Our Righteousness Before God

I invite you to turn with me tonight to Romans chapter 4, Romans 4 as we read together the chapter, actually I'm going to ask you to back up with me to chapter 3 beginning at verse 21 and then through chapter 4 and considering together verses 24 and 25 and doing so in connection with Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 23, which, if you would please turn in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 30. Page 30 in the back of the Psalter hymnal, Lord's Day 23, questions and answers 59, 60, and 61. In fact, let's turn first to the Catechism and confess these answers together. Question 59 asks, What good does it do you, however, to believe all this? In Christ, I am right with God and heir to life everlasting. How are you right with God? Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God's commandments and of never having kept any of them, and even though I am still inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. All I need to do is to accept this gift of God with a believing heart. Why do you say that by faith alone you are right with God? It is not because of any value my faith has that God is pleased with me. Only Christ's satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness makes me right with God. And I can receive this righteousness and make it mine in no other way than by faith alone. It should have reminded us before that first question when it says, what good does it do you to believe all this? It's talking about all that we considered with regard to our profession of faith using the words of the Apostles' Creed. Romans chapter 3, beginning at verse 21. Hear now the Word of God. We know that Paul has said before, there is no one righteous, not even one. Verse 21, But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No. But on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we then nullify the law by this faith? Not at all. Rather, we uphold the law. What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God. What does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Now, when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work, but trusts God, who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him. Is this blessedness only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised or before? It was not after, but before. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value, and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath, and where there is no law, there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace, and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations. He is our father in the sight of God in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, so shall your offspring be. Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. This is why it was credited to him as righteousness. The words, it was credited to him, were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness, for us who believe in Him, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins, and was raised to life for our justification. Well, beloved in Christ the Lord, why will God let you into His heaven? Why will God let you into His heaven? And that's a question that many are taught to ask when they go out and do the work of evangelism, to try to strike up a conversation with one, start with a question such as this to help the one you are conversing with to take a look at their life, to take a look at their sin, to take a look at their need for a Savior. And most people are willing to admit sin at least to a point, of course, with qualifications. Well, of course, no one is perfect, and I make mistakes too. But when many answer a question like that for themselves, or when they think of one who has died and then think of that question, many will try to find comfort or justification in reasoning such as this, that so-and-so was a good person. They had good qualities. They were honest. They were nice. They would never purposely hurt anyone. And the truth is even some confessing believers boast or find some reassurance in their morality. Well, I do good things. Or in their knowledge. Their knowledge of the Bible or of doctrine. Or in their practices. You know, I attend church faithfully every Sunday and I have devotions each and every day and I'm faithful in Bible studies. Or they find some reassurance and comfort in their own witnessing for Christ. And they'll tell you, I've led so many people to Christ. Well, if that's the reason that God should let you into His heaven, then I suspect that most of us will be in trouble. Because I don't know of anybody that I have personally led to Christ through a conversation. Some find reassurance in their faith. I have faith. That's why God should let me in. Certainly, many will say, my goodness must help at least a little bit. We know that at the time of the Protestant Reformation, even through today, that was the Roman Catholic view. Grace, indeed, they would say, plus works. Plus works. We've got to do our part. And some of you have heard of what is called the new perspective of Paul or on Paul. It's not really so new, but even some Reformed thinkers are falling into the trap of this new perspective. which in a nutshell basically says that we're in by grace, we're in God's covenant by grace, but we stay in by our works. Our works keep us in. And with both of these views, you see, justification is not complete until some far off future time. But the reason that we need God's justification of us is because I have no goodness worth anything in God's sight? Answer 60 is correct. Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God's commandments and of never having kept any of them and even though I am still inclined toward all evil. Now that sounds harsh. But let's be honest. It's true. I have no goodness worth anything in God's sight. Sin makes even my best good works bad. Rotten. Beloved, I am not right with God because of me, but I am right with God in spite of me. We confidently confess our righteousness before God. That's what Lord's Day 23 is talking about, justification. That justification, the doctrine that we hear so much about, But how are you right with God? We confidently confess our righteousness before God and that it must be and is accomplished another way. We want to consider, first of all, its nature. The nature of our righteousness before God. It's a declaration. It's not inherent in you or me, but it's a declaration. It's a declared righteousness declared by God. In the Westminster Shorter Catechism, it gives this definition of justification, that it's an act of God's free grace whereby He forgives all our sins and accepts us as righteous in His sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. Boys and girls, it's a declaration that God makes. It's a legal act on God's part. We can think of a courtroom setting with a judge sitting on the bench and a defendant standing before the judge. And God is the judge. You and I are the defendants. And God makes that one-time declaration. Justification is not a process like sanctification in which the Holy Spirit works continually throughout our lives from the time we are justified and makes us perfect when we reach the glory of heaven. But justification is that one-time act of God, that one-time declaration of God of what He says about you and me as believers. He says, not guilty. Not guilty. as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. And therefore, beloved, this declaration of God is a declaration of satisfaction. God is satisfied with me. That's an amazing truth. That God is satisfied. You see, His justice condemned me as guilty because of my sin. God is a just God. That means that He cannot and He will not put up with sin. He cannot, He will not let it go. He cannot, He will not simply turn His head and forget about it and ignore it. His justice condemned me as guilty because of sin. But now, because through His declaration of justification, He declares that there is no condemnation against me because He is satisfied. And that declaration is also a declaration of acceptance. The offense, that which drove a wedge between me and God, has been removed. I have been pardoned. That estranged relationship, that bad relationship, has been put right. And I am given a new status before Him. I am accepted by God. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5, verse 21, We have become the righteousness of God. And in Romans 5, verse 1, Paul says, Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God. God accepts us in His sight. We have become adopted children of His. And we've been given the privilege to call Him Abba, Father. But this declaration is not only a declaration of satisfaction and a declaration of acceptance, but it's also a declaration of our eternal destiny, of where we will spend eternity. Those clothed in God's declared righteousness will wear these robes for eternity, as Revelation 7 teaches us. Our righteousness is a declared righteousness, but it's also a fact. It's a done deal. It's true for all who truly believe. For Paul, this declared righteousness was the heart of the Gospel. And this fact is attested by Scripture. It's proven by Scripture, especially the book of Romans. In chapter 3, verse 23, it says, All who believe are justified freely. As we read in chapter 4, Abraham, while he was living, was justified. He was considered righteous by God. In verse 25 of the text, it speaks of our justification as something that's already real. And again, in chapter 5, verse 1, it says that we have been justified. It's a done deal. God has declared it. In Galatians 2, verse 16, it speaks of having faith and being justified as going together. You can't have one without the other. This is the true identity for those who believe. This is how God sees us today, right now. If you believe, your sins are forgiven, and you are righteous in God's sight. And this is amazing. It's simply amazing, because if we are honest with ourselves, we don't fit the description of righteousness. We fit what the Catechism says. Our conscience accuses us, and daily inclined toward all evil. We don't fit. As we look at ourselves in this life, we don't fit the description of righteousness. But this fact, beloved, also is changeless. God will never change His mind. He will never go back on His Word. He will never change His declaration. That declaration will stand for time and eternity. Satan may appeal it. He does. In Zechariah 3, Zechariah sees a vision of Joshua the high priest standing before the judge dressed in filthy garments and Satan standing there beside him to accuse him. In Romans 8, verses 33 and 34, Paul says, Who will bring a charge against those whom God has chosen? Who is he who condemns? Well, Satan brings a charge. Satan tries to condemn. But his charge has no ground. It has no foundation. Not because we are sinless. Not because we are perfect. But because the nature of our righteousness is that also it is an alien righteousness. It comes from outside of us. Boys and girls, we think of aliens often as coming from outer space. In a sense, our righteousness comes from outside of this world as our Savior left the glory of heaven. to come to this world to live righteously in your place and my place. And therefore, God is satisfied and we are accepted and declared righteous because of the righteousness of another, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is, in the second place, its ground, the ground of our righteousness. The ground is not me. It's not you. It's not my faith. It's not my works. In Romans 3, verse 20, it says, Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law. Rather, through the law, we become conscious of sin. In verse 21, But now a righteousness from God apart from law has been made known, to which the law and the prophets testify. In verse 28, For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Then Paul in Galatians 2, verse 16, We know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law because by observing the law, no one will be justified. And Paul in Philippians 3, verse 9, his desire was to be found in him, in Christ, not having a righteousness of my own, he says, that comes from the law, a righteousness that he knows is not sufficient, is defective, but that which is through faith in Christ, The righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. The ground of our righteousness is Christ alone. God's declaration of my righteousness is only for Jesus' sake. Because of His perfect righteousness and holiness. Because of His perfect accomplished work. But you know, it seems unfair, doesn't it? It seems unfair that sinners, Sinners in the present sense. Those who continue to sin. It seems unfair pronouncing sinners as righteous. It seems like something that an unjust judge would do. Maybe who was paid a fee, given a bribe of some sort. We don't think it's right when people get by with things and they don't get the punishment that they deserve. It seems like an unjust action by a judge. And God's own law forbids it. In Proverbs 17, verse 15, it says, acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent, the Lord detests them both. And in Deuteronomy 25, Moses makes it clear that only the innocent are to be acquitted. Only the guilty are to be condemned. Again, it seems unfair that sinners would be pronounced righteous. But the interesting thing is, is we don't often complain when it's in our favor. And this is very much in our favor. Yet there are some who do still complain that it's unfair that not all are acquitted. That not all are declared righteous in God's sight. Yet this declaration is just. Because God's justice has been met. For those who are justified, the punishment God required because of sin has been given by our Lord Jesus Christ. It's been received. It's been given by God, received by Jesus Christ. He is the ground and the foundation of our righteousness. And Paul makes that clear. The righteousness of Christ is that ground and foundation. He makes it clear as it's demonstrated in Christ's death and resurrection. There's the saying that the death and the resurrection of Christ are the two main hinges on which the door of salvation turns. Boys and girls, you can look at these doors in this building. They turn, they swing because of hinges. And the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ are the hinges upon which the door of salvation turns. Apart from His death and resurrection, that door is forever closed. But because of His death and resurrection, that door is opened to God's people. The text says that He was delivered over to death for our sins. Notice, He wasn't simply put to death. But He was delivered. He was handed over for that very purpose to be put to death. Well, by whom? Well, by God the Father. Paul says in Romans 8, verse 32, He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all. And Peter in his Pentecost sermon in Acts chapter 2 says, This man, speaking of Christ, this man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge. But he was also handed over by himself. God the Son handed himself over. He resolutely set out for Jerusalem to take the cup that the Father had given to him. In Galatians 2 verse 20, Paul speaks of Christ, the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. And Paul says in Titus 2, verse 14, he speaks of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness. And Jesus Himself says in John chapter 10, the reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. God delivered the Son. And delivered here means casting into prison. Delivering to justice. A deliberate act. Beloved, this was the judicial act of God the Father. Delivering God the Son. And the Son delivering Himself to the justice that required the payment of the penalty for human sin. And that payment included that Jesus Christ endured the wrath of God and He suffered hell in our place. For what? The text says our sins. Paul says it in such a way to make it very clear that sins is our possession. The sins rightly belong to us. That's our contribution to the whole matter. And the idea here is the totality of our sins. In Romans 4, verses 7 and 8, in verse 6, it says, David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him. Paul quotes from Psalm 32, verses 1 and 2 to make his point. We sung that tonight in the song service. We considered it together a few weeks ago. The totality of our sin. Transgressions. Crossing the boundary that God has set for us from safety to danger. Sin, the idea of missing the mark, missing the target of God's glory. And the other word sin, to mean iniquity, turning aside, turning away from the path that God has marked out for us. Our sin, beloved, made it necessary for Christ to be delivered up in order that God would be satisfied and that we would be reconciled with Him. Only He was able to do this. Only Jesus Christ had the qualifications to do this because of His perfect righteousness and obedience to the law of God, that law which He kept in our place. And because He was perfect, because He was sinless, He alone could bear the punishment in our place. The writer of Hebrews makes it clear that this high priest, speaking of Jesus, did not offer a sacrifice for his own sin. But because he was sinless, because he was sinless, he could offer his blood in our place to forever pay for and to cleanse us from our sin. And because of that, because of his death, his taking our place all the way to death, our justification with forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God, our justification is accomplished. But the application of this was dependent on something more. Paul says He was raised for our justification. Now we need to understand Paul is not saying that the resurrection earns our justification and righteousness before God. That's not what he's saying. Christ's death earned that. But His resurrection, if you will, It secures our justification and righteousness because if Christ is still dead, His work is meaningless and we have no hope. And Paul is correct then that of all men we are the most to be pitied. But Christ has been raised by God. And that resurrection is proof. It's evidence. It proves Christ's own righteousness because He couldn't take our place without it. It proves that His work was completed, that it was satisfactory, that it is an accomplished fact. And by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God set His seal of approval on Christ's sacrifice. Declaring, if you will, that the penalty for our sins had been fully paid by Jesus. Declaring that in the sight of God, we are without sin. Declaring that the wages of sin, namely death, is gone forever and only life remains eternally for you and me. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is proof that He earned the right to give us His righteousness as His very own. His resurrection, beloved, is a promise and a guarantee to you and me that as surely as Jesus has risen, so surely shall believers be saved and are right with God even now. By His death, He removes our guilt. By His resurrection, God demonstrates His wrath is gone. Jesus Christ has become our righteousness before God. But there's one thing left. How does this become ours? How does it become our own? How is it received? Its reception, beloved, is by faith. We're not saved because of our faith, because of the fact of our faith, because of the worthiness of our faith, because of the strength of our faith, but we're saved by faith. Paul says in Ephesians 2, for it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and that's not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. Faith is a gift from God. And faith identifies the our. We've been talking all through the sermon about that this justification is for us. Faith identifies the us, those who believe. Again, the truth is I am a sinner. My conscience accuses me each and every day. But in Christ, I am justified by faith. Faith is an instrument. It's been called the hand and the mouth of the soul. It's a conduit, a pipe, if you will, through which the Holy Spirit pours the benefits of Christ, by which the believer receives the benefits of Christ. Through faith, we receive and believe the truth of Jesus Christ and His work. By faith, we believe that it's true for me too. Not only for others, but also for me too. By faith, we receive the divine pardon and the acceptance that we can find nowhere else. By faith, we believe, as verse 24 says, that God has credited to me. He writes in my ledger account, not that I owe, but that I am credited with. It's to my account the satisfaction and the righteousness and the holiness of Christ, as answer 61 says. Faith assures me, as answer 59 says, that in Christ I am right with God and heir to life everlasting. And beloved, faith causes me to marvel at this truth. What an awesome truth. Because this is so unlike what I would do for somebody else. Paul says in chapter 5, you see, at just the right time when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man. Though for a good man, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Faith causes us to marvel at this wonderful truth that there is redemption for you and for me. Beloved, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that only His blood and His righteousness are sufficient for you, then you can humbly boast of your righteousness before God for Jesus' sake. Without it, there's no hope. Your sins will be punished. They will be paid for. If not already by Christ, then they will be by you. But it will be an eternal payment because the payment will never be completed. But for those who look to the Lord Jesus Christ alone and trust in Him alone, His blood and righteousness, God says, not guilty. Not guilty now. Not guilty ever. Justification by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone. For some, this is nothing more than a 500-year-old dry and boring doctrine of the church that isn't very relevant for today, or at least they don't see any relevance. But the truth is, beloved, there is no greater comfort than this, in this life and for the next life. This truth of God's declaration of you and me in Christ gives joy beyond compare. It gives joy that when I could do nothing to pay for my sins and satisfy God, He did it all through His Son. This gives joy beyond compare. When I realize that God sees me as no one else does. No one else sees me and you as God sees us. What do we see? We see the shortcomings of each other. We see the sins of each other. We're quick to point those out. But God sees us as we are in Christ. Righteous. Boring. outdated, I say, what an incentive. What an incentive to pursue holiness. What an incentive to desire godliness. What an incentive in this life to strive to be as God sees me. Beloved, is there any better way to say thank you to God? Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we pray that You would inscribe this truth upon our hearts in such a way that it would never become old or dry or boring but ever so exciting because of what You have done for us in Christ Jesus. Father, we praise You for the truth of your word to teach us even as we struggle with sin in this life that for those who believe you give us the comfort that you see us as righteous in his sight. Father, you will ever see us as righteous in him. And you guarantee to your people for the sake of Jesus Christ an eternal home in heaven with you. Father, we know that one day you will bring us into your heaven not because of anything that we have done because nothing in our hands do we bring but simply to Jesus Christ and his cross do we cling we thank you Father for that righteousness given to us so freely so fully for Jesus sake hear us for Jesus sake we pray Amen