The Courtroom of God

GOD'S COURTROOM

Law and Guilt  V. Righteousness and Redemption

   Rom 3:10  Thus it stands written, "THERE IS NOT ONE RIGHTEOUS MAN.
Rom 3:11  THERE IS NOT ONE WHO IS REALLY WISE, NOR ONE WHO IS A DILIGENT SEEKER AFTER GOD.
Rom 3:12  ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE FROM THE RIGHT PATH; THEY HAVE EVERY ONE OF THEM BECOME CORRUPT. THERE IS NO ONE WHO DOES WHAT IS RIGHT--NO, NOT SO MUCH AS ONE."

Rom 3:19  But it cannot be denied that all that the Law says is addressed to those who are living under the Law, in order that every mouth may be stopped, and that the whole world may await sentence from God. [MAY BE GUILTY BEFORE GOD]
Rom 3:20  For on the ground of obedience to Law no man living will be declared righteous before Him. Law simply brings a sure knowledge of sin. 
Rom 3:21  But now a righteousness coming from God has been brought to light apart from any Law, both Law and Prophets bearing witness to it--
Rom 3:22  a righteousness coming from God, which depends on faith in Jesus Christ and extends to all who believe. No distinction is made;
Rom 3:23  for all alike have sinned, and all consciously come short of the glory of God,
Rom 3:24  gaining acquittal from guilt by His free unpurchased grace through the deliverance which is found in Christ Jesus. 
Rom 3:25  He it is whom God put forward as a SACRIFICE OF APPEASEMENT, rendered efficacious through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness-- because of the passing over, in God's forbearance, of the sins previously committed--
Rom 3:26  with a view to demonstrating, at the present time, His righteousness, that He may be shown to be righteous Himself, and the giver of righteousness to those who believe in Jesus.

HAVE YOU BEEN BEFORE A COURT JUDGE?

If you have then you know that the law is no respecter of persons. It is impartial.

There is a Judge, a Jury, Defense Lawyers and Prosecutors all there to make sure you get Justice.

God is a God of Justice. Before His Judgment Bench you will get JUSTICE. What His Law demands.

The Law of God.

It is the published expression of His will for Mankind. His Published Ordinances.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

.1. God is the Law-giver. A God of Order, Law and Method. Look at the Universe.

2. We are His subjects and His laws terminate on us.

3. He has the power to enforce His Laws. The Death Angel is waiting?

4. We have a duty and obligation to obey.

The Garden of Eden

1. God gave the first Law. Eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden except that one - the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Gen 2:15-17 If there was No law  it would have been licence. 

2. So Satan tempted Eve and deceived her. Then gave to her husband. Thus sin entered mankind through Adam as He was responsible for the disobedience.

3. Sin always has CONSEQUENCES.

- They were banished from the Garden and God's constance provision and Love.

-They were now under the Judgement of Death.

Rom. 5:12  What follows? This comparison. Through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and so death passed to all mankind in turn, in that all sinned. 

-The Curse came upon the Ground. It produced thorns and thistles. Man worked with the sweat of His brow to get enough bread to eat.

- The woman was to bear children in intense pain.

- the serpent was cursed. and the enmity, hatred and hostility, was to be between the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan.  Gen 3:15

The Purpose of the Law of God

- To bring a sure Knowledge of Sin

- To be a Paidagogos [a trusted slave] to bring us to Christ.

- To show us the clear will of God.

[law - keeping will never make us righteous before God because we have a carnal sinful nature]

We are all under Sin : under its domination, Bondage and enslavement. ALL of us, everyone............

The Sentence: Guilty - Condemned

We are Guilty i.e.  Under judgement - Condemned for we have broken God's law : Liars, thieves adulterers etc.

Sentenced to eternal death as law-breakers - to be eternally separated from God.

Rom 3:19  Now we know that as many things as the law says, it speaks to those under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God

SIN IS LAWLESSNESS

1Jn 3:4  Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. 

See how many break the law in speeding, rebelling against the law. That is why we have LAW ENFORCEMENT

How can a person become RIGHTEOUS? How can he stand before a Holy and just God?

Rom 3:21  But now a righteousness of God has been revealed apart from Law, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets; 
Rom 3:22  even the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ, toward all and upon all those who believe. For there is no difference, 

Rom 3:23  for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, 

This Righteousness is apart from the Law. Law-keeping will never make us righteous for we are children of Adam..

This Righteousness comes from God. It originates with Him and not from us or our goodness.

It comes through FAITH in JESUS CHRIST alone. It is given to believers.
This righteousness is imputed to us not when we make ourselves good enough.
Rom 3:24  being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; 

Being Justified : Being justified (dikaioumenoi). Present passive participle of dikaioō, to set right, repeated action in each case, each being set right.RWP 

G1344 δικαιόω Gk. dikaioō Thayer Definition:
1) to render righteous or such he ought to be
2) to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered
3) to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be

Being justified - Being treated as if righteous; that is, being regarded and treated as if they had kept the Law. The apostle has shown that they could not be so regarded and treated by any merit of their own, or by personal obedience to the Law. He now affirms that if they were so treated, it must be by mere favour, and as a matter not of right, but of gift. Barnes Notes.

Freely: without charge, as a gift. We did not pay the fine or work to merit this righeousness.

By His Grace: It was by an unmerited favour and kindness of God that we received this. gift.
Through His Redemption by Blood  of the Passover Lamb

The Children of Israel Rescued at the RED SEA


I am Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb,
I I am Redeemed and I know I am.
I am redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb
Saved from Sin and I know I am.
All My sins are taken away.
Praise the Lord.

Jesus demands one thing Faith in His Finished Work on Calvary's Cross.
WILL YOU BELIEVE on HIM today?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Through God's REDEMPTION

Redemption G629
ἀπολύτρωσις apolutrōsis
Thayer Definition:
1) a releasing effected by payment of ransom
1a) redemption, deliverance
1b) liberation procured by the payment of a ransom

The Origin of Sin - The Fall of Adam

Willmington’s Guide to the Bible; and H.C.Theissen’s Lectures in Systematic Theology.

Background.

There are two things to consider before we look at the Fall of Man.

1. The Law of God and 2. The Nature of sin.

We need to know about the Law of God in  order to understand the transgression of it which was sin, and we need to know the nature of sin in order to understand its origin as regards Adam and Eve.

1. The Law of God

Speaking generally, law is an expression of will enforced by power; it implies a lawgiver, a subject, an expression of will, and power to enforce that will. Strong p.533 in Theissen p. 238

The terms “ laws of nature”, “laws of the mind”, etc., are contradictions when used to denote the mode of action or an order of sequence behind which there is conceived to be no ordering will or enforcing power and authority.”Physics derives the term “law” from jurisprudence, instead of jurisprudence deriving it from Physics.” Strongs ibid…. This is taking the position of agnosticism if we drop the terms law and lawgiver. This leads to anarchy.  Laws always presuppose a Lawgiver.

(1) The Law of God:  means the expression of His will enforced by His Power..

a) All Physical laws are elemental and these govern the physical universe.

But in every rational being, is inwrought the moral law. It implies a Lawgiver, God; subjects upon which it terminates, a positive command; duty or obligation to obey and sanctions for disobedience.

This is an expression of God’s Moral nature and intimates that complete conformity to that nature is the normal condition of man,

THE LAW OF GOD IS NOT ARBITARY : since it springs from His very nature.

It is not TEMPOARY, devised to meet some exigency;

It is not merely NEGATIVE, but also positive, dmanding positive conformity to God and His nature;

It is not PARTIAL, addressed to just onepart of man’s being, but to both Body and Soul alike;

It is not limited  to our consciousness of it but exists whether we recognise it or not;

It is not confined to any locality or class of people, it includes all moral creatures.

Strongs Pps. 539-542

b) God’s positive enactment of His Laws means He has published His Ordinances.

These are His definitely Moral precepts.

• The decalogue (the Ten Commandments) Ex 20:1-17
• The Sermon of the Mount Matthew Chps 5 - 7
• In the New Testament all but the Fourth Commandment are repeated and sanctioned.
• Ceremonial Legislation such as the laws of the Offerings Lev 1-7; the laws of the priesthood Lev 8-10 are only temporary.

Some laws are rooted in god’s nature and are eternal; others are founded on the relationship of men to each other. Theissen p. 239-241

(2) The Purpose of the Law of God.

It was not given for :

• a means whereby we can be saved. Gal 3:21
• It could not make us alive to God” it was weak through the flesh” Romans 8:3
• Man is hopelessly enslaved to self and the sin nature that he cannot keep God’s law. therefore neither life nor righteousness are possible by the law.

It was given to intensify MAN’S KNOWLEDGE OF SIN, reveal the HOLINESS OF GOD, and the LEAD A SINNER TO CHRIST.

Man knows that he is a sinner by the testimony of his own conscience.

Rom 3:19  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.

Rom 3:20  For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

cp Rom 7:7 What follows? Is the Law itself a sinful thing? No, indeed; on the contrary, unless I had been taught by the Law, I should have known nothing of sin as sin. For instance, I should not have known what covetousness is, if the Law had not repeatedly said, "THOU SHALT NOT COVET."

 

b.  The Law reveals the Holiness of God.

Rom 7:12  So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

John Gill comments “The commandment is holy,” because of its author, the holy God, from whom nothing can come but what is holy; and because of the matter of it, it is a transcript of the holy nature of God, a declaration of His holy will; it requires holiness both of heart and life; it forbids whatever is unholy, and commands nothing but what is holy; it teaches men to live holy, sober, righteous, and godly lives. It may be truly called

just, or righteous, as it demands perfect obedience to all its precepts, or it will not admit of it as a righteousness; as it pronounces guilty, curses and condemns for every disobedience of it; as it deals impartially with persons the transgressors of it; and as it acquits believers upon the foot of the righteousness of Christ, the fulfilling end of it. It is rightly called

good, from the author of it, God, from whom every good thing comes, and nothing else; from the matter of it, and from the use of it both to saints and sinners.

c. The Law leads a sinner to Christ.

Rom 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

For Christ is the end of the law - Where the law ends, Christ begins. The law ends with representative sacrifices; Christ begins with the real offering. The law is our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ; it cannot save, but it leaves us at his door, where alone salvation is to be found. Christ as an atoning sacrifice for sin, was the grand object of the whole sacrificial code of Moses; his passion and death were the fulfillment of its great object and design. Separate this sacrificial death of Christ from the law, and the law has no meaning, for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins: wherefore the Messiah is represented as saying, Sacrifice and observing thou didst not desire; burnt-offering and sin-offering thou hast not required; then said I, Lo, I come to do thy will; a body hast thou prepared me, Psa_40:6, Psa_40:7; Heb_10:4-10; which proves that God never designed that the sacrifices of the law should be considered the atonement for sin, but a type or representative of that atonement; and that the atonement was the sacrifice offered by Christ. Thus he was the End of the Law.

Gal 3:21  Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.

Gal 3:22  But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Gal 3:23  Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.

Gal 3:24  So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

Gal 3:25  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

Gal 3:26  for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

Gal 3:27  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

The Law, the Guardian or Paidagogos.

G3807 παιδαγωγός paidagōgos

Thayer Definition:

1) a tutor, i.e. a guardian and guide of boys. Among the Greeks and the Romans the name was applied to trustworthy slaves who were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them before arriving at the age of manhood.

So the law prepared those under the law for the Reception of Christ.

Thus the law did not teach us the living, saving knowledge; but, by its rites and ceremonies, and especially by its sacrifices, it directed us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. This is a beautiful metaphor, and highly illustrative of the apostle’s doctrine. See the note on Rom_10:4, where this figure is farther explained. Rom 10:4  For as a means of righteousness Christ is the termination of Law to every believer.

First in the sentence as the emphatic point of thought. Expositors differ as to the sense. 1. The aim. Either that the intent of the law was to make men righteous, which was accomplished in Christ, or that the law led to Him as a pedagogue (Gal_3:24). 2. The fulfillment, as Mat_5:17. 3. The termination. To believers in Christ the law has no longer legislative authority to say, “Do this and live; do this or die” (Morison). The last is preferable. Paul is discussing two materially exclusive systems, the one based on doing, the other on believing. The system of faith, represented by Christ, brings to an end and excludes the system of law; and the Jews, in holding by the system of law, fail of the righteousness which is by faith. Compare Gal_2:16; Gal_3:2-14.

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Declare God's Law and show the seriousness of sinning against God.
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