Reformation
“We Have Been Acquitted!”
Romans 3:19-28
19
And we know that whatever the law says, it says to the ones under the law, so
that every mouth has been silenced, and the whole world held accountable to
God. 20 Therefore, no one will be
acquitted in his sight by observing the law, rather through the law we have the
thorough knowledge of our sin.
21
But now, an acquittal from God, apart from law, has
been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This acquittal from God is through faith
in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God; 24 and all are freely acquitted by his grace through
the ransom that Christ Jesus paid.
25
God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice,
because he had patiently delayed punishment of the sins committed in the past. 26 He did it to demonstrate his justice at the
present time, so as to be just and the one who acquits those who have faith in
Jesus.
27
Where then, is boasting? It is
excluded. On what
principle? On
that of observing the law? No,
but on that of faith. 28 For we can only
draw this conclusion: that a person is acquitted by faith apart from observing
the law.
Part One: Acquittal never comes because of our
work.
The sermon today will be
divided into three parts. After each
part, we will sing two verses of hymn 390.
Please keep your finger on that page in your hymnal.
Americans love courtroom
drama. Turn on the TV at any given time
and you can probably find a Law and Order re-run. CSI – which stands for Crime Scene
Investigation - now “televises” from Vegas,
Why do Americans pay
attention to these things? It’s because
we love the dialogue. The dialogue
within a courtroom makes for an interesting storyline. The two attorneys square off, each determined
to present their half of the truth as clearly as possible – but only the half
that benefits them the most. Witnesses
are prepared, tested, questioned, cross-examined, and re-questioned. Is their testimony reliable or not? One side says yes, the other says no. All of this work is to do anything possible
to win a favorable verdict. Before the
verdict comes, it is normal for there to be plenty of dialogue - questioning,
debating, bargaining, even arguing. These conversations are so important, a
courtroom clerk types every word that is said into an official court record so
that everyone can remember exactly who said what.
There’s a lot of talking in
our courts. But the Bible speaks of a
courtroom of law that is different than the American courtroom scene. Listen to what happens in God’s courtroom of
law. (read Romans 3:19-20)
In God’s courtroom, every
mouth has been silenced. (pause) There is no
talking. Could you imagine a courtroom of
law where, before the trial even begins, the judge already knows all the facts
so completely, and the guilt is so apparent and obvious, that even the
fast-talking defense attorney has nothing to say? They wouldn’t make a TV show out of that.
So who’s on trial? You are.
I am. We are on trial for being
sinners. God demands that we live a
perfect life – perfect in every thought that floats through our heart, perfect
in every word that falls from our lips, perfect in everything done with our
hands. If you can keep this
law…great! But guess what? You won’t.
You can’t. You aren’t. There is no difference, 23 for all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
You and I are guilty for
falling in love with our own opinions whenever we think about ourselves. You and I are guilty for seeking things only
to our advantage as we speak to one another.
You and I are guilty for minimizing how guilty we are. Martin Luther said, “The corruption of humans
is so very deep that it is not fully understood even by those who are the most
deeply spiritual. We must beg God for
divine grace, not only because we know that our wills are evil…but also because
we can never fully comprehend the unspeakable depth of our depravity.” We are guilty. And the judge knows that better than we
do. As he begins to talk – and as he
shares his Word with us – then and only then do we begin to realize the
thorough knowledge of our sin.
The whole world is held
accountable before God. There is no
intrigue; there is no mystery; there is no storyline. There is no high-dollar defense attorney who
can talk his way out of trouble. There
is no telling only the half of the truth that you like and trying to get the
other half thrown out. There is no
bargaining for a lesser charge. There is
neither an appeal process nor DNA testing.
There are no excuses and there is no way out. In fact, there is no talking at all. In God’s court of law, the whole world has
been silenced.
In an American courtroom,
acquittal comes only because the defense attorney puts in a lot of work. But in God’s courtroom, acquittal never comes
because of our work. The judge knows all
the facts. There is no way out. We are sinful and guilty and doomed. (read v.19-20 again)
Congregation sings: What
God does in his law demand
And
none to him can render
Brings
wrath and woe on every hand
For man, the vile offender.
Our
flesh has not those pure desires
The
spirit of the law requires;
And
lost is our condition.
It
is a false, misleading dream
That
God his law has given.
That sinners can themselves redeem
And by their works gain heaven.
The
law is but a mirror bright
To
bring the inbred sin to light
That
lurks within our nature.
Part Two: Acquittal has happened because of
Christ’s work.
The
courtroom is in silence. But the silence
is beginning to break. The judge, who
knows our depravity, is beginning to talk.
And after he talks about the depth of our sin, he talks about a kind of
acquittal…a different kind that comes from not keeping the law. Listen to this. (read v.21-24)
The
amazing news is that acquittal has come.
It didn’t come from you or your defense attorney. It didn’t come because the prosecutor decided
not to press charges. Those parties had
nothing to say. Acquittal comes from an
unlikely source - from God, the judge, the lawgiver, the one who knows the full
truth about you. He has given his only
Son to be our substitute.
Jesus
traded places with us. We sinned and
deserved to suffer in hell. Jesus lived
perfectly and earned eternal reward. So
in the trade, Jesus takes our sins and gives up his life. We now have eternal reward – the thing Jesus
has earned. Jesus has our sins and
suffers the punishment they deserve – crucifixion - for them. He paid them in full. He paid our debt to God. Officially and unmistakably, we are
acquitted.
Congregation sings: Salvation unto us has come
By God’s free grace
and favor
Good works could not
avert our doom
They help and save us
never.
Faith looks to Jesus
Christ alone
Who did for all the
world atone
He is the one
Redeemer.
Yet as the law must
be fulfilled
Or we must die
despairing
Christ came – and has
God’s anger stilled
Our
human nature sharing.
He has for us the law
obeyed
And thus the Father’s
vengeance stayed
Which
over us impended.
Part
Three: Rejoicing is to His credit,
and not to ours.
Two teens are home
alone. The brother doesn’t care, but the
sister wants to clean the house for her mom.
She makes her bed, cleans her closet, washes the dishes, even scrubs the
floors and cleans the toilet. She goes
above and beyond the call of duty! When
Mom comes home, she immediately exclaims, “WOW!
Who did all of this cleaning?”
Brother says, “I did it all.”
How upset would the sister
be? World War III would be about to
erupt in that home. Give credit where
credit is due, right? The same is true
with us and Jesus. (read v.27-28)
Give credit where credit is
due. Don’t minimize his gift by saying,
“Awww, I wasn’t that bad.” Don’t be apathetic about the Word and Jesus
and heaven with an “I’ve-heard-all-that-before” kind of attitude. Don’t give yourself the credit that he
deserves. Give Jesus full credit for
your salvation. Rejoice in what he has
done for you. Live in peace and deep
thanks.
Congregation sings: Since
Christ has full atonement made
And
brought to us salvation
Each
Christian therefore may be glad
And
build on this foundation.
Your
grace alone, dear Lord, I plead.
Your
death is now my life indeed.
For you have paid my ransom.
All
blessing, honor, thanks and praise
To
Father, Son and Spirit!
The
God who saved us by his grace –
All
glory to his merit!
O
Triune God in heaven above,
You
have revealed your saving love;
Your
blessed name be hallowed!