The following is Part 4 of the transcript of the sermon by Pastor Paul White titled “Between the Pieces: What Really Happened at the Cross”. Check back each day as we continue to post the transcript to this exciting sermon.
Look at what Paul says about the Just God. “To declare, I say, at this time his…” [This is one of the only things I don’t like about the King James, is that the his should be a capital H. OK, I’m reading Old King James today because I’m in some old familiar verses for me. And I want to go back and dig out some of them out the way I learned them. But His is God.]
“To declare at this time His righteousness that He might be Just and Justifier of those who believe in Jesus.” Look at this, God declares how righteous He is two ways: that He might be both Just and Justifier. The word Just is the same as the word righteous, so God shows you His righteousness in that He is both righteous and makes righteous those who believe on Jesus. How can God prove to you He’s a righteous God? He is a righteous God when he declares sinners righteous by faith. Or I’ll say it this way: God proves He is righteous when He makes sinners righteous simply based upon their faith not based upon their performance.
Every person in this house today and every person listening around the world that claims righteousness can only claim it honestly if they claim it without works. Otherwise, God’s not a just God because He’d have to judge your works to give you righteouness, and the truth is He’s already judged your works in His Son; thus, God proves He’s righteous every time somebody believes on Jesus. God says, “You’re righteous.”
Pastor, how long would I have to come to Midland to be considered righteous? How many months do I need to sit through sermons? Do you have a righteousness class? How many good, passing grades do I need to make on our counseling sessions before I’m considered righteous? I will say to you: You don’t ever have to darken the doors of this church. The second you believe on Jesus as your Savior and the source of your righteousness, God declares that you are righteous. And only when God declares people righteous by faith is anybody going to believe God is good.
Say, “I’ll believe God’s good if He’ll give me money.” No, you won’t. “I’ll believe God’s good if He gives me healing.” No, you won’t. He did all that to the children of Israel, and they still didn’t believe it. He crossed you through dried ground in the Red Sea. He’ll give you food. He’ll give you water out of a rock. He’ll heal you from the snake bite. He’ll do it all, and you still stand and ask God if He’s Just. Accuse Him of not caring. You’ll never know how much He cares until you see the Cross and you realize that He actually judged something at the cross so that He wouldn’t have to judged it in you. It’s only then that I can prove to you that God is a righteous God. So, know today that you are God’s righteousness if you have believed in Jesus. Isn’t that Good News? Now, that’s the Just God. That’s what Peter said, “You killed the Just and the Holy One.” Now, Peter is saying, “You put him there. You denied Him and put Him there.”
Go back to Acts. Watch Peter’s accusation.
Acts 3:15: You killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead whereof we are witnesses.
Now, let me ask you, based upon Acts 3: 15, who did Peter think killed Jesus?
You killed – he’s pointing at the Jews standing in the street –You killed the Prince of Life whom God raised from the dead, and I’m a witness that God raised Him from the dead. That’s what Peter says.
Now, this is very important. I want everyone to hear this that ever claims ministry, and everyone listening by internet or watching on tv that ever claims ministry or that teaches the Word. I think this is one of those things that if we can learn this in the pulpit, it’ll help us in the pew. There is a difference between right and wrong and truth and error. You can sit and talk to a person and get into it about rights and wrongs. How many of you have ever done that? And you say, “I don’t think that’s right.” And they go, “Well, I don’t thing that’s right.” And you can just get in a big throw-down. But do you realize that right and wrong isn’t nearly as important and truth and error?
Let me explain: Two people can be talking about an issue, biblically, and one of them could be right and the other could be wrong, but they could both be walking in the Truth that God’s not mad and their sins have been judged at the cross and they are righteous based on faith. Is that possible? Is it possible to be wrong about a doctrinal issue, but right in Truth? Absolutely. Well, if that’s possible, then it’s also possible to be right in a doctrinal issue and be living in error when it comes to the Finished Work. Right? So, you have to ask yourself: Do I want to be right, or do I want to be in Truth? Well, I’d like both. But Truth’s most important to me. Which is why I’ve learned it’s okay to be wrong once in a while. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. If I think you’re wrong, I might tell you, “I think you’re wrong.” But that’s okay because as long as we’re in Truth, we’ll know the Truth is what makes us free – not being right.
We’ve confused that in the church. We always think if we’re right, we’ll be free. No, there are people who are wrong about a lot of things that walk in the freedom of Truth, and there are people that are right about a lot of things that don’t understand anything about freedom. So, what I want to accomplish today, is I want to let you know that I believe the Truth is that God punished sins at the cross. The Truth is that God’s not mad anymore. I believe that the Truth is that you are righteous based on faith. But I want to let you know that sometimes I might be wrong on the way trying to explain Truth. But I’m encouraged today that I’m not by myself. And I’m not even going to point at you. Although I probably could. I’m encouraged that according to Acts chapter 3, Peter doesn’t show a whole lot of knowledge about what happened at the cross.
Abundant Grace Daily Devotional 