The sermon by Eric Bechler, based on the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689, Chapter 11, paragraph 3, explores the doctrine of justification, emphasizing its importance in understanding how sinners are made right with a holy God. The sermon explains that Christ, by his obedience and death, fully discharged the debt owed by the justified, making a proper satisfaction to God's justice. This was accomplished through Christ's active obedience in keeping the law and passive obedience in bearing the penalty due to sinners. Substitutionary atonement is highlighted, where Christ took the place of sinners, satisfying divine justice. Justification is described as an act of free grace, not reliant on human works, illustrating God's justice and grace. The sermon concludes with the assurance that justification by faith alone provides believers with confidence in their salvation, emphasizing that God justifies and remains just in doing so.

A reading this morning from the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 comes again from Chapter 11 of Justification, paragraph 3. Did fully discharge the debt of all those that are justified, and did, by the sacrifice of himself in the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead the penalty due unto them, make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God's justice in their behalf. Yet in as much as he was given by the father for them and his obedience and satisfaction accepted in their stead and both freely, not for anything in them, their justification is only of free grace, that both the exact justice and rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners. We continue today in our study of the doctrine of justification. Why is the doctrine of justification a big deal?

It points us to the question, how can I be right with God? How can I, a sinner, be just before a holy God? When one is guilty, there's nothing more important than to understand how to remove that guilt and how God's forgiveness can be attained. Because of our sinfulness, we deserve the wages of sin, which is death. Again Noah Webster defined this in theological terms as the remission of sin and absolution from guilt and punishment or an act of free grace by which God pardons the sinner and accepts him as righteous on account of the atonement of Christ.

In our first week, we looked at the difference between the infusion and the imputation of Christ's righteousness. Last week, Colton covered the justification is by faith alone, sola fide. He mentioned that there are two kinds of faith, a dead faith which resulted no works, and a saving faith which is evident from the works that follow. R.C. Sproul puts it in this way, we're justified by faith alone, apart from any consideration of our works, but not by faith that is without works.

He makes an important distinction there. If we are justified, if we truly have faith, our works will be visible. True faith will show itself to be true faith through its works. This week our focus is on Christ and his works. By his obedience and death, he fully discharged the debt of all those that are justified and did make proper, real, and full satisfaction to God's justice in their behalf.

We'll look at our paragraph today in four parts, following the pattern from the calvinist.net commentary. We'll look at the full discharge of debt, substitutionary atonement, free grace, not works, and the glory of God. Let's start in our first section here. Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are justified and did by the sacrifice of himself and the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead the penalty due unto them, make a proper, real, and full satisfaction of God's justice in their behalf. Okay, let's start with what is meant by discharging the debt that we just read.

If you commit a crime, the police will go get you and you'll be punished. Sometimes you'll spend time in jail. When your jail time is up, we say that you have paid your debt to society. That crime was against the law, a law of our society. What about sin?

When someone sins, there is a legal debt to God because it's God's law that was broken. Scripture tells us that we're all sinners in Romans 3 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Because we sin we are debtors to God But this is a debt we cannot pay God is perfectly just and the debt for every sin must be paid. In a devotional from Ligonier Ministries it states, this failure to live up to the standards of the divine law in turn makes us seek ways to repay that debt that we owe to the Almighty. The history of the world religions is the history of humans, human beings trying to come up with the methods that will pay the debt we incur to God. Various forms of penance, pilgrimages, fasting, and so forth are commonly found in the religions of the world as means to pay the debt of sin and atone for the falling short of the Creator's law.

The problem with all of these attempts is that they do not take the difference between the Creator and the creature into serious consideration. We can pay the debts we owe to other people for breaking human laws, but how can finite individuals pay the debt owed to an infinite God? We have transgressed the standards of our infinitely holy Creator, Which means that the debt we owe is infinite. We cannot hope to pay this debt ourselves Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans is through Christ that our debt is paid in Romans 5 8 through 10. I believe that was part of our opening passages, but God commended his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Our paragraph here addresses three ways how Christ accomplished this, by his obedience and death, by the sacrifice of himself and the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead the penalty due unto them. When we speak of Christ's obedience, we need to remember that there was an active obedience and a passive obedience. We see Christ's active obedience in his perfect keeping of the law. We see in his passive obedience the taking of punishment due sinners, breaking the law.

Scripture tells us that Jesus offered himself, sacrificed himself for us on the cross and took what we ourselves deserved. He took on our penalty. And we read from Scripture in Hebrews 10, 10, by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 2 Corinthians 521, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. In 1 Peter 2, 24, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.

By his wounds you have been healed. Tabletalk gives an explanation for this substitutionary atonement. When we look at the biblical depiction of sin as a crime, we see that Jesus acts as the substitute, taking our place at the bar of God's justice. For this reason, we sometimes speak of Jesus' work on the cross as the substitutionary atonement of Christ, which means that when he offered an atonement, it was not to satisfy God's justice for his own sins, but for the sins of others. He stepped into the role of the substitute representing his people.

He didn't lay down his life for himself. He laid it down for his sheep. He is our ultimate substitute. And again, we turn to scripture to see if scripture supports this idea in Romans 5.19, for as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Galatians 3.13, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.

And in Isaiah 53.11, he shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities." In these verses, we find words that could not more clearly convey that Christ endured the very penalty of the broken law and thereby made a proper, real, and full satisfaction to his Father's justice in behalf of all whom the Father had chosen and given him." This takes us to the next part of our paragraph, yet in as much as he was given by the Father for them and his obedience and satisfaction accepted in their stead. He was given, okay, who is this? This is Christ. Christ was given, is given by the Father for them.

And this points back to the covenant of redemption that we discussed back in chapter seven. In this, the members of the Holy Trinity decreed that Jesus, God the Son, was to be the Redeemer of those whom God the Father had chosen in him, and that Jesus would do this on behalf of and in the place of all those chosen from before the foundations of the world. Again, back in scripture in Romans 832, He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? In Ephesians 2, we walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. Not only did Christ accomplish the redemption of his people, but his work was accepted by the Father.

His sacrifice, his substitutionary atonement, was accepted. God's justice was perfectly and completely satisfied. We hear the words of God at the onset of Jesus of ministry in the gospel of Matthew in 317, and low of voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. The next part of our paragraph emphasizes our part in this whole effort, the critical work we perform towards our own justification, absolutely nothing. And both freely, not for anything in them, their justification is only of free grace.

Our justification comes freely from God to those whom He has chosen. It is not from any works that we can do ourselves. We cannot believe. We cannot have faith. We cannot be inclined in any way towards God at all until he first does a work in us.

Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, for by grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. In Romans 3, 24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. In Ephesians 1, 6 through 7, to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace." And finally, in our last section, what is the point, what is the goal of all that Christ has done for the justification of the elect. We read that both the exact justice and the rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of summers. The exact justice in that the debt has been paid for every sin by every person across all time.

There are no exceptions. You will either spend eternity in hell or you will be justified by Christ. That debt will be paid. God has proved to be perfectly just, and this comes from a free gift, a rich grace from God, so that through the indwelling Spirit we may have faith in Christ and eternal life. Let all the glory be to God and none to us.

We read in Ephesians 2-7 that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. And 1 Corinthians 1 30 through 31. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." Robert Shaw concludes, grace shines in God's condescending to accept the righteousness of a surety, still more in his providing the surety. Above all, in giving his only begotten son to be the propitiation for our sins. Besides, that faith by which we receive the righteousness of Christ is the gift of God.

The glory of the gospel is that grace reigns through righteousness. Salvation is of grace, but this grace comes to us in a way of righteousness. It is grace to us, but it was brought about in such a way that all our debt was paid. This exhibits God as just as well as merciful, just in requiring full compensation to justice, and merciful because it was He and not the sinner who provided the ransom. So how do we bring this home?

How can we take this enormously important doctrine and find some application. Again, table talk here, it presents four practical applications from the doctrine of justification, and I'll look at one of them today. The first practical application of the doctrine of justification by faith alone is assurance. Frankly, there will be days when we simply won't feel justified, when we won't feel like a Christian. We will have off days, down days, shaky days, sinful days, and days on which the question haunts our mind, am I even a Christian?

The doctrine of justification by faith alone proclaims loudly through the fog of doubt that we have been born again and are in Christ. Christ has completed his redemptive work. He has satisfied the justice of God the Father and sealed us with his Holy Spirit. Justification assures us that there is never a need for re-justification. Rather, God justifies us by His grace.

Before the courtroom of heaven, God has declared us depraved sinners to be justified and righteous. Paul declares, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The doctrine of justification gives us the assurance to know that He is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. When we have those down days or when we feel insecure, we can refresh our hearts by drinking at the everlasting fountain of justification by faith alone and can hear God saying, you are in Christ and shall remain in Christ forever. Amen.