How can God be just and the justifier of sinners?

Bible Text: Romans 3:24-26 | Preacher: Alan Conner | Series: 2003, Romans

Worship Service Alan Conner Feb. 16, 2003 Northwest Bible Church
Romans 3:24-26
How can God be just and the justifier of sinners?
INTRO
I. Introduction (Romans 1:1-15).
II. Theme (Romans 1:16-17).
III. Sin (Romans 1:18-3:20).
IV. Justification by faith (Romans 3:21-5:21).
A. God’s righteousness comes by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-31).
B. The OT teaches this truth (Romans 4:1-25).

The whole passage starting in Romans 3:21 leads up to the explanation of this mystery: HOW CAN GOD BE BOTH JUST AND THE JUSTIFIER OF SINNERS?

I. THE PROBLEM OF JUSTIFICATION

A. God is just.
Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.
Job 25:4-6 “How then can a man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of woman? If even the moon has no brightness and the stars are not pure in His sight, how much less man, that maggot, And the son of man, that worm!”

Proverbs 17:15 He who justifies the wicked, [is] an abomination to the LORD.
Exodus 34:7 yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
Yet the Lord does not punish all the guilty.

B. God is the justifier of the believer.
How can a just God forgive sinners??? This is the most difficult religious question of all and it is a mystery and dilemma that only the gospel of Christ can resolve.

II. THE SOLUTION OF JUSTIFICATION (Romans 3:24-26)

A. Justification (Romans 3:24) – In order for us to enter heaven, we must become ____________.
In justification, God imputes His righteousness to the believer.

B. Redemption (Romans 3:24) – where God the Son pays the price to redeem us from our ______________ to sin. What is the nature of the price that God paid?

C. Propitiation in His blood (Romans 3:25) –The purchase price was paid by Jesus Christ in the form of an _________________ sacrifice.
It was a public sacrifice.
It was a blood sacrifice. 1 Peter 1:18-19.
It was an appeasing sacrifice. Propitiation removes the __________ of God by the offering of an acceptable sacrifice.
It was a long-awaited sacrifice (Romans 3:25b-26a).

D. Righteousness of God (Romans 3:25-26) – God does all this to declare His own righteousness, His own character. Here it has a different meaning than in Romans 3:21. There it means the righteousness God gives; here, the righteousness He possesses.

CONCLUSION
The cross is the vindication of God. How can God be just and justify the ungodly? He can because He has punished the sins of the ungodly in the sufferings of His own Son.
The mystery of all mysteries has been solved. Salvation comes to ungodly sinners who believe while God’s justice remains in tact.