Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn. 00:00:01.36\00:00:02.76 Did you know that our loving God 00:00:02.76\00:00:04.17 is willing and able to pardon you of all of your sins? 00:00:04.17\00:00:07.47 Please join us now on "The Grace Pipeline" 00:00:07.47\00:00:09.84 and we will look at what the Bible has to say 00:00:09.84\00:00:13.27 about God's amazing gift of righteousness by faith. 00:00:13.27\00:00:17.75 Welcome to "The Grace Pipeline." 00:00:40.07\00:00:42.14 Today, our hearts will be blessed as we consider 00:00:42.14\00:00:45.37 God's promise of justification by grace 00:00:45.37\00:00:49.41 through the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. 00:00:49.41\00:00:54.08 This is the first stage of salvation, justification. 00:00:54.08\00:00:58.85 It is the foundation of our hope for eternal life. 00:00:58.85\00:01:02.72 In this series, we are following a Bible study book 00:01:02.72\00:01:05.86 that I was given the privilege to write. 00:01:05.86\00:01:08.56 And if you're following along in the series companion book, 00:01:08.56\00:01:12.00 "The Grace Pipeline," we are beginning today on chapter 5. 00:01:12.00\00:01:16.57 One thing that we have previously established 00:01:16.57\00:01:19.24 in this series is that Jesus Christ 00:01:19.24\00:01:22.44 is the greatest gift of grace that God 00:01:22.44\00:01:25.88 ever gave to humanity. 00:01:25.88\00:01:28.78 But have you ever wondered how could the Lord 00:01:28.78\00:01:33.25 of glory be nailed to the cross? 00:01:33.25\00:01:36.09 How could the heart of humanity devise an execution 00:01:36.09\00:01:40.60 of such appalling savagery? 00:01:40.60\00:01:43.93 How could the jealousy of religious leaders 00:01:43.93\00:01:47.57 inflict such intense cruelty on the sinless son of God? 00:01:47.57\00:01:53.44 Though we may struggle with these thoughts, 00:01:53.44\00:01:55.94 we must accept what Peter said in 1 Peter 1:20 00:01:55.94\00:02:00.28 and Revelation 13:8 also, reveals that God's eternal 00:02:00.28\00:02:05.39 counsel determined Calvary's event before He established 00:02:05.39\00:02:11.19 the foundations of the world. 00:02:11.19\00:02:14.30 To indict all who are guilty of the death of Christ, 00:02:14.30\00:02:18.87 we must look beyond the Romans 00:02:18.87\00:02:20.84 and the highest Jewish council of the Sanhedrin 00:02:20.84\00:02:24.07 to include you and me. 00:02:24.07\00:02:26.57 The Savior suffered to secure our justification by grace. 00:02:26.57\00:02:30.85 It was the will of God to provide 00:02:30.85\00:02:32.71 the Calvary plan for our salvation. 00:02:32.71\00:02:36.02 God has--in His unique knowledge, 00:02:36.02\00:02:39.35 He has knowledge of the future and tells us 00:02:39.35\00:02:43.06 in Isaiah 46:10 that He declares the end from the beginning. 00:02:43.06\00:02:48.60 Being the very essence of love Himself, 00:02:48.60\00:02:51.53 He knows the power of love is the power of choice. 00:02:51.53\00:02:56.34 And if you think about that for a moment, 00:02:56.34\00:02:58.41 a forced or coerced response cannot be defined as love. 00:02:58.41\00:03:05.81 So by His design, all created beings have free will. 00:03:05.81\00:03:11.42 The Lord declares in Jeremiah 31:3, 00:03:11.42\00:03:14.96 "I have loved you with an everlasting love. 00:03:14.96\00:03:18.49 Therefore with loving kindness, I have drawn you." 00:03:18.49\00:03:22.26 Our creator sought to establish a relationship of trust 00:03:22.26\00:03:26.74 with humanity by wooing us with unfailing love. 00:03:26.74\00:03:31.44 But the all-knowing God had foreseen the future of mankind. 00:03:31.44\00:03:35.64 We would break His gracious commandments of covenant love 00:03:35.64\00:03:40.12 and reject our Lord, the holy one we would reject, 00:03:40.12\00:03:44.75 resolved to be our redeemer before He created us. 00:03:44.75\00:03:50.16 To provide the guilty human race of His forgiveness 00:03:50.16\00:03:53.73 of sin by grace, God initially instituted 00:03:53.73\00:03:57.03 the sacrificial system. 00:03:57.03\00:03:58.63 And that served His purpose well until the fullness of time, 00:03:58.63\00:04:02.50 a perfect time predetermined by the Lord when God Himself 00:04:02.50\00:04:07.08 would step in to save us. 00:04:07.08\00:04:09.34 The willing servant of salvation, Jesus Christ 00:04:09.34\00:04:12.85 could have at any moment called upon His Father 00:04:12.85\00:04:16.48 who would have sent legions of angels 00:04:16.48\00:04:19.22 to save Him from the cruel cross of Calvary, 00:04:19.22\00:04:22.42 but He did not. 00:04:22.42\00:04:23.83 The Son desired to honor His father 00:04:23.83\00:04:26.33 by fulfilling God given promises. 00:04:26.33\00:04:29.06 God had gladdened the heart of the patriarch Abraham 00:04:29.06\00:04:33.37 when he showed him the day of Christ. 00:04:33.37\00:04:35.40 Jesus actually said in John 8:56, 00:04:35.40\00:04:38.97 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. 00:04:38.97\00:04:43.91 He saw it and was glad." 00:04:43.91\00:04:47.75 Abraham, foreseeing the death and resurrection 00:04:47.75\00:04:50.79 of God's sacrificed son, Abraham's faith 00:04:50.79\00:04:54.96 prompted him to obey a very severe test 00:04:54.96\00:04:58.39 of his own willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac 00:04:58.39\00:05:02.93 who was his son of promise. 00:05:02.93\00:05:05.43 Genesis Chapter 22 records the account 00:05:05.43\00:05:09.30 of how the patriarch proved his faith and loyalty. 00:05:09.30\00:05:13.48 God proved His plan, too, of extreme grace. 00:05:13.48\00:05:17.75 What Abraham did, laying the wood 00:05:17.75\00:05:20.48 for the altar of burnt offering on his son's back, 00:05:20.48\00:05:23.79 Abraham took the fire pot and a knife 00:05:23.79\00:05:26.76 and he began the journey to a mountain 00:05:26.76\00:05:29.59 which God had appointed. 00:05:29.59\00:05:31.29 As the old father and his son Isaac 00:05:31.29\00:05:34.03 made the trek to Mount Moriah, 00:05:34.03\00:05:36.50 the strapping young man asked, 00:05:36.50\00:05:38.77 "Father, where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" 00:05:38.77\00:05:43.07 And Abraham spoke prophetically 00:05:43.07\00:05:45.74 when he answered in Genesis 22:8, he said, 00:05:45.74\00:05:49.44 "My son, God will provide for Himself 00:05:49.44\00:05:53.62 the lamb for a burnt offering." 00:05:53.62\00:05:56.08 That very day, God supernaturally provided 00:05:56.08\00:05:59.59 the ram caught in a thicket as the pledge 00:05:59.59\00:06:03.06 of his promised son Jesus Christ. 00:06:03.06\00:06:06.39 And nearly 2,000 years later, Roman soldiers laid 00:06:06.39\00:06:10.77 the wood of the offering on Christ's back. 00:06:10.77\00:06:14.10 Carrying his cross, they led the supernaturally 00:06:14.10\00:06:17.27 provided Lamb of God outside the gates of Jerusalem 00:06:17.27\00:06:21.61 to a little knoll, the Hil of Calvary, 00:06:21.61\00:06:24.98 the appointed place near Mount Moriah. 00:06:24.98\00:06:28.88 Abraham as a prophet and all the prophets of God 00:06:28.88\00:06:33.12 throughout ancient history knew this day was coming. 00:06:33.12\00:06:37.39 It is written in 1 Peter 1:10, 11, 00:06:37.39\00:06:41.23 "Of this salvation the prophets have inquired 00:06:41.23\00:06:44.37 and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace 00:06:44.37\00:06:48.57 that would come to you, searching what, or what 00:06:48.57\00:06:52.41 manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them 00:06:52.41\00:06:56.48 was indicating when He testified beforehand 00:06:56.48\00:07:00.58 the sufferings of Christ 00:07:00.58\00:07:02.62 and the glories that would follow." 00:07:02.62\00:07:06.15 Isaiah prophesied of Christ's death 00:07:06.15\00:07:08.32 and the unsearchable riches of his sacrifice in chapter 53 00:07:08.32\00:07:12.79 of the Old Testament book identified by his name. 00:07:12.79\00:07:15.63 And the prophet compared humanity 00:07:15.63\00:07:18.17 to dumb, straying sheep. 00:07:18.17\00:07:21.44 A people prone to wander from a loving shepherd 00:07:21.44\00:07:24.64 and inclined to transgress his holy laws. 00:07:24.64\00:07:28.28 It paints a pretty fitting picture, don't you think? 00:07:28.28\00:07:32.08 Well, in verse 5, he says that he saw that 00:07:32.08\00:07:35.88 "Christ was wounded for our transgressions." 00:07:35.88\00:07:39.32 And then in verse 12, he saw that 00:07:39.32\00:07:41.82 "Christ poured out His soul unto death." 00:07:41.82\00:07:45.63 The God of heaven would descend to become flesh 00:07:45.63\00:07:49.33 and stand in as the suffering servant of humanity. 00:07:49.33\00:07:53.94 In an act of lavish love, the Messiah would offer His life 00:07:53.94\00:07:58.87 as a ransom for everyone who calls 00:07:58.87\00:08:01.94 on His name for salvation. 00:08:01.94\00:08:04.38 Let's look at what the prophet recorded in Isaiah 53:10 and 11. 00:08:04.38\00:08:10.72 And he says, "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him, 00:08:10.72\00:08:15.29 He has put Him to grief. 00:08:15.29\00:08:17.53 When You make His soul an offering for sin, 00:08:17.53\00:08:20.80 He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, 00:08:20.80\00:08:24.87 and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 00:08:24.87\00:08:28.00 He shall see the labor of His soul and be satisfied. 00:08:28.00\00:08:32.24 By His knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many, 00:08:32.24\00:08:37.55 for He shall bear their iniquities." 00:08:37.55\00:08:43.55 The heavenly Father revealed to Isaiah, 00:08:43.55\00:08:46.69 He would lay all of our sins on His Son at the cross 00:08:46.69\00:08:51.03 and be pleased that justice would be served. 00:08:51.03\00:08:54.73 Divine mercy would be multiplied to miserable mankind, 00:08:54.73\00:08:59.07 the sacrifice would not be in vain. 00:08:59.07\00:09:02.24 Perhaps one of the most glorious scriptures in the Bible 00:09:02.24\00:09:05.94 is that found in 2 Corinthians 5:21 which says, 00:09:05.94\00:09:12.28 "He made him, speaking of Jesus, who knew no sin 00:09:12.28\00:09:17.49 to be sin for us, that we might become 00:09:17.49\00:09:21.36 the righteousness of God in Him." 00:09:21.36\00:09:25.86 In the covenant transaction of the cross, 00:09:25.86\00:09:29.30 God reckoned our sins to Christ to count that he could reckon 00:09:29.30\00:09:34.20 or impute Christ's righteousness to us through faith. 00:09:34.20\00:09:38.54 This exchange puts repentant sinners 00:09:38.54\00:09:41.98 in right standing with God. 00:09:41.98\00:09:44.78 Isaiah saw God's Calvary plan in vision 00:09:44.78\00:09:48.18 and joyfully proclaimed in Isaiah 61:10, 00:09:48.18\00:09:53.49 "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, 00:09:53.49\00:09:56.76 my soul shall be joyful in my God, 00:09:56.76\00:10:00.70 for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, 00:10:00.70\00:10:04.23 He has covered me with the robe of righteousness." 00:10:04.23\00:10:09.24 Are you wearing that blessed robe of righteousness? 00:10:09.24\00:10:13.07 To be made righteous involves 00:10:13.07\00:10:14.98 the whole proceeding of God's justice. 00:10:14.98\00:10:17.55 And let me tell you, nothing you can do 00:10:17.55\00:10:19.65 will satisfy that process. 00:10:19.65\00:10:22.05 He brings you into a right relationship with Himself 00:10:22.05\00:10:26.09 by causing you to be everything He calls you to be. 00:10:26.09\00:10:30.39 In other words, your maker makes you all that He requires 00:10:30.39\00:10:34.46 you to be through your relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:10:34.46\00:10:39.13 Righteousness by faith is the only way 00:10:39.13\00:10:42.44 that unholy humanity can acquire 00:10:42.44\00:10:45.41 right standing before a holy God. 00:10:45.41\00:10:47.91 That which we vainly consider our own righteous acts, 00:10:47.91\00:10:51.68 maybe it's our best human efforts 00:10:51.68\00:10:53.75 to decontaminate ourselves from sin is revealed 00:10:53.75\00:10:57.99 by Isaiah 64:6, to be nothing more 00:10:57.99\00:11:02.59 than polluted filthy rag in the brilliant light 00:11:02.59\00:11:06.33 of God's Shekinah glory. 00:11:06.33\00:11:08.46 Only Christ's spotless robe will suffice. 00:11:08.46\00:11:13.74 My Heavenly Father knows how I struggled to be right 00:11:13.74\00:11:17.24 with Him during my earlier experience 00:11:17.24\00:11:19.97 and how utterly discouraged I became. 00:11:19.97\00:11:23.11 No one ever told me that He never intended 00:11:23.11\00:11:26.68 his commandments to serve as a precondition of salvation. 00:11:26.68\00:11:30.49 My family and my church instructed me, 00:11:30.49\00:11:33.46 I had to be perfect before God for Him to love me. 00:11:33.46\00:11:37.59 And perfection was beyond my grasp 00:11:37.59\00:11:40.30 but I continuously strained to reach it. 00:11:40.30\00:11:44.03 At times I felt so defeated, I simply quit trying. 00:11:44.03\00:11:48.04 And I couldn't measure up to God's standards, 00:11:48.04\00:11:50.87 so I quit trying and I walked away from Him. 00:11:50.87\00:11:54.14 Rules without relationship most frequently result in rebellion. 00:11:54.14\00:11:59.58 You know, God taught me finally, 00:11:59.58\00:12:02.62 that righteousness was mine for the asking. 00:12:02.62\00:12:05.95 A gift he offered freely and as I tapped into 00:12:05.95\00:12:09.86 the grace pipeline, His flow of virtue flooded 00:12:09.86\00:12:14.03 and relaxed my anxious heart. 00:12:14.03\00:12:16.36 God accepted me in his beloved son. 00:12:16.36\00:12:19.63 Drawing near, I allowed him to embrace me 00:12:19.63\00:12:22.64 and I learned to respond to my Father with respect 00:12:22.64\00:12:27.31 for our covenant relationship of love. 00:12:27.31\00:12:29.81 And obedience became an expression 00:12:29.81\00:12:33.28 of my appreciation for salvation. 00:12:33.28\00:12:36.18 Justified by His grace, 00:12:36.18\00:12:38.79 I learned to live in His power by faith. 00:12:38.79\00:12:42.66 I finally learnt what the Apostle Paul 00:12:42.66\00:12:44.83 had learned and stated so eloquently in Romans 1:16, 17. 00:12:44.83\00:12:51.60 Paul writes, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, 00:12:51.60\00:12:56.97 for it is the power of God to salvation 00:12:56.97\00:13:00.04 for everyone who believes. 00:13:00.04\00:13:02.64 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed 00:13:02.64\00:13:06.45 from faith to faith, as it is written, 00:13:06.45\00:13:10.15 'the just shall live by faith.'" 00:13:10.15\00:13:16.06 These words written by God's most ardent ambassador 00:13:16.06\00:13:20.23 for righteousness by faith resulted from Paul's personal 00:13:20.23\00:13:24.83 encounter with the Shekinah glory of Jesus 00:13:24.83\00:13:28.10 on the road to Damascus. 00:13:28.10\00:13:30.41 The religious zealot formerly called by the name Saul 00:13:30.41\00:13:34.74 had been vainly striving to serve God. 00:13:34.74\00:13:38.11 Instead, in his educated egotistical efforts, 00:13:38.11\00:13:42.22 he persecuted God's cause until he met the Lord of glory. 00:13:42.22\00:13:46.89 Paul immediately, when he met Jesus, 00:13:46.89\00:13:50.06 he immediately surrendered his will to the perfect will of God 00:13:50.06\00:13:54.30 and recognizing that no one can be justified 00:13:54.30\00:13:58.00 by the works of God's law but only by faith in Jesus. 00:13:58.00\00:14:03.20 He dropped his filthy rag endeavors and received 00:14:03.20\00:14:06.74 the robe of Christ's righteousness. 00:14:06.74\00:14:09.38 In Philippians 3:9, Paul later described righteousness 00:14:09.38\00:14:14.78 as coming by faith from God through faith in Christ. 00:14:14.78\00:14:20.32 How many people are there today who call themselves Christians 00:14:20.32\00:14:24.46 yet spoil the Lord's plan of salvation with dependence 00:14:24.46\00:14:28.43 upon their own filthy rag efforts? 00:14:28.43\00:14:31.33 Miserable in life, their actions are absolute nonsense to God 00:14:31.33\00:14:36.04 and often a nuisance to their neighbor. 00:14:36.04\00:14:39.07 The Bible warns those who attempt to earn salvation 00:14:39.07\00:14:43.65 by works and who attempt to be justified by keeping the law, 00:14:43.65\00:14:48.55 that they have become separated from grace, 00:14:48.55\00:14:52.62 separated from Christ and fallen from grace. 00:14:52.62\00:14:56.46 Look at Paul's warning found in Galatians 5:4, 00:14:56.46\00:15:01.63 "You have become estranged from Christ, 00:15:01.63\00:15:06.07 you who attempt to be justified by law, 00:15:06.07\00:15:10.24 you have fallen from grace." 00:15:10.24\00:15:13.48 Paul told the Galatians in Chapter 2:21, 00:15:13.48\00:15:16.95 he said, "I do not set aside the grace of God, 00:15:16.95\00:15:19.98 for if righteousness comes through the law, 00:15:19.98\00:15:22.48 then Christ died in vain." 00:15:22.48\00:15:24.65 If we want to take Paul's thought a step further, 00:15:24.65\00:15:27.66 if God can make us righteous by forgiving our sins 00:15:27.66\00:15:31.56 simply because He loved us, by necessity, 00:15:31.56\00:15:34.63 we must count the cross of Christ a mockery. 00:15:34.63\00:15:39.30 God's great moral law, the Ten Commandments, 00:15:39.30\00:15:41.94 are the foundation of His government 00:15:41.94\00:15:44.07 which He cannot simply ignore. 00:15:44.07\00:15:46.14 He spoke and wrote them in words laced with echoes of His grace. 00:15:46.14\00:15:51.71 Even the preamble to his law of love 00:15:51.71\00:15:53.85 which began in Exodus 20:2, it starts with these words. 00:15:53.85\00:16:00.19 "I am the Lord your God who brought you out 00:16:00.19\00:16:03.09 of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." 00:16:03.09\00:16:06.73 Do you see what God did? 00:16:06.73\00:16:08.16 He first established the fact 00:16:08.16\00:16:10.30 that He was their loving redeemer. 00:16:10.30\00:16:12.80 And then in Exodus 19:4-6, God told his people, 00:16:12.80\00:16:20.28 "You have seen how I bore you on eagle wings 00:16:20.28\00:16:24.71 and brought you to myself. 00:16:24.71\00:16:26.41 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice 00:16:26.41\00:16:30.29 and keep my covenant, 00:16:30.29\00:16:32.49 then you shall be a special treasure to me 00:16:32.49\00:16:35.46 above all people and you shall be to me 00:16:35.46\00:16:39.43 a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." 00:16:39.43\00:16:45.23 God was saying in essence, I have delivered you because 00:16:45.23\00:16:49.80 I desire a relationship with you. 00:16:49.80\00:16:52.87 If you love Me, you will keep My law of covenant love 00:16:52.87\00:16:56.51 that I give You to provide boundaries 00:16:56.51\00:16:59.75 for the blessed and holy life. 00:16:59.75\00:17:02.28 You know, in the original Hebrew language, 00:17:02.28\00:17:05.52 His Ten Commandments are written 00:17:05.52\00:17:07.56 in positive language not negative. 00:17:07.56\00:17:10.46 God was giving them ten promises that His love 00:17:10.46\00:17:14.00 would empower them to live by. 00:17:14.00\00:17:16.30 The people committed rapidly to a covenant 00:17:16.30\00:17:19.17 relationship with their deliverer. 00:17:19.17\00:17:21.67 Then, in a display of His power and holiness from Mount Sinai, 00:17:21.67\00:17:26.64 God reinforced His eternal moral principles 00:17:26.64\00:17:30.48 and standing at a distance, 00:17:30.48\00:17:33.01 the witnesses of His awesome glory trembled. 00:17:33.01\00:17:37.22 God purposed His commandments to serve as guard rails 00:17:37.22\00:17:41.36 along life's treacherous path 00:17:41.36\00:17:43.53 to protect humanity from falling into sin. 00:17:43.53\00:17:47.46 Those who accept righteousness by faith will receive power 00:17:47.46\00:17:52.17 from a spirit filled life to prove that God's commandments 00:17:52.17\00:17:56.64 circumference the abundant life of righteousness. 00:17:56.64\00:18:00.81 Although the cross of Christ became Paul's great boast, 00:18:00.81\00:18:04.91 he clearly pointed out faith does not nullify 00:18:04.91\00:18:08.85 or make void the law, but rather established it. 00:18:08.85\00:18:14.09 Scripture describes two types of righteousness 00:18:14.09\00:18:17.56 God pours out by grace. 00:18:17.56\00:18:19.83 Let's look at those. 00:18:19.83\00:18:21.76 First, there is the imputed righteousness of Christ 00:18:21.76\00:18:25.27 that's the record of His perfect moral character 00:18:25.27\00:18:28.30 and His complete conformity to God's commandments 00:18:28.30\00:18:31.71 that's credited to us and this reconciles us to God. 00:18:31.71\00:18:36.24 And then second, there is the imparted righteousness 00:18:36.24\00:18:40.42 of Christ which empowers us to live a holy life. 00:18:40.42\00:18:45.49 We will consider imputed righteousness now. 00:18:45.49\00:18:49.79 If this is your first time to examine the process, 00:18:49.79\00:18:53.13 you are heading toward a discovery 00:18:53.13\00:18:56.00 that will delight your heart. 00:18:56.00\00:18:58.10 If this is only something that serves as a review for you, 00:18:58.10\00:19:03.27 it is something maybe you previously studied, 00:19:03.27\00:19:06.17 may the reminder of God's promises revive you. 00:19:06.17\00:19:10.15 To impute means to reckon or take into account. 00:19:10.15\00:19:16.32 As a figure of speech, it means to credit to a person's account. 00:19:16.32\00:19:21.79 To help explain imputed righteousness, 00:19:21.79\00:19:24.13 let me first offer an illustration. 00:19:24.13\00:19:27.30 Here is my related but certainly imperfect concept. 00:19:27.30\00:19:33.30 Let's say through foolish and deceptive practices 00:19:33.30\00:19:36.47 you have amassed a bank debt of $10 billion. 00:19:36.47\00:19:41.28 Although you are now remorseful and desire to make things right, 00:19:41.28\00:19:46.18 the fact is, you could work overtime 00:19:46.18\00:19:48.75 for the rest of your life 00:19:48.75\00:19:50.35 and never earn enough to pay off your load. 00:19:50.35\00:19:53.52 The legal action that you now face just grips 00:19:53.52\00:19:57.13 your heart with anxiety. 00:19:57.13\00:19:59.36 Will the judge sentence you to perish in prison? 00:19:59.36\00:20:02.76 Aware of your pitiful plight, 00:20:02.76\00:20:04.60 the CEO of the world banking organization 00:20:04.60\00:20:08.27 steps forward to be your benefactor. 00:20:08.27\00:20:11.47 International law prevents him simply from erasing 00:20:11.47\00:20:15.74 the records of your account. 00:20:15.74\00:20:17.98 Rather with mystifying mercy and generosity, 00:20:17.98\00:20:21.95 he covers your debt by assuming it. 00:20:21.95\00:20:25.69 He hands you a legal draft to transfer your debt 00:20:25.69\00:20:28.82 to his personal account and his good credit to yours. 00:20:28.82\00:20:32.69 You don't know him, why is he being so generous? 00:20:32.69\00:20:37.20 Still, in faith of his honorable reputation, 00:20:37.20\00:20:40.54 you rush the document to the bank to execute 00:20:40.54\00:20:43.64 the transaction and see if it's real. 00:20:43.64\00:20:46.34 And your bank ledger is changed, your debt is canceled 00:20:46.34\00:20:51.41 and the account is reconciled. 00:20:51.41\00:20:53.92 Now the banking institution looks on you 00:20:53.92\00:20:56.35 with favor prepared to do business with you again. 00:20:56.35\00:21:00.26 Can you imagine the feelings of new found loyalty 00:21:00.26\00:21:03.22 you would have for your gracious benefactor? 00:21:03.22\00:21:07.10 Well, as imperfect as that illustration may be, 00:21:07.10\00:21:10.70 it gives you an idea of the incredible heavenly 00:21:10.70\00:21:14.84 transaction that imputes Christ's righteousness 00:21:14.84\00:21:18.17 to repentant sinners. 00:21:18.17\00:21:19.97 All the natural descendants of Adam, including you and me, 00:21:19.97\00:21:23.98 are born with a propensity to break God's holy laws. 00:21:23.98\00:21:28.82 Our fallen nature is not in right standing 00:21:28.82\00:21:31.79 with a righteous God. 00:21:31.79\00:21:33.46 We owe a sin debt, 00:21:33.46\00:21:35.59 we could never repay since penalty is death. 00:21:35.59\00:21:39.69 A lifetime of good works could not earn eternal life. 00:21:39.69\00:21:44.23 Now we understand the problem our loving 00:21:44.23\00:21:47.44 and just heavenly Father faced. 00:21:47.44\00:21:50.34 Justice demanded that he take--not take an indifferent 00:21:50.34\00:21:55.88 approach to his laws of love set in stone. 00:21:55.88\00:21:59.48 Justice must be served. 00:21:59.48\00:22:01.38 To remain the just one, He became the justifier 00:22:01.38\00:22:05.32 demonstrating His unfailing love toward us 00:22:05.32\00:22:08.69 in sending His son to assume our debt 00:22:08.69\00:22:11.66 by standing in as our substitute in death. 00:22:11.66\00:22:14.63 At the moment that we accept Christ as our Savior 00:22:14.63\00:22:17.90 and the propitiation of our sins, He eliminates our debt 00:22:17.90\00:22:22.50 and becomes the source of our credit. 00:22:22.50\00:22:25.27 His atoning blood covers our sin. 00:22:25.27\00:22:28.31 His perfect character of righteousness and the perfect 00:22:28.31\00:22:32.48 obedience of his record are metaphorically credited 00:22:32.48\00:22:37.19 to our overdrawn spiritual account. 00:22:37.19\00:22:40.22 The books of heaven are reconciled, 00:22:40.22\00:22:42.62 the ledger of our balance sheet is changed 00:22:42.62\00:22:46.19 because of our vital connection to Christ, 00:22:46.19\00:22:48.96 the debt of our past sins is blotted out and a divine quality 00:22:48.96\00:22:54.24 that is not ours is accounted to us. 00:22:54.24\00:22:58.07 God restores us to His holy favor. 00:22:58.07\00:23:00.78 Now our natural response is a surge of loyalty and love 00:23:00.78\00:23:06.11 for the one who loves us and gave Himself for us. 00:23:06.11\00:23:12.55 In Romans 4:11, Paul defines that process 00:23:12.55\00:23:16.36 as imputed righteousness. 00:23:16.36\00:23:18.83 By God's abundant grace given in the person of Jesus Christ, 00:23:18.83\00:23:24.10 he puts us in right standing before Him, 00:23:24.10\00:23:27.64 which makes it possible for him to declare us justified. 00:23:27.64\00:23:32.87 Then Paul wrote these amazing 00:23:32.87\00:23:35.91 words in Romans 5:17-18, 00:23:35.91\00:23:41.18 "For if by Adam's offense death reigned through the one, 00:23:41.18\00:23:47.99 reigned through Adam, much more those who receive 00:23:47.99\00:23:51.56 abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness 00:23:51.56\00:23:57.07 will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. 00:23:57.07\00:24:01.87 "Therefore as through one man's offense" 00:24:01.87\00:24:05.14 through Adam's offense, he's speaking of, 00:24:05.14\00:24:07.18 "judgment came to all men, 00:24:07.18\00:24:09.31 resulting in condemnation even so Christ's righteous act 00:24:09.31\00:24:15.38 the free gift came to all men 00:24:15.38\00:24:18.32 resulting in justification of life. 00:24:18.32\00:24:21.29 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, 00:24:21.29\00:24:25.56 so also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous." 00:24:25.56\00:24:31.67 Oh, I love that. 00:24:31.67\00:24:33.20 Through the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. 00:24:33.20\00:24:36.37 God's gospel of grace is so exciting. 00:24:36.37\00:24:40.41 Everything that we have considered thus far, 00:24:40.41\00:24:44.48 has been leading us up to this climactic moment, 00:24:44.48\00:24:48.38 justification by grace through the imputed 00:24:48.38\00:24:51.35 righteousness of Christ. 00:24:51.35\00:24:53.46 This is the first stage of salvation. 00:24:53.46\00:24:57.03 It is the foundation of our hope for eternal life. 00:24:57.03\00:25:01.96 And at this point, it is our record that is changed, 00:25:01.96\00:25:06.67 not necessarily our character. 00:25:06.67\00:25:09.60 Since God loves us too much to leave us 00:25:09.60\00:25:12.84 in our miserable condition, he affects a change 00:25:12.84\00:25:16.54 of our character in the second stage of salvation, 00:25:16.54\00:25:20.42 labeled sanctification. 00:25:20.42\00:25:23.18 And we will explore that exciting truth 00:25:23.18\00:25:26.62 in our next program as we gradually 00:25:26.62\00:25:30.69 unfold God's marvelous plan of grace. 00:25:30.69\00:25:34.63 Remember, God's love 00:25:34.63\00:25:36.97 is the compelling force behind His grace. 00:25:36.97\00:25:40.64 Grace is the pipeline 00:25:40.64\00:25:43.20 through which all blessings flow from heaven to earth. 00:25:43.20\00:25:47.41 Faith is the faucet, it is the how we tap into God's 00:25:47.41\00:25:52.38 grace pipeline and our faith regulates the release 00:25:52.38\00:25:56.62 of blessings from His great reservoir. 00:25:56.62\00:25:59.42 Now what is prayer? 00:25:59.42\00:26:01.49 It's the handle that opens the faith faucet 00:26:01.49\00:26:05.53 and trust is the foundation for the prayer of faith. 00:26:05.53\00:26:10.10 Now what's a foundation for trust? 00:26:10.10\00:26:14.00 Has to be relationship. 00:26:14.00\00:26:15.94 You don't really trust people you don't know all that well. 00:26:15.94\00:26:19.74 But when we have that relationship 00:26:19.74\00:26:22.78 as the foundation for trust, we have to ask ourselves, 00:26:22.78\00:26:26.31 what is the foundation for relationship? 00:26:26.31\00:26:29.85 Love, love is the foundation for relationship. 00:26:29.85\00:26:34.02 And when we recognize how much our God loves us, 00:26:34.02\00:26:40.03 then we begin to have reciprocal feelings of loving Him. 00:26:40.03\00:26:46.23 So that is what is important to us, 00:26:46.23\00:26:48.74 is to understand God's love. 00:26:48.74\00:26:52.27 For us to learn to love Him 00:26:52.27\00:26:54.91 with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, 00:26:54.91\00:26:57.65 and develop that intimate relationship 00:26:57.65\00:27:01.25 and that would develop our trust. 00:27:01.25\00:27:04.69 And when that trust has been developed, 00:27:04.69\00:27:07.76 we will pray with all of our might and that will help us 00:27:07.76\00:27:11.99 with our actions of faith so that we can 00:27:11.99\00:27:14.20 tap into the grace pipeline. 00:27:14.20\00:27:16.67 Well, our time is fast slipping away today. 00:27:16.67\00:27:20.17 We hope that you would join us again on our next program, 00:27:20.17\00:27:24.24 where we are going to define 00:27:24.24\00:27:26.78 the legal transaction of justification. 00:27:26.78\00:27:31.05 You won't want to miss this upcoming program. 00:27:31.05\00:27:34.35 Because what we will learn is how to live at peace 00:27:34.35\00:27:39.82 with our past when you tap into God's grace pipeline 00:27:39.82\00:27:43.53 and receive the abundance He wants to give you. 00:27:43.53\00:27:48.20 Now don't forget what we just looked at in Romans 5:17, 00:27:48.20\00:27:52.27 that those who receive an abundance of grace 00:27:52.27\00:27:55.57 and the gift of righteousness 00:27:55.57\00:27:57.24 will reign in life through Christ Jesus. 00:27:57.24\00:28:01.08