Jeff Durbin: The Great Exchange - My Sin For His Righteousness

Apologia Studios

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:06

If you would open your Bibles to Romans, New Testament, book after the

00:12

Gospels and the book of Acts, if you're new to the Bible, Romans chapter 5, this is

00:23

Paul's explanation of the gospel to the church in Rome. In chapter 5 of Romans, starting in verse 1, hear now the word of the living and the true

00:41

God. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our

00:51

Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

01:03

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

01:13

And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

01:22

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

01:29

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die.

01:35

But God shows his love for us, in that while we were still sinners,

01:40

Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

01:51

For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his

01:57

Son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life.

02:02

More than that, we also rejoice in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

02:14

Therefore just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spreads to all men because all sinned.

02:23

For sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

02:29

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

02:41

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many die through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift.

02:53

By the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin.

03:01

For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

03:12

For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man,

03:29

Jesus Christ. Thus far is the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Let's pray together. Lord, we love you.

03:36

Thank you for this gift. Thank you for this promise. Thank you for this glorious gospel.

03:45

Lord, I pray that you would, especially today, get the teacher out of the way, guide and teach by your spirit, fill your church with this glorious hope, this free gift of righteousness.

04:03

I pray, God, that you would teach by your spirit, fill us with a boldness around this truth and the ability to articulate it to the world and first to ourselves.

04:18

Be glorified today in the proclamation of your truth, in Jesus' name, amen.

04:25

So this was Romans 5. I chose it because so much of what's said here in Romans 5 is a summary of the benefits that have already come before in Romans 3 and 4.

04:40

It's a summary and a further explanation as to exactly how does this take place.

04:46

Paul's just explained that the whole human race is under sin, that Jew and Gentile, that's everybody, are not righteous, not good, non -God seekers.

04:56

They don't seek for God. He's just explained that the law's purpose was never to justify anybody. By the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

05:07

The law simply closes your mouth. It shuts you up. It shows you who you are. When you look at the law of God, you see every bit of falling short.

05:17

Whether it's in action or in thought, it's all there before you.

05:22

You're laid bare with the law of God, and Paul's whole point there is you can't do it as a Gentile.

05:27

You can't do it as a Jew. It's not something you can muster up on your own, and it's not going to come through obedience to the law or through works to any degree.

05:36

But it's something that God has promised, Paul says, throughout the Holy Scriptures, but it's now been revealed, it's now been shown to us, and that God has given to us this redemption that's in Christ Jesus, that is a gift by His grace, that God puts

05:52

Jesus forth publicly as a propitiation to divert the wrath of God away from the people of God, to give it to Christ Himself, that He exhausts the punishment that we deserve, so that God, Paul says in Romans 3, might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

06:15

Now listen closely, this is very, very important in terms of this entire doctrine, the substance of it.

06:21

God is a holy God, amen? We are unrighteous and we're the sinners, we're broken.

06:26

When you look at the world out there, you cannot deny how broken we are as a race, the human race, and we're all in it.

06:34

You can't deny how broken we are. And there's a problem. The problem is that we are unrighteous and God is righteous and God is a perfect and holy judge and He will not simply let sin go.

06:44

And Paul's point in Romans 3 is that God is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

06:52

Here it is. God wanted to condemn sin. And He did not want to condemn you.

07:03

He wanted both things. As a holy and righteous judge, He wanted to condemn sin, but not condemn

07:13

His people. And that's the glory of that cross. But how?

07:19

Paul then explains, this is how God has always done it and it's not by works. It's not by works, it's what

07:25

God has done in Jesus and it's a gift of His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Jesus is the diversion of wrath.

07:33

Jesus is the substitute and the sacrifice so that Paul finishes that by saying, Romans 3, 28, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law because it's a gift.

07:45

God does this. You have no part in this. It's something that God gives to you graciously because of His love and His mercy.

07:53

And he moves into showing this is how God has always saved His people. This isn't a

07:58

New Testament novelty. This wasn't supposed to shock anybody. God had said before that He was going to do exactly this.

08:06

Paul's point is testified by the law and the prophets. Nothing new.

08:12

As a matter of fact, Romans 4, Paul then goes to say what? He says, how was Abraham justified?

08:19

If it was by works, Paul argues there, then he has something to boast about. But not before God.

08:26

And he says, what does the scripture say? You want to know the God of Israel? You want to know the true and living

08:32

God? You want to call Abraham your father? And you need him as your father if you're going to inherit this blessing and this gift.

08:41

He says, how was our father Abraham justified? Was it by works or was it by faith?

08:48

And so he quotes Genesis 15. And he says what? Abraham believed

08:54

God. And it was credited to him as righteousness. Now pause because listen, this is key.

09:00

This is so essential. It's very, very important. And reformed folks will oftentimes not articulate this right.

09:08

You are not saved. You are not justified by believing in the doctrine of justification by faith.

09:21

Let that hang for a second. You are not saved by believing in the doctrine of justification by faith.

09:30

You are saved. You are justified by believing in Christ.

09:36

Your faith and my faith is in a person. It is in a savior.

09:42

And that saving faith is in him. And it happens to be as you articulate and explain how

09:48

God saves, you explain it as Paul does justification by faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone.

09:55

And this is a gift. It's his redemption. He accomplishes it. But remember when

10:00

Paul is explaining what happened to Abraham, he gives a story of Abraham and how God comes to Abraham and says,

10:07

I'm going to do this for you. You think this is all lost.

10:13

You think you're going to have to give your inheritance to just some random person in your home.

10:20

And God says, no, come out. Look, so shall your descendants be.

10:29

Count the stars. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable.

10:36

And what happens? Abraham believed God. He believed what he said.

10:46

He trusted in God and his promise. And Paul's point is this. How is

10:51

Abraham declared righteous? Abraham believed God and it was counted to him, credited to him, imputed to him as righteousness.

11:02

So Paul's whole argument is if Abraham is your father, you better be saved in the same way he was.

11:08

It wasn't by works. It wasn't by law. Abraham was justified by faith, by believing

11:14

God before he offered Isaac on the altar, before he did circumcision and hundreds of years before the law was given at Sinai.

11:24

And so how is Abraham justified? He was justified with empty hands. What did Abraham do?

11:30

Nothing. He did nothing. There were no works. There was no performance.

11:36

There was nothing. Abraham trusted in God. He believed him and God says it was credited to him as righteousness.

11:45

So Paul's point is this. God justifies the ungodly. He justifies the wicked.

11:51

And Paul's argument in Romans four is that it's not just Abraham's story that gives us this truth.

11:57

It's David. Even King David, Paul says in four, verse six, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one, listen, listen, listen, to whom

12:10

God counts righteousness apart from works.

12:16

And then he quotes the Psalm that Gabe gave to you before the service, before the message today.

12:24

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered.

12:32

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. Abraham believed God. It was credited to him as righteousness.

12:39

David also talks about this. Paul says this isn't new. God counts righteousness apart from works.

12:48

So there's a positive imputation. They're counting you righteous apart from your works, apart from your obedience, apart from your performance, apart from your law -keeping.

12:59

And he does what else? He will not count your sin against you.

13:06

Praise God. You see, that's the glory of the gospel. Why won't these people just shut up about Jesus?

13:13

Why won't these people just shut up about Jesus? Why are people so addicted to Jesus? Why do people think so highly of Jesus?

13:21

Why is Jesus, for some people, just an obsession? And the answer is found right here in this text.

13:29

Here's why. Because God loves me. My sins will never be counted against me again.

13:36

He counts me righteous apart from my works, my obedience, my performance. God of the entire universe, the living

13:43

God, condescended and chose to love me, the wicked, the ungodly, the sinner.

13:53

He substituted. He represented me. He sacrificed. And so Paul's whole argument there is this is how

13:59

God's always saved people. It's only now in Jesus Christ that it's actually been accomplished. All the promises fulfilled in Jesus.

14:07

And now this is key. Hold on to that point. All the law and the prophets testify to what is taking place in Romans 3 and 4.

14:15

So listen, very important here. The disputes that take place, say, between Roman Catholicism and what we teach as Christians really need to come back to what do the law and the prophets say?

14:29

Because that is the background of Paul's entire argument. It's not the Latin disputes or the

14:35

Western dispute or the 16th century dispute of the reformers. This question of what does

14:42

Paul mean here can only be understood by stepping into the Apostle Paul's biblical and Jewish worldview.

14:52

In order to understand what he means by propitiation, you have to understand what does

14:57

Paul have as a framework for understanding what exactly took place through the redemption of Jesus and the diversion of wrath away from us.

15:06

So he moves into 5. Here's the point of 5. Why I read it is with the foundation behind us we learned about injustification in 3 and 4.

15:18

As Paul articulates it so clearly, he then moves into 5 to explain some more of the substance of the operation, to explain that all of humanity is summed up in one of two representatives.

15:34

And he makes the point, if you are a human being, you are in Adam at least.

15:44

And if you come from Adam, and by the way, I love this how Christianity just destroys the wickedness of racism and all the stuff that's talked about today and people put people in conflict with each other because of their skin color, because of their tribe,

15:57

Christianity has nothing to do with that. Because Christianity says, actually humanity's not broken down into all these different tribes and who's better and more valuable, it's really broken down into two representatives.

16:10

One, the early humanity, Adam, who sins against God and fails and falls and there is condemnation and death in him.

16:18

And if you are human, you're at least in Adam. And what you get from Adam, ready, is the imputation of Adam's guilt and sin and condemnation.

16:31

So watch this, if you're in an apostate Christian communion that wants to deny what scripture says about the gift of righteousness and imputation, if you don't like imputation, then give up original sin.

16:49

Because Paul's point is that what you get credited to you through Adam is sin, condemnation and death.

16:59

So ready, if you want to throw out imputation of Christ's righteousness, also throw out original sin, because that's

17:06

Paul's argument. If you're in Adam, you get Adam's sin, shame, guilt, condemnation, death.

17:14

That's the human race. And then he says, but if you're in Christ, if you're in Christ, he says, you get what?

17:23

Reconciliation, justification, peace with God. And he says, ready, the gift of righteousness.

17:34

Now consider that for a moment. If Paul's argument there is you get the gift of righteousness in Jesus, that would mean that the righteousness is not something in you.

17:44

It's not in you, it's foreign to you, it's outside of you. What do you do with a gift?

17:50

Stop and think about it for a minute, just a moment, brothers and sisters. This isn't complicated. With gifts, your hands open.

18:00

You receive gifts. The gifts come from outside of you and they come to you.

18:07

And Paul refers to what Jesus gives here in explanation of justification and redemption as the gift of righteousness.

18:16

And he does so through representation. So the real question is this, who are you in?

18:24

Who are you in? If you are not in Christ by faith and by faith alone, then you are in Adam, which means you are still lost.

18:33

And listen to the wording, modern evangelicalism doesn't like to talk about people this way, but Paul knows nothing of their placating.

18:42

He refers to those in Adam as enemies, enemies of God.

18:49

But he refers to you in Christ as reconciled, reconciled, at peace, no longer enemy.

19:00

And so the benefit of justification and imputation is that you are now reconciled to God.

19:08

Not just for today, not just for the rest of the evening, not just because you showed up to church tonight, you are reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ and you've received the gift of righteousness.

19:22

So now you stand and you do not fall before God and God loves you and he calls you his own and he calls you child and he declares you not guilty and he declares you righteous because of Jesus.

19:37

That's Paul's point there. There's so much, and I wanted to say this, this feels like an impossible task to some degree because there's no way that I can exhaust every aspect of this to all of us in one sitting.

19:51

I'd love to, but we'll be here until midnight and it's hot in this room right now so I'm going to do my best to give you some of the main foundational points.

20:03

It is Paul who teaches imputation. It is Paul who teaches imputation.

20:11

It's not an invention of reformers and 16th century controversies.

20:17

You see this truth throughout the entire history of the church, testified to many times by many brilliant giants of the faith.

20:26

But it is Paul who teaches justification, imputation here in the text. In Romans 4,

20:32

I articulated that he gives you the benefits of that imputation and that justification. God counting you righteous apart from your works and not counting your sins against you.

20:43

He uses a Greek term that expressed there for crediting, expresses, it's, it's variously translated as credited, counted, reckoned, imputed, regarded.

21:01

He teaches this through union with Christ, of course. He teaches it through representation, what

21:09

Christ does on the cross and how Christ lives this perfect life. And he teaches it through sacrifice.

21:17

Now, in order to, again, adequately understand and handle Paul's explanation of the gospel, we must adopt

21:26

Paul's biblical and Jewish worldview and framework.

21:31

Now, here's, here's what I want you to get. You could, of course, because I, of course, you think about doing this as a pastor, it's like, well, why don't

21:39

I just go ahead and give the entire sections where this is talked about in Scripture, just pass it out like candy, right, into, here's all your text, everybody.

21:50

Here's all the verses. Here they are in context. And here's the many places where imputation is talked about,

21:56

Christ's righteousness as a gift. We could do that. I'm not going to do that today. I'm going to give you some.

22:03

What I want to do is actually anchor what Paul is teaching here in the biblical and Jewish worldview.

22:10

When Paul refers to Christ and the law and imputation and the crediting of righteousness and the taking away of guilt and propitiation, what's he doing?

22:21

Is he using Western categories or is he using the Eastern biblical worldview?

22:27

He's using a Jewish worldview. So we need to understand Paul's framework because he said, watch, the law and the prophets testify to this.

22:36

So the first place to understand what Paul is talking about, about a crediting of righteousness and imputation, the first place is, what do you think?

22:49

Anyone know? Want to take a guess? What's that? Say it louder. Genesis.

22:56

Genesis. To understand what Paul is getting at in the law and the prophets testifying to this glorious benefit of the gospel, we have to understand the beginning.

23:08

And so to do that, go to Genesis 3, Genesis chapter 3, this very sad, broken, but glorious and hopeful beginning to the story of redemption,

23:24

Genesis chapter 3. Of course, I'm not going to read every part of it, but just highlight some parts that you already are familiar with.

23:32

Just consider that in Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve here have been created by God in the image of God.

23:45

They are not perfect in their righteousness yet. They're still in a period of testing. Ecclesiastes says that God created man upright, but he sought out many devices.

23:55

They were in a state of innocence here. They had not yet sins. And what is a visible portrait that scripture gives here about what their state was in that moment without sin is that they were, and the kids are going to love this, naked.

24:15

They were naked. They were naked and somehow not ashamed, innocent, no guilt.

24:22

They had not sins and they are naked, naked as a jaybird in the garden with God, heaven and earth together, the physical and the spiritual in absolute perfection.

24:33

And they seemingly had no problem with being naked. There was no shame. There was no guilt.

24:38

They were innocent, had not yet sins. They were naked. Now when was their first awareness of sin?

24:49

When Eve is deceived, she sins. Adam sins with a high hand. The text says something.

24:56

In Genesis 3, 8 it says this, and they heard, wait, sorry, 7, Genesis 3, 7, then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

25:11

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the

25:18

Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, where are you?

25:25

And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself.

25:31

He said, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat?

25:38

The man said, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree and I ate.

25:45

Then the Lord said to the woman, what is it that you have done? The woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate.

25:52

Here's the point. As soon as they sin against God, the text says, interestingly, that they're immediately aware of their shame.

26:03

And so the first thing they do is they run for the trees to hide.

26:09

Of course, after doing what? What they try to do to cover their shame.

26:15

What they try to do? They try to sew together something by their own hands, something built by their own hands to cover their own sin and shame and guilt.

26:30

They sin against God and immediately they're scared, they're terrified.

26:37

And so they try to, oh goodness, they hide their shame by building something of their own to cover themselves up and then they hide from God.

26:44

Now the glory of this section, and it has everything to do with what Paul is talking about in imputation and the crediting of righteousness and not counting our sin against us, everything is right here in this text.

26:56

Not only do you have the beautiful explanation of the gospel, the first prophecy of Jesus, that it's the woman's seed, virgin birth, who's going to come and crush the head of the serpents.

27:09

But in that crushing of the head, he's going to be wounded in the process. He'll deliver the mortal blow, but he's going to be wounded as he does it.

27:18

The promise of Mashiach is there and then what's the text say? And it's amazing because it's just sort of, it's just sort of just tossed there and you go, oh, that's interesting.

27:28

And you go, and there it is in the very beginning of the Bible, the story of redemption.

27:33

It's right there, everything Christ is for us. It says in verse 20, after God promises the curses and he promises

27:41

Christ, here it is. The man called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living.

27:48

And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

27:59

If you want to understand what the apostle Paul is talking about when he talks about God not counting your sins against you and representation and sacrifice and God crediting to you righteousness, go no farther than Genesis chapter three, because what takes place in Genesis three is sin and shame and guilt.

28:19

And these humans do what every human has a tendency to do. And that's try to cover their own sin and guilt and shame with their own hands, with their own works, build something of their own to hide from God.

28:33

And God says that won't work. And so what does he do? He gives a sacrifice.

28:40

There was blood that day. They would have understood something had to die.

28:47

There was blood. And then God himself gives the sacrifice pointing ultimately to Jesus and he covers their shame, their nakedness with the skin of the animal sacrifice.

29:04

Isn't that glorious? People talk about such weird stuff in the

29:10

Bible, right? Blood sacrifice, atonement, animal sacrifice, weird, covering these people in the skins of the sacrifice.

29:20

He goes, that's just weird stuff. No, that's the glorious hope that you and I have for all eternity, that God was going to give a perfect sacrifice that would take our sin and shame, that would take our place as sacrifice and representative, and then we'd be covered in his righteousness.

29:37

There's imputation. There's Paul's whole point about propitiation and accrediting of righteousness.

29:44

How's it take place? The story's right there in Genesis 3. But there's more.

29:53

The Passover lamb, as the story unfolds, again, Paul says, testified to by the law and the prophets, the

30:00

Passover lamb gives also another portrait of the great exchange.

30:05

The people of God are in bondage. They're enslaved. God says, let my people go.

30:12

They're enslaved. And God says, take a lamb, no spot, no blemish, don't break its bones.

30:21

And you take the blood of that lamb and you put it over your doorposts.

30:27

And he says that when my wrath comes in, I will pass over that house on account of the blood of the lamb.

30:35

In other words, a sacrifice was made, a perfect sacrifice. Blood and death occurred.

30:43

And that sacrifice, the blood, that death that occurred is over that house so that God's judgment and wrath passes over on account of the blood of the lamb.

30:55

And Jesus is declared to be what? The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

31:04

And so you see it all unfolding for Paul. He can simply say with shorthand, God will not count your sins against you.

31:11

But how does he not count your sins against you if he's a holy and righteous judge?

31:17

And the answer is in the Passover. It's in the portrait of the Passover. Sacrifice, perfection, no spot, no blemish, that blood covering you so that God's wrath passes over you and it is absorbed somewhere else.

31:34

That is God not counting your sins against you because on account of the sacrifice.

31:39

That Passover lamb points to what Paul is referring to here when he talks about the great exchange and God counting you as righteous and not counting your sins against you.

31:50

Next, Leviticus 16, go there because I know you're always there.

31:59

Leviticus 16. Now I'm not going to read all of this today, but just so you know where it's at, put your finger there.

32:12

It's often referred to in popular parlance as the day of atonement. It's actually the day of atonements, plural, because there were multiple sacrifices that occurred this day.

32:24

Now get this, the people of God in this stage of the history of redemption are given some, at times, interesting things to do, right?

32:36

You're to worship like this, you're not to engage in what the pagan nations do, don't adopt their practices.

32:42

I mean, it was even down to their clothing. God would tell them not to mix fibers, to teach them, don't syncretize your practices with the practices of the pagans.

32:51

I want you to be separate, a holy and separate people. Don't eat like the pagans, don't dress like them, don't act like them, don't do what they do.

33:00

Be a holy and peculiar people. And he taught them with a temple about his presence.

33:07

And he taught them with a temple about the sin that separated us from God.

33:13

And he taught them about the need of a mediator, someone to represent them. But the problem is what?

33:19

All of it is rudimentary, and in many ways, it's totally broken. Why? Because this mediator, there's a problem.

33:28

He's kind of like me. Like yeah, he's going in there, he's offering sacrifice, like he's representing the people of God and mediating, but the problem is he's one of us.

33:41

He's a sinner just like me. And if he makes a mistake and he sins, he's going to die in there.

33:47

So all of this just feels like we're waiting for something greater, something bigger. But they're rehearsing.

33:53

They're practicing and rehearsing through symbol and rehearsal what

33:59

God is ultimately going to do in Jesus. So here it is. The background of Paul's thinking about substitution, sacrifice, propitiation, blood atonement.

34:11

It's right here in Leviticus 16. On this day of atonement in verse 5, chapter 16, verse 5.

34:21

It says, and he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burn offering.

34:31

Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.

34:38

In other words, he's a sinner too and there's going to be a sacrifice because he's not righteous.

34:44

So there must be a sacrifice and representation for him as well. And then it says in verse 7, then he shall take the two goats and set them before the

34:53

Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats.

34:59

One lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the

35:07

Lord and use it. Here it is. Ready? As a what? Sin offering.

35:14

That is what Christ is called in scripture. And then it says, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the

35:25

Lord to make atonement over it that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

35:31

Now stop. Very important to know. Some of this stuff is like, well, this is really an interesting thing.

35:36

Like a lot is going on here. You've got blood atonement, sacrifice representation, animals are dying.

35:44

They're practicing for something greater, but this is in particular something very important.

35:50

Here you have not only these animals being given as sacrifices, but now you have two.

35:58

One must be a sin offering. It has to have its blood shed and it has to die to represent there must be a life taken.

36:09

The wages of sin is death. That's what we deserve. And that's what they were rehearsing.

36:14

We deserve to die for what we've done to God. We're enemies of God. We deserve to die. And they were showing that and there must be a substitute.

36:22

It has to be perfect. The blood must be shed. I deserve that. That's what they were rehearsing.

36:28

But the other one was to be kept alive. Why? Here it is. Verse 20.

36:35

And when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat and Aaron, here it is, shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel and all their transgressions, all their sins.

37:01

And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.

37:08

The goat shall bear all their iniquities on, what's it say, itself to a remote area and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

37:20

Watch. They're practicing this play. It's showing them something.

37:30

This has to die because I'm a sinner. But this one, the priest comes over and he puts his hands on this goat and he has the people of God over here and he's confessing the sins of the people onto the goats.

37:47

All their sins, all their iniquities. And then those people get to watch as that goat that took their sin and guilt, that exchange is now led away from them and disappears off into the distance as far as the east is from the west.

38:04

That's what they saw. So they had rehearsed this great exchange.

38:10

That takes my sin and guilt. I deserve that and that transference, that crediting of the sin of the people onto the scapegoat and the sacrifice.

38:22

That's what Paul understands, is that Christ's purpose, that cross is about our sin and guilt and shame being imputed to, credited to Jesus.

38:35

He takes it from me and absorbs it into himself. He made him who knew no sin to become sin for us.

38:47

That in him we might become what? The righteousness of God, 2

38:53

Corinthians 5 .21. That's Paul's entire worldview. That's the map that he's using and the meaning behind imputation and atonement.

39:03

You can't rip Paul in Romans 3, 4, and 5 out of his biblical worldview and context.

39:11

This is how he's thinking about the atonement. This is what he means by redemption. This is what he means by propitiation.

39:20

This is what he means by sacrifice. It's in Jesus and we receive the gift of righteousness.

39:27

There is a great exchange. He takes my sin, my shame, and my guilt and I receive the gift of his righteousness.

39:36

That's what Paul is saying. There's the heart of the gospel. That's how God can justify the ungodly.

39:44

But there's more. And again, we're not exhausting, but in Isaiah 53, you need to see it.

39:51

Because believe it or not, it is denied. There are people who are professing

39:57

Christians who deny that Christ received the punishment due to us.

40:08

They deny penal substitutionary atonement that the Father gave to Jesus, his wrath against our sin and the punishment that was due to us.

40:17

My question is, how could you ever deny that if you understood the atonement system and the sacrificial system? It's all right there.

40:27

But in Isaiah 53, this prophecy 700 years before the time of Christ, of the Messiah, here's what it says.

40:33

Listen closely. This is Paul's worldview. In 53, 4, it says about Jesus, surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

40:46

Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted, but he was pierced for our transgressions.

40:52

He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

41:03

All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way.

41:08

Here it is. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

41:19

Do you see the consistency? Do you see what scripture is teaching us about salvation, Jesus, and redemption? Through the sacrificial system, through the covering and the skins of the animals, through the day of atonement and the laying on this goat, the scapegoat, the sins of the people to be brought away from the people.

41:36

That's how Isaiah sees the righteous servants, that God, the

41:43

Father, gives to God, the Son, your sin.

41:52

There's a transference. There's accrediting. Your sins as a wife, your sins as a husband, your sins as a father, your sins as a mother, your sins as a daughter, your sins as a brother, a son, your sins as a friend, your lying, your pornography, your lust, your hatred, your pride.

42:25

You and I deserve hell for every single day we live.

42:33

You don't have a day of righteousness perfect to be acceptable to God.

42:41

Not one day. Not one. Not in your whole life. That prayer that I read today from the

42:48

Valley of Vision, from those old Puritans, says something true.

42:53

I have your righteousness, but in myself I am in rags as a

42:58

Christian. They said what? I need to repent of my repentance.

43:05

Even my repentance is tinted with sin and pride and denial.

43:15

Even my repentant tears are somehow tinged at times with my own pride and my own denial.

43:25

And the Father, knowing all that about you and I as his children, laid on Jesus all your iniquity, all your sin, all your shame and all your guilt.

43:39

It's been accomplished. It is finished, is what the perfect sacrifice said.

43:48

It's finished. Once for all sacrifice.

43:54

Able to perfect forever those who draw near to God through him, the writer of Hebrews says. That's what happens in the atonement.

44:00

There is a transference of guilt and shame. When I'm due, the Lord lays on him the iniquities of us all.

44:08

He's pierced through for my transgressions, so that he further says in verse 10 of chapter 53, get it was the will of the

44:15

Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. So much for denying penal substitutionary atonement.

44:24

When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days.

44:30

There's the resurrection. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied.

44:37

By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, here it is, make many to be accounted righteous.

44:46

And he shall bear their iniquities. There it is. Ready? Accounting them as righteous, bearing their iniquities.

44:54

There's the imputation going both ways. He takes the charge of your sin and he gives you the accounting as righteous.

45:03

What's that from Paul? You just heard it. Romans 5. The gift of righteousness. The gift of righteousness.

45:10

And he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many and he shall divide the spoiled with the strong because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.

45:21

Yet he bore the sin of many. It makes intercession for the transgressors.

45:28

Now there's the background. That's what Paul believes. There's what the scriptures teach about atonement, substitution, sacrifice.

45:37

It's all there. And what are you seeing? A transference of guilt, an accounting as guilty, and then a not accounting as guilty, a charging as righteous, a declaration of righteous.

45:52

You're seeing a covering in the skins of the sacrifice. A gift of righteousness.

45:59

Taking away our sin and our shame. But here, listen closely. Go back to Romans chapter 10.

46:06

Proof that Paul taught and believed that this was something outside of us that we receive in terms of crediting being imputed to us, that this was a gift of righteousness, and that his context is that it's not a righteousness in yourself, but something foreign to you, is in the very book itself.

46:30

It says in Romans chapter 10, referring to the Israel of his day, the professing

46:37

Jewish people of his day, he says this, 10, verse 1, brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them, the

46:47

Jews of his day, Israel, is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

46:56

For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own.

47:07

They did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who what?

47:18

Come on, say it with me, guys. Believes. That's the essence of the

47:24

Christian message. That's the hope of the gospel. He's saying they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

47:31

They're ignorant about God's righteousness. They're trying to establish their own.

47:39

They're not submitting to the righteousness that God gives as a what? A gift.

47:46

And it's for those who believe. And then he goes on, you know the text, I won't go into reading it all, but you're familiar with it.

47:53

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, you'll be saved. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

48:00

That's too easy a message for people who are obsessed with covering their own shame with their own hands.

48:13

But for those who know the grace of God and the love of God and the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, you know that what you want is you want that sacrifice.

48:23

You want his righteousness. You want to be found hiding in his skins, not your own.

48:30

So Paul's point there in Romans, the very book we're in explaining justification and imputation is he refers to the

48:37

Jews of his day and he says where they get it wrong is they're trying to establish their own righteousness, not the one that's a gift from God.

48:47

But he does it again and I want to just show you where he does it again in his day. He further articulates how this takes place.

48:55

Go to Philippians chapter three, Philippians chapter three.

49:06

In Philippians chapter three, the apostle Paul has to deal with defending himself against others.

49:19

And I want you to hear how he articulates the righteousness of Christ in his day.

49:27

Listen to what he says. In verse two of chapter three in Philippians, he says, look out for the dogs.

49:33

Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision who worship by the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh though.

49:46

And here's where he gives his resume. He's like, you want to compare resumes? Let's do it. He says, though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also.

49:55

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more circumcised in the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a

50:05

Hebrew of Hebrews as to the law of Pharisee. That's like him saying, uh,

50:11

I got my doctorate at Harvard. You think I don't know the law? That's his point.

50:18

The highest school of the day, the most rigorous, the most committed to the law of God. He's like, you want to know what my bona fides are?

50:25

You want to know my credentials are? I'll tell you. He says, as to the law of Pharisee, he was trained under Gamaliel, a very famous first century

50:36

Jewish teacher. That's his teacher. He's like, I learned from the best. So you want to compare resumes?

50:43

As to zeal, verse six, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

50:50

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

50:58

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing

51:05

Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I've suffered the loss of all things, and I count them as rubbish in order that I may gain

51:14

Christ and be found in him. Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

51:33

This is Paul's explanation. He's explained the gospel. He's defended the gospel.

51:41

He's explained imputation. He's explained the taking away of our guilt and shame and the counting us as righteous.

51:48

He's explained the gift of righteousness. And we now have two points where he addresses specifically people who would attempt through their works or obedience to law, to whatever degree.

52:01

Two points of contact where he says, you're ignorant of the righteousness of God, trying to do it on your own.

52:07

And he says, if you want to compare resumes, I've got you beat. I did more.

52:13

I do more. And he says, and I want nothing. I want the righteousness that comes from God through faith.

52:21

I want that foreign righteousness. This is the great exchange.

52:28

My sin for his righteousness. Again, there's no way to fully unpack this, except maybe like a couple of years of Sunday sermons of going through every single verse in detail.

52:46

But I hope that we've been able to embrace and see the glory of the great exchange.

52:54

But I wanted to do something. I thought maybe this is a little unique, because watch this, watch. This is the explanation.

53:03

This is the explanation as to how exactly does God do it? How does he save people who are basically unsavable?

53:11

How does he save somebody who is not righteous and not good and not violate his own justice or holiness?

53:17

This is the explanation. But let's be honest. When you came to Christ, did you understand all of this?

53:27

No, because that's not how it works. You heard the message of your sin.

53:37

You got convicted by the Spirit of God because of the weight of your guilt and your shame and your sin.

53:44

You saw Jesus and what he did out of love for his people, and you said,

53:51

I want that. And you put your trust in Jesus, simple, broken, childlike faith.

54:02

That's what saves. It's faith in a person. Yes, you need to understand your sin as to why you're even coming to Jesus.

54:11

I understand that. But Jesus, look, I love this. Jesus gives us this little snapshot of what you ought to look like in coming to him.

54:24

So can I say this? If you've checked out for a minute, if you're a teenager talking to your buddy next to you, if you want to know why you should be listening right now, let me give you the words of Jesus.

54:36

If this hasn't happened to you, I don't think you're a Christian. If the story that Jesus gives here is not in some way connected to your story,

54:51

I think you should question your salvation. It's in Luke 18.

55:00

And I don't say that to you and not to myself. This is, it's funny.

55:09

Jesus is amazing, amen, yes. He's wisdom from God. He is everything.

55:17

And it's amazing because Jesus is able to say, because he's God incarnate, he's able to say in like a sentence what would take some guys like 800 pages to articulate, right?

55:26

And these are all the words of God. And Paul's articulating piece by piece and all the important things.

55:32

But Jesus gives one story that expresses basically everything

55:37

I just explained to you in an hour. In an hour? What time is it right now? Yeah, something like that.

55:43

I don't even pay attention, so don't worry, okay. In Luke 18, it's the story of the

55:49

Pharisee and the tax collector. Now this is from the Lord Jesus. It's a story he gives.

55:55

And by the way, it's exactly in line with everything Paul just said from Romans 10,

56:01

Philippians 3, only Jesus gives it in a snapshot. And here it is.

56:09

And I want to just say, listen, I'm going to impress this upon you. This is God incarnate.

56:14

This is God walking among us. He gives a portrait of what it looks like to be justified and the condition of a person who comes to God for salvation.

56:24

If you don't have this as part of your story, I really want to challenge you to examine yourself to see whether you know

56:32

Jesus. Luke 18, verse 9. He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.

56:47

Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

56:54

The Pharisee standing by himself prayed thus, God, I thank you that I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

57:12

I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector standing far off would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying,

57:31

God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, these are words from God.

57:40

It's red letters, so you know it counts. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.

57:55

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. There it is, a snapshot right there.

58:01

Everything that Paul was describing, everything Paul was discussing about the gospel described there in a portrait for you, a story for you to understand, who am

58:09

I in this story? Am I the Pharisee that's so proud and thinks I have a right to talk to God based upon my own obedience, my own performance?

58:18

He's actually proud. He's standing there and he's praying to God like he deserves it.

58:25

Look what I did, God. I fast. I tithe of all that I get. I'm not like the extortioner.

58:30

I'm not as bad as that guy and that girl and that person over there. He is literally expressing what all humanity does in every religion.

58:41

It's not just Israel in this day. It's all religion tries to compare, but God, I'm not like him.

58:46

I'm not as bad as that murderer and the pedophile and the thief. I'm not as bad as them.

58:52

God, look at me. I attend church. I tithe, I go to the offering. I walk up to the table.

58:59

I take communion. God, thank you. Thank you so much that God, by your grace, you've made it to where I'm not like others and you did this.

59:08

You get the glory for this. You did all this in me, but look what you did. So in myself,

59:14

I'm righteous. And then what's amazing is Jesus just tells the story of this scum, the tax collector, the scum of society.

59:24

Everyone hates this guy. They see him as an abuser of God's own people. They can't stand these guys.

59:29

He's wicked. He's unjust. And look at this, Jesus says he's far off and he's doing something.

59:42

He can't even look up to heaven, which is to say, shorthand in this day, he can't even look up to God.

59:50

He's so ashamed of himself and knows his guilt before God, all he can do is sit there and not even look up.

59:57

I'm afraid to even look at you, God. And it says that he's beating his chest, which is significant.

01:00:05

Because in Jewish thought, your heart, and there's so much about the heart in Proverbs right now, right?

01:00:12

So much. We've learned about this. The heart is the seat of your passions, your will, it's like, it's like the core of what operates you.

01:00:25

And this guy can't look up to God in any way, and it's like he's trying to tear and beat at the very source of all of his wickedness.

01:00:37

He's so aware of how guilty he is before God. He's so aware of the fact that he has no right to look up.

01:00:45

And Jesus says, this man, the one who says,

01:00:50

God have mercy on me, a sinner, that's it. I have nothing.

01:00:57

Just please don't give me what I deserve. Be merciful to me, God. This man went to his house justified.

01:01:09

Listen, he didn't go home to get justified. He didn't go home to work on it. He didn't go home to start a schedule to finally get his way to justification.

01:01:19

He went to his house, from that place, justified terrifying words. Are you ready?

01:01:25

Terrifying, horrific words, rather than the other. Which means the

01:01:30

Pharisee, the self -righteous one, went to hell. So which are you?

01:01:39

Are you the one that receives the gift of righteousness, the declaration of God that you are justified, not on the basis of anything in you?

01:01:49

Not your works, not your giving, not your tithing, not your fasting, not your comparisons?

01:01:56

Are you like that miserable sinner who realizes that his only appeal is to the mercy of God?

01:02:02

Because those are the only people that are saved. And let me just say to you, if you've never been to a place of brokenness like this in your life, if you never understood that you can only throw yourself in the mercy of Christ, then

01:02:15

I question whether you know Jesus. I question whether you understand the Gospel. I'm not saying you have to be able to articulate everything about justification and double imputation and everything

01:02:25

I did today, but do you understand you're a sinner who can only throw yourself in the mercy of God?

01:02:31

Do you understand that it's the tax collector that went home justified and right with God rather than the other who is trying to appeal to God based upon his own righteousness?

01:02:46

You know and all these other professing Christian religions, apostates, that try to mingle together their own righteousness with the grace of God infused in us and Jesus does this and I cooperate and do this.

01:03:01

But I'm not trusting in my own righteousness. Yes, you are. Yes, you are. You're not trusting in the righteousness of another.

01:03:09

You're trusting in some way in your performance, your works, your obedience.

01:03:16

You are saying, God, please, can we be okay because I'm not as bad as them?

01:03:22

Look what I've done, God. I've gone to confession. I've gone and done this.

01:03:28

I've tithed. I've given. So shouldn't I be seen by you, God, as righteous?

01:03:33

Because, I mean, you did this, God. It's your grace. That's what the Pharisees said. It's your grace that made me like this and look what you did,

01:03:41

God. Presentation. You did all this. God says he goes to hell. The one who throws himself on the mercy of God and realizes what a wicked sinner they are, that person goes to his house justified.

01:03:53

That's the hope we have in Christ. Can I give you something that I find to be just such a blessing?

01:04:05

The standard, the ultimate standard is not the fallible words of uninspired men.

01:04:13

The ultimate standard is the revelation of God in history, amen? God speaks, and that's how

01:04:20

I know. God speaks, and that's how I have certainty. But God has been building his church.

01:04:28

He has been building his church. And we have giants and heroes behind us. We have moments where certain things have been articulated better than I even could.

01:04:39

I don't know that I could have done this. In terms of how in history you can see this divine truth through the church.

01:04:50

Sometimes, like I said, in ways that I could not even over, I can't outdo it. Historic testimony to this beautiful exchange can be seen in many places, but I wanted to give it to you in one place.

01:05:06

The Epistle to Diognetus, around A .D. 130. So like I said, not long after the death of the last apostle, the apostle

01:05:18

John. Not too long after. Listen to what he says. He himself,

01:05:25

Jesus, took on him the burden of our iniquities.

01:05:32

He gave his own son as a ransom for us. The holy one for transgressors.

01:05:41

The blameless one for the wicked. The righteous one for the unrighteous.

01:05:47

The incorruptible one for the corruptible. The immortal one for them that are mortal.

01:05:54

For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than his righteousness?

01:06:01

By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified than by the only son of God?

01:06:11

Sweet exchange, unsearchable operation, all benefits surpassing all expectation, that the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous one, and that the righteousness of one should justify many transgressors.

01:06:32

I can't do better. I won't try. If you have not received that beautiful, great exchange, that sweet exchange,

01:06:42

I call on you to repent and to believe the gospel. Trust in Jesus Christ for eternal life.

01:06:48

Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for this glorious truth.

01:06:53

I know, God, that so much more could be said. And I know that we ultimately will.

01:07:02

But I do pray, God, that this meager attempt, this lowly attempt by me to pour into your people this glorious truth, would be blessed by you,

01:07:16

God, in your spirit. Would you use these truths to change us, to change the world?

01:07:29

Jesus, you are our only hope. God, have mercy on us, sinners.