Justification 4 Whom Does God Justify

Overview

Whom Does God Justify?

God Desires the Salvation of All

The starting point for understanding justification is God's own heart toward sinners. He is not reluctant to save; He longs to save. In Ezekiel 18:32 the Lord declares, "I have no pleasure in the death of anyone." 1 Timothy 2:4 tells us God "desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." And 2 Peter 3:9 explains that even the delay of Christ's return reflects God's patience, "not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance." Far from being a grudging Judge, God is the seeking Savior.

Forgiveness Is an Accomplished Fact

The reconciliation between God and humankind is not a possibility waiting to be activated—it is an objective reality already secured at the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:19 states plainly, "In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them." Romans 5:18 draws the parallel: as Adam's one trespass brought condemnation to all, so Christ's one act of righteousness "leads to justification and life for all." His passive obedience (bearing our sin on the cross) and His active obedience (perfectly fulfilling the law) are credited to humanity's account. This declaration does not depend on our attitude or response; even when we are faithless, 2 Timothy 2:13 reminds us, "He remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself."

Universal Atonement, Not Limited Atonement

This truth stands against the Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement, which teaches that Christ died only for the elect. Scripture speaks more broadly. 1 John 2:2 declares that Jesus "is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." To atone means to make "at one"—to restore the relationship that sin severed. Christ took our sin, paid our debt, and bore the wrath we deserved, and He did so for the whole world. Scripture holds two truths in tension that we cannot resolve: God genuinely desires all to be saved, yet not all are saved. The moment we try to solve that mystery, we either drift into double predestination or surrender the sovereignty of God to human free will. Faithful theology lets the tension stand.

Why This Foundation Matters Pastorally

The objective reality of universal forgiveness must come first, before we ever speak of personal faith. If forgiveness were only potential—activated by our believing—then faith itself would become the work that saves us, and assurance would always rest on the strength of our trust rather than on Christ's finished work. But because God has already declared the world forgiven in Christ, our faith does not create reconciliation; it simply receives what has been accomplished. This is divinely revealed truth 1 Corinthians 2:7-10, not something we discover by reason or feeling. When doubts assail you, do not look inward to measure your worthiness. Look outward to the cross, where God has already spoken His verdict over you and over the whole world: not guilty.

Transcript

Heavenly Father, it is easy to question your love for us and to have doubts about our salvation. 0s

Give us faith to trust you when you tell us that we are saved and to base that trust on the 7s

simple yet wonderful fact that people have been declared not guilty through Jesus Christ. 13s

Father, hear us for your namesake. Amen. Well, what a wonderful, wonderful month 21s

October is we're so looking forward to this as we celebrate the Reformation in a special way 28s

all month, month long and we're going to look at the various tenets of the of the Reformation 36s

and it's just going to be a grand celebration. It's going to just cap off on Reformation Sunday 43s

just a glorious, glorious worship services on that day, all month, all month long and we're focusing 49s

on our Bible study time on justification for these eight weeks. Last week we took a look at the 56s

subject what moves God to justify us? What moves God to declare us not guilty? And we studied how 62s

God is both holy and loving. That is the basis for God declaring us not guilty. His holiness and 71s

love provided salvation. We took a look at how justification is a matter of passive and active 80s

obedience that Jesus Christ passively went to the cross. He passively took our sins upon him 85s

and that Jesus Christ actively fulfilled all of the law perfectly and then that gets credited to our 93s

account and we took a look lastly at justification by Christ alone. Today I want to look with you 100s

at the subject of whom does God justify? Whom does God justify? And the first thing we can say 107s

is that God desires to save us. He desires to save us. Let's turn please to the book of Ezekiel 115s

in the Old Testament. A good way to find Ezekiel is to open up the center of scriptures. You're 128s

going to land in the Psalms and then work your way to the New Testament. Psalms, Proverbs, Ezekieles, 135s

Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and then Ezekiel. Ezekiel, Ezekiel, the 18th chapter. 140s

Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 32. And here we see the desire of God to save us. So chapter 18 156s

verse 32. For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God, turn then and live. I 169s

have no pleasure in the death of anyone. Let's go to the New Testament and let's go to first Timothy. 182s

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, 191s

Philippians, Colossians. Then you hit the tea books. You'll hit 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, then you'll 198s

hit 1st Timothy. 1st Timothy, chapter 2 verse 4. 1st Timothy, chapter 2 verse 4. 204s

And speaking of God, it says, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of 216s

the truth? So he desires the death of no one. He desires that everyone be saved and come to the 225s

knowledge of truth. Let's go to 2nd Peter, chapter 3. Keep turning toward revelation. You're 232s

3, verse 9. 2nd Peter, chapter 3, verse 9. The Lord is not slow about His promise as some 251s

think of slowness. What's the promise that's being referred to here, but the 2nd coming of Christ? 266s

So the Lord is not slow about His promise as some think of slowness, but is patient with you. 271s

Not wanting any to perish. You're the echoes there of Ezekiel, but all to come to repentance. 278s

Lord isn't slow about His promise as some think of slowness, but is patient with you. 286s

Not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. Remember the word repent means 291s

you're going in one direction, you turn around and you go in another direction. 297s

So God desires the death of no one. God desires all to be saved. The fact that Jesus Christ has 303s

not come is really a reflection of the patience of God as He wants people to come to repentance. 310s

The first thing we say then is of God's desire. The second thing that we say is that the 319s

forgiveness of sins through the Lord Jesus Christ is an accomplished fact. It is an accomplished fact. 326s

The reconciliation then between humankind and God is not a mere possibility, but is an 338s

objective reality. It is an accomplished fact and it is a fact that is irregardless of humankind's 347s

attitudes toward God, towards Jesus Christ. Let's see this in scripture. Let's go to second Corinthians, 357s

the fifth chapter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and then Romans, first Corinthians, and then 366s

second Corinthians. So the forgiveness of sins is not a potential forgiveness. The forgiveness of 375s

sins is that which has been accomplished. It is an objective reality. Second Corinthians, the 386s

fifth chapter, picking up in verse 16. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point 394s

of view, even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view. We know Him no longer in that way. 404s

So if anyone is in Christ, there's a new creation. Everything old has passed away. See everything 414s

has become new. All this is from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us 422s

the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling, notice the word, 432s

the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of 442s

reconciliation to us. Go back into 19 again. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself. 449s

So through the death of Jesus Christ, the world has been reconciled. Again, it's not a potential 461s

reconciliation. It's not dependent upon the attitude of human beings. God has reconciled the world 469s

unto Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation 477s

to us. Let's go to Romans the fifth chapter. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Romans. Romans 486s

is one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, and who's the man that's being referred to here? 514s

Adam, right? Therefore, just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's 522s

act of righteousness leads to justification and life. Here's the words, four, all. Well, who's 528s

being talked about in the second part of 18? It's Jesus, right? So you've got Adam, therefore, 537s

just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to 541s

justification and life for all. Remember, as we talked about this morning, Luther understood here 548s

that there was no way out of this box that he was in, that indeed, can God be indifferent to sin? 557s

Absolutely not. God is holy and just. He can't be indifferent to sin. Was He therefore condemned? 563s

Absolutely. And the whole system of works righteousness, Luther by the grace of God, could see 570s

that that was a false system, that there's no way out of it if you are dependent to redeem 576s

yourself. Therefore, just as one man's trespass, Adam, led to condemnation for all, so one man's 585s

act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. 19. For justice by the one man's 591s

disobedience, the many were made sinners. We're right back at Adam again. Now, we're right back 601s

into our into what we studied in the past, hereditary depravity, right? We understand that we are not 607s

born sinless. That as the scripture says, Psalm 51, I was a sinner since my mother conceived me, 614s

so life begins at conception and there you have a sinner. You don't have a potential 624s

sinner. You don't have someone who's going to be going to be born pristine here and without sin. 630s

No, you have a sinner from the moment of conception on. It's hereditary depravity, which Luther 637s

understood profoundly, profoundly well. For 19 again, for justice by one man's disobedience, 644s

the many were made sinners. So by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. Notice 652s

the all language here that that harkens back does it not to the passive obedience of Christ and 662s

the active obedience of Christ because Jesus Christ fulfilled the law perfectly then that active 670s

obedience, that perfect life then is credited to our account. So this is an accomplished fact. 676s

The world has been forgiven. It's not affected by the personal attitude of a human being. 686s

Let's go to Romans the third chapter. Romans chapter 3. 694s

Verse 3, what if some were unfaithful? Will their faithfulness nullify the faithfulness 707s

of God? No, the world has been wrecked, so let's go to 2 Timothy the second chapter. Turn 716s

back toward revelation. Hit the tea books, first and second Thessalonians and then 2 Timothy. 726s

Chapter 2 verse 13. 736s

If we are faithless to 13, if we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself. 743s

So the question then that we pose in today's time together, the question then of whom does God 756s

justify? Whom does God declare not guilty? God has declared who not guilty? The world, he has made 766s

this objective declaration and has said the world is not guilty. The fact that the world has been 778s

reconciled to him is something that we don't know by nature. It has to be divinely revealed to us. 789s

So we can look at creation and as it says in Romans, we can infer from creation and the complexity 797s

and the beauty and the magnificence of it that there must be one who created creation. You look 803s

at creation and you have to infer a creator of it. But the only way you understand who the creator is, 810s

is how he has revealed himself in Holy Scripture. So if one turns away from Holy Scripture, then one 818s

is going to create for themselves their own God, right? They're going to define God, however they 827s

wanted to find God. So this creator of which one can infer, in fact it is illogical to think that 832s

this is simply accidental. You look at creation, you infer the creator and then you understand who the 840s

creator is as you turn to Holy Scripture. That is something that is divinely revealed. Let's hear 848s

in 1 Corinthians the 2nd chapter. Let's turn there please. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 858s

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Accident, Romans, and then 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, 868s

verse 7. But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our 882s

glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified 893s

the Lord of glory, but as it is written, with no eye has seen or eardered, nor the human heart 900s

conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. These things God has revealed to us 908s

through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what human 916s

being knows what is truly human, except for the human spirit that is within, so also, no one 927s

comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God. You see that must be divinely revealed to 934s

us. It's the passage that we read this morning, it's one of the cross reference passages in Romans 3 949s

in the sermon, that indeed reveals that no one seeks for God, no one seeks for God, that our hearts, 956s

our hearts of stone. It was really interesting in confirmation class, I always love when we get to 964s

this class, and I ask the class, do we have free will? Do we have free will? And they get that, 969s

yeah, we've got free will in terms of what you're going to eat and how you're going to 977s

do, we have free will with regard to God. And you hear, yes, no, well maybe, sometimes, 986s

I literally can't do that, we got the whole gamut on there. By the end of the class, as we explore 1000s

that, we see, no, with regard to God, our wills, as Luther said, our wills are bound, we want nothing to 1008s

do with it. It's that scriptural passage in Romans that no one seeks for God, no one seeks for him. 1017s

That heart has to be transformed, that heart has to be changed. So the gospel does not reveal to 1030s

us a possible reconciliation. It doesn't reveal to us a conditional forgiveness of sins. The gospel 1037s

reveals to us that the reconciliation between the world and God, the fact that the world has been 1047s

declared forgiven by God is an accomplished fact. Let's go to Luke chapter 24, verse 47. 1054s

Luke chapter 24, verse 47. 1070s

There we read. And that, let's go back into 46, gives us a better context here. Thus it is written 1088s

that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and 1098s

forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in His name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. Your 1103s

witnesses of these things. Let's go to Acts 13, chapter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and then 1113s

Acts. Acts chapter 13, we'll pick up in verse 38, Acts 13, verse 38. 1120s

Hear this witnessing is occurring. Let it be known to you, therefore, my brothers, 1135s

that through this man, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through this man, forgiveness of 1141s

sins is proclaimed to you. The promise of forgiveness is received by faith. We're going to touch upon 1150s

that next week. But for now, I want to focus on the objective declaration that the world has been 1161s

a reconciled because you have to have that foundation. Because if you don't say that the world 1170s

has been declared forgiven by Jesus Christ, then you just have a possible reconciliation that has 1176s

been achieved by Jesus Christ. Then all of a sudden, your faith is that which affects the reconciliation. 1187s

And now all of a sudden you're in, the only work you've got to do is what is believed. 1197s

You've got to start with the foundation that we see in Scripture that the entire world has 1204s

been declared guilty, that God has said, here's the verdict, forgiveness, and regardless, even if 1209s

there was no person that believed it, that doesn't change the fact that God has said the world 1217s

is forgiven. Because that's the basis then. Whereby, then you start to talk about subjective 1225s

justification, which has to do about faith on that. But you've got to lay the framework of 1232s

objective justification. If not, then you only have a potential forgiveness that then you effect 1238s

through your faith. But I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit. So whom did God justify 1244s

the world, the world? Now this is contrary to a view that is called limited 1254s

atonement. We're going to put this in red because it's long. Limited atonement. You see when 1272s

the reformation occurred, you had also other reformers that disagreed with the church at Rome. 1282s

And there were also some that disagreed with Luther. One of those is a fellow by the name of John 1293s

Calvin. He lived 1509 to 1564. And he was a key figure in this opposition to Luther. 1300s

Calvinistic heritage carries over with our Presbyterian brothers and sisters. Or if you see a 1311s

reformed in front of a church's name, that's all reflecting Calvinistic heritage. Now here's the 1317s

positive. Calvinistic heritage affirms many of the same doctrines of Lutheranism. Many. It affirms, 1327s

for example, the Holy Trinity, the incarnation of Christ, the infreshment of Christ. It affirms 1337s

the divine authority of Scripture. It affirms justification by Christ's righteousness being 1343s

credited to us. And so there is a lot of affinity here with our Presbyterian brothers and sisters 1349s

in the faith. But one of the differences that we have with Calvinistic theology is around this 1358s

topic of limited atonement. Limited atonement says that Jesus Christ only died for those who believe. 1369s

He only died for those who believe. And so then of course you have to get back into verses like 1381s

for God's will of the world that he gave his only son. And you listen to a Calvinistic theologian 1387s

and they'll be working to try and say that that world doesn't mean world there. 1393s

And so Calvinistic theology says limited atonement that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, 1400s

he only died for the elect. He only died for those who would believe. 1406s

That's Lutheran's respectfully disagree on this. Let's go to first John, the second chapter. 1417s

Good way to find first John is just to go to the last book, Revelation, and turn left. 1424s

You're quickly in it. First John chapter 2 verse 2. 1432s

First John chapter 2 verse 2. 1442s

And speaking of Jesus in verse 2 it says, and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1450s

Now remember what that word atonement means. You break it down at one minute. So sin separates us 1461s

from God. When Jesus Christ goes to the cross, he is bringing us back into relationship with God. 1468s

So he's the atoning sacrifice. How can his sacrifice atone for us because Jesus took all of our sin 1476s

upon him? Jesus paid the sin death. Jesus' life instead of our life. God's wrath for sin fell 1486s

upon Jesus and not us. Why? Because the relationship is severed, we can't redeem ourselves. We're only 1495s

saved by the grace of God through the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so God acts to redeem us, 1503s

to atonus, to make us in relationship with us. So he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, 1514s

and not for ours only. Here it comes. But also for the sins of the what? Of the whole world. 1523s

Whole world. So this will be our challenge here to Calvinistic theology. If you say then that 1534s

Jesus Christ only went to the cross and Jesus only died for those who are going to believe, 1540s

then Jesus then didn't die for the sins of the entire world. 1549s

No, not at all. That's a good question. John's saying that the Calvinists have a different 1559s

Bible. No, they go after the word world and they limit it down. And they also resolve the tension 1563s

that is in Scripture between the language that says only the elect will be saved. 1575s

And so Calvinistic theology resolves what Scripture doesn't resolve. They'll say God destined 1583s

then some for salvation and some for damnation. When they resolve that then, you land here 1590s

unlimited atonement and then you got to deal with the word world. Remember Lutherans and 1600s

Scripture does not resolve the tension. It's two truths and God hasn't figured out in his mind. 1606s

The minute you resolve it, remember, minute you resolve the tension of why do some believe and 1613s

some others don't believe? How can you say that only the elect will be saved? But then you hear 1617s

the scriptural promise that God desires all to be saved. How do you hold those two things together? 1624s

The moment you solve that, you're either a Presbyterian or a Baptist. 1631s

Either you're in double predestination where God has chosen some to be saved and some to be 1639s

damned or you lose the sovereignty of God and then you're in the whole free will business. 1644s

Where you've got free will with regard to God to make your decision for God and God is just on his 1649s

throne hoping that you're going to say yes and God says, what's a God to do? Right? If you just say, 1655s

if you just say no, you see what happens and you lose the sovereignty of God then on that. 1664s

So if you solve what Scripture doesn't solve, you're either a Presbyterian or a Baptist. 1670s