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Justification
Part 4 - Matthew 4 Our Need for Obedience
[Icebreaker] Random laws in Texas
-A recently passed anticrime law requires criminals to give their victims 24 hours’ notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed.
-In Clarendon it is illegal to dust any public building with a feather duster.
-In Mesquite it is illegal for kids to have unusual haircuts.
-Itis illegal to milk another person's cow.
-There is an old law in Texas that states you are unable to tuck your pants into one boot
unless you own ten or more cattle.
-You can be legally married by publicly introducing a person as your husband or wife3 times.
This fall we’re talking about this thing, JUSTIFICATION =how you, a sinner, can stand before God and God say to you, “You are righteous. You are perfect. And you deserve to live forever in with me.”
Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 33: What is justification?
“Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.”
Let’s read the story of the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4.
At the beginning of his ministry Jesus is driven into the wilderness of the desert todo battle with the devil and the devil comes to Jesus at his weakest point. Jesus is alone, in the desert, with no shelter, surrounded by wild animals, having not eaten for 40 days, he’s starving to death and physically, emotionally spent and exhausted and weak. And the devil comes to Jesus to tempt him.
Now the devil and Jesus already knew that God had promised the kingdoms of the world to Jesus as his inheritance but the way to this inheritance was for Jesus to go to the cross. And the devil comes to Jesus and says, “I can give you what you already want and I can give it to you without you having to go through all that pain and suffering and death. Just say no to that and yes to me, say yes to disobedience and I will give you instant comfort. ”And Jesus looks at the devil in his absolute weakest and most vulnerable state in the most terrible moment of temptation and says, “No.”
And Jesus’ obedience leads him down a road of rejection, and loneliness, and betrayal, and death on a cross.
Now this encounter between the devil and Jesus is supposed to remind you of another temptation encounter between the devil and who? How are these two encounters alike and different?
-Adam, the first covenant head, was in a beautiful garden. Jesus, the new covenant head, is in a desert wilderness.
-Adam was filled and lacked for nothing. Jesus is starving after 40 days.
-Adam had Eve, he wasn’t alone. Jesus is all alone.
-Adam had dominion over all living things. Jesus is surrounded by dangerous wild animals.
And yet it’s Adam who gives into the temptations of the devil and it’s Jesus who resists. How much greater is Jesus’ test than Adam’s?
-Adam had no excuse. Jesus has every excuse.
-Adam’s sinfulness stands out. Jesus’ righteousness stands out = Jesus alone in the desert wilderness surrounded by danger, starving to death, assaulted by the devil obeyed God perfectly.
-The old Adam failed. Here you have the new Adam doing what the old Adam failed to do.
-At the end of Adam’s failure you have an angel driving Adam and Eve from the garden. Here at the end of the wilderness you have angels ministering to and serving Jesus because he is the true obedient one.
Why would Jesus choose to obey knowing it would put him on the cross where he would suffer the pains of the wrath of God for our sin, suffer the pains of being forsaken by God for our sin? Why would Jesus choose that instead of instant comfort?
Because we don’t choose obedience, because we give into temptation and we deserve that wrath and that forsakenness. And so Jesus comes to face that test and pass that test for us.
AND he also comes to then take the punishment we deserve in our place for all our sin and for all the times we’ve given into temptation. Jesus gets what we deserve for our disobedience and we get what Jesus deserves for his obedience.
How good does God expect you to be? How good do you have to be to get into heaven? What is Gods standard for you?
Totally, completely good. Perfect! God made us to love him and other people perfectly.
Can anyone be good enough to save themselves and get to heaven?
No! Everyone has sinned. All we deserve is God’s judgment.
What did Jesus have to do to save us?
He had to die on the cross to take our punishment for our sins. When Jesus goes to the cross our sins are counted to Jesus.
He had to die to save us but what if all Jesus did was come and die for us? Could he have just died as an innocent baby for all our sins? What else does Jesus have to do for you to save you?
He also has to live for you. You also need Jesus to live a life of perfect obedience for you. He had to live the perfect life that we should live but don’t. He loved God and others perfectly FOR us. YOU HAVETO EARN HEAVEN REMEMBER. It’s Jesus who earns it for you!
You do not just need to be cleared of your law breaking; you also need the positive credit of law keeping. Now, where does that come from?
This is where some people mistakenly say, “This is where I come in with my good works. This is my job as a Christian. God forgives me and gives me a clean slate and brings me back to even and then I take it from there with my good works and my obedience. God forgives me and then it is my righteousness that gets me the rest of the way to heaven.”
But, that is not the good news of the gospel. Because you are not good enough. You are not enough. And, your life will be full of insecurity and fear and despair if you think it is up to your righteousness to get you to heaven. You cannot pray enough, you cannot read your Bible enough, you cannot obey enough to fulfill all righteousness.
So where does that positive credit of law keeping come from?
Jesus. Our sin is counted to Jesus AND Jesus’ righteousness is counted to us.
How do you know this is not a legal fiction?
If Jesus remained in the grave then he was just another man who died on a Roman cross. And our “justification” is a legal fiction. It does not hold weight. There is no foundation to it. The objection would follow: How do you know Jesus saved you? The guy is dead. Condemned on a Roman cross. The Old Testament says anyone who is hanged on a tree/cross is cursed by God.
BUT, Jesus was raised. So he really did accomplish the work given him to do and so it is not a legal fiction when God counts us righteous.
What does that have to do with us? This is where the counting really matters!!…
Jesus’ perfect life, and his death, AND resurrection is counted to us. You, a sinner, stand before the bar of justice and God counts Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection(all of Jesus’ record) to you so your verdict is even better than “not guilty.” You stand before God as completely righteous. Your verdict is justified; righteous. And, your reward is not condemnation, it is glorification, eternal glory in God’s heavenly kingdom.
Are you saved by good works and obedience?
Yes! Just not by your obedience and good works. You’re saved by Jesus’ obedience and good works.
What must you do to be saved?
You must believe in Jesus as your Savior!
What then is the point of our obedience? Why do we obey if our obedience doesn’t save us?
Our obedience shows we really do believe in Jesus. Our obedience will never be perfect but even us trying to obey and messing up, even our imperfect obedience shows we really do believe in Jesus.
What are some good things to tell others about Jesus?
No one is so good that you don’t need Jesus as Savior.
No one is so bad that you can’t have Jesus as Savior.
You just have to believe in Jesus, that he lived for you and died for you.