Justification & Resurrection

fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness. But the words it was counted to him were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in Him, who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who, that is, Jesus, was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Now we're going to go to Proverbs chapter 17.

verse 15, and this may be a very well known verse if you have studied the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Pay attention to Proverbs 17 verse 15. He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord. And let me just please read it once again. He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

This is the reading of God's Word and as I said today, I want us to consider together justification by faith and justification by or because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this idea of justification, of course, is the main topic of chapter 4. If you were going to take your New Testament and you wanted to study the doctrine of justification, that is, how can a person be forgiven? And how can a person be declared righteous before the Lord? Then perhaps Romans chapter 4 will be the chapter that you have to come and study and to consider, because that's where the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, teaches us the most about this doctrine of justification by faith alone.

And the main point that the Apostle has made in chapter 4 is that God is the one who justifies the ungodly. that when the ungodly has faith in Christ Jesus, then the ungodly is justified by God. And the grounds or the way by which God justifies the ungodly, it is by taking the righteous, Jesus Christ, and taking it to the cross because He sent His only begotten Son to die upon the cross. The Scripture says that he who dies on the tree is cursed. So now, as we have just read in Proverbs chapter 17 verse 15, and then the testimony of the New Testament, we have a problem.

Because God says that he who justifies the ungodly and he who condemns or gives death to the righteous is an abomination to the Lord. But this is exactly what God does for us. God is the one who justifies the ungodly when they have faith in Christ Jesus. And God the Father is the one who sends His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the righteous, to take upon himself the death that we deserve, the condemnation that we deserve. So what are we going to do with that contradiction?

Or what are we going to do with what Proverbs 17 says and the testimony of the gospel? Well, the same apostle that wrote the book of Romans, the apostle Paul, also says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, that he who knew no sin, became seen on our behalf that we may become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. The solution to that problem is this, a glorious interchange, a glorious exchange in which The guilt of the sinner is given to the righteous, and because it's given to the righteous, he goes to the cross and he receives the punishment that the sinner receives. But the righteousness of the righteous is bestowed and given, imputed to the sinner who has faith in God through the Lord Jesus Christ. And this glorious exchange is what makes possible that the sinner, the ungodly, is to count as righteous through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is righteous, who knew no sin, will go to the cross and die.

Substitute atonement. You should have been on that cross. I should have been on that cross. I should have died because of my sins. But Jesus Christ has taken the place of the sinner so that God will be the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ Jesus.

Because Jesus was not only man, but He was also God. And because He was also God and He is God, He did not remain dead in the grave. Because the wages of sin is? Death, but this was not the wages of Jesus Christ, because even though He took upon Himself my death and your death if you're in Christ, He was not a sinner. He was holy and He was righteous, and because He is holy and He's righteous, Acts chapter 2 says that death could not keep Him captive.

that the empire of death could not keep the Lord Jesus Christ because He's righteous and He's good. So the power of the Spirit of God brought to life the Son of God, Son, Man, Jesus Christ, so that through His resurrection, We will be forgiven and we will be justified. And this is the glories of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that is only by grace, through faith, that a person can be made forgiven and righteous before the Lord. A person can be made right before God through faith alone in Jesus Christ. And the glories of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ demands that we ask ourselves that question.

Are you right before the Lord? Are you the blessed man or the blessed woman of Romans chapter 4, who has been justified by the grace of God, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you that person who has been forgiven purely out of grace from above, not because of your works and deeds and religion, but because of the grace of the gospel? Are you the person that is resting by faith in Christ Jesus? Or are you the person that is striving to be righteous in your own terms?

Or even worse, are you the person that does not care about the righteousness of God, and you aim and desire to live your life according to your own standards and according to your own imaginations? Are you right before the Lord? Because the question that I ask is the same question that Paul was asking to the Romans in this letter. He was not concerned about any other thing that people will be in Christ. Because if we are in Christ, everything will be in place, and we will be in the sovereign hands of the Lord as He conforms us to the image of His Son, and as He completes the work that He has started.

It does not matter what we have in this world. It does not matter the possessions that we inherit. It does not matter the country in which we are born. It does not matter how much money we have in our bank account or we don't. It does not matter how many cars or properties.

It does not matter how good of a reputation we have. If our names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life by the grace of God, absolutely everything that we can accumulate in this world will eventually pass away and we are going to be presented naked before God. who is going to take an account of us, not because of the things that we have accumulated or the talents that we have and the things that we've done, but just according to this standard. Are you in Christ or not? Because it's not about our performance works or deeds.

It is about being by grace in Christ Jesus. So the call of the Apostle Paul to the Romans should be and is the call from this pulpit to everyone that is present, that the solution to our problems and our situations is not anything in us or in someone else, but that the solution to life is found alone in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the eternally begotten Son of God, who was sent to this world to die upon the cross, to take upon Himself the sins of His people, those who by the grace of the Spirit and the power of that Spirit will eventually come to Him at His feet, at His place, and will proclaim that He is Jesus Christ, and that He is Lord, and that He is the Savior of their souls. And even though not everyone will confess that with their lips, there's going to be one day in which every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Those who are in heaven, those who are on the earth, and those who are on the earth. Some people will confess the lordship of Christ out of the grace that has been given to them because they have been able to be like Abraham, seeing Jesus Christ and their sins and being forgiven.

And many other people, sadly, will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. because their knees will be broken down by the rod of iron of the one who is the Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, who came like a lamb to die upon the cross, but then will come like a lion to bring judgment upon the living and the dead, and will divide the nations, not into color or race or age, but will divide the nations into those who are in Christ Jesus, and those who are not. So the question is, are we, are you, right with the Lord? Because the answer to that question is only in Christ Jesus. This is the glories of chapter 4.

12 minutes already took. This is the glories of Romans chapter 4, brethren. Justification by faith and justification by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I just want us to have some observations from this text as we finish Romans chapter 4. I want to give you, I hope, observations that come from this text about the fact that we are justified by faith and about the fact that we're justified by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Observations that I want for my brothers and sisters to strengthen your faith to point you to Christ, that in times of difficulty and in times of darkness and uncertainty, when you're looking to your performance and to your works and to your deeds, and then you see that indeed you have fallen short of your own standard and of God, instead of feeling shame, come to Christ. Yes, we are to confess our sins and we are to be broken because of things that we've done. We are to sorrow over our sins. But the Christian is not to remain in the sorrow of guilt. The Christian is to run by the grace of the Spirit to the feet of Jesus Christ, their Savior.

Because it's only at the feet of Christ that we can see and behold that yes, we are sinners. Yes, we have many sins, but His mercy is more, and praise God for that reason. So I want to give you here observations, if our microphone allows us to concentrate and focus here, reasons and observations about justification by faith and justification by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want to give you perhaps three or four for each one of them, and I want to put that in a question. Why are we justified by faith?

And why are we justified by or through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ? I want us to answer that. Why are we people, Christians, justified by faith alone? And why are we, as the Apostle says here, justified because of, or through, or by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ? I'm going to give you some observations here.

Let us start with faith. Why are we justified by faith? Let me give it to you first, and then we'll see it in the text. The reason why we Christians, by God's grace, are justified by faith is because faith is equal to grace. Faith does not belong to the realm of works and performance.

Faith belongs to the realm of grace. We as human beings try to put things into the realm of performance, works and deeds, the things that I know, the things that I do, and the things that I should receive credit because I've done them. Faith does not belong to the realm of works or deeds. Faith belongs to the realm of grace. This is what the apostle says in verse 16 and 17.

Let us read together and then we explain from the Old Testament. Verse 16, it says, that is why, speaking of the promise given to Abraham that is also given to us, that is why it depends on faith in order that the promise given to Abraham and given to the Christians may rest on grace, and be guaranteed to all his offspring, not only to the adherent of the law, but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. before Abraham had faith. There was something that already existed that initiated the whole process of the Abrahamic dispensation.

And that was the grace of God. You remember that Abraham was a pagan. Abraham was a sinner. Abraham was not seeking God. Seeking other gods and we know that these other gods are Satan and are evil.

That is what Abraham was doing. The first manifestation in that relationship between Abraham and God was not the merit of Abraham, was not the faith of Abraham, was the grace of the Lord. Out of all the nations, and out of all the places, and out of all the men that live in Ur of the Chaldeans, the grace of God came and visited these old men, Abraham. The grace of the Lord came and said, Come and leave your people, leave your land, and leave all of those things, and I'm going to give you this land. Obedience was not there.

Faith was not there. The first thing it was the grace of the Lord. It was that in the Old Testament. That is now how it happens in the New Testament. Grace precedes faith.

When we speak about faith, we're not speaking about performance. We're speaking about the grace of the Lord. It was the grace of God, the one that brought Abraham to the land that was going to be given to him. And after years of experiencing the grace of God, it is only in Genesis chapter 15 verse 6 that we know that He believed. That is the glories of the gospel that was present in the Old Testament and that is present now in the New Testament.

That which precedes faith is the grace of the Lord. And if grace is that which initiates this, brethren, that means that it's not ours. That means that it's not the work of men. That means that it's the work of God! God has been the one who works in the Old Testament.

God is the one who works in the New Testament. Everything is a gift that comes from above, from the Father of life, with whom there's no variation, no shadow of turning. He is the one that initiates, and if He is the one that initiates, He is the one that will bring to completion, because it is the grace of God. And because it was the grace of God, and not the obedience of Abraham, or not the circumcision given to Abraham, then the apostle tells us in verse 17, that this promise was not for the adherence of the law only for the Jews, but it was also for everyone who has faith in Christ Jesus. Because it does not matter that you're a Jew or a Gentile, it does not matter that you have or you don't have the law, what matters is the grace of the Lord.

Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is the work of the Spirit. It has been like that in the Old Testament, and it continues to be in the New Testament. That person that you have, that you have been praying for, continue to pray for them, my dear brother and sister. But there's nothing in and of yourself that you can do to change their mind and to bring them to Christ, because it's only the work of the grace of the Lord.

And just as timing was perfect for God to encounter Abraham in the area of the Chaldeans, the timing of the Lord will be perfect, as He was perfect when the Lord saved us, and as He will be perfect for those whom the Lord is going to save. The grace of the Lord is manifested to all of those who have been appointed to follow Him. Second, it is by faith, or we are justified by faith, because faith humbles the flesh. Please pay attention to verse 18. It says, "...

in hope he believed..." That is Abraham. In hope, he believed against hope that he should become the father of many nations. As he had been told, so shall your offspring be. This is old Abraham.

Remember, he was old and weak. Verse 19, he did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead. since he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. He did not consider the strength or the weakness of his body, the apostle says here, but he was trusting in the Lord. Faith belongs to the realm of grace.

Faith does not belong to the realm of works. And faith is something that is given by God. It's not something that is performed in our intellect or in our heart. It's a gift that comes from above. And the Lord gives this gift in such a way that is clear.

That at that point, when a person has genuine saving faith, he had to be the work of the Lord. The promise that Abraham was going to have an offspring was given to him in Genesis chapter 15 verse 6. You remember that, right? Even as far as Genesis chapter 12, but the Lord made him wait until his body was old. until it was clear through the eyes of the flesh, until it was clear through the eyes of men that these old men and that these old women cannot have a child in and of themselves.

Your flesh is not going to be enough. to produce that which is required to fulfill the promise that God has given you. And this Abraham, seeing that he was getting old, you remember, he even disobeyed and he got Hagar to come and have a son, Ishmael, in order to preserve his offspring. And not only that, but when he received the promise of the Lord, he laughed, right? Remember Zeruiah and also Abraham?

They doubted inside of them because when they saw themselves, we're weak. Look at our bodies. How is this promise going to be fulfilled? Faith shows that our flesh is prideful and humbles us before the Lord. Because when the Lord says, in one year I will come and I will give you one son, when the son was born, brethren, that would have been a testimony that even in my weak faith, Abraham would have said, the Lord has fulfilled His promise.

And even when I was tempted to believe that perhaps it was through Ishmael or through the strength of my old body, No, it was through the promise given to the Lord. Because even when we're broken, and even when we're weak, there's one thing that the genuine Christian cannot deny or not have, and that is genuine, saving faith. Yes, there are people who have faith that goes and disappears. Remember the parable of the sword in Mark chapter 4? That there's some people that come and hear the word, and then Satan comes and takes the word out of their hearts.

There's other people that believe for a little while, but when tribulation and trials come, then they walk away. Or there's even other people that they believe with joy and they produce certain fruit. But when time comes, the test of time comes, the test of the trial comes, then it's evident that the soil that they had was not good because it was fleshly and it was not coming from above and hence they departed from God. But those who have received the word of the Lord in good soil, not that they can produce them themselves, but the grace of the Lord opens their heart to receive the word of the Lord, they are the ones that endure until the end. And even if a drought comes to that good soil, And even if the sun is scorching, I think is the word that you have in English, right?

That's the word. Even if the sun is really strong and there is a drought, and even though perhaps the fruits might not be as they were the year before, The good soil will remain good soil because of the grace of the rain that comes from above. The rain that is in Hebrew chapter 6, rain that comes from above and that nourishes the ground and the soil, because the soil is not produced by the hands of men, but by the hands of the one who loved us and sent His Son to die upon the cross, so hence faith. will humble our hearts, because even in the depths of our hearts, in our trials, in our tribulations, we cannot deny the truth of Christ in our hearts. And even when we remain faithless, He is going to always remain faithful.

And that's why the ones we cannot deny the Lord in that passage there in 2 Timothy chapter 2, if you know what I'm referring to. Because the one who has the Spirit of Christ in them will never deny the Lord. Not with their lips, but with their behavior, their heart and their soul. They will endure until the end because faith humbles the person and shows them that the work of the Lord comes from above. Third.

The third reason why justification is by faith alone is because faith gives glory to God. Pay attention to verse 20. Verse 20. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God. And I really love the way that Paul presents Abraham in such a positive way.

It says, no unbelief. made him waver concerning the promise of God. But he, that is Abraham, grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith, that is Abraham's, was counted to him as righteousness. It says that no one believed, verse 20, made him waver concerning the promise, but he, Abraham, grew stronger in his faith as he gave glory to God.

The reason why we are justified by faith is because faith who belongs to the realm of grace and not to the realm of works. This faith that humbles the pride of the flesh and brings us to the humility of Christ in which we acknowledge that is the work of the Lord. Genuine saving faith is what gives glory to God, because it is the work of God that happens in the heart of a Christian. And now, it is very beautiful the way that the apostle portray Abraham here. He says that no unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God.

And as we read those things, we might think, well, Abraham was a hero of the faith, and certainly he was. We might think, perhaps I'm never going to be like Abraham, who believed once, And never doubt it. Or perhaps we may say, well, Abraham was such a man of faith. But the growing stronger in faith here is not that definition that we have of a person who has no mistakes. It's not the type of definition that we have of a person that is walking in a straight line into conformity to Christ.

But the growing stronger in faith, according to the testimony of the life of Abraham, and even the testimony of the New Testament, is that even though there is doubt, because there was doubt, we do not waver. You see what it says in verse 20? It doesn't say that Abraham did not have unbelief. It says that no unbelief made him waver. No unbelief divided his mind.

It's literally what it says there. No manifestation of unbelief cut him in two in such a point, in such a way that he lost perspective of the promise that God had given him. Yes, there were times in which Abraham doubted. We can see that in Genesis chapter 16 when he... allowed Hagar to be the woman through whom he was going to have a child.

There was certain doubt in Abraham that he was allowing those things to do. Oh, when in Genesis chapter 17, when the promise of God came that he was going to have a child of his own and he doubted in his heart, certainly there was doubt. But the faith of Abraham did not lose perspective of the promise that he was given. And as he was advancing in his age, then we see Genesis chapter 22, we see a man who had doubted in Genesis chapter 15, who had doubted in Genesis chapter 16, a man who had doubted in Genesis chapter 17, who was willing to kill his son. Because the providence of God had worked in him through the trial and through the difficulty and over time.

And he's the way that Abraham had grew stronger in the faith of the Lord. And he was giving glory to the Lord in each one of those moments. Not because Abraham had the ability to glorify God in his own strength. But because of the Spirit of God was working in him genuinely from Genesis chapter 12 to the potential sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis chapter 22, the Lord was making him stronger. The Lord is the one that was pouring His Word into Abraham.

Because you know who is the author and the perfecter of our faith? It's not you. Who? It's Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the author and He's the finisher.

He's the author and He's the perfecter of our faith. So any manifestation of strength in our faith that is given should never be accredited to you or to your religion, or your Bible reading, or your prayers, or your coming to church, or you're preaching a sermon, you're singing a song, or doing something. It should never be accounted to the work. It should always be attributed to Christ who works through His Spirit among His people, so that through a renewed heart and through them there's fruits of righteousness for the glory of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians chapter 1 verse 9 and 10.

This is the work of the Spirit. This is the faith that humbles and this is the faith that gives glory to the Lord. Fourth, we are justified by faith because faith ensures that all generations of peoples will be recipients of the grace of God. Once again, we are justified by faith because it is only faith that ensures that the grace of God is available to all generations, not according to their works or deeds according to each one generation, but according to the grace of God that is manifested for us all. Pay attention please to verse 23.

By the words, it was counted to him, we're not reading for Abraham's sake alone, but For ours also it will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord. Justification by faith alone has been the ways and the means by which people receive eternal life from the moment of the fall until the last of the people of God will be saved. Because the grace of the Lord goes beyond and transcends particular periods of time. In the garden, Adam and Eve were given a commandment. They broke the commandment.

And because they broke the commandment, they were ejected from the garden and they broke fellowship with God. The only option that they had was salvation by grace through faith alone. This woman that you see here, Adam, this woman will have an offspring. And the offspring of this woman, you know what it will do? Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 is going to crash the head of the serpent.

And when Adam listened to those things, Lord, I heard from you last time that the day that we eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, we should certainly die. I thought that you were going to kill us. I thought that now this encounter with you was with the purpose of judgment, because this is what you're saying. But now You're telling me that this woman that you gave me is not going to die? You're telling me that this woman is going to have an offspring?

And you're telling me that this woman is going to have an offspring that is going to crush the head of the serpent? This is Eve, the mother of the living, the profession of Adam. Because this woman that should be dead, now is going to be alive. And it's not only that she's going to be alive, she's going to have an offspring. And the offspring is going to crush the head of the serpent.

The same thing for Cain and Abel, the same thing for Noah, the same thing for Abraham, the same thing for Moses, the same thing for David, the same thing for Solomon. Salvation has always been by grace, through faith, the awaiting of the Messiah that was going to come, the suffering servant of Isaiah. The One who was going to come to suffer and His subsequent glories. 1 Peter 1, verse 10 and onwards. The sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories were predicted from the Old Testament.

This Jesus was going to come and die. And as we look back, we look back and see the sufferings of Christ. But we also see the beginnings of the glories of Christ. And you know when the beginnings of the glories of Christ happen? Upon His resurrection!

Because he defeated death. He defeated Satan. He defeated sin. This is the victory of the Son of God that was sent to this world. The sufferings of the Son of God and the subsequent glories that started in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, continuing the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, continuing the session of the Lord Jesus Christ as he sits at the right hand of the Father and High continue as he bestows his Holy Spirit that is working in this church, his people, as his people is being brought to the maturity of the Son.

Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 through 16, as we grow in conformity to Christ and there is going to be one day in which this Jesus Christ that is seated at the right hand of the Father will come to take his bride out of this wilderness to take now the bride into the glory that He has already entered, so that the bride will go through the sufferings of this age into the subsequent glories of the time that is to come. And that was initiated in the resurrection from the dead of the Lord Jesus Christ. Justification is by faith alone and not by works because it is only faith that belongs to the realm of grace. Justification is by faith alone because it's only in that way that we can be humbled in the pride of our flesh. Justification is by faith alone because it's only by faith that we can give glory to the Lord.

Justification is by faith alone so that all people and all sinners, when they hear the Savior, when they hear the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of God comes and opens their eyes and ears, they can be saved. They can be saved and not receive the punishment that we all deserve, that is judgment and death. but receive mercy and grace throughout the generations. There will be people that will come from different places, different backgrounds, different languages, different appearances. They will come and they will bow to the feet of Jesus and they will say, thank you, Lord.

because we were dead in our trespasses and our sins and you sent us a preacher and you sent us your word and you sent us the gospel and we heard and we believed and because of that now we are your people and we will ever be your people. Justification is by faith alone, but not only by faith alone, it is also by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have 15 minutes to do this, so let us try to do it by God's grace. Justification is not only by faith alone, and I hope that you can see that I tried to go through the whole text there. And now arriving into verse 25, the Lord, the apostle is going to tell us, who was the lever up for the trespasses and raised for our justification.

He was raised for our justification. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. And so many things that can be said about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps it would be best for me to take you to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, which is the best chapter that speaks about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, that speaks about how our faith would be futile, how our life as Christians will be of no meaning, how our profession of faith in our Christianity will be empty, if Christ Jesus was not resurrected?

There are so many instances there in that passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that we could rejoice with the hope that is given to us the Church about the future that is to come because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. But I'm not going to take you to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Rather, I want us to ask this question because I want us to go deeper into the meaning of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ for us as a Church. And I want us to ask this question, as I said in the beginning, in the introduction. Why are we justified by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Why? Why did Paul create this connection in verse 25 that is not found anywhere else? This directly, you know, raised for our justification. Why? Are we forgiven, declared righteous by or rooted in or because of the resurrection from the dead?

Now, there are many reasons. And actually, when you read the New Testament and you pay attention to some verses, you will realize that the scriptures speak a lot about the resurrection of Christ. But with the intention of doing it in 12 minutes or perhaps 15, and also just to remain in Romans, I want to give you three important reasons Three important reasons why we are justified because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and how this is important for our life as Christians. The first one, I'm going to say them, explain them and then we see them in the Scriptures. We are justified by or through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ because in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus was declared, appointed to be the Son of God with power.

It is only upon the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ that Christ was declared, appointed to be, ordained to be the Son of God with power. And of course, I'm not saying that the Lord Jesus Christ was not the Son of God before the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, because we know that the Bible very clearly says that Jesus is the Son of God, that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus is the eternally begotten Son of God. Before the foundation of the world, Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus is the Son of God and Jesus will continue to be the Son of God.

It is actually so much that Jesus is always the Son of God that even attributing that copulative verb of was, is and will be does not make sense. But this is the only way that we have to express ourselves in human language. Jesus Christ the Son of God, in the past, in the present, and in the future, because he's above time. But upon the resurrection, there was an appointment, there was a declaration. Upon his resurrection, there was an empowerment of the Son that is essential for the forgiveness of sins of all the nations.

The Apostles speaks about this in chapter 1 verse 4. So if you come with me, let us please go to Romans chapter 4. Chapter 1 verse 4. Romans chapter 1, Paul, it says, Paul, I servant, let us just read from verse 1, just to get the context. Paul, I servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son.

Pay attention to this. I said before that we are justified by or because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, because in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus was appointed, ordained, or declared as the Son of God with power, and it is this power, the one that ensures that we are forgiven. Verse 2, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son, Jesus Christ, who was descended from David according to the flesh. Pay attention to verse 4, "...and was declared, or appointed, or ordained to be the Son of God in power, or with power, According to the spirit of holiness, how was He declared appointed to be the Son of God in power or with power?

By His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all nations. Let me say it once again. The reason we are justified by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is because through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus was ordained, declared to be, appointed to be the Son of God with power. And this power that was bestowed and given to the resurrected Christ is the power that ensures that the gospel is applied to the heart of the one that is going to be justified. And the question will be, how is this appointment, how does this appointment work?

Or what do you mean by Jesus Christ being appointed as the Son of God with power? The answer to that is given to us in Matthew chapter 28. You remember the Great Commission? Let us just briefly read that and then I will elaborate with that. Let us come to Matthew chapter 28.

The Great Commission, you may remember now the words that are used there about the authority of Christ. Matthew chapter 28, Matthew chapter 28, verse... 18, now this is happening, brethren, after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, the Great Commission happens after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in verse 18, And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Jesus Christ was God, He is God, He will be God, Jesus Christ equal God. He had always had authority. All things were created for Him and through Him and in Him.

He is the King of heavens and earth and everything that is under them. But it's only after Jesus Christ has defeated death. not only as God, but also men, that as God-men, as the Messiah of Israel, and as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, that Jesus Christ is empowered. He is given an authority that no other man had ever had before. This is the empowerment of the Son of God.

Just as we are declared righteous when we have faith in Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ was proclaimed, appointed, ordained as the Son of God with power and authority. Why this power and authority? Because He was victorious. Because He came and complete the work that it was given to Him. Because the work that the Father gave Him before the foundation of the world, that there's going to be a people given unto you.

You're going to have to take upon their flesh. You're going to have to become like one of them. You're going to have to be born under the law. You're going to be tempted in all ways like they will be, but without sin. All of these victories that you will have in your life, will come to the climax and consummation of the victory of the cross.

And when you die there, when it is finished upon the cross, when all my wrath is poured upon yourself instead upon my people, when all hell is put upon yourself instead upon my people, you're not going to remain dead. And the reason why you're not going to remain dead is because there's no sin that is found in you. You will go and proclaim, but you will be resurrected. And in your resurrection, it will be proclaimed that you are the Messiah, that you're the Son of God, and that absolutely every prophecy that was written about you was... True.

And because it is true, His power is given to you. And the empowerment of Christ is not with the purpose of making the Son of God more powerful, and if that was possible, but rather that those who are in Him will be receivers or recipients of the power that the Father has given to the Son, so that they will be guaranteed that as they go through the nations, proclaiming the message of salvation, that in the Old Testament was kept captive only for the people of Israel, The nations that once were under the bondage of Satan now will be liberated by the work of the Son of God who came, 1 John chapter 3, verse 8, 9 and 10, we cannot read it because the time is passing, because He appeared to destroy the works of the devil. When He was resurrected, He was victorious over sin, over Satan, over this system of this world. And this power, brethren, guarantees and ensures that the person who believes in Him will be justified once for all. that the life that was contingent upon obedience, you shall do this and live, now this life can be given, and it has always been given by grace, through faith, and the one who receives it, receives it not because of their own power, but because of the power of the Son of God who was ordained.

This is the enthronement of Christ. The cross of Christ is the altar of victory. When the eyes of men saw the cross as something to mock and something to blaspheme, that cross was the altar of the king. And that tomb, that was also the altar of the king. When all the eyes of men were mocking the Savior that was in the tomb, that was the altar of the King.

And that altar was opened so that people will see the resurrected Son of God, who will be taken up in glory to the throne that He deserves, seated at the right hand of the Father. And because He lives, we shall see tomorrow. Because this is the power of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Second, we are justified by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, Because through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, our justification is guaranteed once for all. Once again, we are justified by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ because only the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ can guarantee that we are justified once for all.

Come please to Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8. I was supposed to say that in a different way, so I hope that it makes sense what I have just said. Romans chapter 8. Pay attention to Romans chapter 8. Romans 8, verse 32.

This perhaps could be one of the most powerful verses, verse 32, in the entire Scriptures. But let's just not dwell there, and let's just read what we have to read. Romans 8, 32. He who did not spare his own son, remember the declaration of God by the power of the Spirit? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, How will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?

It's a rhetoric question. God will give us all things. But continue, please, in verse 33. Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? You know that charge is an accusation.

You're a sinner. You're worth nothing. You're unrighteous. That's an accusation, right? Just pay attention to the question, verse 33.

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. In other words, it is not your works, it is not your deeds, it is not your faith, it is not your own doing, it is not yours, it is His. It is God the one who justifies. Verse 34, who is to condemned?

It's a rhetorical question saying nobody can condemn. Why? Because he's the one who justifies. Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Brethren, you know that the reason why justification is once for all, and once a person has been forgiven and declared righteous by faith alone, and we have said now many times in the last couple of months that this justification is once for all, but never ever think that the fact that a person is forgiven and declared righteous is because of faith. Never ever think that the reason why a person is forgiven or declared righteous is because you remain having faith. Never ever think that the reason why you are forgiven or declared righteous is because you continue to believe. The reason why a genuine person who has saving genuine faith remains forgiven and remains right before God, it is because Jesus Christ is alive. Our righteousness is not found in our faith or in our walk or in our deeds.

Our righteousness is found in Jesus Christ. 1 John 2, verses 1 and 2. He is Jesus Christ. the righteous, and as long as Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father, as long as Jesus Christ remains the Son of God, and as long as Jesus Christ does not die, which Romans chapter 6 says that He cannot die, the person who has received genuine saving faith and has been forgiven of their sins and has been declared righteous will remain there because of the outpouring of Christ's life through the Spirit of God to that person. So my forgiveness and my declaration of righteousness is not contingent upon anything that has taken place in me, because even my faith is a gift, and faith is the instrument by which righteousness is given.

But the state of righteousness depends alone upon the life of Jesus Christ, who died, and more importantly than that, oh, very important, I'm not gonna say more important than that, but who died, and also, very importantly, was raised. And he was raised not only to say, I was the first one to defeat death. He says here that he's now interceding for us. And brethren, He's not interceding for you to do these things that you want to do in work. He will intercede for those things, but more importantly, He's interceding for your life that you remain in the Spirit rooted in Christ.

so that even in your worst moment of doubt, in which you know that you are the worst and we are the worst, when which we know that we are unrighteous and we are very unrighteous, there is someone that is advocating for us, brethren. And this is not your mom, which is very nice, our moms advocate for us. And this is not our father, which is very nice, our fathers advocate for us. This is brethren, the Son of God advocating, interceding for us. So throw yourself into the darkness and the depths of sorrow.

There's someone who will rescue you from there, and that is the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. But know that when you are recovered and taken from there, it was not because of your good deeds and your strength. It was because of the intercession of Christ Jesus. We are justified by His resurrection because in His resurrection He guarantees that the righteousness that has been given to us will be continued to be there, not because of our faith, not because of our profession of it, not because of our Christianity, but because He is alive. And then finally, let me finish with this, 52 minutes is not too bad.

Romans chapter 5, brethren, the reason why we are justified by His resurrection, it is because our future justification can only be guaranteed with the life of Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 5, come here and let me just explain it once again. Romans chapter 5, verse 6. The reason why we are justified by the resurrection, because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, is because our future justification can only be guaranteed if Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead. When I say future justification, I'm not saying that a person has to be justified in the past and then justified in the future.

What I'm saying is that every one of us, there will be a point in our lives, or better, our deaths, in which we're going to have to give an account to the Lord. And there's going to be that moment in which each one of you, even you little kids, Even you will have to come before the Lord, and the books are going to be open. There's going to be a time in which we are going to have that encounter with God. And that moment for the Christian will be a moment in which we are found to be righteous. Not because of us, but because of Christ Jesus.

But there will be that encounter in which God says, come and welcome. faithful servant entering to the rest of your Lord, there's going to be that moment in which a veredict is going to be given in heaven or out of heaven. And the guarantee that that moment is going to be positive for the Christian is not look at all the works that I did. Look at all the people that I shared the gospel with. Look at all the mighty works that I did.

Because actually, there's going to be a group of people that will come with those reasoning. Matthew 7, verse 21, remember? Many will come to me and say, Lord, Lord, didn't we do all of these things? Didn't we do all of these things? Didn't we prophesy?

There's going to be a time in which the Christian is going to have that encounter. And the reason why we will not receive the judgment and the wrath of God upon that day will not be because of the faith that we had in the past, will not be because of our professional faith, but will be because there's going to be someone there that is going to be alive and that will be pointed to the past and say, I was victorious. And they are in me. And because I'm alive, if they were justified by and through my blood, how much more we are not going to make them alive through my life? This is what the puzzle says in Romans chapter 5.

Let us read from verse 6. Romans chapter 5, verse 6. 5-6, for while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. That is us, brethren, the ungodly. This literally means the weak, or the feeble, or the broken.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would ever dare to die. But God shows, or reveals, or demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Paul is speaking about the day of glory that he is going to explain in Romans chapter 8.

He says, since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, verse 9, much more shall we be saved by him, that is Christ, from the wrath of God. He explains in verse 10, for if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by, and we could put in parentheses there, resurrected life. It is His resurrected life, the one that promises us that we are not going to be recipients of the future wrath that is going to come upon this world in judgment when He comes, not anymore as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, but as the Lion of Judah that is going to bring judgment upon the earth. The reason why we can enter peacefully into the presence of God, it is because on that day, we are not going to be able only to look back and to say, I believed in 1994, or I believed in 2017, or I believed in 2019, or I believed in 2023. That is praise God to that moment.

But the reason why we're going to be able to enter through the doors of heaven, it is because there's going to be someone who remains alive and victorious on that day. and His name is Jesus Christ. Those who are founting Him today are going to be founting Him on that day. And because of the life of Christ, we are going to be able to enter into eternity and to spend the rest of time with God who has loved us and has sent His Son to die upon the cross for us, who is now enthroned in heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. He's awaiting for the consummation of things to come.

And on that day, He's going to receive us as His people. It is everything about Christ Jesus, brethren. Everything is about him alone. The prophets, the law and the Psalms, everything was pointed to Christ Jesus, because if it was not about him and there was something that was about us, all of these will collapse in our unrighteousness. But praise be to the Lord.

The salvation is of the Lord. And the way that a person is made righteous is purely by grace alone and by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, because we are justified by faith. and we are justified by His resurrection. The same question that I asked in the beginning, now I ask you, are you right with God? Even after you have listened and read all of these things that we have shared today, are you right with God?

Have you been forgiven of your sins? Are you resting in Jesus Christ and have faith in Christ? Or are you trusting your works, your religion, or your works, or your deeds? Have you come to the realization that faith is the only way by which we can come to the feet of Christ? Or are you still trying in your own works and deeds to define yourself as a good person according to your own standard?

If you're doing so, there's going to be one day in which you're going to have to give an account before the Lord. And the life of Christ will be of no value to you because that life was of no value for you today. So please, if you are there sitting in your chair and you know that you are not in Christ, today is the day of your salvation. Today is the day that we're supposed to come to Christ. Today is the day in which we are to look back and to see Christ resurrected and powerful and mighty.

And today is the day that we are to see Him seated at the right hand of the Father, victorious in heaven. And we are to see him by the eyes of faith, one day that he will come and he will take us out of this wilderness. For you, my dear brother and sister, the call is this, look to him. Because even though we do know that it's by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, and that his resurrection is what grant us forgiveness and eternal life, brethren, why are we so much tempted to live our lives according to our own works and performance? Why are we, brethren, so driven sometimes to know that our works and deeds and to be tempted to look into our own performance and deeds?

Brethren, let us renew our commitment to follow Christ and to follow him by grace according to what is written. He's the one who loved us, and he's the one who gave himself for us. And the life that we now live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. Amen? Amen.

Let us pray. Father Lord, we give you thanks and I pray Lord that The words of Christ will dwell richly in the hearts of your people. I pray, Lord, that you will bless us with more of Christ and less of us. Teach us, Lord, please, to be renewed in our faith, to know that the justification is by faith alone in Christ Jesus alone. Teach us, Lord, by the eyes of faith and through the word to look back and to see the resurrection and the victory of Christ.

Teach us, Lord, to see the Son of God who was declared to be so with power and all authority. Teach us, Lord, by Your Spirit, to see the great love with which You have loved us, that is Jesus Christ who died, and even more, He was resurrected and now is interceding for us in heaven. And because of His intercession, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus. Teach us, Lord, by grace to see the coming of our Savior, the one that is going to come and save us from the wrath that is to come. I pray, Lord, that if there is anyone among us who is not in Christ Jesus, that today will be the day of their salvation, Lord.

I pray that if there is anyone among us who is not in you and who has not come to the place of hearing the grace of the voice of God like Abraham did, I pray, Lord, that upon the reading of the scriptures and the things that we have considered this afternoon, that your spirit, Lord, will come to them, open their eyes, and bring them to Christ. I pray, Lord, that you will do these things for the glory of your precious name, for the edification of your church, for the strengthening of your saints, and for the extension of your kingdom. You have promised us that you will be with us until the end of the age. And we also know that you will be with us beyond that. So we praise you and we give you thanks.

And it's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.