The glory of the cross is found not in the physical instrument of crucifixion but in the finished work of Christ, which removes all condemnation for the believing sinner. It explains that condemnation comes from God's law, Satan's accusations, and one's own conscience, but Christ's redemptive work on the cross, freely offered by God's grace and received through faith, satisfies divine justice and silences the accuser. By trusting in the blood of Christ, believers are justified, their consciences are purged, and they can boast only in the cross, which effectively removes all guilt and condemnation.
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Beloved friends, we greet you in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we welcome you to the continued ministry from his blessed and holy word on the great subject, the glory of the cross. May I ask my beloved friend, do you glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ? Not in that wooden tree on which he was crucified, but in the eternal character of the work which he accomplished there, both for God and mankind. Do you recall the last words of the Lord Jesus upon the cross? When at the end of his sufferings triumphantly he cried it is finished, and then he bowed his head and died.
He was referring to the work that was done upon that cross alone, to which he also spoke to his father about in his great prayer at John seventeen. Do you recall in John seventeen he said to the Father in his prayer, I have finished the work which thou gave us me to do? It is not the great work done by him and in and through his life, to which the Lord Jesus referred. It is not the life of the Lord Jesus that saved you and me, but rather the work which he did upon the cross, the sacrifice of the ages, a perfect sacrifice to God for the sins of the whole world.
So today we continue considering the blessing of justification. That wonderful fact that when God forgives the sinner, he clears that sinner who believes upon his beloved Son from all the charges of condemnation which may be against them. We have noticed in our preceding message the three sources of condemnation. God himself, through his blessed and holy law, righteously condemns me. For I have broken the law, and the curse of the broken law, of which all of us are guilty, has pronounced us worthy of eternal death.
For the wages of sin is death, eternal separation from God. Then second, we noted that Satan, And you know, that fellow knows all about you and me. He also condemns me, accusing me before God of being a sinner, believe it or not. He knows that God hates sin, and he's delighted, not only to help me do the sinning when he can, but seeks to prove to God I'm not fit to be saved. And then third, we found that my conscience condemns me. It matters not if one is an outright heathen in pagan darkness, or whether a refined cultured person, or even a religious one.
The voice of conscience condemns me when I sin. Therefore my condemnation needs to be removed from before God, from before Satan, and from before my conscience. Praise God this is possible. through the death of God's beloved Son, by His work upon the cross. He can, and He does remove the condemnation, when the sinner in repentance and in faith trusts Him as their Savior. Now let's raise the question. The condemnation needs to be lifted before God.
How we are then, how are we then justified before God? Let me read Romans chapter three, verse twenty-four and twenty-five. Know these wonderful words. Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth a propitiation through faith in His blood. Now, will you please note the basis of our justification to be cleared is on the ground of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Not in what may be in me, but the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
The work of his cross. Notice second fact in our scripture. How God does it, the spring of it, is done freely by his grace. Meaning, absolutely we never deserve it. We have no merit of our own, but God says, I'm free. freely able to do it. Though you don't deserve it, and grace means undeserved favor, but know the third fact in our verse. It becomes yours and mine through faith in the blood of Jesus, through faith in his blood. Have you exercised faith in the redemptive work of Christ upon the cross of Calvary, the shedding of his blood?
Now will you go down to Romans chapter three in verse twenty six with me, where I want you to notice that it is in righteousness that God will justify and clear the believing sinner. His justice regarding the penalty being paid has been satisfied. The death of Christ and the shedding of his blood has completely met the need. That is the meaning of the word propitiation. He meets my need. Therefore, read the words that God might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Let me recapitulate very carefully and clearly that the ground or the basis of it is Christ's redemptive work upon the cross. Second, God's offer is entirely by grace, freely by His grace. Don't you think for a moment you'll ever be able to pay for it. You can never earn it. God says, I'll give it to you if you'll take it. And third, it becomes yours when you place your faith in the redemptive work of Christ. Note the two expressions. One in verse twenty-five. Through faith in His blood, known in verse twenty-six the words, Him or Her which believeth in Jesus.
Now let me climax this precious truth by the words of Romans chapter five and verse one. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So so the condemnation is gone from before God when I trust the Savior. Romans eight one declares there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus my beloved radio friend have you been justified have you been cleared from the condemnation that hangs over you for if you die with that condemnation you'll be lost forever but now the second fact how is the condemnation of Satan removed the same way Through the cross and the blood of the Lord Jesus, there is a verse in Revelation chapter twelve and verse eleven in which we find God saying, They overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb.
The power of the blood of Christ alone can silence the accuser. I am saved from Satan's accusation when I'm under the blood of Jesus Christ. For the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. First John chapter one and verse seven. My position is only safe when I'm under the blood of Christ. My beloved friend, I want to ask you something. Are you under the blood of Christ? One dear servant of God wrote, I hear the accuser roar of ills that I've done, meaning Satan. I know them well and thousands more, but Jehovah findeth none.
My Christian friend, don't let Satan trouble you about your sins when God is forgiving you, and when Satan attempts to tell you that you are sinned, reminds you of your sins. Tell him, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth me from all sin. Where the past, where the present, and where the future, they are covered when you've rested your faith in the Savior and his redemptive work upon the cross. Now last of all, how about my conscience? Well, listen to the words of Hebrews nine and verse fourteen. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Will you know it again? The power is the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ purges the conscience. Here once more the blood of Christ removes the condemnation, and this time from the conscience. Now let me review the lesson. I trust that you will receive it carefully, prayerfully, clearly. Now let me repeat. The opposite meaning of justification is to be condemned. But to be justified is to have the condemnation removed, to be cleared. All the charges taken away because of our sins.
But let's realize, who does it? Only God. We have noted in a preceding lesson that God, through the death of Christ, removes the guilt of our sins when we believe on the Lord Jesus. and he gives us their forgiveness. Now we learn through the same cross of Christ, when the sinner in repentance and faith, in the Lord Jesus and his work of the cross, when he or she receives the Savior, our condemnation, whether it be by the righteous and holy God through the law, whether it be by the adversary Satan who loves to condemn us, And whether it be our guilty conscience, through faith, all the condemnation is removed.
Oh, beloved, what joy to realize the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ effectively removes our guilt, gives to the believing sinner forgiveness of sins. They are taken away. And now we learn that the condemnation that rightfully is upon us and over us, When we believe on the Savior, all the condemnation is lifted because of the blood of Christ which we trust, which was shed upon the cross. One is well written, No condemnation, O my soul. Tis God that speaks the word. Perfect in commonness art thou, in Christ thy glorious Lord.
No condemnation, precious word. Consider it, O my soul. Thy sins were all on Jesus laid. His stripes had made the whole. Shall we not repeat the text, the premise upon which we are teaching these truths? God forbid that I should glory save. Only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. My beloved friend, do you glory in the cross? The greatness, the magnitude of what Jesus did. for your soul and for mine, when he was alone in death, bearing our sins on the cross.
Father, by the Holy Spirit, convict some dear sinner and convert them. To trust the Savior today and bless the saints, forth and from this truth, for their blessing we ask. Amen.