Justification & Regeneration -- 8/26/07 (The Lord's Church)

Sunday, August 26, 2007

JUSTIFICATION AND REGENERATION

During the past couple of years you have heard me read or quote Matt. 7:21-23 many times. I am not apologizing for that, but I am reminding us that we must be aware of deception. Let’s read it again, just to make sure we all know what I am talking about . Matt. 7:21-23…
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Our world is full of people who think they will spend eternity in heaven but who will some day wake up in hell. It is vital that you and I make sure we aren’t among them.

But it is also important that we understand this truth concerning people around us. Don’t be fooled when some poll reports that half the people in our country are Christians. Such polls are deceptive. There was a time in our society when you could ask a person the straightforward question: "Are you a Christian?" and the answer would mean something. That time has long past. A person may say he is a Christian because he has an interest in spiritual things, because he grew up going to church, because he goes to church now, because he reads the Bible, because he believes in God. But none of those things indicate a person is a Christian.

So what does reveal that a person is truly a Christian? I think most everyone hear realizes that no one is born a Christian. As a matter of fact, we were all born dead, dead in trespasses and sins. We were all the enemies of God. There are no exceptions. So how does a person pass from death to life? How does a person move from being the enemy of God to being His child? What has to take place?

You might say, "Well, a person has to be saved." And you would be absolutely correct. But let’s break that down a little bit this morning. Salvation is the broad, overarching, umbrella term. Under it we find a number of beautiful pictures concerning what happens to the person who is saved, who becomes a child of God. I would like us to look at two of them this morning.

I read a book recently that has been helpful. There really isn’t much new in the book, but the author has a way of putting things that make them sharp and distinctive. Do you ever have that experience? You read or hear what someone says, and then you exclaim, "That is exactly what I have come to believe, I just didn’t express it nearly as well." That is the way I felt when I was confronted by the simple words of an author I had never heard of. His name is Charles Leiter, and I am fairly confident that few of you have ever heard of him. I am borrowing some concepts from him at this point.

I think we would also agree that every person has one basic problem and it is called sin. However, there are two parts to the sin problem. Man has a bad record. But also, man has a bad heart. As we will see, both of these must be dealt with.

A Bad Record

So let’s begin with this concept that everyone has a bad record. We know what a bad record is. Consider a criminal who has a record. That means that he has been convicted of a crime and has become a part of his record. No one wants to have a record, but the fact is that every person comes before God with a bad record.

I have a bad record – lying, stealing, idolatry, adultery, covetousness, etc. But you also have a bad record. Where is the man who can say, "I don’t have a bad record"? Just examine the commandments. God says, "You shall not commit adultery." Have you committed adultery, in light of what Jesus said? If you get by that one, what about, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me"? Can you say that nothing has ever been as important to you as God? Do you see? Every person has a bad record.

How serious is it to have a bad record? "So I have a few marks on my record, or even a lot of marks. So what? After all, He is a God of love. He isn’t going to hold those things against me. He understands that I am only human. Nobody’s perfect. God will be merciful to me." That is the attitude of many people today. I pray that none of us will fall into that kind of thinking, because it is the height of deception.

It is a serious thing to have a bad record before God. While it is true that God is love, that doesn’t mean what most people think. God is also the just judge. Do you ever think about God’s justice? When you get to thinking about it, we expect God to be just, don’t we? We expect him to punish the murderer, the corrupt politician, the Hitlers of our world. But do we understand that God must punish all sin? If God failed to punish our sin, He would no longer be a just judge.
Consider a judge who is trying a case where the husband has murdered his wife and children. All the evidence supports this conclusion. But the judge finally says, "I am a loving judge. Therefore, I find this man not guilty of murder." It would make that judge’s court a mockery. Who can respect a judge that doesn’t punish crime?

Listen to me. If God failed to send sinners to hell, he would no longer be a just judge. The universe would fall apart, if God didn’t send sinners to hell, because everything is built on the justice of God. Prov. 17:15, "He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD." God hates injustice. He cannot do what is an abomination to Him. God will never justify the wicked. Justice demands that God punish the sinner, and the punishment He has decreed is hell. As we read in Ezek. 18:4,20, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." And he is talking about more than physical death.

So we see that it is a serious thing to have a bad record, to have a criminal record before God. It isn’t just a matter of having a guilty conscience. There are some people who can say, "I don’t feel guilty about anything I have done." We’re not talking about feelings of guilt; we are talking about objective guilt. There is the way a person feels, and then there are the facts. If a murderer stands before a judge, whether or not he feels guilty makes absolutely no difference. All of the evidence says that he has committed a crime, and the judge says that he must be punished for it. A just judge doesn’t consider feelings; he deals objectively with the facts of the case. God is the just judge, and He sees all of the facts accurately. As a result, He says about us, "You are guilty. You must be punished."

So in light of those truths, is there any hope for the person who has a bad record? That person deserves hell, the just punishment of a righteous God. Even if he could quit sinning and never commit another sin until the day he dies, he still deserves hell, because his record has already been tarnished. What can be done, in light of the fact that sin must be punished? Either I must pay for my sin by spending eternity in hell, or someone else must bear the punishment for my sin. But you can’t bear my punishment, because you have sins of your own to deal with, and so do you, and you. This is the great dilemma of all mankind.

At this point, someone may say, "But we know that God forgives sins. I know that my sins are forgiven." Please hear me well. If your sins have not been punished, they you have not been forgiven. God will never fail to punish sins, not even one single sin. Remember that the God of love is also a God of wrath. That does not mean that God has a bad temper. It means that He is dead set against sin; He hates it; He will not tolerate it in any form. And the sinner is under the wrath of God. The time is coming when God will pour out all His wrath upon guilty sinners.

Praise God that He has a solution. It is called justification. Romans 4:5 says that God justifies the ungodly. Every person who has ever been born fits that description. To justify means "to declare righteous." It means that the judge says with all truth and honesty, "Not guilty." But how can God say that about the ungodly? What about the man’s sins, which must be punished?
Here’s how it works. I Pet. 3:18, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:" Is. 53:6, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." 2 Cor. 5:21, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

Do you see it? Jesus was punished at the cross. And what was the punishment? It wasn’t the nails driven through his hands and feet. It wasn’t the crown of thorns on His head. Nor was it the mocking and ridicult that He endured. Other men have endured such things. The punishment Jesus received was at the hand of His Father. He took upon Himself the wrath of God which was poured out upon sins.

Was it unfair? Why should Jesus have to do that? Heb. 4:15, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." What did He deserve? Surely it was fitting for the Father to welcome Him home with a "Well done, my Son." But instead, He took our place. Our sins were laid on Him. The just died for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. Jesus was our substitute. Because of what He did, we have been declared righteous before God. Our record can be cleansed through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

A Bad Heart

But I said we were going to deal with the two parts of the sin problem – the bad record, but also the bad heart. We might begin by asking the question, "How do we know if a person has been justified?" This is where the deception has swept us away, especially during the past few decades. If you ask the question in a little different way – "How do you know you are a Christian?" – you will receive some interesting answers. The most common in our circles will be, "I accepted Jesus." Or, "I gave my heart to the Lord." Some might say, "I was baptized." Or, "I’m a part of the church." Those are just a few. The problem is that they fall short of the truth. There are millions of people in this county who say they have accepted Christ, but they have never been justified. They prayed a prayer years ago, but God has never declared them righteous.

You say, "Ron, how do you know that?" By looking at what the Bible has to say. When a person is justified before God, something else happens. When God says, "This man’s record is cleansed," there is another event that takes place. The two go together. Remember the two sin problems – bad record and a bad heart. When the bad record is dealt with through justification, the bad heart is also dealt with. When a person is justified, he is also given a new heart. This process is called "regeneration." Basically, that biblical word means to be born again, to be given new life.

Just as a bad record is a serious problem, so a bad heart is a serious problem. Jesus stresses that truth in Mark 7:20-23…
And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22. Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Everyone comes into the world with a bad heart. The source of sin in the lives of people is not bad influences. Consider David, who was guilty of adultery and murder. When He was finally convicted of his sins, he cried out to God. The record of his prayer is in Psalm 51, where He begs for mercy. But now listen to Ps. 51:5, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." David is saying, "Yes, I have committed adultery and murder, but that isn’t the half of it. I was a sinner from the time I was born." Though he hadn’t done any evil deed, he had corrupt heart.

We have a new granddaughter. She is only five weeks old. And I must say that she is precious. But do you know what God says about precious little Ivy? He says that she is a sinner. I might say to God, "So what sin has she committed? After all, she sleeps most of the time. And when she is awake, she doesn’t cry. When her mom wakes her up from a dead sleep to bathe her, she barely lets out a whimper. Are you going to tell me that this precious little bundle is a sinner?" And the Lord says, "Yes, precisely." How can it be? She has a corrupt heart. Her mom and dad will be reminded of that truth soon enough. If Ivy is like the rest of us, she will commit sinful acts without her parents or anyone else teaching her how. They will tell her not to do something, and she will do it anyway. It’s possible that she might throw a fit now and then. Her daddy may tell her something, and she may look him in the eye and say, "No." It’s because she has a corrupt heart from the very start. She will prove it when these evil things come pouring out of her. "All these evil things come from within…"

Can anything be done for a bad heart? Praise God, the answer is "Yes." Titus 3:3-6…
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 4. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6. Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

For those of us who are true children of God, God reminds us that He saved us by the washing of regeneration. This is the new birth. This is the act by which He gives us a new heart. This is that "born again" thing we read about in John 3. Let’s go ahead and read it again this morning. John 3:1-7…
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

A person must be born again to have a new heart. Paul speaks of the result of this regernation in II Cor. 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." We find this same truth in Eph. 2:8-10...
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9. Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Come back to John 3. We read of Jesus’ insistence on the necessity of being born again, but we didn’t read verse 8. Let’s read it now. John 3:8, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." The wind blows wherever it chooses to blow. Though we can hear the sound of it, we can’t tell where it comes from and we can’t tell where it will go. How do we know the wind is real? We see, hear, and feel the evidence of it. Now listen to what Jesus says: So is everyone that is born of the Spirit." He doesn’t say "some," but he says "everyone." In everyone who is born of the Spirit we see evidence of that new life. There are no exceptions.

The Implications…

Why is all this so important? What’s the big deal about justification and regeneration? Isn’t enough for a person to simply know that he was saved? That may be enough when he is first saved, but "No, it isn’t enough." Why not? Because the Word of God teaches us about justification and regeneration. And that is vitally important.

There is no salvation apart from regeneration. In other words, if a person has not been born again and received a new heart, he is not a Christian. But wait a minute. What if a person has been justified before God? What if God has forgiven him and taken care of his bad record through the death of His Son? What if he clings to the fact that Jesus died for his sins? He says that Jesus took care of his bad record. We must understand that no one can be justified, if he is not born again. You can’t have one without the other.

Earlier we read from Titus 3. Now let’s read a little bit further. Tit. 3:5-7...
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6. Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7. That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Notice that justification and regeneration go together. If you have not been regenerated, born again, then you have not been justified. You have not been forgiven. You have not been declared right before God. You are not heavenbound.

Listen to me. This is wonderful news. Salvation is more than just being forgiven. Salvation is so much more than just thinking that we are on our way to heaven. Remember what the angel said to Joseph about the son that was going to be born. Mt. 1:21, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." Many people take it to mean simply that Jesus saves us from the eternal consequences of our sins. That is, He cleanses our bad record, so that we can be right with God and go to heaven. What kind of salvation is it, if God cleanses my record through Jesus’ death and resurrection, but leaves my heart unchanged, so that I go right on sinning like I did before? I ask you – what kind of salvation is that?

And remember what Jesus said in Jn. 10:10, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." What is this abundant life? Knowing I’ve been forgiven and going to heaven some day? Can we have abundant life while our heart continues to spew out the filth that it always did? Does that sound like abundant life? Does that sound like the kind of life Jesus lived?
You say, "But doesn’t the Christian still do evil deeds? Has anyone here seen this Christian (pointing to myself) commit a sin? If not, then you don’t know me very well. So has Jesus saved me from my sins? Am I really a new creation? Do I have a new heart?

Let me go over this again. Jesus has saved the believer from the penalty of sin. He does this through justification. He takes care of our bad record. We deserve hell, but He took our penalty upon Himself and now instead of sin on our record, our record shows the righteousness of Christ. Praise God, but that is only the beginning. He is also saving us from the power of sin. That is, sin no longer rules the life of the believer. How did He do it? He gave us a new heart. The corrupt heart that was the source of sinful deeds has been replaced by a new heart. We are indeed a new creation in Christ. The power of sin has been broken. So now the believer is in the process of sanctification. The Lord is continually setting him apart to Himself, and apart from this world. But we have not yet been saved from the presence of sin. Sin still crops up now and then. That is why John says, "And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous…" (I John 2:2). When this life is over, then we will be saved even from the presence of sin. Then we will never again commit a single sin. That part of salvation is glorification. O what a day that will be!

I heard a man give an illustration that went something like this. There was a plant that produced poison gas. It had been in operation for many years. But eventually, another company bought it out. They bought it with a plan, and the plan was to convert it to produce oxygen. It was a plant that had produced poison gas for many years, but now it was under new management. It had a new purpose.

Now suppose we take a tour of the plant six months later. During the tour I spy an old canister sitting out behind one of the buildings. I walk over and look at it. I discover that the canister says right on it, "Poison Gas." How can that be? I thought this was an oxygen-producing plant. When I ask the tour guide, he explains it something like this: "Yes, I’m not surprised. Now and then we find some of the remnants of the old plant. Eventually, we will get them all rounded up and destroyed. But don’t let it bother you. You can rest assured that we are not in the business of producing poison gas; we are producing oxygen."

That’s the way it is for the true child of God. Now and then we commit a sinful act, but that isn’t the normal. God has created the new man in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:24). Because sin no longer reigns in us, we are now producing the fruit of the Spirit. When we do sin, we are grieved. As the Spirit convicts us, we confess our sin, and find that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). But praise God that the power of sin has been broken. Sin is a defeated foe. It’s just a matter of time until it will be excluded all together. That time will come when we see Jesus face to face. Until that day, we are being increasingly set apart unto God and sin’s influence is decreasing in our lives.

May God help us to understand that justification and regeneration are two aspects of a great and glorious salvation in Jesus Christ. Justification takes place in heaven, in God’s courtroom, where He declares us to be righteous. Regeneration takes place on earth in the heart of the individual. Justification is a declaration by a righteous judge; regeneration is a creative act by an omnipotent Creator. Justification clears our record; regeneration gives us a new heart. Justification deals with individual sins committed; regeneration deals with the source of those sins.

Conclusion

So why this emphasis this morning? Why talk about justification and regeneration? Because this is an area where our thinking has been messed up. However, our goal isn’t to gain understanding so that we can take pride in right thinking. We must understand that the current neglect of the doctrine of regeneration is sending millions to hell.

Please allow me to be lovingly blunt. Larry claims to be a Christian. He confesses that he has been made right with God. Therefore, he is assured that he will go to heaven. He is c ertain that God has forgiven him of his sins. But Larry’s life gives no evidence that he has been born anew, that he has received a new heart. His life is essentially like the rest of the world. Though he may live a moral life, it is not a life that is focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. His lips say, "I have been justified." His life says, "I have not been regenerated." So what is the truth about Larry? One of two things is true. Either Larry has been justified and regenerated (born again), or Larry has neither been justified nor regenerated. No one can have one without the other.

This is a huge problem in our religious society. A survey of taken a few years ago revealed that the typical Southern Baptist church has 233 members. But at a typical Sunday morning worship service only 70 of them are present. So 233 people claim that they have been justified before God, that they are heaven bound. But only 70 even make it to regular Sunday morning services. Something is desperately wrong, when people think they can be right with God and not have a changed life? The missing piece is the changed heart, the truth of regeneration. Regeneration is evidenced by a change life, a life characterized by genuine belief, radical obedience, and uncompromising love. That is the message of I John, as we have seen.

Jesus prayed that all believers might be one. He was praying only for those whose record has been cleansed and whose heart has been renewed. There will never be unity among all professing Christians, because the great majority of those who profess Christ in this country have never received a new heart.

We read in John 17:20, "Neither pray I for these alone, but also for them also which shall believe on me through their word." Was Jesus praying for you? You say you believe? Do you have a new heart? You say, "I believe, and Jesus was praying for those who would believe." I remind you of those closing words in John’s gospel. John 20:30-31…
And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31. But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Many claim to believe, but belief isn’t the goal. The goal is life through Jesus’ name. Belief is only the means by which God gives the new life. Many who claim to believe will hear Jesus say, "I never knew you; depart from me, you that work iniquity." The genuineness of belief is tested by the presence or absence of spiritual life. Profession without the life means absolutely nothing.
Praise God that Jesus died to cleanse our record and to give us new life!