Justification By & Through Jesus Christ (07/09/2000)

Park Meadows Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Turn with me to Matthew chapter 13, please Appreciate this special music today and Prepares my heart for the message and I know it does yours, too

00:28

I want to speak to you this morning about being justified by and through the faith of Jesus And I'd like to use as a springboard for this message

00:38

The the last part of our session on the parables if you remember we were teaching on the parables and we stopped

00:46

After talking about the parable of the pearl of great price, so look with me if you would in Matthew chapter 13 in verse 44 through 46

00:57

You have two parables here one deals with the treasure hidden in a field and the other deals with the pearl most of you

01:06

Were here when we preached on those most of you will remember that the treasure hidden in the field represents

01:12

Israel or I should say to be more specific the elect Of Israel and in in verse 45 and 46 it talks about the pearl of great price that represents the true church

01:24

So let's read those verses Follow along with me It says again the kingdom of heaven is likened to a treasure hid in a field of which when a man hath found he

01:35

Hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field and again

01:41

The kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchant man seeking goodly pearls who when he hath found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and bought it and I want to you were want you to review just a little bit and Remember what we learned about these parables

02:01

First of all, we mentioned already that verse 44 where we speak of the treasure that is the elect of Israel The Old Testament saints you might put it that way.

02:11

I want to read you a verse You don't need to take time to look this one up in Exodus 19 5 it calls the children of Israel a peculiar treasure

02:21

Unto God and then in Psalm 135 for once again it says for the Lord hath chosen

02:27

Jacob unto himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure.

02:32

So the treasure that was hid in this field is Israel and more specifically than that is kind of interesting because in the the word treasure there in verse 44 is the word

02:44

Thesaurus and you you know what that means in English Most of you know what a thesaurus is it's a treasure of words

02:53

But this word in the Greek language literally does not mean the treasure, but it means that which holds the treasure

03:00

And so I think that it pictures the nation of Israel Which held the treasure which was the elect of the children of Israel now, what's the difference?

03:10

Well, all of them were circumcised, but they were not all circumcised of heart And so the thing that held the treasure was the nation itself

03:18

But the treasure were God's children within that and so the Bible says very clearly in verse 44 that Jesus Christ Who is this man?

03:27

Came and he sold everything that he had he gave his all and he purchased the field which is the world and there's where we come

03:35

Into John 3 16 for God so loved the world He loved this whole entire cosmos or his creative order so much that he gave his son

03:44

Jesus and when Jesus Died he one of the things that he did was he bought that place that held this treasure

03:51

And this treasure was the elect of in other words the Old Testament Saints now the pearl of great price which is found in verse 45 and 46 is

04:01

The New Testament Saints and the way how do we know that? Well think about What a pearl is just for a moment it says that this man found a pearl of Great price is kind of interesting when it says and when a man hath found

04:18

In the Greek language, it's in the aorist tense, which means this when he found it exactly at the right point in time

04:27

What did he find one pearl Well now the other was treasure

04:34

So it dealt with something that held a lot of treasure, but when we speak of the pearl it's one pearl and It's interesting in Romans 12 5.

04:43

It says so we being many are one body in Christ and in Ephesians 4 4

04:50

I'm out He either came late or early today, didn't he usually come during Sunday school

05:00

Okay Ephesians 4 4 talks about the fact that there is one body one spirit

05:05

One Lord one faith one baptism. So the thing about this is there is a unity that's pictured by the pearl

05:12

Another thing is if you remember that a pearl is formed within a living organism

05:19

It is you might say it this way treasure is found But pearls are formed and there's an important difference there because this speaks of the formation of the church in current 2nd

05:29

Corinthians 5 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature and this word for creature literally means original formation or to Manufacture or fabricate something and so we see the

05:42

Lord forming the church in Matthew 16 18 He talks about building my church and this word for bill literally means to construct to be a house builder so we see that the pearl is actually formed whereas on the other hand treasure would just be found and so there is a difference there another thing about the pearl is that it requires the presence of a parasite or A particle of grain or or a grain of sand

06:11

I should say Inside the oyster which creates an irritation and that brings about the pearl now think about the picture there

06:19

We might think of 2nd Peter 2 24 where it says who his own self bear our sins in his own body

06:27

On the tree. We were like a parasite if you want to let a parasite picture sin

06:33

We were that which irritated brought irritation and yet that air that very irritation

06:40

Played a part in the production of a pearl so we see how this pictures a lot of things Another thing is the body in which the pearl is formed

06:48

Deposits a secretion around that irritating grain of sand or whatever and that's really what makes the pearl so there's

06:56

Secreted something that is a covering that covers that grain of sand which in the beginning was the irritation

07:04

Think about Revelation 6 11 when it speaks of white robes which were given unto every one of them in Revelation 7 14 says these are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the land

07:22

So we're covered with this Beautiful white garment this righteousness of Jesus Christ Also pearls come in many shapes and colors in Revelation 5 9 and Revelation 5 11 speak of the fact that he has

07:35

Redeemed us unto God out of every kindred tongue people and nation and Then another thing is that pearls reflect and refract light

07:44

Matthew 5 14 and following talks about how we're the light of the world We're the reflection of the light of Jesus Christ and another interesting thing about pearls.

07:52

It takes about three years for them to form now He went and he sold all that he had in this word had in the

08:01

Greek Indicates possessions and abilities and we find in Hebrews 2 9 that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels

08:09

We find in Philippians 2 6 that he made himself of no reputation He humbled himself and became obedient unto death.

08:16

And so we see that he sold all that he had He gave up all that he had to To do this to bring this great salvation to us

08:26

And then it says he bought the pearl and this comes from the Greek word

08:31

Agorazo, which means to go to market. It's a slave market term He went into the slave market and he found us

08:39

For sale and he purchased us with his own blood and redeemed us So we see all these things we remember these things now.

08:47

I'd like for you to turn to Romans chapter 3 and We're gonna look we're gonna begin looking

09:06

At verse 22 And we're gonna kind of study this passage this morning

09:11

But I want to go to the end of the passage and look at verse 30 And we'll read back towards it again in a moment, but let's read it first seeing it as one

09:24

God which shall justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith

09:33

And I want us to think about This morning the difference between these two little words by and through You see how it says he'll justify the circumcision.

09:45

That's the Jew and let's just put it this way the Old Testament Saint It's not the Jew of today because Jews today are saved just like Gentiles because we're in the we're in the church age

09:56

But if you go back to the Old Testament dispensation the Old Testament Saint, it says that these people are justified by faith and you come on this side of the cross into the church age and it says that the

10:12

Uncircumcision are saved through faith Gentiles. It would apply to the Jews as well.

10:17

But the Gentiles can be saved in this dispensation without becoming a

10:22

Jew and So we are saved through faith the Old Testament Saints were saved by faith and I want to talk about the difference between those two words this morning and The beauty that we have this side of the cross

10:37

So let's go back now to verse 22 and let's kind of begin this passage with that verse

10:46

We're gonna see the righteousness of God we're gonna see the justification of God and we're gonna see the propitiation of God and we're gonna see how it relates to this little word being saved through faith as Contrasted with being saved by faith

11:04

Now notice in verse 30 that the faith that we're talking about is the faith of Jesus Christ Well, we'll see that when we read it right here in verse 22

11:11

It says even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ We've been brought up in Baptist circles and probably other denominations the same way into thinking that we're saved by our faith

11:24

Wouldn't you say that's true? I mean we believe that we were taught that as children. We grew up thinking that way and Actually as we look at the

11:31

Bible, we see that we're not saved by our faith because our faith is imperfect we're saved by Jesus's very own faith and that faith is a gift that God gives to us at the moment of salvation and So it says very clearly in verse 22 even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ so when we go to verse 30 and We see that the circumcision were justified by faith.

11:57

That's still a reference to the faith of Jesus Christ and the uncircumcision through faith through the faith of Jesus Christ but I want you to see the difference of by and through because it shows you why it is that so many times the

12:11

Apostle Paul back when we studied our lesson on the law versus grace that he says that the law is like beggarly elements compared to what we have now and The difference between the word by and through will show that very vividly this morning now in verse 22

12:26

We start to talk about the righteousness of God and we see several things about it. First of all, it is by Faith and this little word by is the word

12:37

DIA And it really should be translated through Because the

12:44

Greek word that normally is translated by is a different word that we're gonna see when we get to verse 30 again in A few moments, but we see here that it's that righteousness is by our

12:54

DIA Which means through so you might read it this way even the righteousness of God, which is through the faith of Jesus Christ Now think about the difference between the word through and the word by We'll get a little bit ahead of ourself here because that's where we're headed in verse 30, but think about the difference

13:13

You might say that the baseball was hit by the bat Okay, that's one way to use the word by or you might say that the ship went through the channel

13:24

Now, do you see the difference because to go through something you also have to be in it You can't go through it without being in it

13:31

Or you go back to the baseball the bat hits the ball The ball was hit by the bat and the ball goes through the air

13:37

So it has to be in the air to go through the air So through carries the idea not just of somebody doing something that causes something but the fact that you were in that thing and it causes it to happen and so we see that righteousness of God first of all is by the

13:54

Greek definition for the word DIA is The channel of an act The channel of an act if you want to put it into simple words, it just means through or in So the righteousness of God comes through or in something

14:11

That's the first thing that we see now the second thing we see in verse 22 is that the thing that it is in and through is the faith of Christ now this word faith comes from the little

14:24

Greek word pistis, which means persuasion Reliance upon trust and adherence to do you notice how that's different than the

14:35

English word believe The English word believe just means mental assent of something but the

14:42

Greek word pistis would mean literally means to be totally persuaded and Therefore to trust and rely upon and to adhere to or to stick to like glue and it's a much stronger word

14:53

And it is this kind of faith that the Lord Jesus Christ had and it is this faith of Christ That righteousness is by and it's not really by it.

15:05

I just don't like that translation. It's in it It is it's a richer word.

15:11

It's in and through it. And so we see in Galatians 2 16 And a couple of other verses where it speaks of this

15:19

It says knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ Doesn't say in Jesus Christ.

15:28

It says the faith of Jesus Christ goes on it says that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and Not by works of the law

15:38

Isn't that amazing? We're justified by his faith not ours But what God does at the point of salvation is he gives us this is a gift

15:47

For by grace are you saved through faith? It is a gift of God The Bible says it's a gift a beautiful gift because we just don't have it

15:58

How many times in your life before you learn these principles? Did you try to work up belief by going Lord? I believe

16:05

Now we're gonna make this happen. I Convinced myself see that that's mental ascent of something but When God gives you the very faith of Christ this perfect faith

16:20

It's a whole different ballgame So we think of this. Let me ask you a question.

16:25

Can you think of anybody unless let's say other than the Lord Jesus Christ Can you think of a single

16:31

Bible character? Or can you think of anyone in your own life? including yourself or your mama

16:39

Anybody you love a whole lot in your life or have known about or studied or any Bible character in the whole

16:45

Bible Can you think of one person who had perfect faith and by that I mean this they always

16:51

Believe that what God said was absolutely true and acted accordingly you see

16:58

Adam loved his wife and His wife believed

17:03

Satan Not God Cain believed himself and had his own way to try to worship

17:12

God, but he didn't believe God's way was right Abraham believed that Well, let's put it this way.

17:20

He believed in his wife and his handmaid more than he believed in God He just wasn't sure

17:26

God was telling him the truth when he said you'll have a son Moses believed in the the power of his own hand and the rod that he carried when he smoked that rock the second time when

17:37

God told him not to So he believed that was more important than what God said David believed in his own flesh with Bathsheba more than he believed that what

17:47

God said was true when he said thou shalt not commit adultery Jonah believed in his own idea of justice

17:53

More than believing what God said would be right Peter believed in his own idea the kingdom of God and that Jesus the

18:00

Messiah would come and set up a kingdom right then and There more than what Jesus thought about the kingdom of God Paul had his own ideas about witnessing to Rome and the timing of that and Several people as the

18:12

Holy Spirit spake through them told him not to go to Rome So I can't think of a single character if I take the greatest characters of the

18:21

Bible none of them believe that God was right They believe they were right so who is the only one who ever believed that God was right?

18:31

Well, I can only think of one man who could say this and he that sent me is with me

18:36

The father hath not left me alone for I do always Those things which please him.

18:43

I Can only think of one man who says this I speak not of myself But the father that dwelleth in me he doeth the works that I do

18:52

Jesus said everything I do. It's the father working in me everything John 17 for I can only think of one man that says

18:59

I have finished the work that thou gave me to do How many of us would say I think I've done? Everything I should have done.

19:06

I mean, I'm completely right with God and have done everything I should have done And don't have any regrets

19:15

Well, most of us think we could have done more but Jesus said I've finished everything that he gave me to do

19:21

John 12 49 for I have not spoken of myself. He said He says whatsoever.

19:27

I speak therefore even as the father says this to me. That's what I speak I can only think of one man who all the time believed that what

19:36

God said was right and that is the perfect definition of faith and So I can see why

19:43

God has to save us by giving us that perfect faith the faith of Christ now

19:51

Let's look at verse 22 again So we see that the righteousness of God comes through the faith of Christ or in the faith of Christ Now look at the next phrase unto all and upon all them that believe for there is no difference

20:10

When you look at these little words unto and upon don't you think it's interesting that it says both of them?

20:15

It almost sounds redundant until you look at the Greek language and you see they're two different concepts When the

20:21

Bible says that the righteousness of God, which is in this faith of Jesus Christ is first of all unto all and Then secondly upon all the word unto is the

20:36

Greek word ice which means into it should be translated into and The next word upon all is is a wonderful translation.

20:46

It means upon or own So what we see then is that the righteousness of God is

20:52

Into all and upon all them that believe So we see that this completely acceptable righteousness of God Because of the perfect faith of Jesus Christ is our possession in other words it is in us and It is our position

21:17

In other words, it's on us So the righteousness of God is not only our possession, but it's our position

21:25

Now position is important because our position is that we stand in Christ as a child of God That's far better than being an

21:35

Old Testament servant of God Because the Bible Jesus said in the in the book of John that the servant dwelleth not always in the house

21:44

But the child abideth ever forever in the house. So we've been made the children of God in Christ Now look at this even the righteousness of God, which is by faith or we should say in the faith of Jesus Christ in all and on all

22:03

That believe for there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile in verse 23 adds one more idea

22:10

That this righteousness is totally by mercy Totally by mercy for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God So there's nothing in us that brings this righteousness

22:23

This righteousness is by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ in us and on us

22:30

Now, let's talk about justification for a moment. Look at verse 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus now this idea of Justification literally means to render innocent

22:52

Or it comes from a little Greek root word DK which means right So to render innocent or to render right?

23:02

to be made right and So we see in verse 24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ We see several things about the justification of God this idea that God has rendered us to be right in his own eyes

23:18

First thing that's obvious is that this is passive in the language of it even in the

23:24

English language. It says being Justified that implies very clearly by someone else.

23:29

Someone else has justified us. This is passive. It's not active We didn't do it ourselves It was done to us by a higher and stronger power and we see that in the grammar and we see it in the in The very phrase itself being justified freely by his grace.

23:44

So the first thing about justification is that it's passive It's something that happens to you.

23:50

It's not something you do You can't save yourself You cannot make yourself right with God.

23:56

Do you understand this? Totally throws out every main major world religion other than biblical

24:02

Christianity and it throws out all the cults throws out Mormonism Jehovah's Witnesses and Catholicism Throws them all out and every major religion religion like Hinduism and Buddhism and and Islam throws them all out because all of those systems are a stairway to heaven that you build to try to approach

24:22

God by doing good things Every other religion in the world and many groups that call themselves

24:27

Christians have this in the back of their mind that they're going to go out to do something for God and therefore

24:33

God will accept me it doesn't work that way because justification is A passive word, which means it's done to you.

24:40

It's not something you can do to God You can't go out to please God and save yourself Because it's passive.

24:46

It's something he has to do to you now Look at the next word being justified freely. We're in Romans 3 24 now being justified freely

24:54

By his grace this word freely Is an interesting word In the

25:01

Greek language, it's Dorian and it means without cause At that's stronger than just freely, isn't it without cause or for naught for naught

25:14

Without cause now read it with that terminology being justified without cause

25:21

By his grace now, what does it mean without cause it means without any cause within ourselves We are justified not by anything that we cause to God to do for us

25:33

There is nothing within us that caused this to happen. We are justified without cause in and of ourselves we are justified for nothing in and of ourselves and then it goes on and says by grace and this really nails at home because the

25:47

Very definition of the word grace is undeserved favor So we are justified by someone else which it happens to be

25:57

God and we are Justified freely or without any cause on our own and we're justified by his grace, which means without any favor that we deserved

26:10

So there's nothing that we did that caused this to happen. And so we see very clearly then that Justification is of God and by his grace and it ends up with this phrase through Now I want you to notice this little word through is the word dia

26:27

That we're looking at this morning It's the same word as we find over in verse 30 where it says that the

26:32

Gentiles are saved through faith It's the word dia and it means in In so we see that we're saved in the redemption that is in Jesus Christ now

26:45

We picture some interesting things when we picture how Jesus saved us and they're not wrong.

26:50

They're just kind of infantile in our way of thinking What we picture is that Jesus died on the cross and Because of that he saved us and then we believe in him and then we're safe We take advantage of that and that's okay to think that way when you're first saved

27:09

I suppose But as we study the scriptures what we see is that we're justified

27:15

Freely without anything that we did without anything that we deserved by his grace

27:21

Through and in the redemption that is in Christ Jesus now remember the word redemption is a slave market term.

27:28

It means to be Set free by paying a price But it says we're not saved by his redemption it says we're saved in it

27:38

Do you not realize that according to Romans chapter 6 that you were baptized into Christ into his death?

27:46

Now this is Spiritually speaking but it is just as much in fact in fact more real than these physical things

27:54

We're looking at today more real than the bench you're sitting on That bench gets more real the longer you sit on it.

28:00

I understand that But spiritually you were in Christ when he died

28:08

You were not just saved by his redemption. You're saved through it and in it Now What does the

28:15

Bible teach us About Propitiation well

28:23

Let's look at it look at verse 25 whom

28:30

God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed

28:40

Through the forbearance of God to declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus Christ well

28:54

We see some things then about propitiation First of all, it says whom

29:00

God hath set forth to be a propitiation. What is propitiation mean? Well, it's interesting when

29:06

Jesus Christ went to the cross He accomplished what we call the finished work of Christ And a lot of what he did was on our behalf and Also for the

29:17

Old Testament Saint who just had his sins covered and rolled forward a year every year until the cross

29:22

And then they were actually that's when they were actually saved. We'll see a little bit of that today

29:29

But most of what he accomplished on the cross we perceive it as being for us But propitiation is a work that he accomplished for the father because it is the father's wrath and Justice that has to be satisfied and satisfied is the best

29:45

English word for propitiation To propitiate God means to satisfy God turn with me to Isaiah 53.

29:52

I'll show you a beautiful picture of Of this word and what it means that God is propitiated because of Jesus Isaiah 53

30:06

Let's look down Verse 4

30:15

Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows Yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted that means smitten by the father.

30:26

That's the father that that Put him on the cross. Remember that Verse 5 says but he was wounded for and I want you to notice all the words for here on behalf of us

30:39

He was wounded for our transgressions. It can mean because of our transgressions

30:44

He was bruised because of our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him

30:50

He was our substitute. Can you see this and with his stripes are we healed?

30:56

Now look at the end of verse 6 and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us in Verse 8 he was taken from prison and from judgment and who shall declare his generation for he was cut off Out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he smitten now look at verse 11 the father

31:20

Shall see the travail of the sons soul and shall be

31:28

Satisfied that word satisfied is propitiation When the father looked down and he saw the

31:34

Son on the cross. He saw you in him and he saw me in him and he saw all of God's elect both

31:43

Old Testament and New Testament forever In Christ on the cross

31:52

I'm gonna have to rephrase that didn't say it is right He saw all the New Testament Saints in Christ on the cross

31:57

The Old Testament Saints didn't get saved that exact same way and I'm gonna get to that when we get to verse 30 but he saw us in Christ and He saw the death that came because of that sin and God was satisfied

32:13

Judicially, the law had been fulfilled The soul that sinneth it shall die That's a law that came from the

32:20

Garden of Eden in the day that you eat the fruit thereof You shall surely die all the way down through the Old Testament and into the

32:25

New Testament where it says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God And so that law was satisfied perfectly in Christ Now when we think about propitiation, we're speaking of this satisfaction.

32:38

So when we look at verse 25 Let's learn a few things about propitiation First of all whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation for us

32:47

This phrase set forth to be in the Greek language can be Translated determined as in the determinant counsel of God So it can it's usually translated the word purpose are to determine

33:01

So it's speaking very clearly of the fact that Jesus Christ. It was predetermined and It was

33:09

God's purpose that he go to the cross We know that because in the garden Jesus said

33:14

Lord let this cup pass from me and he said nevertheless Thy will be done so This propitiation is something that was set forth by the father.

33:25

Isn't it? Something that before God spun this world on its axis before Adam ever sinned

33:33

God had foreordained and purposed that Jesus Christ would die on the cross to satisfy his own requirements for the law

33:42

Everything that God requires he satisfies and provides for his children especially in the realm of our salvation, so he was set forth and he was the propitiation or the satisfaction

33:59

And notice this that it says whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood

34:07

Propitiation just like the righteousness of God comes dia which means through or in His son

34:16

The propitiation through the faith in his blood. So here we we're talking about the blood of Jesus and The fact that both the righteousness of God the justification of God and now we see the propitiation of the satisfaction of God's justice comes in and through the blood of Jesus Christ and Therefore God is totally satisfied now.

34:41

It's kind of interesting. Let me get you to look over at a verse in first John Turn to first John 2 2

34:49

This is a verse that hangs a lot of people up How many of you ever met a person that said oh,

34:55

I'm a three -point Calvinist And if you ever asked him what he's supposed to be five points

35:01

Which two do you not believe and they usually don't know they just say I'm a three -point Calvinist But I'm gonna tell you what one of the points is is found right here

35:09

And that is that they don't believe in limited atonement. In other words, they don't believe that Jesus died just for his elect

35:16

They believe he died for every human being that was ever born Well Calvin didn't believe that neither did the

35:21

Anabaptists and the early Baptists didn't believe that either The Protestants pretty much have believed it some of them, but some of them haven't in fact

35:31

Calvin was the creator of the Presbyterian movement. So a lot of the

35:36

Protestants do believe this But they'll say well, I'm three -point. Well, look at first John 2 2

35:42

This is one of the reasons they'll say that because it says and he is the propitiation for our sins

35:47

And not ours only but also for the sins of the whole world and they'll say well It says he's the propitiation for us and that must be the elect but also for the whole world.

35:57

That must be everybody else Well, let me tell you something about propitiation Propitiation is a judicious judicial term

36:06

It's a matter. It's like a court of law God has made the law. He says in the day that you eat the fruit thereof you shall surely die

36:15

He says the soul that sinneth it shall die He says the wages of sin is death all the way through the

36:22

Old Testament into the New Testament the same law It's been there from the very beginning now in a court of law

36:30

If the law is kept then even the law itself cannot punish a person so long as the law is kept and This is what

36:40

I would say to you to think about if it is true That Jesus Christ died for Every human being that ever lived on the face of this earth.

36:50

We know what his death accomplished his death accomplished the judicial satisfaction of God His death brought about propitiation which means

37:01

God was satisfied with his death in the place of whoever he died for So if it is true that he died for every human being that ever lived

37:11

And it means there are going to be some people in hell that had to pay twice for their sins

37:16

Jesus paid for it once and then they had to pay again and that's not fair in a court of law And so you're saying

37:22

God is not just Now chew on that one for a little while because it'll show you very clearly that from a judicial point of view and from the idea of propitiation

37:32

Those who are in heaven have to be the ones he died for Because if he died for the ones that end up in hell

37:40

Then God was not justice Did not proclaim his justice because their sins have been paid for and they had to go to hell anyway

37:47

It's not gonna happen that way So we see very clearly that Jesus died for his own

37:54

What does it mean then in first John 2 2 where it says he's a propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but Also for the sins of the whole world.

38:01

Well, I'll tell you what it means and I gained more and more understanding I Think it's been a real

38:07

Blessing in my life and I praise God for the fact that when I was first saved the very first year I was saved

38:13

He brought dr. Rocky Freeman into my life who happens to be a Jewish believer and then in the recent this past year,

38:21

I met Russ who's a Jewish believer and I'm able to see a little bit of the

38:27

Word of God through Jewish eyes that way Which is important sometimes I think to help us understand some things

38:34

But one thing that I know that I've learned is this from a Jewish point of view the Gentiles are the world

38:40

Well, you know, we use the word world in a bad sense We're not about the worldly people. But when a Jew thought of a

38:45

Gentile he's thinking about the world and first John 2 2 and it's right since simply means that Jesus is not only the propitiation for the

38:55

Jew But he's also the propitiation for the Gentile as long as they are the elect of God And we see this ties perfectly in with what we're seeing here in verse 25 and following now

39:05

Let's we've worked our way down through the righteousness of God and the justification of God and the propitiation of God now

39:13

Let's look at four Well, let's finish verse 25. It says to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past Now, what do you think that means?

39:26

When it says not only is God's righteousness here now in Christ as justice is here

39:32

Propitiation has been done and then it mentions the fact that this propitiation because of the blood of Christ affects the righteousness of God for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God.

39:48

What is that talking about? Is that talking about our past sins that there are groups in our country today that teach that Jesus died for our past sin

39:56

So you better not sin anymore after you get saved Do you think it means that I don't think it means that so what does it mean the sins that are passed?

40:04

Through the forbearance of God the patience of God Anybody have a clue

40:13

Well, have you heard brother Otis talk about how in the Old Testament before the cross that every year when the high priest went in?

40:21

there and applied the blood in the Into the mercy seat that they rolled the sins over again one more year all the way up till it got to the time of Christ And then

40:28

Jesus paid for him, didn't he? Well, that's what this is picturing the sins of the pastor talking about the sins that the

40:34

Old Testament Saints committed and So the first part of this when we look at the end of verse 25

40:42

It now begins to speak of this salvation for the Old Testament Saint But then at the first of verse 26

40:49

It begins to speak of its salvation for the New Testament or the Saint in the church age Which would apply to both you and Gentile it says to declare

40:57

I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus That's us now.

41:05

That's present tense Where is the boasting then it is excluded or we say by the law of works nay

41:12

But by the law of faith Therefore we conclude that a man is justified By faith without the deeds of the law.

41:21

Is he the God of the Jews only is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes of the Gentiles also so verse 25 verse 26 talk about the salvation of the

41:30

Old Testament Saint and The salvation of the New Testament Saint in verse 30 brings in and shows us the slight difference, but the beautiful difference

41:39

Seeing it is one God which shall justify the Old Testament Saint by faith and the

41:47

New Testament Saint through faith What is the difference? Well?

41:53

We've got a little overview of these two little words, especially the word through is the word dia

42:00

The word by is the word ek and in the Greek language. It means the origin of something

42:07

Of the point at which an action starts You might say the cause of something

42:16

And so when we speak of the Old Testament Saint we see that they were saved by the faith of Jesus When we talk about us on this side of the cross

42:24

We're saved in the faith of Jesus and through the faith of Jesus and what sense is this?

42:29

Well think about the Old Testament Saint for a moment The faith of Jesus was that which saved him in this sense

42:37

They knew about a coming Messiah They knew all the way from the point of Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 was the very first prophetic statement of a coming

42:47

Messiah and that goes all the way back to the garden and so Adam and Eve taught their children and they taught their children and so forth all the way down to Moses and Moses wrote it down But from the very beginning of time they had been looking for a

43:02

Savior to come and in fact when

43:07

Jesus Christ came What did he say he did he said I came not to destroy the law to disintegrate the law

43:15

But to fulfill it completely and it's a fishing term. It means to totally fill the net full of fish.

43:22

I Came to totally fulfill The law he said So for the

43:27

Old Testament Saint what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross was that he totally kept their law

43:34

Perfectly in his life and in his death. He became their sacrifice that all of the little animals had pictured all through time as they did the sacrifices the animal sacrifices that blood was nothing more than a type or a shadow of What Jesus did on that cross and he became their sacrifice fulfilling the law and literally saved them in that manner

44:00

Ephesians chapter 4 verse 7 and following talks about the fact that he went down into Shoal and He took those who were captive of that place and he set them free

44:13

Now you have to remember if you look into Luke chapter 16 that before the cross The saved people went to a place called

44:19

Abraham's bosom and the lost people went to a place called Hades And it was separated by a great gulf between the two.

44:28

You'll see it in Luke 16 in 22 And you can read vividly see a vivid picture about how that worked before the cross

44:35

So none of the Old Testament Saints died and went to heaven now We all come out dying going to heaven.

44:40

They didn't really go to heaven They went to this place called Shoal which was called Paradise Abraham's bosom

44:47

It was separated by a great divide a great gulf and right on the other side over there were the lost dead who were in Hades and the reason for that is because the true blood of Jesus Christ the sacrificial

45:01

Lamb of God had not been Presented in the heavenlies yet until after his death burial and resurrection

45:07

So after his death burial and resurrection the Bible teaches in Ephesians chapter 4

45:13

It says but unto every one of us is given grace according the measure of the gift of Christ Wherefore he saith when he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men

45:27

Now that he ascended what is it? But that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth

45:33

He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fulfill all

45:39

Things so he literally got the Old Testament Saints. He took them with him into the third heaven

45:46

So they are in heaven now, but they couldn't go there till the blood was applied So you see that their salvation was different than ours because what happens to us if we die in Christ today

45:58

We're instantly in heaven with him with the father So the

46:03

New Testament Saints The Old Testament Saints are saved by faith by the faith of Christ by what

46:10

Christ did in becoming their sacrifice but the end of verse 30 says the uncircumcision is saved via faith or through faith or in the faith of Christ and We see all through the scriptures this beautiful accomplishment of us being in Christ Do you understand that when the

46:33

Bible says that we died in him in Romans chapter 6 In the book of Colossians, it says we are risen with him in Christ To understand that that means that we serve

46:48

God perfectly through the channel of his faith that when we're connected to Christ like the brought the vine and the branch

46:59

That we can serve God and please God with our service But when we're disconnected when we're in the flesh and we're not connected to the

47:08

Lord Jesus Christ that there's nothing we can do to please him Jesus himself said without me you can do nothing

47:15

But in Christ we please God perfectly We are one with God because we are in Christ We are seated at the right hand of God in Christ far above anything that's going on in this world spiritually

47:31

We're seated above the world system We're seated above the flesh the old man that God tells us is dead

47:38

And if we believe God he tells us it is already crucified reckon it to be so what does that mean believe

47:44

God? Satan comes and says well that old man can still do stuff. You believe him you can get in the flesh

47:51

But you're seated far above the flesh the flesh should not be able to affect you in Christ The world we're above the world.

48:00

We're above Satan Satan was cast down, but we're seated in the heavenlies in Christ this morning

48:06

And even above the law as we spent some weeks talking about that. We're above or any other thing and A risen man is a new man.

48:15

He's dead to the old man He's dead to the old way to the old law to the old world the old flesh the old devil

48:21

And he serves the Lord Jesus Christ He knew he now has a new Lord who has set him free from every lower

48:28

Lord that there ever was over that person's life So we are victorious in Christ putting the enemy to open shame in death and in resurrection

48:38

Also, we are able to fill the net of the law to the brim in Christ So the

48:45

Old Testament Saints were rendered right with God because their Messiah in Whom they had believed

48:54

Fulfilled their law and became their sacrifice We on the other hand are rendered right with God.

49:00

That's what justification means We are rendered right with God because when he looks at us

49:06

He sees us in Jesus Christ. We are in him and he is in us

49:12

He is the head we are the members of the same body we are in him in whom

49:18

God is well pleased He loves us because we're in him.

49:23

He is pleased with us because we're in Christ He is one with us because we're in Christ.

49:28

We are one with him because Christ is one with him He gives us tender care because we are in his beloved son

49:37

Jesus Christ. He is satisfied with us Because we are in Christ the treasure in our parable

49:48

Was the Old Testament Saints? The wife of Jehovah Elohim is what they are called the wife of Jehovah They're justified by Christ faith and sacrifice we the pearl the bride of Jesus Christ Are justified through the channel of the faith of Christ because we are in him

50:11

It's not just that what he did saved us It's that we are in Christ What a position that is

50:20

What is the challenge for us then the challenge for us is to reckon that to be true every day in every moment of every

50:26

Day God says it's true. He states it is fact in Romans chapter 8 He says you are not in the flesh if you're in Christ Because anyone who hath not

50:35

Christ is none of his have not the Spirit of Christ is none of his He says positionally

50:41

You are in Christ Positionally the old man is crucified and dead

50:49

Reckon these things to be true That's our job because what the old devil tries to do is come to us and convince us that we are not in Christ that we're carnal and That the body should tell us what to do and that the body is not dead.

51:04

It's very much alive. He'll tell us So if God tells us it's dead and we're in Christ and if we believe

51:12

God Then what happens we reckon these things to be true and we walk filled with the

51:18

Spirit and we are fine But how can we do that And it amazing the only way we can do it is by a gift that God's given us called the faith of Jesus Christ We have to operate in his faith

51:33

When we wake up in the morning How long is it before you get from the bed?

51:39

To wherever you're going and all of a sudden the thought of God comes into your heart and mind you realize he is

51:46

Does you know that itself is a gift? The Holy Spirit speaks to your spirit and says remember who you are

51:53

And he'll do that for you every every morning. I'll promise you if you become conscious of it He will do that every morning.

52:00

He'll say I am and you'll say well, I know who I am too in your spirit And his spirit will be like this and your job as a

52:08

Christian is to go right out the door that way And to come back home that way that night

52:14

And that's what it's all about walking in Christ through the channel. It's better than just being hit by a bat

52:22

Being saved by the death of Jesus We are saved in his death and in his resurrection and in his redemption and in his propitiation

52:33

It's far greater Makes the other look kind of beggarly doesn't it? Let's stand and have prayer together father

52:41

We ask you to remind us moment by moment throughout our days of our position in Christ And then to fall to our knees and our hearts or perhaps actually literally physically fall to our knees and thank you

52:56

For this great gift of the faith of Jesus Christ that you've given us Help us to walk in this faith

53:03

Help us therefore to be in Christ and to be seated far above the things of this world

53:11

Far above the cares of this world Far above the powers and riches and temptations of this world in our flesh even far above Anything that the devil would throw in our way

53:26

Help us to glory in our position in our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and to spend our moments

53:33

Walking in him that we might be in perfect fellowship with you father and be pleasing in your sight

53:39

And that your will in our life would be done perfectly and that others would see the light reflected in us

53:49

And father, we know that is our duty until you come we thank you so much that you give us the command

53:55

That you supply the way and the method for it to happen all in one time Thank you that you love the

54:03

Lord Jesus Christ and you love us in him and you've given us to him and he to us

54:09

Father we ask you to go with us in our time of fellowship this morning Bless the meal that we're about to have and we ask you in Jesus name.