Justification, What We Believe, Part 31

He could show justice and hit me back with equal force or he could show mercy and not hit me at all. But if he hits me lightly, it's really not justice and it's really not mercy. You see the only way we have a God that's fully just and merciful is by having a God.

That he's the fine himself because only he can and then because he paid the full weight of the fine He can now offer to us.

Forgiveness, welcome to the rap report with your host Andrew Rappaport where we provide biblical interpretation and application. This is a ministry of striving for eternity and the Christian podcast community.

For more content or to request a speaker for your church Go to striving for eternity org.

Well, welcome to another edition of the rap report. I'm your host Andrew rap worth the executive director of striving for eternity and the Christian podcast community of which this Podcast is a proud member.

Check out the over 50 vetted podcasts over at Christian podcast community org and you can check out everything We do at striving for eternity at striving for turn org today. We're going to talk about a doctrine who the dreaded doctrine of Justification much confusion.

Why do I sound like a broken record actually seem to be saying that with each of these doctrines we get into. Especially with the doctrine of salvation that there seems to be much confusion. Well, that is exactly the reason we have a doctrinal statement and we are going through it in this series.

This is the series of what we believe and if you want to follow along just go to striving for eternity dot org go to the about section and under there choose what we believe and we're in the doctrine of Soteriology, which is the doctrine of salvation.

That is the topic. We're gonna cover today. We're gonna cover specifically the doctrine of justification. And I have not one but two co-hosts with me. We'll have to see if we could figure out their voices you you listening audience.

You'll have to figure out if you could figure out Which one identifies as Spencer and which one identifies as Nicole? We'll have to see maybe they'll change up their voices, but these are the hosts of and I should say that we're what we're doing is trying to grab different folks in as Co-hosts for for me from the Christian podcast community.

So each of you get to hear some voices and get to hear some brilliance from other Podcasters and you go check out their podcasts, but Spencer and Nicole are the co-hosts of religion lists Christianity and If you want to know why they're religion lists, you're good.

You have to go to episode 1. I'm just saying you got to go and binge the whole thing. But they actually have two podcasts on one feed and I'll think they are gonna give them a second to explain. But they have a daily devotion, which is a five-minute daily.

And then they have an hour-long one those who are long-term listeners of this podcast. You know, I started off the same way and then separated them. So you get something every day. So whichever one of you wants to identify as Spencer now I'm saying that folks because if you listen to their podcast, you you know that they are very into the Discussing the the modern culture and What is it you you you you call it the plan you play a scream and in the the plunge into the.

Slew of this ponder. Yeah, we take our weekly trek through the valley of the shadow of death before we dive into the news every week. But I do want to say thank you first off for having us. We're very honored to be here and I have this opportunity to co-host with you and I am Spencer.

You didn't figure that out and I am here with my lovely wife Nikki my co-host Nikki Nicole.

He introduced me as Nikki. You called me Nicole either way.

And yeah, we are the host of religionless Christianity. We ourselves are very religious very Christian. But the world and the culture we live in is not anymore and that's where the religion list comes from.

How do you live a Christlike life in a religionless world and. Yeah, every week Monday through Friday. We just do five-minute daily devotionals. Just kind of walking through the words. Not the most theologically deep breakdown of verse by verse through the Bible.

It's just when we read a section of Scripture what jumps out to us. What are we thinking when we read through it? How can we make it applicable to our lives that sort of thing? And then Saturday is the big show usually about an hour to an hour and a half and we try to look at news of The week and try to understand how should a Christian handle this, you know, whether it's entertainment culture politics.

How should a Christian digest it and handle it in their lives. And then we do try to add in a Bible topic. You know a podcast discussion Movie review something to that effect at the end of the show as well.

So that's who we are and that's what we do unless you have anything else to add, honey.

No, that's it. I.

Sometimes I'd listen you guys go through the news. I really think that you're just trying to torture your wife. Yeah, you know like let here's here's what we have in the news, honey. And I just yeah, you hear Nikki reading it and like being like, oh, I can't believe.

That's what my friend. Yeah, my friend Becca that was here visiting passing through. I was telling her that exact thing I was like Spencer's all about the news and I'm like Oh.

Well, and that's the reason why I like having. I mean, obviously there's a lot of reasons I like having Nikki on the podcast with me, but she's a great test case because she doesn't read the news. She doesn't watch the news a lot.

So a lot of the stuff that we discussed She's never really heard of and I'm assuming some of our listeners a lot of Christians. We know are exactly the same. Yeah, really and because they're probably smart they avoid the news at all.

But you want to know the world that you live in so she's a good test case when we bring up stories and she's like Wait, they're doing that. Yes. They're grooming your children in school. Isn't that fun?

No it yeah.

I think it's important that we talk about it, and I'm glad that he brings it up for me.

It's good because so many people don't realize I I used to I stopped because This was too much to do but for many months I used to listen to LGBT Transition Podcasts to hear what they're they're talking about.

I stopped because they're just they're literally so perverted. They're I kept trying to find ones that would just describe what it is. They're trying to do what their agenda is and not get into all the sexual Descriptions and it's just it was so perverted.

I'm like, you know as a Christian I just could not continue listening because it's just all about their sexual perversion I mean like in graphic detail like that's what their audience wants to hear I guess and and I'm talking like the big ones the ones that have like Thousands of that like ten thousand hundred thousand downloads and I'm like, this is just all complete perversion and I would do it because so my audience would know what is Coming forward with what they're looking at and so that we see what our culture where our culture is headed.

And I was like, you know, there's other ways I can keep in touch. I could read Articles that folks like that put out and and not have all the talk. So yeah, it is it is hard.

Yeah, I feel like almost like ashamed even like reading the news we read. I feel like Like I'm disappointing. God. Even like because it's shameful to even speak of the things, you know I don't know what that scripture is.

But even Ephesians 5 let me just ask do you feel like you need a shower after reading the news. Because sometimes I do.

Yes, yeah we do. I mean it's something that we read and discuss and even when we're writing our notes out and stuff. You're like, it's just a dirty. It's like it's disheartening. Oh.

Folks today we're doing is you'll get you see the Nicky's and Spencer's voice because we're gonna have them on for what I'm going to be doing throughout the series. What some of the guys decided was that I should bring in different co-hosts from the Christian podcast community.

So you're gonna get three four episodes with each of the the different podcasts. So with 50 podcasts. This could take a long time. This could be several years before We settle down but we're doing that so you guys could get to hear some other voices and Get to know some of the other podcasts at the Christian podcast community.

So let's dig into the topic that we have today of justification. I'm gonna ask if one of you would like to read the section of the doctrinal statement on justification and again for those. Not if you're driving if you're driving either pull over if you want to read it along with us.

But if not, just listen, you can read later. It'll be in the show notes. But if you want to follow along it's at striving for attorney org. Go to the about section under what we believe and again before we read it I'll just mention the reason we started this whole series Was so that we could Realize that doctrinal statements are important.

How do you know whether to find a good church? Well, you want to read their doctrinal statement? And what we're trying to do is show you with with our doctrinal statement everything that's in there and all the stuff.

That's not in there. You're gonna see we're gonna end up discussing a lot of things today that are not listed. Specifically in the doctrinal statement, but they are and what we're trying to answer so what we'll do is go through read through the doctrinal statement and do as we've been doing this series if you're in at This point we're 20 some episodes in but go back to the original one and the start of the series and go through them.

And you'll see that these build upon each other. So if you wouldn't mind reading.

The section on justification, all right says. Justification before God is an act of God by which he legally declares righteous those who through faith in Christ repent of their sins and confess him as sovereign Lord.

This righteousness is apart from any virtue or work of man and Involves the imputation of our sins to Christ in the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us. Hence God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Thank you. And so this topic of justification, this is building if you listen to previous episodes. This is building right where we left off. I We started off this whole discussion of salvation. With regeneration and if you think about it that actually came from where where we are as a man men.

Human beings that we're sinful. So the next thing is we need regeneration we talked about that and then we talked about election last two episodes and we talked about the fact in election that this is God's side of the discussion.

Well again with justification. This is this is a work God does that's why I said we say Justification before God is an act of God. This is not something that you and I can claim some sort of Ability to do we cannot justify ourselves.

We're gonna get into this because this is the main issue. When it comes to justification you have two different views of justification. You have a view that we justify ourselves by works or the biblical way God justifies us by what he does and We play no role in that.

So it's it's one of those two that we're gonna end up being. Now what Romans 8 33 says? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Now that's that seems pretty clear. That it's God who justifies because actually that's exactly what it says.

Surprise, so when we have people that say well, we can justify ourselves. What they're ultimately doing is revealing that they have a works-based man-made religion and This is what we end up seeing.

When why we're saying that suppose right out of the gate with with justification. We have strong turn to try to say Justification is an act of God you and I Cannot justify ourselves. We can't bribe God with good works.

We can't buy our way in with good works.

It's an act that only God can do. I think this is something that is a stumbling block. For people whether it's from their specific faith group or just maybe that American individualism man's pride and ego.

But you know the idea of sort of divine accomplishment or you can't help God you can't do anything. It's simply a work of God and I think our pride can cause that to be something that holds some people back from really wanting to accept this idea of.

Justification by faith in God alone. Yeah, because this is such a major issue because when you think about it, I Always teach there's only two religions. This is always fun to do. When I'm on the streets doing evangelism I get up on a box I go how many religions are there in the world and you get shouts of hundreds to thousands and and I go there's two and People go, huh?

Yeah, there's there's really only two there's divine religion and man-made religion. Now the question is how do we know which one's which. Right because that's that's what it comes down to and how do you know?

Which one's which I was speaking to a guy last night. He's Roman Catholic and I said look there's one thing that sets Christianity unique from every other world religion. I said it's the fact that every man-made religion has human effort.

God says he saves you but humans say well we add something we do good works. You know, I said if you're he's Catholic, I said well in your religion, it would be it'd be faith plus works in Islam it's one good deed counts for ten bad deeds in Rabbinic Judaism, which is not biblical Judaism.

There's a difference but the modern Judaism we know today it's doing Torah. It's obeying the law that those are all works. And so what we end up seeing is there's two religions and justification by by God is.

What sets apart divine religion from man-made.

You know, I was just thinking on what a blessing it is this to learn like the doctrine of depravity. I don't know any other religions that even have something similar to that. But if you're You know your need, you know that you can't.

You can't even try to be righteous enough like it's it's not possible that it isn't just the idea that it isn't possible. Because I think some people maybe think it might be possible or it could be possible for some.

To have their own righteousness that God would be that you would accept. Yeah, it's quite interesting because I.

Was preaching yesterday in church and I Mentioned Joel Steen's book your best life now, and I mentioned if this is your best life. Then you have hell to look forward to. I'm thinking I'm thinking of I said I'm thinking of writing a book your worst life now, right that that would sell I'm sure right?

Hey get a copy of your worst life now because you're right people that have a man-made religion want to praise men in their efforts how good we are and This is completely opposite now when we say when we say That justification before God is an act of God.

What this is saying and this is consistent with what we've been saying when we talked about regeneration elections. And when we talked even total depravity. We talked about the fact that because of our human nature.

This can only be an act of God. We can't save ourselves and this. There's this presents an issue for many people. Because what we're saying is That by saying that it's an act of God what it we're not saying or we're saying speaking against is the idea of a works-based system and Every man-made religion, which is every religion other than biblical Christianity is a man-made system.

So I got news for you as a listener. You are going to have to deal with the issue of justification by faith alone. All the time this whole idea of justification. It doesn't matter who you speak with any Unbeliever, you're gonna have to deal with this issue if they're involved in any religious system because every one of their religious systems are going to deal with the fact that they believe works are part of Their salvation or getting right before God and that's where we talk.

The way I speak of it is getting right before God to avoid this Vague term that people have because it's so deluded is saved. What do you save from people don't know and that's why when I talk to people I talk about Justification which they don't understand.

So then I get to explain it or I'll say are you right with God? And they they understand what it means to be right with God because we understand when we're not right with somebody.

Yeah, when people in these other religions where it is works-based do they have Assurance of they can't call it salvation, but I guess assurance of Heaven whatever their heaven is if it's works-based.

Do they really have that a hundred percent assurance?

No, not really. In fact, if you look like in Islam, you're you should never think that you're Guaranteed like that's like that's almost anathema to think that you you know for sure the only way to know for sure in Islam That you are going to heaven and this is in the Hadiths is to die in a holy war in a jihad and That explains why so many people that could be wicked criminals would be willing to die in what they call a holy war.

I mean you think about the What we end up knowing about the? hijackers in 9 -11. Those that hijacked the planes and flew them into the towers of the the Twin Towers. They were getting lap dances at a strip joint the night before and you go like how could they like?

That makes no sense. How could you say you're doing something for religious reasons and may doing that the night before? Because in their religion, this was the only way guaranteed and that they thought hey I'm gonna be ushered into heaven by this one act because anything else would be wrong.

Mormonism which teaches that you have to be Absolutely perfect sinlessly perfect. You never know if you are talk to a Mormon and ask okay. Are you there? They'll say no because none of us can keep that now.

I know and we've talked about this in previous episodes. There is a branch within Christianity called sinless perfectionism where they believe as Christians. We must be sinlessly perfect. We've covered that and we're gonna cover that in the next section on Sanctification big-time but no you can't be sinlessly perfect because you still have indwelling sin and I always like my friend Matt slick says.

So then anyone who believes they're sinlessly perfect just spend 10 minutes with him and he'll get them angry enough to reveal They're not sinlessly perfect. But yeah. The reality is when we talk about justification.

There is one passage That everybody turns to to say that works are necessary for salvation. Spencer, you know what passage that is, right?

Yeah, so I think you're kind of talking here about James chapter 2 where James kind of talks about faith plus works and you know a lot of times and we've had discussions with Roman Catholics before and they'll point to this and they'll say well James and Paul disagreed.

You know because Paul talks about faith alone, but James clearly describes Justification is through faith and works and that's one of their big sort of verses.

They like to go to and the reason they go to it is because it seems So I'm saying seems to clearly say faith without works is dead and Though they love to quote that in verse 26. Okay, the context gives us something different.

Now one thing you don't see people do is Start at verse 14. So let me start reading Some of this and I'm gonna start in verse 14 and just work through this in a bit. James 2 14 says. What uses it my brethren if someone says he has faith?

But has no works. Can that faith save him? So right off the bat. What we're dealing with is not a saving faith. We're dealing with someone that professes to be a believer But is not a believer. How do we know they're not a believer because they don't have the works that go along with salvation.

That's the thing that James is talking now in the broader context. Whenever you interpret Context is king. You must understand the context the broader context of James what James's purpose is is to reveal.

This is what? Salvation looks like this is what genuine faith looks like. So he's taught he gives about a dozen plus different ways of testing yourself to know if you're in the faith. One of them is do you have the works that go along with the faith?

And I was just thinking on like the fruit of the Spirit. It's like the work that we do is belief and abiding in his word. So those works that people see are just like the fruits of the Spirit and it isn't anything That we do.

Like I can't make myself not be an Angry person like I can't cause myself to just be patient like that is just abiding with God abiding in his word and and That's just gonna happen. It's his work we can only Say all I've done is abide in God and it's his work in me.

Well Nikki as a mother if you.

Had your children and you have you've a small brood of of children there. You know working on your on a basketball team or so, but but no if you had a five-year-old and Still in a crib Still just drinking milk out of a bottle.

Is that healthy? No, no. Would that be the norm. Would that be what you'd expect for a child? No, no. So the expectation is as a believer we would Naturally have the works that a believer would have. So if we have someone that's in church for 20 -30 years, and they're still acting like a newborn.

That's a problem. And I would say that would be my fault not working in my child or giving them what they need to be nourished and grow properly and God will do that for his children. He will not leave us as orphans and Just drinking milk and leaving us on our own.

So So the blame would fall on me as a mom, but we can't blame God because if you are something he's not.

That's the whole point God is not gonna fail. God and dwells us for the purpose of and we'll talk about this next episode of sanctification. He works in us for that specific reason. So we're going to Grow in our faith if we're a believer and we're gonna have the works.

So the the first thing if you and you have to when you deal with justification. You have to deal with James chapter 2 14 and following you have to. Because you're gonna come up with this with whether it's Catholics.

It's Mormons. It's Jehovah Witnesses. Any group that uses the New Testament is going to turn to James 2 to justify their justification by works.

Every one of them. I don't know now is a good time to bring it up. But there's a second verse that they'll go to a lot as well. And this is Philippians chapter 2 verse 12, and I'll just read it here. It says therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed so now not only is in my presence But much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

So they'll point to this one a lot too and go well see James tells you works. And now here Paul as well is telling you to work out your own faith.

Yeah, so let's let's cover that because what you have here is and when we started this series on when got to section of Salvation doctrine of salvation we've covered this but it's always good to have the reminder because Well some of you weren't listening you were driving and not paying full attention now.

But it's good because we need that repetition we need to the reminder. That's why so much scripture is repetitious, but. The word salvation that we use is a very general term and sometimes we use it for a specific.

The word can have three different meanings theologically it could mean regeneration that point in time where you went from being an enemy of God to a child of God where God does something in you and You become converted that is what some will refer to as salvation past tense.

That's in the past for those who are believers. If you are converted then you're in the in the part of salvation that's also referred to as salvation and the salvation specifically Philippians is referring to of Sanctification that we'll get to in the next episode that talks about that process of salvation that starts at regeneration and goes until the moment we die and it's the process of being made more and more in the image of Christ and that is the same as I'll go back to James 2 and talk about that's the same that's discussed in James 2.

It's that Sanctification and works are involved in our sanctification. The work of love that's a major one. That's the fruit of the Spirit is love. We should be identified. We should be marked as Believers by our love for God and love for others.

And so that is sanctification. But that's also referred to as salvation and specifically in Philippians. That's what Paul's referring to work out your salvation your sanctification. We have to be more precise.

Gone from using the word salvation to be more precise and use them in three senses salvation past tense regeneration salvation present tense sanctification salvation future. Glorification the moment we die and we're done with this body of sin and we're glorified.

So when we speak of salvation in Scripture We have to be reminded that the authors of the New Testament are not as precise as we've become Afterwards because of error by the way go through history go through church history.

You're always gonna see the reason we have such precision in our theology is usually because error cropped up. Why did we have in the Reformation period so much focus on doctrines like justification because the Catholic Church was teaching justification by works and the error crept up so that needed to be responded to and so let me just quickly Continue with James 2 just so you see this because he's we have to realize is James throughout.

The book is dealing with Sanctification. How do you know you are a believer? So when he says in verse 15 if a brother or sister says you're without clothes and you say go and be warm. Like that's not what a Christian would do a Christian would take care of their fellow believer and in verse 18 He says but if somebody says Right, if someone may well say you have faith and I have works.

Show me your faith without your works and I'll show you my faith by my works. What he's saying there is that the works are the natural progression of Sanctification if you are saved you will have works of a Christian and.

So the whole thing he's focused when he says in verse 26 for just as the body Without the spirit is dead. So faith without works is dead. He's not saying you need faith. Plus works to be regenerated. He's saying if you claim you are regenerated.

Let me see those works in other words if you're regenerated you'll have the works that go along with it you'll be sanctified.

Yeah, and even you know the very end of the book of James chapter 5 I think verse 19 and 20 where he talks about if your brother wanders from The faith and you bring him back you've saved a soul. Well, how do you know if he's wandered?

How do you know if he's living right if he doesn't have these works that are evident in His life to know if he's living according to the gospel and according to the commandments of God. Well, you have to have something to verify that with and these are the works that he's talking about.

Yeah, sure say you have faith. Let me see the works that should accompany that.

We would expect that if Somebody is going to claim if you're gonna claim to be a medical doctor You should understand something of the human body. Right if someone Are you gonna go to a medical doctor that you say, you know doctor?

I I need to have heart surgery and he goes. Yeah, you know, um, I think I've read something about the heart before. Right, you know if he doesn't know where the heart is, you know, he goes to your knee to look for your heart.

You're gonna go. I'm gonna find a new doctor. Why. Because the doctor the guy who's claiming to be a doctor reveals. He doesn't know Anything about being a doctor. He's just Professing to be a doctor.

He's being a hypocrite. He's pretending to be a doctor and he's not a doctor.

I mean Spencer haven't talked about before how like the Outward signs that we see like in other people or in ourselves. So that we because those signs reveal their heart because we don't know someone's heart so we need the signs.

God knows the heart like he doesn't necessarily need the sign. So and I'm thinking like Abraham Believed God and it was a credit to him for righteousness. But then we hear Others they have like a act like a their faith had works.

Abraham's was just belief like God.

Saw his belief. Yeah, and that's actually the example that that gets used throughout scriptures. That how do we know Abraham was a believer. Look at his acts look at his behavior. It's not that the behavior saved him.

The works didn't save him. The works demonstrate That he is a believer. I mean it wouldn't be so easy just if everyone had a big e on their forehead. If they were elect. I mean Evangelism would be so much easier.

You just walk up to a person go. Do you believe yet? No, okay. Let me tell you the gospel and then you don't have to waste your time with Our elect. Right. That'd be so easy. God doesn't do that for us, right.

And God.

Demonstrates to us like he could just say I am this I am that take my word for it. But he's demonstrated in acts in his acts.

Everything about him. So you said earlier do these false religions have an assurance of salvation? Where do we get our assurance of salvation from the book of James is giving us 13 ways to test ourself.

And what are they all it's look at your life and say am I behaving the way a Christian would behave? Do I show preference to people with money or do I just say I'm gonna show no preference and do do I watch my tongue?

Do I have the works of it? All of these things are things that he's saying examine your life. Am I living the way a Christian would live and if the answer is Yes. It's like ah, so I must have faith and not just for other people because we know ourselves better, right?

We know if we're faking it. I remember a guy who came to church he was wanted to date a young lady. He was a bartender. He came in pretended to be a Christian was at every I mean Sunday school Wednesday night me Sunday evening.

He never missed anything for three plus years that the church did he was at air and even if she wasn't involved he was active and Then it was announced and he just he was always trying to date her but then it was announced she was getting married and all of a sudden the guy disappeared and Three in the morning.

I'm I go over to the bar because I know he found out he was back at the bar. And so bartending and so the thing you don't want is to come out of work at 3 in the morning and see me sitting on your car at 3 in the morning and You never want to ask me to keep you accountable because I actually will do it.

I go out of my way. So he sees me he comes to his car and with a bunch of guys and he sees me and he's like Uh Guys, I'll talk to you later and he comes over and he literally just told me hey I was just I was faking it because I just wanted to date Suzanne and I mean he did like you'd look at him and He he outwardly had everything that looked like a believer.

Inwardly, he knew he was faking it the whole time and even it like we've only gotten to one part of one sentence here but there's so much in this that we're want to cover in this because This is a major issue when it comes to justification that this is an act that God does not we do.

That's a major distinction. So let's let's define. What is justification? We do it here in the in the statement Justification before God is an act of God by which he he being God legally declares righteous those Through faith in Christ repent of their sins.

So what we're trying to do here say that this is a legal act justification is actually a legal term. It means to be set free and how are we set free? So so God declares we are now just. We're set free.

We're set free to be righteous. But how through faith in Christ? Now we're also saying through repent of sin repenting of sins now, we've talked about repentance already this is something where we're talking pre-show and I know that Spencer was asking the the question that he wants to raise of Is repentance a work because there's people who say that.