You may turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4, our focus this evening will be on verse 25. This morning we established the historical fact of the resurrection in the book of John. John chapter 20 verses 1 to 23, we see that Jesus in fact rose as he had said, as the prophetic scripture had testified, as our Lord had told his disciples We see the empty tomb first discovered by Peter and John, and then we saw that Jesus appears first of all to Mary Magdalene, and then to the disciples without Thomas.

Later on in John chapter 20, he then visits them the following week when they are with Thomas. So the fact of the resurrection tonight We'll look at the theological significance of the resurrection. And the New Testament does work its way out sort of in that manner. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the facts concerning Jesus Christ, the revelation of God's gospel in the person and work of the Lord Jesus, the epistles then get into the task of interpretation and application.

The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15, Christ died for our sins. In other words, it's not just the death of Christ, but the Bible also interprets the significance as to why these things took place. He didn't die simply a martyr's death to show us a better way, but rather he died as a substitutionary atoning sacrifice for our sins. And we find that here in Romans 4.25 as well.

But I do want to read the chapter just to set it in its larger context, which actually begins in chapter 3 at verse 27. It's the idea of justification by faith alone. But I'll read beginning in chapter 4 verse 1. 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 might become the father of many nations, or 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. Father, we thank you for this epistle to the Romans. We thank you for the theology and the the exposition of gospel truth that we find in this wonderful book.

We pray the Spirit would guide us now. We pray that as we consider the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, our hearts would be strengthened and encouraged that we would be built up in our most holy faith, that we would respond in gratitude and in love and adoration and worship to You, our great God. How we thank You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for so great a salvation. How we thank You for the sending of the Son into this world to live, to die, and to rise again, so that we might have everlasting life.

Be with us now, we pray, and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, after a lengthy treatment beginning in chapter 1 at verse 18 and concluding in chapter 3 at verse 20, in that section the Apostle highlights the condemnation of man because of his sinfulness and waywardness. In other words, what we find first of all in this presentation of the Gospel is bad news or the plight of man. It's in that context, it's with that background that Paul then speaks of the righteousness of God in Romans 3.21, the righteousness of God that is revealed from faith to faith, 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. He shows in this particular section how salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

He takes great pains to eliminate this idea that we are saved because of our goodness, or because of our works, or because of our law keeping. He puts the nail in the coffin of such an idea in Romans 3.20, where he says, therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. It is absolutely impossible, based on the reality of sin, and the depravity of man that we could be justified in the sight of God because we do the deeds of the law. We do not do the deeds of the law.

That last hymn that we sang, even as Christians, the only way I think we can sing 492 is as a prayer. We're not singing it as if it's reality. We're not singing it as if it's an accurate description of our hearts and our souls and our lives. Do we really live like what we just read and sang in 492?

If we do not formulate that in the manner of prayer to God and petition, we're most likely hypocrites. There is no way that even a Christian man could work himself into heaven. God demands absolute perfection, absolute strict obedience to the law, and without that there is no salvation, apart from our Lord Jesus. That's the point in chapter 3, verse 20.

He summarizes everything that has gone before, and he says, by the deeds of the law, no flesh, Jew, Gentile, doesn't matter your privilege, doesn't matter your background, doesn't matter your state, no flesh will be justified in His sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. And it's on the heels of that he introduces the righteousness which is by faith. And here in Romans 4 he gives this initial statement concerning faith alone actually in 3.27 to 31.

He then deals with Abraham. He cites David and Abraham as examples or exemplars or illustrations rather of this principle. There's nothing new. This has been witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.

David didn't go to heaven because he was an obedient man. David didn't go to heaven because he fulfilled the law of God at every step of the way. Remember, David committed adultery and he committed murder. The only way that David could go to heaven was by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ.

And that's what David celebrates in Psalm 32. The same for Abraham. He believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. It wasn't his works.

It wasn't his law-keeping. It wasn't his ability. It wasn't his duty. but rather it was the grace of God manifested in the life and salvation of this brother through Jesus Christ our Lord. So he shows faith and works in chapter 4, verses 1 to 8.

There is a contrast there. And then he speaks of faith and circumcision in chapter 4, verses 9 to 12. And then faith, promise, and the law, chapter 4, verses 13 to 22. And then the faith of Abraham and the faith of the Christian in verses 23 to 25.

Do you love what he says in verse 23? Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him. It wasn't simply for the benefit of Abraham. Genesis isn't in the Bible simply for Abraham.

Genesis is in the Bible for us as New Covenant Christians. It is there for our admonition and for our encouragement and for our consolation and our hope. It is there for our instruction to answer the question, how does a sinful man stand before a holy God? Well, we with Abraham believe God and that is accounted unto righteousness.

So Paul says 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 those who believe the gospel of free and sovereign grace, those who look to the Lord of glory, receive the pardon of sin and the imputation of righteousness. This is the glory of God's gospel.

And then that leads him to give this capstone summary statement to all that has preceded in verse 25. When he mentions Jesus Christ in verse 24, he then highlights these two realities concerning our beloved Savior. Who was delivered up because of our offenses, and who was raised up because of our justification. Charles Hodge says that this verse is a comprehensive statement of the Gospel.

The Gospel is not how you feel. The Gospel is not how you live. The Gospel is not how you conduct yourself. The Gospel is the message concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.

And as Hodge, I think, rightly identifies, This verse is a comprehensive statement of it. He then goes on to say the denial of the propitiatory death of Christ or of his resurrection from the dead is a denial of the gospel. So we strip the message of either of these components and we're left with no gospel at all. If we're not preaching a bleeding, crucified, risen Savior, we're not preaching the Gospel.

If we're preaching principles to a happy life, we're not preaching the Gospel. If we're preaching David as an example on how we ought to slay our giants, We are not preaching the gospel. If we are preaching Nehemiah as a wonderful builder of cities and walls, we're not preaching the gospel. We need to preach the message concerning the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Anything less than that is not gospel.

Two Considerations in Romans 4:25

So let's look at this subject under two considerations. First, the redemptive purpose for the death of Christ. And secondly, the blessed result of the resurrection of Christ.

The Death of Christ for Our Offenses

First of all, notice the reason for His death. It says, very simply and very, very clearly, who was delivered up because of our offenses. These two statements are parallel. They read almost essentially the same, except, of course, for the words offenses and justification and the different verbs that are employed.

But he was delivered up because of our offenses. Again, please listen to this. He wasn't delivered up to be an example. Now, it is growing increasingly my conviction that exemplary preaching, while necessary, and while necessary for the people of God, if it does overtake the indicative nature of the gospel, we've got a problem.

What do I mean by exemplary preaching? Jesus as an example. Now Jesus is an example, and I don't want to diminish from that. Jesus is set forth throughout the New Testament pages as an example for us to follow.

But what often happens is that when we preach Him as example, we neglect to preach Him as bleeding, as dying, as buried, and as risen from the dead, other than, hey, that's a great model and pattern for how we ought to go through these trials that we face at work. In fact, one particular man recently said this. He says, you see, the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus happened over three days. Friday was the day of suffering and pain and agony.

Saturday was the day of doubt and confusion and misery. But Easter, that Sunday, was the day of hope and joy and victory. Here's the fact of life. You will face these three days over and over and over in your lifetime.

Again, I'm not here to diminish the reality that we're going to face difficulties in our lifetime. But our difficulties aren't Good Friday difficulties. Our difficulties are not bleeding out of our pores. Our difficulties aren't drinking the cup of God's wrath.

Our difficulties is not having or bearing the sin of the world upon our shoulders. Our difficulties is not having a group of people crying out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Our difficulties are not wearing a crown of thorns. Our difficulties are not being nailed to a cross.

Our difficulties are not suffering on that cross, the wrath and fury of God Most High. So you see on the one hand, exemplary preaching, where we look at Jesus as an example, is necessary. 1 Peter chapter 2, Peter does this with reference to servants, with reference to their masters. You need to submit to your masters the way that Jesus Christ did. And so I don't want to be listened to or heard as saying, there's no place for exemplary preaching.

There is a place, but we need to be careful that that exemplar doesn't overrule the indicative, the reality that Christ did this to satisfy the Father's justice and to save us from our sins. He was delivered up because of our offenses.

Not an Example but a Substitute

He wasn't delivered up simply as an example. This is the martyr that you ought to follow. This is the way that you ought to live. This is the way you ought to bear the brunt of difficulties that you face on a daily basis.

That's not the point of the redemptive sufferings of our Lord Jesus. He bore the wrath of God in our place and in our stead. The fundamental meaning in atonement is satisfaction. Christ satisfied divine justice by His sufferings and death in our stead.

And if our exemplary preaching overrules or overtakes that, then we are making a distortion of gospel truth. We need to make sure that we focus upon the indicative, the historical redemptive reality of what Christ did. And maybe as a sideline note, properly qualified, we draw examples for our benefit in life. This happens.

Moralism. This happens, exemplar, this happens when the Bible simply becomes a playbook on how to have a satisfying life in the here and now. That's not the emphasis in the Bible. It's not a playbook for you to be satisfied in your life.

It is the record of the satisfactory work of our Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners. the ones whom God the Father had given Him. In that great statement concerning the foolishness of the message of the cross, the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 1.21, For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through what? Through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. He then says that Jews seek after signs.

Greeks seek after wisdom. And I love what Paul says there. We don't cater our messages to them. This is typical church growth drivel today.

If Jews want signs, then give them signs. If Greeks want wisdom, then give them wisdom. If people want to hear the Bible over a beer at the tavern, then go have a beer at the tavern with them and tell them the Bible. Accommodate everything to the God-hating rebel, because after all, he's most important.

In our attempt to be relevant, we are betraying the very message that we say we hold near and dear. What does Paul say when Jews seek after signs and Greeks seek after wisdom? He says, but we preach Christ crucified. In other words, Jews, we don't care that you want signs.

Greeks, we don't care that you want wisdom. Whoever you are out there, we don't care what you want, we're going to tell you what you need, because that's most important. We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, 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. So when we read in Romans 4.25, who was delivered up because of our offenses, it wasn't for our admonition, it wasn't for our example, it wasn't so we could trod the Jesus path and deal with our difficulties the way our Master did.

Again, we need to, we need to obey, we need to follow in His footsteps, but please hear the delineation that I'm making. If we focus on the example, we focus on the moral lesson, we miss the bloody cross. And that is terrible. That is horrible.

Notice what the Apostle says, who was delivered up because of our offenses. It was for sin. And notice it wasn't for general offenses. It wasn't just for sins out there that this sort of universal atonement was made.

So if the sinner plugs it in, then it will be atoned for. No, that's not it at all. He says our offenses, it's particular in nature.

Definite Atonement and Particular Redemption

I love the particularity in Hebrews 2, 17 as well. One of the very, very important points of what has been historically called five point Calvinism, the very linchpin, the very crux of the matter is the death of Christ in the limited atonement or definite atonement or particular redemption. In Hebrews 2, 17, it says, therefore, in all things, he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. Notice, to make propitiation for the particular sins of the people.

It's not a universal, it's not a hypothetical, it is a definite and particular. This squares with Matthew 1.21. What was the announcement concerning Jesus? For it is He who will save, who?

Everybody who turns Him on, everybody who makes a decision, everybody who walks the aisle, no, He will save His people from their sins. He was delivered up because of our offenses. And if we just tease that out for just a moment.

The Necessity of the Cross

Why did the Son of God go to the cross? Luther said something to the effect, if man can work his way to heaven, or man can provide for his own righteousness, or man can make himself acceptable to God, then why the cross? Reflecting, of course, on Paul's admonition, or Paul's statement in Galatians chapter two. I do not nullify, I do not set apart the grace of God, for if righteousness comes by the law, then what?

You know the rest? Christ died in vain. He was delivered up because of our offenses, our wickedness, our sin, our evil, our transgression of the law of God. It doesn't take but a moment's notice to reflect upon the Decalogue, the idea that we've had other gods before him.

Do you ever pray through the commandments? Do you ever consider each of those holy words? Do you ever run through Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5 and contemplate the great misery that you were in and the reality that Christ paid your debt? He paid it all.

You shall have no other gods before me. You say, well I didn't worship Molech. I didn't bow to Baal. I didn't hang with Ashtoreth." No, but you worshipped yourself.

Every man's idol is in his own bosom. Every man's idol happens to be in his mirror. You shall not make for yourself an idol. We do that all the time.

Again, 492, if we're singing that in anything other than a prayer, we're in big trouble. Can you really say, not a mite would I withhold? Really? Not a mite.

You give everything to the Lord and to his people. No. Do you always use your mouth for good? Do you always speak love to everybody around you?

Do you always do those things which are necessary for edification to those you're with? Do! Love that third word. Don't misuse the name of the Lord your God.

Do not take it in vain. For some of us in this room, it was a blasphemy, or it was a curse word. It was common to revile the holy name of God Most High. This was Newton's crime.

This was Newton's sin. Everybody says, oh, he was a slave trader, and that was a horrific thing. And it is a horrific thing. I'm not justifying slave trading.

Do not leave here tonight saying, well, Jesus isn't our example, and you can trade slaves. That's a misrepresentation. I will deny that if you blog that on me. What about his blasphemy?

By his own admission, he was a blasphemer. Why is slave trading so evil, but taking the holy name of God Most High? Somehow that's just not so bad. Sabbath breaking.

We have a tough time giving God a half hour in the morning, let alone a day. It's mine. It's all mine. Everything's mine.

Give it up. It's God's day. It's the Lord's day. You'll find blessing when you relinquish your death grip on the Sabbath.

What about insubordination to lawful authority? It's not just a command for the children. This isn't a time just to say, oh, you little ones, how wretched you are when you disobey and dishonor mommy and daddy. How wretched we are as adults that we don't submit to lawful authority.

Submission. It's never a question of submission versus no submission. It's always a matter of submission to lawful authority. What about murder?

You may have never taken a knife and plunged it into somebody's throat. You may have never taken a .38 and capped somebody in the head. But if you hate someone without cause, you violate the sixth word. What about adultery?

You say, well, I've been faithful to my spouse. I've been faithful for these 15, 20, 20, 35 years, whatever. What does Jesus say if a man looks upon a woman and lusts? Now, by implication, we ought to say that if a woman looks upon a man and lusts, it may sound a little bit different, it may look a little bit different, but when a woman thinks or when a woman says, you know, I like that man, I'd sure like to have him as my husband, That's a violation of the seventh word.

You see, it's not offenses in general that are out there. It's our particular acts of criminal wickedness against the living and true God. Stealing. You never stole anything in your life.

You probably stole time. I don't know of anybody that I've ever met that worked an eight-hour day, that actually worked eight hours. They didn't stop. Most everybody steals at some point or other in their particular workplace.

Bearing false witness. You say, well, I don't lie. I've never perjured myself. Well, that's good on you.

Praise God for your holiness. The rest of us have probably played loose with the truth of God. And then what about covetousness? In the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the standard for criminal activity in the United States, General Article 134, if 1 to 133 didn't get you, 134 will.

You may say, 1 to 133. I've never committed that. I've never done this. I've never done that.

All those say, what happens? 134 says, well, this is it. You've done at least this. That's how the 10th word is, isn't it? Remember that rich young ruler?

All these things I've kept from my youth. Did he think Jesus was going to pat him on the back? Did he think Jesus was going to put a star on his chest? Did he think Jesus was going to applaud for it?

Jesus was doing to this man what Paul does in Romans 3, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Go and sell everything you have, give it to the poor, and follow me. He didn't want to do that, did he? What happened?

The law exposed his sin. You see, it wasn't for nebulous offenses out there that Jesus died. God made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us. Remember on that Day of Atonement recorded in Leviticus chapter 16, they take the blood of the first goat and they bring it into the most holy place.

The high priest does, not they. One man enters into the Holy of Holies. And then what do they do with that second goat that we call the scapegoat? The high priest lays his hands upon its head and he confesses the sins of Israel.

Do you think he says, Lord God, forgive our generic offenses out there? No, he's probably rehearsing the Decalogue. He's probably rehearsing the moral law of God, confessing specific iniquities, laying them or transferring them onto the head of this scapegoat, and then it's driven out into the wilderness as a living sacrament of the removal of sin from the people of Israel. You see, it wasn't for nebulous kind of offenses out there for anybody who might decide for Jesus.

It was for your lawlessness. It was for your transgression. It was for your breach of the Decalogue. It was for your sin.

That's glorious. He was delivered up because of our offenses. As I said this morning, the empty tomb Will the death and the resurrection of Christ preach the reality of the graciousness of God? Certainly.

The cross and the empty tomb preach to us the reality of the mercy of God. But it also demonstrates something about the wickedness and the evil of sin. In our hymn book, 192, Thomas Kelly sings, or writes for us to sing, 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, the Son of Man and Son of God.

He was delivered up because of our offenses.

Isaiah 53 and Substitutionary Wrath-Bearing

Now probably, in Paul's mind, is the prophet Isaiah chapter 53. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of Isaiah 53, the last clause reads that Christ was delivered because of their iniquities. Now the New King James renders it and he made an intercession for the transgressors. But as I said, so often the apostles appeal to that Greek translation.

And in that LXS it says, "...and was delivered because of their iniquities." Paul is thinking in terms of substitutionary wrath-bearing on the part of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was delivered up. The verb is passive. That indicates that it was the Father who delivered him up.

Delivered up there means to death. It doesn't mean as an example, doesn't mean simply as a friend, it doesn't mean as a helper. In Romans chapter 8 at verse 32, the Apostle uses the same language that God the Father delivered him up for us all. So much of what is in the apostles mind is probably Isaiah 53, this man of sorrows, this one acquainted with grief, this substitute who stood in our place to bear the wrath of God on our behalf.

Verse 11 in Isaiah 53, the Lord was pleased to bruise him, putting him to grief. He stood in the stead of sinners. That's The emphasis. He was delivered up because of our offenses.

The Father's initiative. The Father's plan. The Father's purpose is displayed here. Look back for just a moment in Romans 3 at verse 25.

Whom God set forth. This is speaking about Christ. Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." That statement is glorious in this divine transaction wherein sin is imputed to the Son. And wherein the Son is punished in our stead, God's justice is magnified.

It's not that God just wills away His wrath. God doesn't just send it away, but rather God pours His wrath upon His Son, And then the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us so that God may be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. You see, the cross upholds the righteousness of God Most High. That is important.

That is absolutely crucial. At times, as new believers or even as believers that are, you know, sort of weighed down with concerns and cares and all that sort of thing in life, the glory and the majesty of God and the upholding of His righteousness and justice at the cross isn't always our first priority. It was with Paul. It was with the Apostle.

That's the point in Romans 3, 25 to 27. It was to demonstrate His righteousness. He justifies those who have faith in Jesus Christ. He maintains His justice by punishing His Son, by taking that righteousness and giving it to His people.

It's truly a glorious gospel that is absolutely seamless. It's the Father's plan, but the Son is willing. As Jesus said in John 10, the Son lays down His life willingly. The Son doesn't go grudgingly to the cross.

Now, in Gethsemane, when He understands the cup of His wrath that He must drink, He prays, Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. He understands the weight and the fury of God's holy wrath that is coming upon Him. That is legitimate expression of manhood. You know something like that is waiting around the corner.

It's not wicked or wrong to say, God, if it's possible, please let this cup pass. But what does He do? He resigns Himself to obey His Father and to submit. to the fullest degree. So he's delivered up because of our offenses.

The Resurrection for Our Justification

Now notice, secondly, the blessed result of the resurrection of Christ, and was raised because of our justification. We might also translate this, and was raised for our justification. There's other reasons why. It's not simply causal that it was the resurrection, or rather our justification, that caused Jesus to be raised from the dead.

The fact is, He was without sin. Sin did not, or death did not have dominion over him, Romans 6, 9. Could not contain it, contain him in its grasp. We might say he was raised for our justification.

Again, the verb is a passive. This means that the Father raised him up. Romans 1, 4, the Apostle says the very same thing. It is the Father who raises up His Son. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the Apostle Paul highlights the necessity for the resurrection, underscoring what we find here.

He's raised for, raised because of our justification. 1 Corinthians 15, 17, he says, and if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins. And if we ask the question, why is the resurrection necessary? I mean, doesn't pardon for sin and the imputation of righteousness turn on and depend upon the death and the life? In other words, it's through Christ's death that we receive pardon for sin.

It's through Christ's life that we receive the imputation of righteousness. He fulfills all that the law demands. He fulfills His Father's will. And as a result, there is a righteousness to impute to the people of God.

So we might say the death of Jesus Christ secures for us justification. In fact, our very own confession of faith speaks or connects justification to the death of Christ. It says that God justifies by imputing Christ's obedience unto the whole law, I'm sorry, Christ's active obedience unto the whole law and passive obedience in his death for their whole and soul righteousness. Have you ever asked yourself, have you ever read Romans 4.25 and said, wait a minute, I thought our justification was intimately connected to the death of Jesus.

And here Paul says it's intimately connected to the resurrection of Jesus. What gives? Well, the death inevitably leads to the resurrection. The resurrection, to use the language of John Gill, was the testification of the legitimacy of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I typed in testification in Microsoft Word and it was a red underline. I'd never heard of that word, so I thought maybe dear brother John Gill was making up words on me. You do a dictionary.com and testification is there. attestation, affirmation, confirmation. Here's what one man says concerning the reality of Christ's resurrection.

John Fesco in his very helpful book on justification. I highly recommend the book. An older standard that you ought to read on the doctrine of justification is by James Buchanan. Absolutely wonderful.

A newer update, not an update, it's not the same thing, but it's the classic Protestant doctrine of justification by faith by John Fesco. James White also has a helpful volume called The God Who Justifies. This is a doctrine worth your perusal. This is a doctrine worth your study.

Get the Westminster Shorter Catechism in your noggin. Get 33 in there. What is justification? 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.

Justification is glorious. The Apostle is highlighting it. He says that Christ was delivered up, He died because of our offenses, and He was raised for our justification. Fasco says this means that Christ's resurrection confirms and authenticates that our justification has been secured.

The Resurrection as Attestation of Justification

If Christ remains dead in the tomb, then the powers of sin and death have not been conquered, and Christ's crucifixion was legitimate, for the wages of sin is death. Warfield says it this way, that he died manifests his love and his willingness to save. That he rose again manifests his power and his ability to save. We are directed to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are to believe in a living Savior. We are to believe in one reigning at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Apart from the resurrection, if He's dead in the tomb, there is no living Christ for us to direct our faith unto. So Warfield says he died, or that he died manifests his love and his willingness to save, that he rose again manifests his power and his ability to save.

He says, we are 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 in our behalf, but who passed through death. 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.

He was delivered up because of our offenses. and He was raised because of or for our justification. May God be glorified. The resurrection serves as the proof that His death has been accepted by God, that He has fully and actually or effectively secured the will of God. The Christian is justified by faith and this faith must be directed to a living Lord, to Jesus Christ.

The Christian is in union with Christ by virtue of his life and death and resurrection. Isn't that Paul's whole emphasis in Romans 6? You've been raised with Christ. Well, if Christ hasn't been raised, then neither are you.

The death and resurrection of Christ are inseparable. Fasco again says, Christ's death atones for the sins of God's people. His resurrection is the evidence that death had an illegitimate claim for him or upon him, for he lived his life in perfect obedience to the law. Attempt to extract one of the three, life, death, or resurrection, from justification and our redemption collapses.

The Apostle is highlighting the blessed solidarity that we have with Abraham and with David by virtue of our belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well,

Application

we learn a few things and then we close. First, the necessity of the death of our Lord Jesus. Just turn for a moment to Galatians 2. I know I cite this verse occasionally.

I think it's good for you to see what Paul says, and what the emphasis is. Verse 20, that blessed statement of Paul, I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.

You see, the necessity of the death of Christ is in the doctrine of total depravity. Romans 1.18 to Romans 3.20 teaches us most assuredly that no man by his own righteousness can ascend the ladder and enter into heaven itself. If we are to do that, death must occur. the death of the Son of God, the spotless, perfect, holy, blemish-free sacrifice. Sin is a great demerit.

Sin is a great evil. Sin is abominable. And the only way the sin problem is ever taken care of is because Jesus was delivered up for our offenses. We do not need moral refinement.

We do not need a little bit of help. We need a sacrifice. We need the one who was spotless to die in our behalf and to rise again on the third day. At this time of the year, people get warm and fuzzy feelings connected with Jesus.

Let's get past that and see the absolute necessity of a crucified and a risen Savior. The necessity not only of the death of Christ, because we cannot work. Righteousness does not come through the law because we are dead in our trespasses and sins. So Christ must die on our behalf.

But the necessity of the resurrection. Hodge says with a dead Savior, a Savior over whom death had triumphed and held captive, our justification had been forever impossible. As I mentioned Gil, Christ's resurrection did not procure the justification of his people. that was done by His obedience in death, but was for the testification of it, that it might fully appear that sin was atoned for, and an everlasting righteousness was brought in, and for the application of it, where that Christ might live and see His righteousness imbued and applied to all those for whom He had wrought it out." We need Christ's death, we need Christ's resurrection, we need this desperately or we perish in our sins. And isn't gospel logic amazing?

Look at Romans 3.25, and physically you don't have to, but think about it. He was delivered up because of our offenses. Without the gospel, what does justice demand? that we are delivered up to hell because of our offenses. Right?

Isn't that the just punishment, the just reward? Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death. We deserve to be delivered up unto everlasting punishment, but God in His gospel, God in His mercy, God in His grace was pleased to deliver up His Son because of our offenses. That's the gospel.

That's the good news. That's what's most blessed and excellent in the scriptures. Again, it's not a message of self-help or exemplary preaching. It is the message of Christ and Him crucified.

The Bible is not good advice. The Bible is good news. And this is typified or captured in Romans 4.25. He was delivered up because of our offenses.

He was raised for our justification. And then finally, is it any wonder that Romans 5 follows Romans 4? I always think when I say things like this, you know, you guys are saying, yeah, Paul knew how to count. Butler is showing that he knows how to count.

I mean the themes. How does Romans 5 begin? Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. You see the logical flow.

You see the implication. You see the reality. He's delivered up because of our offenses. He's raised up for our justification.

Based on that reality, the logical implication is peace in your heart. joy in your soul, delight and comfort in your life. You see, this is where it gets practical. Now it doesn't matter what your situation is, your trials, your afflictions, your difficulties. I mean, it matters because you're going through them.

But you've been justified freely by the grace of God. You are heaven-bound. That's not going to change. No matter what this world throws at you, no matter what the trials you face, no matter the difficulties and the hardship, you are going to one day hear the Savior for sinners say, well done, good and faithful servant.

You are going to hear the Savior for sinners say, enter into the joy of your rest. You are going to hear the Savior for sinners say, I'm going to wipe every tear from your eye. I'm going to take every sorrow from your heart. I'm going to make it so that you never hunger and you never thirst.

You see, it's the doctrine of justification by faith alone. It's not 15 principles on how to navigate through difficult waters. It's the reality that I've been justified freely by the grace of God. through a crucified and risen Savior, it is based on that fact that I'm able to deal with this life in a manner that is consistent with the entirety of Scripture. Here's now how you ought to do these sorts of things.

We have peace with God based on that. Go live and move and have your being in this lower world. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank You for Your Word and we thank You for this capsule her encapsulated statement concerning the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, how we thank you for these truths, how we praise you for the fact that he has risen, how we praise you for the fact that he is at your right hand even now, making intercession for his people, being an advocate for his people. And if any here have not believed, if any here are not in Christ, I pray that you'd open their eyes and hearts Give them faith and repentance so that they may come to the Savior and know the joy of being found in Him, not having their own righteousness which is from the law, but having that righteousness which is from you through faith. Go with us now, we pray, and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Scripture References

• Exodus 20
• Leviticus 16
• Deuteronomy 5
• Psalm 32
• Isaiah 53; 53:11
• Matthew 1:21
• John 10; 20:1-23
• Romans 1:4; 1:18-3:20; 3:20; 3:21; 3:25-27; 4:1-8; 4:9-12; 4:13-22; 4:23-25; 4:25; 5; 6:9; 6:23; 8:32
• 1 Corinthians 1:21; 15; 15:17
• Galatians 2; 2:20
• Hebrews 2:17