You are listening to Radical with David Platt a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor .
Speaker 1Author and teacher David Platt .
Speaker 2Good morning . Do you have a Bible ? I hope you do . Let me invite you to open with me to Romans , chapter 3 . And while you're finding Romans , chapter 3 , let me encourage you to pull out the notes that are in the worship guide that you received when you came in and go ahead and turn that over to the back . So it's face down . I want us to do something in just a minute with those notes . It is good to be back this morning . Heather and I had a few days away with some other pastors . That was very valuable . I'm very thankful to Derek Thomas for preaching the word last week . I fully realized that it was somewhat cruel of me to preach the message I did two weeks ago and then leave you hanging last week . There were quite a few questions after the message a couple of weeks ago and not a few criticisms along the way . It's good to know you're listening . What I'd like to do really briefly at the beginning here is address a couple of the rumors that I've heard over the last couple of weeks and address them briefly , because we're going to dive into these things in depth in the word in the coming weeks as a part of this series . But suffice to say . I think some of these rumors need to be squelched . There's rumors about David preaching a word based salvation . There's rumors about David denying assurance of salvation , and rumors that the pastor is just wanting to confuse everybody about what it means to be saved . So let's just take those one by one . First , works based salvation . What I did two weeks ago that caused some trouble , I think , was I quoted Jesus and he said not everyone who says to me , lord , lord , will enter the kingdom of heaven , but only he who does the will of my Father , who is in heaven , he said . He said everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built this house on a rock . The rain came down , the streams rose and the wind blew and beat against that house , and it did not fall because it had its foundation on a rock . But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built this house on the sand . The rain came down , the streams rose , the wind blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash . Jesus is talking here about obedience to his will . He's talking about obedience to his word Now . A couple of weeks ago when we looked at that , I said now hold on to this , because it's at this point we've got to be careful . We can twist the gospel into something . It's not Just hold on to what Jesus is saying here . I don't believe that Jesus is in any way saying in Matthew , chapter seven , that our work is the basis for our salvation . They didn't say that a couple of weeks ago . We're going to see in the coming weeks where works plays in to our salvation , if it plays in at all . But suffice to say at this point scripture knows nothing of works , our works as the basis for our salvation . At the same time , scripture knows absolutely nothing of praying a prayer and then your life looking the exact same after that prayer and thinking that salvation so works , not the basis for our salvation . Second , that leads to this assurance of salvation idea . People have asked well , don't you believe in one saved , always saved another phrase which , by the way , is not mentioned in scripture . But we'll get to that . That doesn't mean I'm not saying you can't be assured of salvation . That's the last week in the series , but I think part of that was caused by the fact that I made the statement a couple of weeks ago . Could it be that God could , or Christ could , one day say to you or me Now , I never knew you , away from me , you evil doers . I walked away thinking was if ? If David's not saved , then how can we know if we're saved ? Maybe he's just saying that and , ladies and gentlemen , to this point I want to stop you right there in your tracks and hear me loud and clear . It is more than possible to be the pastor of the church at Brook Hills and not know Christ . Was my position in the church warrant standing before God ? Absolutely not . That is why and I realized , and I look at some of my spiritual heroes in the past George Whitfield , john Wesley many of you have been mused mightily of God . You read their biographies . Whitfield would fast for 40 days at a time . He was praying in private prayers seven times a day . He was going aside to word public worship every single day , participated in the Lord's Supper every single day . He and John Wesley together studied the Greek New Testament every single day . Whitfield would later say he was doing all of those things and he had never come to know Christ . He still knew nothing of the new birth is what he said in his journey . These guys were more committed than just about every single one of us in this room and they didn't know Christ . And the reality is , if I had excluded myself a couple of weeks ago and said some of you may stand before Jesus one day and Him say to you I never knew . You away from me , you evildoers . As soon as I said that , most of you in this room would have thought , well , he's speaking to somebody else . But as soon as I included myself in that , we realized we were all in the same boat , meaning every single one of us in this room is prone to spiritual deception . All of us are . Jesus is speaking in Matthew 7 to unbelievers . It is possible for someone to think they are a follower of Christ and not actually be a follower of Christ . Not talking about assurance of salvation , they were talking about salvation period . We're all prone to spiritual deception . That is why I said I want to urge you in these days ahead . I want to urge you to examine yourselves . This is biblical , 2 Corinthians 13.5 . Examine yourselves , test yourselves to see if you are in the faith . Scripture tells us to do this . That leads to the third rumor . Then I'm just trying to confuse everybody . Ladies and gentlemen , can I fill you in on something ? We are already confused . We have so muddled tradition with Scripture that we have lost sight in many ways of what Scripture says is involved in salvation . That is a very dangerous thing to do . My goal , I promise , is not to confuse . My goal in these weeks is to clarify the gospel of Jesus Christ biblically , see the picture of the gospel In light of the fact that Jesus and Matthew 7 said to religious people many of you , many of you , will one day stand before me and be surprised to find that you never knew me . I never knew you . All I want to do over these weeks is get you , every single one of you in this room , including myself , to ask the question are you in the mini ? Are you in the mini ? This is a good question to ask because it will lead to one of two results . We ask that question , we do what 2 Corinthians 13.5 says and we examine ourselves and we test ourselves to see if we are in the faith .
What happens is one of two things . Number one we find yes , yes , I am in Christ . We in a sense rediscover the joy of the gospel and how it's taken root in our souls and how we're saved , and we'll find great comfort in Christ and we'll see how the gospel really does radically affect every facet of our lives . That's a good thing . Or second , maybe more important , there may be many of us during these weeks , many of us who realize , no , I've assumed salvation without biblical foundation and are not in Christ . And you'll find yourself running to Christ for the very first time to truly trust in Him for salvation , and that is an infinitely good thing . And so that's the road that we're on , and we're going to unpack this in different ways over the next few weeks , and the goal is not to give the pocket version of the gospel . This is where we've so minimalized the gospel down to these couple of things that if we'll just almost check these boxes off , then we'll be okay before God . That's not what we need to do . We need to see the gospel for what it is , which is what we're going to do today . You look at the title on your notes . It says the gospel , what we believe . We're going to look at the objective content of the gospel and then the next three weeks , we're going to look at how that objective content in the gospel is appropriated in our lives , how that gospel becomes real in our lives . So , on the back of your notes , what I want you to do is I want to take just a minute , think about 60 seconds to do this . You've got something to write with , hopefully . What I want you to write down on the back of that piece of paper is the answer to this question , and this will not be turned in or shared with anyone else , just between you and God . Right on the back of that piece of paper , the answer to this question what is the gospel ? Gospel means good news , so you can't just put good news . What is the good news ? The good news is finish that sentence , take about 60 seconds and write down what is the gospel . We've got sick people all across this room and I'm one of them . You may hear me coughing , although it will reverberate in this microphone more as you finish writing that down . Let's pray together , god , we thank you Amen . And we pray that you would help us today to realize the ramifications of the cross . God , we pray that you would uncover , and these days , by the power of your spirit , any spiritual deception in our lives , and I pray on behalf of all of us who are in this room . God , that you would open our eyes and remind some of us , for the first time truly today , to see the Gospel for what it is . And , god , we pray that , as we see it today , you would get great glory in the Gospel as it is revealed and that you would get great glory from our lives when they are transformed by the Gospel . Help us to realize what the Gospel is .
Speaker 1today we pray In Jesus' name Amen .
Speaker 2One of the reasons I wanted to do this series is because I'm convinced there's a famine when it comes to the Gospel and the church . I'm convinced there are many people who have been in the church for years who , when asked the question , what is the Gospel ? Have some vague ideas here or there , but can't describe fully what the Gospel is . And you can tell by the way the Gospel is often presented in our contemporary church culture . You listen to evangelistic invitations , watch , look at evangelistic tracks and you see the Gospel explained as well . The Gospel is God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life . That is not the full biblical Gospel . That is a good thing , but it is not the Gospel . There's a lot of things that are couched as the Gospel today that are not the Gospel . Keith Green , a radical , in his day , keith Green said , I believe , with all my heart , that Jesus would be ashamed of most of the Gospel messages and sermons that are being preached today , mainly because they lack almost every major point he himself preached on . And so what I want to do today is I want us to look at a sick passage to Scripture , romans , chapter 3 , verses 21 through 26 . Martin Luther called this chapter , chief point of the whole Bible . It is one of the most important texts in all the Bible , if not the most important text , and I want to encourage you , if you do not have Romans 3 , 21 through 26 committed to memory , to hide these words in your hearts over the coming days . This is a picture of the Gospels , and what I want us to do is I want us to see the objective content of the Gospel in these words . Listen to what Paul writes Romans , chapter 3 , verse 21 . He says but now a righteousness from God , apart from law , has been made known , to which the law and the prophets testify . This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ . To all who believe , there is no difference for all the sin and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace to the redemption that came by Christ Jesus . God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood . He did this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance he had let the sins committed before him unpunished . He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus . Now , what I have attempted to do is to take that hostage of Scripture and go ahead and turn your notes back over to the front page and what you see at the top is my best shot and a one sentence description of the Gospel . And I hesitate to even put this in front of you , because the goal is never to reduce the Gospel down to its minimal content . And the reality is every single phrase and the sentence . You see there really the phrases that are here in Romans , 321-26 , every single word , every single phrase is like the tip of an iceberg and there is so much that lies beneath it . But at the core , what is the Gospel ? And I want you to look at this sentence with me . The Gospel , the good news , is the just and gracious God of the universe looked upon hopelessly sinful people and sent his son , jesus Christ , god in the flesh , to bear his wrath against sin on the cross and to show his power over sin in the resurrection , so that all who have faith in him will be reconciled to God forever . Now , I realize that is a completely loaded sentence and I realize that it almost seems at the front a little complicated . Can we just simplify this picture ? But don't miss it . Yes , the Gospel is simple , and then it involves childlike trust and faith . But to say that these core doctrines of what it means to be saved are just flip it misses the point . We've got to look because I'm convinced you take out this is not a perfect sentence explanation of the Gospel . I'm not saying it's the only one sentence explanation of the Gospel , but I'm convinced if you take out one of those phrases in that sentence , you undercut the Gospel of its power completely . We've got to see the Gospel in its totality , and so what I want us to do is I want us to unpack that one sentence in Latter Romans 3 , 21 through 26 , and I want you to see , really at the core , five main elements involved in the Gospel . And we'll start with this first phrase the just and gracious God of the universe . When we read Romans 3 , verse 21 , you see the first word is but , but now a righteousness from God . And what is happening is Paul is here making a transition in verse 21 from an argument that he started way back in chapter 1 , verse 18 . From chapter 1 , verse 18 , all the way to chapter 3 , verse 20 , he has given us a portrait of God and of man in relation to each other . In fact , turn back with me to chapter 1 and we're going to fly through some passages this morning . You might write them down if you don't have time to turn to them all . This chapter 1 , you come back to verse 16 . This is almost a theme verse for the book of Romans . Paul says I'm not ashamed of the Gospel . It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes . So he's talking about the Gospel as the power of God for salvation . And then he gets to verse 18 and he begins to describe who God is . He begins to describe the character of God and , oddly enough , he starts with the wrath of God , verse 18 . He says the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth of God by their wickedness . Since well , they may be known about God as plain to them . Because God has made it plain to them . For since the creation of the world , god's invisible qualities is eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen , being understood from what has been made , so that men are without excuse . What he's talking about ? There is a picture of God , and I want you to see three attributes of God that are emphasized in Romans 1 18 , all the way to the passage we just read a second ago . The first attribute of God you've got it there in your notes is that God is our Creator . He is the Creator since the creation of the world . His invisible qualities have been made known . You get down a little further and it says in verse 24 God gave them over to sinful desires of their hearts , to sexual impurity . They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator , who is ever praised . What Paul is saying in the beginning of Romans , chapter 1 , is he is saying God has created us , he has showed himself to us , he has revealed himself as our Creator and as our Creator we belong to him . He owns us , he has rights over us . This is key . God is Creator . Second , god is judge . This is where he comes to in chapter 2 . He starts talking about the judgment of God .
You read chapter 2 , verse 1 all the way down to chapter 2 , verse 16 . You see the judgment of God mentioned over and over and over again . See what it says . You therefore have no excuse to pass judgment on them because at whatever point you judge the other , you are condemning yourself because you who pass judgment do the same things . Do you think we will escape God's judgment ? Or do you show the contempt for the riches of his kindness , tolerance and patience , not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance ? Then listen to what he says down here , verse 6 . He says God will give to each person according to what he has done . To those who , by persistence in doing good , he will give See glory , honor and immortality , he will give eternal life . But for those who are self seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil , there will be wrath and anger . There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil , first for the Jews , then for the Gentile , but glory , honor and peace for everyone who does good , first for the Jew , then for the Gentile . You get down to verse 16 . He says this will all take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ , as my gospel declares . Ladies and gentlemen , what he is saying there is very clear to every single person in all of history , every single person in this room . God will judge you , you will be judged by God and he will be just in his judgment . And that's a scary thing when you get to chapter 3 , verse 5 , because it says there that God is just in bringing his wrath on us . This is where , in Romans 1 , 18 to 3 , 20 , god's wrath is tied to his justice . The reality is , our Creator will one day judge every single one of us in this room . There is not one student , not one man or woman in this room . That is beyond the judgment of God , and a very just judgment at that . God is Creator , god is Judge , and we have this . But now in chapter 3 , verse 21 , martin Lloyd-Jones called this the two greatest words in all the Bible , because we are not left just with the judgment of God . You get to this passage , we just read and you see that verse that is so famous all of sin and fall short of the glory of God . And then the verse after that is far more important but not so famous , verse 24 . And are justified freely by his what Rise grace to the redemption that came by Christ Jesus . Here is the third attribute of God . Emphasize in Romans 1 through 3 God is Creator , god is Judge and God is gracious . His Creator is just and he is gracious . He gives unmerited favor . This is the portraits of God in Romans 1 through 3 and I want you to hold on to them because after we get to this next truth about man , we are going to see how this is a big deal over here that God is Creator , he is Judge and he is gracious . So we will start the just and gracious God of the universe I am not saying those are the only attributes of God , but when it comes to the Gospel , these are attributes of God that we must understand that he created us , that he judges us with just judgment and that he is gracious . All three of those attributes are coming together in the Gospel . We will see that in a second , in a second phrase , the just and gracious God of the universe looked upon hopelessly sinful people . This is Romans 3 , 23 . All have said and fall short of the glory of God . All that pretty much takes care of it . Every single one of us in this room , every single person in all of history . In fact , if you back up to chapter 3 , verse 9 and 10 , you see one of the most stinging indictments of humanity in any place in Scripture . Listen to what he says as it is written . He starts quoting from the Old Testament , in verse 10 , there is no one righteous , not even one . There is no one who understands , no one who seeks God . All have turned away . They have together become worthless . There is no one who does good , not even one . Their throats are open graves , their tongues practice a seat , the poison of viapres is on their lips . Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness . Their feet are swift to shed blood . Ruin and misery mark their ways and the way of peace . They do not know . There is no fear of God before their eyes . What's talking about you and me ? Not one of us in this room who does good ? Our throats open graves , our tongues practicing to seat , poison of viapres on our lips , mouths full of cursing and bitterness , ruin and misery marking our ways . No fear of God before our eyes . This is a stinging indictment of man , hopelessly sinful people . Now , what does that mean ? I believe it means three primary truths here in Romans , chapter 3 . Number one it means that we have rebelled against God . To be hopelessly sinful means that we have rebelled against God . The whole context of Romans , 3 , 21 through 26 , is talking about the law of God and how we have broken or transgressed God's law , this law written in this book , this law written on our hearts he talks about in chapter 2 . We've all done wrong . We've all gone against God's law . It's the picture that was inaugurated back in Genesis , chapter 3 . Adam and Eve in the Garden . Who cares if God said , donate from that tree , who is he anyway ? We're going to do what we want , rebelling against the law of God . It's where sin started and it's where sin continues . In every single one of our lives we have all rebelled against God's law . We have spurned the Lordship of God in our life and said we're going to do things our own way . You think about it . God says to the wind and the rain you blow here and you fall there . And they do it immediately . The God who says to mountains you go there . The God who says to seas you stop there . The God who calls the storm clouds together and they obey him . He beckons them together and they immediately come . The God to whom all creation responds in perfect obedience , comes to man and says do this . And man looks at him in the face and says no , no , I'm going to do things my own way . The audacity of rebelling against God . And we are all guilty . We have rebelled against him . Second , we are separated from him . All have sinned and fall short of his glory . And we don't have time this morning to go into a whole Old Testament definition of the glory of God . What suffices to say at this point that most often the glory of God is equated with the presence of God . The picture we've got here in Romans 3.23 is that because of our sin , we are cut off from the glory of God . We are cut off from the presence of God . Even to go back to Genesis , chapter 3 . Man , adam and Eve , in perfect communion with God . In perfect communion with the presence of God , one sin comes into the picture and they are cut off from perfect communion with him . This is the problem that sin poses . We've got to realize this . When we talk about the gospel , when we are explaining the gospel to people and we say , well , have you ever lied ? Well then you've sinned . Have you ever done wrong things ? Well , that's what sin is . That's not what sin is . Yes , that is an effect of sin that we do wrong things . But our problem is not that we've done wrong things . Our problem is not that we've made bad decisions . Our problem is not that we've messed up . Our problem is that we are cut off from the presence of God . We are separated from God because we have rebelled against him . That's the problem that sin poses Separated from God , hopelessly separated from him , which leads to our third truth we are dead without God . Dead without God . This is what Paul says in verses 19 and 20 . He says now we know that whatever the law says , it says to those who are under the law . Sometimes it says to those who are under the law that they are under the law and that's the answer to this phrase so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world is held accountable to God . What this means is you and I stand rebel against God , separated from Him , with nothing to say or do about it , absolutely nothing . We are dead without God . The wages of sin , the payment of sin later in verse 6 , verse 23 , is death . We are dead without Him . In chapter 2 , verse 1 , says that you were dead in your transgressions .
An old preaching professor used to take his students every semester to the cemetery one day and he would take them out to the cemetery and they would get around the cemetery and , one by one , he would challenge the students to speak over the graves in that cemetery and cause the dead to come to life with their words . One by one , they would try and , of course , one by one they would fail . And then he would look at them and remind them that when they preach , when they speak to people who do not know Christ , who are cut off from God because of their sin , who are dead in sin , no matter how eloquent their sermon is or no matter how passionate their invitation is , there is nothing their words can do to bring life apart from the Spirit of God . Nothing Dead in sin . How do you go from being dead to alive ? What can you do to get from being dead to being alive ? You can do absolutely nothing . It's impossible for you to do , and that's the point of what Paul is showing us here . Hopelessly sinful people . Now we see the difference between the biblical gospel and modern day gospel . Modern day gospel God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life . Biblical gospel you're an enemy of God and you are hopelessly dead without Him . In your present state , you have no hope whatsoever . That doesn't sell as many books , doesn't draw as many crowds . It's a biblical gospel , though . Hopelessly dead in sin , hopelessly separated from God , a willful rebel against God , an enemy of God . This is the picture we have of our lives Now . Here's where I want us to pause for a second and put these first two truths together the just and gracious God of the universe looked upon hopelessly sinful people . You try to put those two phrases together and they don't fit . This is where we see we feel the tension of the gospel , and we need to feel this tension because if we don't feel the tension here , we'll miss the heart of the gospel . Tension is the question is in light of sinfully rebellious people , how can God be both just and gracious ? How is that possible to be just and gracious toward rebels , toward sinful people ? Let me show you a verse that you probably don't have underlined in your Bible , that you need to Back in Proverbs . Look at Proverbs , chapter 17 . I want you to turn me to Proverbs 17 , verse 15 , and I want to show you this verse that gives a clear picture of the tension here that's being posed by the gospel . Look at Proverbs , chapter 17 , verse 15 , and I want you to underline . This verse Shows us the tension that the gospel is addressing . Listen to what it says Proverbs , chapter 17 , verse 15 . Listen to this Quitting the guilty and condemning the innocent . The Lord detests them both . And you catch that the Lord detests acquitting the guilty . So your translations say he who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous , both of them are an abomination to the Lord . You catch that you justify , acquit the guilty , the wicked , then you're an abomination to the Lord . Now what is happening in salvation ? God is justifying the wicked , right , god is acquitting the guilty . Well , how can God do that when that's an abomination to him ? Do you see the tension here ? How can God be just and gracious toward the guilty and the wicked ? How can he bring all the wealth of his attributes together ? How can he bring his love and his wrath , his holiness and his mercy , his justice and his grace ? How can they begin to come together ? And he said it's an abomination to justify the wicked . This is the tension that exists in the gospel . What Romans 3 , 21 through 26 is trying to give us a picture of ? The overriding question in this passage , and the overriding question of the Bible is how can God be kind to rebellious sinners who are due his judgment ? How can God be kind to sinners ? Now , we don't think that's the question . I mean . Think about it . How many people today are really losing sleep at night over how God can be kind to sinners ? We don't lose sleep over that . Instead , we point the finger at God and we say God , how can you punish man , god ? How could you let people go to hell ? That's what inflames us . The reason is because we have such a man-centered worldview that we are nowhere near concerned about the glory and the character of God . The question of the Bible because the Bible is very concerned about the character of God the question of the Bible is how can God and his justice show kindness to sinners ? We ask how can God let people go to hell ? The Bible asks the question God , how can you let rebels into heaven ? How can you let those who have belittled your glory into heaven ? This is the tension of the gospel . You realize that God's forgiveness of us is a threat to his character . That's what he's talking about in Romans 3, . 25 says he and his forbearance left the sins committed beforehand unpunished . Do you catch that ? Talk about how , up until this point , god has not poured out full judgment or wrath on sin . Let me give you an illustration . Go back to 2 Samuel , chapter 12 . David is confronted by Nathan for adultery with Bathsheba and then murdering her husband . Nathan confronts David . It says David , you have spiced God . David looks back and he says I have sinned against the Lord . You know what Nathan responds ? Nathan responds and says the Lord has put away your sin . Just like that . Adultery , murder passed over , just like that . Is that just ? Is that right ? Any judge in our land looks at adultery and murder and says it can be passed over Immediately . We're throwing him off the bench . That is not just . That is not right . This is the dilemma posed by the gospel . How can God be both just and gracious ? How can the just and gracious God of the universe look upon sinfully rebellious people and have anything for them but wrath ? And the answer is the just and gracious God of the universe looked upon sinfully rebellious , hopelessly sinful people and he said his son Jesus Christ , god in the flesh , to bear his wrath on the cross and to show his power in the resurrection . Ladies and gentlemen , jesus is the only answer to this tension . He is the only answer to this tension . We have rebelled against God . We are separated from God . We are dead without God . Jesus comes on the scene , and what does he do ? Well , first , his life displays the righteousness of God . His life displays the righteousness of God . The problem in Romans 3 is that we have broken the law . All of us have broken the law . We need someone who has not broken the law , someone who fulfills the law . And Jesus comes on the scene . He is God in the flesh , he is fully man and fully God , both important . We leave that out of the gospel , we undercut the gospel of its power and , sadly enough , you look at evangelistic tracks and listen to evangelistic sermons in our day and you will hardly ever hear the humanity and deity of Christ mentioned . Have we forgotten how big a deal it is that Jesus is fully human , that he would not be able to identify with you and me if he was not fully human ? Have we not forgotten how big a deal it is that he is God , that only he could bear the divine weight of sin ? He must be fully human , he must be fully God . And yet , tragically , you ask survey those who profess to be Christians , show me in Scripture where it says Jesus is God . And we fuddled around , not knowing where to go . This is the gospel . God became a man in Jesus Christ , and his very life displayed the character of God . His very life displayed the righteousness of God . This doctrine of humanity and deity of Christ separates Christianity the true gospel from false cultic gospels . These truths separate Christianity from Islam and Judaism . It is extremely important that Jesus is fully God and fully man . His life displayed the righteousness of God . Second , how does Jesus solve this tension ? This is where we get to the apex of the gospel . Jesus' death satisfied the wrath of God . Paul says in verse 25 , god presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement . That is one incredible phrase . Some of your translations say God presented him as a propitiation for our sins . The word literally means God presented him as one who would turn away the wrath of God for giving us of our sins . This is an incredible , sick picture of what happened at the cross . That's what you're thinking . What do you mean ? Jesus' death satisfied the wrath of God .
Here's where I want you to think about it with me . How could Jesus' death on a wooden cross really pay the price for everyone's sins ? What happened in that moment that would lead to this idea that we can be forgiven of our sins because he went to a cross ? What was it about that scene ? Here's where I want you to listen to me very , very , very closely . Don't wander off a couple of sentences into this . Just stick with me through the whole picture , okay ? We are not saved from our sins because Jesus was falsely accused by men and sentenced to death on a cross . We are not saved from our sins because Roman persecutors thrust nails into his hands and his feet . Do you really think that the false judgment of men upon Jesus would be enough to pay for all of our sin debt ? Do you really think that him , having put nails put in his hands and his feet , was enough to pay for our sin debt ? All of these things that preachers almost glamorize when it comes to crucifixion the crown of thorns thrusting to his head , spear thrusting to his side , all of these images that we see in the Passion of the Christ do you really think that all of those would pay our sin debt ? Do you really think this is what Jesus was anguishing over in the garden ? What caused him to sweat blind ? Because he was afraid of crucifixion , because he was afraid of a wooden cross and Roman nails . I mean , think about it with me . In the history of Christianity , there have been countless millions of people who have died cruel deaths , many of them not just nailed to crosses in the first century , they just weren't . They weren't just nailed to the crosses . Many Christians in the first century were nailed to the crosses and then burned there . Their bodies became lamps for the people who were walking by and many of them went to their crosses singing . This is the testimony of Cal , the Saint throughout history , one Christian in India who was literally being skinned alive and he said , while he was being skinned alive I thank you for this . Tear off my old garment . I will soon put on Christ's garment of righteousness . Christopher Love's wife wrote to him today you will dress yourself in your wedding garment . They will sever you from your physical head , but they cannot sever you from your spiritual head . Christ . And he went to the gallows with his wife applauding him and him saying glory . Do we really think these men and women in the past had more courage than Christ on that day , cowering in the garden sweating blood ? Listen to what he says there . Listen to what he says . If it is possible , let this cup pass for me . Ladies and gentlemen , that is not a reference to a Roman Nail or a wooden cross . You look throughout the Old Testament Isaiah , chapter 51 , and you see , cup of God's wrath Jeremiah , chapter 25 , verse 15, . A cup filled with the wine of my wrath Revelation , chapter 16 , verse 19, . A cup filled with the wine of the fury of God's wrath All over Scripture . This cup is a picture Filled to the brim with the wrath of God to drink . Ladies and gentlemen , the reality is what happened . The cross was not as much about nails being thrust in the hands and feet of Christ , but it was about your sin being thrust onto the Son of God . Your sin and the wrath , do your sin , being thrust directly on the Son of God , the holy and righteous anger and hatred towards sin being thrust on God's only Son . This is what happened at the cross . Say hatred , what do you mean ? Yes , hatred . God loves everything that is holy and right and , as such , he hates everything that is the opposite . And , ladies and gentlemen , you and I are the opposite . And when Jesus went to that cross yes , I in no way want to minimize the physical suffering that was there , but he was taking the wrath of Almighty God , do you and your sin upon himself . And preachers say that God , from heaven , looked down and he had to turn away because he couldn't stand to see the suffering inflicted on his Son by those soldiers . That is not why darkness is seen at the cross . It's because God could not look upon your sin on his Son . One preacher described it this way it is as if you were standing in front of a dam of water , 10,000 miles high and 10,000 miles wide , and it is filled to the brim . And all of a sudden , in an instant , the wall of that dam is taken away and that water begins to flood toward you . You're standing a hundred yards away and as the water comes pouring down toward you , all of a sudden the ground right in front of you opens up and swallows every bit of that water . The gospel is a picture of Jesus Christ taking the full cup of God's wrath and drinking every single drop of it . And when he finished the last drop , he turned over the cup and he said it is finished .
Speaker 1It's finished . My death has satisfied the wrath of God . That is good news . That is really good news .
Speaker 2It's the gospel . God presented him as a sacrifice of a tone , and praise God . The gospel does not end there . His life displays the righteousness of God . His death satisfied the wrath of God and third , his resurrection demonstrated the power of God . At the cross , jesus Christ took the justice due our sin upon himself . He vindicated the righteousness of God and at the resurrection , god vindicated his son , showing him to be victorious over death and sin and the grave . His resurrection shows shows that God's wrath had been duly poured out and he had conquered sin and death and grave . He had looked death in the face and rose victorious . This is the gospel the life , death , resurrection of Jesus Christ .
Speaker 1In response , to tension between a holy God and sinful man .
Speaker 2He put all of that together and it leads to this next phrase the just and gracious God of the universe looked upon hopelessly sinful people and sent his son , jesus Christ , god in the flesh , to bear his wrath against sin on the cross and to show his power over sin in the resurrection , so that all who have faith in him will be reconciled to God , all who have faith in him . You saw it mentioned twice in this passage . God presented him verse 25 , as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood . Get down to verse 26 . He did demonstrate his justice at the present time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus . Now here we're getting in to the subjective element of the gospel . How does this picture of Christ become appropriated to our lives ? The answer is through faith , and over the next few weeks we're going to be unpacking what is involved in this saving faith , what happens for our faith in Christ ? It's suffice to say at this point three truths that we have got to realize about faith as it relates to the gospel . Number one God is the giver of the gospel . God is the giver of the gospel , and here's what I mean by that it's back up in verse 24 . We are justified freely by his grace . Isn't that a great phrase ? Freely by his grace ? It's almost repetitive as a gift by his gift . Freely by his grace . The word freely literally means without price , without reason , without cause , without price to us , without cause in us . God did not see anything in us that caused him to respond by sending Jesus to the cross . It came completely and totally from his own initiative . He freely gives it by his grace . In fact , what's really interesting is verse 24, . It says and are justified
. I want you to think about just the way that verb is mentioned , the way that verb is phrased . This is not active voice , this is passive voice . Now follow me here . You're thinking well , why are you taking us to English class ? Just listen . This is key . Active voice is when you do something , you do an action . I give you something . That's active voice . Passive voice is when something is done to you . I was given this gift . That's passive . I didn't do the giving I was given . Somebody else did it to me . When you get to verse 24 , is it active or passive ? And are justified ? That's passive . Ladies and gentlemen , you do not justify yourself . There's absolutely nothing you can do to justify yourself . Justified literally means to be declared righteous before God . There's nothing you can do , nothing . You can manufacture no amount of boxes . You can check off , no amount of prayers you can pray in order to make yourself righteous before God . You can't do it . He has to do it in you . We're justified by him . He declares us righteous . It would be like you going to a judge and saying don't worry , I've got it figured out what my payment is . The judge makes that call . He's the one who justifies , he's the one who declares righteous . God is the giver of the gospel . He declares us righteous was leaves of the second truth . Not only is the giver of the gospel , but God is the gift of the gospel . Now follow with me here . This is rich . God is the gift of the gospel . What does he give us in salvation ? God gives us himself the righteousness of God . Very character of God dominates this passage , and what he is saying is a righteousness from God has been made known . This righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe In 2 Corinthians 521, . God made him , who had no sin , to be sinned for us in order that we might become the righteousness of God . God gives us his righteousness , he gives us himself . God is the gift of the gospel . That's why he phrased it All who have faith in him will be reconciled to God . This is where the gospel is headed . This is why the gospel is good , because we come back to God . We've been separated from God . That's our problem . So the answer is we are united to God , we're reconciled to God . God gives us himself . It seems almost elementary , but then you listen . You listen to how we explain the gospel in our day and you will hear preachers standing before people saying Come to Christ so that you can get forgiveness . Come to Christ so that you can go to heaven . Come to Christ so that you can get satisfaction . Come to Christ so that you can get success . Come to Christ so that you can get your best life . Come to Christ so that you can get all of these things . That's blasphemy . You don't come to Christ to get all those things . You come to Christ to get God . We have taken God himself out of salvation and offered his gifts without him . And it's evident because many people think they're going to heaven , but they have no relationship with God , no surrender to God , no walk with God . The gospel is a picture of God giving us himself and , ladies and gentlemen , you or I will not go to heaven if you don't want God . The whole picture of the gospel is that we are united to God and , yes , all of these things flow from God . It's forgiveness , yes , heaven is an incredible thing . Yes , all of these things that flow from God , all of these gifts , but they come from the Source , and we can't be so materialistic and self-centered in our Christianity to reach for God's gifts and ignore the fact that we want God . Do you think it's possible for us in our day and age to want the things of God more than we want God ?
Speaker 1See how the gospel fundamentally shows us that .
Speaker 2God gives us Himself . He's the giver of the gospel , he's the gift to the gospel and he is the goal of the gospel . He's the goal of the gospel . Why did Jesus go to the cross ? Why did Jesus go to the cross ? The immediate answer that comes to our mind is to save us from our sins , and that is not the ultimate answer that Romans 3 , verse 21-26 is giving us . Romans 3 , 21-26 is not telling us Jesus went to the cross to save us from our sins . I want you to look . There are three purpose clauses in this passage to show us why Jesus went to the cross . Let's know what it said . He did this middle of the way verse 25 . God presented Him as a sacrifice of Atonement through faith in His blood . He did this why ? To demonstrate His justice . Same thing in verse 26 . He did it to demonstrate His justice . So as here's why so that he would be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus . God sent Jesus to the cross , ultimately to display His character , to display His glory , ultimately to enable God to show full range of all of His attributes and all of His grace . All of His attributes . He just went to the cross . We know that John chapter 12 says what shall I say ? Father saved me from the sour . No , it was for this very reason I came to the sour . He's about to go to the cross and he looks up and he says in John chapter 12 , verse 27 and 28 , father , glorify your name . I go to the cross . Glorify your name , and yes , jesus definitely , cross provides for our forgiveness we have seen that but ultimately it provides for God's glory . So where do we fit into this picture ? The reality is , when all of us in this room any one of us in this room wickedly rebellious , hopelessly sinful people , when we have our lives transformed by the righteousness of God through the death of Christ on the cross and His resurrection from the grave , and we begin to bear the righteousness of God in our lives and God gets great glory from our salvation . God is the goal of the gospel and this is why , ladies and gentlemen , if we cheapen the gospel and relegate it to a sentimental act of praying or walking an aisle or signing a card and our lives looking the same , that we rob God of the glory that is due His name in the gospel . God is the goal of the gospel . All that leads to this last word , we'll be reconciled to God forever . This is where I want to bring this passage to a point and remind you that your eternity man , woman , child , student in this room your eternity is based on this gospel and your response to this gospel . I want to remind you of a risk and a reality . First , a risk . Ladies and gentlemen we can know all of these truths and still not be saved . You can know all about God and all about Jesus and all about the cross and all about the resurrection . You can know all about Him coming back . You can know all the details of Jesus' life . You can know all of these things that we have mentioned . You can know all of these things and still not be saved . Demons know all of these things . I'm in no way trying to complicate the gospel . Some think well , doesn't it say in Scripture believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved . Yes , no question , no question . That's not in Scripture . But it is obvious in Scripture that that belief is far more than just intellectual acknowledgement of facts . You can know all of these things today and still be headed to eternity separated from God . Which brings us to the reality . Our eternal destiny hinges on a biblical response to this gospel , on a biblical response to this gospel . And this is where we are addressing some of the language and the methods and the traditions that we are using today to describe a response to the gospel that don't square with Scripture . And we wonder , we ask the question well , how do you get salvation ? If being justified is God's declaration that you are righteous and if you can't pay for it because it's free , you can't work for it because it's grace , then how do you get this justification ? How do you get declared righteous by God ? And the answer is not to recite words , sign cards or talk to somebody at the front . That's not the answer . That's not how you get justification . The way to get justification Not to do any of these things . It's for you to go and throw yourself at the feet of Almighty God with absolutely nothing in your hands . Nothing , absolutely nothing to your credit . No prayers to your credit , no work to your credit , having thrown aside the check off list that you're looking for to make sure that you're saved , thrown aside and go to God and call out to Him . This is how we are saved , through open hands of faith . This is how we are justified , how he declares us righteous , not through anything we bring to the table , but through the gospel that we have seen here , everything that Christ brought to the table and this absolute , total , ruthless trust and surrender to Him . This is the gospel . This is saving faith , and we're going to unpack it more in the coming weeks , but I want you to see it , because I'm convinced , seeing this objective picture of the gospel , that even now , in this moment , the Spirit of God is using this gospel , the objective gospel in Romans 3 , 21 through 26 , to draw hearts all across the stroke to himself . And I want to encourage you , I want to encourage you to yield completely and totally . Stop trying to do anything , stop trying to look for what you can do to measure up and completely to him , plead for him to save you , stay on your face before him day and night until he declares you righteous . You look throughout the history of Christianity and you will see . You will see men and women who wrestled for days and nights over their sinfulness , even Whitfield and Wesley , who I mentioned earlier . They would constantly . David Brainerd , who I was reading this last week , he would constantly . He would come to God asking for grace , for then he would realize he still has selfish motives in him , he still has desire to earn grace and he would constantly ask God , purge me of this , purge me of this . And God brought him to that point of salvation . It's William Calper , 1759 . He was 28 years old , william Calper , and struggled with depression , tried to commit through suicide three different times . He was so overwhelmed by his sin he was committed to St Albans insane asylum . He found a Bible sitting there six months into his time , in the same insane asylum , and it came to Romans , chapter three , verse 25 . And he read these words that we have just studied this morning God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith and his blood . Listen to what he later wrote . He said immediately I received the strength to believe it . In the full beams of the Son of Righteousness shown upon me , I saw the sufficiency of the atonement he had made for me . I saw my pardon sealed of his blood and all the fullness and completeness of his justification . And a moment I believed and I received the gospel . Calper lived 35 more years , during which time he penned the words of this great hymn there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins , and sinners , plunged beneath that flood , lose all their guilty states . The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day . And there may I , though vile , as he wash all my sins away . Dear dying lamb , thy precious blood shall never lose its power till all the ransom church of God be saved to sin no more . And since , by faith , I saw the stream , thy flowing wound supply , redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die .
Speaker 1It's the picture , ladies and gentlemen , of John Brokaw who , this time lashed , seemed healthy by all accounts , only to find out later that he had lung cancer . I sat with John in his home a couple of weeks ago and he looked to me and he said , david , I have discovered that religion is hollow .
Speaker 2I used to be satisfied with superficial religious activity , he said , that doesn't get you through cancer . Only a relationship with Christ gets you through cancer .
Speaker 1He talks about how Christ has been strength and its peace , its sustenance .
Yesterday , in his home , John Brokaw breathed his last breaths and immediately he found himself in the presence of God , the judge , who looked at John and said John , by what right do you stand before me now ? And John said I have left . I have said nothing but the righteousness of Christ . And God looked at John Brokaw and said welcome , Hoth , this is the gospel .
Speaker 2Do you know the gospel and have you responded biblically to the gospel ? I want to urge you this morning , I urge this morning , to cast your heart before God , let your pride down , cast your heart before God and call out , cry out for him to save you from your sins by the work of Christ on the cross . Call out , cry out for him to declare you righteous . God , make me righteous . I cannot do it and hear him say by the sacrifice of my son and the resurrection of my son from the grave , I declare that you are spotless , you are righteous , you are faultless , you are blameless , you are mine by the sacrifice in Jesus Christ . This is the gospel by the sacrifice in Jesus Christ , you are not guilty anymore . We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of Radical with David Platt , for more resources from David Platt .
Speaker 1We invite you to visit radicalnet .