The Foundation of Our Liberty, Part 2B

Let me define what we are talking about when we talk about justification. That is, when you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, Almighty God makes a declaration. He makes a declaration not based on what you did. He makes a declaration not based on what you are, what you have been, or what you hope to be, or what you promise to be. The moment you receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, Almighty God declares you not guilty. He declares you approved.

He declares you accepted in Him. And once He has accepted us, once He has approved of us, once you and I are able to grasp God's divine approval of us, His divine acceptance of us, His divine love for us, we don't have to spend the rest of our life trying to be accepted or trying to be approved of Him. All right, then what is the responsibility you and I have to make it possible for Almighty God to declare us free? Liberate from trying to live up to anything to be made acceptable before government. Man has one primary responsibility. Look in the 16th verse of Galatians 2, and then we go into Romans.

What does he say? Knowing that a man is not declared righteous, not justified, not made acceptable or approved by good things that he does, but by faith in Jesus Christ. And all through this verse, we see the same thing over and over and over again. I want you to turn to Romans chapter 3, and there's several verses here I want you to notice if you will.

Look if you will in verse 28. Therefore, we conclude on the basis of a long argument that a man is declared righteous, accepted, approved, saved, redeemed. A man is declared righteous by faith, listen, by faith without anything he can add to his faith. He says we are justified by faith, listen, by faith without any deeds, works, good behavior, any actions or attitudes that would merit anything from God.

Now let me ask you a question. A man can't merit God's approval before he's saved, amen? He cannot merit God's approval. After he's saved, listen now watch this, after he's saved, is there any way for man to merit God's approval within himself? No way because listen, everything that he has within him that is good comes from whom? It comes from God. And what is it within us that is good? It is the righteousness of God given to us through Jesus Christ. Now what I want you to see here is this. You're going to hear it and I've said it over and over and over and over again. Listen, the lost man is justified, declared righteous by grace through faith.

What does he do? He looks to the cross and he receives and accepts what Jesus Christ did for him and he says I accept that and the moment he accepts that he's accepted. He's already loved even in his sin but he's accepted. Accepted the Bible says how? That lost sinful man is accepted in the beloved, declared righteous because of his relationship to Jesus Christ. Now that's how men get saved. But if you recall back over in Galatians and beginning in chapter 5 in verse 1, remember we said in the very beginning that here's Paul's warning to those Galatian Christians who had received the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior.

Then they were slipping back into trying to keep the law and adding to it as if they could add something to God's approval. Listen, he says stand fast therefore in the liberty. Listen brother, there's nothing but like being liberated in Jesus. Stand fast therefore in the liberty where with Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Now I'm going to show you what bondage is. I'm going to tell you what it is. Receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior and get to work brother quickly.

That's bondage. We tell people listen, if you want to grow in your faith get to work because you've become a Christian and after all if you're saved you need to get to work for God. That's not what the Bible says. I want to serve the Lord not because I've got to get his approval, not because I think I ought to, not because I must, should and ought unless God tracked me down and popped me one because I'm not living up to his expectation. Once you get liberated your motivation is to be obedient to God, to worship him, to praise him.

Then if anything else comes along you want to get in on it. But you don't have to come to church and somebody's saying you've got to do this and you've got to do that and you've got to do the other. You say but now wait a minute, you mean to tell me that God doesn't expect me to serve him? I'm simply saying this, what God wants out of your life and my life is a life yielded to him, surrendered to him, he'll take care of all the service, he'll show you what ought to be done, he will delegate your responsibility, he will equip you to do it and then listen it will be the overflow, listen the overflow of what? Overflow of loving him, devoted to him, worshiping him. I'm simply saying that when God's people are liberated they are not forced to serve God, they want to serve the God and they serve the Lord out of the overflow and the joy of the presence of Jesus Christ in their life.

That's the way they serve the Lord. And as long as I am working to get God's approval, I want to tell you, listen, here's how you can detect it. If you're working, listen, being good, not committing certain sins that you have a problem with, if you're getting rid of all that because you want God's approval, I want to tell you, friend, you're wasting your time expending your energy and it is a futile, endless fight because first of all you're working at something you don't have to work at. If he has, listen, knowing what he knows about you, if almighty God has declared you righteous and approved of you knowing what he knows of you and that is an eternal act when he says declared righteous, how could you ever get into a position in your life that you're no longer accepted? You see, listen to me now, the reason we come up with the idea that we're not accepted is because we miss the meaning of the atonement. The atonement says that I was accepted in what he did, not what I did.

Now let me ask you something. How long does the effect of the atoning death of Jesus Christ last? How long does that last? Eternal. Now watch this. If his atoning death lasts eternally and my justification is based on my acceptance of that, then how long is my justification and my acceptance before God going to last?

It's going to last as long as the atoning death of Jesus Christ lasts. How does all that come? Backed by faith. Now watch this.

If you'll slip down to chapter 4, listen to this. Chapter 4 of Romans verse 1, what should we say then that Abraham, our father, as pertaining to the flesh have found? For if, listen to that, now here's his reasoning. If Abraham were justified by works, by doing good, he has reason to glory in himself, but not before God. For what, saith the Scriptures, Abraham believed God, and listen, it was chalked up to, it was accounted to, it was reckoned unto him, it was applied to his account.

What was? Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. That is, God declared Abraham righteous, accepted, and approved on the basis of one thing. He surely didn't keep the law. Why didn't he keep the law?

It wasn't given at that time. So you see, he says, Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. You see, it wasn't that Abraham was doing good.

What did he do? Abraham believed the testimony of God. And believing the testimony of God, God said, Abraham, I've made you righteous. All right, how are you and I clothed in the righteousness of God, in Jesus Christ?

You see, every single thing that you and I receive, how does it come? By faith. All right, listen, he says, look in verse four, now unto him that works to be good is the reward not accounted or reckoned of grace but of debt.

Here's what I want you to see. Your acceptance before God and your approval unto him cannot be works and grace. There's no way. Works and grace are like oil and water.

You can't mix them. He says now if it's by work, then you're being paid. If it's by grace, listen, now unto him that works is the reward not reckoned of grace. That is, if the righteousness comes to you as a result of work, then it isn't God's grace. Then what is it? God's paying his debt.

Now think about this. If God rewards you for your good works to make you acceptable, then God's in debt. He's got to pay off a debt. You've performed the work, so God's in debt to you. He says it's not a debt but of grace. That is that everything that comes our way comes through faith. Now look, verse 5. But to him that worketh not, not depending on his works, not trying to be good to get God's approval, but believes on him that justifies the what?

The ungodly. His faith is what? God takes his faith and accounts it unto him for righteousness. That is, God accepts our faith and approves our faith and in so doing he approves of us.

So what he's simply saying here is this. There isn't anything you and I can do to be made acceptable in the eyes of God. There isn't anything you and I can do to gain his favor. There isn't anything you and I can do to work up brownie points with God.

We can't do any of that. He says it all comes by grace through faith. That not of ourselves, it is of God. He says you and I have been declared righteous by what? The grace of God through the blood of Jesus. That's his provision of grace, his provision of blood, and our response is simply to believe it.

Now here's what I want you to see. God has a whole liberated life for you and me. It's only going to come when you and I are willing to accept the liberty that comes in knowing Jesus Christ. Not seeking approval, not living up to laws, not trying to keep the commandments, but living by faith in Jesus Christ, then the power then us to obey him as an overflow of the presence of Christ in our life.

You see, here's the offer. Every single thing God offers you and me, all he wants us to do is to say, I believe, for I accept. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and what? Righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame or anything but holy, w-h-o-l-o-y, holy lean on Jesus' name. It is all trusting him. Let me ask you something.

If you're here tonight and you've never been saved, I want to tell you how to be saved. Listen and watch this. Where does it come from? Jesus. Who provided it? Jesus.

Who motivated you to even want it? Jesus. Who's paid the price? Jesus.

Who does the work? Jesus. How do you receive that salvation? I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins.

I believe that he's the Son of God. I believe that, Father, you accepted his death as payment for my sin. I receive salvation in Christ.

Let me ask you something. Can you tell me anything else you have to do other than receive by faith? Because you see, when you're expressing faith, you're believing what God said about his Son and about the work his Son performed. How do you and I receive God's acceptance? Lord you said, I am accepted in the Beloved. That is, because of my relationship to Jesus Christ, you've accepted me. I'm one of the family. I've been adopted in the kingdom. I accept that. Listen, if you are able to accept by faith that you are now once and for all and forever accepted in the eyes of God, I want to tell you something.

It's going to be like God flings open the door to your life and you're going to be able to see God work in your life like you have never seen him work before. But I want to tell you, the thing that hangs up more people than anything else is they can't quite believe that God has totally, absolutely and completely and unquestionably accepted them just the way they are. Let me ask you a question. On the basis of the teaching of the Word of God, what can you do?

What must you do to have the approval and the acceptance of God as a child of His other than believe? Not one single thing. Hey friend, that ought to free you. You don't have to live up to anything. You know what you just have to do? It's real simple. Just believe what He said. Let me ask you this. Who is the one who tells you to doubt? The devil. Let me show you what he'll do. Here's what he'll do. He'll say to you, that's too simple. And the first thing he'll do is he'll say, listen, you don't think God would approve of you the way you've lived. You know what you say to the devil? You say, praise the Lord.

You are exactly right, Satan. Amen. But he has approved of me because of the way he lived. And now I have his life. And if I have his life, I have his approval. And if I have his approval, I have his acceptance. That settles it, Satan, once and for all.

Let me show you something. How long are you accepted? How long do you have his approval? How long are you one in Christ Jesus? Forever and ever and ever and ever.

Now watch this. If He approved you on the basis of what Jesus did and accepted His death as sufficient payment, you know what God would have to do in order to reject you? He would have to reject His only begotten Son's work on the cross. God the Father would have to reject His Son before He can ever reject you once you have accepted the work of His Son. When you and I are able to accept our righteousness in Christ Jesus and accept our approval unto Him, you know what's going to happen?

It's going to affect our relationship to ourself, our relationship to our God, and our relationship to other people. Because listen, once you're able to grasp that Almighty God has accepted you on the basis of who He is, what difference does the world's rejection make when you have the approval of Almighty God? And He says it all comes by believing Him.

And I want to ask you one simple question. Are you willing tonight to stand before God and tell Him, Lord, I accept my eternal acceptance. I accept my everlasting justification. I accept my forgiveness.

I accept my liberty in Christ. I accept my position as a child of God, never to be rejected by the Father, never to have to worry about eternity. I accept that, all of that personally into my life here and now and forever. I accept your work and the promise that you've given me. If you cannot accept it, remember this, it is not because God hasn't provided it absolutely, totally, perfectly complete and fully. Let me ask you, can you tell Him tonight, Lord, I accept my acceptance in you on the basis of what? Goodness, what I'm going to be, what I'm going to... I accept your acceptance of me on the basis of what He did. And you accepted that, and you said on the basis of that, I'll be accepted. That'll be the first big step in getting liberated in your relationship with Jesus Christ.