I want to read to you from the Scriptures tonight from Romans chapter 3. Romans and chapter 3. Beginning to read in verse 21 down to verse 26. Romans 3 verse 21 to 26. Previously in the chapter, God, through the Apostle Paul, is outlining the sinfulness of human beings. And in verse 21, he goes on to say, But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Amen. And God will bless his inspired and infallible word. If you are not right with God, you have a big problem. In fact, big is an understatement. If you are not right with God, you have an immense, everlasting, omnipresent problem. Omnipresent is everywhere. You cannot escape from the problem that you have. if you are not right with God. God is everywhere, and your sin, your unrighteousness, is continually before Him. Unrighteousness simply means not being right with God. It says in Romans 3.10, that there is none righteous, no, not one. All of us, by nature, are unrighteous. And you also need to know that according to 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9, the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Now, not being right with God will see you locked out of heaven and there's nothing at all that you can do about it. No works, nothing you can do. Because all our righteousness is as filthy rags It says in Romans 3.20, therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. No works. By obedience, nobody is justified before God. Nobody is made right with God through obedience. Now listen, my friend, tonight. If you're not right with God, if you're unrighteous, as everyone is by human birth, if you're unrighteous, you have an everlasting, omnipresent problem. And that problem is God's justice. And there's no work that you can do. There's no obedience you can do. that can offset God's justice. Listen to the Bible, Romans 3 21 to 24, But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Even though we are all by nature unrighteous, not right with God, there is a way that we can be justified. And the word justified simply means, as you know, be made right or be declared right with God. There's a way for sinners who are not right with God to be justified. And surely, if you're honest with yourself, you have to ask, is not this the most important thing that any man or woman has ever heard. There is a way that the unrighteous can be made right with God. You're not right with God because of that you won't get to heaven, but there is a way that you as a sinner can be declared right with God. I want to speak on that tonight. Justification. Just from Romans chapter 3 verses 24 to 26. And this is the most important thing that any man or woman can ever learn. Because if you're wrong in the area of justification, nothing else matters. If you're wrong here, Everything else is pointless, irrelevant. So what does Romans 3 24 to 26 teach us about justification? It teaches us seven things. Number one, justification is not earned. It says in verse 24, being justified freely. Being justified freely. The word freely simply means without cause, as a gift, or for nothing. Being justified freely. As a gift. Do you have to work for a gift? When your birthday comes around, do you have to do work or pay for your gift? No. It's a gift. Their presence. Freely. For nothing. You get them for nothing. Being justified freely. Justification is not earned. It cannot be earned. Because we are justified freely. The second thing these verses teach us about justification is that justification is not deserved. being justified freely by His grace. What is grace? Undeserved favor. It's not your right. It's not my right. Human rights and grace, the grace of God, are polar opposites. Grace cancels out all rights. We have no right, therefore, grace. No one deserves to be justified. Not because they had a hard life, not because they suffered illness, not because they were faithful at church, not because they gave to missionaries. No, no one deserves to be justified. No one deserves to be declared right with God. All we deserve is our wages. The wages of sin is death. We live in a society that likes to talk about human rights. We don't have any before God. I mean that. The one thing that human beings have a right to is death. That's it. The wages of sin is death. No rights of anything else. Certainly no right to salvation. Being justified freely by His grace. So justification is not earned. Justification is not deserved. Thirdly, Justification is presently happening. Verse 24, being justified freely by His grace. Being justified. The verb is a present passive verb. It's also a participle, an ing word. Being presently justified. We are being presently justified, but we are passive. It's a passive verb. It is something done to us. We don't put any action into it at all. God is justifying us freely by his grace while we do and add nothing to it. God justifies the sinner. Now you are justified by God, but the verse says we are presently being justified by his grace. It's not a thing that just happened in the past. In this verse it's something that God is presently... God didn't just presently justify people by faith in the apostolic era. He presently justifies people by faith. So you can be justified today, it's presently available. Three things so far. Justification is not earned. Justification is not deserved. And justification is presently happening. Fourthly, justification had to be bought. Verse 24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It had to be bought. The word redemption means liberation by the payment of a ransom We don't earn it. No, we don't. But it still had to be paid for. And God paid for it. He redeemed. He liberated his people by payment of a ransom through the redemption. God redeemed his people. Justification had to be bought. Even though to us it is free. It is freely. for nothing, but God paid the price. And fifthly, justification is through Christ's propitiation. Let me read the verses or quote them. Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood. Now, I've determinedly used the word that is in the verse 25, propitiation. Justification is through Christ's propitiation. Because that's the word used. God the Father set forth, once for all, Jesus Christ to be a propitiation. Now, some modern translations don't have that word there. but they, for example the NIV, replaces the word propitiation there with atonement. Or the RSV, the Revised Standard Version, replaces the word propitiation with expiation. Because the word, those translations are wrong, because the word is helisterion and it means propitiation or appeasing appeasing or appeasement of God's anger and wrath. That's what Hillisterion includes very strongly in its meaning, appeasement of anger and wrath. And that of course is not popular in modern evangelicalism. Sure it isn't, because they're God's fluffy. And modern liberals who translated the NIV and the RSV to them, the idea of God's anger and wrath needing appeased is imagined by them to be unacceptable and not compatible with a loving God. So they remove the word propitiation and they translated expiation and the word expiation just means our sin is taken away and there's no thought of wrath or anger or atonement as the NIV says the price is paid but it just leaves it at that let me give you an example here's a quote from the New Bible Dictionary they shouldn't really use titles new in a book it's decades old now New Bible Dictionary published by IVP under the word propitiation. In the New Testament this word group is an important one. In modern times the whole idea of propitiation has been strongly criticized as savoring of unworthy ideas of God. Many suggest that the term propitiation should be abandoned in favor of expiation And this is done, for example, in the RSV. The objection to propitiation arises largely from an objection to the whole idea of the wrath of God, which many exponents of this view regulate to the status of an archaicism. So the wrath of God, that's just an archaicism away in the past. They feel that modern men cannot hold to such an idea. But the Bible does teach about God's anger towards sin, and the Bible teaches it everywhere. And liberals playing word games in translations which are now accepted in almost all evangelical churches because of their tradition. Their tradition is, let's get the latest. That's every bit as much as tradition is sticking to the old thing. Their tradition is, let's get the latest. Liberals playing word games in translations which are unacceptable does not change a thing. nothing changes. You can play with words all you want, but justification is through Christ's propitiation. His or he appeased God's anger and wrath that would have fallen on us. God sent Jesus He set forth. That's what it says in verse 25. Whom God set forth. Those Greek words mean placed before. Exposed to view. Jesus was exposed to view. It's second aorist tense. He did it once for all. It's indicative. It's just a fact. God the Father set forth Jesus Christ. He exposed Him to the view of all. Why? As a propitiation, as an object of his wrath to show us that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. He paid the price and he appeased God's wrath and anger for his people. Wilson the commentator says the heart of the gospel is that on the cross God publicly set forth Christ as a propitiatory offering. That is, as the appointed means by which God's wrath against sinners is averted." End of quote. So, justification is through Christ's propitiation. Through Christ averting, or you could put in there diverting, God's anger upon our sin, he diverted it to himself, the sinner. So justification. Number one, our justification is not earned. Number two, it is not deserved. 3. Justification is presently happening. 4. Justification hath to be bought. 5. Justification is through Christ's propitiation. 6. Justification is received by faith in Christ's death. Verse 25. Whom God set forth, displayed, revealed to be a propitiation through faith in His blood. faith in his blood, blood is the life, the life is poured out, death. This sacrifice that Jesus made, this propitiation, this justification that he made is limited to those who exercise faith. Through faith in His blood, through faith in His death. That's how the propitiation, that's how the atonement, that's how the justification comes to us, through faith in His blood, through trust in His death. Through trust in His death, you can be declared right with God, you can be justified. By trusting in Jesus, death his shed blood, his propitiation, his averting of God's wrath from ourselves to himself for me." Do you believe that? Believing that, really believing it, trusting in it, is faith. That's biblical faith. If you believe that in your head, then trust in it every day. and you're a Christian. How could you believe that and be an unbeliever? Justification is not earned. Justification is not deserved. Justification is presently happening. Justification was bought. Justification is through Christ's propitiation. And justification is through faith in his death. And seventhly, in all of this, God is just and, sorry, He is just in justifying sinners. He is just in justifying them. Through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at this time, His righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. If a court in our land tried a rapist and a murderer who had been absolutely guilty of the crime and confessed that he was guilty of the crime so there's no uncertainty at all If the court of this land tried such a person and the judge finds him guilty and then lets him off absolutely free, would you say justice has been done? Most certainly not. You would say that the judge and the court have acted injustly. But you and I are sinners and we are unjust. God is righteous and he is just and he must punish sin and sinners. He cannot just let sinners off. So how does God remain just and justify the guilty? That's the beauty of the gospel, isn't it? God doesn't let sinners off the hook. He doesn't ever pass over their sin and just let them off even though they're guilty. God's justice and wrath requires death as the penalty of sin, so Jesus died in their place. as their substitution for the propitiation, the bearing of God's wrath. God's wrath and justice in the gospel are not laid aside, and he just forgives us. No, they're not laid aside. God's wrath and justice is executed on Jesus, to the full. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. God carried out the just sentence of death upon sinners on His Son. His justice and righteousness never were, nor can ever be passed over, but are fulfilled. And therefore, it can be said God is just. He's not like the unjust judge who lets off the criminal without punishment. That's injustice. But therefore God is just in declaring sinners right with him. Those sinners who trust in Jesus. For Jesus was punished for their sins. So God is just in justifying sinners who trust him, because the price is paid. Let me conclude. Justification, seven points. Number one, it's not earned. Number two, it's not deserved. Number three, it is presently happening. And number four, justification had to be bought. Number five, justification is through Christ's propitiation. Number six, Justification comes to us through faith in his death. And seventhly, God remains just and the justifier of those who trust in Jesus. So you can't earn being right with God. Sure you can. Nothing you can do can earn it. We don't deserve it. But you still can be justified today. It is presently happening, and it had to be bought. And it happens by Christ's propitiation, Him averting the wrath of God the Father and the justice to Himself. We are justified by faith in Jesus' blood, trusting Him. And God is just in declaring the believer righteous because Jesus is their righteousness. And you, sinner, will never be right with God until you get off your high horse of good works and pride. And start simply trusting in the death of Jesus for you. No works, no pride, nothing at all. Simply trusting in the death of Jesus for you. Because you are not good enough. None of us are good enough. And if you're not right with God, you have an immense, everlasting, omnipresent problem. But the Bible says that sinners can be declared right with God. They can be justified, and it's by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. Let me give you two pre-written quotes. First is by Thomas Watson. God does not justify us because we are worthy, but by justifying us, he makes us worthy. And Henry Smith. He hideth our unrighteousness with His Christ's righteousness. He covers our disobedience with His obedience. He shadows our death with His death, that the wrath of God cannot find us. That's all that matters. That's all that matters. Are you right with God? That's it. Now, there are people who will miss the man that was at the barbecue on Friday evening, Harry. I'll miss him. I wish I'd talked to him more that night. I wish I'd asked him more about his holiday that night. I wish I hadn't said, you can tell me more next week. Because next week won't come. But all that doesn't matter now. The only thing that matters now is this. He was trusting in Jesus. That's all. Nothing else. He was trusting in Jesus. And that is all that matters. Are you trusting in Jesus? Amen.