Well, you can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 4. Romans 4, our focus this morning will be on verse 25, who was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification. But I wanna begin reading in chapter one to the end of the chapter. So beginning in Romans 4, one, what then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?

For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt.

But to him who does not work, but believes on him, who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only or upon the uncircumcised also?

For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.

And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith, which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith, which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath. For where there is no law, there is no transgression.

Therefore, it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations. In the presence of him whom he believed, God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did, who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, so shall your descendants be. And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead, since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb.

He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what he had promised he was also able to perform, and therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in him, who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification. Amen.

Well, let us pray.

Opening Prayer

Our God and our Father, we thank you for this wonderful passage of Holy Scripture, for the doctrine of justification by faith alone in our blessed Savior. As we celebrate today that empty tomb, the fact that He has risen, we come to you now and pray that you would be glorified as we consider Holy Scripture. We pray that your Spirit would guide us and lead us as we consider our blessed Savior and His work on our behalf. May you draw out our hearts in love and worship and praise and adoration, and may you further conform us unto his wonderful image.

We ask that you would forgive us now for all sin and transgression. Cleanse us in that precious blood of the Lamb. And again, we rejoice at what we find here summarized concerning the entirety of your gospel, the life, the death, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, that second person of the Trinity who came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation. We rejoice in this and we pray now for your blessing upon us.

And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, as I said, our focus will be on verse 25. We see the redemptive purpose behind the death of our Lord Jesus, but also the redemptive purpose behind his resurrection. But chapter 4, verse 25 does not appear all on its own. There is a context, and if you go back with me for just a moment by way of introduction, you'll notice what Paul's point is in the book of Romans as a whole in chapter 1 at verse 16.

He says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Now, this revelation of righteousness is not necessarily the perfection or the attribute of righteousness, though that is revealed in the gospel, but I think the apostle is speaking specifically concerning the righteousness that God demands and the righteousness that God wants. supplies. The apostle speaks of this in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 9. It was that which ultimately set the Reformation into play.

Martin Luther was convinced that it was the righteousness of God in terms of attribute or perfection and this kept him away. But he says when he comes to appreciate verses 16 and 17 in the first chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans, it was as it were heaven opened up, paradise opened up. when he realized that it was God who provides for needy sinners the righteousness that avails with God. So after that thesis statement about what Romans is going to be, he goes on then to set forth the bad news. So in chapter 1 verse 18 to chapter 3 and verse 20, he sets forth the reality that all men everywhere are sinful.

All men everywhere are liable to God's just judgment and punishment for their having sinned against a holy God. And then in chapter 3 at verse 21 to chapter 4 at verse 25, he speaks of justification by faith alone. So you'll notice a contrast. In 118, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness.

And then in 321, the contrast comes, but now the righteousness of God is revealed. And so he declares how it is that sinful man can be accredited with righteousness so that they may stand before and be accepted by a holy God. So he introduces that theme in chapter 3, verses 21 to 26, by first considering the righteousness of God in the gospel. In other words, what he says is that the cross does not compromise God's righteousness.

In fact, the cross publishes, sets forth, and declares the righteousness of God. And as he says in verse 26, so that God might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. He then emphasizes in chapter 3, verses 27 to 31, that it's faith alone. It is grace alone through faith alone.

It's not a combination of faith plus works. It is not a combination of what Christ has done and what we contribute, but rather it is faith alone. Notice what he says in verse 28. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

There's no introduction of human merit in God's acceptance of needy sinners. It's all about the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ. Continuing in this theme of justification by faith alone, he says, or he confirms, or he corroborates, that this has always been God's plan. This isn't some new thing in the New Covenant, but every sinner that's ever been accepted by God has come through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And he invokes two particular Old Testament examples. He points out Abraham. Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him or accounted unto him for righteousness. And then he points to David.

Notice what David says in the 32nd Psalm according to verses 7 and 8. And then he carries or goes back to Abraham and sets forth several concerns concerning Old Covenant and New Covenant, promise, faith, law, all those particulars. And then he comes to summarize how not only what Abraham has received and what David has received is what we in the New Covenant received. Notice in verse 23, now in chapter 4, now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us.

It shall be imputed to us who believe in him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. So he's saying that what God has done, what God has purposed, what God has planned, has come to pass. Not just in this new covenant era, it was there in the old covenant era, but they were looking forward to the Messiah. We now have this sort of backward look, at least in history, to the one who came, who lived, who died, and was raised again.

And then in verse 25, he says in verse 24, that we believe in him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. Verse 25 explains why he was dead. In other words, why did Christ die? Well, verse 25 explains that, and it does so encapsulating the entirety of the good news.

Matthew Poole says this one verse is an abridgment of the whole gospel. I don't think he's wrong. We have abridgments throughout scripture, 5-8 in Romans. God commends his own love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

If you had one text to present to a sinner in a crucial particular time, 5-8 would be wonderful. 4-25 would be as well. Hodge says this verse is a comprehensive statement of the gospel. The denial of the propitiatory death of Christ or of his resurrection from the dead is a denial of the gospel. So today we're not just marveling at the empty tomb as a sign of the power of God.

We marvel at it as a sign of the power of God, but as the basis upon which we are accepted with God Most High. In fact, when Christ cried, it is finished, he wasn't kidding. He wasn't joking. He had secured the salvation of all those whom the father had given him.

The Redemptive Purpose of Christ's Death

So let's look first at the redemptive purpose of the death of Christ in verse 25a. And then secondly, we'll notice the redemptive purpose of the resurrection of Christ in verse 25b. But notice verse 25, who was delivered up because of our offenses. Now, if you turn with me quickly to 1 Peter 2.

And I say quickly, so we don't extend our sermon until three o'clock, 1 Peter chapter 2. This is glorious stuff, brethren. This is the stuff upon which our souls hang. The gospel of our salvation, the reality of a crucified and resurrected Savior.

If you notice in 1 Peter chapter 2, specifically at verse 18, I'm sorry, verse 24, "...who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed." Now, he says this in the context of Christ as an example. If you look back at verse 21, "...for to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps." I think it's customary and commonplace for people to emphasize the exemplary mission of our blessed Savior. Look at the love that He demonstrated on the cross. We should go out and demonstrate that selfsame love.

Look at the sacrificial love that Christ demonstrated on the cross. Husbands, love your wives in that particular manner. There is an exemplary function in terms of what Christ has accomplished, but that's not the primary emphasis. That's not the primary focus in terms of His redemptive death.

It's about substitutionary atonement. It's about substitutionary curse-bearing. It's about the divine Son of God satisfying the wrath of the Father by His sufferings on our behalf. So it's not example that is first and foremost or where the accent falls in the death of the Redeemer.

Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians. He says, but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews, a stumbling block or a scandal. As far as the Jews were concerned, a crucified Messiah, that was like saying jumbo shrimp or military intelligence or old news. It was simply untenable to think about a crucified Messiah.

And yet Paul says, we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block or a scandal, and to the Greeks foolishness. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Not exemplary, but in terms of blood atonement. Not exemplary, but in terms of acceptance with God.

Again, I'm not denigrating the example of Jesus. Be more like him. Do what he does. That's a great thing.

But with reference to the coming of the Son of Man, the primary emphasis is upon His blood atonement for the sins of His people. So the death of Christ was, in fact, substitutionary atonement. Look back at verse 25 in chapter 4, who was delivered up because of our offenses.

The Nature of Our Offenses

Now, when we talk about offenses, it's not, you know, we've been rude a little better, we've had some issues or some challenges. No, Paul already explains to us what these offenses are. As I mentioned, beginning the gospel presentation, he starts with the bad news in Romans 1.18. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.

Now that's not an abstract statement on the part of the apostle. That's not left for us to try to fill in the blanks. What does he mean there by unrighteousness? What does he mean here in Romans 4.25 by offenses?

We'll turn back to Romans chapter 1 for just a moment. Notice what he says, specifically at verse 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to an abased mind, to do those things which are not fitting, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, but also approve of them who practice them.

When we go back to Romans chapter four at verse 25, and we read the language that Paul gives us, he was delivered up because of what? Our offenses, our sins, our transgressions, our iniquity, our violation of the holy law of God. So when we consider the Lord Jesus, He's not a hypothetical Savior for hypothetical sinners. He is a real Savior for real sinners.

I've often pondered that. We see these narratives in the gospel records. Then all the sinners and the tax collectors draw near to Him to hear Him. Do we think these were polished sinners?

Do we think they were good sinners? Do we think that You know, the extent of their sin was that they coveted another piece of bread at dinnertime. They sinned then like we sin now. We just happen to get better at it each and every succeeding generation, and we know more about it.

But Christ came to save his people from what? From their sins, their offenses, their depravity. In Exodus chapter 33, Moses says to the Lord, show me your glory. So God says, I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and it will cause all my goodness to pass by you.

What summarizes the goodness of God Most High? Or rather, how does goodness, or goodness is a summary statement of what particular perfections? Well, God reveals that in chapter 34, 6, and 7. He reveals to him that he's gracious.

He reveals to him that he's merciful. He reveals to him that he's long-suffering. He reveals to him that he will, in fact, forgive sin, transgression, and iniquity. He uses all three of those terms, and then he goes on to say that he will, by no means, clear the guilty.

See, it's not just the positive aspect of His grace and His mercy, but the very stability of the moral order depends on the fact that He's justice in punishing sin. And so when it comes to this demonstration of our offenses, of our transgression, of our wickedness or our lawlessness, it's real sin. In fact, turn to 1 Corinthians 6 for just a moment in terms of seeing a real Savior for real sinners. 1 Corinthians 6, specifically at verse 9. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived." Well, who's the unrighteous? What kind of offenses have they committed? What are their transgressions? What is their lawlessness?

What is their iniquity? What is it that they have lacked in terms of conformity unto the law of God? Notice he goes on to give it in the concrete, not just an abstract statement. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you. So in the context of the church in Corinth, they had had sodomites. In the context of the church at Corinth, they had had thieves. In the context of the church at Corinth, they had had adulterers.

In fact, Corinth became a verb in that particular time to mean something wicked and lawless, to Corinthianize, meant to engage in lawless behavior. Then notice, he says, in such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. So going back to Romans 4.25, the description of our offenses is simply a violation of the law of God. And when we look at the cross, we see love, we see mercy, we see grace, we see forgiveness, but according to Paul in Romans 3, 21 to 26, we see righteousness.

And when we see the Son of Man hung upon that cross, we see the exceeding wickedness of sin. What necessitated us going to heaven? or what was necessary in terms of us going to heaven. The Son of God, the Word who was with God, takes on our humanity, comes into this world, lives for us, dies for us, and is raised again for us, so that we might have everlasting life. Thomas Kelly in a particular hymn said, ye who think of sin but lightly, nor suppose the evil great, here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate.

Mark the sacrifice appointed, see who bears the awful load, tis the word, the Lord's anointed, son of man and son of God. So when you ponder the cross, ponder mercy, ponder grace, ponder love, but ponder righteousness as well and the exceeding wickedness of sin. So he was delivered up because of our offenses. Well, why is that?

Again, not simply as an example. Well, now you've got to go to a cross yourself. You've got to be nailed to it. And in doing so, dying that death, you will then enter into everlasting life.

No, Jesus was a public figure. Jesus was a federal head. Jesus was our representative in the new covenant. He was surety in the language of the book of Hebrews, so he takes our place.

He lives our life of obedience. He dies death so that we may be forgiven. And then he's raised again to secure the deal. And that's specifically what the apostle is alluding to.

So when we see this language, he was delivered up because of our offenses. God's justice demands the penalty and punishment of all transgressors. If you're not a Christian here today, you need to ponder this. You need to consider this, that God's justice demands that you must be punished for your sin and transgression against God.

Now it's at this point that people say, well, that's not fair. Why isn't it fair? A righteous God established a moral order and all you've ever done is raised your fist in his face and transgressed his holy law. And by the way, that law is good for us.

That law is blessed. That law is wonderful. It calls us to devote our attention to him and it calls us to love one another. It's only sin in the heart that would cause us to see this as a burden or to see this as something grievous.

So God Most High must punish sin. And that's how Romans ends, or not Romans, but the first section in Romans 3. Notice what he says in verses 19 and 20. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God, liable to His punishment, liable to His just judgment.

And then in verse 20, therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight. Why is that? Because your deeds of the law, your doing of them are not perfect. It's not exact, it's not entire, it's not perpetual.

It's hit and miss at best. And most of the times it's miss. He says, therefore by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin. So God's justice demands that we be delivered to hell because of our sins.

God's grace has provided for our sins, the son of God who dies for us and who's risen again. In the language of 2 Corinthians 5 21, another passage that ought to speak great comfort to the people of God. God the Father made Him, Christ the Son, who knew no sin, to be sin for us. That doesn't mean that he had personally engaged in acts of transgression.

It doesn't mean that he had lustful looks. It didn't mean that he had thievery or had conducted any of these things.

Imputation and Substitutionary Atonement

He was made sin by what's called imputation. God takes our sin and heaps it upon his son and punishes his son in our place. So God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So you see that blessed imputation takes our sin, puts it on the Savior, punishes the Savior in our stead, and then takes His righteousness and imputes it unto us.

This is why it's gospel. This is why it's good news. This is why we sing hymns of praise. This is why we look happy on Sunday.

This is why our hearts are busting out of our chest cavities, because we rejoice in what the Son of Man has done on our behalf. He was delivered up because of our offenses. God's Son is the perfect, spotless Lamb of God, who died in the place of guilty, vile sinners. It pleased Yahweh to bruise Him, the prophet says in Isaiah 53.

As well, we see the reality that in this section, notice, and specifically in verse 25, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood. So the Son of God was set forth by the Father in order to function as a propitiatory sacrifice. Now, that word is very important. That word assumes something.

That word assumes a breach between God and us. But not only a breach, it assumes God's wrath toward us. Remember Romans 118, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness. So we need propitiation.

We need somebody to take the wrath on our behalf. We need somebody to stand in our place. We need a substitute to provide atonement. We need a substitute to bring satisfaction.

We need someone not to deflect the wrath. That's not what Jesus does. Jesus takes the wrath for us. He stands in our place on that cross as our federal head, and he receives in his own person the very wrath and fury of God Most High.

It is blessing. And as we consider this statement in Romans 4.25, who was delivered up because of our offenses. Now when you consider the gospel narratives, you see the instrumentality of the Jewish leaders. They're certainly culpable.

They're certainly involved in, you know, leading the crowd, the hoi polloi, to say, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Certainly Pilate is culpable. Pilate knows that Jesus is innocent. Pilate confesses thrice that Jesus, or he says, I find no guilt in this man.

And yet nevertheless, he gives the execution order. But brethren, as we consider the reality here, we also notice our own sin, right? He was delivered up, why? Because of our offenses, not just the unbelieving Jews, not just those deplorable Romans, but he was delivered up because of our offenses, right?

What we had done necessitated the coming of the Son of Man in order to save His people from their sins. But notice where the emphasis lay here. He's delivered up. This is called a theological passive.

The deliverer up of Him is the Father. I've already cited Isaiah 53. It pleased Yahweh to bruise Him, or to crush Him, as the NASB takes it. It was the Father's plan.

Winslow says, who delivered up Jesus to die? Not Judas for money, not Pilate for fear, not the Jews for envy, but the Father for love. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. God commendeth his own love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

And here the emphasis falls upon the delivering up of the Son by the Father. Now, that doesn't mean that the Son is not willing. It does not mean that the Son goes without, you know, always kicking and screaming. In a demonstration of His humanity in the Garden of Gethsemane, He says, He says, Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass.

Nevertheless, Father, not my will, but thine be done. So Christ goes where the Father bids Him. Christ is the obedient, spotless Lamb of God. Christ satisfies all the requirements for the sacrifice that would be a veil for all of the people that the Father gave Him.

So Christ goes willingly. We've seen that in John 10. I lay down my life and I take it up again. Christ is a willing participant in the covenant of redemption.

Christ is a willing participant in this means by which God saves His people from their sins. The emphasis in this passage is on the delivering up to the cross by the Father. He always does what pleases the Father. My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me.

Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. Now brethren, according to his humanity, that's exactly what we'd expect. He knew that he was going to drink the cup of God's wrath. He knew what he was facing, not in terms of the brutality of the Roman soldiers, not in terms of the blasphemies of the unbelieving Jews, but in terms of the wrath of God Most High poured out upon him so that we might have everlasting life.

He was delivered up because of our offenses.

The Redemptive Purpose of Christ's Resurrection

Now notice, secondly, the redemptive purpose of the resurrection of Christ. doesn't stop there. He doesn't die a martyr's death, he dies the Savior's death, who was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification. Now, in this instance, we need to consider the fact of the resurrection. The one delivered up because of our offenses, the text tells us, was raised because of our justification.

Turn back to the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28, where you see the emphasis on the empty tomb. Matthew chapter 28, when the women come to the tomb, notice in verse five, the angel answered and said to the women, do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who is crucified. He is not here for he is risen.

As he said, come see the place where the Lord lay. He is risen. See, brethren, in the history of the world, in the history of religion, in the history of philosophy, leaders and rulers in those religions and philosophies weren't the Son of God. The Son of God came down from heaven, took on our humanity, the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.

And the word who became flesh lived again, a perfect life of obedience, who died a death as a malefactor, not for his own sins, but for ours. But he was raised again the third day. Death had no dominion over him. And this is precisely what the apostle is emphasizing here.

He was delivered up for our offenses or because of our offenses, but he was raised for our justification. Turn to John's gospel, John chapter 20. We have that wonderful encounter when Jesus appears to the disciples. And then the disciples go back to Thomas who had been absent.

And in John 20 at verse 24, now Thomas called the twin, one of the 12 was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, we have seen the Lord. Imagine that. What do you mean, you've seen the Lord?

You visited his tomb? You laid some flowers out there? You took some additional spices? What do you mean, we have seen the Lord?

I imagine that is what would creep into Thomas's mindset, especially as we follow the narrative. They come and they say, we have seen the Lord. So he said to them, unless Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. On the one hand, we can kind of sympathize with Judas.

He's hurting, he's pained. The Messiah, the rabbi that had been with them for those several years is now gone. He's probably got a bit of an ache. He's probably got that sense of loss and deprivation that somebody good in his life is no longer present.

But he really is arrogant. He really is, not just doubtful Thomas. He's arrogant Thomas. He has solidified Thomas.

Notice the conditions he lays down. Unless I see, unless I touch, I will not believe. It's not gonna happen. You've got an apostolic witness testifying right now to you that they've seen the Lord.

The Old Testament, our brother Mark read, not Mark, but Psalm 16. It's a psalm of the resurrection. Peter applies that to Jesus in Acts chapter 2. You have the Old Testament testimony, you have the New Testament witness, you have the reality of the empty tomb, and what does Thomas do?

I will not believe. That's not gonna happen. You're not just a skeptic. There's an arrogance.

There's a hardness of heart there. Notice in verse 26, and after eight days, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, peace to you. And he said to Thomas, reach your finger here and look at my hands, and reach your hand here and put it into my side.

Do not be unbelieving, but believing. If you ever doubt the grace, kindness, mercy, and patience of our blessed God, read passages like these. Read passages like these. I gotta be honest, brethren, if I knew that Thomas's attitude was like that, I'm not sure I'd be so conciliatory.

I'm not sure I'd speak specifically to his demands, speak specifically to his ask and say, go ahead. I invite you, Thomas, to verify. I invite you, Thomas, to confirm. I probably wouldn't be that gracious.

I apologize, but I'm just being honest here. But then notice what happens on the heels of this. Verse 28, Thomas answered and said to him, my Lord and my God, please don't miss John's purpose here. How does he begin his gospel presentation?

In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He never ceased being God while flesh.

He never got rid of deity or divinity. He didn't lay it aside. It wasn't that he wasn't exercising. It wasn't that he didn't have that prerogative.

The very beginning of John's gospel, the very end of John's gospel, is a confession of the divinity of our blessed Savior. Now Jesus does chide him. Jesus does rebuke him. Jesus does pronounce beatitude upon those who hear and by grace believe.

They don't have to see They don't have to have their senses involved. They don't have to see for themselves and engage the scientific method. Not that there's no scientific method. You've got witnesses all over the place confirming that empty tomb.

But back to our text, he's delivered up because of our offenses and he's raised for our justification. And again, it's the same sort of a thing that the father raised him. Not that the son does not have power. Jesus the Lord says that I have the power to take it and to lay it down and take it up again.

Something called the doctrine of inseparable operations. We can predicate any outward act of God to all three persons because they each have the divine essence. But in terms of appropriation, the emphasis again falls here on the father who not only delivered up the son to be crucified, but he raised up the son again to validate and to confirm and to bring to fruition the justification that we enjoy. This doctrine of the resurrection is essential.

It's not something that we just visit one time out of the year. In fact, the whole idea of an Easter Sunday, in some sense, is kind of I don't wanna say odd, but every Sunday is Easter Sunday, isn't it? Every Sunday is the Lord's day. Every Sunday there is that at least implicit confession on the part of all God's people that he is risen.

We're here because of what Romans 4.25 says. He was delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification and has justified men and women. We are in his presence to worship father, son, and Holy Spirit. So it is an absolutely essential doctrine.

The Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 15, if it didn't happen, if Christ stayed in that tomb, then your faith is vain. We're pitiable among men. The Apostles preached the resurrection much to the chagrin of Jews and much to the chagrin of the Romans. You see that competing narrative at the end of Matthew chapter 28.

The final statement is the Great Commission. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations. Prior to that, you have an anti-Great Commission. You have the plotting and the deception of the Jews, who cook up and concoct a story that, no, no, he didn't really raise from the dead.

That's not what happened. That didn't take place. Muslim theology is the same. Christ didn't die on the cross.

He was just severely wounded. He was just severely battered. They called it the swoon theory. He went into the tomb as a broken, battered man, but he wasn't dead.

And yet he comes out again, and so they ascribe to him this resurrection. Paul says if we deny the resurrection, there's no Christian faith. There's no Christianity. Again, we have a martyr who's done a good thing, but a martyr cannot save his people from their sins.

Only the Savior can save his people from their sins.

The Theology Behind the Resurrection

Now notice, not only the fact of his resurrection, but Paul gives us the theology behind the resurrection. You need to understand that. The Bible records historical fact, and then the apostles interpret those historical facts in terms of theology. He was delivered up.

We all agree. Jesus of Nazareth was put to death. Why is that? Because of our offenses.

Substitutionary curse-bearing. Substitutionary atonement. You've got the fact of the delivering up, and then you have the theological interpretation of the significance of that fact. You see it in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the first several verses.

Christ died, he was buried, he was raised again. Why? For our sins. Well, the apostle does the same thing here.

He was delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised, notice, for our justification. What a wonderful capstone on the doctrine that he has been describing beginning in chapter 3 at verse 21 up until this point. Not that he won't say anything else about it again in the book of Romans or elsewhere in his writings, but here, as I said, it ends this particular section in terms of justification by faith alone. So notice, the doctrine of justification by faith alone is connected to the resurrection.

Now what is justification by faith alone? Outside the Bible, I think no better definition has been given than Westminster Shorter Catechism number 33. And it basically asks the question, what is justification? The answer is justification is an act of God's free grace.

Notice at the outset, it's not an act of something. We do. Oh, I went out and tried harder. I went out and obeyed more.

I went to church, you know, three times on the Sunday, and not just once. I'm not suggesting that if you don't come three times, you're not saved. I'm sorry. Stuff like that falls out of the mouth from time to time.

But it's an act of God's free grace. And then there's two components, vital elements, involved in the doctrine of justification. It says, wherein He pardons all our transgressions. Isn't that beautiful?

You know, my sin, oh the thought of a glorious Lord, my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Jesus forgives us. The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from what?

From all sin, not some sin. If it was some sin, we should be miserable people. But since it's all sin, we should be a lot happier. I should be a lot happier.

We should think more often in terms of our blessed Savior's word, be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. There's a lot going on in the world that is depressing. There is a lot going on in the world that is tedious. But there is a lot going on in the heart of the believer that is most glorious, most wondrous, and most excellent.

He pardons all our transgressions. But it goes on to say, and accepts us as righteous in his sight. So you see, there's two components. Not only the forgiveness of sins, but think about it with me for a moment.

If we're forgiven of our sins, we're back at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God demands perfect righteousness. Never forget that. God demands perfect obedience.

God demands spotlessness. The psalmist asked, who can dwell on the hill of God? Who can dwell in the mountain of the Lord? He gives this description.

Do you know what he's describing? He ain't describing us in Psalm 15. He's describing the Son of God. He's describing the Lord Jesus Christ.

So He accepts us as righteous in His sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. were forgiven and were counted as righteous. Again, Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. It is a most blessed thing. This is why we call it good news or gospel.

So with reference to the doctrine of justification connected here specifically to the resurrection, we need to understand the link, the historical link between the crucifixion and the resurrection. They're inseparable. They're inextricable. You don't have a crucified Savior and a non-risen Savior.

You don't have a risen Savior without a crucified Savior. So that Paul can predicate concerning resurrection that our justification is attached to it. Listen to B.B. Warfield.

He says, that he died manifests his love and his willingness to save. That he rose again manifests his power and his ability to save. Again, brethren, we're not dealing with the martyr's death. Martyrdom is great.

Precious in the sight of God is the death of his holy ones. A brother indicated from reading Revelation chapter 13, God's not disattached or detached when the beasts are running amok on the earth. Where do you think they ultimately get their authority? It's from God.

The death of His holy ones are pleasing to God. So with reference to this reality, what we have in terms of Jesus is not simply martyrdom, but it's saviorhood. So back to Warfield, he says, we're not saved by a dead Christ who undertook but could not perform, and who lies there still? Under the Syrian sky, another martyr of impotent love.

If we are to be saved at all, it must be by one who did not merely pass to death on our behalf, but who passed through death. Big difference there. Not only passed to death on our behalf, but passed through death on our behalf. He really died.

He really was raised again. So thus he passed through death. He says, in one word, the resurrection of Christ is fundamental to the Christian hope and to the Christian confidence. All our assurance of salvation is suspended on this fact.

In other words, if he went into that tomb and he stayed there, or it retained him, whatever the gospel story was, it wouldn't be powerful to save us from our sins. It would be nice. We could tell the tale of the martyr that did these things, but to enjoy the blessed benefits of his blood and righteousness, to be able to sing of his glory and his praise and his honor, to be able to look forward to his coming again in glory, to judge the living and the dead, we couldn't do that without the empty tomb. Hodge makes a similar statement.

He says the resurrection of Christ as an historical fact established by the most satisfactory evidence Authenticates the whole gospel as surely as Christ has risen. So surely shall believers be saved verse 25 now by way of some not application we'll get to that in a moment, but the connection between resurrection and justification because if you're sort of in tune with the doctrine of justification by faith alone, we typically see it relative to his life, right? We need a righteousness that avails with God. Well, where do we get that righteousness?

From the 33 years that Jesus always did what pleases his Father. He didn't just do that as an example. He didn't just say, you know, I'm going to do this to sort of show all men how they ought to behave. I mean, there's that to be sure, but when you survey the animals of the world and you ask wherein lies righteousness, you get 33 years worth, and it's in one person, and it's the Lord Jesus Christ.

So the Lord Jesus Christ lived for us, justification by faith alone, wherein He imputes the righteousness of Jesus to us. But then we think about justification and His death. We need blood. We need the bloodshedding of our blessed Savior, that sacrifice, that Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

It's unique in the New Testament to connect justification with resurrection. It's not outlandish, it's not unsymptomatic, but you see, it's not always all over the place as it is in Romans 4.25. So I just want to offer up several things to think about in terms of the connection between resurrection and justification.

Resurrection Testifies: Son of God with Power

I'd suggest first that the resurrection testifies that Christ is the Son of God with power. Christ is the Son of God with power. In Romans 4.24, notice what we are told, but also for us, it shall be imputed to us who believe in him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. So the resurrection testifies that Christ is the Son of God with power.

He's not some, you know, fellow that lived and moved and had his being and stayed in the grave. He is the Word made flesh for us men and for our salvation. The apostle in Romans 1 connects it to a demonstration of the fact that he is the son of God with power. Look at Romans 1, verse 1.

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God, which he promised before through his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was born of the seed of David, according to the flesh, and declared to be the son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, notice, by the resurrection from the dead. Again, not that there was no hint of that, not that there was no knowledge of that, but that empty tomb declares him to be the Son of God with power. Calvin said, the cross of Christ only triumphs in the breast of believers over the devil in the flesh, sin, and sinners when their eyes are directed to the power of his resurrection. We see it in glowing detail.

We see it in its manifold beauty and blessedness.

Resurrection Testifies: Sacrifice Accepted

Secondly, the resurrection testifies that Christ's sacrifice was accepted. The fact that Jesus was raised from the dead by the Father indicates the Father was well pleased with the life, with the death, and thus raised him from the dead. Bovinck, a Dutch reformed theologian, made this observation, the resurrection is a divine endorsement of Christ's mediatorial work, a declaration of the power and value of his death, the amen of the father upon the it is finished of the son. Amen.

Praise God Most High.

Resurrection Testifies: Satisfaction Rendered

Thirdly, the resurrection testifies that satisfaction was rendered. So not only was the sacrifice accepted, but all of the benefits associated with that sacrifice are tendered. So we've got satisfaction. We've got the divine wrath satisfied by the penal sufferings of the Son of God.

This is why Paul can say what Paul says in Romans 3.26, that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. His law was not compromised. His law was not bent. His law was not suspended, but his law was satisfied.

And then his law was held up. It was held in high esteem and glorious. And yet God most high is able on the basis of what Christ has done, accepting this as a sacrifice, getting satisfaction in terms of this sacrifice. He is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Resurrection Testifies: Redemption Accomplished

And then the resurrection testifies that redemption was accomplished. Redemption was accomplished. The sixth saying of the Savior on the cross. There are seven.

When Jesus is hung upon that cross, there are seven sayings, seven things that he says. And the sixth is most glorious. He says, well, they're all most glorious. I shouldn't say that.

What do you mean? They're all glorious, okay? But he says, it is finished. It's a Greek word, tetelestai, and it's in a particular tense.

It's in what's called a perfect tense. That means it's a past completed action with abiding results. Guess where they found that word a lot when they went around digging and doing archaeology? They found it on receipts.

They found it on business contracts. Probably the best thing that I would imagine as you get older and you finalize all of your debts and everything is paid in full and they stamp that on there. It's a completed action with abiding results. When Christ is on the cross, He says, it is finished.

Not, I am finished. Not, they are finished. But it is finished. The work of redemption that the Father gave Him to do.

The work of salvation for His people. Matthew 1, 21 says He will save His people from their sins. And this is precisely what He accomplishes upon the cross. Listen to Spurgeon.

He says, I am persuaded that it was so intended to be used, this sixth saying, this it is finished, for none of the words of our Lord on the cross are addressed to His church but this one. So Spurgeon says that it's that sixth saying that speaks specific comfort to His church. It speaks specific comfort to His people. He says, I cannot believe that when he was dying, he left his people for whom he died without a word.

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do is for sinners, not for saints. A thirst is for himself. And so is that bitter cry, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Woman, behold, thy son is for Mary.

Today shalt thou be with me in paradises for the penitent thief. Into thy hands I commend my spirit as for the father. Jesus must have had something to say in the hour of death for his church, and surely this is his dying word for her. It is finished, brethren.

Our sins are forgiven. A righteousness has been imputed. We're fit and ready to go to heaven. Should the Savior descend now with the shout of the archangel, the thundering sound of the trumpet, if He should come right now, we're ready to go.

Our sins are forgiven. We're righteousness. We have righteousness. We're clothed in His righteousness.

If we die the normal death that everybody dies of old age, guess what? We're ready and fit to go. We get hit by a car on the way home from church. We're fit and ready to go.

Why? Because it's finished. There's nothing else that we have to make up. There's nothing else that we have to supplement.

There's no additions. There's no sort of, well, I got to try a bit harder and then maybe I'll really get finalized. No, it is finished. We've been accepted in the beloved.

We have that statement in Ephesians 1, verse 7, about the riches of God's grace. In Him we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. It is finished, is what the Savior says to the church.

Resurrection Testifies: Session Initiated

And I would suggest, fifthly and finally, in terms of the resurrection, it testifies that the session was initiated. When we speak of the session, of the current session, we refer to after the resurrection, Christ appears for a period of time, and then He ascends on high, and He sits at the right hand of God Most High. And Scripture doesn't tell us, or Scripture tells us what He's doing. He never lives to make intercession for us from the right hand of the Father.

If we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. So the resurrection testifies that the session has been initiated. And not only is He doing those things presently, but He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, to take His church into that new Jerusalem and to be with us world without end.

Application

Well, in conclusion, I would suggest first the necessity of the death of Christ. the necessity of the death of Christ. Theologians throughout the history of the church have wondered about this, the necessity. Was it necessary? Was there another way God could have saved His people from their sins?

I've always cited on the side of it's absolutely necessary. To suggest there's some other way calls into question, in my mind, the wisdom of God. Wouldn't an infinitely wise God pick the only way? Wouldn't the God who is absolutely righteous and holy and pure put together a plan that upholds this holy law? that brings forgiveness to His sinful people, that brings them a righteousness, and extols His glory, and magnifies the riches of His grace, there is a necessity, the mustness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When He announces three times in the Gospel of Matthew at 16, 17, and 20, I must go to Jerusalem. I must be tried at the hands of godless men. I must be crucified. That is divine necessity.

And so when we see our sin, and when we see the cross, and when we see our blessed Savior there for us, we see its necessity. Now the remedy for sin involves forgiveness and the imputation of Christ's righteousness. And that remedy is secured by Christ in his life, in his death, and in his resurrection. Now, as I was pondering this particular passage, I thought about atonement. and satisfaction and blood.

I mean, we've just finished the book of Exodus on our Wednesday night study. The Shekinah glory of God comes down in the tabernacle. It's a dwelling place for God, but Moses can't go in. Why?

Because in order to come in, in order for it to be a meeting place, there has to be blood. There has to be bloodshed. And that's when the book of Leviticus comes. Leviticus 1 to 7, the emphasis is upon the sacrifice. 8 and 9, the emphasis is upon the priesthood.

The end of chapter 9, they offer up a legitimate sacrifice, and God sends fire down from heaven to consume the sacrifice. And Moses and Aaron then walk into the tabernacle. What does the Old Testament teach us? The same thing that the New Testament teaches us, something that I think Paul encapsulates well in Hebrews 9.22.

Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. Now, when we ponder this, we do it from a distance. And we do it in a culture where we're not sort of into sacrificing animals on a regular basis.

I was musing on a quote by Dale Ralph Davis. He preached, or rather, he wrote a commentary on 2 Samuel. And in 2 Samuel chapter 21, you have an instance of atonement. And essentially what happens, it's the reign of David, there's famine in the land, and David inquires of the Lord.

He says, why? These men understood. When there's problems in the land, you ask God, because God's sovereign, God's powerful, God's omnipotent, God's over all this. Why?

And God says to him, because you guys are guilty of the sin of killing Gibeonites. Remember that treaty that was made in Joshua chapter 9? Those Gibeonites, they lied, they pretended so that they could find favor with the Israelites. What does Joshua and the leaders do?

They enter into a covenant to preserve the Gibeonites. I mean, you're not going to be royalty in Israel, but you're not going to be destitute either. Well, what happens in 2 Samuel 21 is that the Gibeonites had been wronged. So in order to alleviate the judgment of God in terms of famine, David sends for the Gibeonites.

And he says, what is it that you want? And they said, we want seven descendants of Saul to die. Because it was Saul that had orchestrated this sort of extermination of the Gibeonites. So David does it.

And it's a horrifying scene, brethren. I mean, seven people are hung to death, and there's one mother there that wants to take her sons down and provide some care for their bodies. It is a gross scene. Well, here's what Davis says concerning it, and I think it's appropriate to our study of the resurrection and the death of Christ on what we typically call today is Easter.

He says, the text says atonement is horrible. It is gory. Atonement is never nice, but always gruesome. We need to see this, for we easily fall into the trap of regarding atonement as merely a doctrine, a concept, an abstraction to be explained, a bit of theology to be analyzed.

And I know Davis is not saying we shouldn't do that. We should do that, but it shouldn't stop there. or, little better, to view it as a moving story to be replayed during Passion Week. But we should know better. Surely the Israelite worshipper realized this when he towed a young bull to the tabernacle and had to slit its throat, skin it, cut it in pieces, and wash the insides and legs.

It was all mess and gore. From slicing the bull's throat in Leviticus 1 all the way to Calvary, God has always said atonement is nasty and repulsive. Christians must beware of becoming too refined, longing for a kinder, gentler faith. If we've grown too used to Golgotha, perhaps Gibeah can shock us back into the truth.

Atonement is a drippy, bloody, smelly business. The stench of death hangs heavy wherever the wrath of God has been quenched. Brethren, it's not some day to get all polished and just put on the new clothes and all that sort of thing. I'm not saying don't do that.

But our Savior was delivered up because of our offenses and He was raised for our justification. Certainly that demands our attention. That demands our focus. That demands our love and our praise and our adoration.

The necessity of Christ's death is all over the Bible. The glory of His resurrection is such that God confirms His Son to be His Son according to power. It is that testification, that divine testimony that the Savior's work on our behalf has been accepted. The Savior's work on our behalf has accomplished the purpose for which the Father sent Him.

The blessedness of God's people is seen in Romans 4.25, and in passages like it, to be sure. He was delivered up because of our offenses, and he was raised for our justification. The people of God ought to live in light of these things, not just once a year, but each and every day. May the shadow of the cross overarch us in terms of our life and our orientation.

And if you're not a believer here this morning, look at what the text says. Look at what God went to in order to save his people from their sins. The son of his love, the darling of heaven, the gem as it were in that cabinet of God's jewels. He sends him to take on our humanity to come into this miserable, wretched, disgusting world.

Not because it's built that way, but because we're in it, and we're filled with sin, and vileness, and guilt, and shame, and all that sort of thing. Christ comes into this place, and he lives, and he dies, and he's raised again. Why? So that people aren't saved?

So that there aren't men from every tribe telling people a nation? No, he does that specifically to save people from their sins. So don't tarry, don't wait, don't say, well, I gotta get the divine zap before I look unto Jesus in faith. Look unto Jesus in faith.

He who believes in Him will have everlasting life. In fact, see it for yourself in Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10, specifically at verse 9, that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confesses a confession is made unto salvation.

For the scripture says whoever believes on him will not be put to shame." See, there's this idea or this attitude that, you know, these Christians, you've had to give up so much. I just don't think I could be a Christian. Just the thought of it. Have you, as a believer, ever thought you've given anything up?

Have you, as a believer, ever thought you've been short-changed in this grand scheme? Have you, as a believer, ever said, you know, I don't really want to be forgiven of my sins. I really don't want this righteousness by which I'm going to enter into eternal bliss with God Most High, world without end. No, of course not.

Even when the believer befalls difficulties and hardships and afflictions, you know, Jesus says it's better to enter into life maimed, better to enter into life with only one eye and only one hand than enter into hell whole. And this is Paul's point. Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek.

For the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon him. Now notice how it ends. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. In other words, believe on him and you will have everlasting life.

You will know the joy of the one who is delivered up because of our offenses and was raised for our justification. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the life, the death, the resurrection of our blessed Savior. We thank You for His session now at the right hand of God Almighty. And we look forward to His return again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

And may it be the case that we would all be ready, that we would have received that forgiveness of sin and that cloak of righteousness by which we can enter into the presence of a holy God. We thank you that you are both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. May you cause us to worship, may you cause us to glorify, may you cause us to adore you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for so great a salvation. And send this gospel throughout the world, conquering and to conquer.

And may there be a multitude today that are saved by your grace and for your glory. And we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. Well, you can turn in your hymn books to 568 as we close by singing the doxology of praise to our triune God. 568, you may stand and we'll sing together. ♪ Praise Him, all ye who fear Him alone ♪ ♪ Praise Him, all ye heav'nly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ that theme of doxology instead of benediction with the reading from the last part of the book of Romans. Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest and by the prophetic scriptures made known to all nations according to the commandment of the everlasting God for obedience to the faith to God alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever.

Amen. Thank you for this great truth, Lord God almighty. Thank you not only for the works of creation and providence in which you demonstrate your wisdom and your power and your goodness, that work of redemption, where you show us that grace and that mercy and that forgiveness and that long-suffering that the Scriptures testify consistently to. We ask that you would go with us now, cause us to reflect upon these things, and may it bring great joy to our hearts.

And we pray through Christ the Lord. Amen. You may be seated for a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Exodus 33; 34:6-7
• Leviticus 1-7; 8-9
• Joshua 9
• 2 Samuel 21
• Psalms 15; 16; 32:7-8
• Isaiah 53
• Matthew 1:21; 16; 17; 20; 28:5; 28:19-20
• John 1:1; 1:14; 10:17-18; 20:24; 20:26; 20:28
• Acts 2
• Romans 1:1-4; 1:16-17; 1:18; 1:28; 3:21-26; 3:26; 3:27-31; 3:28; 4:23; 4:24; 4:25; 5:8; 10:9-13
• 1 Corinthians 1:23; 6:9; 6:11; 15:1-4
• 2 Corinthians 5:21
• Ephesians 1:7
• Philippians 3:9
• Hebrews 9:22
• 1 Peter 2:21; 2:24
• Revelation 13