Title: How Christ Established the Law
Text: Romans 4: 23-25
Date: September 16, 2018
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Romans 4: 23: Now it was not
written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24: But for us also, to
whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord
from the dead; 25: Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for
our justification.
Abraham was blessed of God—the father of all who believe. He believed God and God imputed the
righteousness of Christ to him without Abraham’s works. Since Christ put away his sins, God would not
impute sin to Abraham. Abraham
established the whole law of God by simply believing God, believing on Christ,
who established the law for his people.
But all this is not written simply to tell us about Abraham. Everything written in the old testament
declares Christ for our sake
Romans 15: 4: For whatsoever things were
written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and
comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Everything we have studied about Abraham is to urge you to believe
on Christ—to whom [righteousness] shall
be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Sinner, you have only three paths in life. One, you can totally ignore the scriptures,
go through life living in sin then meet God and go to hell. Two, you can attempt to fulfill the whole law
yourself (over 650 precepts) without sin in thought, word or deed (but if you
break one then you break all.) Which
means you will meet God and go to hell. Three,
you can believe God, trust his Son (by whom the righteousness of the law is
established for his people) and God will accept you.
Subject: How Christ Established the Law
Proposition: Christ established the law for his
people by being our Head and Substitute on the cross.
Divisions: 1) Christ was delivered for our offenses,
2) Christ was raised again for our justification
CHRIST WAS DELIVERED FOR OUR
OFFENCES
Christ is the holy, spotless Lamb of God who never, himself,
sinned. It was a must that if he would
take the place of his sinful people, he had to be without sin himself.
Isaiah 53:9: And he made his grave with
the wicked, and with the rich in his death; BECAUSE he had done no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth.
He “offered himself without
spot to God.” (Heb 9: 14) He is “the lamb without blemish and without spot.”
(1 Pet 1: 19)
It was for “our offences”
that Christ was delivered. The “our” is
not all sinners in the world without exception.
It is only God’s elect, the sheep.
Christ said,
John 10: 14: I am the good shepherd, and
know my sheep,…15:...and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Christ prayed to the Father,
John 17: 2: As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
him.
It was “our offences” for which Christ was delivered. We are the sinners, not Christ. We are the ones who committed offenses and those
offenses were against God. Christ not
only took our guilt, he took our offenses themselves to be his own—the
“offences” of all God’s elect were made his.
Galatians 1: 4: Who gave himself for our sins,
that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of
God and our Father:
Hebrews 9:
28: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;
1 Peter 2:24: Who his own self bare our
sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Why was Christ
delivered for our offences? God in his strict justice demanded the death of his
Son so that God could show mercy to his people while executing his strict
justice upon his people. God’s glory is
that he:
Exodus 34: 7: Keep[s] mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the
guilty;
The very thing that separates God from all other man-made idols is
that he is a Just God and a Savior.
Isaiah 45: 21:…who hath declared this from
ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the
LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there
is none beside me.
Therefore, by bearing
the offenses of his people, justice demanded that Christ be made a curse for us. For
his people, Christ bore the eternal death of hell which God’s justice demands
of every sinner. He bore separation from the glory of
God’s presence which justice demands of every sinner. He bore the fierce wrath of God which justice
demands of every sinner. When Christ died unto sin, all his people
died in him.
Galatians 2:20: I am crucified with
Christ:
Romans 6: 6:…our old man is crucified with
him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
CHRIST WAS RAISED AGAIN FOR
OUR JUSTIFICATION
When he rose again as our head and representative, Christ was
legally discharged, acquitted, and justified, and so was his church in him. Christ’s
resurrection testifies to us that when Christ arose, legally and fully
discharged from sin and death, all God’s elect arose in him legally and fully
discharged from sin and death. The resurrection
of the Redeemer from the grave was the resurrection of the redeemed from all
condemnation.
In the old
testament type, the High Priest, not only slew the lamb at the altar, he also carried
the blood into the most holy place and sprinkled it upon the mercy-seat. Christ, the antitype, is our great High Priest
who passed into heaven to present himself before God.
Hebrews 9: 12:…by his own blood he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us….24:
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are
the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us:
Christ ever lives to send forth the Holy Spirit to regenerate and
bring to faith all those for whom he finished this work. His righteousness is our righteousness. Therefore, it must be imputed to us through faith. The same justice of God that demanded his
death now demands that all for whom he died must be given eternal life.
Acts 5: 31: Him hath God exalted with his
right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to
Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Therefore, all
who believe on Christ, God imputes righteousness and will not impute sin.
Romans 6: 8: Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also
live with him: 9: Knowing that
Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion
over him. 10: For in that he
died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11: Likewise reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God imputes to his people what is fact; we died in Christ, we rose
again in Christ. Therefore, God tells us
to impute what he imputes to us, “Impute
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord.” That is how Christ
established the law for his people. Therefore,
the justice of God can never again condemn Christ’s people. Justice is satisfied. “Who
shall anything to the charge of God’s elect. It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yea rather that is
risen again.”
Abraham believed God. Do
you? Do you believe Christ was delivered
for your offenses and raised again
for your justification? To believe that Christ died and rose again is
not merely to believe the facts of it, it is to believe that Christ
accomplished the salvation of his people thereby. If the Spirit has given you faith, it is to
believe that Christ accomplished your
salvation thereby. “God raised him from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and
hope might be in God.” All who
believe have been made the righteousness of God in Christ.
John 11: 26: And whosoever liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
John 6:54: Whoso eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Amen!