Theological term
Justification
521 sermons · All terms
The Best Defense
Colossians 2:8–10 issues a double-edged call: beware of the spiritual kidnapping of godless philosophy, and rest in the sufficiency of Christ in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. The sermon exposes the 'Christ plus' logic underlying ancient and modern heresy — circumcision, asceticism, angel-veneration, and their contemporary equivalents — as substitutes for what believers already possess completely in Christ. The best defense against false teaching is not vigilance alone but a thoroughly biblical Christology, grounded in the conviction that those who are in Christ are complete in the head of all principality and power.
Encouraging Words for a Discouraging Time
Haggai 2:1–9 addresses a community of returned exiles who, after a sixteen-year building hiatus, have resumed construction on the Second Temple only to find themselves discouraged by its apparent insignificance compared to Solomon's. The sermon works through three movements in the text: the reality of the people's discouragement, the threefold faith required for present obedience (in God's presence, his covenant, and his Spirit), and the promise of a future glory that finds its fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. The New Testament's own interpretation of Haggai's 'shaking' language in Hebrews 12 is brought to bear, showing that the prophet points forward to the covenantal transformation inaugurated by Christ — the one who is himself both the desire of all nations and the only source of the peace Haggai promises.
Observations on the Gospel
What is the gospel, and what does it demand of its hearers? Expounding 1 Corinthians 15:1–11, this sermon traces six defining observations about the gospel of Jesus Christ: it is rooted in history, revealed by God in Scripture, Christ-centered, received by faith alone, essential to salvation, and powerful for the worst of sinners. The Lord's Supper frames the meditation, reminding believers that the bread and wine point not to human merit but entirely to Christ's accomplished work. Hearers are called to examine whether they possess a saving interest in Christ and to trust him alone for justification.
The Great Commission
Matthew 28:18–20, the Great Commission, grounds the church's evangelistic and discipleship mandate not in human strategy but in the universal authority of the enthroned Christ. The sermon traces three interlocking realities: the authority behind the commission (Christ's sovereign rule over all things), the activity the commission requires (making, baptizing, and teaching disciples), and the active agent who sustains it (Christ himself present with his people to the end of the age). Believers' baptism is expounded as a visible sign of union with Christ, remission of sins, and public covenant commitment — an ordinance reserved for disciples, not infants — and the entire commission is set within a robustly Calvinist framework in which God alone adds to his church by sovereign grace.
But Now Christ is Risen
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a peripheral doctrine but an inseparable component of the gospel itself — Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 15 demands that it be treated as a truth of the first rank. This exposition works through four movements: the resurrection's cardinal importance, its absolute certainty established by both Old Testament Scripture and eyewitness testimony, the devastating logical implications if it were false, and the blessed realities that flow from the fact that Christ is indeed risen. Believers are called to find in the risen Christ the ground of their regeneration, justification, sanctification, and hope; unbelievers are warned that the same resurrection that secures salvation for the elect guarantees a righteous judgment against all who reject it.
We Esteemed Him Not
Isaiah 53:3 contains a startling corporate confession: 'He was despised and we did not esteem Him.' This sermon works through that verse in its full context, first establishing that Isaiah 53 speaks exclusively of the penal substitutionary work of Jesus Christ, then examining four questions about biblical esteem — that we did not esteem Him, why we did not, why we now do, and why He is worthy of highest esteem. The explanation for both our former contempt and our present esteem rests entirely on sovereign grace: men by nature are dead in trespasses and sins, and it is God alone who makes the dead alive, producing the faith by which Christ becomes precious to His people. The sermon closes with a call to revive a love for Christ, to pray for rulers, and to warn the unconverted that the same Christ who is 'altogether lovely' to believers will be a terror to those who refuse to bend the knee.
Redemption Through the Curse Bearer
Galatians 3:10–14 presents two mutually exclusive grounds on which a sinner might attempt to stand before God: the works of the law, which place every performer under a divine curse, or faith in Christ, who became that curse in the place of his people. This sermon expounds the universal and just nature of the curse fallen humanity labors under, the identity and substitutionary work of the Redeemer who bore it, and the nature of redemption as a purchased liberation from condemnation. The parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 is brought alongside Galatians 3 to press the willingness and joy of Christ in receiving sinners, calling every hearer to look to him in faith rather than to any measure of personal law-keeping.
The Nature of Redemption
Galatians 3:10–14 presents redemption as covenantal, instantaneous, complete, and secure — four properties the apostle Paul grounds not in the believer's performance but in Christ's atoning work at Calvary. The sermon traces the Abrahamic promise through the whole Bible to show that Gentile believers are not a divine afterthought but the planned heirs of a covenant stretching from Genesis to the gift of the Spirit. Assurance of salvation belongs to justification, not sanctification, so that a believer's peace with God rests on Christ's cross-work rather than personal obedience. Three closing applications address the lawful use of the law for the believer, the biblical doctrine of cessationism, and the duty to preach the law faithfully to unconverted sinners.
The Lord Preserves His People
Zephaniah 3:6–20 brings the prophet's message to its climax: after rehearsing the severity of divine judgment upon the nations and upon Judah herself, the text turns to the Lord's preservation and celebration of his covenant people. The sermon traces three movements — a final warning in light of the day of God's wrath (vv. 6–8), the Lord's preservation of his people through purification, provision, and security (vv. 9–13), and the exultant celebration of God in his people (vv. 14–20), culminating in verse 17 as the 'John 3:16 of the Old Testament.' Throughout, these Old Covenant promises are shown to find their fulfillment in New Covenant realities: the cleansing of conscience through Christ's blood, the security of the unbreakable New Covenant, and the astonishing truth that God rejoices over his redeemed people with singing. The sermon closes with a summons to seek the Lord, seek righteousness, and seek humility as the permanent marching orders of the people of God.
The Basis of Christian Joy
Jesus' command in Luke 10:20 — 'rejoice because your names are written in heaven' — reveals that the proper basis of Christian joy is not ministerial performance but sovereign grace in salvation. The sermon works through four reasons why performance-based joy is defective (it breeds pride, is no certain indicator of grace, does not abide, and fails in the valleys) and five reasons why salvation-based joy is superior (it belongs equally to all the saints, centers on Christ rather than self, flows from God's sovereign election, can be cultivated through the Word, and abides in all circumstances). The practical summons is to ground joy not in what one has done for God, but in what the triune God has done in electing, redeeming, and keeping His people.
The Incarnation and Our Salvation
Galatians 4:4–7 sets before the reader three privileges secured for sinners through the incarnation of the Son of God: redemption from the curse of the law, adoption into the family of God, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who enables the cry 'Abba, Father.' The sermon argues that the incarnation was no divine afterthought but the execution of an eternal covenant of redemption between the Father and the Son, initiated entirely by divine grace and not by any human merit or seeking. The triune God acts in perfect unity — the Father sending the Son to secure the rights of sonship, and the Father sending the Spirit to give the power of using them. Hearers are called to meditate on these three blessings, to grow in knowledge of the triune God, and to resist discouragement by taking an active hold of these gospel truths.