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Romans 3:20-28
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can download our service on iTunes or tune in for “The Good Word” each day on AM 1230 WSAL or on Hoosier Country 103.7 FM just after 8am. Today we begin a study into one of the most important doctrines of Scripture and salvation. We are going to study the doctrine of justification. Again, I am following an outline from a theologian who is gifted in presenting the doctrine in a clear and distinct manner that makes understanding it easy. Just to review, and help us keep putting all this together, we started with the Gospel call, which is God’s invitation to us to trust in Christ alone for our salvation. Then, we studied the doctrine of regeneration where we learned God imparts new spiritual life to us. The doctrine of conversion teaches that we willingly respond to God’s invitation to be saved, at which time we sincerely repent of our sins and trust Christ for salvation. The turning from sin to Christ is repentance.
At some time or another all of us have received invitations to occasions that require an RSVP, right? We know when the invitation was extended, the sender had already settled in their mind the event would happen. All the necessary requirements for the event had already been considered and all conditions were met, or would be met before the date of the event. It is also truth that when God determined He would not immediately send Adam and Eve to hell for eating the forbidden fruit, but that God would redeem them, He had already determined that the incarnation, Calvary, and the resurrection would happen! Listen, Christ had already made the willing choice of His own free will, He would be the Sacrificial Lamb, and would endure and persevere through all of that to the very end, leaving no “I” un-dotted, nor any “T” uncrossed, so every condition necessary for the salvation to be offered to you, would be met and satisfied in full. Here is yet another truth most of you know, but those without salvation, sometimes believe: God never brings a person to the point where they understand their need of a Savior, without fully intending to save them if they respond! The idea some people have: Oh, God wouldn’t save me, I’m too bad is very popular as an excuse in hell, but it never appears in Scripture! The point is: invitations are extended to those whom the host wants to attend the event, and those are the only ones to whom an invitation is extended. The invitation is extended with the desire that the person will, in fact, choose to attend the event. Another way to say that is: God wanted you to be one of His adopted children, long before you ever thought of being saved. Because God wanted you, is the reason you received the invitation. Jesus makes that truth clear when He tell us “I chose you, you didn’t choose me…” Once God received your RSVP, you had met all the qualifications to attend the event. God then added you to the guest list. God adding your name to His guest list is – Justification! To say that from a Biblical viewpoint: God added your name to the Lamb’s Book of Life. Read Rev. 20:11-15; 21:22-27. Now that we know just a little about this wonderful doctrine of justification, let’s summarize all this by using Wayne Grudem’s definition of justification. He says “Justification is an instantaneous legal act of God in which He (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, and (2) declares us to be righteous in His sight.” Look at that definition very carefully. Who is the active agent or person who does the “thinking” in number1? God! Who is the active agent or person doing the “declaring” in number 2? God. It is God, not man, Who is the One, the only One, Who can declare man is no longer guilty of breaking God’s Laws and as a result condemned to hell for eternity?
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