The Gift Of Righteousness Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. When we see ourselves as God sees us, we realize that we fall far short of His standards. Our sins stand between us and His holiness.

Without outside help, none of us can attain eternal life. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, wasn't it Martin Luther who struggled so much about his need to be right before a holy God?

Oh Dave, the answer to your question is absolutely yes. It's been my privilege to lead tours to the sites of the Reformation, and often I have been in the very monastery where Luther lived, trying as best he could to please a God whom he said he hated. He hated God because God's standards were so high. But thankfully, the gospel came to him through reading the book of Romans.

He was gloriously converted and understood the good news of the gospel. Now, I want to ask a question. Before we turn to the pulpit here at Moody Church, are you blessed as a result of the ministry of Running to Win? If so, would you consider becoming an endurance partner? That's someone who stands with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. Well, here's some info.

You can go to rtwoffer.com. And when you're there, of course, click on the endurance partner button or call us at 1-888-218-9337. You see, what Luther was doing was he was living in an era in which it was believed that if you did enough good works, God would see you good enough to save you. The question was, how many good works do you have to do? He fasted until sometime people thought that he might die. Rebecca and I have been in the cell in which he was there.

It's like a cell in the monastery in Erfurt, hard floor. He slept without blankets to try to mortify the flesh. He confessed his sins up to six hours at a time, but his conscience would not be silenced because you don't know how high God's standard is. You go through and you do all these confessions and then you have to start again tomorrow because it's like mopping the floor with a faucet running. I mean, new sins and maybe you forgot some of them. Despair. Then he began to teach the book of Romans.

You know the story. He gets to chapter one and it says in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed and he looks at the righteousness of God and hatred against God wells up in his heart. Oh yeah, that's my problem is the righteousness of God. If he wasn't that righteous, well then maybe I could attain to his standard. But he's so righteous. Love God, said Luther. I hate him.

He's given us an impossible standard. But as Luther began to look in Romans one and then got to Romans chapter three and chapter four, he began to realize something. Righteousness is an attribute of God, but it is also a gift given to sinners. And look at what it says in chapter four regarding Abraham. This was true also in the Old Testament. Verse three for what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Abraham certainly wasn't righteous, but he was credited with righteousness because he believed. Paul wants to show that what he's teaching was consistent really with the Old Testament. And then when he gets to chapter five, you'll notice that the text says here very clearly in chapter five that this is gift righteousness. Verse 16, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification for if because of one's man's trespass, death reign through one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness.

There it is. Ring in life through Jesus Christ. So what I'd like to do today is to give you three or four characteristics of this gift of righteousness that is legally conferred on all who believe on Jesus so that now we can reach God's standard because God gives us what we need to do that.

Let me give you those characteristics. First of all, obviously it's a free gift, obviously, because it's the kind of righteousness of which you and I have none. We can't contribute to it.

We can't do anything about it. God took our goodness and he put it on the shelf and across it he wrote unusable. Can't use your goodness. It's all tainted with sin. And so what I do is I set aside human goodness as unusable. If there was something really, truly holy and good about us, God would have to acknowledge that. But in the book of Romans it shows that there's nothing to acknowledge. So God says, I set aside human sin and now what I'm going to do is independent of human beings.

You see, the righteousness of God is not just human righteousness lifted to a higher power. It's entirely different. It has to be a gift. It is a gift that is unearned. It is a gift that we can never repay.

But there's something else about it because it's a gift. God doesn't find it more difficult to save big sinners than lesser ones. God saves some terrible sinners. There could be some people listening to this message and you know the things that you have done.

I would think that since this message goes in different parts of the world and on the radio, I'm speaking to people who know right well that they are criminals. And you're saying to yourself, can that righteousness be applied to me? And I say absolutely because it's a righteousness independent of human works.

It's much better to live a good life than a criminal life. But as far as righteousness is concerned, God gives the same righteousness to everybody. God can receive you. So it has to be of necessity a free gift. That's why it's called gift righteousness in Romans chapter 5. There's a second characteristic of this gift and that is that it is a perfect gift, obviously, because it's God's righteousness. You see, because it belongs to Him and He says, I'm conferring it on you, I'm crediting it to your account.

I'm crediting it to your account, therefore your debt is fully being paid by me. Of course, it can't be improved upon, nor can it in any way be diminished. It is as perfect as God. See, Luther knew something that his generation lost and our generation certainly is lost, that in order to get to heaven, you have to be as perfect as God. Well, that's difficult to do in ourselves, isn't it?

Wives, look at your husband and say, on that basis, you're not making it. So it is a perfect gift. It is God's righteousness. Third, it is a permanent gift.

It's permanent. Once received, it takes you all the way to heaven. If I may one more time refer to Martin Luther, was he saved during those days when he was confessing his sins?

Of course not. You see, because as he confessed his sins, the next day he was loaded again with new sins and you really don't know where you stand, salvation does not come through confession. You can't remember all your sins, even if you did, as I've already emphasized, tomorrow's another day with brand new ones.

Where do you go? But once he understood that salvation was a free gift, that is to say that the righteousness of God was credited to him and that it was his permanent possession through faith in Jesus Christ, now it freed him. And one of the doctrines that he gave up soon after was purgatory because purgatory said nobody dies good enough to go to heaven so there are the fires of purgatory that finally purge you so that you can have entrance. And he says, if I'm clothed in the righteousness of Christ, I go from this life to the next and I'm deposited in heaven as if I am Jesus. And if you know Christ as your savior, when you die, you'll be welcomed into heaven as if you were Jesus. And I'd say that that's really good news for sinners, isn't it? I think it's wonderful somebody says over there.

Yeah. Now if you're not a sinner, well, talk to me later and I'll give you a little bit of help. It is therefore a permanent. It says in the book of Hebrews, he has perfected forever those who are sanctified. But also I want to give you another characteristic and that is a sanctifying gift. It sanctifies us. You see, because it could be somebody's listening to this and he says, oh, well, if I received Jesus, I can just do anything I like. By the way, when somebody says that to you, there should be a part of you that rejoices because they understand they're beginning to understand the gospel. It's the natural unsaved response to the gospel. Now Paul is going to argue that should we therefore continue in sin because grace abounds?

Absolutely not. But you see, it is this truth that sanctifies us. I read in chapter five that we reign in this life by the free gift of righteousness.

How does that work? Do you remember the story Les Mis, Victor Hugo's book about Jean Valjean? He breaks out of prison and he's looking for a place to stay and nobody will have him. And finally a bishop takes him in and the bishop is very kind to him, ends up giving him a nice warm bed with clean sheets. But in the middle of the night, Jean Valjean wakes up, tiptoes through the bedroom of the bishop and steals the silverware and leaves.

Later that morning, Jean Valjean is caught by a guard. He brings him back and the guard says to the bishop, he says you gave him these spoons. And all that the bishop has to do is to say, no, I didn't. And Jean Valjean goes to prison for the rest of his life. But you remember what the bishop did? The bishop said, oh yes, I gave him the spoons.

In fact, I'm angry with him because here's some candlesticks he should have taken too. Well, the guard has to just walk away. And then the bishop says to Jean Valjean, and I'm paraphrasing here, with this act of grace, I bought your soul for God. And from then on, Jean Valjean began to live a different life. Now I know that the illustration breaks down because we can't just begin to live a different life without the power of the Holy Spirit, which incidentally is the next message in this series. But still, grace is transforming. Grace motivates us to, in light of the fact that we have God's righteousness, we have now a desire to live righteously. We can never attain the righteousness of God, but we want to live righteous lives. And yes, we do confess our sins in order to restore fellowship with God, but not in order to begin somehow all over again. We do it because we are as children.

Your children have permanent love and acceptance from you as parents, but when they misbehave, there's some confession that has to be done. And that's why we pray that the church would confess and that the church would repent. But still, we repent from the standpoint of strength. You see, the reason that this means so much to me is there are mornings when I wake up when I don't necessarily have a heart hot for God. Have you ever had a morning like that? Have you ever had a morning where your failures seem to overwhelm you and you really feel quite bad about what you've done, but what's been done has been done? Where do you go from there?

What do you do? You say, God's mad at me? No, what you do is you say this, there is a prayer I came across this week.

It says, in Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make you love me more and nothing I have done that makes you love me less. Wow. So God still loves me? Yeah. I'm still represented before the throne. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is still my gift covering my life?

Yes. I think it was Ludwig von Zinzendorf. I love that name. Don't get to say it too often. Who said, Jesus, thy blood and righteousness, my beauty art, my heavenly dress. I can get up in the morning. Not because of what I've done or because, you know, I've had a warm time in my devotions, though God knows we ought to have our devotions, but I get up in the morning because God is there. Jesus represents me.

The terrors of law and of God with me, they can have nothing to do. My savior's obedience and blood hide all of my sins from view. My name on the palm of his hands, eternity cannot erase. Forever there it stands, a mark of indelible grace. You can get up in the morning because you are loved and the righteousness of God is credited to your account.

Now there are some implications of this, obviously, and for these, I look at the text. You'll notice it says this in verse 26. We already emphasized that Jesus was put forward as the propitiation of his blood to be received by faith for us. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time. And here's now the key phrase that he might be just and the justifier of one who has faith in Jesus. God can be both loving and totally just and he can acquit us because Jesus paid what we couldn't and gave us the gift of divine righteousness and credited it to our account. So God is totally just and he's the justifier. Secondly, second implication is this. You'll notice he says, I love this in verse 27, well, then becomes of our boasting.

It's excluded. You're going to come before God and say, oh God, I am just so wonderful because I came to know your son and I'm so much better than the person standing next to me who's never believed and I'm taking credit for the fact that I'm pretty wise in this business of salvation. That attitude, I've never said this before and never planned to, but I will. You're kind of slapping God in the face. And that's why throughout all of eternity we will continue to worship at the wonder of God's salvation and that he demands perfection and then supplied what he demanded and offered it to sinners as a free gift. I'll tell you, no boasting from us in heaven should be no boasting on earth. Who makes thee to differ from another? Or what is thou that thou has not received and if thou hast received it, why do you act as if belongs to you?

It's all a God, everything, no boasting. And finally, we see here that Jesus Christ is the one who is the Redeemer, not just for the Jews but for everyone. Verse 29, or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not also God of the Gentiles? Yes, also of the Gentiles. Is he God of the people who attend Moody Church?

Yes, he's God of the people who attend Moody Church. There are not a lot of ways to get to heaven because there is no other Savior who paid the debt of those who believe. And some of you who are depending upon your works, let me tell you that if anyone ever says to your question, you know, if you were to stand before God and God were to say, what shall I, why shall I let you into heaven?

If anybody says, well, you know, I'm a pretty good person. Not only are they not understanding the gospel but much more seriously, much more seriously, they actually are putting up a huge stumbling block to the gospel. They are more lost than the person who says, I have nothing to offer God. I come with my need and God has to do everything else. That person can be saved. As long as we cling to our righteousness, we can't. So in this broken world where we measure our spirituality by our industry and by our works, let's remember that it is given as a free gift that is salvation to all who believe, the Bible says. Is God working in your heart today to believe that Jesus actually did pay it all?

D.L. Moody was in a meeting one time and he said that a man stood up and said, it took me 42 years to learn three things. And Moody thought, wow, if I listen carefully, I can maybe learn them all right now.

I don't have to wait that long. The man said, the three things are this. Number one, I cannot save myself. My works do not contribute to my salvation. Second thing I learned is that God doesn't expect me to or think I can.

He above all knows better. And the third thing is that Jesus paid it all for those who believe. Isn't that good news in a fallen world? The gift of righteousness, God's righteousness that takes us all the way to heaven.

What a gift. If you have never received Christ as Savior, you can say at this moment, Jesus, I received that free gift because I know I'm sinned and I come to a Savior, a great Savior for great sinners. Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit will take your word and do what we can't. You can open hearts.

You can convict of sin. You can show people the beauty and the glory of our salvation. And today there are those who may be reborn into your kingdom. Help us Lord to rejoice in the salvation freely offered. We love you in Jesus' name.

Amen. Well, this is Pastor Lutzer. I want to ask you today, have you been born again? Have you come to Christ to receive the salvation that he purchased on Calvary? That's what the ministry of Running to Win is all about, but also to help people make it all the way to the finish line.

I'm holding in my hands a letter from someone who listens in Washington DC. He says that Running to Win has not only helped me in my walk with the Lord, but has strengthened my faith in those things that God has called me to do, to be a blessing to others and to evangelize in my business. Do you realize, my friend, that when we receive these kinds of reports that you are a part of this ministry? Would you like to indeed hold our hands and become a part of what I like to call the Running to Win family? Would you consider becoming an endurance partner?

That's someone who stands with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. Now, of course, the amount that you give is entirely your decision. You need more info. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy. Here's what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com, and when you're there, click on the endurance partner button. Now, if you missed that, I'm going to be repeating that info in just a second, or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337.

That web address, rtwoffer.com. Thanks in advance for helping us consider becoming an endurance partner. Stand with us regularly with your gifts and your prayers so that the gospel may expand to many. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. Next time on Running to Win, the gift of the Holy Spirit, a Helper who indwells all believers, counting God himself inside of us. Thanks for listening. For Dr. Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.