Get Close To The Lord

Justification by Faith #1

Acts 13:14-43
Text vs. 38,39 - “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”

May we at the outset of the lesson realize that man is born into this world a sinner.

Ephesians 2:1-3
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”

The whole world is guilty before God.

Romans 3:9-20
“What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before
their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Now let us see justification defined.

Romans 3:21-28
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”

Paul had carefully laid the foundation for his declaration that forgiveness of sins comes only through faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He sets the stage that Christ was crucified, buried, and risen again. That He was the promised Messiah for whom they had waited so long. That it was through Him that the forgiveness of sin was preached unto them. Peter had declared this same truth when he preached to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius.

Acts 10:43
“To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.”

There is only one way to be justified. By means of the finished work of Jesus. By means of His suffering, death, and resurrection. To be justified is to be regarded as righteous in the eyes of God. Christ is our justification. Therefore to be justified is to be just as just as He is
just. To be justified is to be just as though we had never sinned.

Russell Stolp
Chaplain, CFO

Psalm 37:4 "Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy
ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.