The Salvation Provided by God

Transcript

GRM 1002
3/23/2008
The Salvation Provided by God
Romans 3:21-26
Gil Rugh


We celebrate Easter and so much of the world's attention is focused on Easter. The newspapers occupied with, of course, events of the weekend, interviews with different pastors, different churches. And you turn on the news, they talk about events going on, even the focus of what's going on in Jerusalem as people are there in special ways celebrating the events of Easter.

I want to focus attention on a portion of the Word that draws our attention to what it is all about. Romans 3 in your Bibles. There is always the danger when we get into a period of time, if I can refer to it as a holiday, an event that has become something of a national and international kind of holiday like Christmas or Easter that we get caught up in just the “holidayness” (if I can create a word) of things. And we fail to appreciate what is Easter all about.

Christ has been raised from the dead. And reading some of the comments, that means we have hope. Why? Well we can see through suffering comes victory. Is that Easter is about? Obviously something very significant has occurred. And I want to draw attention to what God says really took place when His Son died on the cross and was raised from the dead.

One man wrote a number of years ago, the supreme problem of life is how could a man get into a right relationship with God. And I agree. That is the supreme problem of life, that is the greatest issue. How can an individual get into right relationship with God. When you stop and think about it, all the religions we have in the world are basically dealing with this one issue. How could a human being have a relationship with God. And the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is God's answer to that question. Here is how you can get into right relationship with Me.

The letter to the Romans has had such an impact down through the centuries, individuals that we know by name from past history testify to the impact of the book of Romans on their lives. Men like Augustine, Martin Luther, multitude of others whose names are so familiar to us testify that the book of Romans impacted them greatly. Paul began this letter by giving some words of introduction and then he moved into the first major section of the book of Romans. And he spent most of the first three chapters of Romans talking about one subject—sin, what it meant to be a sinner, the condemnation that came as a result of sin. That's the beginning point. Paul wants to unfold as God has directed him the truth of God concerning our relationship to God. And God directs Paul to start with the study of sin, the last place any of us want to begin. Easter Sunday morning we want to come and be happy and celebrate and be made to feel good, and I turn to the book of Romans and I have to wade through three chapters to tell me how bad I am. Well cheer up, we're not going to go through those. We're going to begin when he starts a new section. But you can't understand what he is going to talk about concerning Jesus Christ if you don't understand about sin. That's why Paul starts there. People cannot understand why Jesus Christ died, why He was raised from the dead if they don't know something about God's view of sin.

Let me just take you through a few verses, beginning back in chapter 1 verse 18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. The first 17 verses of chapter 1 are really the introduction to the book. Now he's ready to move into the letter itself. And where does he start? The wrath of God is revealed from heaven. We don't like to think of God's wrath, God's anger. But you know you don't understand the death and resurrection of Christ if you don't know something about the wrath of God regarding sin. Why did Jesus Christ die on the cross? Well, evil men crucified Him. That's true. But you know the prophet Isaiah hundreds of years before Christ was born in Isaiah 53 wrote in detail concerning the crucifixion and resurrection of the Messiah of Israel. Remarkable. It was God's wrath being poured out on Jesus Christ, the One who would pay the penalty for sin. So at first we have to understand when we talk about sin, we're talking about a serious matter as far as God is concerned. It's not a light matter, well we all sin, nobody is perfect, but ......... We have to understand that means we are under the wrath of God.

Look in Romans 2:2, and we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. And we've skipped over, he's covered everything from disobedience to parents to greed to murder, whatever kind of sin you are talking about. The judgment of God rightly falls on these people. Verse 5, because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. What a way to start a letter—talk about wrath, talk about judgment, talk about condemnation. Paul says there are two kinds of people, people who face the fact that they are sinners guilty and under the judgment of God, and those who deny it and are only making things worse for themselves, and storing up greater wrath for a coming day. Jump down to verse 9, there will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek. Verse 11, for there is no partiality with God.

You know one of the issues that is being dealt with as Paul talks about God's dealing with sin and providing righteousness for us, the Jews of Paul's day didn't see themselves as unrighteous, didn't see themselves as sinners like other men. Remember when Jesus Christ was living on the earth, He told an account and a religious leader came to the temple to pray. And he started out by praying, I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like other men. You see the Jews thought that the Gentiles needed to get saved, needed really to convert to Judaism so they could be saved. The Jews were confident that being a Jew would save them. So Paul stresses the fact in this opening section of Romans that God is not partial. Jews and Gentiles alike are sinners. Now lest we think the Jews were exceptional in their self-righteousness, think about it today. How are we? East for us to belong to this church and come here regularly to think, we're good, we're okay, we're more righteous than other people because we attend Indian Hills Community Church. And the Lutheran that goes to a Lutheran church says we'll be all right because we go to a Lutheran church. And the Episcopalian thinks, my family, my grandparents were Episcopalian, so we'll be all right. And the Roman Catholics think everybody else who is not Roman Catholic is wrong, but the Roman Catholics are all right. Then we can move to the Muslims, and they're willing to blow themselves up and they think they will step right into glory. And on it goes. And if we're not careful we all develop our own self-righteous thinking down to individually—I may not be perfect but I'm a pretty good man. I've been a good father, a good husband, I'm a good person. And while I may not be perfect I believe when God looks at my life He will look at it and say, you did a pretty good job. And that will be acceptable. So we all deal with the same issue. That's why the most offensive thing to us is when somebody talks to us about sin. And it's compounded when we're told that sin is so serious it puts us under the condemnation of God, under the judgment of God.

Come to Romans 3:9, what then, are we better than they? Not at all. Are the Jews better than the Gentiles? Are the Gentiles better than the Jews? Not at all. For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have become useless. There is none who does good, not even one. Note the end of verse 10 he said, not even one; the end of verse 12, not even one. Lest I think I might be an exception. God makes clear, there are no exceptions. We are all sinners, no matter what your background, no matter where you come from. There is something we all have in common—preacher, non-preacher, Sunday School teacher, elder, deacon, whoever we are, wherever we are we share one common lot in life—we are sinners. That's what he has established.

Now verse 20 forms the conclusion to this section. We'll read verse 19 to get the whole sentence. Now we know whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, the Law of Moses. Now again, he's quoted from the Old Testament here in verses 10-18, you can see in your Bible it's marked off by different kind of print, usually capital letters to indicate it is quoted from the Old Testament. Being reiterated here. It speaks of those who are under the law so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God. Because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight. For through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. Remarkable statement here. Not only are the Gentiles, the pagans, those outside of Judaism lost, the Jews who have the Law of Moses, they are lost, too. Because you can't get saved by keeping the Law. You know what? You understand the Ten Commandments are part of the Mosaic Law? But many dear people today, if you asked them, are you going to heaven? Why? Well, I try to keep the Ten Commandments. But verse 20 says, by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight. Well if we can't be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments, keeping the law that God gave to Moses, what do we do? Well you know, all the law can do is reveal that you are a sinner, the Ten Commandments can show that you violate the law of God. The Jews were guilty like the Gentiles.

So with chapter 3 verse 21 you come to the second major division in the book of Romans. Begins with that word, but. Now the contrast. And the heart of the book of Roman is found in verses 21-26. The whole rest of the book of Romans will develop what is summarized in verses 21-26, where we are told how you can be righteous in the sight of a holy God. How can an individual that God has declared to be sinful come to be declared, to be righteous and clean in the sight of a holy God. That's what he is going to direct our attention to.

Look at verse 21, now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Apart from the law. _______________ was trying to keep the Mosaic Law, which would be the highest form of trying to be saved by doing good. Today as Gentiles, most of us here are Gentiles, it would be well, I go to church, I've been baptized, I took communion, and on we go. You know what? None of those things can save us. For the Jew they had the Law from God, given through Moses. They thought, we have the Law, we try to keep it, not perfectly but we try our best. Sometimes we are more successful than others. Well God is telling them apart from the Law. And your works and your best efforts, the righteousness of God has been manifested. And that's what we need, we need the righteousness of God. We think we are fairly righteous, pretty righteous as people. But Isaiah the prophet said, in the sight of God all our righteousnesses are like filthy polluted rags. I need the righteousness of God, it has been manifested, made known, revealed. Now the law and the prophets, the Old Testament scriptures testified that God would provide righteousness. It would take the death of the One who could pay the penalty for my sin. So the law and the prophets revealed that there would be a Savior who would come.

Back up to Romans 1. In Romans 1 Paul began this letter by saying, Paul, a bondservant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, now note this,which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures. So the coming of Jesus Christ was prophesied. There are over 330 prophecies concerning Jesus Christ contained in the Old Testament. Repeatedly the Old Testament prophesied of the coming of the Messiah who would be the Savior. I mentioned Isaiah 53, the One who would give His life to pay the penalty for our sins.

Back in Romans 3. Now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. For there is no distinction. Crucial verse here. He now clarifies how we can received the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God has been manifested, made known, revealed. It's the righteousness of God which comes through faith in Jesus Christ. That's how we receive the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God is credited to our account when we believe in His Son. Now the starting point remember, in the book of Romans, was understanding we are all sinners, understanding that we are guilty before a holy God, understanding that being a sinner means we are under God's condemnation, the objects of God's wrath. And any other view simply means we're just storing up greater wrath as we read in chapter 2. Because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. The wrath of God, sin. The righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ. It is narrow. One of the criticisms of biblical Christianity is it's so narrow. You're saying everyone else is wrong and we are right. That's not what we're saying. We're saying God is right and everyone else is wrong. Now I must find out what God has said. You understand my opinions, even though I am a preacher, aren't the final word. It's not true because I say it's true, it's not false because I say it's false. A preacher has no more knowledge of how to get to heaven than anyone else, unless he comes and reads what God has said. And we're told the righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ. So it's narrow. That's what Jesus Christ claimed. He said, I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by Me. Now that's as narrow as you can get. He used another analogy when he said, I am the door, the only way of access is Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, we are told, John 3, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son in order that whosoever believes in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life. He that has the Son has life, he that has not the Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him. So it is true. Biblical Christianity is very narrow. The Bible says there is only one way to a right relationship with God, only one way to have the righteousness of God credited to your account so you can be forgiven and cleansed of your sin and guilt, freed from the penalty of sin and declared righteous by God. And that is through faith in Jesus Christ. You say that's exclusive. It is exclusive, but it is inclusive.

Note the next statement in verse 22, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. In Greek the same basic word is faith and believe, faith is the noun and believe is the verb. But it is just different endings, in Greek the same basic word. And there are synonyms for us to believe, to have faith. So it's through faith in Christ for all those who have faith. So there is only one way to a right relationship with God and that is to believe that Jesus Christ the Son of God died to pay the penalty for your sin, and you're trusting Him alone. That's the only way. But you know what? That's the only way we need because it is for everyone, all those who do believe. So it's not just for Jews who believe, it's not just for a certain group of Gentiles who believe, it's not just if you attend this church. It's for everyone who comes to recognize their sin and guilt before God and is willing to turn from that sin and trust in Jesus Christ alone. Quite frankly, often our religious beliefs become an obstacle because we can't get over the fact, I was raised in the church, I was baptized in this church. You could get baptized here and come up out of the water and die and go to hell. We had communion here Friday night. You could take communion here in this church and die and go to hell. Because he doesn't say you can receive the righteousness of God by being baptized, by taking communion, by doing any good works. It's through faith in Jesus Christ. And it is for all who believe. So whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever country of the world you live in, the salvation provided by God through the death and resurrection of His Son is sufficient. So it is narrow but it is very broad. It's narrow in the sense there is only one way to be right with God, but it's broad because that way is open to everyone. Jesus said there is a narrow gate that leads to life, there is a broad gate that leads to hell. Same thing. Jesus Christ is the narrow gate. It is through faith in Him that we can receive the righteousness of God. There is no distinction there. I am glad. I don't have to sit down and figure out my family line, my nationality or race, what kind of religious background I have. It's here, no distinction. God's salvation is for any and everyone who will believe.

Now you understand this goes back to the statement he has already made, and he repeats it in verse 23. There is no distinction, it's for all who believe. There is no distinction, verse we, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All have sinned. That summarizes the bulk of the first three chapters of Romans. We read a number of verses there. All have sinned. There are no exceptions here. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Here is where we run into trouble. I think I'm not such a bad person. You know why? I compare myself with someone else and I like to compare myself with someone who is not as good a person as I am. I'm “gooder” than they are. So if I'm “gooder” than they, and that's not good English I know, but you get the point. We compare ourselves with someone else, we see a public figure who gets caught in some kind of despicable action and we think, how could they do that. That's disgusting. And within myself I'm thinking, I would never do that. And so comparing myself with someone else I think I'm a pretty good person. And I've been good to my wife and kids and I've done my job. And pretty soon I'm thinking, I'm all right. I realize there are a lot of people who are pretty vile in the world, and they do such terrible things. We think of things that we all agree on, the abuse of children and so on, and we just think, they deserve whatever they get. But in that I'm thinking what? I'm not like they are. We are like that religious leader that Jesus said came to pray and started out by saying, I thank you, Lord, that I am not a sinner like other men. And ______________ saying, I thank you, Lord, that I am not vile like he is. I'm thankful that I never did anything despicable like they did. I'm thankful that I would never stoop to such an evil vile deed. And in that I am sort of pumping myself up, I'm not perfect but I'm a pretty decent man. And that's why I don't like to hear the Bible say, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Because you know what God is doing? He's comparing me, but He's not comparing me to you or you to me or any of us to anyone else on earth. He's comparing us to Himself—the glory of God, the perfection of His character, His being, His perfect righteousness, His holiness. He says nobody measures up. Well that's an unrealistic standard, I guess not. It's not fair to compare me to that standard. Now we have a conflict, now I'm telling the God who is the judge of all men He's not fit to be the judge. Now I find out how proud and arrogant I really am. I want to be God also, I am offended that God tries to assert His authority over me. I will tell Him whether I am good enough or not, I will tell Him who the bad, bad sinners are and I'm not one of them. Really, people think that. Why else to people to in and blow up school children and think that when they are killed in the explosion they'll go immediately to heaven. Well, I wouldn't do that. You see God is measuring us according to a different standard, a standard we don't want to hear about. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Back up a page, earlier in chapter 3 verse 9, we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, there is none righteous, not even one. Now it's a matter, do I accept God's evaluation of me or not. There is none righteous except one—me, a few of my friends, the members of my church. That's not what it says—none. None who understands, none who seeks for God. All have turned aside, they have all become useless as afar as God is concerned. None who does good, not even one.

Verse 19, now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be closed, all the world may become accountable to God. You know people say, I'll take my chances. You understand there is no chance, the verdict has already been given. You have been found guilty, I have been found guilty, the sentence of condemnation has already been passed, if you will. Final sentencing will take place at the future judgment, but you understand the judge has already spoken. I am guilty, I am condemned, I will be the object of His wrath for eternity, spend eternity in hell. I mean, it's like betting on yesterday's ballgame—it's over, the decision has been made. People say, I'm going to take my chance. You're and idiot, I say that in kindness. Am I not an idiot if I say I'm going to take my chance and I've already been told what will happen. I'm guilty, it's done. So when you come to chapter 3 verse 23, all have sinned an fall short of the glory of God, we find out where we are.

So we come to verse 24, being justified as a gift by His grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. There is a redundancy in this statement for a purpose. We are justified, that's the same basic word that is translated righteousness. To be justified is to be declared righteous, same basic word in the Greek text here. We've translated it righteousness and justified. You could translate it declared righteous. Being declared righteous, as a gift by His grace. How do I become righteous in the sight of a holy God? Well it is given to me, His righteousness is given to me as a gift. What is a gift? It is something you don't earn, you don't work for, it's given you as a gift. By definition a gift is something you didn't work for. You work 50 hours at your job, it comes payday and the boss gives you the check and says, here's a gift. You're not expecting your paycheck, you're expecting something additional, right? Because the paycheck is what you earned, the gift is something you didn't earn. He give you the paycheck, just what you agreed to work for, you say, that's not a gift, I earned it. Well, I call it a gift. Well that's not a gift.

And furthermore, he says it's justified as a gift by His grace. A gift is something freely given to me and it was given by his grace. Do you know what grace is by definition? Something undeserved, unmerited, unearned. So it's emphasizing the fact there is nothing we can do to earn, deserve or merit the righteousness of God because we are sinners, we are under condemnation. God has freely chosen to do for us what we could not do for ourselves by having His Son pay the penalty for our sin so that He could give us a gift by His grace, something we don't deserve, haven't earned. That is righteousness because our sins have been paid for.

We are justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. The idea in justification is God declares us righteous, He provides His righteousness to our account. He does that through the redemption. Do you know what the word redemption means? It means to set free by paying the price. Turn over to Romans 6:23, for the wages of sin is death, the wages of sin is death. But Christ redeemed us, He paid the price necessary to set us free from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, sin's condemnation and judgment. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's the key.

So when you come back and read about redemption in Romans 3:24, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, God has provided a way for us to be set free. He had His Son step from glory, come to this earth, die on a cross, and be raised from the dead. And you know what happened? That paid the price for my sin. We say that means, then, I'm saved. Not necessarily. God offers a free gift now, that free gift is accepted when we believe in His Son. Lord, I accept your verdict, I am a sinner guilty before you. Lord, I recognize there is nothing I can do to save myself—can't join this church or another church, getting baptized, taking communion, doing all my best. I realize my only hope is the fact that your Son died in my place on the cross, I'm trusting Him. If you have a debt, like we have in the news some large institutions who never thought they would get in trouble, they never thought they would have debts they couldn't pay. Now they find out they have debts they can't pay and they're in trouble. You know what? You have a debt you can't pay, terrible thing that people will some day stand at the Great White Throne judgment and find out they have debts they can't pay. And the penalty is eternity in hell. That's what we're talking about. Jesus Christ died to pay that penalty. You have a great debt, I've written a check, here is the check to pay your penalty. No, I don't need that check. Wait a minute, you need that check, take it. No. Do you know what you're left with? Your debt. You know what happens if you take the check? You can pay your debt, it's done. I wrote a check for someone this week and it was for their account out of my account to pay a bill they had. You know what? I wrote the check, it came out of my account, but it paid their bill. You know how the transaction was? They gave me the bill, I paid the debt. That's what God says I will do. You give me your bill, I'll pay it. I had My Son die. Now if you will not believe in Him you are left to pay it. The debt will not be wiped out any other way, it has to be paid. Either you will pay it or you will trust in My Son and I will credit His payment to your account. That's redemption, it's to set someone free by paying the price. It would be used of a slave who was purchased and set free because someone had the price. I paid his debt, I've set him free.

It's through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. There's another word. Isn't this a great section—justification, redemption, propitiation. Do you know what propitiation means? It means to turn away wrath from something or someone. God had His Son pay the penalty for sin and so He turned away His wrath. Remember back in chapter 1 verse 18, the wrath of God is revealed; chapter 2 verse 5, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Propitiation is turning away the wrath of someone, taking care of the problem. So you know what? God publicly had His Son publicly executed, die on the cross so that He could be the One who turned away God's wrath. He satisfied the demands of God's justice.

In His blood. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. It took the death of Christ to pay the penalty for my sin. I'd like to think I wasn't bad enough to require that, but I was. That's how serious sin is. There is no other hope, there is no other way. It takes death to pay the penalty for sin. It was in His blood through faith. You'll note the repeated emphasis on faith through this section. Verse 22, through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who have faith or believe. It's through faith. Not just faith, but faith in Jesus Christ as verse 22 stressed. People say, my faith will get me through, I know I have enough faith. Faith saves no one. You're not saved by faith. I don't want to shake anybody, I mean we use the analogy we're all familiar with because of terrorism today. A person loads himself with explosives and walks in and blows up a roomful of people from school children to adult, whatever, he had the faith that when that explosion went off he would go to heavenly bliss. Faith didn't save him. The Bible never says you are saved by having faith, everybody has faith. You came here by faith today that we were going to have a service and here we are. That faith doesn't save you, it's faith in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin that saves you. You can have faith in this church to save you, but it won't save you. You can have faith in being baptized in this church to save you, it won't save you. You can have faith in whatever your religious background is, it won't save you. Only faith in the death of the Son of God on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin and His resurrection from the dead saves. That's propitiation, it satisfies the righteous demands of God, it turns His wrath away.

This was to demonstrate His righteousness because in the forbearance of God He passed over sins previously committed. You know people think with the passing of time since God doesn't do anything, everything will be all right. Through Old Testament times God didn't intervene and bring final judgment on people. Even today, 2000 years since Christ died, we haven't experienced that direct wrath of God that will come some day. But don't let anyone think that that means there will not be coming a time that in chapter 2 verse 5 referred to as the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Because Romans 3:26 says, for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ. Do you know what the cross of Christ says? Do you know what Easter Sunday says? God is a God of awesome wrath and judgment, He is serious about sin. Sin is such a serious matter in the sight of a holy God that He had His Son step from glory and come to this earth so that He might pay the penalty for sin. Think about it, His Son who dwelt with Him in eternity stepped from glory, was born of a virgin in Bethlehem. Then He was crucified on a cross. Peter wrote, He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree. Why was He hanging on that cross? He bore our sins. Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said, He made the One who knew no sin to become sin in our place so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

There is nothing so serious as this matter. There is no event that has ever occurred since the creation of the world that compares in significance to the events we are celebrating in these days—the death and resurrection of the Son of God. God is so serious about the penalty for sin that He had His Son come and take our place so the full brunt of His wrath could be poured out on His Son so that He could give us the gift of salvation when we believe in His Son.

For the demonstration of His righteousness at the present time. What demonstrates God's righteousness? He deals with sin, He is a righteous, just God. We've all read accounts where a judge has done something, a person has come before him for a crime and he lets that person almost scot free. And there is an outrage, we say that is not right, that's not justice. For God to ever let anyone off the hook for their sin would be to do something less than is righteous or just. So He demonstrated His righteousness, He had His Son take our place. We celebrate Easter, but you understand what this means—God is a God of wrath, a God of judgment, a God who punishes sin and His own Son couldn't do it any other way. To pay my penalty He had to die.

For the demonstration of His righteousness at the present time so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. People like to think God will just say it's okay. You know there are two things that have to happen—first He has to be just. It does no good to have a judge who overlooks justice, who overlooks what would be righteous. God must act consistent with His character, He must be just. And then the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. You know the only way that God could be just and also justify me, be righteous and also declare me righteous is through the finished work of His Son. Gil Rugh is a sinner, he deserves hell. That's true. He is guilty and deserves to experience the wrath of God. That's true. But someone, the only One who could, stepped into my place. He died on the cross, paid the penalty for sin, and when I placed my faith in Him God said the penalty has been paid. The debt is canceled, someone has paid the price to set him free from the penalty. Redemption. So he can be justified, declared righteous, and thus propitiation has taken place. The wrath of God is turned away, the demands of justice have been satisfied. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the declaration that the penalty for sin has been paid. Isn't it tragic that 2000 years later people think they are going to work their way to heaven? Two thousand years after the penalty was paid in full people think that if they get baptized that will help them get to heaven, they have served the sacraments, if they join a church. I'm not against being part of a church, I hope you all come back next week. But you know what? That's not how you get to heaven. Coming to church enables you to hear the message if the message of Jesus Christ is being preached there. But only when you believe the message of Christ will you be saved. You can sit in this church every day, hear every sermon I preach and die and go to hell because hearing does not save. Hearing enables you to believe and be saved. But if you do not believe the message concerning Jesus Christ you will not be saved.

For the marvelous thing in the message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is He has finished the work of salvation. His words on the cross, it is finished. Now God offers as a free gift by His grace forgiveness of sins, His righteousness to all who believe in Him. The only question on Easter Sunday morning is have you really understood what the message of the death and resurrection of Christ is all about? Have you really understood how serious your sin is before a holy God? Have you ever come to the point you've acknowledged before God, Lord, I know my sin and guilt before you. I'm casting myself on your mercy, I'm placing my full confidence, my faith in Jesus Christ and His death as payment for my sin. I believe He was raised because it was done. God says whosoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. You can believe in Him today and be saved.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for a wonderful Savior. It goes beyond what we can even conceive, that your Son would leave the realms of glory, come to this earth and suffer the awful death of crucifixion on the cross, bear the full brunt of your wrath crying out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me because He had to bear the judgment for sin, experience the awfulness of your wrath so that you in mercy and love and kindness could extend to us the offer of a free gift, eternal life. We could be set free from the power and penalty of sin, we could receive your righteousness as a gift, we could have your wrath turned aside for time and eternity. We go from those who have no hope to those who have a living hope. We've moved from those doomed to eternal wrath and condemnation and hell to those who have been promised glorious, endless blessings in the splendor of your presence for eternity. Thank you for a wonderful Savior who is alive today. We pray in His name, amen.