1 GOD S JUSTICE IN JESUS CHRIST Romans 3:19-28; Reformation; October 27-28, 2018 Two well-known symbols of justice are the scales of justice and a blindfolded Lady Justice holding those scales and a sword. The scales are the old-fashioned type of a balance on a fulcrum. This reminds us that justice means to weigh both sides, that just decisions are decided by the weight of evidence that prevails. I m no lawyer or judge, but I understand that in all cases, guilt or innocence must be based on weighing the evidence. Lady Justice is often depicted wearing a blindfold which illustrates the idea that justice must be blind, that is, fair and impartial. It is said that we are a nation of laws not a nations of persons. The law must treat people equally and not play favorites based on wealth, position, or any other criteria. Our Pledge of Allegiance ends, with justice for all. That Lady Justice bears a sword reminds us that that those who are found guilty will be punished according to the severity of their crime. The punishment must fit the crime if it is to be just. I think all of us want a justice system that weighs the evidence and is administered with impartially and fairness. When you heard Romans three earlier, you might have noticed that St. Paul described God as just and the Justifier, that people are justified by God. The Epistle for Reformation Day uses the concept of justice according to law and justification to describe how we relate to God. How does St. Paul describes God s justice? Does God use a balance to check whether we are guilty or innocent? Is God s justice blind? Does He treat us fairly? The Epistle Reading begins by summarizing what was taught in the first three chapters of Romans. Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the the law comes knowledge of sin.
2 Just like our country is a nation of laws, not persons, that is, everyone is to be treated equally under the law, everyone in the world will be held accountable to the law of God. God s law applies to everyone, and God will judge guilt or innocence based on whether or not we have obeyed His law. When it comes to justice, what standard does God use to determine guilt or innocence? The standard is His law, the Ten Commandments. Since God sees and hears everything we do, think, or say we cannot get away with anything. Unlike a human court of law that can only judge based on the evidence presented, God has all the evidence. Paul tells us what God s law indicates about us: For by works of the the law comes knowledge of sin. In other words, we are all guilty, as he noted in verse 23: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. In the sight of God the Judge we are guilty according to the law. We should come to the same conclusion since through the law comes knowledge of sin. This is what Lutherans describe as the second use of the law. God s law shows our sins. We look into the mirror of the law and see ourselves as who we are: sinners before God and each other. So our mouths are stopped; we have no valid defense of ourselves. We can make no excuses. The verdict of innocence is impossible. No human being will be justified in His sight. If this is the case for every one of us and it is do you want God to treat you fairly according to His law? Before you answer the fairness question, understand what it means to be treated fairly. Fair means getting what you deserve based on what you have done. Sinners deserve to be punished in hell forever. Do you want God to be just according to the law, weigh what you have done against His law, and punish you with the sword so you get what you deserve? Martin Luther had been taught to understand that this is what it meant that God was just. He was terrified at thinking that one day he would stand before such a God and have to answer for his sins. He had also been taught that, if he did enough good in his life, he could
3 soften up God s judgment of him. But Luther s conscience could find no relief in that. He knew he was a sinner and that all his best efforts could not save him. God s Word is clear: For by works of the the law comes knowledge of sin. So when Luther read in the Bible about the righteousness of God it was a threat to him. This righteous God was angry with him, and he was never going to be able to do anything to mitigate that anger. People today often don t understand Luther s struggle with his sinfulness. Their answer to sin is to dismiss it as not sin. The attitude of many is: No one, not even God, has the right to make you feel guilty or ashamed of yourself. You get to decide right and wrong for you. The devil has been whispering that lie into the ears of humans since Adam and Eve. God s justice is not based on lies, but the truth. When we stand before the Judge, we won t get to tell God what His law means. Luther s terror turned to joy and relief when he came to understand that the righteousness of God was not a threat to him, but the promise of life and salvation in Jesus Christ. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. We can t hear or see it in the English translation of the words, but the Greek words for righteousness and justification, justified, and just have the same root. To be justified by God is to be declared righteous by God. The righteousness of God is His justification of sinners for Jesus sake. In God s court of law, where we stand accused and guilty as sinners, God hands down His verdict, justified, which is based on who Jesus is and what He has done for us. We are declared by God the Judge to possess God s own righteousness, the perfect holiness and sinlessness that belongs to His Son, Jesus. This is so because our sinfulness was taken from us and laid on the spotless Lamb of God, and we have been given credit for His righteousness. God s verdict is that Jesus is the Sinner and we are now saints. This is God s gracious and merciful justice in Jesus Christ.
4 St. Paul explains this good news for us of justification by using three different, though related, concepts. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. 1. We are justified by His grace as a gift. This describes how God deals with us sinners, not with fairness under the law, but with mercy. Since we can t earn God s favor, He is favorable toward us as a gift for Jesus sake. What belongs to God s Son, He shares with us. 2. We are justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. To redeem means to buy back or pay to get someone out of the bondage of sin. Redemption is how Luther described Christ s work in his explanation of the Second Article of the Creed, Who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death. Jesus suffered the consequences of our sins and paid for them, which is the basis of God s justice toward us. In His scales of justice, on the one side are all our sins, but on the other side is Jesus Christ, His blood, His righteousness. This is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus. That is how most Bibles translate St. Paul here. Another legitimate translation of these words is: through the faithfulness of Jesus. Even though we are sinful and not faithful, Jesus is faithful in everything and sinless. The faithful giving of His body and the shedding of His blood on the cross for the sins of the world redeems us sinners and gives us the righteousness of God. 3. We are justified in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood. The word translated propitiation here is the same word used in the Old Testament to describe the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant on which blood was poured on the Day of Atonement. The people s sins were place on a scapegoat and sent away. God is no longer angry with us because of the shed blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world as our Scapegoat. So we are declared to have the righteousness of God.
5 This was to show God s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Five hundred years after the Lutheran Reformation began this is still good news. God does not judge us according to our works, which are sinful, but out of grace and mercy. God s justice is not blind, but He sees us as righteous through His Son, Jesus Christ. God does not punish us with the sword as we deserve, but carried out His justice against His own Son on the cross, who died for our sins and was raised for our justification (4:25). Lord, keep us in that faith now and forever. Amen.