and happy Easter. You know, I was just thinking as we were singing those amazing songs of worship. It is so incredible that Jesus Christ is alive, and He has risen from the dead, and we together can actually come here to celebrate and to worship Him. You know, that song that we often sing at Easter, low in the grave, he lay, you know, when you think of the fact that He tore those bars of sin away, He has conquered death and destroyed our enemy, and today we can just come together to worship Him, and I'm just thrilled about that.
So I want to just begin with a word of prayer. Let's bow our heads and speak to the Lord in prayer. Father, we love you and we worship you today. We thank you for the fresh reminder that Jesus Christ is alive.
He has risen from the dead, and He is alive, and you have given Him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every name will bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. Lord, I just pray that today as we open the Word of God, that you would open our hearts and draw near to us that we might feel your presence with us. Speak to us from your living Word and guide in the words that I will say, and may it be all for the glory and honor of Christ. And so as we celebrate today, we give thanks for Him and pray your blessing as we open His Word.
In His name we pray. Amen. All right, so today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why should we celebrate the resurrection of Christ?
And I was thinking about His power, His power over death, His victory over sin. Really, this right here, this is the core of Christianity. This is the fundamental truth of the Bible, that Christ died for our sins. He was buried, which means He really died.
He was in the grave for three days, and on the third day He rose again, and He is alive according to the Scriptures. That is the core truth of Christianity. It's what our faith is built on. And we celebrate today that we have been justified freely by His grace through redemption.
You know, I got up early this morning and I was looking for the sunrise and all I saw was rain. And I went outside and I just started to walk with the Lord and pray. And I just said to God, just give me something today that I can really communicate to the church that will be a blessing. And some of the words of Jesus came to my mind.
Here's the first words that I thought about when I thought about the resurrection. Jesus said in John chapter 2 and verse 19, He said, destroy this temple. And in three days I will raise it again. And they didn't really understand what He was talking about.
He referred to His body. And He said, destroy this body. And I will raise it again the third day. And it says in John chapter 2 that they remembered that He said this after His resurrection.
This is an amazing statement and it is absolutely true. Here's another one. Jesus said in John chapter 10, I lay down my life. And I will take it up again.
I have power. I have authority to lay it down and to take it up again. No natural human being could say that apart from God. Here's another one that He said.
And He told the disciples this three times and they didn't get it. He said, we go up to Jerusalem. And He said, at Jerusalem, the Son of Man will suffer. He will be rejected.
He will be scourged and He will be put to death. He will be killed. And on the third day He will rise again from the dead. And they were so astonished by that they didn't even want to ask Him about it.
He said it three times. How about what Jesus said to Martha? In John chapter 11, Lazarus whom the Lord loved is dead. And He's in the grave.
And it's four days. And this was all for the glory of God. And Martha and Mary were broken. They couldn't figure this out.
How could this possibly be for the glory of God? And Jesus comes to Bethany and He says, Martha, your brother will rise again. And she's just broken and full of mourning and sorrow. And He says, I am the resurrection and the life.
And whoever believes in me will never die. The one who is alive right now and believes in Him will never die. What an amazing truth, the truth of resurrection. You see, His life, His death and His resurrection gives us victory over sin.
Victory over death. Victory over hell. And it gives us the forgiveness of sins. It gives us eternal life.
It gives us immortality. It gives us a personal promise that every person who believes in Jesus Christ will rise again. So I want to ask you all, today as I begin my message, do you believe in Jesus Christ? Are you going to rise from the dead?
Are you going to be with Him forever? And we have the certainty, the absolute assurance that because of His death and resurrection, we will live also. And today we celebrate because of that. So I'm going through a study on the Book of Romans, and I want to continue that study today.
And I've just given you a little bit of background as to where we're going. My subject today is the inexcusable man. You are without excuse. And I want to clarify something that I've really thought a lot about as I've read through the Book of Romans.
The Book of Romans makes something very, very clear. And that is that sin is deeply rooted in our nature. It's not just the wrong things that we do, and the sinful acts that we commit. It's actually the root of our nature.
And the reason that we do the things that we do is as a result of our nature. And so that root of sin needs to be completely destroyed, and the only one person that can do it is Jesus Christ. Let me be very clear. Sin brings death.
Sin brings death. It literally destroys us. And the Book of Romans makes that so clear. In Romans 5 it says, where far as by one man sin entered the world, and death came because of sin.
And so death is a consequence that has passed upon all men because all have sinned. Sin destroys us. You know, we're so human, we're so broken. Every single one of us.
The Bible makes it clear that sin destroys relationships. It actually destroys our physical body. And it destroys our life. Sin is very serious.
It alienates us from God. We live in a world that's full of deceit because of sin. We live in a world that is full of death because of sin. We live in a world that is full of disease because of sin.
We're trying to get out of this COVID. What has caused all these issues? It is sin. It is sin that is deeply rooted in our nature.
It destroys us. You know what sin does? It produces condemnation. And it actually produces feelings of guilt.
And I'm sure that you have felt feelings of guilt for things that you've done. Sin executes a sentence of eternal death and separation from God. Romans 6 and 23 says, the wages of our sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
That is the gospel. And when it comes to sin, there is no one who is able to escape it. It's part of our inherent nature. But here's the gospel.
Here's the good news. Don't miss this. Jesus Christ gives us life. Sin gives us death.
Jesus Christ gives us life. Eternal life. Sin brings destruction in every area of our life. It hurts relationships.
Sin brings divorce. Sin brings all kinds of addictions and awful horrendous consequences because of our life. But Jesus Christ offers forgiveness of sins. He offers regeneration.
So when we were dead in our sins because Christ died for us, He's come to give us life. And so I want to look through the book of Romans as I do this study and show you what some of the teaching is in the Book of Romans. I actually put a copy of my notes here. Hopefully you can see this.
So today we're going to talk about the inexcusable man contrasted with the justified man. And this right here is a summary of the entire book of Romans. You can sum up Romans under three words. It starts off with a very dark picture of all humanity being ruined by sin.
Ruin is presented and there is no further evidence needed. First three chapters of the book of Romans, you see all humanity standing before the court of Almighty God and everyone is guilty. And there's no exceptions. The book of Romans presents clearly the truth of redemption.
Why Jesus Christ came. And the fact that the work of the cross offers justification freely by His grace apart from works. And the book of Romans presents to everyone of us a responsibility. We are ruined.
We can be redeemed and we have a responsibility. What's our responsibility to believe God? To believe what God says. We read at Abraham, believe God and it was counted to him for righteousness.
So if I look at chapter one that we talked about last time, it's the corrupt man. You'll remember that the last time that we spoke, we talked about the peril of those who suppress truth. And really they're on a road that's leading to destruction. So the corrupt man.
In chapter two, it's the inexcusable man. We're going to read it in a second. In chapter three, it's the guilty man. In chapter four, it's the forgiven man.
Chapter five, justified by faith, it's the justified man. Chapter six, Paul articulates that battle, that struggle with sin in the nature. And he talks about the sanctified man. And then the wretched man that is delivered from sin.
And chapter eight, all because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we have the liberated man. Brought into freedom. No more condemnation. It's passed away and we are able to live in a life with God.
And then in chapter 12, he goes into the practical part of Christianity and he talks about the devoted man. That because of all that God has done for me, I need to present my body. A living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is my reasonable service. So we're going to start today by reading Psalm 53 and then we're going to go to Romans two.
So I want to invite you to turn your Bible to Psalm 53. You might wonder, why am I reading Psalm 53? Well, Psalm 53 is actually quoted in Romans chapter three. And so Paul takes this Psalm and he quotes from it in the book of Romans.
So we're going to read Psalm 53 and verse one. It says, the fool says in his heart, there is no God. They are all corrupt, doing abominable iniquity. And then he says, there is none who does good.
God looks down from heaven upon the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. And this is his conclusion. They have all fallen away. Together they have all become corrupt.
There is no one who does good, not even one. That's a pretty strong picture. It's a dark picture of the sin of humanity. And in order to really understand the grace of God and the truth of the gospel, we have to understand where we come from.
And what our picture is before God. So I want to go to Romans chapter two and I want to read in verse one. And this is really what God has said about all humanity. You see, we're kind of prone to say, well, I'm better than that person and I'm not as bad as that person.
And I really would never do that. And you know what we all do? We judge and condemn others. So we're going to see what God says about that.
Romans chapter two and verse one. He says, therefore you have no excuse, no excuse, the inexcusable man. Oh man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another, you actually condemn yourself.
Because the judge, by judging others and you practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, oh man, that you who judge those who practice such things and yet you do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of the kindness and forbearance and patience not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath when God's judgment will be revealed. He will render to every one of us according to his works to those who by patience and well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality. He will give eternal life. But for those who are self seeking, do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness.
There will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil. The Jew first and also the Greek or the Gentiles. But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good.
The Jew first and also unto the Gentiles. For God shows no partiality. If you turn over to chapter three, we're going to read in verse ten, what was recorded in Psalm 53, Romans three and verse ten. There is nonrighteous, no not one.
There is no one who understands, no one who seeks for God. All have turned aside and together have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. Verse 19, for we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may become guilty or held accountable to God.
For by the works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight. And since through the law comes the knowledge of sin. Then it says, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. The righteousness of God, which is through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
There is no distinction for all who sin and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forth as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. And then it says in verse 26, it was to show his righteousness at the present time that he that God might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. So where is boasting?
It is excluded by what kind of law? By the law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
And then it says, since God is one, verse 30, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith, do we then overthrow the law by this faith by no means on the contrary? We uphold the law. And in chapter 4 and verse 5, it says, and to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. And if you go to chapter 4 and verse 25, it says that Jesus, our Lord, was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Chapter 5, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So I want to show you a major contrast. And I put the slide together to try to articulate the difference between the inexcusable man and the justified man. So what we've read basically is the doctrine of total depravity.
It basically has said that all human beings are inexcusable and have fallen short of God's standard. And that's a very dark picture. It's very, very hard for us to accept that. But that's what the scripture teaches.
And so apart from the cross, everybody is on this dark side of the page guilty as the inexcusable man. But here's the beautiful thing about the book of Romans. When you understand the value of the cross, when you come to know Jesus Christ as your Savior, all the dark side of your life is gone and you're brought into the light. And that's why I've tried to articulate this by saying this is the darkness of sin, the inexcusable man, and this is the light of the gospel, the justified man.
Apart from Christ, all humanity is guilty. But in Christ, those who believe in Him are justified freely by His grace. And so what a contrast. You know, I talk to a lot of people about the gospel.
And I try to give out tracts and share truth. And a lot of people will tell me, but I'm a good person. A lot of people will say, you know, I'm really not that bad. I've never really killed anyone.
I haven't committed adultery. I'm a pretty good person. You know, if we could just focus on what the Bible says, it says there is none good, not even one. And when we compare ourselves to each other, we can see differences for sure.
But when we compare ourselves to the standard of God, everyone falls short. Everyone is inexcusable. And so what we just read in Romans chapter 2 and verse 1, it says very clearly that although the religious man is trying to condemn the heathen or the corrupt man, he's really saying, hang on a second, therefore you have no excuse, oh man, if you judge someone else. For in passing judgment on another person, you actually condemn yourself.
That's a pretty strong statement. And he goes on to say that because of our own sin, we are inexcusable. And we will not escape the judgment of God. You know, a lot of people say, well, on judgment day, we're going to see.
We're going to weigh up all my good deeds, and we're going to weigh up all my bad deeds. And hopefully my good deeds will outweigh my bad deeds. What complete nonsense. Absolute nonsense.
Okay, the word of God states so clearly that in the day of judgment, every mouth will be stopped. Every knee will be bowed. Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And if we understand this truth, I say this, it's so much better if we bow than he now.
If we acknowledge Christ as Lord, now. If we face our sin, now. So that we can be brought into this amazing position of justified freely by God's grace. In chapter two, we have all humanity condemned.
You know, there's several classes of humanity in Romans. In Romans chapter one, there's this corrupt person who has suppressed truth, has denied God, and really has given over it to a reprobate mind. Okay, so there's the reprobate people in society that really have totally suppressed truth and do not acknowledge God. And then there is the religious person.
And he looks on that other person and he says, he's a real sinner. I'm such a good person. I go to church. I fast twice a week.
I give ties of all that I possess. And he thinks that he's good because he's a religious person. And in the book of Romans, you get to Jews and they're following the Articles of God. And they've studied all the Old Testament scriptures.
But yet they have totally rejected Jesus Christ. And they have totally denied the Lord. And they're now judging all these other people. And Paul is saying, hang on a second here.
If you judge someone else, you're actually passing condemnation on yourself. You know, there's a lot of people that really have an impenitent heart. And really all that word means is they're not willing to repent. They have a hard heart.
They protest their own innocence. They say, well, I'm really not a bad person. And how could God judge me from my sin? The book of Romans exposes all humanity and shows us before God that we are inexcusable.
When we come to chapter three, we have a blanket statement from God. And it says, there is none righteous, not even one person. And so when you get to the chapter three of Romans, it's like all humanity are brought into the court of God. And they are standing before God.
They reprobate the religious, the heathen, the person that has never even heard of the Bible or Jesus. They're all standing before God. And God himself has already passed judgment. You know, a lot of people say, well, I'm going to wait to see what happens at judgment day.
The judgment has already been passed. The sentence has already been executed. It's out there. And what does it say?
It says, God says, there's none righteous. You know that God said this before I was even born? I might say, well, wait a minute. Why don't you wait to see how I live?
Maybe I'm going to be the righteous person. No. It is impossible for any of us to be totally righteous because we have an inherent sin nature. And it's our nature that causes us to sin against God.
And so there's none righteous. And so then we say, well, let's be like the Pharisees and let's make a set of rules and see if we can keep the law. You just try that. How are you going to be a keep in the law?
You know what? None of us can keep the law. Not even one. Every single person falls short in the Pharisees.
They had these set of rules and they had these 72 things that they couldn't do on the Sabbath day. And Jesus came and he healed on the Sabbath day. And he went through the corn fields and his disciples picked the grains. And these Pharisees are condemning the Lord Jesus Christ.
The law of God is a blanket statement and it shows that all of us have sinned. And when you get to chapter 3 and verse 19, here's a blanket statement for you. We know that whatever the law says, it says to those that are under the law. So that every mouth may be stopped.
And all the world may become guilty accountable before God. That's a blanket statement. The entire world is guilty. And then you get a lot of people that will say, you know, I'm helping my neighbor.
I'm going to church. I'm going to give money. I'm going to do all these good things. And these works are going to be seen in the sight of God.
Let me help you and don't even bother trying because those works will never, ever, ever bring a righteous merit before God. The Bible states so clearly that by the law or the works of the law will no human being be justified in his sight. You might be justified in your own sight and you might be justified in the sight of others, but in the sight of God, by law keeping, no human being will be justified in his sight. For since the law comes the knowledge of sin.
And so all the transgression of the law has just been pointed out and it shows the human weakness of everyone of our lives. In chapter three, in verse 23, it says, for all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God. So God's standard is absolute holiness, absolute perfection, and no human being can meet that standard. And so we are exposed.
We are inexcusable. And we are actually incapable of walking without sin. In our natural state, we are on this black, dark side of the picture. We are inexcusable.
And you say, you came all the way here to tell me this is a really bad dark picture. Okay, now here's the good news. This is the good news. I had to paint that bad picture so you understand.
Here's the good news. Are you ready for this? You can be justified freely through his grace. Every sin that you have ever committed in your whole entire life can be cleansed, can be erased, can be wiped out, and even your very corrupt sinful nature that causes you to commit sin.
It can be completely eradicated. Why? Because of the cross. The cross was very dramatic.
It was extremely violent. That God himself actually became a man and gave himself over to sinful human beings that crucified him, nailed him to a cross, spit upon his face, scourged him, laughed at him, mocked him, rejected him. Why did God do that? Because of our sin, God is holy, and it's only through the cross that our amazing forgiveness and redemption and justification can be procured, only through the cross.
So on this side, we're all inexcusable. We're all condemned. But when we come to the cross, we come openly. We bow the knee and acknowledge, before the all seen, I of God, God, I'm guilty.
God, you know my thoughts. You know the intents of my heart. You know my lust, my lies, my deception. I'm totally exposed, and I'm coming to the cross.
And because of the cross, God made to meet on him, the iniquity, the sin, the transgression of us all. And every person that's willing to come clean before God, and acknowledge their own sinfulness, and acknowledge their own inability to please God. God gives them a gift. Righteousness can never be earned by anything that you can do.
Can't be paid for. It is a gift that God gives you. It's not even your righteousness. It's his righteousness that he gives to you by faith when you believe in Jesus Christ.
Have you been to the cross? Have you personally understood that when Jesus died on the cross, he died for your sins, your iniquities, your failings, all the lusts and lies and wrong things that you have done, that I have done. He bought it all, and he died on that cross so that the guilty person in Christ can be justified freely. The guilty person in Christ can be justified freely.
Now let me explain to you what the truth of the cross is all about. It tells us that when we believe in Jesus, we have been declared righteous. That is a legal term from Almighty God. We have been exonerated.
All accusations are gone. All the sin that I have committed is gone. I am free. I am declared righteous.
It's better than just having my sin forgiven. It's given a righteous standing in God. So that as Jesus Christ is pure, is holy, is without sin. I am given a standing in him.
And so as God sees his Son as pure, holy, and without sin, he sees me in Christ. Cleans from all my sin, a clear conscience. The shame and guilt is gone. Washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ.
This is revolutionizing truth. If you believe this, this will change your life. It will change your soul. It will change your destiny.
It makes all the difference. This is the most important truth that you can come to understand. Declared, righteous, justified freely by his grace. Look at chapter 3 and verse 24.
It says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace, as a gift. What did you have to pay for it? Nothing. It's a free gift that God gives.
And it's according to his grace. Do you know what grace is? Unmerited kindness. It is what God gives to those who don't deserve anything.
We don't deserve anything from God. We've blasphemed him. We've lost him. We've lied.
We've sinned against his holy throne. You know what? If we got what we deserved, we'd be in hell forever. Every one of us.
And yet to those riches, God lifts up and he washes off. And he removes the guilt. And he places us in Christ. Justified freely.
And so what about the judgment for my sin? Is God just? Absolutely. He's just.
Will he punish sin? Yes. Every single sin that any person has ever committed. God will judge.
Now here's the truth of the cross. In Christ. My sin has been laid on him. He bore my judgment.
He actually entered into the court of heaven before God. And he said, all the sins of John Wiles that he's committed his whole life. Give them to me. I will bear them for him.
What amazing love. Amazing truth. That God who knew my sin took them and laid them on Jesus Christ and offers to me at the free gift of salvation. The gift of righteousness in Christ.
And that's what it says. Three in verse 22. It says that righteousness of God, it comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. Okay, there's no one excluded from this.
It doesn't matter your nationality. It doesn't matter your religion. It doesn't matter where you came from. How good you've been.
How sinful you've been. Anything about your past where you've been. What you've done. It's available to all who come and believe in Jesus.
Justified freely. Give him the gift of righteousness. And it comes by faith. Not of works.
It is by faith. So there's nothing that you can offer God. Remember those people that came to Jesus and they said, what must we do to do the works of God? You know what he said?
This is the work that you believe on me. This is what God expects that every sinner will come clean before God, acknowledge their guilt and receive by faith his righteousness as a gift. Redemption has been procured. This is the story of the cross.
This is why Jesus Christ came. He is God and he became man. He was born of a virgin to be absolutely sure he would never be tainted by sin. He qualified because he is without sin.
And he went to the cross. He took upon himself flesh and blood. Told who reminded us of that on Friday. That beautiful passage in Hebrews.
He took upon himself humanity that he might die on our behalf. He went to the cross with a purpose to shed his blood to pay the debt of our sin. And redemption has been procured. It's been purchased.
He said in Mark chapter 10, the Son of Man came to give his life a ransom for many. He paid the price. There's only one God, one mediator between God and man. The man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all humanity.
This is amazing truth. Propaciation by his blood. You know what the word propaciation means? It means sin atoning sacrifice.
So all that God required to make human beings perfect, sinless and spotless. All that God's holy throne demanded that we could never meet was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. He satisfied God on behalf of every one of us. And so first John chapter 2 says, he is the propaciation for our sins.
And not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. And Jesus Christ, the righteous one, offers this to every sinner who believes in him. Not only do we have redemption, which means we've been purchased, but more than that, we've been delivered. We've been set free from the guilt of sin.
We have forgiveness. And we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from works. You know the cross cleanses us from all of our guilt. It's the precious blood of Christ.
There's a reason that I put that in red. Because it tells us that the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses us. Make no mistake about it. I talked about sin at the beginning.
You know what sin does? It stains your soul. It stains your soul. Just like heavy smokers.
When you actually see what that does to the lungs, it stains the lungs. Just like heavy drinkers. What that actually does to the liver. It physically destroys the liver.
Well, there's something spiritually that's even deeper than that. It's sin that stains the soul. And people have done everything they can to free themselves from that guilt, that awful feeling that's on their conscience. Well, here's the only thing that will take sin away.
The precious blood of Jesus Christ. His blood cleanses us from all sin. I love that. 1 Corinthians 6, he says such were some of you, and he lists this whole list of ugly sins.
But he says to the saints at Corinth, he says, you have been justified. You have been washed. You've been sanctified. And so every person who comes to Jesus Christ and believes in him has been cleansed from their sin.
That stain on their soul is gone. They are renewed. They have given life in Jesus Christ. And this is amazing truth.
He was raised for our justification. That's what it says. 4 and 25. He was delivered for our offenses, but he was raised for our justification.
And so I just want you all to take in this truth today. You know, the inexcusable man. That's what we are apart from the cross. That's what we are apart from Christ.
That's what we are in our unsaved, unregenerate state. But when we believe in Jesus, we come over to this side of the page. We're justified freely. Pronounced righteous.
Our sins are cleansed and they're gone. And we have life with God that is eternal. And it's all based on the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, as I close, I want to tell you a quick story, because I think it kind of brings this to life a little bit.
And then we're going to sing a beautiful hymn, hymn of the ages. You know what I think about Jesus was accused of eating and drinking with sinners and tackling the ages. Jesus was accused of eating and drinking with sinners and tax collectors. And he told this story about a son that had all the privileges.
And one day he turned his back on his father and he went into the far country and he lived a life of sin. He lived on the dark side of the page. And he wasted his father's substance with riotous living. It says, he parodied all day and he absolutely lived in sin.
You know what, sin stained his soul. And one day he became broken and empty and he lost everything and he came to himself. This is repentance. He came to himself.
He acknowledged his sin and he said, look at me. I'm living in this life with nothing. I will arise and I will go to my father. And I will say, Father, I have sinned and I'm no more worthy to be called your son.
Make me as one of your hired servants. And when he was a far away off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran to him through his arms around him. And he said, come right in boy. And he said, go get the fatted calf.
We're going to party. He said, my son was dead and he is alive. My son was lost and he's found. And this is the truth that we come into when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Our sins are forgiven. We are right with God and we are justified. And I hope that this is everybody's experience here in Northbrook. That as you come to this church, you come to faith in Jesus Christ and you believe in him.
And you have the assurance of knowing your sins are forgiven and you're justified freely. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the Word of God. We thank you for the truth of Scripture.
We thank you, Lord, that Jesus Christ came to rescue us filthy wretches. And we have been cleansed and we have been redeemed and we're brought into the family of God. Lord, we just thank you on this Easter morning, this resurrection day that we know that we have been justified freely because Christ is alive and he has risen from the dead and he's given us his gift of righteousness. And so Lord, we just commend us to you and pray your blessing upon all of us.
Our families, our children, everyone here today, that we would go away with this great truth ringing in our ears justified freely by his grace. Through redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And so we ask these things and give thanks in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.