WORDS OF OUR SALVATION PART 4 (JUSTIFICATION): PASTOR MENSA OTABIL – SUNDAY 25TH APRIL, 2021

SUNDAY SERVICE BY DR. MENSAH OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA, GHANA)

TOPIC: WORDS OF OUR SALVATION – PART 4.

DATE: 25TH APRIL, 2021

TEXT: ROMANS 3:23-26

Amen! Let’s rise up together, as we make our DECLARATION OF FRUITFULNESS in this Year of Fruitfulness:

Are you ready? Say with me:

The Eternal God is our refuge. He opens Rivers in desolate Heights.The Lord makes the wilderness a Pool of water.

The LORD God is my Sun and Shield; The LORD gives Grace and Glory.

Therefore, I delight myself in Him. Those who are Planted in the House of the LORD shall be fresh and flourishing.

Though the Earth be shaken; the Name of the Lord is my Strong Tower. By Faith I affirm that: In Christ alone is my Salvation. In Him I live, and move and have my being.

It is written: The Righteous are like trees Planted by the waters; bearing fruits in its Season.

So I boldly declare: As for me, my God has made me EXCEEDINGLY FRUITFUL.

In this Season, my Spirit bears Fruits of Righteousness, my Talents make Way for me. With my hands, I will Plant, I will Build, I will Harvest – Day by Day, Step by Step.

In Jesus’ Name – Amen!

Today, my Message is Titled: “WORDS OF OUR SALVATION – PART 4”.

… And I’m dealing with the word “JUSTIFICATION”.

We have so far covered: BORN AGAIN or SALVATION (Part 1, REDEMPTION (Part 2), NEW CREATION (Part 3) and now we are dealing with JUSTIFICATION (In the Part 4).

DMC NOTE: Kindly find below to Links to access Parts 1 to 3 of the Series:

https://discoverymediacrew.com/The-Words-Of-Our-Salvation-Part-1-Pastor-Mensa-Otabil

https://discoverymediacrew.com/Words-Of-Our-Salvation-Part-2-Pastor-Mensa-Otabil

https://discoverymediacrew.com/Words-Of-Our-Salvation-Part-3-Pastor-Mensa-Otabil

Our Main Text is from Romans 3:23-26 (NKJV):

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God,

24 Being Justified freely by His Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

25 Whom God set forth as a Propitiation by His Blood, through Faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had Passed over the sins that were Previously committed,

26 To demonstrate at the Present time His Righteousness, that He might be Just and the Justifier of the one who has Faith in Jesus.

I want you to note the Verse 26, because I will emphasis it later.

It says:

… that He might be Just and the Justifier of the one who has Faith in Jesus.”

The one who has Faith in Jesus is the one who is Born Again.

And to those People who have Faith in Jesus, God is Just and the Justifier (and I will explain that very shortly).

Let’s Define the word JUSTIFY or JUSTIFICATION.

Justify is the Verb and Justification is the Noun but they are referring to the same concept.

But I Define the Verb – Justify.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO JUSTIFY?

When somebody says: ‘I have Justified you’ or ‘you have been Justified.’ What does it mean?

1. It literarily means that you have been declared as Right before God.

… A Person has been declared as Right, before God.

For those of you who use Word Processor in your Computer, when you write a Sentence, a Passage, a Paragraph in Word Processor and you go to the Formatting: you Justify what you have written.

How many of you have ever done that on your Computer?

… You Justify what you have written.

What does it mean when you Justify what you already typed?

It means you have made it Straight.

So, when we say that God had Justified us, it means He has made us Right. He has clearly set us as Right.

So to Justify is to declare a Person Right before God.

2. Secondly, to Justify is to be freed from Condemnation.

A Person who is Justified is not subject to condemnation. And that is what allows us (as Children of God) to enjoy all that God has made available to us.

When the Bible says that God has Justified us, it means He has made us Right; or He has declared us to be Right.

And then He has Freed us from condemnation – Everything that would condemn us in the end (at the Judgement), God has freed us from it.

It is the LEGAL STATEMENT – And I will show why it is a Legal Statement shortly.

Note that God is both JUST and JUSTIFIER.

So God does not just Justify; in Justifying He must be Just.

Now, what does that mean?

It means that God cannot just say that a Person who is wrong is Right – He can’t just say that!

Because if God is going to Justify a Person, the Justification must be Just.

He cannot look at Somebody who is Wrong and say the Person is Right.

For God to say that a sinner is Justified, He must do it in a Just way!

That is why God has to do so much in bringing Salvation to us.

Because He couldn’t just save us anyway, anyhow, without breaking His own Law.

So, He must be Just when He Justifies – Keep that in Mind!

Because it explains so much of what happens when we get Born Again.

Now, to understand how Justification takes place, I’m going to just give you; A PICTURE OF GOD’S TRIBUNAL OR GOD’S LAW COURT.

Because Justification is a Legal word – For that to happen, it Presupposes that there is a Legal System in Place, that God Justified us before!

So, this is how GOD’S TRIBUNAL looks like:

1. There is GOD ALMIGHTY, and God Almighty is the JUST JUDGE.

So, you could imagine a Court and the Judge is God Almighty – And the Passage says that He is Just.

GOD IS INFLEXIBLY JUST:

In other words, He doesn’t bend His Rules.

God does not make a Rule and bend it at His Will – He is not Capricious!

… God is Inflexibly Just!

He keeps to His Words, He keeps to His Laws.

If He says the wages of sin is death; the wages of sin is death! And He is not going to change it.

God’s Nature is always Perfect. Even for Him to show Mercy, He has to do it in a Just Way! He cannot just be arbitrary to do whatever He Pleases.

GOD IS THE JUDGE – We are all familiar with that.

We all know that God is the Judge. Don’t we? – We do!

A Judge doesn’t just sit in Court doing nothing; there has to be an Accused that is brought before the Judge. Somebody who has done wrong.

AND WHO IS THE ACCUSED IN GOD’S TRIBUNAL?

Us! Sinners – Human Beings who have sinned against God.

So, God is the Judge. He says: “I AM THE LORD.” He is the Judge.

And then, there is the sinner – “I HAVE SINNED.”

So that’s the Accused – Sinners. Mankind (Womankind), Human Beings. ‘ALL HAVE SINNED.’

And where do they Stand? – BEFORE THE JUDGE!

An accused Person, standing before the Judge can go scot-free, if there is no one Prosecuting him. If there is no one who is bringing a Charge before the Person, then the Person cannot scot-free.

So, in God’s Courtroom there is God (the Judge); there is the Accused (the Sinner) and then there is the Prosecutor.

The Prosecutor has the job to Prove that God has the Just Right to Punish the Accused for their sins and banish them from His Presence.

You can also listen to the audio here: Words of Our Salvation (Part 4); Justification – Pastor Mensa Otabil

It is the job of the Prosecutor to Prove that Accused standing here must be dealt with! – That’s the Prosecutor’s job.

God is going to determine the merit of the Case!

The Accused hopefully, has something to say.

Normally, when you go to the Law Court the Prosecutor would bring Witnesses to make his case.

So, in this case, there are three (3) Witnesses that come against the Accused Man.

1. The First Witness is the Law (the Law of Moses).

John 3:5-45, this is what Jesus said: I don’t accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you – Moses in whom you trust!

When He says Moses, what does He mean?

It doesn’t mean Moses as a Person, but it means the Law of Moses or what we call ‘The Mosaic Law’ – the Old Covenant.

… He says, the Law is an Accuser!

HOW DOES THE LAW ACCUSE US?

Well, the Law tells you what you should not!

For example, if you were overspeeding and you were caught and taken to Court; they have to read the Law you have offended.

If you beat somebody, hit somebody and you were taken to the Court, they have to accuse you with the Law!

They say, the Law says so and so and so! And you have committed assualt or flattery (whichever that is)!

The Law is your Accuser! It is the first thing that is accusing us.

So, you stand before God – You have sinned: You didn’t Worship the Lord your God with all your heart. You stole, you coverted, you didn’t make the right Sacrifice. Even your Garden was Planted with the wrong fruits.

There are Six Hundred and Thirteen (613) Laws in the Law of Moses – One would catch you somewhere!

So the things accusing you – first, is the Law!

2. Second (2nd) is your Conscience.

Romans 2:15 says: “Who show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing Witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)”

Has your Conscience ever accused you of something? Because sometimes the Law doesn’t catch you, but your Conscience will catch you.

When you are by yourself, you say: Hmm! I shouldn’t have done it. This thing I did is not Good. I shouldn’t have said that – The way I insulted him.

The Law didn’t get me, but Conscience got me! Because Conscience gets you where the Law doesn’t get you.

There are certain things you do wrong, it is not in any way; but your Conscience tells you ‘what you did was wrong!’

When we stand before God and God is looking for a Witness against the Sinner, the first is the Law. “Thou shall not…’

Second, is your Conscience: that thing in your head that told you ‘what you did was wrong!’

You saw your mother-in-law, and then you hissed!

No Law will catch you for that.

But Conscience will catch you. Is that not? You yourself know what you did to your mother-in-law was not correct.

So, the Law may even free you. But Conscience (the Second Witness), you can’t escape!

When we stand before God, we are dealing with the Law, we are dealing with the Conscience and we are dealing with the third (3rd) one;

… This one is more deadly.

3. The third (3rd) Witness that did the Prosecution is SATAN.

Revelation 12:10 calls him, the “Accuser of the Brethren”, who accuse them before God day and night.

Remember Jesus says, I don’t accuse. So who accuses the Law? – Conscience and Satan!

Satan is going to Prove that he was there when you did it – He was an Eye Witness!

When you were looking, he was there. He actually told you to look. And he had a record!

So, he comes before God and says God, if You want evidence, this is the evidence – Look at him looking at that Woman, look at him looking at that Man, look at all that he was doing!

He shows up evidence, because he is the Tempted and he has the Proof of your sins right at his fingertips.

He starts narrating them from when you were in Kindergarten, and beating girls – He shows all of them!

You went to steal somebody’s chewing gum, he shows it!

Satan was there, he records everything – because he is the Tempter.

So now, can you imagined you are standing before a “Just God”. You come in: Law says you have broken the Law. Conscience accuses you; now, Satan accuses you!

And Satan is saying: ‘God, You cannot free him, because when I sinned, You didn’t free me; You cast me out from Your Presence Eternally.’

These ones, if You are Just – must also go through the same thing! Because all sin is sin! – “ALL have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.”

HOW CAN GOD JUSTIFY, WITH ALL THESE THREE (3) WITNESSES?

Can God say, I don’t accept the Law? Then He is disobeying His Own Law.

Can God say, we don’t take the Witness of Conscience? – No, He can’t go against Conscience because He put Conscience in you.

Neither can He be Just, and say Satan, I don’t accept your temptation. Because He accepted the first time when Satan tempted Adam and Eve; and chased them out of the Garden.

… So Satan is a “Valid Tender”!

Now, if we left it at that: A “Just God”, a Man who is Accused and the Three (3) Witnesses, then there is no freedom for Man.

The only thing God would say is: Yes, according to the Law, according to Conscience, according to the Devil; you are Condemned to Hell.

But that is not where it ends! Because in the Courtroom, even is you can’t defend yourself; the Court must Appoint somebody to defend you.

And we couldn’t hire a Lawyer, so the Court appointed an Advocate for us – He is the Court Appointed Advocate, and His Name is JESUS CHRIST.

Jesus Christ, according to 1 John 2:1-2, He is an Advocate with the Father and He is the Propitiation for our sins.

The thing about Jesus Christ as Advocate is that He does not just represent or speak for us; He doesn’t just speak for us, He actually takes our Place.

… He is our Advocate, but He is the Propitiation for our sins.

So, when Jesus Christ is appointed to defend you, He is not just coming to speak for you; but He is coming to take your Place!

He is one kind of Lawyer, who doesn’t just speak for His Client, but take their Place.

Our only hope therefore, before God is our Lawyer – JESUS CHRIST. Because by ourselves we have no case – According to the Law, we have no case, according to Conscience, we have no case, by the Witness of Satan, we have no case!

I don’t know any of you who can tell me: Pastor, with the Law, with Conscience and with Satan, I still have a case because I’m a really Good Person – Nobody!

Infact, if you tell me you have a case, it’s just by saying that you have sinned because you would have told a big lie.

… And all liars shall find their Path in the Lake of Fire.

So, the Justification of Man at the Court of God cannot be achieved by the Man himself.

It cannot even be achieved because the Lawyers spoke for you because the Lawyers cannot undo his sin.

There is no Lawyer who is able to go to Court and undo your sin. He can only defend you – That you did it, but you were not looking when you did it.

You know, giving some other reasons but he cannot undo your sin.

But there is only one Person – JESUS CHRIST who is an Advocate and a Propitiation.

So, He can speak for you and He can actually undo your sin. And He can undo it by taking your sin upon Himself.

HOW DOES GOD JUSTIFY US?

Proverbs 17:15 says: “He who justifies the wicked, and He who condemns the Just –
Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.”

If somebody is wicked and you Justify him; or if somebody is Just and you condemn him, the Bible says you are an abomination to God.

Now, the Law, Conscience and Satan Proves we are wicked! If God Justifies us; God Himself is an abomination.

… So How can He be Just and a Justifier?

Romans 4:23-25 says: Who was delivered up because of our offenses (Jesus was delivered up because of our offenses), and was raised because of our Justification.

Two 2 things I want you to note:

1. Jesus Christ was delivered for our offenses.

That is, through His death, He was offered – He was made a Sacrifice to bear our offenses.

2. And then when He Rose Again, He brought us Justification.

That’s a very interesting distinction of the Role of Jesus!

It means that just by dying for us; Jesus Christ did not Justify us by dying, He took our offenses when He died but He didn’t Justify us.

… He Justified us when He Resurrected.

So, without His Resurrection, we would have been forgiven, but not Justified.

Is it Possible to be forgiven and not Justified?

Is it Possible for somebody who has sinned to be forgiven and the Person not Justified before God?

… Yes, it is Possible!

That is why He had to do both – He had to die to take our debts, and Resurrect to Justify us.

Without Justification we would be People whose sins have been forgiven; but Court would still condemn us.

How does that happen? I will give you an analogy:

Imagine there is a Man. The Man is called Mr. F.T. Adams (I hope there is nobody called F.T. Adams)!

But this Mr. F.T Adams dies, but he left a huge debt for his children – A debt his children can’t Pay.

He left Property in their names, but everything is saddled with debt.

And the debt keep growing and growing, and Mr. F.T. Adams cannot Pay the debt their father left for them.

So the Creditors – The one who is owed decides that he is going to take everything that belongs to Mr. F.T. Adams – Take it from the children.

The children will be dispossessed.

He goes to court and gets a Court Declaration in his favour. A set time would come when every debts that was owed him would be recouped by taking everything from the children of Mr. F.T. Adams.

So, How is Mr. F.T Adam’s children ever going to get their Inheritance back?

They don’t have enough money, they are working for the debt.

Along the way comes a Twin Brother of Mr. F.T. Adams. He is called Mr. L.T. Adams (L.T for short)!

So he comes, he has no children. And he comes, he looks at his late Twin Brother’s children who owed so much and cannot free themselves.

And he says to them, listen, I have no children, this is what my brother left. But I need to carry on the name of the family; and to make sure there is some Inheritance for our family.

… And I have no children to leave anything to.

So L.T Adams sells everything he has, take the money; the Person who needs to be accounted for; who they owed lives in the United Kingdom (of all Places). He is in a different Jurisdiction!

So he takes the money, goes to the United Kingdom to meet this guy who is owed. Settles all the account.

So, at this Point you can say ‘hurray! The children are free, the debt has been Paid!’

Is that not so?

But the Court case has not changed; because the Court does not know the debt that has been Paid – Although it has been Paid!

Let’s say Mr. L.T goes to London, Pays all the debt and then he dies in London.

The day for the Court comes; the children of his late Brother would be condemned.

Not because the Price has not been Paid; the Price has been Paid, but there is no evidence in the Court that the Price has been Paid.

So, I hope you know who the first Adams is? – That is Adam of Eden!

And the Second Adams is Adam of Gethsemane – Otherwise known as Jesus Christ; Who is our Advocate.

He came to Pay for the sin of the first Adam and after He Paid, he died!

But if He remained dead, there will be no evidence before God’s Presence that the Price has been Paid. And there will therefore be, only forgiveness, but no Justification.

And if there is no Justification, then you will be banished even for what you have been forgiven of.

So, Jesus Christ, in Paying for our debts, died! And if He had remained dead, our Salvation would be half done but He Rose Again!

WHY DID HE RISE AGAIN?

Because He had to come to the Court of Heaven to Prove that the Price has been Paid!

And so, when He Resurrected, the Bible says He went to the Presence of God; to the Heavenly Holies of Holies and said: “This is the evidence that the sin of the first Adam has been borne for; and the sins of his children are borne for. And because of that, I Present a case to the Judge!”

The Judge takes the evidence and He says:

1. Law do you have any case against this man? – No Sir! Because the Law was nailed in the Process.
2. Conscience, do you have anything to answer? – No! Because something else has come to replace it – He is called the Holy Spirit.
3. Satan, do you have anything to say? – No! Because I have been disarmed – Principalities, Powers are disarmed!

The Judge takes the evidence, He looks at man and says: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

… That, my Friend, is what is called JUSTIFICATION.

Justification – Forgiven and discharged!

And the Court issues a Statement: “From now onwards, no one can accuse these ones of the debt their father owed because it has been Paid!”

And no Judgement at anytime in the future can condemn them; because this Payment settled that debt: ONCE AND FOR ALL.

So,when we stand before God in Judgement:

1. The Case the Law has against us was settled at Calvary.
2. The Case the Conscience has against us settled at Calvary.
3. The Case that Satan has against us settled at Calvary.

When God judges, He doesn’t judge us to condemnation

And that is why, in the Judgement, Believers are not judged to determine whether they will go to Heaven or Hell; yes, we will go through Judgement but we will go through Judgement to determine the Merit of our Good, to determine your Reward in Heaven!

Unbelievers go through the Judgement, and the Law, Conscience and Satan has a case against them and they have no answer.

But Believers go through Judgement and they only are Assessed by their Works!

And that is where, some will get little crowns, some People will get, like headbands and some will get Majestic crowns in Heaven.

… Because God will honour you for all the Works you have done.

But in terms of where you spend Eternity, the Price was Paid on the Cross of Calvary and the Advocate brought the Receipt to God and Justified you; and God Justified you!

So, when a Believer says: ‘I AM JUSTIFIED.’ It doesn’t just mean, my sins are forgiven – That is Part of it!

When a Believer says: ‘I AM JUSTIFIED.’ It doesn’t mean I’m Born Again; it includes it, but it doesn’t mean that!

When a Believer says ‘I AM JUSTIFIED.’ It doesn’t mean I am a New Creation.

When a Believer says ‘I AM JUSTIFIED’, it means God has no case against me. He has set the case against me aside and has Legally freed me from condemnation.

And that is why the Believer doesn’t go through life with condemnation at the back of his head because Christ has settled it.

We are Justified freely by the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ – Amen!

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