Again, subtitled, The Biblical Doctrine of Justification by Grace in Christ through Faith Alone, according to the Holy Scripture, has maintained the historic Orthodox Christian faith. This is our seventh sermon, and it is part three of The Doctrine of Justification in the Old and New Testaments. If you will, our Scripture text is Romans 3, beginning at verse 21. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and a justifier of the one who has faith. in Jesus. Shall we look to the Lord our God in prayer? Our most holy and precious God, we are thankful for your word and what it means to us, how it directs and guides us in your truth. And we thank you, God, for the Spirit who teaches the meaning of that word to us. We ask, O Holy Father, as we consider the teaching of Scripture today concerning justification as it is set forth in the New Testament, that God, You would bless us, encourage us, strengthen us to maintain that great truth of double imputation, our sins unto Christ, Christ's righteousness to us. We thank You, O God. that He died, that He rose again, and that we have life through Him by faith alone. For we ask it in Christ's most precious name. Now give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to receive. That which your Word and Spirit would teach us. In Christ's name, Amen. We're continuing our study of the doctrine of justification as it relates both to the Old and the New Testament. We're moving on now more toward the New Testament, looking at other passages of Scripture that deal with this concept of justification, maybe not in using the same type of terminology, but nonetheless, teaching us the salvific understanding of redemption being that the work of Christ alone on our behalf. That we are justified in Him by faith. Well, we're going to look at everything except for the writing of Saint Paul, which we will take up later in our study. In the matter of justification, the New Testament does hold forth the teaching of Christ who has become the mediator of salvation by His death and resurrection. It holds Him up as being the One who redeems. You'll note that as we study the New Testament over and over again, there never is a claim by the New Testament writers, or for that matter, the Old Testament writers, that somehow we are a part of the mediation for salvation. We are not a part of the mediation, nor are we a part of the work in the application of that redemption. There is nothing inherent within us. There is no ability with us. We do not have the ability to will ourselves unto salvation. And faith, we have said clearly over and over again, is not the object. The true object and ground As we will see in this study, is Jesus Christ and Him alone. Well, let's begin at looking at the Synoptic Gospels, primarily looking at Matthew and its teaching in his account concerning the atoning work of Christ as the sole means of being right with God, of being reconciled with God. Matthew says in chapter 20 verse 28, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. Here again, the idea of a ransom brings that legal connotation. That concept of forensic justification that we have talked about. There is no synthetic doctrine of justification. Whereas there has, or has been taught within the Roman Catholic Church, and we see it in medieval scholasticism, the idea of a synergistic faith. That is, a cooperative grace, or what we also call semi-Pelagianism. And there are variations of semi-Pelagianism. from looser understandings of the doctrine to even more conservative, modified views as you find in Arminian theology. But the scripture here is clear. Christ came as a ransom to restore legally a people to the Father. Matthew 26.28 says, "...for this is My blood of the new covenant, which is said for many for the remission of sin." Clearly, the purpose of Christ's death is to remove our sins. Again, that implies that legal work of Christ. That legal work of restoration. Making us right with God. Because we are aliens as a result of the original transgression of Adam, and we continue in that line through our own sins, we need to be restored with God. That requires the remission of sins. That remission requires a legal restoration. And so you have that aspect of redemption in the Gospel as we see it told by Matthew in chapter 26 and verse 28. With this foundation established in Matthew's Gospel, We must ask, could the doctrine of salvation take any other course than it actually did in the history of the church? As to the true understanding of what redemption was as it is set forth, especially clarified with specificity in the Reformation. And the answer is, of course, not. It is interesting to also note that instead of referring men to the father, Christ forgives sin Himself. He doesn't reference the Father, but He references Himself as the One who forgives sin. Listen to what Matthew says in chapter 9, beginning at verse 2. Then, behold, they brought Him a paralytic, laying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, Son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you. And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemes. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. Then he said to the paralytic, Arise, take up your bed and go to your house. Our Lord Jesus Christ says, is it so hard for you scribes to understand the work that I have been sent to do? Do you think it is blaspheming for me to say, I forgive you of your sins? Clearly, Christ is teaching that He is the One whom the Father had promised, the Messiah who would come, the One who is the true antitype of ceremonial law. who would be able to fulfill the requirement of God and to restore man right with Him through His mediatorial work. He says, is it any harder for you to believe that I can heal than the fact that I can also forgive sins? Christ also reckoned all men needing this very forgiveness of sins. For He taught us to pray in Matthew 6, verse 12, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Clearly, He understood the very nature of man needing forgiveness of sin, needing that legal restoration back to the Father. And while Pauline doctrine of righteousness had not yet been written at the time of our Lord's ministry, Our Lord Jesus prepared the way for it in demanding there be a sense, a humility in relationship to the fact of our sin. In Matthew 5.13, He says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Further, Christ taught that since the law brought condemnation, He came to heal and to save those in need of redemption. Mark 2.17, when Jesus heard it, He said to them, those who well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The law brought condemnation. The law made us aliens to our relationship with God. We are not in right standing. Christ says He comes to do the will of the Father. To fulfill what the first Adam could not do. Keep the law of God. He as our second Adam, as our federal head, to whom the promises were made, to Him through Abraham. He has come to do that work on our behalf. And thus he says, he has come not to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance. In Matthew 9.13, again, but go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And in Luke 15, 7, I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 just persons who need no repentance. Look at the emphasis of our Lord. His ministry circles around the need of restoration of men to God. But a restoration that they cannot effectuate themselves. When He says to them, the kingdom of God is near unto you, yea, it is in your presence, it is offensive to the Jews. But Christ was pointing, I am the kingdom. I am the promised Messiah. I am the one who was told in the Old Testament who would come and would heal the people. I would come and save them from their sins. I'm the one who will bring repentance through the work that I have done. It was for sinners and to sinners that Christ came. Very clearly, He makes that in His ministry. Luke 15, 2, And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. He came to minister to those who were lost. to those who are in violation of God's law, to those who need repentance. In Luke 7.39, now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke to himself saying, this man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. Luke 19.7, but when they saw it, They all complain, saying, he has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner. And in Matthew 11, 19, the son of man came eating and drinking. They say, look, a glutton and a wine giver, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But wisdom is justified by her children. Our Lord came to minister to the law. to those who needed Christ. And, of course, we know that all men need Christ. But He ministered to them. That, He said, was His ministry. That was even the accusation against Him. This man continues to associate with sinners, with people who are evil. And, of course, the sad part is that the Jews in Israel at this point in time, apart from the providence of God, their eyes are not open. And they do not see their own state of condemnation. You remember when the Apostle Paul wrote in chapter 2, talking not only about the Gentile in chapter 1, but he turns around and he accuses the Jews of themselves being guilty wherein they judge others. That they themselves are just as much violators of the law of God as those whom they judge, even though they had the covenants and the promises and the fathers and all the different things that pertain to the nation of Israel. Nevertheless, they were looking to the things that God had given and not to the real redemption that was in Christ. And the Apostle Paul was making it clear. There is no redemption in these rituals and practices that you have in Israel. Not at all. But salvation alone is in Christ. Our Lord comes and He teaches that very thing. He identifies Himself as one who ministers to those who definitely are in need of redemption. And yet, those who were the religious people of their day, they're religious. But the problem is, they're not redeemed. A state and condition that you can find even in the church until this day. People can be religious. They can even know doctrine correctly, believe it or not. But that does not mean they have embraced the faith and hope that we are given in Christ. Because they simply have not been renewed by the Spirit of God. Well, if you will, further note that the way of salvation was not better law-keeping, but rather trusting in Christ and confessing of sin. Luke 18.13 says, And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but be his breath, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. He didn't need better law-keeping. He needed redemption. Because the only law keeper is Jesus Christ. That's why He's our federal head. We cannot do anything to merit the Kingdom of Heaven in fulfilling the work of the law. The deeds of the flesh cannot merit redemption. We cannot will it. Because our will is bound to our sinful nature. We will not will it. We will will to do that which our nature is bound to. And that is to sin and self-sufficiency and independency of God. Continue in the path of the original sin. What was the original sin? Think about it. What's the very nature of the original sin? Was it not the desire to be as God? To be independent? To be self-sufficient? To find redemption apart from God through one's own ability? Through an act of will? And how Scripture condemns will-worship. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to restore sinners. For man cannot do it. Matthew goes on to state that the humble heart and a hunger for righteousness is simply another way of expressing that type of faith. In Matthew 5.3, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And in Matthew 5.6, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. He's not talking about accumulating redemption. But those who have the true faith seek out these things." And too often it's passages like these. But the New Paulian perspective people look at and they say, oh, well, you see, one must hunger after righteousness. I ask, how does a man hunger after righteousness when he has no hunger for righteousness in his sins before redemption? To believe that is to move back to semi-Pelagianism. To believe that a man can't, through his own ability, hunger for righteousness and seek after God, which is a blatant contradiction to what the Apostle Paul himself wrote in Romans chapter 3. When our Lord says these things, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, He's talking about those who by faith come and seek Him, based on a faith through Jesus Christ, our Lord. We are also taught in Matthew's gospel that he who brings most of himself, of his own pride and works, is the least likely to obtain the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18, 3-4 says, And said assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted to become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. cannot be done. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. One must humble himself. One must be converted. Matthew 10.14, And whoever will not receive you, nor hear your words when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Those who will not hear, those who will not receive the word of repentance, then dust off your feet when you leave their home, for they will not receive the promise of God's eternal reward. Not only is entrance into redemption and acceptance by God through faith alone, yet the final reward itself is by the grace of God. in eternal life. In Matthew 20, beginning at verse 1, we read, For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now, when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them to his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you. So they went. And again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and said to them, Why you have been standing here idle all day? They said to him, Because no one hired us. He said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive. So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first. And of those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed they would receive more, and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, These last men have worked for only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the heat of the day. But he answered one of them and said, Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do that which I wish with my own things? Or is in your eye evil because I am good? So the last will be first and the first shall be last. For the many are called, but few are chosen." The few are chosen. Christ. alone as the landowner has the right, and He alone has the right to give that which is rightfully His life and redemption unto none other. At the very beginning, if you will remember, of the Gospel message, sound it out as recorded in Mark 1.15, we were told that men were to repent. Repent ye, it says, and believe in the Gospel. This Gospel is summed up in Christ, who would rather gather His people not directly to the Father, but to Himself. For He is representative of the Father. Remember what He said in Matthew 23 and verse 37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her, how often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." All this simply means to us that justification is through faith in Christ alone. Who in His divine human manifestation He came to save sinners from their state of condemnation. In Matthew 16, beginning at verse 13, we are told, when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do you say that I am? Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? So they said, Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. We know who you are. You are the promised Redeemer. You are the mediator. You are the one who was sent by God to redeem us from our sins. In John's writing, justification by faith is not more implicit in the gospel than in his first three epistles. It is only more explicit. In John 3, We are told, verses 14-16, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting or eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Note, everlasting life, eternal redemption. is based on the Son. It is based on the fact that He who is to be lifted up will be Redeemer of man. Eternal life is the blessing secured, but this, of course, is only possible to one not under condemnation. Again, verse 36 of chapter 3 in John. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. And he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." Why does the wrath abide? He's a transgressor. He's still a criminal before God. A violator of the law. There is no restoration. He is not made right according to the law. Thus, he stands condemned, John says. We should also remember that John taught us that the sonship of God, that is those who are believers, came also in the wake of this same faith. In John 1 verse 12, but as many as received Him, that is Christ, to them He gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in His name. Note in that He does not say anything. about the individual as a participant. As a matter of fact, just for clarity, look, if you will, at John 1 and the next verse, verse 13, where he makes clear that those who would receive Christ, those who had believed in His name, those who had faith in Him, did not receive everlasting life, the right to become the children of God, based upon something they have done. Look at verse 13, "...who were born, none of blood." It's not a genetic redemption, just because you're born physically, and somehow may be genetically tied to someone, that does not bring redemption to you. nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man." There is nothing you can do, there's nothing you can be tied to genetically, and there's nothing you can will in your own being to merit sonship with God. But it is through Christ Jesus alone. The epistle of John, the first, second, and third epistle, in ways from Paul in word, but not in substance. The atoning work of Jesus is still the background, walking in the light. It's not conceivable in those under condemnation and without faith. And the confession of sin that leads to forgiveness seems only another name for that justification which alone can bring peace and restoration to God. 1 John 1, 9-10 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. Listen to what He says here. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins, to wipe out our transgression, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is, all evil, all transgression. Again, that very essence of the legal nature of redemption in the forensic work of Christ in justification. If our sins have been forgiven, and it's not just He has sinned. He says all unrighteousness, all sins have been covered by the blood of Christ. You've got to ask the question. If that's what Christ did in fulfilling the will of the Father, what can be added by man? And what sin can man commit under that covering that is not already forgiven? even though he must come back and seek repentance, nevertheless, does the legal declaration go away? By no means. It would be to reverse the very work of Christ in the life of an individual. Thus the question would be, then, how does the individual get saved? Again, if you're following that theory, I mean, that's where Arminianism and semi-plagianism ultimately leads to the idea man can lose his redemption. My question is, if the work of Christ can be nullified, because its purpose is to legally restore, and if God has declared one legally restored, and then through sin, violation, the uncleanliness returns, well, how does he get saved a second time? Because if the first sacrifice is nullified, What is it logically going to require in order to restore him? Another sacrifice. But you see, that's a bit of a problem, isn't it? Because Hebrews says Christ entered in once for all time. unlike the high priest who went in year after year because he could not, through the work of sacrificial rite, bring redemption to the people, and yet it brought only a knowledge of their need because of sin in their life, year after year. Nevertheless, Christ could come in and clean the conscience, restore the individual, take away all of his unrighteousness, and forever be declared right with God, legally. It's not to say he can't sin. But he who sins has an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And yes, he is to seek forgiveness. Yes, he is to walk in those works ordained for him if he truly has been redeemed in Christ. He is to seek and flee sin. But even the Apostle Paul, as we have seen in our study of Romans thus far, in chapter 7 says, there are times when we struggle, and that which we know with our mind we want to do, yet the flesh warring against us keeps us from doing that which we ought to be doing. But if that legal work can be destroyed, Today declared legally right with God, and tomorrow to have it reversed. The question is, how are you going to get saved again? Do you think God's going to send His Son again? Or maybe we're just foolish enough like the dispensationalists to believe that God's actually going to accept sacrifices again. Because somehow they believe in their dispensational scheme of things, you were saved through sacrificial work of the law. And of course, you can tell they haven't read Hebrews. Of course, that's questionable if they even read the Bible. But nevertheless, if they've read Hebrews, it cannot be done. It will not be done. It cleanses us from all unrighteousness. And then 1 John 2, 1-2, My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. He is our advocate because He atoned for sin. He took away our uncloneness. He made us being not acceptable to God, and now we are acceptable before God. Legally, violators of the law, now restored to a right relationship with God and His law. Everything is, as with the Apostle Paul, is set forth to lead us back to the love of God. who sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Listen to what we are told on this subject. Ephesians 2, Paul writing, In that the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Jesus Christ. Here again, Paul, in comparison to what John has said. Christ came in His kindness. God gave us His Son to show the exceeding riches of His redemption and grace. Titus 3, 4-6, But when the kindness of the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness that we have done, But according to His mercy, He saved us through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. Listen to what John wrote in the first epistle, 3-1. Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Note the love of the Father being bestowed to Christ. 1 John 4.10, in this love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Clearly, the writers of the Gospels understood that the way to God, the way to the Father, the way of being restored right as violators of the law of God had to be through Jesus Christ alone. Christ Himself testifies to that in His ministry here on earth, and the writers of the Gospel testify to it in their writings concerning the work and redemption that Christ has secured for us. Well, let us turn our attention quickly then to 1 Peter and the book of Hebrews. Again, redemption full and complete in Christ Jesus our Lord is taught especially in 1 Peter in Hebrews. It is He in whom, though we see Him not yet believing, we rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable. 1 Peter 1.8 says, whom having not seen you love, though now you do not see Him yet believing, you will rejoice with inexpressible and full of glory. Yet believing. You will rejoice in Him. Those who have faith in Christ, it says they receive eternal salvation. 1 Peter 1.9, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. What is the end of your faith? Well, if faith is the gifts of God, the ultimate thing that is being given to us is salvation, eternal salvation with Christ. Noti doesn't say anything about our meriting the redemption. But the end of what we have been given, Ephesians 2.8, grace and faith are God's gift to us. Peter points out, however, that it is not only through the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish, that we are believers in God. In 1 Peter 1, 19-22, we're told, but with the precious blood of Christ. Now, note, His story of redemption here. With the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, He was perfect. He had not sinned. He comes to represent that mediatorial work of a sacrifice. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these times for you. This is what God decreed before the foundation of the world. He would come as a lamb without spot and blemish to be your sacrifice. and hope are in God. You say you believe in God. You cannot believe in God. You cannot say your faith and hope are stored in God unless they are through Christ Jesus the Lord. He says, since you have purified your souls and obeyed the truth through the Spirit, you've listened to the truth, the gospel of your salvation that has come through the work of the Spirit who has renewed you in order that you can believe. and receive that truth. In sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart. Did you hear the Gospel? The Gospel clearly is Christ. It is Christ-centered. Christ is the One who makes the restoration, says Peter. He's a Lamb without spot and blemish. Through that precious blood that is shed by Him, we are restored with God. Our faith, our hope is anchored in Christ Alone. And there was no way to the Father, but by Christ. Remember what our Lord said when He was here? All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me. No one from the Father given shall be lost. But he who will come to the Father must come by Me. For the Father who sent Me will draw him. Not to himself, but to me. He goes back to our understanding of the doctrine of election. We were elected in Christ. That's why the whole work, the whole mechanics, if you will, of redemption always ends in Christ. And that we, in the faith that is given to us, are always taken to the Christ of Scripture as the true object of our redemption. Coming to Christ, Peter says, is by the divine election of God. It is not through some cooperative means of salvation. 1 Peter 2.4 says, coming to Him as a living stone, indeed rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious. How is it that we come? Through the divine election of God. He hath chosen us. That's why we are precious before Him. The epistle of Hebrews has other interests to look after, but it does not deny faith, but rather exhorts us to draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, which it lays at the foundation of redemption. Hebrews 10.22, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. The writer can give no better exhortation than to look unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, an exhortation in the true spirit of Paul, whose gospel of faith for justification is clearly set out. Hebrews 12, 2, Paul writes, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Christ is the intercessor for redemption. It is clear that both the Old and the New Testaments preach but one gospel message. Teach that man, if he is to be accepted with God, must have legal restoration, and that alone can come through Christ Jesus our Lord. And that if we are to receive that which God from eternity has decreed in Christ, our election, He comes as a result of the Spirit of God renewing us and giving us faith and repentance. And in that faith, once being renewed, we actively seek to put our hope and our trust in Christ alone. Nowhere in the history of the Reformation have we taught that faith is the instrument, and man is always passive. We say he is passive in acceptance before God, but having been accepted and justified, he is active in his faith in sanctification and pursuing that high calling of Christ unto eternal life. Faith is a gift. A gift from God. And we have redemption not based upon faith that we conjure up or even the faith that is given to us. It's only the instrument by which we believe the truth of Christ as God had set forth Him as our perpetuation for sin. But it is Christ alone. As He has been set forth both in the Old and the New Testament, it is Christ alone that saves us, who restores us legally with God. And there is no place in Scripture where acceptance before God and acceptance with God is ever based on anything other than the work of Christ alone. So, let us continue in that confession of faith. It is Christ who is mediator. It is Christ who is intercessor. It is Christ who is the advocate. It is Christ who is the propitiation. It is the Christ who makes us right with God through His death. It is Christ who cleanses us from all unrighteousness. It's Christ who restores. And based upon that work of Christ alone, God declares us just through faith. Let us never depart from that. When we understand that, we understand the implication. There's a very practical implication to this. When one really begins to understand how this works, When one clearly gets the picture of God's redemption, it anchors your soul in hope. It is this point at which the assurance of redemption becomes real to the believer. Because the more he begins to realize there is nothing that I can do in meriting the kingdom of God, then the more he begins to recognize His need of Christ in His redemption alone. And knowing what Christ has done for us, He rests upon that work alone. Recognizing there's nothing He can do to merit it, to maintain it, or to finish by it. It's very simple. If you are right with God, if you are justified, it's through Christ, by faith alone. It is the gift of God, never of works, lest anyone should try to boast. So let that be our anchor, our ground for assurance of redemption. Shall we pray?