Romans chapter 5 is the portion of God's Word that we read this morning in connection with Lord's Day 23 of the Heidelberg Catechism, which is on the truth of justification by faith alone. So we'll read Romans chapter 5. Romans 5, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. Hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us, much more than be now justified by his blood. We shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God, By the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the atonement. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, Much more the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man's offense death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's read together now, Lord's Day 23 of the Catechism. Questions and answers 59 through 61. Lord's Day 23. Question 59, but what doth it profit thee now that thou believest all this? that I am righteous in Christ before God and an heir of eternal life. How art thou righteous before God? Only by a true faith in Jesus Christ, so that, though my conscience accused me that I have grossly transgressed all the commandments of God and kept none of them, and am still inclined to evil, notwithstanding God, without any merit of mine, but only of mere grace, grants and imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, even so as if I never had had nor committed any sin. Yea, as if I had fully accomplished all that obedience which Christ has accomplished for me. and as much as I embrace such benefit with a believing heart. 61, why sayest thou that thou art righteous by faith only? Not that I am acceptable to God on account of the worthiness of my faith, but because only the satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ is my righteousness before God, and that I cannot receive and apply the same to myself any other way than by faith only. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, let us understand the context of Lord's Day 23, how we got to this Lord's Day and the truth that is under consideration this morning. Lord's Day 23 is the Lord's Day immediately after the conclusion of the treatment of the Apostles' Creed. That goes all the way back to Lord's Day 7. Lord's Day 7 was on the subject of faith. Faith is a certain knowledge and an assured confidence. The natural question that arised out of Lord's Day 7 was, what is the object of our faith? What is it that we have knowledge of, that we have confidence in? What is it that we believe, in other words? The answer of Lord's Day 7 was, all things promised to us in the Gospel, which the articles of our Christian faith briefly teach us. The object of our faith is the promises of the gospel. Those promises of the gospel are summarized for us in the articles of the Christian faith. Those articles of the Christian faith are the Apostles Creed. So, Lord's Days 8 through 22 then took us through the Apostles Creed. It did so in light of Lord's Day 7, teaching us that this content of the Apostles Creed is the object, what it is that we believe. Now we come to Lord's Day 23. The question coming back to that Lord's Day 7, is this. Now what is the prophet that thou believest all this? And the answer is that I am righteous in Christ before God in an era of eternal life. What is the prophet of believing? The answer is that I am justified. Lords day 23 is on the truth of justification. It does not use the term justification, but that is what it is talking about. When it talks about the imputation of the satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, which we receive by faith only, what we are dealing with here is the wonderful truth of justification by faith alone. Lord's Day 23 has that as its main idea. And so that's what we take up this morning. We look at the truth of justified by faith alone. We'll use these as our three points. Justified, number one. By faith alone, number two. And unto eternal life, number three. Justified, by faith alone, unto eternal life. When it comes down to it, beloved, the most important question that you can face is, how does God view me? as I stand before him, the Holy God who comes before us with his perfect law, how does he see me? What does he say about me? That's a fundamentally, of course, important question. We can be concerned with what others may think of us or say about us. In fact, that can consume us at times. What does my friend think of me? What does my girlfriend or boyfriend think of me? What does my employer think of me? That can be the predominant question in our heart and mind for our life at a time. But that is not, of course, what really matters. What matters is this. How does God see me? What does God say about me? And when it comes down to it, there are really two answers potentially to that question. On the one hand, what God can say about me as he views me is this, I see them and I declare about them that they are guilty. As they stand before me, the holy God, And before my perfect law, which comes before all men, they are guilty. And if it is that how God sees one, there's a necessary path that that brings one down. And that path, in the end, is a path of suffering that ends in eternal death. guilty and eternal death. That on the one hand or it's this God looks at us and he says about us this is how I view them and this is what I declare about them they are righteous they are innocent and that puts one down a path and that path is the antithesis of the other path. That path is eternal life in glory with God. How does God view you? What does God say about you as you stand before Him as the Holy One and His law? That's the question. that really matters. This is the wonderful truth of justification. When it comes to the answer to that question, it is this. God sees his people in Jesus Christ, and he declares to his people, this is who you are. You are, as you stand before me and my law, righteous. With the righteousness of Christ, and therefore you are an heir of everlasting life. That's the absolute wonder of justification in the Lord Jesus Christ, which, as we'll see, we receive by faith alone. There is, of course, a great need that we have for this justification. The need is that from a broad perspective, we are, by nature, guilty sinners. We don't deserve this second option of the two that I just described a moment ago. When we know that, that's why this entire reality that we're going to explain this morning is by grace. Romans 5, repeated, grace, grace. Lord's Day 23, only of mere grace. We don't deserve this. We have to understand our need for our justification. And I want to think about that from two perspectives this morning. On the one hand, there is the need in the sense that there is a time in someone's life that if they are not in Jesus Christ, this is their actual standing and state before God. Guilty. Guilty before a holy God. There is a time in one's life as they're born into this world in which that is the case. That is true right now today as we live in this world for every single person who does not belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then an answer to that question, how does one stand before God? The answer is they stand before Him as guilty because they are not in Jesus Christ. And they are down that path of eternal destruction. And the reason that is the case is exactly what Romans 5 says. Romans 5 says that in Adam all sinned. Romans 5.12 Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. It all goes back to the beginning. So that every single person born into this world and for Individuals today, presently, who are not in Jesus, their standing before God is guilty. You're in your sin, and you're on a path to perdition. Which is why the great need for anyone for whom you know that is true, and you deeply care about, is the call to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Because so long as they are outside of Jesus Christ, that is their state and that is their end. And what I just described a moment ago is what was true of you and me. If you are a Christian today, and we are, we're believers, we're in Christ, what I just described is what was true of us at one time. We were born into this world in that state of guilt. And God, maybe for many of us, very early on, made us alive in Jesus Christ, united us to Jesus Christ, and our standing changed before Him. And we became an heir of eternal life because of that. So even if we died in infancy, we believe according to God's covenant promises, we would go to heaven, and we know if we're going to die someday, we're going to go to heaven. But at one time, the way we were born into the world was exactly that way, in a state of guilt. and worthy of everlasting death apart from Jesus Christ and his work in us and for us. So that's one perspective to think about this need. The perspective of those who are today in a state of guilt, what was true of us at one time as Christians. But if we are a believer right now, In a state of righteousness, with the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, we don't say, well, Lord's Day 23 has nothing to do with me anymore. That it only has to do with those who are not in that state of righteousness but are in the state of guilt. This has everything to do with us because we still have, as believers in Jesus Christ, a need. And we have a need all of our life long because we remain all of our life long sinners. Sinners, therefore, with a conscience that accuses me of being a sinner and accuses me of being guilty before God and against His holy law. And it's that need, that daily need that we have, which makes the reality of Lord's Day 23 and the truth of justification mean everything to me every single day. I need something from God. I need to experience something from God. I need to receive something from God every day. Because of the constant reality that I am a sinner whose conscience accuses me that I have violated the law of God and am worthy of death. So this has everything to say to you and to me today. Because we remain conscious of our sin which accuses us which means we have this great need from God daily. This is the perspective of Lord's Day 23. Notice how Lord's Day 23 presents this truth to us in a way that resonates so deeply with who we are and what we experience. I just taught the beginning of the Heidelberg Catechism to the eighth and ninth graders in catechism class on Monday night. And one of the main things that I always go over at the beginning of the year is the Heidelberg Catechism is written from a certain perspective. There's a certain lens through which it was written and through which it needs to be read and understand. And that perspective is that it's personal and it's experiential. There's a way to present the truth of justification by faith alone that's very clear, systematic, and logical, and it is here, that. But there's another layer added on top of it in Lord's Day 23, which is that this is incredibly personal, and it's incredibly experiential, and this is the proof of it. The Catechism says, Beloved, when you understand God and when you understand yourself rightly, you hear that and you say, I know exactly what that's talking about. You see, you don't understand that when you have a legalistic view of the law, a Pharisaical view of the law, a very low view of God. You don't say that when all you're thinking about is the outward act, like the Pharisees did. Yeah, I didn't kill anybody today and I did this good work today. And all of a sudden you feel pretty good about yourself and you have such a low view of God. But when you understand the holiness of God, When you understand the demands of God's law that with all my heart, when you understand that it's not just outwardly do this or don't do that, and when you understand the heart of what God gets at, which is the heart in His law, this is what you say when you're confronted with that. I know who I am. I'm a guilty sinner. I've transgressed all of God's laws because I know my heart. Idols? So many. So quickly do I make them. Pride? So real. Evil thoughts about people? It's constant. Words that come out of my mouth that are not edifying but hurtful. And the list goes on and on and on. We resonate with the publican who cries out, God be merciful to me a sinner. We resonate with Paul who as a redeemed, regenerated believer says, oh wretched man that I am. This is our daily reality when we're honest with ourselves and when we know the holiness and the greatness of God. I am a sinner. And my conscience accuses me of that. And this is why I need God. I need God by His Spirit to work in my heart, to work in my soul. This is why we need the Gospel preached. So that as we hear that Gospel, God is at work. So that we know all of our life long, this truth, this reality, I am righteous. I am forgiven. God sees me not in my sin, but he sees me as righteous in Jesus Christ. This is all what stands behind Romans 5. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Why do we need that? Because if I don't know that these sins are forgiven, which my conscience accuses me of, I don't have that deep peace of knowing I am right in my standing before God. This is the great need. It's not just people today who are in a state of guilt and must be called to faith in Christ for the first time, but it's sinners whose conscience has accused them of the reality of their sin all their life long that need this truth. I'm righteous in Christ and forgiven and an heir of everlasting life." Justification, beloved, is God's imputation to our record of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. Notice the words we're using here, and I hope and I trust that we're understanding just by how I've explained it what this is all about. Justification is all about our legal standing before God. And it has everything to do with the fact that God views us in our legal standing this way. Notice the end of the answer to question 60. As if I had never committed or had any sin. So on the one hand, there's this negative reality regarding our sin. And the way God sees me legally is as if I had never had nor committed sin. And then there's the positive, as I stand before him legally, as if I had fully accomplished, the catechism says, all that obedience of his law. So we're dealing here with our legal standing before God and in justification. God looks at us and he says to us, this is how I see you as you stand before me legally. As if you never had sin. Helpful way to remember it. Just as if. Justification. Just as if. I never had any sin. But don't remember that's not the only thing it is. It's also in perfect conformity to the law of God. And you say, how in the world is this possible? How is this possible that God, when he sees me and says something to me, says of all things that? Because we just went over the need. And we just went over what is still the constant reality, I know I am by nature, not that. How is it possible? And we're not yet talking about how we know it, how we receive it, how we experience it. We're talking about just how is it possible that God can say that to us? The answer to that, of course, is Jesus Christ. In justification, it's all because of the perfect work of Jesus Christ. You read Romans chapter five, and I realize there are nuances to each of these references and particular purposes to each of these references. But you read Romans chapter five, and you realize so quickly that not just salvation generally, salvation in its entirety, but this particular blessing of salvation, justification, it's all because of Christ. Run through the passage, Romans 5.1, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Verses seven through nine, Commendeth his love towards us. Christ died for us, much more than now being justified by his blood. We shall be saved from wrath through him. Continuing, verse 15. But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift of grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. Verse 17. The abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ. Verse 18. Even so the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. Same thing in 19 and then the way that it ends. Through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. The possibility, of course, is the perfect work of Jesus Christ. And this is beautifully explained, very helpfully explained in the catechism, when it refers to, in the middle of the answer to question 60, the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ. God sees us, God declares to us this because of the work of Christ, and this work in particular. What we have going on here is the great exchange. It's a wonderful way to think about this. The great exchange. The great exchange is this. That all of that guilt and sin which is yours, Jesus took upon Himself. When He became a man, He became a man with your sin upon Him. And that made him guilty before God with the guilt of your sin. And so what was the work of Jesus Christ? It's described this way. Satisfaction. Satisfaction refers to the work of Jesus Christ with the guilt of our sin going to that cross and dying for that sin. justified by His blood. Why is it justified by His blood? It's because that sin needed to be paid for and He paid for it in full. The justice of God was satisfied and that sin and its guilt therefore is entirely removed. the satisfaction of Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. But it's not just that, because when He came as a man, He came guilty with our sin, which went to the cross, and then all of His life long, including that time on the cross, He was the righteous and holy one. righteous and holy, which means that he positively obeyed the commandments of God, especially the heart of it, which was love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Oftentimes, it's referred to as one word, the righteousness of Christ. And it includes all of that. Satisfaction, His righteous life, His holiness, His perfect devotion to God and love for Him. That righteousness of Jesus Christ is the only possibility of God looking at you and saying to you, this is how I see you. I see you as you stand before Me, the Holy God, and My law. As righteous, innocent, because that's the great exchange. The great exchange is that our sin and therefore our guilt is put upon His record. The language of the catechism, important language, the language of justification. When you hear imputation, now you're in the realm of justification. Infusion, different word, different idea. Sanctification, but justification, the legal idea, the great exchange, my sin imputed to to His record and His perfect righteousness, what we just explained, that imputed to my record. So that in answer to the question, the most important question, how does God see me? How does God view me? What does God declare to me? In His grace, in His love and His mercy, That perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ has been put on your record so that God says to us, I see you in Jesus. I see you in my son and his perfect righteousness, which is yours by imputation. And therefore, this is what is true of you in him. Back to the catechism, as if I had fully accomplished that obedience and as if I had never had nor committed any sin. And so beloved, we stop and we simply have to marvel at how wonderful this is. Everything of it, every part of it. The fact that Jesus came and said, I'm going to take that on my record. I'm going to die for these ungodly men. And what a death that was, and a life that was, and a righteousness that is. And that when God imputes that to us, as he does the moment he makes us alive in the Lord Jesus Christ, that it's the reality in that moment, this is my standing before God. He sees me always in Jesus Christ with the perfect righteousness of him because that in the end is the only thing that makes one worthy of being with God forever who is that perfectly righteous and holy God. May God work in our hearts to appreciate the absolute wonder of grace that this work of justification is by God in Christ. And then the question becomes, how do we know that? How do we receive that? How does that become the conscious reality as we live our life knowing our sin and with consciences that accuse us? And the answer to that is, of course, it's by faith only. At Lord's Day 23, based upon the Word of God, is at pains to drive home this truth especially. It's not just justification that we're dealing with here. It's justification by faith alone. And you'll notice the theme of that throughout Lord's Day 23. The way that it begins. What is the prophet that you believe this? Question 60. How are you righteous? Only by a faith. 61. Why is it faith only? So the catechism is at pace here to say, this is how. It's through the instrument of faith alone. Which means, beloved, it's not this. It's not that you're justified by works, by the works of the law. Galatians chapter two. Sixteen, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Everything we explained in the first point of the sermon, it's not this. That God looks at you and says, you're righteous. I declare you to be righteous because, because you have obeyed the law. That's not it. And we'll learn next time in Lawrence Day 24 why that is not the case, why it cannot be the case that we are justified by God. by the works of the law. So very simply this morning, very simply, it's not for our justification, for our righteousness, for the declaration from God that we need to hear in our souls and consciences that we're righteous. It's not that we look to, that we cling to the works that we perform. Remember where we are, okay? Big picture, remember where we are in the catechism. We're in the second section. The law and our standing in our life in relation to that law, it's important. It's super important. The Lord says two through four, it points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. because he's the great law fulfiller. Third section, it points us to our life of gratitude because we want to show how much we're thankful for this great work of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. But for our justification, for our righteousness before God, what are we looking to? What are we clinging to? What are we trusting in? as redeemed Christians who do do good works. It's not. It's not those good works. It's nothing that we do. It's entirely the Lord Jesus Christ, and it has to be. So it's not that. But it's also not justified because of the worthiness of our faith, as though we think It's my believing as though the believing itself is what justifies me. The catechism calls our attention to that in the answer to question 61. It's not that I'm acceptable on account of the worthiness of my faith. So it's not, okay, I have this from God, this wonderful blessing of justification because there's something in me. And the thing in me is that I believed in Jesus and the promises of the gospel. No. We're called to believe. In fact, that's the main word. Believe in him. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as those who have consciences that accuse you of being guilty before the law of God. Believe in him. You're called to believe in him. You're called to do good works. Do good works. You must do good works as you stand before God as a redeemed Christian. But then we're called to believe and we're called to do good works. It's not those things. that become the reason we are justified and the instrument through which we receive and know and experience this blessing of justification. It's not the good works. It's not any work. And it's not even the worthiness of my faith as though that's what does it for me as I stand before God. It's by faith only. And it has to be by faith only. has to be by faith only because we're dealing with justification. Remember what justification is. Righteousness. Legal standing. If I'm going to be righteous before God, there must be no sin and there must be perfect conformity to that law of God. And faith, on the one hand, is always this. It's always saying, it's not of me. For my right standing before God, my justification, there's nothing, nothing of me. Absolutely nothing. Because the moment there's something me and not Christ, I'm not righteous before God legally. It's all Jesus Christ. And so it's by faith alone because true faith always, always is no. Not to me. Nothing in me. Because true faith, on the other hand, is always all Christ. Embracing, as the catechism says, such a benefit with a believing heart. The answer only by a true faith in Jesus Christ. The end of question 61. Christ is my righteousness and I cannot receive and apply the same to myself any other way than by faith only. Because faith, faith is an entire clinging, believing, and trusting in the one who is the object of that faith, who is our righteousness, Jesus Christ. Everything we explain is Christ. He is our satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness. And our only connection to Christ, such that we know Him, receive Him, and experience the wonder of His righteousness being ours, is by faith only. And so very practically, beloved, as you know your sin, as your conscience accuses you all your life long, you hear the promises of the Gospel, you hear Christ, you know Jesus Christ, and you trust in Him. You cling to him. You hear the word of the gospel and say, I believe in him. I'm not looking to myself. And God, by his spirit, powerfully works in our consciences so that we know, so that we experience, I am, I am. Though my conscience accuses me of being guilty, I, standing before God, am forgiven and righteousness because Christ's righteousness is my righteousness. Very simply, sinner, guilty sinner, whose conscience accuses you, look to Jesus. Believe in Him. Embrace Him with a believing heart. In doing that, don't look to yourself. And know this, this is the wonder of the gospel. God sees you. He sees you in Him. And He sees you, therefore, as one who is an heir of eternal life. There are so many fruits and blessings of justification. And what the Catechism calls attention to is that we are heirs of eternal life. What we are going to end on is Romans 5 verse 1. Peace with God. Peace with God. Heir of eternal life. Let's start with the former. The great benefit of this is that you know that you are an heir of eternal life. The language of heir is important. You have a legal right to eternal life. That's what an heir has. A legal right to the inheritance. When someone's parents die and they had a will and they have an inheritance to them, they legally claim it. Nobody can stop it. And the same thing is true for us as we stand before God. Why? Because legally, as we stand before God, this is what is true of you and me. We have the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, I'm an heir of eternal life. The great blessing is that we can know that in Jesus Christ, this can never change. Because it's a perfect righteousness. And one day, I'm going to go to heaven. And this is also the great blessing and benefit of justification. It's peace. It's peace with God. As God works this in our hearts and consciences that we know we are righteous in Jesus Christ, we have the greatest peace. You see that reality that we described earlier. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. My conscience accuses me of being a sinner. It can be so troubling. It can be so troubling. To the core, past sins, beloved, we all have them. And that's the thing. It's not just you deal with it once sometimes and it never comes up again. That's what we hope would be the case. But sins of youth, remember not. Why do we have to pray that and sing that? Because they're there. And the devil works to bring them back into our conscience and accuse us. You're guilty. How do you live with yourself when you have done that? Sins of the present that we're always contending against, that are always so real to us. And God says to us, I justify you. I forgive you. You're righteous with the righteousness of Jesus Christ as you embrace Christ with a believing heart right now. The great benefit of that is peace. Be at peace, beloved. Peace with God as you believe in Jesus this morning. Your sins cannot condemn you to hell. You are righteous with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. No matter how those sins make you feel right now. No matter the shame that you may experience from them. No matter the dirtiness that clings to you that makes you think, no way can someone who's dirty like me enter into the glory of heaven. Don't look at them right now. See the righteousness of Christ. See the white robes of Jesus and know that that's why, that's the only reason you have a place in heaven. And you'll be there because it's all covered. And you're righteous with His righteousness. The whiteness of those robes are so beautiful. And they're so peace-giving. They're shame-destroying. They're cleansing. You're white, beautifully white, with the white robes of Christ. Believe in him this morning. And may God, by his spirit and through the gospel preached, give us this peace, this peace of knowing through faith in Christ, I am justified. May God so work in our hearts to that end. Amen. Father in heaven, thank thee for the perfect work of Jesus. In all of his satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness, we would have nothing, O God, if we did not have him. We also know that this does have everything to say about how we live, because those whom thou dost justify declare to be righteous. Thou dost also sanctify and work in so that we are to be holy. And so, Father, we pray for that too this morning, that we may walk in light of this truth, in peace, but also in obedience and holiness, making a beginning of that new obedience by the power of Jesus worked in us. And may this all redound then to the glory of thy name and to the glory of our Savior Jesus Christ. In his name do we pray.