Let's turn to Romans chapter three. Romans chapter three and verse 19. We're going to read a few verses there to start this morning then we'll come back to it a little bit later. Romans chapter three and we'll begin reading in verse 19. Wanna start by reading this verse here again.

It was in the bulletin this morning. Galatians three twenty four, wherefore, the law was our school master to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. Sad to say, there are many today that are seeking to be justified by God by doing good works. The Bible says, for by grace are you saved through what? Faith and that not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast and yet, there are entire religions that are trying to be justified, to please God, to earn their place in heaven by keeping the law.

Whether it be the law of Moses or whether it be some other law that they have put together, the law does not save. The blood of Jesus Christ saves. Look if you would in Romans chapter three verse 19. Now, we know that what things so ever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law. Under its authority and that would be humanity in general.

That every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become what? Guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For the by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, speaking of the Old Testament.

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there is no difference. By mean, no difference, no difference between Jew or Gentile or whatever group you think you belong to. For there is no difference for all have what? Sinned and come short.

Fallen short of the glory. The righteousness, the goodness of God. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins, that would be our sins.

Remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. The patience and the mercy of God. To declare I say at this time his righteousness, not ours but righteousness of Christ. That he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then?

It is excluded. By what law of works? Nay, but by the law of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Let's pray.

Dear God, thank you Lord. For this hour, we can gather here today today to worship you. I pray Lord that our time would be profitable, that you, your spirit would work in our hearts and take the word of God and help to open our eyes to help us to understand more fully the salvation that is ours in Christ Jesus, the justification that is ours in Christ Jesus today and Lord, if there be one that's not yet trusted Christ as savior, I pray that today would be their day of salvation. That as you open their eyes, that you would reach their heart and they would turn over themselves to you. For your judgement and then for your salvation and justification in Christ Jesus by faith.

In Jesus name, we do pray. Amen. Amen. So, we read Romans three nineteen through 28. The keyword this morning is justify, okay?

Justify. We looked at faith last week and salvation the week before. Of course, we all think we know what these terms mean and most of you been in church for a good bit of your life. Hopefully, you do have a pretty good understanding of what these terms mean but not everybody does particularly in the world out there. We use terms, simple terms like saved and they don't understand what that means and so, I would it's my goal and God has put my heart to help educate us better so that we can help educate them and so that we too can have a better understanding, a fuller grasp of what we have in Jesus Christ.

Justify. Justify means to render, to show or regard as just or innocent. To declare guiltless. To justify is to render, show, regard as just innocent to declare guiltless. And we read this word in several forms.

Justify, justified, just, justification, justifier, speaking of Jesus Christ in this passage. It is used several times here. Paul is teaching the people how it is that we are justified. We are declared or rendered innocent or guiltless before God because the fact is we are guilty. In order to be saved, in order to have eternal life, in order to inherit our place in heaven that he has prepared for us, we must be rendered, declared innocent, or what?

Guiltless. And that's what it means to be to be justified. The best way to illustrate the doctrine of justification is in a courtroom setting. So, we're kind of use terms here that you might use in a courtroom setting. Now, I'm by no means a lawyer.

So, don't hold me to all of the the courtroom part of it but just to give us a general illustration here. I think it'll help us to understand if we apply it to this setting this morning. First of all, in a courtroom setting, you have the judge, okay? You have the judge. The judge is someone who is of impeccable character, okay?

You don't want to judge who is the opposite, do you? We'd be in trouble when we we get in trouble and sometimes society, we are in trouble when we put judges, people in places of judgement who are not worthy of that. Judge is someone who's assumed to be of impeccable character, innocent, of the crime of which you are on maybe on trial for. The judge is assumed to be just, that means fair, honorable, and sitting in an exalted position. Okay, this is the judge.

He sits up there in his exalted position as he looks down to judge and he is assumed to be of these things, impeccable character, innocent, honorable, and of course, all of these are descriptions of who? All of these are descriptions of God almighty, our creator, and Jesus Christ, our savior. A true judge is to be a reflection of the true judge of all humanity. That being Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ who it says reminded in John one three that all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made.

He is the judge The judge of the the quick. That is the living and the dead which have died. Second Timothy four one up here it says, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall what? Judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Jesus Christ is the judge in this courtroom.

The one whom we are told before whom we are told, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess is Lord to the glory of God, the father, Philippians two. He is the one I believe who is described as sitting on the great white throne. In Revelation chapter 20. Before whom the dead will be brought? To be judged on the things written in the what?

Written in the books. He is the only one, God himself, the only one who has the right to be judged of all humanity. As their creator, he made us. Therefore, being the one who made us, that puts him in a position to what? Judge whether the his creation is fulfilling its what?

Its purpose for which he made it. He is the supreme lawmaker. Laws come from God. The way this universe creation is made is governed by the laws of who? By the laws of God.

Physical laws and moral laws. Isaiah let's see here. Thirty three twenty two, for the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our law giver. The Lord is our king.

He will save us. I like that path. I like that verse because it isn't it doesn't end with he will squash us. It ends with he will what? He will save us.

For that is his purpose and we're going to come to that here in just a few minutes. There is one lawgiver, James four twelve, who is able to save and to destroy, who art thou that judgest another? We're we're warned about this back in Matthew chapter seven, judge not that you be not judged. Now, that doesn't mean that you ought not be discerning. You must be discerning.

God has called us discern between the right, what is right and what is wrong. He has called us to be discerning with who we are yoked together with in influential relationships. He wants us to be discerning but he doesn't want us to stand in condemnation. Because that is his why. That is his job.

Vengeance is mine, I will repay, say it the Lord. That is his place. Our place is to serve the Lord. He is the supreme lawmaker and as the supreme lawmaker, he has the right to judge whether his law has been kept or whether his law has been what? Broken.

He is just and righteous in all his rulings, in all his dealings. He knows all. Sometimes, we look at other people and we hear words they say or we see things they do and immediately, we make a what? We make a judgment based upon a limited amount of what? Information.

A snippet of information. And sometimes we judge wrong because we just don't have all the information. Does God have that problem? No. He God does not have that problem.

He knows when I sit down. He knows when I stand up. He knows the words before they come out of my mouth or off the tip of my tongue. He is omniscient Oh God, thou knowest my foolishness and my sins are not hid from thee. He sees them.

The eyes of the Lord are are in every place beholding the evil and the good. He knows all. Therefore, because he knows it all, that puts him in a position to be a just and fair judge of all. He is incapable of making a mistake. We make mistakes all the time.

God is perfect. He doesn't make mistakes. Therefore, that makes him the perfect judge because he's not going to make an error. He's not going to judge an error. He is impartial in all his in all his dealings.

Peter opened his mouth and said of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. Not a respecter. What does that mean? That means he is not partial. He judges based upon the truth and the truth alone.

He is rightfully angered over sin and Satan And those who champion it and reject his love and forgiveness. But he is a god who is just and he is fair. Sometimes, our emotions cloud our judgment but God's emotions do not cloud his. It is not in his nature. So, we see the judge.

Next, we see the accused. The accused is all mankind. Not collectively but what? Individually. We are guilty collectively but we will be judged not collectively.

We will be judged individually, okay? And and this this is just an important note here. When you stand before God someday, you will not stand as a group, you will stand as a what? An individual. This is particularly hard for young people who so often make decisions based on the group.

Well, the group is doing it. Everybody's doing it. But you're not going to be judged as a group. You're going to be judged as an individual by God someday. As it is written, there is none righteous.

No, not what? One. What's the word righteous mean? Means right before God. Always doing right.

Right in our heart. Right therefore in our actions. There is none righteous. No, not one. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God as we read just a moment ago.

Man is accused what he's accused of. He's accused of being a sinner, a rebel against his creator. The charge, we have broken God's what? We've broken the law of our maker and our creator. We are law breakers.

That is our charge. God gave Adam and Eve one restriction. One law that they had to keep. One restriction that they had to follow in the Garden of Eden. They can eat off of every tree but the tree that was in the middle of the garden.

One tree out of all the trees. No other restrictions. Just do it. Do it. Just don't eat off this one tree.

And Adam and Eve couldn't keep just the one law, they broke it and they became sinners and we became sinners and we have broken God's law not once, not twice, not 10 times, not 100 times, hundreds and thousands and hundreds of thousands possibly of times. Be at the Bible says, wherefore is by one man sin entered into the world, that was Adam and death by sin so death passed upon all men for that all have what? For all have sinned. How do we know we've sinned? We've broken God's what?

We've broken God's commandment. We've broken God's law. First John three four, whosoever commit a sin transgresseth also the law. For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. God views the law as a whole.

If you break broken one law, then you've broken the law and you are what? And you are guilty. And the fact of the matter is, as I've said, we've broken most every law. Maybe not every law, but many laws. We are indeed lawbreakers.

The charge is justified. And the law does not justify us, it doesn't set us free from the condemnation. It puts the nail in the what? Coffin, so to speak. Paul says here in verse nineteen and twenty again, now we know that once so ever the law say it and say it to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and and all the world may become guilty before God.

Therefore, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For the by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law simply points out to us that we are what? That sinners and we are condemned therefore before God. We say, well, what about those that didn't have the law?

Well, God deals with that too. Turn back if you would if you're in Romans three to Romans one. Romans one verses nineteen and twenty. There is a law written where? In our hearts.

We have a conscience that we're born in, born with. Jesus is the one who lighteth every man that cometh into the what? In the world. And God says in Romans one nineteen, because that which may be known of God is manifest or revealed in them. For God hath showed it unto them.

He goes on to say, for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, that's us, even his eternal power and godhead, so that they are without what? That they are without excuse. When you stand before the judge, you say, I'm sorry, I didn't know. Is that going to cut it? The policeman pulls you over on the road for speeding.

You're in a part of town you're not normally in, you didn't see a speed limit sign, and you say to the policeman, I'm sorry, I didn't know. And they'll go, oh, but it was your job to what? It was your job to know. That won't cut it. When you take the driver's test, one of the things you have to know is what is the speed limit in town where it is not posted?

And don't ask me what that is because I don't remember. I think it's 30 or 35 in Clearwater, alright? But ignorance is not a what? It's not an excuse either But the law does not justify and the law does not save. The mob simply points out to us, reminds us, drives home the point, that we are sinners.

You go back to the 10 commandments and you read down through the 10 commandments and you start to run into trouble. You say, hey, I'm pretty good. I'd I'd there's no other gods before God and you know, I I haven't made any idols and bowed down to them lately. Maybe you don't take God's name in vain but I certainly have heard a lot of Christians do that in my days. Oh my and put God's name in there.

When you're not really talking to God, keep the Sabbath day. Remember to spend time with your Lord honor thy father and mother. I think we've all had trouble probably in that respect particularly as young people. I hope we don't today. Thou shalt not murder.

Hey, I'm pretty good there. I haven't murdered anybody or committed adultery or well, I haven't stolen anything in a long time. There was that time in college where I used my roommate's change to wash my clothes and forgot to pay it back. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Well, that means don't lie.

Now, be honest and don't lie. We've probably all failed that one several times. How about thou shalt not covet? You know, that's kind of the catch all commandment at the end that you don't think about but if you haven't broken the rest of em, I'm I'm pretty sure you broken that one. The thing is you come to the New Testament, you look at Christ's Christ definition of these in Matthew chapter six or Matthew five and Matthew six and you see that well, hatred in God's eyes is like what?

Murder. And lusting after a woman is like adultery, and on down the line. The law is there to open our eyes. Open our eyes to the nature of the God we serve because he is he's a holy God. Open our eyes to what he expects of his creation.

In those commandments. Open our eyes to the fact that we fail. That we need some other way to be justified before God because the law does not justify us. The law what? Condemns us.

That's right. The accuser. Who was our accuser? Well, our accuser is Satan. You know, it's it's it's really pathetic.

Satan comes to Adam and Eve in the Garden Of Eden. He convinces them. He deceives Eve and he convinces them to sin and then right after in in a manner of speaking, he convinces them to sin. He turns around. He points the finger at him and says, hey, look, look, they sinned, they sinned, they did it.

See, they did it. God, I'm not the only one. They did it too. Story of Job Satan comes before God and say and begins to accuse the brethren. God says, well, have you considered Job?

And he says, Job serves you because of how good you are to him. You take that all away and he'll curse you. Well, Satan found out different, didn't he? But he is the accuser of the brethren. It says here and I heard a loud voice saying, heaven, now has come salvation and strength, 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.

You think Satan is off your case because you got saved? No. He's up there pointing out every time you sin and every time you sin, as we see, as we'll see in the definition of justification, every time you sin, Jesus Christ says, I paid for that. I paid for that. That has been forgiven.

It is under the blood of who? It's under the blood of Jesus Christ who has justified us in the sight of God, the father. Praise the Lord. The accuser has no claim to those who are in Christ Jesus because we have been what? Justified in Jesus Christ.

What is the sentence? The sentence of humanity. The sentence is death. We already read wherefore is by one man sin enter the world and death by sin so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. In Romans six twenty three, you read, for the wages of sin is death.

The F is mentioned on order there. For the wages of sin is death. Go on just look in Revelation chapter 20 that I mentioned a few minutes ago. It describes eternal death or the world word is damnation. Sadly, the world throws that word around in a short and firm form without thinking one thought about what they're actually saying.

Damnation is a terrible thing. Results in eternal judgment in the lake of fire. And it says here, and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the what?

The second death, the final death. It is appointed on the man once to die but after this comes the what? Comes the judgment. The Bible says in John three eighteen, he that believeth on Jesus is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned what? Already.

It's already the sentence has already been passed in the courtroom. The sentence has already come down from the judge. We are guilty. And the punishment is a place called the Lake Of Fire but praise the Lord. The judge, the judge made a way.

For us to lawfully escape the judgment. The judge sent his son, Jesus Christ, to make a way for sinners and lawbreakers to be justified in the sight of God himself. Look back in Romans chapter three if you would back to Romans three verse 21. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested or revealed being witnessed by the law of the prophets even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto Paul unto all and upon all them that believed. For there's no difference.

We're not righteous. We're not innocent. We're what? Guilty before God. Who is righteous?

Jesus Christ is righteous. The judge is righteous. He made no error. Made no sin. He broke no what?

Laws. He is without sin. That is Jesus Christ the righteous. Our savior and our judge. Verse 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified now by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remissions of sins that are past through the forbearance of God.

Justification doesn't start with the law. It doesn't start with the righteousness of man. It starts with the righteousness of who? Jesus Christ. And it continues with his death on the what?

On the cross. And the shedding of his innocent blood there for you and me. But God commended his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He died in our place. He died to take our sentence upon who?

Upon himself. He died to take the punishment that was ours. Isaiah 53 well, let's see first Corinthians five twenty one. For he, for God hath made him Jesus to be sin for us, who knew no sin that we might be made in turn the righteousness of God, what? In him.

The one who was innocent and righteous before God took the punishment that was ours to be taken, became sin for us, that we in turn might receive the righteousness of who? Jesus Christ, therefore, being justified and declared guiltless before God. This is pictured in the Old Testament sacrifices. They would bring the lamb when they sinned, they would bring the lamb to the priest, they would hand the lamb, the innocent lamb who had done nothing wrong to the priest, and then they would put their hands on the head of the lamb before that lamb was taken, slain, its bloodshed, and it sacrificed on the altar. Why did they put their hands on it?

It signified a transfer. Symbolically, the sin of the person who brought the sacrifice, their sin was transferred onto the what? The innocent lamb. And the innocence of the lamb was transferred onto the person who brought the sacrifice, the sinner. And then instead of the person being sacrificed, dying on that altar, the lamb shed its blood and died in their what?

In their place and that's exactly what Jesus Christ did for us. That's what it means by the propitiation. He was the sacrifice that satisfied the justice and the wrath of almighty God upon sin. The sentence had to be carried out and the sentence was carried out on Jesus Christ on the cross for your sins and mine and if we will accept by faith his gift, his sacrifice, in our place then we can be what? Justified before God.

Declared guiltless in Jesus Christ. First Peter three eighteen, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins. Whose sins? Our sins. The just, Christ for the unjust, us.

That he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but quickened or made alive again in the spirit. Isaiah fifty three fifty three, five, and six, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes, we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray.

The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us or the sin of us. All the our rebellion. The punishment for it was placed on Jesus Christ on that cross. So that through faith, we might be justified through his sacrifice He died on the cross to pay the penalty for every person. He rose again to declare salvation to all who will come to him by what?

By faith but you must believe. You must have faith. Back to verse 22 again. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe for there is no what? No difference.

For all have sinned, all are condemned in sin but all can be saved by what? By faith. If you will accept the offer that Jesus made to take your place. It's like standing in that courtroom and standing there hearing the sentence and as the sentence is coming down, someone in the courtroom stands up and says, I'll take his what? I'll take his place.

Now, if the person who's offering to take your place committed the same crime you did, can they take your place? The answer is no. They have to be punished for their own crime but not Jesus Christ for he was without sin and thus, he could offer to take our place. The question is, will you accept his offer? Will you receive his offer?

Will you say yes? Take my place. Take my place. I will accept your judgment that I am a sinner. I will accept so too your offer.

To declare me guiltless. To justify me in your sight. Through your sacrifice That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Lord Jesus, shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be what? Saved. Justified.

Declare guiltless. All of our sins under the blood of Jesus Christ. Our savior. He says in verse 28 again, well, let me go back to verse 26. Now, I gotta go back to verse 25.

Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through what? Through faith in his blood, through faith in his sacrifice. To declare his righteousness for the remission or forgiveness of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. To declare I say at this time, his righteousness that he might be justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Wires boasting then is excluded by what law of works named but by the law of faith.

Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by what? Faith. We are just trying, if you're strong trying to get to heaven by doing good works, by keeping the law of Moses or any other law, you'll never get there. We can only be justified before God. Only be declared guiltless before God.

Only be pardoned from our sin before God. When we acknowledge that God's judgment is just and true and that we're sinners And then accept God's invitation to be saved and forgiven and justified through his son Jesus Christ. And his sacrifice. In our behalf. And those who have done that, having been pardoned from all our sins, are no longer under the condemnation of the law.

We have been freed from it. Romans eight one says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the spirit, flesh but after the spirit. The first song we sang this morning is a song entitled Once For All. Second verse says this, now are we free? There's no condemnation.

Jesus provides a perfect, complete salvation. Come on to me or hear his sweet call. Come and he saves us. Once for all. The guy who wrote that, Philip Bliss, was a song director for several evangelists.

One of them being DL Moody. But he belonged to a denomination called Seventh Day Baptist and I don't know if any of you have met a Seventh Day Baptist. I haven't. But there is a sign. I did notice there was one up in North Clearwater somewhere.

Simply, they're baptist who met on Saturday instead of what? Sunday. They're not seventh day Adventist. There's a difference, okay? But seventh day Baptist, he didn't believe that in eternal security, believed as Seventh Day Baptist, he could lose his salvation but in his service for DL Moody and some other evangelists, he came to realize that he was secure in Jesus Christ and he was no longer under the condemnation.

He was free from the condemnational law and he wrote this hymn. Now, are we free? No condemnation. Jesus provides a perfect salvation. Come on to me, oh here is sweet call.

Come and he saves us once. Once for all. Praise God. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ Jesus. Let's pray.

Dear God, we thank you Lord. That it is the judge who is also the savior that you in your justice, mercy, and love sent your son to take my place. That my sins have been washed away in the blood of Christ. Pray Lord if there's one here today who is yet to receive by faith your gift. To acknowledge your judgment is just and fair.

That they do stand condemned but that you took their place. If they will but receive and accept you by faith as their Lord and as their savior. I pray Lord that if there's one here that is yet to make that decision, they would come and make it today. I pray Lord for we who know Christ as savior would be more fully blessed by the understanding and the remembrance today. That we are justified, that our our names are now written in the book of life.

That we will not be cast into the lake of fire because you took that that judgment, that fire on yourself on the cross. For us. Thank you, Lord. May we serve you, love you, seek to please you each day, and bring glory to the one who gave his life for us. And may you help us to reach out to a lost and dying world.

To share with them the good news of the gospel. So they can experience this justification in Christ Jesus. That we have also. In Jesus name, we do pray. Amen.