When a Sinner comes to the Lord Jesus Christ the first time he seeks forgiveness, and what he finds is a God who delights to forgive, who’s ready to forgive, who wants to forgive, who has given a promise to forgive. That Sinner may feel all the burden of the sins that he has committed with the words of David he made may say, against you and you alone I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight. But then upon the confession he finds forgiveness. Yes, first, John 19 is still true if we confess our sins. He that is God is faithful and true to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He cleanses us from all sin. He cleanses us from all unrighteousness. There’s not one single sin that remains unforgiven. He forgives them all. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ has laid the righteous foundation for that. And now we know our sins are forgiven, no punishment anymore. That may be, as I said before, the first thing that somebody seeks forgiveness, but by far that is not the only thing that God wants to grant. And in this video and in the following videos, we want to occupy ourselves with a topic of justification. Just want to read one verse from the Bible and we go to Romans chapter 5, verse one and two, and there we read. Therefore, having been justified on the principle of faith, let us pause here for a while. Therefore, that connects us to the chapters before that chapter 4 and chapter 3. Actually, the apostle Paul had explained what justification means, and we will go back to 5 verses from that chapter. In chapter 4 he had explained on what principle the believers of the Old Testament had been forgiven and justified, and now in chapter 5 he comes back. Therefore he comes back to the whole topic of justification. He said having been justified. Since that is the case, we have been justified. We are now just in the sight of God and that on the principle of faith, not on the principle of works. And then he says we have there are three results of that. We have peace toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s number one. Number two, by whom we have also access by faith into this favour in which we stand. That is number 2 and #3 is and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. In this video, we want to occupy ourselves with what is justification. That is the first phrase of that by all words having been justified. Well, what does it mean to be justified? And in the following videos we want to occupy ourselves with the results of justification. 3 results for those that have been justified on the principle. Our faith, Yeah, faith. But what is justification? Well, let me tell you a little story. There is a father, and this father has the peculiar custom that every time his son commits a sin, there’s something wrong, like an offence. He takes a nail and hammers it into a board. And during the course of that weak, there might be quite some nails on that board. But when his son comes to him and he confesses the sin based upon the principle also on which God Forgives us, He forgives his son. And as a sign of that, he takes pliers and he pulls off, pulls out those nails from the board. And with that this the whole matter is done, dealt with. At the end of the week, grandfather comes, he knows about the peculiar custom, the strange custom of his son. And he straight away goes to that board and he looks at it. Well, he doesn’t find any nails, but what he finds are the holes that those nails left behind. And he starts counting. Don’t you think that this will have an effect on how he looks at his grandchild? Well, the sins may have been forgiven by the father, but there’s still something in the room. The whole matter comes up again, and the father realizes that, well, the punishment, the sin itself may have been forgiven, but his son still stands there as the guilty one, as the one who is accused. The accusation itself is still in the room. And So what he does is when grandfather left, he takes the board, he goes into his workshop, he takes wood, plaster and he plasters the whole board until you have one clean, nice looking surface. No holes are visible anymore. At the end of the week, the grandfather comes again. Again he goes to the board. He looks at the board and what does he see? Nothing. No nails, no holes, just a clean nice surface. He looks at his grandchild and said, wow, you have done nothing wrong this week. You, you, you’re good boys. Or we could also say you are just person. You haven’t done anything wrong. And don’t you think that this has an effect on how the grandfather looks at his grandchild and how he deals with him? He looks at him as a just person who has not done something wrong, not only as a forgiven person, but as something somebody who has not even done something wrong. And that, my dear friends, is justification. Justification and forgiveness are two blessings that have the same foundation. Both rest upon the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary’s cross. God has not spared His Son, but He has given His Son for us all, and He was delivered for our offenses. He bore our sins in His body upon the tree, and there in the three hours of darkness, God punished Him for our sins. He made him sin. But nonetheless they are differences, even though they have forgiveness and justification, have the same foundation, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there have God as the source of these blessings, they are differences. Forgiveness on the one side is an act of God’s mercy, of God’s goodness, of God’s friendliness. We have sinned against God, we have committed sins against God, but He forgave us those sins upon the confession, and now He will not bring them up anymore. He says in Hebrews 10 verse 17 and 18 and their sins and their lawlessness I will never remember anymore. Not one single sin remains when God Forgives them to us, and He does so on the foundation of the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And for us. We know whoever believes in the Son shall not be judged. No judgement, no punishment any more. Justification on the other side goes further than that. It is more, it is more a legal term. We could say it is a result of God’s just judgement. And the meaning of justification is to declare somebody as just. God declares those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as just. He says that is a just person and as such that person stands before God and as such God looks upon that person as a just person. That, by the way, goes further than simply looking at us as though we have not sinned. That would maybe put us on a neutral ground. No, God gives us a position as before Him on a on a positive ground, as a just person. And see when we have forgiveness, the result is that there is no judgement anymore, that there is no punishment anymore. But justification goes further and it even takes the accusation out of It is as though that God takes the indictment, He opens it, opens it, and all what he finds are empty, blank pages. That is justification and that is how we stand before God as those that on the principle of faith have been justified. And that has an effect, that has results, wonderful results, and those results we want to look at in the next videos. But let us go to Romans chapter 3 and see some more of the details that Paul opens to us as to what justification really is. And the first thing I would like to mention is the authority, the authority that justifies. And we read in Romans 8, verse 33, it is God who justifies my friends, that really makes me happy. God is the authority. He is the highest authority in the whole universe. There’s no one higher than Him. There’s no one who could possibly question what He has done. Is He? Sometimes in our earthly life, you may need to go to court and maybe you don’t like the verdict of that court and hence you go to a core that is on a higher level. And since it is on a higher level, that court can will review the the verdict of that other court and can also overrule it. And if you’re still not satisfied, you still can go to the highest, like to the Supreme Court. But if the Supreme Court rules, the verdict is final. There’s no other authority in this world that can overrule the Supreme Court’s verdict. And that is the same thing when it comes to God. When God justifies, there’s no one who can bring an accusation against those who believe in the Lord Jesus. There is no other authority. God is the highest authority. And if he justifies, if he declares just, then there’s no one who can overrule us. There’s no one who can question that. That’s number one. But why does God do that? Well, whatever God does, whatever blessing he gives to us, there needs to be a righteous foundation. And in Romans 59 we read much rather. Therefore, having been now justified in the power of His blood, we shall be saved by Him. From here Paul. And there are also other Bible verses that show us God’s righteous foundation. Well, that righteous foundation is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. What He has accomplished there on Curry’s cross is God’s righteous foundation. Yes, God wants to show mercy to us. God wants to show His love towards us, but He always needs a righteous foundation and see this is something very important and and maybe we quickly go to Romans chapter 1 and then I I would like to to show you something that especially Paul puts before us Romans chapter one verse 17 and then we read here 4. In it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it as it is written that just shall live by faith in verse 16. That is what we read here he says I am not ashamed of the gospel. Why not? Because it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jews 1st and also for the Greek. And then he says, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed. See, that’s the thing. It is not a righteousness on our side that somehow stands before God. No, it is the righteousness of God. It is God’s righteousness. This righteousness belongs to Him. And Paul says in this gospel that I preach, it is God’s gospel. It is His gospel to us. Good news for man, sinful man. But in that gospel, and I’m not ashamed of that gospel, the righteousness of God is revered. That means that God acts upon a righteous foundation. When God acts towards us, he does not do so because he feels good or he just feels like showing mercy to us. No, it always needs to meet His righteous claims, His righteous demands towards sin. And that or we could also ask where did that happen? Where that happened on the cross? And that is what Paul now refers to here in Romans chapter 5, verse 9 and other verses as well. It is in the power of His blood that points us to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is not the physical blood that He speaks about, but blood signifying the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is God’s foundation. What is the proof or the assurance that we have that we are justified? That we are justified? Well, in Romans 425 it says who has been delivered for our offences because of our sins? He needed to die there, but then something else happened and has been raised for our justification. How do we know that God has accepted the work of the Lord Jesus? How can we know? How can we know that what the Lord Jesus Christ did, what He claimed about himself, and what He would do on this cross is all true? Well, we look at the empty tomb, we look at the resurrection, and there the Lord Jesus Christ has been raised by the glory of the Father. And that is God’s stamp upon the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Accepted. He answered to all the righteous demands that I had towards sin, and I give proof of that, that I raised him from among the dead. And so now everybody who believes in this accomplished work which God has accepted can know I am justified. What is the source? Well, the source of that blessing is, as always, the heart of God. In Romans 324 we read being justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. You see He also, we see that there was a cost attached to it. It is freely by His grace for us. The grace of God is when God shows favour, when He shows love towards us, but it is undeserved. We don’t deserve the mercies of God, the love of God. No, we don’t. But here something is given to us freely as a gift. We don’t have to pay. Somebody did. Somebody had to pay and that is what we see in this word, redemption. Redemption means somebody needed to pay the price and because Lord Jesus Christ pay the price, it is free for you and me. For those that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then there is a prerequisite we read in Romans 326, so that He should be just and justify him, that is of the faith of Jesus, and also in Romans 51 as we have read earlier. Therefore, having been justified on the principle of faith, we have already seen that the death and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ is what prompts God to deal with us, to bless us. But how do I get a share in that? How do I have part in that? Well, it is by faith, by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. The road of salvation when it comes to what we need to do is very simple. Repent. We acknowledge our sinfulness, our hopelessness, that we cannot save ourselves, but we need a Saviour, some work that is happening outside of us, and faith then connects us with the work of the Lord. Jesus said it is as somebody said, it is like the hand that reaches out and takes the hand of God and takes what God has provided for us. Knowing that what God has provided is enough, it is sufficient, but it is that principle. It is not by the principle of works. That is how. Paul begins in in the whole topic in in chapter 3. He says on the principle of works, no one shall be justified. On the principles of the works of the law. We cannot be justified because by the law knowledge of sin comes, but it is on the principle of faith and that is very important for us. It’s not something that we have to do, that we have to add something, but all rests upon what the Lord Jesus Christ has already done. And that is enough for God. And that prompts God to deal with you and me. For us it takes faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the scope. What is the scope of justification? We read in Romans chapter 3 verse 22 and 23 the righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ towards all and upon all those who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short or fall short of the glory of God towards all really means no one is excluded. There’s not one single human being to which to who God does not offer salvation. Everybody can be saved. The work of the Lord Jesus Christ is enough so that if everybody came to the Lord Jesus Christ in saving faith, they could be saved. That is how great the work of the Lord Jesus Christ is. It is sufficient that everybody can be saved. Unfortunately, not everybody comes, not everybody repents, not everybody believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it adds. And upon all those who believe, they are those who really come into the merits of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. And what is the reason for God where he said for there is no difference? If you take the whole human race throughout history, there is no difference. For all have sinned, they all have sinned and they likewise need the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. At the end of chapter 3, Paul raises another thought and he says, Or is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Is he? We need to understand that, especially in the Old Testament, the people of Israel were God’s chosen people, and he dealt with them primarily. But then the Lord Jesus Christ came and the Jews rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah. And therefore God opens the way of salvation to all the other nations, to everybody. That is something that we can already see in the Old Testament, but we see it also in the Gospels. Just need to look at John chapter 4, that he’s the savior of the Jews, yes, also of the Jews. But there it says that he is the Savior of the world for everyone. And that is what Paul points at now. He’s he’s not only the, the God of the Jews, but he’s also the God of the Gentiles, the nations, yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised, that is the Jews by faith, same principle and the uncircumcised that are the Gentiles, the nations through faith, same foundation, the same way it is by faith. That is the scope it goes towards all, but upon all those who really believe they can benefit from of the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ work on Diary’s cross and equality. That is the last point I would like to speak about. It says in Acts chapter 13, verse 39, and from all things from which ye could not be justified in the law of Moses, in him everyone that believes is justified. Remember what we said when it comes to forgiveness. We have been forgiven all our sins. Colossians 213 gives proof of that, and many other Bible verses give proof that God Forgives us all sins. And here when it comes to justification, we have the same thought. There’s not one single sin. There’s not one single thing that God we have not been justified from. God declares us just and as such we stand before Him. We have been from all things that the law could not justify us in Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone that believes is justified. That is more the negative side as something that is being put away. The positive side more would be that we stand as those who are just in the sight of God, we stand before him. What a wonderful thing to know and that is some things that we know now about justification. And the last thing is now we come back to that, that first thought that we had this outlook that I would like to give to you. We now understand what it means that we have been justified on the principle of faith, but they are now results. God looks at us in a totally different way as those that are just in His sight and as such they are those results of justification we want to deal with. This results in the next videos. 1st results is that we have peace about God. The second one is that we have access to God in His favor at all times. We can come to God and we know that God will never, ever think other than in grace about you and me, those who have been justified. And the third thing, and that is concerning our future. We rejoice, we boast in the hope of the glory of God, yes, being justified. And that’s something that we enjoy right now. Already we know that there’s something awaiting for us and that is the glory. Thank you for watching this video and looking forward to having you with us in the next videos. If you want to have more resourceful material, we invite you to visit the Bible study dot site. There are a lot of articles, audio, also videos that you can read or listen to which help you to understand the Bible more in detail. Well, today I say goodbye and God bless.