Foundation of the
Christian Faith
Course: Salvation
Introductory Lesson
One
Title: Just and the Justifier
Text: Romans 3:25-26, ‘Whom God hath set forth to
be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To
declare, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.’
Introduction:
Question: Can God do anything?
No - There are things that God cannot do.
God cannot deny Himself. 2
Timothy 2:13 ‘…He cannot deny Himself’.
He must be righteous in His actions.
The name Yahweh or Jehovah (Hebrew:
YHVH hwhy) means ‘The One
who is who He is’.
In Exodus 3:14 He is called I AM THAT I AM
If God ever did something contrary to His nature He would cease to be who
He is.
Question: Can
God allow sin to go unpunished?
No – God must punish sin.
God must condemn the sinner.
The love and mercy of God can never contradict the holiness of God.
Holiness can never condone sin.
Yet mercy desires to forgive.
If God forgives the sinner but leaves sin unpunished then God is
unrighteous. He has denied Himself.
Yet God forgave sins even before the crucifixion.
In the gospels (Mark 2:5).
In the Old Testament. Psalm 103:3, ‘Who
forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases;’
God must be just when He justifies His people. Romans 3:26 'To declare, at this time his
righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believes
in Jesus.'
God's promise of salvation meant He had to be both just and the justifier
of His people.
The promise - God promised in the Garden of Eden that He would send a
Redeemer who would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15). But it appeared impossible for God to be both
'just and the justifier' of His people.
He could only be just if His people were legally justified.
The problem - The Fall of Adam (Genesis 3) could not be eradicated. Once Adam and Eve were joined to sin this
union was irreversible. Even God could
not separate Adam from sin. Every
descendant of Adam inherited this irreversible union with sin.
The conundrum - How could God ever be just to justify a people who were
irreversibly joined to sin? Even the
angels could not understand how God could do this.
Introductory
Illustration: A contradictory argument.
Philosophy tries to show that God does not exist by a contradictory
argument. Here is the reasoning that is
used.
Can God create a stone He cannot lift?
If God can't create it then He is not all powerful.
If God can't lift it then He is not all powerful.
Conclusion: It is not possible to
perform both therefore an all powerful God does not exist.
The error of this logic is that it is based upon a wrong concept of the
nature of God. The attribute of
omnipotence does not mean God can perform any task.
Omnipotence means He is in control of all things and is able to cause everything
to work for the good according to His divine plan and purpose (Romans
8:28).
The paradox of God.
God is holy and He must condemn sin.
God is love and desires to forgive.
Sin can only be justly forgiven when the law has been satisfied.
If God shows mercy with disregard to His holiness then He is denying
Himself.
In order for God to be just in forgiving His people, He must also justify
(legally) His people.
This was impossible because mankind could never be separated from sin.
Main Points
1.
War in heaven.
Satan attacks the nature and character of God.
It is amazing how much we can see in scripture.
How could Lucifer fight God?
He does not have the resources.
Lucifer is a created being and God can destroy him in an instant.
Jesus did not come to destroy the devil.
He came to destroy the works of the devil.
1 John 3:8, 'He that commits sin
is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the
Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.'
Satan's reasoning
Satan attempted to make God deny Himself.
He saw his opportunity because nothing could change Adam and Eve's sinful
condition.
Even God could not change the fact that Adam and Eve were sinful.
Their condition was irreversible – they would die in their sins.
The death of God
In promising salvation Satan thought God was promising what He could not
rightly do.
Satan saw the love of God for the sinner contradicting the righteousness
of God.
If God was not acting righteously because of His love, then He was not
being holy,
He was not the unchanging God - He had changed in character.
Conclusion: The I AM THAT I AM no
longer existed because God had denied Himself.
Therefore God is dead.
Illustration: September 11, 2001.
The terrorists did not have the resources to attack the US from the
sky. They sought to destroy the
institutions on which the US depends by using the resources of the US in a
destructive manner. To achieve their goal there needed to be a weakness in the
structure. They found the weakness in
security checking.
Lucifer used these tactics to war against God. He did not have the
resources to fight God but He tried to attack God through His own nature and
character.
2.
The Accuser – attacking
the nature and character of God.
Satan is called the accuser of the brethren. His accusation was against the promise of God
to His people. Through this he sought to
attack the very nature and character of God.
Revelation 12:10, ‘And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is
come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his
Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before
our God day and night.’
Question: Why did Satan accuse God’s people?
To accuse God of being unjust in His dealings with His people.
For at least 4000 years Satan accused God of justifying an unrighteous
people and God kept silent, but little by little He revealed to His prophets
what He would do.
Note: When we are spoken against unjustly it is something God understands
very well. For at least 4000 years God allowed Satan to accuse Him of being
unjust. Matthew 5:11-12, ‘Blessed are you, when men
shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is
your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before
you.’
Moses
God showed Moses all the promised land from Mount Nebo in
Moab. Then Moses died on the mountain
and God buried him.
Deut
34:6, ‘And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab,
over against Bethpeor: but no man knows of his sepulchre unto this day.’
But Jude tells us
more. He quotes from the Book of Enoch
Jude
9 ‘Yet Michael the archangel, when
contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring
against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.’
What is this all about?
Well Moses instituted
the law and the Aaronic priesthood. But the law can only condemn it cannot save
and the sacrifices offered by the priests could not cleanse from sin.
Moses was a murderer
and his sin was not removed, yet God said he was righteous.
Even the angels could not understand how God could justify His people, ‘…things the angels
desire to look into.’ 1 Peter 1:12b,
Michael did not argue
with the accuser but just said ‘the Lord rebuke you’.
Joshua the High
Priest (Zechariah 3).
Joshua as the High Priest represents all of God's people.
Satan is accusing all of God's people when he accuses the High Priest.
Zechariah 3:1-3, ‘And he shewed me Joshua the high
priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right
hand to resist him. And the LORD said
unto Satan, The LORD
rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is
not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the
angel.’
The reason Satan accuses God's people is because he is accusing God of
denying His holy character.
Satan's accusations are an attack against the nature of God.
3.
God is declared to
be just. (Romans 3:25-26)
The finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross declares the
righteousness of God in justifying His people both now and in the past.
God is seen to be righteous in forgiving His people in the Old Testament.
His love has never contradicted His righteousness.
'...to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;' (Romans 3:25b).
He is just in declaring His people to be righteous.
‘...that he might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus.’ (Romans 3:26).
How did God do it?
He did not make the
old better.
The Old is crucified
with Christ and buried with Christ.
If any person is in
Christ they are a new creation.
Colossians
2:13-15 explains it like this:
Sins forgiven v13
The law satisfied v14
The accuser silenced v15
'And you, being
dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, has he quickened together with him, having forgiven you
all trespasses; Blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of
them openly, triumphing over them in it.'
The devil did not understand why Jesus came.
The demons knew Him, Matthew 8:29 'And,
behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with you, Jesus, Son of God?
are you come hither to torment us before
the time?'
They tried to understand why he had come.
They thought he had come to execute judgment before the final judgment.
The princes would not have crucified Jesus had they known.
The princes are earthly rulers but it also refers to spiritual powers
because they are the instigators of their actions.
1 Corinthians 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew:
for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Satan can no longer
accuse God’s people in the presence of God.
The cross declares the
righteousness of God in His mercy towards them.
Satan can still make
personal accusations against us but we are to put on the armour of God and resist him by standing on the
Word of God.
Summary:
God is seen to be just
in His dealings with His people.
1) God must be just when He justifies His people.
War in heaven – God cannot deny Himself. His love and mercy cannot deny His
holiness.
2) The promise of God regarding salvation
appeared impossible to fulfil. How could God justify His people when they
were united with sin and by nature children of wrath? Satan’s accusation against the people of God
was an attack upon the promise of God to forgive them.
3) The finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on
the cross has declared the righteousness of God in His dealings with His
people. God is and always has been just
in forgiving His people. He is shown to be
just in forgiving sins before the crucifixion because of His foreknowledge.