253 - Les Feldick Bible Study Lesson 1 - Part 1 - Book 22 - Justification

https://lesfeldickbiblestudy.com Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 1 * PART 1 * BOOK 22 JUSTIFICATION Let's turn to Romans Chapter 5. The first one is Faith, and that is simply Taking God at His Word. It's that judicial act of God, where the Sovereign God in all of His Holiness and righteousness, the moment He sees the sinner believe the Gospel (Ref. I Corinthians 15:1-4) then God declares him justified. Just as if he had never sinned. Listen, The Bible never uses the word `feel,' we're not supposed to feel justified, or forgiven. Romans Chapter 5: Romans 5:1,2a "THEREFORE, being justified by faith (just as if we had never sinned by virtue of us taking God at His Word), we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," It's so ridiculous that you wonder people can reject it. I mean if God was expecting us to cross a raging river and hope that we could make it, or if He was expecting us to climb some sheer cliff as you see some of these rock climbers do; if God was putting that kind of requirement on our Salvation, then I could see people not buying it. I'll never understand it. Now verse 2 again: Romans 5:2-6a "Stand still, and wait for the power of God." Verse 6 again: Romans 5:6 Remember as we saw back in Chapter 4, what kind of people were we? Ungodly! Always remember, God saves the down and out, but He also saves the up and out, and everything in between. So in due time, then, Christ died for those that were without God. II Corinthians 4:3 "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:" Now who's hiding the Gospel from the lost? A lot of time I teach you that God hides things from the human race and that was His prerogative as we've seen so often from Luke 18. God did that for a purpose in those verses, but now we're dealing with the other side of the coin. II Corinthians 4:3,4 "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom (the lost of this world) the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not (Satan has blinders on them, and you and I can't take them off. That takes an act of God. Satan has so blinded the unbelieving world), lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." We can't force them to believe it, that's going to take an act of God Himself. Now we must do our part but God has to open their spiritual heart. God used the human instrument Paul, but He had to open her spiritual heart and eyes. Now back to Romans Chapter 5. Remember the last word of verse 6 was `ungodly.' Romans 5:7 Why should Christ die for a world of people who didn't need Salvation? Now I love this next verse. Romans 5:8 "But God (you know how I'm always pointing out that three letter word `but.' For righteous men there would be no need for Christ to die, even if people were good it wouldn't be quite so mandatory, But God) commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." I've never really sinned, or did anything immoral. I've never stolen from anybody." There are hosts of people that do not understand that we're not sinners because we break God's laws, but rather we break God's law because we're sinners, and that began with Adam. Verse 8 again: Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Remember that Paul writes to believers. Remember we, too, were at one time sinners. "Les, if I could just quit the booze I would." You become a believer and then God helps you quit the problem, but most can't see it that way. "...while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." That's exactly where God finds us. "Much more then, being now justified by his blood,..." In other words, through faith in His Blood. Well, in the physical it can't be done, but in the spiritual realm, in God's chemistry the red in the Blood of Christ makes us as white as snow. Romans 5:9 Declared by a judicial act of God, we are now just as if we had never sinned. Just as if we had never sinned. To Adam before he fell. Now I'm going to keep almost shouting that at people for months to come, because so few professing believers even realize that we are to reckon ourselves just as if we had never sinned because that is what God has declared us to be. Now bring this into this same psychological mindset, that if I constantly remind myself, and my wife and I help each other to remember throughout the day and week, that in God's eyes we are just as if we have never sinned, psychologically, what's that going to help us do? Finishing verse 9: Romans 5:9 The finished work of the Cross, how that Christ died for my sins. His Blood was shed that I might be declared just as if I'd never sinned. #LesFeldick #BibleStudy #Bible