostle Paul's autobiographical defense of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as we'll see the the the doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ here touches upon the doctrine of justification by faith alone we ended at verse 16 last time where the Apostle Paul effectively gives a five-fold emphasis upon the reality of justification by F faith alone negatively stating that it is not by The Works of the law and positively stating that that it is by just uh that it is by faith alone that justification is by faith alone and this whole section we're going to read 11-6 um th this whole section is still the Apostle Paul giving that defense his autobiographical defense and from verse uh from uh verse 14 the end of verse 14 or the middle of verse 14 all the way through to the end of the chapter is his recollection of and his uh giving of the history of his opposition to the Apostle Peter standing in uh in the face of Peter and defending the doctrine of justification by faith alone the quote does not end at the end of uh at the end of verse 15 or verse 14 but continues all the way to verse 21 so now I'm going to read uh I'm going to read verse 11 to verse 16 you'll remember if you were here last time I preach that I said we were going to do an excursus on the doctrine of justification by faith alone so that's what we're doing tonight uh from verse 16 this is Galatians 2 beginning at verse 11 the word of God now when Peter had come to Antioch I withstood him to his face because he was to be blamed for before certain men came from James he would eat with the Gentiles but when they came he withdrew and separated himself fearing those who were of the circumcision and the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy but when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the Gospel I said to Peter before them all if you being a Jew live in the manner of Gentiles and not as Jews why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews we who are Jews by nature and not Sinners of the Gentiles knowing that a man is not justified by The Works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by The Works of the law for by The Works of the law no flesh shall be justified amen well let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this your word of Truth we pray that you would help us now as we engage in this act of worship the preaching of your word uh do be with preacher be with hearer help us to honor and glorify you we pray that your word would be proclaimed accurately uh Lord God and that your people would be lifted up en couraged that they would be strengthened by the spirit in accordance with your word and that Sinners would be saved and that this whole exercise of worship would be unto the praise of Father Son and Holy Spirit and we pray in the name of Jesus Christ Our Savior amen amen well the doctrine of justif ification by faith alone is is a I I don't even want to just say a significant doctrine of Christianity it is but it is an absolutely vital Doctrine to maintain as Christians it touches upon the heart the very heart of Christianity the very heart of the Gospel uh Martin Luther wrote this one and firm Rock which we call the doctrine of justification is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine which comprehends the understanding of of all godliness if the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the pillar and ground of the truth and it is as we heard this morning from from Pastor Butler if the church is the pillar and ground of the truth then it is to Proclaim it is to teach and it is to defend the doctrine of justification by faith alone uh this is John Gil he's writing on he he's commenting on Jude 3 in Jude 3 we we read uh Jude writing that we are to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the Saints and as it's been identified before the the faith there doesn't mean our psychic Act of believing the act of the mind and in laying hold of Christ but the objective content of Christian truth and John Gil writes this and he's including justification as a cardinal doctrine of course within the scheme of Christian truth the the faith that is the faith once for all delivered to the Saints designs the whole scheme of Evangelical truths to be believed such as the doctrine of the Trinity the deity and sunship of Christ the Divinity and personality of the spirit what regards the state and condition of Man by Nature as the doctrines of the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity the corruption of Nature and the impotence of men to that which is good what concerns the ACT of Grace in the father son and spirit towards and upon the sons of men as the doctrines of everlasting love Eternal election the Covenant of Grace particular Redemption justification by the imputed righteousness of Christ pardon and Reconciliation by his blood regeneration and sanctification by the grace of the spirit final perseverance the resurrection of the dead and the future glory of the Saints with Christ this is said to be delivered to the Saints so these doctrines delivered to us are to be held fast they're to be held with an unswerving grip and justification by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ is one of those that is to be so gripped at the time of the Apostle Paul besides the judaizers which were are defined in this context and uh being targeted in this context or opposed with the truth in this context there would have also been Gentiles who would oppose the doctrine of justification by faith alone exalting moral Excellence uh exalting uh philosophical Enlightenment uh exalting civic virtue as those things which commend us to the Divine in at the time of the reformation and through the post-reformation era in the 17th Century there was the Roman Catholic Church that opposed justification the Armenians opposed justification by faith alone as defined in the scriptures the socinians the general Baptists the neon nomans Allah Richard Baxter in the 17th century they all opposed the doctrine of justification by faith alone and in our own time these things remain in one form or another so it is good for us to come often to justification by faith alone as we seek to Proclaim to teach and to defend So Glorious a Doctrine we simply want to do four things tonight we want to look at a definition of justification the foundation of justification we want to look at the transaction in justification and then we want to look at the instrument in justification so first off a definition of justification what does itan mean well first off it is a legal declaration that is set in opposition to condemnation if we look at people everywhere every human being stands under one particular legal declaration in the courtroom of Heaven it is either that man a man is Justified that a sinner a man or woman boy or girl is Justified or that they are condemned and so justification is a legal declaration set in opposition to condemnation you can turn with me in the Old Testament to the Book of Proverbs Proverbs 17 Proverbs 17 well I try to fix a disobedient button on my shirt that is bringing much frustration Proverbs SE no success Proverbs 17 and verse 15 notice this juxtaposition or this opposition that we find here with justification and condemnation and as we read this verse we need to to bring the the weight of its meaning into our discussion of justification by faith alone the Holiness of God and the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ notice Proverbs 175 he who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the just both of them alike are an Abomination to the Lord so there is this two-fold there is a a two-fold judical status or a two-fold legal or forensic status that man has before a courtroom the an Earthly courtroom either one is innocent or guilty either one is Justified or one is condemned and there is one uh uh there are two positions before the Divine magistrate the courtroom of Heaven one is either Justified or one is condemned John gil on this particular text speaking of its meaning uh these uh both justification and condemnation held together and considered being contrary to Law And Justice and the declared will of God and or the orders and instructions given by him to judges such an abominal abominable action and he's speaking specifically here uh he who justifies the wicked such an abominable uh abominable action were the Jews guilty of in Desiring barabus a wicked man to be released and Christ the just one to be condemned and pilate in complying with them from this passage we learn that the word justify is used in a forensic sense or a legal sense sense for pronouncing persons just in a court of jic and in which sense it is used in the article of a sinner's justification before God it's used in this sense you can turn with me to the Book of Romans because it is used in this sense there in Romans chap 5 and as you're turning there one of the most important questions ever asked was asked by job now the most important question ever asked was asked by the Lord Jesus Christ who do men say that I the son of man am so the most important question ever asked by one who is not both God and man in one person was asked by job how can a man be righteous before God how can a man be righteous before God how can a man be justified and not condemned before God and notice this language of condemnation and justification at Verse 18 of Romans 5 therefore as through one man's offense judgment or uh judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation even so through one man's righteous act the free gift came to all men resulting in in justification of life so justification is a legal declaration that is set in opposition to condemnation which is likewise a legal declaration secondly justification is an act of free Grace th this is one of the reasons why the Apostle Paul is so adamant is so opposed is being so pical against these judaizers because it is an affront to the amazing grace of God to say that somehow mutilated foreskin can Avail with the Holy One Of Heaven to say that calendar obedience can can Avail with the Holy One Of Heaven to say that our Washings our ceremonies and our sacrifices can Avail with the Holy One Of Heaven so justification is uh Divine Act of free Grace and you can move back to the book of Galatians because the Apostle Paul uses the language of Grace here as he is arguing for the doctrine of justification by faith alone and this first instance in Galatians 1 comes as he's setting up this uh this anathematizing that he engages in a dedicating those who oppose the gospel to destruction may God in effect dedicate these who these to destruction who would oppose the doctrine of justification by faith alone and he frames it within the rubric of divine and Victorious Grace notice at Galatians 1 at verse 6 I Marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel and then in our own chapter chapter 2 at verse 21 I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness comes through the law then Christ died in vain so justification is a Divine Act of free Grace it you can recall that West minian definition justification is an act of God's free Grace wherein he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone it is an act of free and Victorious Grace notice as well in the Book of Romans and this will bring us in in introduce a a brief discussion on a multifaceted view of justification by faith alone with regards to it being a free Divine act gifted to those who were pre-ordained before the foundation of the world to a veil of the perfect work of Jesus Christ the savior in Romans three we have this wonderful language and this is a a a wonderful connected passage to our passage of Galatians 2:16 we're Justified not by The Works of the law but by faith in Christ notice in Romans 3 at verse 24 uh well we'll back up to verse 21 but now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed being witnessed by the law and the prophets even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe for there is no difference for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God now notice being justified freely by his grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus we're Justified freely by his grace it's not something we work for it's not something that we Merit but it is a free gift from God by virtue of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ and so there's this multifaceted view that we have of justification in our text Galatians 2:16 it's justified by faith here we see being justified freely by his grace there's also a passage in Romans 5 that speaks thirdly that we are justified by Blood notice in Romans 5 at verse 9 much more then having now been justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him notice in all of these man is removed from the equation that our works that our righteousnesses that our Deeds Done are completely excluded from the equation of justification it's by faith that is as we'll see the instrument which lays hold of the objective perfect finished work of Jesus Christ it's by grace and it's by the very Bloodshed of the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ so justification is a legal declaration and it is a Divine Act of free Grace it is decreed in eternity God purposed before the foundation of the world that in due time Christ would come historically truly really to procure justification for his people and then in time the Holy Spirit effectually calls us by the proclamation of the word and we are freely Justified we're imputed uh we're we're reckoned as righteous by virtue of the Glorious work of the Lord Jesus Christ it's decreed in eternity it's procured at the cross and it's applied in time so that's a definition of justification and as we move along it'll be further defined with more flesh upon the bones but secondly what is the foundation of justification so if justification is a legal declaration by God that a sinner is righteous is Justified what is the foundation of that justification we could say what is the basis what is the ground what is the very substance of our justification well first off negatively because our text in Galatians uses negative language not by for example The Works of the law so first off it is not by infused righteousness works the Act of Faith or Evangelical obedience our confession uses this language that justification uh comes not by infusing righteousness into them that is those who are effectually called not for anything wrought in them or done by them not by imputing faith itself the act of believing or any other Evangelical obedience to them as their righteousness why were they so thorough in articulating that why is the Apostle Paul so thorough but historically why were these confessionals so thorough in articulating justification that way well it's because in their context and in the context of of Christians throughout the history of the world similar errors have obtained but in their context they have the Roman Catholics who were arguing that justification is by an infused righteousness that is we're Justified it is a a conflation of justification with sanctification that there may be this initial Act of justification but we are further justified by God infusing righteousness into us and ultimately our works are the final determiner for salvation so they had the Roman Catholics not by infusing righteousness into them not not for anything wrought in them or done by them probably again the the Roman Catholics but also including as as we could note the Armenians the general Baptists the socinians Thomas Coler who was an opponent uh and the Richard Baxter uh the Richard bter uh neonian not by imputing faith itself the act of believing or any other Evangelical obedience to them as their righteousness that language of Evangelical obedience probably has more to do with uh uh the the neonian Group which means new law it is that Christ inaugurates this new new way of obtaining righteousness before God that it's not according to the old way but there is a new way now where by our Evangelical obedience almost by this reduced law of requirements before God we can we can gain a spirit rought justification in doing those things which are pleasing in the sight of God the apostle Paul by virtue of his opposition to the judaizers says no it is not by such things not by infused righteousness not by our works not by the act of faith that is our Act of believing isn't that which justifies us nor is it by Evangelical obedience so then what is it by before we get there listen to Owen on this he's bringing condemnation and justification into this discussion about how a man is Justified a man a woman a boy or a girl how a sinner can be justified wherefore as condemnation is not the infusing of a habit of wickedness into him that is condemned no more is justification the change of a person from inherent unrighteousness to righteousness by the infusion of a principle of Grace but a s sentential declaration of him to be righteous a legal a forensic justification or Declaration of The Sinner to be righteous so then if it isn't by infused righteousness if it's not by works if it's not by The Act of Faith if it's not by Evangelical obedience then what is the foundation what is the ground what is the basis what is the substance of our justification well positively and gloriously it is The Obedience and satisfaction of Jesus Christ Our Savior what a what a blessed thing to to sing a that my hope is built on nothing less than jesus' blood and righteousness that that himym immediately and explicitly touches upon what we're talking about this evening if you're here this evening and you're a Christian your hope is built on nothing less than Jesus uh blood and righteousness it it it certainly isn't built on anything more either because nothing more is needed nothing can be added to that which is gloriously perfect his blood his righteousness the our confession of Faith after saying what justification is not says that God uh justifies those who are effectually called by pardoning their sins and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous by imputing Christ's active obedience to the whole law and his passive obedience in his death for their whole and soul righteousness turn with me to Philippians for a moment you're you're no doubt very very familiar with this passage another one that intimately connects to what we're discussing this evening the doctrine of justification by faith alone and there's language in here that the Apostle Paul is using that um he's targeting a very same type or group of people the judaizers who were seeking to spoil who were seeking to steal away those from the truth to another gospel which is no gospel at all and here he calls them dogs evil workers and the mutilation notice at Philippians 3 at verse three uh at verse two rather beware of dogs beware of evil work workers Beware of the mutilation for we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh though I also might have confidence in the flesh if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh I more so circumcised The Eighth Day of the stock of Israel of The Tribe of Benjamin a Hebrew of the Hebrews concerning the law a Pharisee concerning Zeal persecuting the church Church concerning the righteousness which is in the law blameless now just pause for a moment those in galatia that Paul is dealing with would be thinking the same way they had confidence in the flesh not only were they boasting in their own flesh their own circumcision their own so-called obedience to the Mosaic precepts but they were boasting in the foreskins that they were mutilating uh from the Gentiles that they were getting Gentile converts to to circumcise their flesh and to engage in Mosaic ritual which was supposed to be brought to an end when Christ came when the substance had come what further need was there of the Shadow as athanasius said and so these had confidence in the flesh but notice that all confidence in flesh is to be cast aside and confidence alone is solely to be put in Jesus Christ the blessed savior notice Paul's postconversion um reflection here but what things were gained to me verse 7 these I have counted lost for Christ yet indeed I also count all things lost for the Excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him notice not having my own righteousness which is from the law but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness which is from God by faith a glorious reflection that we're we're not boastful and if we are we're only boastful in one thing and that is our savior the Lord Jesus Christ the Apostle Paul uses that language in the book of Galatians in Galatians 6 God forbid that I should boast save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and here we have the reality that our boast is and cannot be in us but is solely and alone in the Christ who himself is our righteousness not having my own righteousness which is from the law but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness which is from God through faith the the Old Testament speaks of our justification the New Testament does as well but first let's go to the Old Testament you can turn to Isaiah 61 with me the Old Testament speaks with regards to our Salvation our justification in the language of receiving clean and pure robes as we've heard before we as Christians wear Christ's Robes of righteousness we we're decked not in our own righteousnesses because they're filthy rags but we're dressed and we're robed and were bed decked in the robes given to us by Christ the Robes of righteousness notice in Isaiah 61 at verse 10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord my soul shall be joyful in my God for he has clothed me with the garments of Salvation he has covered me with the robe of righteousness why why do we rejoice in God there are a number of reasons why we ought to rejoice in God one of those Chief reasons is of course that he has clothed us clothed Us in the garments of Salvation and he's covered Us in the Robes of righteousness what a glorious statement you can turn to Zechariah as we read one more old test passage and then see the parallels in the New Testament in Zechariah 3 we have that wonderful account of the justification of this one that we read of in verse 4 notice in verse four of Zechariah 3 then he answered and spoke to those who stood before him saying take away the filthy garments from him and to him he said see I have removed removed your iniquity from you and I will clothe you with Rich robes and I said let them put a clean turban on his head so they put a clean turban on his head and they put the clothes on him and the angel of the Lord stood by it's wonderful picture in justification in Salvation by So Glorious a God and by Amazing Grace our filthy robes are removed from us and these rich clean glorious white robes washed in the very blood of the Lord Jesus Christ are put upon us you can turn in the New Testament to the Book of Revelation first in Revelation 7 this wonderful picture that we have here at verse 13 then one of the elders answered saying to me who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from and I said to him sir you know so he said to me these are the ones who come out of the Great Tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb and Revelation 19 Revelation 197 to8 wonderful language here as well let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready and to her was granted to be arrayed in fine linen clean and bright for the fine linen is the righteous Act of the Saints a wonderful declaration with regards to the righteousness that is given to us pictured as these rich and white robes and so let's just think for a moment going back to Paul's situation in galatia what is it to argue that Christ is not quite enough but we need to also add circumcision we need to add the works of the law we we need to add Washings and ceremonies and calendar observance as well to really truly and finally be justified before God what is it to say that it is to say that we need to in effect sew our filthy rags of unrighteousness or we could say our righteousnesses which are like filthy rags to sew them as some sort of Patchwork upon the perfect and clean robes the beautious robes that Christ has clothed us with what an offense against the holy God what an offense against the perfect and glorious work of the Lord Jesus Christ to say even in the smallest smallest measure that our works before God can somehow commend us to him that we can be saved in any measure by the doing of righteous Deeds positively speaking our justification the foundation for it rests upon Christ's obedience and satisfaction and as we look upon our own careers as Sinners as we look back Upon Our Deeds as we look back upon our our sinfulness prior to Grace coming in So Glorious uh a manner but even afterwards as those marked by remaining corruption we see ourselves as those who do certainly fall short of the glory of God there was only one who was obedient there is only one who merits there is only one whose Works count for justification and that is Jesus Christ Our blessed savior if we trace the history of redemption uh from Adam to the last breathing human justification has been and always will be by faith in the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ what do we see in Adam we see a Son of God who was given a command who was given commands under Covenant the Covenant of Works he broke those and became a disobedient son thrusting Humanity into sinfulness transgression and depravity we also see another Adam in Israel another Son of God that was supposed to be obedient but was not failing miserably and becoming another disobedient son just like Adam then we have another son who comes the Son of God who takes upon himself man's nature for our Redemption and for our recovery and who of course is not disobedient but is the obedient and last Adam and is the obedient son that Israel failed to be and all of his work is rendered and done for us substitution arily that is in our place the Blessed substitute our Lord Jesus Christ as the confession says his active obedience unto the whole law and his passive obedience in his death his blood and his righteousness for our whole and soul righteousness the transaction in justification is as we said previously not infusion but imputation and does the bible teach this because there are some who would say the Bible doesn't teach imputation that's uh that's a a vapor that's a phantom that's uh something even laughable the Bible doesn't teach it well we see in 2 Corinthians 5 that the Bible most certainly does teach the doctrine of imputation and here it speaks with regards to the language of making Christ something and giving us something in this trans transactional reality notice in 2 Corinthians 5 at: 20 now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us we implore you on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God for and the he is God the father and the hymn is the son the mediator for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him what a what a blessed transaction that we have in the perfect work of the mediator the Lord Jesus Christ God makes him who knew no sin in his divinity of course he is sinless It's Curious even to use that language because uh of course the Divine is without sin but in his Humanity he is Holy and harmless and undefiled for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us and this blessed transaction in return so our sins are heaped upon the Savior our guilt is imputed to the Savior that we might become the righteousness of God in him his in innocence his obedience the Perfection of his act of obedience unto the whole law is imputed to us for our righteousness and we get pardon of sin by virtue of his perfect work at Calvary what a glorious gospel we have you can see why the Apostle Paul goes through pains why the Apostle Paul endured so many hardships for the gospel of Saving Grace it's because that is what was at stake the very Gospel of Saving Grace it was an absolute affront to say that anything save for the perfect work of Christ is that which is the foundation of our justification such that he would uh he would anathematize anyone that these should be damned to destruction who would oppose the gospel of Saving Grace and notice the instrument in justification is faith alone our confession says that this imputing of Christ's Act of righteous AC of obedience to the whole law and passive obedience in his death for their whole and soul righteousness is by faith which faith we have not of ourselves it is the gift GI of God so when we read this language in Galatians 2 at verse 16 that we're justified by faith that does not mean that we're justified by our Act of believing but rather through faith through that that empty hand that receives the Divine gift we lay hold of that which truly does justify us the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ when God effectually calls us he freely justifies us giving us that Faith by which we lay hold of the Savior the King of Kings the Lord of lords the one who perfected obedience the one who died as a substitute that he might bring many sons to glory and so our justification as the Apostle Paul says here not by Deeds of righteousness not by The Works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ and hopefully we've seen what that in only a small period of time what that entails and what an affront it is to God to the cross and what a what an uplifting and exaltation it is to man to defy the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone imagine these judaizers asserting that the one who is infinite Eternal and unchangeable in his Holiness except Sinners if they cut off their foreskin accepts Sinners as those meritorious earners of Salvation who who obey calendar events and who engage in Washings and ceremonies and what an exaltation it is to man to lift him up from out of his depravity out of his transgressions and out of his sins to say that he can somehow Merit his justification a by the cutting off of foreskin by the mutilation of Flesh and by obedience to the law of God and what an affront it is to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ to say that we can add to his act of obedience and his sacrifice upon calvary's cross truly the Apostle Paul spoke words of clarity and severity and significance when he wrote I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteous comes through the law then Christ died in vain and Brethren the the judaizers are still with us the the Roman Catholics are still with us the Armenians are still with us the general Baptists are still with us if you want a qualification on that you can come ask me afterwards the socinians are still with us the baans and the neonomi those who deny just Jus ification by faith alone are still with us those who deny the active Obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ are still with us we need to like the Apostle Paul have that unswerving grip upon justification by faith alone as we Proclaim and as we teach and as we defend the doctrine of justification by faith alone let us glory in its truth and and as a church let's often return to it you know why it's so important to often return to justification by faith alone well a because it's glorious it exalts God it lifts up the cross it puts man properly where he ought to be but also because we're so forgetful we're such a forgetful people you we read in the Apostle Paul in Peter and in Jude language like pretty much saying how did you guys forget this already I need to remind you even though you know this already why because our flesh lusts against the spirit and we need the proclamation of justification by faith alone we need the proclamation of the true and saving gospel so that we can be fed until that great day when we're brought into emanuel's land where there is no more sin where there is no more transgression where there are no more judaizers where the flesh does not lust against the spirit so Brethren Christians tonight your Assurance is grounded in Christ and not in self what's the extension of justification remember that justification is a declaration a once for all time declaration that a sinner is righteous based upon the finished perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ no one can be unjustified why because our justification rests upon Christ Alone the perfector of redemption and so our Assurance is grounded in Christ and it's not in self the believer has peace knowing that God's verdict is righteous in Christ what a blessed thing our Assurance does not rest upon our Deeds of righteousness done in the body our righteousness or our Assurance depends upon the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and the precious shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ Our Assurance is in Christ we don't look inwardly at the Motions of the spirit we look outwardly to the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high who is our justification who is our sanctification who is our righteousness who is Our Hope and if you're here tonight and you're outside of the Lord Jesus Christ your only hope is justification you presently rest under the abiding Wrath of one who is infinite Eternal and unchangeable in his Holiness and in his Justice your only hope is to be justified and it's not by Deeds of righteousness it's not by making yourself better it's not by moral reform it's not by philosophical Enlightenment it's not by civic virtue It Is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ look to him in faith and you will have his righteousness imputed to you and you will have the pardon of sins by virtue of of the Perfection of his shed blood let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your word we rejoice in your goodness to us and showing us the truth of justification there we see your glory Your Grace the Perfection of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ there we can see ourselves laid low in trespasses and sins we thank you that in due time you brought us forth uh For Your Glory by Amazing Grace to behold the riches and the excellencies of Jesus Christ who alone is our salvation we pray that you go with us into another week that you would help us Lord God to reflect often upon justification by faith alone that you would cause us to rejoice in this truth and that you would Lord God return us next Lord's Lord's day that we might return to this place that we might dwell upon the same God the same Christ and the same glory of the Gospel of Amazing Grace and we pray in Christ's name amen well let's stand together and sing the doxology 568 the doxology 568 all blessings PR All Creatures prise [Music] him PR son [Music] and now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to God our savior who alone is wise be glory and Majesty dominion and power both now and forever amen please be seated we'll have a brief time of prayer when the piano is finished you're dismissed e e e e for