Word of Salvation – Vol. 46 No. 41 – November 2001

 

How Can You Get Right With God?

 

Sermon by Rev. J. Haverland on Romans 3:19-24 (HC Lord's Day 23)

Scripture Readings: Romans 3:19-31; 5:1-11, 18-21

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

There is a phrase that says, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."  That means that there are some things in our lives and our society that are always changing; but the more these things change and alter the more we realise that there are other issues and truths that remain, that are unchanging, that are always there.

Today we are dealing with a question that has not changed – it is always relevant.  The question is this: "How are you right with God?"  How can you get into a good relationship with God the Creator?  How can you be accepted by him, or be acceptable to him?

That was a crucial question in the first century when the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Romans.  It was a vital issue in the sixteenth century at the height of the Reformation when the Heidelberg Catechism was written.  It is a question we need to be asking and answering today.  People ask it because deep down in their hearts they believe there is a God.  And they ask it because when they are really honest with themselves, they know they are sinners.  And they know that getting right with God is not a simple matter, it's not an easy thing.  It's not something you can solve with a wave of the hand or a few pious words.

So, how do you get right with God?  We will consider this negatively and positively:

1.  You cannot get right with God through your own efforts;

2.  Rather, you are declared right with God through faith in Christ.

1.  NEGATIVELY: YOU CANNOT GET RIGHT WITH GOD ON THE BASIS OF YOUR OWN EFFORTS

Many people trust their own efforts.  This is certainly true of many people today.  Most people have a general belief in God, although they tend to think of Him in very vague terms.  Whatever their view of God, they think He will accept them because of their good works and kind deeds – they look after their mates and try to help their neighbour.  They have convinced themselves that they are basically good people – not perfect, mind you, but on the right track – and that God will look kindly on them.

Or they think that God will judge them by their good intentions.  These people could be described as "gonnas" – “I'm gonna do this, and I'm gonna do that!" They have convinced themselves that God will know that they had the best of motives, even if they didn't always work out.  People in other religions also follow this type of approach.  All other religions in the world except for Christianity are 'self-help' schemes.  They are built upon the assumption that a person will get to 'heaven' on the basis of their good works and their religious deeds.  So, Muslims will fast for the month of Ramadan and pray five times a day and make a pilgrimage to Mecca.

This was also the attitude of the Jews.  Not that the Old Testament taught this self-help method.  The Old Testament makes it very clear that we are saved by grace, not by our works.  But the Jews had distorted that teaching and they believed that they would be saved on the basis of their keeping of the law.

In these verses the apostle Paul speaks against this whole idea.  He makes it clear that you cannot trust your own efforts because: the Law silences you: vs 19 – “Now we know that whatever the law says it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced."

Think of a law court.  The evidence has been presented, the witnesses have been brought forward, and now the accused is given the opportunity to speak in his defence.  But he is silent, because evidence is damning – he is guilty, he has nothing to say.

That's how it must be with us, with you and with me.  We must be silent before God.  You must stop justifying yourself and making excuses for your behaviour.  You must come to the point where you are speechless.  This was Job's response after God had spoken to him: "I am unworthy – how can I reply to you?  I put my hand over my mouth.  I spoke once, but I have no answer – twice, but I will say no more." (Job 40:4)

This will be our response when we see sin for what it is.  We are inclined to minimise sin, to reduce it down, to smooth it out.  But sin is an offence against a holy and righteous God; we have sinned against His holiness and majesty; we stand ashamed before His throne; we are silent before our God.  So the law silences us.

The Law also condemns us: vs.19 – “And the whole world was held accountable to God."  What does God require of you in the law?  Jesus summarised the requirements of the law by quoting two commands out of the Old Testament: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself.

You can feel the weight of that by considering a few questions:

* Do you direct your entire life to the worship and glory of God?

* Do you spend every moment of every day thinking about how you can honour God in all of life and then putting that into practice?

* Do you honestly love your neighbour as yourself?

I don't, and I know you don't either – because we are sinners.  We have a natural tendency to turn away from God and to serve ourselves.

So the law holds us accountable.  It condemns us.  We are under God's wrath, that is, under the settled anger of God against sin.  God will not tolerate sin; He must punish it, and He will punish it – in the eternal punishment of hell.  This is sobering, but true.

The law silences us, it condemns us, and the Law exposes our sin: vs.20b – “Through the law we become conscious of sin."  The law reveals sin for what it is – it pinpoints our failures, it shows us our selfishness and pride.

The Reformers compared the law to a mirror.  Without a mirror we have no idea what we look like.  We could think of ourselves as handsome or beautiful.  But when we look in the mirror we realise we are not quite what we thought we were – the mirror is ruthless, it shows us up, we see our wrinkles, our blemishes.  In the same way when you look in the mirror of God's Word, you will see what you are like – you will see sin for what it is.

It's like turning the light on in a dirty, filthy room.  In a dull light you don't see the dirt so clearly – it doesn't look too bad.  But when you turn on a bright light you see every spot, stain and mark.  In the same way when the Holy Spirit turns the spotlight of God's law on your life it is not a pretty sight.

This is the situation: We are sinful, sinners, under condemnation, accountable before God.  Paul summarises this in vs.23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom.3:23).  We are silenced, condemned, and exposed.  So we cannot get right with God through our own efforts.

Rather, positively:

2.  WE ARE MADE RIGHT WITH GOD THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS

Paul explains this in the next few verses, from 21 on.  This is a very important passage in this letter.  These next six verses are really a summary of the next five chapters.  It is too much to cover in detail but let's notice the key ideas.

Paul introduces this in vs.21 with the word "But".  This word introduces a contrast: What you could not do, God has done.  You were bound, but God has set you free.  You were condemned, but God has declared you righteous.  The biblical word for “being declared righteous" is the word "justification".  Paul uses that word in vs.24.  You are justified.

This is how this works: God looks at us as sinners, and He takes our sin and imputes it (or credits it) to Jesus.  Now when God imputes our sin to Jesus, that does not make Jesus a sinner, but it does mean that Jesus bears or carries our sin.  It's like transferring money from one bank account to another.  It doesn't change who we are but it does change how the bank manager looks at us!

So when God looks at Jesus, He sees our sin and He must punish that in Jesus, which is what He did on the cross.  Jesus took our sin and died for us.  This means that God can forgive us because someone else has paid for our sin.

But that isn't enough to get us into heaven or for God to accept us.  We need more.  We also need the righteousness of Jesus.  So this is the other part of what God does.  God the Father looks at Jesus and He takes the righteousness (the right living) of Jesus and imputes that (or credits it) to you.

That means that when God looks at you He sees the righteousness of Jesus.  That doesn't make you righteous but it does mean that God can declare you right with Him because of what Jesus has done.  You are justified.

Someone has said: it is "just-as-if-l-had-not-sinned." This justification comes to us by faith: vs.22 – “This righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."

Faith is not the ground or the basis of your salvation.  You are not made right with God on the foundation of your faith.  That would be a weak foundation at the best of times!  Some people have a strong faith and others have a weak faith – but being right with God isn't dependant on the degree or the amount of your faith.  Faith is, rather, the means, or the instrument, or the channel, by which you receive what Jesus has done.

Even this faith is a gift of God – something He gives to us.  Otherwise it is our work.  But Paul has already said that this righteousness come to us "apart from law" (vs.21); that is, apart from anything we can do.  Our faith does not gain us salvation or righteousness.

Yet you must believe – you must have faith.  The Philippian jailer asked: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Paul replied: "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." This is the message and the command of the New Testament over and over again.  You must believe.

Maybe there is someone here who does not believe, who has not received Christ.  Remember that the law silences you, condemns you, and exposes you as a sinner who is under God's judgment.  Without faith in Christ you have no hope of heaven or confidence of salvation.  So you must believe in Jesus – that He died to take your punishment on Himself.  Your hope and confidence rest on Him.  For you are justified by faith in Jesus.  Your salvation rests on the saving work of the Lord Jesus – on what He has done on the cross.

The Apostle Paul emphasises this in verses 24 and 25b where he says that we are "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood.”

The catechism emphasises this when it says in the answer to Question 61: "Only Christ's satisfaction, righteousness and holiness can make me right with God."

This is what will give you assurance of salvation.

Maybe you do believe, but you sometimes doubt whether God has forgiven you, or will forgive you.  You feel your faith is weak.  You have lots of questions and struggles.

Remember that your salvation doesn't depend on the amount of your faith.  All you need to do is "to accept this gift of God with a believing heart."  Faith is simply the channel through which God pours his grace.  Your salvation rests on what Jesus has done.

So we come back to this fundamental question we asked at the beginning: How can you get right with God?  Not through anything you do, not even through your faith.  Rather, you must trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross.

The words of this hymn put it well:
            My hope is built on nothing less,
            Than Jesus' blood and righteousness,
            No merit of my own I claim,
            but wholly trust in Jesus' name.
            On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
            All other ground is sinking sand.

Can you say that?  Is that your confidence?

Amen.