I remember having an ice-cream cone in McDonalds with someone who had recently visited Kishwaukee Bible Church. This person was a non-Christian, who happened to attend our church and was seemingly interested in the things of Christianity. I remember prodding him with a few questions to see what he thought about God and about Christ and about his own salvation, so that I might be able to help him understand the truth about Jesus Christ. I remember him making an astonishing statement, which I have continued to remember until this day. In talking about forgiveness, he said, "Of course God will forgive me. He made me, didn't He?" The picture that this man had in his mind when he though about God was that God was the Creator, who created us. Seemingly, by way of obligation to us, somehow, God would, of course, forgive those He made. God made us. He loves us. He will demonstrate His love to us by forgiving us and not holding our sins against us.

This man failed to realize one thing: God is a just God. This man failed to realize that God is a judge, who always judges fairly. Nobody will get away without punishment. On the flip side, nobody will be punished without cause. As a judge, He will take no bribes. This is what it means for God to be just. God is righteous. God is absolutely fair in all of His dealings. God will give every man his due. God will treat every man as he deserves. To use Biblical terminology, "God will render to every man according to his deeds" (Rom. 2:6).

Though a police officer might be lenient to you and give you a warning rather than a ticket, God won't be lenient. Though an earthly judge might receive a plea-bargain, (an admission of guilt in exchange for a lesser sentence so as not to prolong a trial), God doesn't receive plea bargains. God adheres strictly to His law. He won't bend. He won't move from His law. God will punish every sin ever committed. God cannot simply "overlook" sin, like this man I was telling you about thought. God cannot simply "forgive" sin without punishing sin. His justice won't allow it.

We are good at overlooking sin. My daughter recently told me of an encounter she had with a little boy, who sinned in her sight. I asked my daughter, "Did you join him in this?" She said, "No." I asked my daughter, "Did you do anything?" She said, "No." She simply ignored the transgression.

I can think of many occasions in which I have done the same thing. I have seen sin committed and simply let it pass. I have been silent to its wrong. Sure, I may not have engaged in the sinful activity. I may not have even seen the sinful activity. But I have known about it and have kept silent.

Our society is good at this as well. We are to let everybody do their own thing. The word for it today is "tolerance." We need to be tolerant of everybody. Dorothy Sayers called tolerance "the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die." This is our society. The error of our day is that we think that God will act just like we act. When we see sin, we often keep silent. We expect that God will return the favor.

But listen to what God says to the wicked, in Psalm 50, ...

"You hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you. When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, And you associate with adulterers. You let your mouth loose in evil, And your tongue frames deceit. Tou sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother's son. These things you have done, and I kept silence; You thought that I was just like you." (verses 17-21).

We watch others sin. We involve ourselves with sinners. We speak of sin. We sin. And pretty soon, we discover that we can sin and get away with it. We sin and nothing happens. We sin and God doesn't strike us dead. (Your presence here tonight is evidence of that fact). We sin and God is silent. We begin to reason in our hearts, "I often overlook sin. God, likewise, will also overlook my sin also!"

In Psalm 50, God continues, "I will reprove you, and state [the case] in order before your eyes" (verse 21). God might be keeping silent right now, but there is a day in which He will set the record straight. God will set the record straight, because He is a just God. Beloved, God cannot simply "forgive" sin without punishing sin. This is because God is absolutely just.

But there are many in our land today who hope and trust in God to forgive without punishment.

Do you realize that the hope of the Muslim world is that God will not be just? The Koran says that in the day of judgment, "as for him whose good deeds are preponderant [i.e. heavy], these are the successful [i.e. happy]. And as for him whose good deeds are light, these are they who shall have lost their souls, abiding in hell" (Sura 23:102-3). In other words, the Muslim believes that he will stand before God, the Judge and God will weigh the good and the bad. If the good outweigh the bad, He forgives. If the bad outweigh the good, He condemns. The Muslim believes that Allah will be merciful and will overlook sin.

But this isn't how a righteous God acts. A righteous God is fair. A righteous judge won't overlook sin. In a murder trial, the basis for discussion isn't good deeds and bad deeds. "Yes, this man is guilty of murder, but he goes to church, has ten charities which he gives to, and volunteers at the local retirement center." In a court of law, guilt is determined. In a court of law, we don't weigh the good and the bad. A righteous judge determine guilt or innocence over an issue. If the defendant is innocent, he is set free. If the defendant is guilty, the judge determines an appropriate punishment to meet the severity of the crime.

God isn't into weighing the scales. God will determine guilt or not. God will punish accordingly. The hope of the Muslims is that God will not be just!

Do you realize that the hope of the Jewish world is that God will not be just? God established sacrifices for Israel to perform. These sacrifices were meant to teach Israel that "without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness" (Heb. 9:22). But ever since the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, the Jews haven't performed any sacrifices. God told them to sacrifice for their forgiveness, but they have stopped sacrificing.

A big dilemma arose with the Jews shortly after the temple was destroyed. Strong Jewish tradition tells the story of a Jewish student, who grieved over the fact that Israel could no longer offer up her sacrifices, because the temple was destroyed. A certain Rabbi Johanan sought to console this grieving Jewish student, "My son, do not weep. We have a means of atonement as effective as this (i.e. the temple ritual and sacrifice). And what is it? It is deeds of living-kindness. As the prophet has said, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' " (Hos. 6:6; Heb. 10:1-2).

I remember a Jewish friend who asked her mother why we don't sacrifice today. She said, "Our confession of sins on the Day of Atonement is enough to forgive sins."

The Jew today is relying upon his own good deeds to stand before God, in hopes that God will forgive. The Jews today transgress the law they hold so dear, which taught that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. In other words, the Jews are hoping that God will not be just!

So, how is it that God can be just and also forgive sin? Glad you asked. To find the answer, turn with me in your Bibles to Romans 3. John Piper has called this section of Scripture, "the most important paragraph in the Bible" (The Pleasures of God, p. 165). This paragraph is most important because it solves this very dilemma placed before us this evening, "How can a just God forgive sin?"

In the Scripture this is one of the major points of tension. On the one hand, you have God who presents Himself as absolutely holy and pure and righteous and just and fair in all of his dealings. On the other hand, this same God presents Himself as a compassionate, loving, merciful and forgiving God. When you realize that justice demands punishment, and that forgiveness implies no punishment, you begin to see the tension.

To illustrate the tension, imagine with me a judge with a murderer before him. How can this judge be just? By ordering the execution of the murderer. How can this judge be merciful? By giving the murderer a sentence of 20 years in prison. However, to reduce the sentance from execution to 20 years in prison, the judge's mercy negates the judge's justice. On the other hand, to order the execution of the muderer exhibits no mercy. This is the tension we face in the Scripture. But Romans 3:20-26 eases the tension.

Romans 3:20-26
[Because] by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law [the] righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even [the] righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. [This was] to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, [I say,] of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Let me simply walk quickly through this passage with you this evening. We don't have the time to thoroughly investigate and deeply study these Scriptures. I simply want to get down to verse 26, which contains the end of where I have been going this evening.

Verse 20 contains the truth of my introduction, "by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight;" God will be completely righteous and fair. As all have sinned, (Rom. 3:10-12), none will be righteous by the law. By God's fairness, no flesh will be justified.

However, the good news of the gospel is found in verses 21-22! "But now apart from the Law [the] righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even [the] righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe." It is apart from the Law that we receive our righteousness and our forgiveness. It is through faith in Jesus that we are justified in God's sight.

This doesn't matter who you are. There is no distinction between Jew and Greek. There is no distinction between white and black. This is the point of verses 23-24, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified [i.e. made righteous] as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." All of those who are justified by faith in Jesus Christ have sinned. It isn't as if some come through the door of works.

The question which comes to mind at this point is this, "How is this fair? Steve, you just told me that God will render to every man according to his deeds. Steve, you just told me that the righteousness of God will prohibit Him from 'passing over' sin and forgiving it without punishing it." Paul answers that question in verse 25, "whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith."

Propitiation is a fancy theological word which simply means, "satisfying God's wrath." God's wrath and anger and justice is upon the sin of the world. Yet, Jesus Christ satisfied that wrath in His blood. Jesus died as a substitute.

Justice demands that the police officer who pulls you over gives you a ticket. God doesn't overlook your transgression by giving you a warning, as the police officer might do. God is like somebody in the passenger seat, who takes the ticket and all of its consequences for you. He pays the fine. The ticket goes on His record, rather than yours. In this case, the police officer is fair. Yet, you are free from the consequences of your traffic violation.

Justice demands that the judge give the whole sentence to the guilty. God doesn't overlook your transgression by reducing the sentence. God wipes away the sentence by taking the consequences upon Himself.

Those of us who have looked to the cross for our sufficient standing before God, aren't looking only to the mercy of God, like the Muslim or the Jew (or the Deist, or any other religion which seeks forgiveness any other way apart from a substitute). We aren't looking for God to deny His justice and fairness and righteousness. We aren't expecting God not to punish our sin. For believers in Jesus Christ, God punishes your sin. The simple fact is that the punishment that you deserve fell upon Him. The propitiation of God's wrath came upon Jesus, not upon us. Jesus was your substitute, dying in your place.

Why did Jesus die the death on the cross? To turn God's wrath away, as verses 25-26 say, "[This was] to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, [I say,] of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."

In His patience, God "overlooked" the sins previously committed, because He knew of one who was coming, who would allow God to forgive sin. God demonstrated His righteousness (i.e. His justice) in Jesus Christ in that He punished Him in the place of all those whom He would forgive. So, God is just in that He punished Jesus. And, God is justifier in that He declares the sinner forgiven. As Paul says, "that He might be just and the justifier"

This is how God can be just and also forgive sin: in Jesus Christ, God has punished sin. This becomes ours "by faith in Jesus." It will come no other way -- only through trusting the blood of Jesus Christ as your substitute, who alone can turn away the wrath of God (verse 25). God can't overlook sin. God must punish sin.

Here is the question, "how will God punish your sin?" Will He punish you in hell forever? Has He punished Jesus Christ in your place in the cross 2000 years ago?

Tonight we celebrate the Lord's Supper, because the ransom has been paid and the substitution has been made. We glory that in Jesus Christ there is forgiveness. As you take of the bread and the cup this evening, you say, in effect, "I am trusting in the wrath-appeasing sacrifice of Jesus for forgiveness." If you have any other trust than this, don't make a mockery of this celebration this evening. Simply let the bread and let the cup pass you by.

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on February 24, 2002 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rvbc.cc.