You got two passages we're looking at today. First one is in Romans chapter 4 verses 1 through 8 and then verse 25. 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 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 with blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from his 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. Then verse 25. says who was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification. The second passage today is in Galatians chapter 2 verses 15 and 16. We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your grace. Thank you, Lord, that while we were yet sinners, at the right time, you sent Christ to die for us. In Jesus' name, amen. A slight change from what the title is. We'll be picking up this theme of objective justification more next week. I decided to take the first week to do kind of a bird's-eye view on this truth of justification, and then next week we'll get more into the weeds of the matter, looking at some of the details that well I find to be incredibly important we've looked at justification before of course we often hit it on it during Reformation Day in that period but it is a topic that we look at again this morning because it is derivative or flows from our out of the cross the atoning work of Jesus Christ. We've looked at this before. We will look at it again in the future because it is a subject that is architectonic, we might say. It covers almost all the doctrines, touches on almost all the doctrines of the Christian faith, whether you're talking about the idea of covenant, of redemption, of faith, of common grace, irresistible grace, total depravity, total inability, election, limited atonement, Perseverance of the Saints, Heaven, Hell, Repentance, and on and on. Justification is integrated, is connected to all of these doctrines. And so it's a doctrine that we should be constantly returning to and familiar with. It's also a doctrine we should be constantly returning to and familiar with Because if we don't have that set as a solid foundation, then we could easily run to the danger of treating the law instead of as a guide to life, as a pole vault by which we can enter into God's presence. As Paul puts it, we could become enamored with our works of the law. And that's not what the third use of the law or the law as a guide to life is intended to do. But if we have justification, the doctrine therein, squarely founded, squarely set, then our obedience that comes in light of justification will not be tempted to make that obedience part of our justification. I trust that will become more and more clear as we move through. The whole idea of justification is simply put in four words. God justifies sinful men. J.I. Packer noted that doctrine of justification determines the whole character of Christianity as a religion of grace and faith. Luther is famously reputed as saying that this is the doctrine of the standing or the falling of the church. Calvin referenced justification as being the hinge upon which the whole idea of Christianity turned. And of course, there is no turning unless there is what? The hinge, right? And so obviously there was a profound understanding of the importance of this doctrine. And of course, they would understand it in this way because this became the This became the material principle of the Reformation, the flashpoint, as you will, this idea of justification. Now, if we look at the English word, which is not the word that we understand from the Greek, but the English word itself is derived from two Latin words, justice and ficere, which together have the literal meaning to make righteous. or to do righteousness. Often that term today, the English term is used in a way to excuse action or to prove one was acting rightly. So for example, we can say Kyle Rittenhouse was justified for killing in self-defense. You see, we use the word justified in the sense of to make or to do righteousness. But these usages, the English usage, is very far removed from the biblical meaning of the term. And I suppose that's one reason why we get so confused with this idea. When we look at the Old Testament to try to understand this idea of justification, Paul appeals to it in Romans 4, in the Old Testament to Abraham, and then later to David. When we consider the Old Testament, it comes from the Hebrew word tzedekeh. It usually means, and notice the difference here, and I wonder if you'll catch it, between the English and the Hebrew, it means usually to declare judicially that one state is in harmony with the demands of the law. Did you catch the difference? In the English, it's the idea to justice and fiqhari, to make righteous. In the Hebrew, tzedekeh, the idea is to declare righteous. And herein is the difference between heaven and hell. Because the understanding of fallen man always wants to make justification, if he talks about it at all, to be make righteous. So that our words are in the process of doing what? Making us righteous. As opposed to the Greek or the Hebrew idea where it's a declaration of righteousness, as Paul says, apart from what? apart from the works of the law, apart from our performance, apart from our deeds and our doing. And we'll find as we continue down this path that what we emphasize as Protestants, as Reformed, when we talk about justification, is not the idea of our works, but as Christ's work for us. So that if we ask the question, are we justified by works, the answer is actually yes. Whose works? But whose works? The Protestants have always said Christ's works. So we see this Old Testament term to justify several places in the Old Testament, Exodus 23, for example, keep far from a false charge, do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not justify the guilty. Isaiah 53, 11, and I'm just giving you examples of the usage of the word here. By his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant will justify the many. and he will bear their iniquities. And of course, there's Genesis 15.6, which is hearkened to here in this Romans passage, which is the seed plot for the doctrine of justification. That text, then he believed the Lord and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. In the New Testament, we have several terms. There's diakaio, to justify, that's the verb. There's dikas, that is just, righteousness, the adjective. And there's dikaioma, which is justification itself. We hear that in Romans 3.24, this idea of dikaioma, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus. And again in Romans 5.1, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And the verb here, when it's used in a verb sense, means to declare a person to be just. In Paul's soteriological sense, the way that he uses it in his corpus, it means to declare, forensically, that the demands of the law as a condition of life are fully satisfied with regard to a person. The word is from a courtroom, a legal or forensic term. And once again, we find the legal dynamics and aspects of biblical Christianity. We've talked about these other words. We've talked about the idea of reconciliation and what world it comes from, the idea of the family. We've talked about the idea of redemption and what world it comes from, the marketplace. We've talked about propitiation and the idea that it comes from the temple. But here, when we come to this idea of justification, we're now in the courtroom. And here we see again the slight distinction, the dynamics of these realities that flow from the atonement. Justification finds one in the courtroom in a legal contextual setting. So it has to do with the relationship of the sinner before God, but not just God generically speaking, but God as judge. And we say again, it does not mean to make righteous contra to our English usage, but to declare righteous. We find that throughout the scriptures in these texts that were read this morning. When we look at a definition of justification, just so we can have clarity in our minds, it's the act of God whereby He declares righteous him who believes on Christ. To be more precise, we would say it's the act of God as judge whereby He declares righteous him who believes in Christ. We could also say that justification is the act of God's grace whereby he declares righteous the person who places faith in Jesus Christ as his substitute and Savior. I'm just giving you a few random definitions here. Justification is that judicial or declarative act of God by which he pronounces those who believingly accept the propitiatory offering of Christ as absolved from their sins, released from their penalty, and as accepted righteous before God. One more. Justification is a judicial act of God in which he declares on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ that all claims of law are satisfied with respect to the sinner. And if we consider one of the great catechisms, the Westminster Catechism, the shorter catechism, the one that the children were supposed to memorize, once upon a time they asked the question, what is justification? And the answer is, justification is an act of God's free grace. wherein he pardons all our sins, accepts us in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. And so we're already beginning to limb out the vast themes of justification. And if we properly understand justification, one of the consequences that flow from this idea is a due humility. For if we understand that we've been declared righteous in the sight of God for the sake of the finished work of Jesus Christ, paying my penalty, taking my sin, giving to me his righteousness so that I stand acquitted and favored by God. If we understand that, then why would any of us ever had, five letters begins with P, pride. What is there to be proud about? Justification, in terms of its implications, should make us, at least theoretically speaking, if not for the sinful nature we continually contend with, should make us characterized as some of the most humble people you'll ever want to meet. That's what it should do. Of course, I'm a living example of the sin nature that sometimes, oftentimes gets in the way. And we all have that problem, right? But a proper understanding, a proper understanding does drive a proper humility. That's just one of the consequences of right understanding. And that should be something we delight in because Scripture teaches that God does what to the proud? You remember? He resists the proud, but what does he give to the humble? Grace. He gives grace to the humble. So what are the nature and characteristics of justification? Well, first of all, I would say that justification presupposes that man's relation to God is determined by, we've already said it, is determined by law. And would to heaven that modern Christians could understand this simple idea. We're so enamored with the relationality aspect, and I don't want to diminish the relationality aspect of Christianity too much. And I've said this before, but if we don't understand that our Christian faith is a legal faith, full of legal categories and law categories, we'll never understand our Christianity. Modern theologians today reject totally the existence of these legal categories involved in man's relation to God. Basically because, it boils down to, because those legal categories are not nice. They teach the idea that God is a just deity. That being a just deity, that there is a just penalty. Notice the language again. There's a just penalty. Penalty, again, coming from the law room. A just penalty for sin that must be satisfied. Again, a legal concept. Before the person who is guilty of that sin can walk free from the penalty, the condemnation that was upon him. What we get today is, instead of these legal categories, which again, I admit and understand that they can become sterile if overworked, these legal categories, but what we get today is an insistence on the prominence of personal or relational categories. And there was a time when, outside of the Reformed Church, there's little stress on this idea of justification with its legal concepts. But now I fear that even within the Reformed Church, it's very little hearkened. But Scripture teaches that God's law expresses His holy character and is binding upon fallen man. Man is sinful, and God's law serves to reveal his sin. And that is the purpose of the first use of the law. And that's what justification answers. The first use of the law is to remind us over and over again that we are sinners. And having been convinced of that, the idea is the only way we can escape that condemnation is the acquittal imputed to us by God because of the finished work of Jesus Christ in justifying the wicked. You see, that's the difference between us and Rome. Rome says justification is a process, and as I go through the process in this life, and then through who knows how many years of purgatory, at the end of that whole process, because of this purifying process, eventually at the end of it, I am righteous and therefore I am justified. The declaration doesn't come until the reality is fully present, so to speak. However, Geneva, Wittenberg, they taught that no, it's not a process. It is instead front-loaded. That verdict that is yet into the future is now brought back into history and is given, is declared about the sinner who looks to Jesus Christ and trusts him fully for justification. so that I am right with God, so that my sins are no longer upon me, so that I'm no longer twisted by the work of guilt. Justification delivers us from all that. We look at the nature and characteristics of justification. We said firstly, it presupposes that man's relation to God is determined by law. Secondly, we say that justification refers to man's state or position, not his inner life or condition. It deals with man's, what kind of standing? His legal standing before God. And so it doesn't deal with how a man feels inwardly, but how he stands in terms of God's legal requirement. So the legal verdict that we find in justification, God's pronouncement of not guilty, His statement that there is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, That legal verdict in a courtroom is outside of the person's own subjective experience. He may feel one way subjectively and be declared legally just the opposite. It's altogether theoretically possible that a person could be so overwhelmed with a sense of their own sin that they could yet comprehend that they've been declared righteous and still feel, here's a fancy theological word, yucky. Okay? They could still feel wicked. And it would be hard for them to adjust to the idea that even though they know their own sin, they're still righteous in the sight of God. And so it's not... That is, justification has not to do with our inner life or condition. It is to do with man's state or position. We understand then, thirdly, that justification takes place before the tribunal of God. It's in God's mind or before God's throne. It is, we would say, extra nos, that's the Latin, it's outside of us. Regeneration and sanctification are realities that happen where? Inside of us. The Holy Spirit regenerates us and works in us sanctification so that we increasingly become what we've been freely declared to be in justification. But justification is extra nos. It happens in God's courtroom, in God's mind. That's why we use the language of imputation to reckon to somebody's account. In justification, God reckons to our account the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He did it for Abraham in Romans 4. He did it for David in Romans 4. It's always been the way that he's dealt with the saints, and this was the great truth that was returned to in the Reformation. And so justification is a declarative act rather than what we might call an efficient act. It is, again, outside of us. We mentioned imputation in terms of a characteristic that is a fourth aspect of justification and involves this idea of imputation. This is a distinction between this idea of our union with Christ that happens in regeneration. Man is acquitted not because he's actually just, but because his sins have been atoned for by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And so the individual is counted as something that he is not. It's a matter of a metaphorical or symbolic prisoner in justly in jail for whatever crime that you would wanna think, whatever heinous crime you wanna mention. And he is given a pardon by the governor or the president. In the pardon, his legal standing is switched. His existential condition hasn't changed, but his legal standing is now altered because of this. And so justification, likewise, as we look at these different characteristics, is a once-for-all act of God. As we mentioned earlier, unlike Rome, it's not a process. There are not degrees of justification. It's kind of like being pregnant. Either you're pregnant or you're not. Either you're justified or you're not. There's no process in justification. What that also means is that the babe in Christ is not less justified than the seasoned Christian. They're both declared righteous by God's declarative act in Jesus Christ. And now we pause to talk a little bit about this idea, and we're going to go into this more next week, because I believe that what we're going to talk about in the next few minutes, or for the next few minutes, would resolve a lot of the tensions that's come up within the modern Reformed church and their debates between radical two-kingdom theology and federal vision. We'll get into more of the weeds of that next week. But let's just say this here. It's possible then to talk about an objective and a subjective justification. When we talk about that distinction, and again, remember, we're going to go into this more next week. We're just giving the highlights here. When we talk about this objective justification, we're considering God's declaration that the demands of law are fully met, objectively speaking. In other words, objective justification is the acknowledgement that at the cross of Jesus Christ, and in the cross of Jesus Christ, man was declared right. That is to say, Christ's tribe, his people, were declared righteous with the finished work of Jesus Christ, and even that work finds its beginning point in eternity. So that at the cross, because of God's electing purposes, that at the cross, when Christ cries out, tetelestai, at that point, all the saints throughout time are what? Justified, right? This is to say just as when Adam fell, all of mankind objectively fell in Adam, so when Christ restores, when he dies on the cross, when he completes his work, so his tribe, his people, his clan, whatever phrase you wanna use, at that point in the cross are justified. And again I would say, and that you can find backed up into eternity so that there is a way that you can properly speak, there's also a way you can improperly speak, but there's a way that you can properly speak of eternal justification. More on that next week. That's just to say, that's just to talk about redemption accomplished. When we talk about subjective justification, we would talk about that as, Redemption applied. It's what takes place in terms of the individual and the sinner's actual state. He enters into, upon conviction and turning to Christ, he enters into the experience of being justified. He subjectively has walked into what was accomplished in space and time, and he walks into it by the Spirit's animating work of regeneration. Next week I hope to explain how this might resolve some of the push-me-pull-yous that we're finding in the modern reform debates. And I say at the very outset here, and I'll say again next week, this is a minority conviction, a minority understanding, but it still has reformed legs. You can find it in history. Let's talk now about this idea of the elements or the benefits of justification. When we talk about the benefits of justification, we usually talk about a negative and a positive aspect that correspond to Christ's active and passive obedience. When we talk about the negative element as a benefit, it has to do with this idea of the remission of sins, all right? So Christ in his, his passive obedience, passive because he's hanging there on a cross, he's paying the penalty for our sins so that our sins are being placed upon Christ. And the positive aspect would be that in his life in His active obedience, in His keeping of the law in His whole life, He's keeping it in our place, in our steed, for us, so that in His work on the cross, not only is our sin imputed or placed upon Him, but His righteousness is then placed upon us. so that when God looks at us, metaphorically speaking, he sees not me in all the sin that I still contend with, he sees in me the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Can you have any wonder why anybody would have happy feet over this idea? No more is this idea that somehow I've got to keep performing and performing and performing and doing just enough and just enough to meet the standard of absolute perfection in order to be accepted by God. No longer am I kissing relics. No longer am I counting beads. No longer am I climbing stairs on my knees. No longer am I reciting prayers. No longer am I taking a whip and doing this number on me in order to gain God's favor. Instead, by the work of Jesus Christ, upon His finished, accomplished atonement, I am justified. And so, in justification, you have these transfers. My sin to Christ, Christ's righteousness to me. And that's the extra nos aspect, the outside of me aspect, happening in God's courts, in God's mind. Remember, I still have to continue in sanctification. It's still true of me that I am not yet what I have been declared to be, but I am moving in that direction by the grace of God. And so I've had removed from me all guilt and every penalty. And that's why Paul can say, who will bring any charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died. Now, of course, this doesn't mean that individual sins are not to be confessed and repented of on a daily basis. But it does mean that as I confess and repent of my sins, I can be confident that I rise up from my knees knowing that I am forgiven. It's precisely because I've been declared righteous that I want to keep my account, so to speak, short. Understand, though, another consequence of this justification is it's not only past sins, it's not only present sins, but it's future sins. All of my sin has been quenched in the cross, and I am, and I walk as a forgiven child of God. Now, of course, the cynical say, well, then you'll go out and sin all you want. But of course, we understand that if we've been convinced of our sin and how much we've been rescued, why would we ever want to do what? Go back to that sin. We wouldn't. And so we make it our goal, because of this declarative act, we make it our goal, as Paul says, we make it our goal to please Him. When you begin to understand all that we've been looking at, redemption, reconciliation, ransom, expiation, propitiation, justification, regeneration, when you begin to get a handle, at least to some degree on that, how can you not be lost in wonder, love, and praise? And at the same time, how can you any longer be impressed with yourself? Allow me to pull a string here. It's a bit of a rabbit trap, but not too much. It's something I think that needs to be said. As a minister, you butt up against this at times in your ministry. But if what we're looking at is true, and it is, if something drives a saint to despair, so badly that God forbid they commit the sin of self-murder, if it was the case that they were in Christ, that does not close the door to heaven's gates. And so even in that desperate of a situation, God has not forgotten His people. And if we've had loved ones that have done that, and we're convinced that they were in Christ, there's no longer any reason to be not convinced simply because of that. Herein we see the grandness of justification. This idea of Christ's righteousness being imputed to us is seen in the passage I read For the gospel proclamation, 2 Corinthians 5, 21, he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him. It's interesting that idea, the righteousness of God in him can be taken both objectively and subjectively. If it's to be taken objectively, it means that we share in his righteousness so that we have the righteousness of God in him. If it's taken subjectively, it means that Our righteousness is now reflecting His righteousness as we work it out, that we might become those who are righteous in Him. Of course, we believe in both these aspects. It's important to believe both the negative and the positive elements. Because if you only have forgiveness of sins, if you only have our sin to Christ, then all you've done is you've raised somebody to basically ground zero, right? And now what do they have to do to curry favor? They still have to what? They still have to work their works. And in history, this was called neonominism, and maybe I'll go more into that next week. But the neo-Nomians often, the Wesleyans for example, only acknowledge our sin to Christ and don't include the idea of our Christ's righteousness to us. And what that means is that now they've been lifted to kind of the neutral level, but they still don't have the righteousness that they need. Am I making sense? Okay? And so, therefore, they've got to get that, and since Christ isn't giving it to them in that impunitive obedience, then they've got to curry their own, but they realize they still can't meet the mark, and so what they end up doing is they reduce the demands of the law and make a new law, hence, neonomian, and they fulfill that new law, and they thus think that they're currying or gathering righteousness. Again, more on that next week. This idea of righteous before God, the famous phrase that was often used, and one that I like, is this idea that we now have an alien righteousness. Something that is not inherently ours. It's alien to us, but yet it's still ours. Simulat justus et peccator, at the same time just the same time sinner. We'll pause there. But we've started to take up some of these great themes that we find in Scripture on this doctrine of justification. We understand that it flows from the atonement. So that in objective justification, we can say that I'm faithed by justification alone. And in subjective justification, we can say by faith alone, I'm justified. And all of these grand themes start coming together, and as we begin to comprehend, as we begin to get our arms around us, as we begin by the Holy Spirit's favor to probe and understand, we become increasingly a thankful people. We become increasingly a selfless people. How can you be selfish and understand these great terms, these grand ideas? We become a people that look out not only after our own needs, but also the needs of others. We become God-oriented in our thinking. We become other-oriented. And we begin to see the essence of Christianity in our everyday lives. May God grant us all, all of us, the grace to understand justification. Let's stand for a closing word of prayer. Father, we pray by the Holy Spirit that you would teach us. We understand that our Adamic nature wants to push away these truths. wants to somehow put ourselves in as a starring role. We pray that you continue to teach us to be dead to self and alive to Christ. You continue to teach us to look outside of ourselves to Christ and His righteousness. That you continue to remind us that our sin and guilt have been taken away. And that you continue to grant us the grace to be a people who are characterized because of all this, as a people characterized by joy unspeakable. Teach us, grow us up in the faith. Leave us not in the shallows. Take us out into the deep, we beg of thee, so that thy name would be glorified and those outside of Christ may be amazed, amazed at the God of the Bible that could take such a rabble as we and make him into trophies of his grace. In Christ's name we pray, amen.