Justification and the Work of Evangelism

How the Law Witnesses Our Need For Christ and God's Love For Sinners

Good Morning,

Disappointment, the power of the resurrection, and the ground of hope in justification by faith alone which grants peace to the wandering sinner are all good things to consider. Too much of our time as believers is spent, as it was in the days of Israel, forgetting the majesty of the good news of God’s salvation. One of the worst things we can do is assume the gospel. Becoming so familiar with its cadence that we lose sight of its beauty, and also its radical free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ. We must maintain the gospel’s place in the forefront of our hearts if we want to have the kind of practical “what about now” help that our impatience seeks in our day-to-day.

For today’s prayer and worship guide we are going to take a step back and consider what our Lord’s purpose is in making justification the spark of love toward Himself. The shock of the true nature of our hearts is what the Holy Spirit uses to open our eyes to our need. There is a story oft told about a man on his way to the Gallows whom William Perkins went to speak with as he saw the forlornness on the condemned’s face. As he conversated with the man he asked him if he was afraid to die, to which the man responded, “No, but of what is to come”. Perkins took the time to witness unto him of his need, confronted him with demands of the law of God, through which the Spirit convicted this poor sinner. Having opened his soul by grace the Lord of Glory through the promises of the gospel, “Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest” this man, receiving the right judgment of the State, was freed from the eternal death due unto all who remain under Adam’s covenant of works, and was at peace in the blessed arms of His savior’s covenant of grace. Stories like this bring comfort to us as we know many who are in a similar need, and we are encouraged by the way God brings His people unto Himself.

James Buchanan (not the Fifteenth President) has said this of those who struggle to understand the good news and the means of redemption, “The false security of the rationalist arises, not from the knowledge and belief of Christ’s Gospel, but from ignorance or disbelief in regard to the demands and sanctions of God’s Law.” What he means there is that for many cultural Christians, even those who attend worship regularly and are active members of the church, is that the do not know Jesus because they refuse in their rational (in their own heads) decision that God’s Law is for sinners, and as far as they know while they might not do everything right, they are basically a good person. Part of the work of gospel preaching is not merely to repeat Romans 3’s reminder that all fall short, and none are good. It is to challenge the heart of denial with the facts of what the commandments say and do. This is what we see Christ do in the Sermon on the Mount. “You say that you do not murder, yet how many of you have wished harm in your heart to a brother?”

Here is the clarion call of the warning of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity to every man under heaven. Some will say that our Calvinism or our Reformed theology precludes the work of evangelism because God already knows those who are His, and going out and preaching to the unconverted is in some sense a waste of time. Yet, it is through the promise found in passages like Romans 10 that we see in clear detail that it is precisely through outreach that the Lord calls His people unto Himself. Here we see the nature of Jesus’s own preaching to the lost. Every city and town where the Lord of Glory tread was provided the same message as the prophets, and every man who ignored the cries of the Redeemer had the same dust cleared off Jesui’s feet as He moved on to the next location. The law of God is good. It is perfect for the obedience of the human being for it is the reflection of His own character. This is why He demands whole obedience to it. We are made in His image and He desires that we live up to that standard. Hence why the law work must be done. We must be confronted not only with our general inadequacy, but also our liability for our failure to perfectly own the commandments.

The truth of course is that we cannot do this because of Adam’s sin. In the month of May at Bethany as we walk through Romans 5 it will become more and more clear how true this is of you. If you can sit in a worship service as the law is declared and feel nothing in your heart of hearts that should scare you. It should bother you that as the King of Kings declares His statutes that there is no fear in your heart. Do you examine yourself, for example, before you come to the Communion table? Do you think that there is any reason to do so? Or is that only for the person you are eyeballing while the minister reads the fencing of the table? It may seem a bit daft to focus on this right now, but it’s actually the heart of the matter when it comes to justification.

In closing, last Tuesday I taught the before school devotion at Clover Middle. During that time we went primarily through Luke 18 and the story of the Pharisee and the Publican. As I know that you know the details of this parable I won’t reiterate them here, only to focus on the meat of the problem. Those who know not the holiness of God and their personal unworthiness to know His mercy will never close with Christ. They will rationalize their practical atheism right to the grave. They like the Pharisee will often say, “Thank you Lord that I am not like that sinner” and won’t recognize that in the words of the prophet Nathan, “Thou art the man!”. Here we see why humility and brotherly love are the key attributes of a true Christian. Though know themselves and in knowing themselves they know God’s love for them, His free gift of grace, His bringing them out of bondage, the slavery of sin, and can’t be rejoice in the peace won at the Cross. It’s why a true believer will drag kicking and screaming the lost to hear the word of truth, for he wants all to know the freedom alone offered in Christ Jesus, the savior of sinners, the one by whose blood the dead are brought to life in the justification by faith alone of the enemies of God.

Here's another thought:

https://tabletalkmagazine.com/posts/practical-applications-of-the-doctrine-of-justification/

Blessings in Christ,

Rev. Benjamin Glaser

Pastor, Bethany ARP Church