Poul Madsen
"For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Jesus Christ." Romans 3:23-24
A PERIL which may beset Christians who constantly listen to evangelistic preaching is that they become so familiar with the message of justification by faith that they imagine that they know all about it, and take it as a matter of course.
"... all have sinned ..."
This is the most dreadful thing that can be said of us: I have sinned; you have sinned; all have sinned. Some sin openly and others in secret; some sin elegantly and wittily and others in a rough and vulgar way; some sin and get away with it, others have spoiled their lives by their sin; some are hardened, others suffer continually from a guilty conscience. But all have sinned.
It is sad if these words have lost their powerful impact upon us. We change it slightly and instead of saying with dread: 'All have sinned', [13/14] we shrug our shoulders and admit that 'of course we are all sinners', as though this sounds less ugly. This easy affirmation of the fact without a corresponding sense of responsibility for it is so widespread that the fear of God has almost disappeared. We tend to treat our sins lightly, especially those of temper or disposition, but just imagine that if one single harsh or impatient word had been found on the lips of Jesus as He hung upon the cross, none of us could ever have known eternal salvation! Even the smallest sin is as serious as that.
Sin is always that which is committed directly against the Almighty God. Every sin is an offence against Him. That is why sin causes a shudder in the whole universe. Because of it the land trembles and is laid waste, the powers of nature rave as though they were out of control; society is disintegrating for sin has filled our nation's soul with indifference as to what is right and good, debasing and degrading God's creation. The eyes of God are everywhere; God sees everything, and He is justifiably angry about it all.
"... and fall short of the glory of God ..."
Our sin has deprived us of purity and the powerful radiation of personality which should result from man's being created in the image of God. We are fallen people, though few have any inkling of how deeply we have fallen. It occasionally happens that a hardened sinner bursts into tears when an innocent baby is placed in his arms. The child knows nothing of the man's sin but lies gurgling happily in his arms, in such stark contrast with the corrupted state of him who holds it that for a moment the clear light reveals his transgression and he loathes himself. That, however, is only a very faint reflection of the glory of God, a slight reminder of the penetrating light that issues from the holy and perfect God. Surely, then, no-one can imagine that he can stand covered with shame before the glory of God and still survive!
"... being justified ..."
We who can remember the liberation in 1945 will never forget the moment when the announcement came over the radio: 'Denmark is free!' Lights were lit in every window, the Danish flag was hoisted everywhere; there was singing and rejoicing at the wonderful news of freedom. The joy was indescribable, though the news did not come as a surprise, for we had known that our enemies were on the verge of defeat and we expected the liberation. In this case, however, the joyful message of the gospel breaks in unexpectedly from what has gone before: "All have sinned -- being justified freely ...".
To the sinner this comes as a complete surprise; it comes from a realm which he knows nothing about, for it comes direct from God. We wonder how can we who are saturated with sin and conscious of our guilt, not daring even to lift our eyes to heaven, be justified -- accounted righteous. We have tried to justify ourselves and have failed miserably, even when we made our best efforts. Here Paul says nothing about making ourselves righteous, for he knows how impossible that would be.
As he dictated these words to Tertius, he remembered how hard he had once tried to make himself righteous before God and for a time had thought that he had succeeded, but at that time he knew nothing of the light of the glory of God penetrating to the depths of his heart and revealing what was lurking there. When, on the road to Damascus, he saw that light and fell to the ground in dismay, he began to know himself as the chief of sinners. From that time on he was determined never to be found trusting in his own righteousness which is by the law, for that is not the righteousness of God.
Although we agree that it is useless to try to justify ourselves, that is what we so often attempt to do, both in our relationship to God and our attitudes to one another. A great deal of strife among Christians arises from the fact that both sides insist that they are righteous, forgetting that this does not necessarily make them righteous in the sight of God. It is hard to let go of our own righteousness, even though we have come to realise how poor it is. The gospel does not ask us to make ourselves righteous, but it calls us to be made righteous, an experience which is as far removed from our own ideas of righteousness as the heavens are above the earth.
To be made righteous is to get back from God the lost glory of purity and blamelessness. Unbelievable as this may seem, it means that none of the sinner's sin and guilt, his transgressions and omissions, his selfishness and self-seeking, his disobedience and defiance, his bitterness and anger, his hypocrisy and cowardice, his [14/15]foolish remarks and unkind words are ascribed or reckoned to him and he bears no blame at all for them.
The fact that we can stand justified -- made righteous -- and clothed with the glory of God is, and will always remain for time and eternity, the wonder of all wonders. How can any of us dare to think that we know all about justification by faith? No, all that the saved sinner can do is to worship in wonder and amazement.
"... freely ..."
There had been a time when Saul of Tarsus, being more zealous than any of his contemporaries, possibly felt that God owed him something. He may well have imagined that his zeal ought to be credited to his account with God as a balance in his favour. Such an idea can be deeply rooted in all of us Christians, as though our efforts have given us a credit balance with God. Well, if Saul did have that mistaken idea, it all changed when on the Damascus road he learned to know himself as he could be seen in the light of the glory of God. After that experience, the word freely -- undeserved -- was full of meaning in Paul's thoughts and words.
Freely means that in no sense is it a return and still less a reward, for anything that we have done, not even for our repentance since, if justification were in return for repentance it would also be in proportion to it and in this case we could never be eternally sure that our position before God was valid or perfect if our repentance were not absolutely perfect too. It never is. Even our greatest pain and regret over sin is always imperfect, but God's free gift of justification is perfect and is freely given without any merit on our part.
"... by his grace ..."
I well remember the judicial purge after the German occupation. Several traitors were condemned to death and shot, but some of the condemned men were reprieved. This meant that instead of being executed, they were sentenced to life imprisonment. The reprieve was therefore only a change of punishment; those concerned were released from the sentence of death but not from punishment. And none of those so reprieved were ever loved and embraced by the judge who gave them the reprieve.
The grace of God is entirely different from this. Firstly, it is not a change of punishment, but a free and full acquittal not only from punishment but from the guilt which deserved it. Secondly, it does not come from a cold decision but from the father-heart of God who loves the one whom He has pardoned. The sinner may forget all his guilt and shame if he can -- indeed the heavenly Pardoner wishes him to do this -- so that he may now feel eternally secure in the unchanging love of God.
"... through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ..."
Although it may not seem important at the time, every sin is, as it were, doubly recorded. It does not disappear but is noted both in God's book of reckoning and in the register of man's own conscience, and on the day of the judgment seat of Christ it will be found that the two records agree.
Both show such a negative result that the debt can never be repaid, in time or eternity UNLESS those records contain a receipt showing that the sum total of all the debit entries has been fully paid. This is the case for all who know the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. He alone was competent to discharge the debt and He has done so. Every sinner who puts his trust in Christ as Redeemer is discharged from the deficit in his account, however great that debt may have been. And what is more, he can never go spiritually bankrupt, for his balance will always show a surplus of grace. Praise God that all the righteousness of God is credited to me!
"... whom God set forth to be a propitiation ... by his blood ..."
It is not difficult to wipe out debit entries on an earthly account -- all that is needed is sufficient money to cover the debt. But who can blot out that which is against us in the divine reckoning? How can anger, hate, envy, impurity, evil thoughts and deeds, negligent omission be cancelled out? If in eternity we were to remember how we had wounded others, spoiled their joy and hope, made bad impressions upon them from [15/16] which they will never be rid, this would ruin everything for us. But more than that, if we came to realise how we had thrown sin after sin into the very face of God, turning our back on Him, defying Him, refusing to trust Him, how could we think of repaying that great mountain of debt and having it cancelled?
We cannot cheat with life's accounts and woe betide us if we tried to do so. We cannot falsify the account which we submit to God and if we tried we would find that He is an expert Accountant who would soon expose us. If the debt is to be wiped out it can only be done by a full repayment, and certainly any righteousness of ours is pitifully insufficient for this. The redemption of our souls is too expensive for us: the price is altogether beyond us.
But in His infinite mercy God has set forth the means which atones for all sin (The Danish word for 'propitiation' is literally 'means of atonement'), so that each and every entry against the sinner can be blotted out. We have said that this is impossible for us; it is possible for God but we must never imagine that it was easy for Him. Happily He was able and willing to do it. The cost was so great as to be beyond human comprehension, for the price paid was the blood of His Son.
When Jesus hung as a public spectacle, out-stretched on the cross and paying the price with His own life's blood, then there was set forth God's infinitely merciful propitiation which is the eternally valid payment for all our debt. The cross is the mercy-seat where the sinner finds salvation.
"... by faith ..."
For those who are prepared to accept this gift of God in simple faith, there is given through Jesus Christ a righteousness which has no faults or imperfection, a victorious righteousness which has already conquered every temptation, a righteousness which cannot ever fail, even Christ's own righteousness.
Although it is manifested through the gospel (v.21), it is hidden from our feelings and can only be embraced and possessed by faith. Not until Jesus comes again will it be fully manifested. Now faith can be accompanied by wonderful feelings in the heart such as happiness, peace, ecstatic enthusiasm and so on, but none of these add to the righteousness from God which is freely given to all who believe irrespective of feelings. Our emotions or experiences do not increase this righteousness, and our lack of them does not diminish it, for it is deeper than any feelings of ours. Earlier Paul had emphasised that the righteousness of God is "from faith unto faith" (Romans 1:17), which means that the justified one does not live by his feelings but solely by his faith. This applies throughout life, however many or few may be the thrills or emotions of the believer.
When we appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account, we will not have to answer for our experiences but for our faith in Christ, and if by grace we do that we will find that Christ answers for us.
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