So, beloveds, we will return to our series on the attributes of God this Sunday. We are reaching the end of it, or we have two more, this today and one more, and then we will be through this series on the attributes of God. And I hope you have been instructed, you have been Encouraged of what you've seen of God, that your picture of him has been more... What's the word? More complete, that you have a better biblical understanding of who God is. And last time and the last two times we've been talking about such... attributes as the goodness and love of God. And those are attributes that everybody loves to hear about. It might be easy, at least in the sense that we think about the love and goodness of God. But there is also hard things. And With all the attributes, there will come some that are harder, maybe not harder in the sense that we don't believe it, but harder to understand. It requires more thinking, it requires more processing. So, that is one of those attributes that we will look at today, and it is the righteousness of God, this attribute does involve a lot of legal terminology. It has to. It is what it is about. So bear with me as I will go through this one attribute, and I will be mentioning some legal terms. I'm sure you've heard them before, but they're still important. We need to understand, we need to believe what the Bible says about these things. I think that one of the reasons for why it's so hard for contemporary Christians to go through such an attribute as the righteousness of God is because it's never taught. At least I had never heard about such a thing as the righteousness of God. What is that even? When I was in the other churches here, not here in this town, but where I used to live, there was never spoken of. It's not something that contemporary Christians are eager to talk about. Let's talk about the righteousness of God. This is not here in Finland. I will give you a few definitions, and bear with me, don't jump to conclusions. I know we're good Calvinists, we're good Reformed people, we know where we're going with this. Let's not jump to the conclusion. Let's take the whole journey there so that we understand why we believe this and that. It's important that we understand what and why. So, definitions. So first of all, of course, what does the Bible or what do we mean in general with the word righteousness? What is righteousness? Well, righteousness is an ethical or moral standard. That's basically what it is. It's an ethical or moral standard. It's a ruler that you can measure something by. Let's think about a ruler, something that is straight, something that's not crooked or bent or something like that. Something that you can measure by, something else by. And of course, when we look at it in God, and the attribute is called the righteousness of God, we see that God is righteous and the righteousness of God is His perfect character. And His character is seen in His law, and His law is seen in His word. So that's from a human standpoint. Being righteous, being perfect means that we measure up to that standard, God's law. We are obedient to it. We follow it in everything that it says. And to further illustrate this, the biblical concept of righteousness is rooted in a Hebrew word, which literally means straight, straight. It's easy to understand when we look at a straight wall, or again, a ruler who is straight, and we can measure something that is crooked against it. If something is not straight, it will very quickly be seen. When we measure it against something else, we have a standard. That is what in the Hebrew we can see that the word righteousness means, that something that is straight. Of course, in the Bible, that is God's law. We can go through the Ten Commandments. We do this when we evangelize. Have you broken this commandment? Have you broken this commandment? You can go to the first to have only one God. The Lord your God is your only God. Have you ever had another God? Maybe you say, well, I have never had another God. I've always been a Christian. Really? You have always loved the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Every single second of your life? Well, if you haven't, then you have had another God, whatever it might be. You have broken the first commandment. The second commandment says that you should not make an image of the Lord your God. Well, we are good Calvinists. We don't have images here, do we? No, we don't because we believe in the second commandment. But have you always worshipped the Lord your God in spirit and truth? Is that always what you do? Or do you have you at some point? Maybe you have something, an image, a movie, a video game, whatever it might be. Something that is not the truth of the Bible. And thought, well, God is like that. No, the God is worshipped in spirit and truth. He's not worshipped through images, icons, whatever that is physical and seen by the eyes. If you have done that, you have broken the second commandment. And so we can go through all the 10 commandments. We know that this is the method that Ray Comfort uses in his evangelizing methods. Have you broken this? Have you broken that? Well, then you are this, this, that. That is really what we're doing when we're talking about the righteousness of God. We're comparing against a standard that is the law of God. We can see them summarized in the Ten Commandments. When we compare ourselves to those 10 commandments, what do we see? Do we see a perfectly straight man who always walks according to what the law says? No. No, we don't. We break the first. We break the second. We break the third. We break the fourth. And even when we come to the tenth, we realize, Oh no, I have broken every single one of these. I am so crooked. I go up and measure against that standard and I am nothing like a straight line. I am going here, there and everywhere. Oh no. Oh no. I don't measure up to this standard. Now, there are other concepts that we need to understand also. That was the first one. It was just a definition, really. So we need to have some other concepts clear to us as well. And that's very similar words, justice and holiness and how they relate to the righteousness of God. Now, justice is sometimes even used interchangeably with righteousness. And it's not necessarily wrong, but there is a fine difference there between justice and righteousness. And then we have holiness, which also comes or connects into these concepts. We have some overlap of these three attributes of God. So let's be careful and look at what these differences are. Justice, as I mentioned. Justice just means to give everyone their due. That's basically what justice is. Give everyone their due. Justice of God is the integrity of his nature through which he is led to do that which is righteous and fair. That is the justice of God, that he gives everyone what is fair, what they deserve. He compares everyone to that perfect standard, the righteousness of God, to the law and gives everyone according to how they measure up to that standard. Gives rewards to those who pass and judgment or punishment to those who do not. He declares the one who keeps his law innocent or righteous And the one who does not, he declares guilty, unrighteous. That is justice. And then we have holiness, God's holiness, which we have looked at previously. I don't know when it was, maybe a year ago or something like that, but we have looked at it. But in short, holiness can be defined as a partness or otherness, that God is separated from his creation. He's different. He's transcendentally majestic, powerful. He is different. He's separate. That's the primary meaning. Then the secondary meaning of God's holiness is that He's spotless. He's pure. This is the meaning we usually apply to holiness. God is sinless. There's no sin in Him. And we see that God's holiness is connected to his righteousness in who he is and in what he does. This is called the internal righteousness, who God is, and the external righteousness, what God does. He follows his own law not because he is under it, But because he is righteous, he cannot do anything that would go against his own nature. He must be consistent with who he is. Therefore, he is righteous and all his acts are righteous. And in relation to God's justice, it just means that God's holiness is the cause of his justice. His holiness will not allow him to do anything that is sinful. but only what is righteous. And that leads, of course, to God always being just. He always gives the just judgment to everyone, to every single one. There's no corruption in his judgments. He must follow his own character. So, the righteousness of God is important because it is the standard by which he can make just judgments. So he can be a just judge. And it also means that everything God is and everything God does is holy. There's no sin in it. There's no spot, no blemish in what He does or who He is. The righteousness of God naturally leads to His justice and holiness. Now, okay, now we're through the definitions. We've made it through that. Let's bring our Bibles into this. sermon into this Sunday service as well. So let's not only take my word for it, because I could stand here and give you lies and be telling you falsehood. So let's go to the book of Genesis, chapter 18, and let's see what Abraham says there as he's speaking to God about Sodom and Gomorrah. You know this chapter, I'm sure it's the conversation that Abraham had with, from verse, let's see, verse 24. conversation Abraham had about Sodom and Gomorrah. And there we can read from just two verses, verse 24 and 25, it says Abraham saying, suppose there are 50 righteous within the city, speaking about Sodom, will you indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the 50 righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from you, shall not the judge of all the earth deal justly? And then he continues on as God says, if there is only 50, I will not destroy it. If there's only 40, there's only 30, all the way down to 10. God says, I will not destroy it. Now, Abraham knew that God, who is righteous and just, will not treat the righteous and the guilty alike. He is a just judge. He's the judge of all the earth. He will act rightly. He will not destroy the righteous with the wicked. It is impossible for Him. It is impossible. Punishing the righteous with the wicked is truly an unjust act. We can all understand that. We can see it in our courts, with our judges. If a criminal is convicted and a guiltless person is convicted with him, then that is injustice. God will not do such a thing. He will not allow injustices. He will not violate his own righteousness. And this is a great comfort to us, or it should be. It should be a great comfort to us, knowing that God is truly a just judge. He is not a corrupt judge. He's not affected by politics. He's not affected by the opinions of man. He cannot be bribed. God gives always a perfectly just judgment to everyone. Our judges are limited, even if they might try to give the best possible judgment in a case. He takes every kind of fact into account. He sits down and he analyzes everything and he comes to a conclusion. There is still only so much he can do. He's still only a man, or she for that matter. There will be injustices on earth because we are not God. And there, of course, are then corrupt judges, those who take bribes, those who act unjustly and do so willingly. But in the perfect heavenly courtroom, there is perfect justice for everyone, for the wicked and for the righteous. Why? Well, because God is righteous and he will follow his perfect standard forever. But we might be discouraged by the fact that there are injustices in this world that God allows. injustice to happen. And Jesus knew that as well. Let's turn to another text. Let's go to the New Testament, to the Gospel of Luke chapter 18. We'll look at the parable of the unjust judge and just see what our Lord says there to give us encouragement when we face injustice. To not lose heart. Luke chapter 8. We'll read from verse 1 down to verse 8. Just this one parable. Luke chapter 18 verse 1 through 8. Now he was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, in a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city and she kept coming to him saying, give me legal protection from my opponent. For a while he was unwilling, but afterward he said to himself, even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection. Otherwise, by continually coming, she will wear me out. And the Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge said. Now will not God bring about justice for his elect who cry to him day and night, And will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Now, we read in the beginning of this parable here, in the beginning of the chapter, that this parable was given to show at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart. This is important. The righteous judge of the earth hears the desperate pleas, the prayers, the cries of his people. He hears them. He is not sleeping. He is not ignorant. He knows his people. He knows their suffering, their injustice, their persecution, their hardship, their trials. And He will give justice. He will. He cannot but do anything else. He must uphold His righteousness. He must give justice. Even if it seems for a time that He allows injustice to prevail. Now in verse 6, we read that he will bring about justice for his elect. Another translation here, I think it's the King James, uses the word avenge. Avenge means the exact satisfaction for a wrong by punishing the wrongdoer. God's righteousness. ensures us that He will avenge us. He will avenge us. He has that right. Indeed, His righteousness requires that He avenges His people who suffer injustice. Romans 12, 19, you probably know that where it says, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Vengeance is mine. God has the right. Indeed, He's the only one who has the right to avenge, to take out vengeance. Vengeance is mine. It's not yours, but mine. Vengeance is therefore not a bad thing. We assume it's a bad thing because it's forbidden for us. But vengeance, when applied correctly, justly, is a good thing. It is even required because it upholds God's righteousness, his perfect standard. He will carry it out. It's a sin if we carry it out, but when he does, it is justice. This is part of the righteousness of God, that he will avenge his people. That is a great comfort to us. It should be. God will avenge his people. He has not forgotten them. He has not forgotten their prayers, their pleas. Continue to pray, says Jesus, because he hears you and he will avenge you. And similarly, God also vindicates us. Vindicate is not the same thing as avenge. Let's again turn quickly to another text, chapter of, sorry, Gospel of Matthew. Gospel of Matthew, just two verses in Gospel of Matthew, chapter five. Let's turn to the Sermon on the Mount, verses 11 and 12. 11 and 12 in Matthew 5 says, Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Our Lord declares that we are blessed when people insult us, when they persecute us because of Him. He says that this has happened throughout history. The prophets before you, all the saints in all times suffer injustice, insults, But be glad and rejoice. This has always happened. This will always continue to happen. You will receive a reward. You will have a reward in heaven. God will exonerate those who are victims of slander and false accusation. That is part of His righteousness. His righteousness requires it, that He will vindicate His people, exonerate them. Those who are unjustly treated and spoken evil of. People might attack us personally. Personal attacks are painful. Believe me. We have seen it in our church. We know it maybe personally. Personal attacks are painful. Maybe it comes from someone you even thought that was your friend. Yet those evil do not escape God's eye. His watching eye sees everything, remembers everything. He will vindicate. He will reward you and punish the evildoer. His righteousness guarantees it. And that righteousness will stand forever. This is no small matter, by the way. We might think that this is obvious, but let's just think what implications this has. It is vital that we get the righteousness of God right. R.C. Sproul, who I think you all know, said that the righteousness of God is at the very heart of the Christian life. We enter the Christian life by the door of justification. If we are not justified, we are not Christians, end quote. Righteousness is so central and so important that if we do not understand it or if we do not see it, can we even call ourselves Christians? And again, as I said, it's vital that we get it right. The whole Reformation hinged on this one issue to justification. Justification. And really, what they call it, justification by faith alone. Because, of course, the Roman Catholic Church believes in justification, not just biblical justification. But Luther and the other reformers saw deficiencies, he saw unbiblical teaching in that which the Catholic Church was teaching about justification. And so we have the Reformation, or we had Reformation, and we continue to have it. Struggle against the false teaching about how we are justified before a righteous and holy God. We can say this, succinctly, and I quote Sproul again, justification is at the heart of the Christian faith because 1. God is righteous and 2. Man is not righteous. End quote. That is the problem. Regardless of what denomination or Christian background you have, you have to realize that God is righteous and we're not. And we have to reconcile that. How can we come before a righteous God if we are not righteous? That is a problem that needs to be solved. Because we have seen that already, haven't we? We compare ourselves to God's righteousness, to his law. We all see that we fall short. We don't fit through the straight line. When we come to that ruler, that standard, and we try to go through it, we can't. Our lives are a mess. The sin spoils everything. There's nothing that can pass the test of God's righteousness. We need someone. And again, I continue to quote Sproul because he's so good on this. He says, how can unjust people stand before the judgment throne of the just and righteous God? That is the important question, isn't it? And he answers, they cannot unless they are first justified. They must be justified in order to stand before the righteous God. But, say you, I thought God was a loving God. God is a merciful God. Surely He will forgive me. Why does He need to have a righteous people before me? Surely He can just say, I forgive you. I forgive you. Well then, is that justice, beloved? Is it justice that God comes to you who have broken the first, the second, the third, the fourth, all the way up to the 10th commandment? And He says, well, it doesn't look very great, does it? He says, well then, I forgive you. Why would your transgressions of the law need to be punished? Well, just come into the kingdom. That would be injustice. Wouldn't it? Go up to a judge in any court here or wherever you live and take a criminal with you. See, well, he has raped, he has murdered. He has been a bank robber. I know that these things break the law, but, you know, can't you just forgive him, please? Aren't you merciful, judge? Well, yes, of course. Just go on. Sin no more. That would be injustice. That would be injustice. So, beloved, we can't just say, God is merciful and loving and forgiving. He will forgive everyone. No, he won't. He won't. He can't. That would be unjust. That would violate his own character. That would violate justice. That would ruin our comfort that God will bring about perfect justice. So we must be justified some way, somehow, not just forgiven. We need to be justified. God must uphold his perfect standard, his righteousness, or God is no longer God. And as I said, be assured that God's righteousness will stand forever. He is not a corrupt judge. The Bible says His righteousness endures forever. So then we come back to the problem. How can a righteous God justify the unrighteous? How can God clear the guilty? If you allow me to use such a term, well, of course he can't clear the guilty. That would be injustice. I hope you're following along with me here. God does not clear the guilty. God punishes the guilty, but God can justify the sinner. There's an important difference there. God is not sidestepping his righteousness and clearing the guilty so that they can come on into his kingdom. God must justify the guilty for them to come into his kingdom. God justifies the guilty. God declares them righteous. But how can he do that? I'm glad you asked that. Let's turn to our final text, our most important text for today, Romans chapter three. Romans chapter 3. We will read from verse 19 down to the end of the chapter and deal with this problem together with Paul the apostle. From verse 19 down to the end of the chapter. This is what it says. Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God. Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God have been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. For there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because in the forbearance of God he passed over the sins previously committed for the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and a justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where then is boasting, it is excluded. By what kind of law or works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of the Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be. On the contrary, we establish the law. All right, so we see here, we go back to the beginning where we started reading here. Some things that we already have concluded. Verse 19, Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world become accountable to God. All the world must pass the test. Here we can really be sure that the word all means all. Every single human being have to pass the test of the law, the standard, God's perfect standard. They might be Jews or Greeks, circumcised or uncircumcised. It doesn't matter. You have to pass the test. You might be in Finland and have the Bible with you, or you might be in the Middle East and there is no Bible for hundreds of kilometers, yet everybody must pass the test, which is God's will. It doesn't matter where you're from, your background, your circumstances. Everyone has to be tested by God's righteousness. And the purpose of the law is really to shut everybody up. Just shut up and sit down, Paul is saying. Boasting is excluded. Every mouth will be closed. Yes, be closed. And you will be held accountable. Don't come with excuses saying, well, I was never in a Bible church. I didn't have a good pastor. Doesn't matter. or you boast because you had the law, well, then you have even less reason to speak back to God. Everybody, everybody will be held accountable. So that is a pretty nasty beginning as it often is with Paul. That's what he does. He brings us low before he start bringing us up again. That's where we go now. Verse 21. But now. I love that. Love and Paul does this. He first brings us so low. He crushes our pride. He humbles us to the ground. And then he says, but, but there's hope. Something good coming. We know that from Ephesians chapter two. He does the same thing there. But God. And here he does the same thing. But now. Apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested. Wait, there is a righteousness apart from the law? I thought the righteousness of God was displayed in the law. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. But there is a righteousness of God that has been manifested in a different way. In a different way. Let's read on. Verse 21, the righteousness of God had been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the law and the prophets testify of this. They knew that there's some other way. There is the way of keeping the law, of being obedient to every single commandment, everything that God has said in His Word. But they testified of another way. There's another way. Yes, there are. There's hope. Let's read on. Let's read on. Let's see what it says. 22. Even the righteousness of God. through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. I take the liberty to rearrange the sentence there. The righteousness of God that is apart from the law is a person. It is Jesus Christ. It is someone who came down from heaven, from the glory that he had with the Father, and became a man. A man like you and me. Came and lived under the law. Why? To fulfill all righteousness. That's what he said at his baptism, isn't it? Do this and we will fulfill all righteousness. His obedience to keep everything in the law fulfills all righteousness. Jesus kept the law perfectly, every single one of them, all the commandments, all the time. He is the only one who has been justified by the law. There is no one else. He has and is the righteousness of God. So what about Him? What about this Jesus? How does that relate to us miserable sinners who are so not righteous? Well, this righteousness that we so desperately need has been manifested in Jesus through faith for all who believe. What? It's available for all who believe? Yes, for all who believe through faith. This means that faith is now the means by which the righteousness of God can come to us. It is not the basis on which we are justified and receive the righteousness of God. It is the means by which we receive the righteousness of God. There is righteousness available through faith in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ. Meaning through faith, believing in his name and the works that he did, his life here on earth. There is enough to attain the righteousness of God. There is a way and that way is Jesus. And then Paul goes on to demonstrate that everybody needs it. I think we already know that by now, but let's continue to read. Verse 23, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This is just restating what we already know. Everybody needs this righteousness. Everybody has fall short of the glory of God. Verse 24, Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. There it is. It says, They are justified. They are declared righteous. Being justified means that being declared righteous. How? Through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Sinners are justified by virtue of the imputed righteousness of Christ. It is His righteousness which justifies the sinner. It is not your own. It is a foreign righteousness. That's what Luther called it. A foreign righteousness. It's His righteousness. And it is the one that justifies the sinner. To be justified by Christ is to receive the imputation of His righteousness. In other words, the righteousness of Jesus is now legally considered to be the possession of the sinner. Once the sinner receives the righteousness of Jesus, God declares the sinner just. Through faith, we can really and actually possess the righteousness of God and pass the test. Going from being crooked, being full of sin, being so far away from passing the test, to all of a sudden being perfect. We have the perfect righteousness. It's ours. We possess it. It has been imputed through faith. And herein lies our salvation that Jesus really and actually has taken our guilt and given us his righteousness by which we can come to a righteous God. And then verse 25 and 26. whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness because in the forbearance of God he passed over the sins previously committed. For the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be justified, or the one who has faith in Jesus. Christ died a propitiatory Death. He was a propitiatory sacrifice that satisfied divine judgment, divine justice. Christ taking our punishment so that God can still be just punished the sin and giving us his righteousness so that we can be declared just before God. In the death of Christ, God's justice is done. God upholds his righteousness, his justice, his holiness. Nothing is compromised. And yet, the sinner, me, you, you, you, you, you are justified. God looks at you and sees Christ's righteousness and says, not guilty, righteous, welcoming to my presence. So by legally transferring the sins of the sinner to Jesus and his righteousness to them, God is both able to be just and the justifier of those who have faith in Jesus. He can uphold the righteous standard of God. He can measure up to that perfect standard, that ruler that is never crooked, but always straight. He can pass through it. And by us being in Him, we pass through that standard, that test too. This amazing legal transaction is demonstrated in the perfect and completed work of Jesus. So the work of Christ reveals both the justice of God, that He does punish sin in the person of His Son, in Jesus, and that the righteousness of God, God's way of salvation by faith in Jesus, is demonstrated also. God does not have to compromise His own holiness, His justice, His righteousness, nor will He send His people to the eternal flames. He can be just and the justifier of those who have faith. And then Paul concludes, if you want to finish up this text, verses 27 through 30, he says, where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised by faith, is one." This justification, the imputation of Christ's righteousness on our behalf. It's not something that anyone can boast of. It is not a works. It is not because we deserve it. It is not because we're Jew or Greek, circumcised or uncircumcised. It's a gift. There's no boasting. And it's not restricted. It is available for Jews and Greeks, circumcised and uncircumcised, for all who believe. And then finally, verse 31, Do we nullify the law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the law. Paul has shown us that justification by the law is saving absolutely no one. No one is justified before God by keeping the law. That is not the purpose of the law. It is to show that we're all crooked, that we're all sinners, that we need something else or someone else. That's the whole point of the law. And the gospel of grace that saves the sinner and declares him just is not in contradiction to the law. On the contrary, it upholds the law. by only letting those who are justified pass the test. And then when they are justified, they are able to walk in a manner that is in obedience to the law. It is in obedience to God's character, to His righteousness. They are able. They have a new heart. They have a new will. They want to keep it. They're no longer under the bondage of sin, but under the bondage of righteousness. So then, the law is upheld, God's justice is intact, and sinners are declared righteous. All in the work, in the life, in the death and in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And that leaves us, of course, with a very important question for us all. Do you have the imputed righteousness of Jesus? You must have it in order to pass the test. There's no other way. You can't keep the whole law. You will not come before God saying, I kept the whole law. You need it. You must have it. It's the only way. God's righteous standard will not bend for you. He requires perfect obedience. And that perfect obedience is only available in Jesus. Now, this is an opportunity for you to find peace with God. To find redemption in Jesus. To not let this day and hour and opportunity go you by without knowing for sure, Lord, I need your righteousness. I am telling you this day that Jesus has been offered up as a sacrifice. For all who believe in him, for all who believe in him, he has taken the punishment that were legally your and mine and everyone's and put it on himself. and taking his perfect righteousness and put it on the sinner so that they will be justified. You are not excluded from this. Don't say to yourself, don't say that, oh, I have sinned too much. There is nothing that can be done. I am too crooked. If you feel yourself heavy burdened and guilty, you have great shame in your life, then take joy in that because that is exactly the person Jesus came to save. Those who know they are sinners, those who know that they don't measure up to God's standard. Those are the ones Jesus came to save. His work is for people such as you. He did not come to save the religious elites and those who can give you PhDs and all kinds of theological studies. No, He came to save those who are sinners and nothing but sinners. Those who recognize their sin, are shamed of it, confess it, repent of it and trust in the perfect work of Jesus. Do you? Do you? Do you want to repent of your sins this day and trust in Him? Then there is a great reward for you. I have good news. You will be saved. The promise is in the Bible. It will stand forever. You will be declared righteous. You will be justified. You will pass the test. That is the gospel. Believe it and be saved. Amen. Let's end with a word of prayer. Father, we come before you this Sunday not with our own. merit or our own works. Father, we come before you only trusting in the perfect and finished work of Jesus Christ. Here we stand guilty, full of sin, not able to keep your law, but we trust in one who could keep the law. Oh God, let us never forget that. Lord, let us always uphold that truth in our own lives and when we witness to others of your righteousness. Father, we think of those who do not know you, for whom this concept of righteousness and being justified before you is a foreign concept. Lord, it was so for us. But now we know it. Oh God, help us. Help us witness, testify of this righteousness. So that others might come to know you through Jesus, through faith in Him. who completed our righteousness. Oh God, we pray for those who do not know you then, that you would be merciful to them as you have been merciful to us. Save them, Lord. Let them see the Savior for who He is, the righteous, perfect standard that upholds your law and allows the sinner to be justified. Oh God, let them see Jesus as this perfect Savior. Oh, Father, we pray that Your name would be glorified this Sunday, that You would not let these words fall down to the ground and not bear fruit. Oh, Father, let Your name be glorified and Your Son's name be uplifted high. In His name we pray these things. Amen.