Heb. 8:10-12 The New Covenant. Part 3 Justification
Intro:
If you have been studying w/ us the last couple of weeks you know that we have
camped out here in our study of Heb in
Ch.8:10-12 NC
A)We noted that the Promise of the NC was given to Israel in Jer.31 during the reign of King Josiah
B) Also noted that
It is a Prophecy that has future
implications for the Nation of Israel fulfilled during the Mill./ Receive
Jesus as their Messiah
1)
But it is a Prophecy
that has application for the Church presently –
which is what the writer of Hebrews has been pointing out
C) We noted on Wed. as we looked at Ch.9 that the NC is Christ Last will
& testament – A will doesn’t go into affect until the one who wrote it dies
1) Christ Shed
blood signified that the will – The NC has
gone into affect / hence the Meaning of This cup is
the NC in my Blood which is shed for you
D) So Christ death
signified that the NC had begun/ And His Rez – the FACT that He Lives -
signifies that it is being carried out
Now
we have noted that there are 3 components to this NC –
1st
New Heart : Ezk. 36:26 companion passage – New Heart / my Spirit
A)No longer write on tables of Stone – now write my will on your hearts
NO longer external rules & Reg’s now – Internal work
B) 2nd
NEW PART - All shall Know me I will be their God
– INTIMACY established / access available ( Last week)
C) 3rd New START : V.12 For I will be
merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I
will remember no more.”
D) This is the most
Exciting aspect of the New Covenant. Sins forgiven & forgotten
1)
Psa 103:12 As far as the east
is from the west he has removed our transgressions
How
far is the East from the west – Immeasurable – no end in sight infinite : God
chooses to put out of His Remembrance
A) Not just that He is not dwelling on them / completely REMOVED/ gone
B)Now in our study last
week we noted how on the day of Atonement the Priest would first sacrifice a bull for his own
sins
1)
Go into the HH w/ the blood
of the Bull sprinkle 7 times on the floor and
then 7 times on the Mercy seat – Signifying his
sins were covered
C) After that He would
go out & Sacrifice a goat – the goat was sacrificed for the sins of the
people/ back into the HH sprinkle the Blood …7 times….
1) The People would wait w/ anticipation for the High Priest to
come out
D) Now What I didn’t mention was that there were 2
goats that were chosen Now the two goats were actually VIEWED as one goat,
1)
Because both goats had a part to play in this ritual representing the
sins of the People being covered for
another yr
E)The First goat was slain / his bloodshed
:satisfying the requirement of God that w/out the
shedding of blood there is no remission of sins
Then the H.P. would take the live goat place his hands on it – signifying sins
being transferred / – this goat was
bearing their sins /
A)Then this goat which was called the scapegoat would be led out into the wilderness – far away
B) Several priests would leave with the goat, and at
each mountain peak a priest would wait.
1)
One Priest would lead
the goat out in the wilderness by himself he’d
untie it, turn it loose, chase it off,
C) Now when it went over
the hill, he would turn and wave to the priest on the hill behind him. Signaling It’s gone.
1) He would
in turn, wave to the priest on the next hill, who would wave to the priest on
the next hill, ….. H.P.who standing at the door of the Tab.
D)He then would go out and announce to the people, “You’re sins are
gone!” And the people would rejoice/
& Celebrate
1)“Our
sins are gone! The goat is disappeared and the sins are gone!”
Great cause for celebration.
The two goats picture beautifully the work of
redemption in Christ
A)One was killed
sig. The
requirement met/ wages of sin is death – w/out the shedding of blood there is
no remission / Signified Sins were forgiven
B) The One led out
sig. Sins
being forgotten taken away … to be remembered no more Puts it
out of God’s remembrance
1)
That is exactly what
Christ accomplished for us on the Cross / thru which He established this NC –
Sins Forgiven / Sins Forgotten
C) So that everyday in
the NC is a NEW START !!!!
Now this
aspect of the New Covenant. Was one that Paul the apostle was very excited about
/ so much so He majored on it in the Book of Romans
A)The Doctrine of Justification : Turn to Rom 1 Paul is ecstatic
Romans 1:16 For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for
everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
A)Paul said I am not
ashamed of the gospel / gospel = good news / Paul said I am not ashamed to tell
people about it / it is SO GREAT / Power so true
B) Now the OC can be
embarrassing & uncomfortable to share who wants to go around telling people Thou shalt not…do this
thou shalt not…do that
1)
If I have to always be
harping on people about what they shouldn’t be doing – that is tough / who
wants to do that !!!!!
C) But we have GOODNEWS
to share – the gospel is not condemning but totally Liberating / sets people free /
Power to transform lives
1) That is something I Love to talk about
!!!!!!!
In
the yr.1508 a priest by the name of
Martin Luther was so blown away when he finally came to realize his sins
forgiven & forgotten
A)This young priest had
previously been so painfully aware of his sin & his short comings that he
would whip his body / starve himself almost to death
B) He would torture himself Physically / he would pay indulgences/ he would do penance /
1)
trying anything to
make up for the wickedness he felt inside /because he was so aware of God’s
holiness & so aware of his own sinfulness
C) So One day in 1508 he was climbing the steps into a large cathedral on his knees in another attempt to
make up for his sin
1)
As he climbed the
steps on his knees there was a verse that was going round & round in his
brain – the verse Rom.1:17
17For in it the righteousness of God is
revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The
just shall live by faith.ӣ
D) Suddenly it hit him – the just Living by
faith – not penance / not religious ritual not living trying to attain a
righteousness thru following Rules & Reg
1)
It is not my trying to
get it together / but it is placing my faith in the finished work of Jesus
Christ
That
verse totally changed the young priest life – he immediately went back to his
study & began to lay the ground work for the famous 95 thesis
A)Through that event that the Reformation was birthed / & the Church was forever changed as many others caught the vision
B) Believers all over suddenly realized what the NT
church knew that it wasn’t about
personal sacrifice / it was not about whipping oneself
1)
Not about penance or
religious duty or doing certain things to demonstrate devotion to God
C) But the Just shall Live by faith !!!!!
What
exactly does that mean ? That is what Paul goes onto explain here in Romans as
He unfolds this great Doctrine of Justification
A)Rom.3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
B) Now no one doubts this statement : we all know that we have sinned
C) Sin = to miss the Mark – the archers – the Bulls eye – perfection
1)
So anything that was
short of Perfection was sin – Missed the mark
Well Perfection was what a holy God required
D) So no matter who you
are / or how unrealistic your appraisal of yourself might be – FACT – WE HAVE ALL SINNED
1)
Everyone of us w/out
exception has missed the mark of perfection
But then he goes on to say in v.24-28
A)Now he begins to unfold this idea of Justification : We have all sinned but God sent Jesus to be the Propitiation for our sins
B) PROPITIATION simply means the satisfaction for our sin!!
1)
Jesus satisfied the
Holy requirements of God : He was
perfect thru and thru / therefore he was able to present himself as the final Sacrifice
C) And Thru His
sacrifice He was able to satisfy the Judgment & Justice of God for man’s
sin !!!
A
Young man is cruising the streets of Vista – going a little fast – say 110 /
ran 3 red lights / out ran the police – caught taken into custody
A)Day of his arraignment comes led into the court room – hear his fate looks up at the bench – the judge is his dad
B) He thinks great – my
dad will take it easy on me / the judge rendered his decision. 'Your reckless driving,' 'has endangered
the people of our community. Consequently, justice must be served, giving you the stiffest
penalty which is $ 5, 000, or 3 years
in jail
C) The Young man is Shocked / Dad what are you doing – you know I don’t have
any money – how could you do this to me
1)
Just as the Bailiff
was about to lead the boy away the judge stepped down from the bench / took off
robe stood by son / Wrote the Check
1Tim 3:16 great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the
flesh,
That's
precisely what the Lord did for us when He left the bench of heaven to come to
earth to write the check of redemption,
A)Christ went to the Cross In doing so Justice was served & Mercy was demonstrated !!
2 Cor 5:19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,
B) Jesus was God in the
flesh who was the Propitiation the satisfaction for our sins / for all who
would simply put their faith in his work / his check
1) Which is why Paul
goes on to say in Rom 4: 5-7
5But to him who
does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is
accounted for righteousness, 6just as David also describes the
blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless
deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
C) Not of works – not
religious ritual but simply by placing our faith in the finished work of Christ
Rom 5:1,2 1Therefore, having
been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through
whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Now what does
it mean to be Justified ?
A)Just as if you never sinned – that is a good definition but it is not the best – need to take it one step further
B) The Word
Justification in the Greek is Dikaioo . It is a
term of Jurisprudence - It is a legal term
1)
It means more than the
judge simply declaring that you have been forgiven / but it means that the
Judge declares you Righteous
C) The Judge Declares
you RIGHT ON !!!!!
Remember
Marc Rich who was pardoned by our former Pres Clinton for tax invasion &
Illegal arms sales to Iran
A)As you know that Pardon was under a lot of scrutiny & he has been reluctant to come back to the US
B)But let's say that no one contested his pardon – ok it
is a done deal Marc Rich could walk around Washington free
1)
But his Reputation has
been TAINTED – free but not comfortable because
everyone knows although forgiven he is guilty
C) But lets say the
Attorney general delivered this message: We at the
Attorney Generals office have carefully scrutinized all the evidence against
Marc Rich & we declare that He is completely innocent of all Charges / All
the Charges are dropped and we declared that Marc is a free man / not only that
but we think that He is an upstanding citizen and a real gift & blessing to
this Country
D) Now he is JUSTIFIED
– He is declared Righteous Right on
1)
Now he is going to
move throughout society in a whole different way / inter act w/ people w/
confidence – Been Justified declared righteous
Listen
when we place our faith in JC we are Not Just Pardoned / not just Forgiven of
all wrong doing – but completely Justified
A)We are declared Righteous – W/out FLAW !!!!! God sees you in Christ as a completely New Creation
B) The Implication is Fantastic- I am no longer scared or embarrassed to come
before God because I know that I have been Justified
1)
Not Just FORGIVEN I
have been DECLARED RIGHTEOUS
C) Consider the Contrast
: If I am only forgiven – my whole attitude is different –
1)
I know that God
forgave me but I feel like such a jerk / being around Him makes me feel
uncomfortable / reminded of what I did
D) Lord I am such jerk / I am such a loser / thank you for
forgiving me / I will try not to cause you any more trouble
But I
am never ever going to seek to get close to the Lord under those conditions
A)But when God declares – You are righteous / Justified – Your sins are forgiven & forgotten put as far as the E. from the West / Justified
B) Been Robed in the Righteousness of Christ – which
means I have the proper attire to enter into God’s Presence
1)
Dinner at a
Fancy restaurant – where they make you
wear a Jacket / if you don’t have one – they give you one
C) All the same color –
they don’t fit right – everyone knows that you didn’t come prepared – that you
really don’t belong
1)
God Clothes us in the
Righteousness of Christ – Perfect fit – we enter into His Presence / prayer /
worship / communion – We Belong
Romans 8: 31What then shall we
say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
A)May we totally
understand God is not down on you / upset w/ you / or angry at you – He sees you in Christ
B) God is truly for You !!!! / Many believers don’t
really believe that / they think that God merely puts up w/ them / tolerates
them
1)
No Paul says – God is
for You !!!!!!
C) He Proved that v.32 He who did not
spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him
also freely give us all things?
D) He gave you His son /
His very best don’t you know that he is able to give you everything else that
you have need of .
v.33 Who shall bring a
charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he who
condemns?
Who
is the one who Condemns Satan – He is called Rev.12:10 the accuser of the
Brethren
A)Listen he is always bringing accusations against you & me pointing the finger at us –
B) You didn’t read today / fell asleep in prayer / lost
your patience w/ your wife / Accusation after accusation / he accuses us all the time
1)
It is Satan who brings
charges against us / Satan who seeks to Condemn us / but it is God who
Justifies – declares You are Righteous
C) You are Right on in My Eyes
1)
Rom 8:1 There is therefore
now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according
to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
D) The Charges have been
dropped : Jesus last Miracle Peter / Malchus
1)
What if Malchus tried
to press charges ? Which ear
Satan
ACCUSSES US – BUT Jesus has covered us – all the Charges have been removed
A)Conscience has been cleared to serve the Living God – on the Team in the Family – Vital Part
B) New Start – Forgiven / forgotten Justified
C) New Part – Family Intimacy
D) New heart – God is doing an internal work / New Heart / Whole New Creation / HS cause you to walk
1) Justification vs Sanctification -
E) The Spirit’s role in Sanctification what it means to walk in the Spirit – next week last study