being justified as a gift by His grace...
Romans 3:24-26 · Vern Peterman · Apr 9, 2006
Romans (2005-07), No. 26
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/48262348172193

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

i'd freely by his grace to the redemption that is in christ jesus whom god set forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance god has passed over the sins that were previously committed to demonstrate the present time is righteousness that he might be just and the justifier the one less faith in jesus What is a phrase or a message that keeps coming through out of this passage, including the part that's prior to what we're covering today?

Is there a word that keeps jumping out at you from start to finish? Righteousness. Yeah, righteousness. Whose? Righteousness. Okay, and what you see there is righteousness of God, okay? Righteousness of God, and then as you get farther down here, his righteousness. And so you see that his righteousness, his righteousness, righteousness of God, righteousness of God, repeatedly brought forth. And you'll have to excuse me here, I'm new to this device, so hopefully it doesn't go haywire on me.

Paul used words that are interconnected in meaning. And so we want to take a look at those words. I'd polled with Bob and with Jim to see if this was something that had previously been covered. And my understanding is it hadn't. So my apologies in advance if this has already been addressed. But I want to take a look at these words, righteousness, ransom, redemption, forgiveness, justification, propitiation, and faith.

There's a couple of reasons for covering these. One is because these words have an interconnectedness that isn't readily apparent. The other thing is some of these words are words that we never use in normal English usage. What are some words that you see up there that we just typically never use? Propitiation is the first one. If you look at that and say, what is that? Is that a medical procedure or what is it? So that's another one.

Another one that seems like our culture has completely forgotten is forgiveness, too. But we'll let that go. Is there anything else in there you see is kind of dropped out? Redemption. It's another one. It's dropped out because nobody does blue chip stamps anymore. And some of you probably don't know what I'm talking about. Anyway, let's take a look.

Once we see these meanings, and then we go through the passage, things will start to connect up a little bit better. Let's do that. Righteousness. This is the character of being right that is defined by God Himself. So when it says, His righteousness, the righteousness of God repeatedly, it uses that term because God Himself is the very definition of righteousness. He is the source of righteousness. He is the measure of righteousness. The other point is that God does what comes out of his righteousness. What God does is righteous because of who he is.

Could God do anything that's unrighteous? And why not? See, head shaking, no. Why not? It is not in his character. His character being totally and infinitely righteous means that all that he does comes out of that infinitely and totally righteous character. Therefore, all that he does is righteous. All right? Now, here's the key to the understanding of the relationships of the next several words.

Among Gentiles, they had the idea of military captives. If you've seen, well, even in some of the movies, you know, they'll have Roman soldiers going in and battling some foreign you know, military power. How many of you saw, like, Gladiator? Something like that? That would be an example of it?

Well, what is often not shown is that the Roman military would have a troop of slave traders right behind them. And the slave traders would be ready there to take the captives, give the Roman military some money for them, and then turn around and sell them. Or one option would be that the enemy that they just captured would pay money to buy back their soldiers. But either way, they're not getting out unless somebody pays for them.

So there was this concept of capture. You had to pay a ransom to get them back. The other concept to the Jews was the idea that sins were looked upon as a debt. Sins were looked upon as a debt. And whether by military capture or by ransom, or by having been taken into slavery because of a hopelessly large debt, the amount demanded either way had to be paid in order for somebody to be freed, released. You were held under bondage by what?

You weren't going to be released until that amount was paid. One way to look at it was here is this captive and they have this amount of money that's going to be paid or that captive is not going to be let loose. Now, let's take a look at the words here. Here's the word ransom. This is the amount demanded for the release. There is this bondage that you're going to be under remain under until that ransom is paid till it's paid the next word there is redemption okay so here's what here's what happens let's let's let's take a scenario here Katie has just been taken captive alright so here's Katie she's just been taken captive and they say You can have her back, no problem.

We just want $4 trillion for it. Okay? It's going to cost you if you want her back. So, what does that mean? That's the ransom amount. It's going to cost a lot to get Katie back. If the amount of money is paid, then Katie is redeemed, right? She is bought out from that captivity. That's redemption. Here's somebody who's captive. The amount of money that's demanded for their release is paid, and therefore they are redeemed. That's redemption.

Then the next one that comes up is forgiveness. Forgiveness is not, in the biblical use of the word, forgiveness is not a, you know, Okay, we demanded this amount of money and then finally we sort of relented and gave up. Oh, well, okay, you can have them back for nothing. Okay? That's not what forgiveness is. Forgiveness means the debt has been paid and therefore you are free to go. See the difference?

It's not just a, okay, we won't actually ask $4 trillion to get Katie freed up here. We will free her up because the amount's been paid. We will forgive her because of the amount being paid. Not because we just say, I give up asking for $4 trillion. Okay, so that's how forgiveness is used here. The ransom has been paid in full. The redemption has been effected. The amount of money has been paid. Therefore, the debt is forgiven. Not because we just quit asking for the money, but because it's been paid. And, justification. This is basically declared righteous.

We have a document from New Testament times. A fellow was headed for Alexandria. Because he had a big legal problem. And he had documents with him that were described as justifying documents. Documents that declared him free of the guilt. Declared him righteous.

And it used this word. So we get a sense of understanding. It is a declaration, you are righteous. That's what this word is about. It fits together because you've got captivity, you've got the ransom paid. If the ransom is paid, you have redemption that has taken place. The obligation is forgiven, not in the sense of they just gave up asking, but forgiven because the amount has been paid. The required payment has been met. That's the idea of forgiveness in this context. And then justifying, all right, you have had the ransom paid.

You've been redeemed, bought out. You have been forgiven, not because the captors said, oh, well, we give up, but because the amount's paid. Redemption has been carried out. And you've been given the justifying documents, the documents that say, you are not guilty. You are righteous. So it's a legal declaration. It's a legal declaration of righteousness. All right.

Think about it now. That's the picture that Paul draws upon when he looks at this. And now I want to try to fit that into what he writes here in these verses. The sins are a violation of God's character and righteousness and holiness, which are expressed by the sin nature inherent in all those in Adam. There's a violation. It's that violation that places each human being under captivity. It's a violation of God's absolute and infinite holy character that places each human being in Adam under captivity.

Now, it is a mountain of debt. Huge debt. You can't just declare bankruptcy. There's no way to just talk the captor out of it. So the ransom price has to be paid. Think about it. What is the ransom price for each person who is a sinner? Yeah, it's Christ's blood.

In other words, God says there is this debt, and I used with Katie here, and I hope you'll forgive me here, even though I won't pay you for it. This debt is massive. It's hopelessly large. We can't even begin to address it, and there's no other way to get out of it. The price that has to be paid is death. Let's say that I had no outside help.

What's going to be the outcome from this? Yeah, it's ultimately spiritual death. Physical death is something, of course, human beings understand, but this is spiritual death, is the ultimate outcome. That's what comes as a result. That price has to be paid.

So how did this ransom get paid for us? How did that ransom money get paid? As you pointed out, Harry, it's Christ shed blood on the cross. That ransom got paid. That's how it got paid. Christ is not only the one offended, the one who says there's a violation of my character here that demands a price, but he also says, but I'll pay it. It's an incredible price. You and I could not even begin to pay it. He says, I'll pay it.

It's as if, to use the $4 trillion figure, it's as if I said, OK, Katie, no problem. You get out right away. Just write us a check for $4 trillion. OK? Any one of us here, I'm sure, would have a tough time coming up with that. It's a hopelessly large mountain of debt. So God steps forward and he says, I'll pay the price. He's the one singular qualified payer. He alone has what it takes to pay the price for us. He alone can pay the price. His death satisfies the demand for payment, which began because of sins. Okay, here's this word that when I asked What word do we not use anymore in English language?

Propitiation. This is the satisfaction of God's character of righteousness, holiness, and justice. Why does God's character need to be satisfied in this? Okay. Alright, his justice has to be satisfied. He is a God of infinite justice. Alright, and what else? There has to be complete and absolute satisfaction of his justice in how this is resolved. What else has to be dealt with?

Can I come up with enough righteousness on my own? How about if I try really, really hard to be good? Is that going to work? Notice how the passage we looked at from the start either had God's righteousness or his righteousness four times in that passage. That there's no way I can meet God's absolute and perfect righteousness, but who can? Christ can't, okay? So his justice is satisfied. His standard of absolute and perfect righteousness is satisfied.

And why would he do this? Why didn't he say, well, boy, you guys got yourself into this mess. You know, you get yourself out. Why would he bother to step forward and do this? What's in it for him? Pardon? Fellowship again. Alright, why would he want a fellowship with us? I don't know. Beats me, right? Heaven 6, I got no idea. Why would he want a fellowship with us? Well, you know, I always thought about the sooner he did this, the sooner he could be back with the Lord, you know, with the right hand.

Okay. You know how you just sort of think, well, I bet he just wanted to get this over with. Yeah, I mean, this wasn't something that dragging this out was something I was looking forward to. You're correct about that. But we still have to answer the question, why would he do that? Certainly, you know, stretching this out into half of forever wouldn't work. Okay, he did and why?

He did have a covenant with, there was a covenant between the Father and the Son. And the Holy Spirit involved in this as well. We saw eight times the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit in the book of Ephesians when we went through our study. So yes, they are all three involved in this from the beginning to the end, even before there were human beings on the planet.

But why would he go through this? I mean, after all, you're a captive and you could just take the penalty for it and that's it. Why would he bother? He had an obligation to the covenant, why would he do it? Pardon? Because he loves us. Yeah. His righteousness is infinite, his justice is infinite, and so is his love. He has a love, and this is key, he has a love that is infinite, not like our resources. We say, well, I'll love, but it only goes so far. That's human love. That's enough.

Instead, while we were yet sinners, while we were lost and wandering, while we were thumbing our nose or worse at him, that's when Christ died for us. That's when he said, these people who are thumbing their noses at me, these people, after all, here's Pilate talking to Jesus right before he's going to declare that he's going to be crucified. And here he is looking at the person who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And he said, what is truth? Here he's thumbing his nose at the truth in the biggest way, looking eyeball to eyeball with the one who said, I am truth, and asking what it is.

In spite of the worst insults we could cast upon him, he says, I love you infinitely, selflessly, without condition. And I will pay the price to satisfy my own justice and my own righteousness. because He is not only infinitely righteous and infinitely just, but infinitely loving. Can you quantify God's love? No. No. There is not some place where God says, okay, my love stops here. Okay? So He's willing to pay the price. It's a complete satisfaction of all of God's character. for Christ to die on the cross. All of who he is is satisfied in that. Now, faith.

The captive or the debtor, if you want to use the more Jewish analogy here, the captive or the debtor earned their position of captivity but can't earn the ransom amount. We picked this hopelessly large number of four trillion dollars. They can't purchase their redemption. They can't buy forgiveness of the obligation. Because remember, it's not just forgiveness I give up asking. It's forgiveness of the obligation. They can't buy the forgiveness of the obligation. They can't work towards the point of being declared righteous. I'll be a really, really, really, really good prisoner. No. It's not going to work.

You're already in here, okay? Because you fell short. birthed just prior to this passage, for all have fallen short. The payment of the mountain of ruinous debt was paid to the full satisfaction of God's character by God himself through the death of Christ. So the pivotal question remains for each one, do I believe it?

Let's imagine a scenario. Here's someone, they've been put in, let's call it debtor's prison. They owe the four trillion dollars. And somebody comes along, and they visit the prisoner, and they say, here's a check for the four trillion. And they hand him the check. The prisoner says, nah.

Nah, I can't believe you're going to do that. I can't fathom that you would do that, so I'm just staying in here. takes a check and just rips it up, throws it away. Now, was there any work involved in signing that check? Was there anything to the credit of the prisoner? No. It was all free, gratis. But he just didn't believe it. Even if the people who were holding the prisoner You know, came and opened up the door and said, you can go out now. He says, no, I don't believe it. Nah, nah, I'm not going there. Then what condition are they in? What's their estate? They're still in prison, yeah. So here's the amazing thing.

When Christ died on the cross, His death was sufficient for every human being on the planet. He handed a check to every one of the prisoners and said, the payment's been made. But if they don't believe it, they're still there. Now, has what God has done fallen short? No, not in the least. It's the full amount. It wasn't like Christ died on the cross, but there's not that much money in the account. No, he died on the cross sufficient to pay the entire debt for the entire population of the planet. Totally.

And yet a great many of the prisoners say, nah, I don't believe it. I think I'll stay here. I think I'll stay here. That's the conclusion they've drawn. Does that make sense? So this is the picture of the set of words that Paul is using when he's writing in this passage here. Let me draw out some of the words so you get an idea. Here's the redemption process. The ransom price is paid through Christ's death on the cross, effective for those who believe and are in Christ.

We add the in Christ insight from Ephesians 1.7 and Colossians 1.14.

So the redemption has been accomplished for those who believe and are in Christ. The satisfaction was made for all human beings, because Christ's death on the cross was sufficient for all. But only those that believed, the ones that said, thank you for this check, I'm walking out of here. Those who believed had the ransom price paid and the redemption effected.

They are forgiven of sins. So the forgiveness is a part of the redemption. And, let's wrap one more layer around it, the forgiveness which is a part of the redemption, and the redemption is also a part of the justification. The debt's forgiven, the price has been paid, they walk out, and as they walk out, the papers are handed to them, not guilty. Righteous, declared righteous, walking free. So all these words that fit together here are fitting into this concept, this picture.

And so when Paul is laying these out before people, he's giving them the sense of what this is that is taking place. It is something they had seen regularly. They had people walking among them who had been taken as military captives. They had people walking among them, even some in the church, who had been taken into prison and sold as slaves because of debt. And so here's how they wrap up into each other. Justification has wrapped up in it, the forgiveness and the redemption. So when he talks about justification by faith, it doesn't mean just declared righteous.

It means everything else that's inside that. Okay? Make sense? So now, given that, Let's look at the passage here and step our way through it. Here's 324, being justified. And if you would like, you can look at the first page where we have the passage there. And we're starting at verse 24, assuming that the prior verses, though they're given for context, that we've covered them adequately.

Being justified means having had the ransom paid, having redemption, having forgiveness of sins, and being declared righteous. That's all that's included. It's because forgiveness and the ransom paid and redemption are all wrapped up inside justified. Those are a part of the definition. So it's declared righteous and then some, everything that comes before it. The next one there is freely by his grace. This word freely is used in a number of different places in the New Testament. Freely you have received, freely give. Same word. Not just in English, but in the original Greek. Freely by his grace.

To use the analogy we had, here's a prisoner who is in captivity and has handed this $4 trillion check. Did they do anything to earn it? No. There's no way they could even begin to pay that back. It's not a loan. How many of you run into people that said, I'm good enough to get into heaven? Run into that? This is the $4 trillion debt, and this is somebody who says, I can earn it and get out. No. It doesn't work. There is no one who is good enough to get out on their own.

It takes somebody else on the outside, and only God has the spiritual resources to pull that off. freely by His grace. We talk about God's justice and righteousness and love being infinite. What about His grace? That's infinite too, right? As a matter of fact, that's the Ephesians 2.7 passage that we've referred to from time to time. After it says that we've been seated in the heavenlies with Christ, it says it will take eternity to show, and that word means to demonstrate, to show His grace. How long is eternity?

So how big is the grace? Infinite grace. Grace that after trillions of years have gone by, he says, we've just scratched the surface. Massive, massive grace. Chapter 1 of Ephesians uses surpassing. Chapter 2, surpassing. Chapter 3, surpassing. His grace is just way overthrown. We celebrate ball players that can hit it out of the park. We're talking baseballs that go into orbit. God's grace is way out of scale for anything we're accustomed to measuring. Freely by His grace.

Next one, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. Does it say the redemption that is in Verne Peterman? No. I can't pull it off. The buying out, the paying of the ransom price, the buying out of captivity, the forgiveness of the debt is only in Jesus Christ. It's in Him. That's it. Solely. I cannot be good enough to pull it off. You know, you might say, well, yeah, but I have special contacts. Well, you better have one special contact. It needs to be Jesus Christ.

Because that's what it says there. The redemption that's in Him and Him alone. It was effected through Jesus Christ in every single case. Notice that it was the blood of Christ that's the complete satisfaction. I don't have to add to it. You run into people that think that they've got to do some extra stuff to add to their redemption price. No. Saved entirely by grace. That's the freely. Entirely by grace. I cannot begin to add to it. Nor do I need to. Verse 25.

Whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood. God Himself took the necessary steps to satisfy His character entirely for every human being on the planet by His blood. He took every single step necessary to pull that off. It's God who put forth the satisfaction of His own character. He himself, that goes back to freely by his grace.

He's the one who pulled it off and he says no charge. This check is not a loan. Ever have a check come in the mail and when you sign it, it signs you up for something? Ever have that? I've seen it where if you sign this check, they give you $25 but you just signed up for their phone service or you just signed up for some insurance policy. And what they're doing is they're buying you to come into this program whatever they've got to sell.

Well, the check that the Lord hands us that pays off the mountain of debt that's hopelessly large on our account is paid entirely by the Lord, 100%. It's His own satisfaction completely. through faith. See, what we see is that up to this point, God has done everything to satisfy the righteous demands of his character. Everything. Paul has told us about our justification, which includes a ransom payment, redemption, and forgiveness. Our appropriation of that justification was by faith alone.

By faith alone. forgiven, the ransom's been paid, redemption has been carried out, we've walked out, we've been handed papers that say not guilty by God's declaration. God signs us not guilty. Vern Peterman is not guilty. Vern Peterman is declared righteous.

We walked out and that happened because I signed a loan for the amount of the check, right? That happened because I said, well, I'm going to work for the next 50 years. I made God a promise. That's it. I'm going to keep those promises and then I'll be set free. Is that right? Yep, right? No, there is, it is absolutely entirely because of faith. There is nothing I can do. I can't work for it. I can't earn it. I can't call on some special, you know, contacts. I can't pull money out of the bank. I can't promise I'll be good. There is no way that I can accomplish it. I can only accept by faith what's been accomplished to put that money in the account and to give me that check that gets me free. given to me freely by grace. Yes.

Right. God was satisfied entirely with Christ's payment into the account sufficient for everyone in the world. but this for those who believe right right and so And by your definition, what you're saying is, and I understand totally, that you don't enter into that until you believe. That's correct.

But there's a little kind of, maybe it's semantic. Well, I would say that there is a semantic issue, but it's the question of what's the definition of forgiveness. Forgiveness, scripture makes clear, is for those who believe. And that's made clear. So even if it doesn't say that, specifically, because there are some passages where it actually doesn't say that. So should we just, because of context, because of consistency with the word, where it does say that in some places.

Yeah, let's look at it this way. That the propitiation is a satisfaction, okay? But, you know, let's look... I don't know how to make this thing back up. Ephesians 1, 7. It says, In Him we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. See that? So, are people who don't believe in Him? No. See? They don't have the forgiveness, they don't have the redemption. So that would be one kind of test case. Also that word, we have, that's Erechomai, and I've checked everywhere that shows up, that is a statement of the believer's position. So it's a we have, as a part of our position in Christ, that forgiveness.

So what it means is, if you use the analogy of the check, you will find passages, and 1 John 2.2 would be one of them that's directly related to this one. that it says he is a perpetuation for the sins of the whole world. So what does that mean? He has put the money in the account sufficient to pay for every single person on the planet. So God is completely satisfied with Christ's payment. The dollars have been put into the account, people have the check, but unless they believe they don't cash the check and receive the benefits of it. And you'll find multiple statements like that. He says it'll say, for example, he's the Savior of the whole world.

That doesn't mean the whole world is saved, but what it means is he has paid the price, as this, you know, 1 John 2.2 lays out, he has paid the price sufficient for everyone on the planet, and God is satisfied with that. The only thing lacking on our part, and it's not a gift, and it's not a work, is faith. Just like the check that we get, that's a gift, but our cashing it, we have to exercise faith. We have to believe that that's going to make the payment.

That's not true. Christ died for the sins of the whole world. He paid the price. You can say Christ died for you. But to have forgiveness of sins, to be redeemed, that's in Christ. Just like Ephesians 1.7, Colossians 1.14. Redemption, forgiveness of sins. We looked at the meaning of both of those words. Those are for those in Christ and the air come I that we have which that's consistently a statement of the believers position We have that if the person that you're talking to does not believe you can tell them All you have to do is believe because Christ paid the price just like the analogy of the check all you have to do is believe and your sins will be forgiven you will be in Christ you will have a And that means to have as a possession the redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

So that's the thing to get clear. Ultimately what we are looking to present to people is Christ died for you. And we can tell them that. for the sins of the whole world. Is God satisfied with Christ's death for every single person on the planet? Yes. We can tell them unequivocally, Christ died for your sins. There are some in Christendom who would argue with that, but I think scripture is quite clear. Christ died for the sins of every single person on the planet.

He paid the penalty. He paid the penalty. The penalty is paid. In fact, you can tell them that. Look, the penalty has been paid for. The forgiveness, which means that the amount's been paid, and the next step is, you know, it's a part of redemption, you're going to be out the door, and along with that comes your justification, your papers that say, I am righteous, declared righteous by God.

All that comes as a result of believing. The person who does not believe They might have that check right there in their hand, but unless they walk up and say, hey, here's my payment, they don't have the forgiveness because the forgiveness means that the debt obligation has been paid. And they've followed through on it with faith. the unbeliever is already forgiven.

And that kind of takes away, well, why do I need to trust in the Word of my Savior? I'm already forgiven. And so you can begin to peacefully begin to get a little bit more peace. Well, that's why I think it's helpful to take a look at the combinations of these words, the way they were used, so we understand what they mean. That forgiveness means that The payment's been made, and you followed through. Okay, I've got the check in my hand, and I walked up and said, here, this is my eternal get-out-of-jail-free.

Okay? Oh! Oh yeah. Oh yeah. All kinds of folks. But ultimately, ultimately, Christ has paid for, in order to satisfy God's character, that's propitiation, okay? the sins of the whole world, and it is upon belief that this package of forgiveness, redemption, and justification comes for those who are, as Ephesians and Colossians chapter 1 say, in Christ.

And in both cases, you use the Erechamiah, that we have it. We've got it. And it's stated as an eternal possession. And, you know, a lot of the different statements of our position in Christ are used with that same, you know, we have statement. Sure, 1 John 2 makes it clear. Yeah, in other words, God is satisfied with the payment, the equivalent of the money is put in the account for every single one. Christ has paid the price sufficient for the forgiveness of sins for every single person on the planet, for the redemption and their justification all the way through. Every single person on the planet, because of Christ's death, has the ability, by faith, to walk out the door.

But many say no. Some even deny they're in the prison. See? And that's, I think, a good part of the denial for many. But I have actually known people who have been presented the gospel, and even intellectually, yeah, I know that that's the case, but they won't hand the check in.

Ever know anybody like that? I have. It's amazing. Well, it is an amazing thing. You can explain the whole thing, and they know exactly where they stand. And they say, I stand right outside the door. And they won't walk through. I've seen that. They understand completely what the situation is, but they will not hand that check over, even though Christ paid the price. One hundred percent.

Now, to demonstrate His righteousness, this demonstrate or show forth His righteousness is the last point there. And let's say that God just said, oh man, Boy, I really feel bad about you guys being in this spot. Let's just call it quits and let you go. What would that do? What would that say about God's righteousness? It's compromise. He is no longer a God of infinite righteousness. Instead, all that happens here where he says, I am a just God. I am a righteous God. I am a loving God. I am a gracious God.

All of those in infinite capacity, all of those in infinite capacity spell out His righteousness. If you say everything else is infinite but compromise His righteousness by saying, I'll let you go or, you know, you weren't that bad, you know, promise to be good to the next five days and I'll let you out of here.

That's not absolute righteousness, is it? No, no. So instead, his requirements are absolute. His requirements are based on infiniteness of character, including infinite love and infinite grace, to the point of having every human being on the planet, have that, you know, here's your check.

And some choose to just drop it on the floor, shred it, or spit on it, or deny that they're in prison, deny that they're in captivity, deny that the price has to be paid. But no matter what you call it, it's short of belief. He demonstrates his righteousness, his infinite righteousness, his absolute and eternal righteousness, in what he's laid out here. And he can't do anything less. But what is so wonderful about what's been brought out here is he paid the price. That infinite love has been demonstrated too. That grace has been freely by his grace. It's not chintzy grace. It's not cheapskate grace. It's freely. How big a check do you need? Now that four trillion dollar check? No problem. Here it is. For you. For you. For you. For you. Every single one. Sufficient for all. God is satisfied with the payment for each one. They just have to believe. Alright, we're just about out of time.

Because of this forbearance, God passed over sins that were previously committed. When he says passed over sins previously committed, what time is he talking about? Before Christ. Okay. He passed over those sins. Does that mean he said, oh, I'll just ignore those. We'll let those skate by. What does he mean passed over them? Had Christ died yet at that time? No. So the passing over is really kind of like grace on credit.

He's saying, here is the anticipated payment. If you'll have faith in that, I'll let that go. Even though in history at this point in time, it's not been accomplished yet. It's as good as done. Because the ones who have promised are among the Godhead themselves. I think I skipped one part there. There we go.

To demonstrate at the present time his righteousness. So in the present time, his righteousness has been demonstrated and we look back on the accomplished fact of Christ's payment, his propitiation, his satisfaction. And then this final one, that he might be the just and the justifier, the one who has faith in Christ. He himself is just and righteous. and he declares us righteous. See, that's what it's talking about. He himself is infinitely righteous, and he declares us righteous. That's what that last line is pointing to. And that justification, which is forgiveness, redemption, and justification all wrapped up into one, is for who? For the one who has faith in Jesus. They've taken the check for the four trillion dollars, to use the example. for the four trillion dollars and just walked and said, I'm out of here. Get out of eternal jail free.

You have, in addition to these, these other New Testament words related to slaves and captives and things of that sort. Scripture repeatedly comes back to this theme. And these words, forgiveness, justify, ransom, those kinds of words. Keep keep cropping up because when we walked out of that prison that day Galatians says Christ redeemed us from the law bought us out. That's redemption, isn't it? A Lot was accomplished on that day.

So anyway, I leave you with those words because I think they have some Real value just to to think about how scripture keeps coming back to this theme and it's something that it's helpful for us to look at because in in So words like propitiation, we don't use that too frequently in English anymore.

Let's pray, because we've run out of time. Lord, we thank you for these truths so clearly laid out, and how marvelous your grace, freely, you have given to us. Your righteousness is the thing that holds us, and says the price must be paid, and how How marvelous Your grace and Your love that You paid it at Your own expense. And so Lord, this morning we can do nothing to earn it or deserve it or pay it back. We can only be grateful and thankful. We just thank You in Jesus' name. Amen.