Our ancestors in Christ did not, by and large, learn the faith from the works of professional theologians. Their faith came by hearing (and reading), most often through the hearing of sermons.

As part of its occasional series of spiritual classics, CHRISTIANITY TODAY offers this vivid and and image-rich exposition of justification by grace, delivered by Charles Haddon Spurgeon on April 5, 1857, at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens, England. Earlier generations of Christians were in the habit of reading printed sermons. This one is condensed from the New Park Street Pulpit, Vol. 3, No. 126.

"Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
—Rom.3:24

No scene in sacred history gladdens the soul like Calvary. Nowhere does the soul find such consolation as on that spot where misery reigned and agony reached its climax. There grace dug a fountain, which ever gushes with waters pure as crystal, each drop able to alleviate the agonies of mankind.

We have, this morning, a subject that may be the means of comforting God's saints seeing it takes its rise at the Cross and runs on in a rich stream of perennial blessing to all believers. We have in our text, first of all, the redemption of Christ Jesus; secondly, the justification of sinners flowing from it; and then thirdly, the manner of the giving of this justification, "freely by his grace."

First, then, we have the redemption that is in or by Christ Jesus.

The figure of redemption is very simple and has been frequently used in Scripture. When a prisoner has been made a slave it has been usual, before he could be set free, that a ransom should be paid. Now we, being, by the fall of Adam, prone to guiltiness and virtually guilty, we were by the irreproachable judgment of God given up to the vengeance of the law; justice claimed us to be his slaves forever unless we could pay a ransom, whereby our souls could be redeemed. We were poor as owlets. We were bankrupt debtors; all we had was sold; we were left naked, and poor, and miserable, and we could by no means find a ransom; it was just then that Christ stepped in, and, in the stead of all believers, paid the ransom that we might in that hour be delivered from the curse of the law and the vengeance of God and go our way free, justified by his blood.

Let me show you some qualities of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. He has redeemed the multitude; not me alone, nor you alone, but "a multitude that no man can number." Christ hath bought for himself some out of every kingdom, and nation, and tongue, under heaven; he hath redeemed some of every rank, from the highest to the lowest; some of every color—black and white; some of every standing in society, the best and the worst.

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Now, this ransom was all paid, and all paid at once. When Christ redeemed his people, he did not leave a single debt unpaid, nor yet one farthing for them to settle afterwards. The sacrifice of Calvary was not a part payment; it was a complete and perfect payment, and it obtained a complete and perfect remittal of all the debts of all believers that have lived, do live, or shall live, to the very end of time. On that day when Christ hung on the cross, the whole of the demands of the law were paid there and then by Jesus, the great high priest of all his people. And he paid it all at once too. So priceless was the ransom, so munificent the price demanded for our souls, one might have thought it marvelous had Christ paid it by installments. King's ransoms have sometimes been paid part at once, and part in dues afterwards, to run through years. But not so our Savior: once for all he gave himself a sacrifice and said, "It is finished," leaving nothing for him to do, nor for us to accomplish. Christ nailed that receipt to his "It is done, it is done; I have taken away the handwriting of ordinances, I have nailed it to the cross; who is he that shall condemn my people, or lay anything to their charge? for I have blotted out like a cloud their transgressions, and like a thick cloud their sins!"

And when Christ paid all this ransom, he did it all himself! Simon, the Cyrenian, might bear the cross; but Simon might not be nailed to it. That sacred circle of Calvary was kept for Christ alone. Two thieves were with him there; not righteous men, lest any should have said that the death of those two righteous men helped the Savior. No disciples shared his death; Peter was not dragged there to be beheaded, John was not nailed to a cross side by side with him; he was left there alone. He says, "I have trodden the wine press alone; and of the people there was none with me." The work was completely done by himself, without a helper.

And it was accepted. It was a goodly ransom. What could equal it? A soul "exceeding sorrowful even unto death"; a body torn with torture; a death of the most inhuman kind; and an agony of such a character that tongue cannot speak of it, nor can even man's mind imagine its horror. It was a goodly price. But say, was it accepted? There have been prices offered which never were accepted by the party to whom they were offered, and therefore the slave did not go free.

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But this was accepted. When Christ declared that he would pay the debt, God sent the officer to arrest him, the payment was made, and Christ was locked up until the acceptance should have been ratified in heaven. Let your minds picture the buried Jesus. He slumbers in that narrow tomb. Now is the crisis of this world; it hangs trembling in the balance. Will God accept the ransom, or will he not? An angel comes from heaven with exceeding brightness; he rolls away the stone; and forth comes the captive, with no manacles upon his hands, with the grave clothes left behind; free, never more to die.

If God had not accepted his sacrifice, he would have been in his tomb at this moment; he never would have risen from his grave. But his resurrection was a pledge of God's accepting him.

Second, let me address myself to the effect of the ransom; being "justified freely by his grace through the redemption."

Now, what is the meaning of justification? Justification is a forensic term, employed always in a legal sense. A prisoner is brought to the bar of justice to be tried. There is only one way that prisoner can be justified; he must be found not guilty—proved to be a just man. If you find that man guilty, you cannot justify him. The Queen may pardon him, but she cannot justify him. He is as much a real criminal when he is pardoned as before.

Now, the wonder of wonders is that we are proved guilty, and yet we are justified. Can any earthly tribunal do that? No; it remained for the ransom of Christ to effect that which is an impossibility to any tribunal upon earth. We are all guilty. Read Romans 3:23—"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." There the verdict of guilty is brought in, and yet we are immediately afterwards said to be justified freely by his grace.

Now, allow me to explain the way whereby God justifies a sinner. A prisoner has been tried and condemned to death. He cannot be justified, because he is guilty. But now suppose that some second party could be introduced who could take all that man's guilt upon himself, who could change places with that man and by some mysterious process become that man—the righteous man putting the rebel in his place and making the rebel a righteous man. We cannot do that in our courts. If I were to go before a judge, and he should agree that I should be committed for a year's imprisonment instead of some wretch who was condemned yesterday to a year's imprisonment, I might take his punishment, but not his guilt.

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Now, what flesh and blood cannot do, that Jesus Christ did. Here I stand, the sinner. God says, "I will condemn that man; I will punish him." Christ puts me aside and stands in my stead. When the plea is demanded, Christ takes my guilt to be his own. When the punishment is to be executed, Christ says, "Punish me. I have put my righteousness on that man, and I have taken that man's sins on me. Father, consider that man to have been me. Let me endure his curse, and let him receive my blessing."

This marvelous doctrine of Christ's changing places with poor sinners is a doctrine of revelation, for it never could have been conceived by nature. No earthly monarch could have power to consent to such an exchange. But the God of heaven had a right to do as he pleased. In his infinite mercy he said, "Son of my love, you must stand in the sinner's place." This is the way we are saved, "being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus."

And now, let me further explain some of the characteristics of this justification. As soon as a repenting sinner is justified, his sins are cast into the depths of the sea. The man stands a guiltless man in the sight of God, accepted in the beloved. "What!" say you, "do you mean that literally?" Yes, I do. That is the doctrine of justification by faith.

But I am going a step further. The moment the man believes in Christ, he becomes righteous, he becomes meritorious, for, in the moment when Christ takes his sins he takes Christ's righteousness, so that, when God looks upon the sinner who but an hour ago was dead in sins, he looks upon him with as much affection as he ever looked upon his Son. He himself has said it—"As the Father loved me, so have I loved you." He loves us as much as his Father loved him. Can you believe such a doctrine as that? Does it not pass all thought? Well, it is a doctrine of the Holy Spirit whereby we must hope to be saved.

"But," says one, "no one is justified like that till he dies." Believe me, he is. If that young man over there has really believed in Christ this morning, he is as much justified in God's sight now as he will be when he stands before the throne. The glorified spirits above are no more acceptable to God than the poor man below, who is once justified by grace. It is a perfect washing, it is perfect pardon, perfect imputation; we are fully, freely, and wholly accepted, through Christ our Lord.

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Just one more word here: Those who are once justified are justified irreversibly. As soon as a sinner takes Christ's place, and Christ takes the sinner's place, there is no fear of a second change. If Christ has once paid the debt, it will never be asked for again; if you are pardoned, you are pardoned forever. God does not give man a free pardon and then afterwards retract it and punish man: that be far from God. He says, "I have punished Christ; you may go free." And after that, we may rejoice that "being justified by faith we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."

And now I hear someone cry, "That is an extraordinary doctrine." But it is a doctrine professed by all Protestant churches, though they may not preach it. It is the doctrine of the Church of England, of Luther, of the Presbyterian church; it is professedly the doctrine of all Christian churches; and if it seems strange in your ears, it is because your ears are estranged. It is the doctrine of Holy Writ, that none can condemn whom God justifies, and that none can accuse those for whom Christ died.

Third, I now close with the manner of giving this justification. There are some whose mouths are set awatering for this great gift of justification, some here who are saying, "Oh! if I could be justified! But, Sir, can I be justified?" Yes, poor soul, if you desire it; if God has made you willing, if you confess your sins, Christ is willing to take your rags and give you his righteousness forever.

"Well," says one, "must I be a holy man for many years, and then get it?" Listen! "Freely by his grace"; "freely," because there is no price to be paid for it; "By his grace," because it is not of our deservings.

"But, O Sir, I do not think God will forgive me unless I do something to deserve it." I tell you, if you bring in any of your deservings, you shall never have it. God gives away his justification freely; if you bring anything to pay for it, he will throw it in your face.

If I could preach justification to be bought by you at a sovereign apiece, who would go out of the place without being justified? If I would preach justification by walking a hundred miles, would we not be pilgrims tomorrow morning, every one of us? If I were to preach justification by whippings and torture, there are very few here who would not whip themselves severely. But when it is freely, freely, freely, men turn away. "What! am I to have it for nothing at all, without doing anything?" Yes, Sir, you are to have it for nothing, or else not at all.

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"But may I not go to Christ, lay some claim to his mercy, and say, Lord, justify me because I am not so bad as others?" It will not do, Sir, because it is "by his grace."

"But may I not offer this plea, I mean to be better?" No, Sir; it is "by his grace." You insult God by bringing your counterfeit coin to pay for his treasures. What poor ideas men have of the value of Christ's gospel if they think they can buy it! A rich man once, when he was dying, had a notion that he could buy a place in heaven by building a row of almshouses. A good man stood by his bedside, and said, "How much more are you going to leave?"

"Twenty thousand pounds."

Said he, "That would not buy enough for your foot to stand on in heaven; for the streets are made of gold there, and therefore of what value can your gold be?" Nay, friends, we cannot buy heaven with gold nor good works, nor prayers, nor anything in the world.

But how is it to be got? Why it is to be got for asking only. As many of us as know ourselves to be sinners may have Christ for asking for him. Do you know that you want Christ? You may have Christ! "Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely." But if you say, "No, Sir, I mean to do a great many good things, and then I will believe in Christ," then you will be damned if you hold by such delusions. I earnestly warn you.

"But are we not to do good works?" Certainly you are; but you are not to trust in them. You must trust in Christ wholly, and then do good works afterwards.

"But," says one, "I think if I were to do a few good works, it would be a little recommendation when I came." It would not, Sir; they would be no recommendation at all. Let a beggar come to your house in white kid gloves and say he is very badly off; would the white kid gloves recommend him to your charity? "No," you would say, "you are a miserable impostor; you do not want anything, and you shall not have anything, either! Out with you!" The best uniform for a beggar is rags, and the best uniform for a sinner to go to Christ in is for him to go just as he is, with nothing but sin about him.

I do not say this to urge any man to continue in sin. God forbid! If you continue in sin, you must not come to Christ; you cannot; your sins will hamper you. No, Sir, it is repentance; it is the immediate leaving off the sin. But neither by repentance nor by leaving off your sin can save you. It is Christ, Christ, Christ —Christ only.

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But I know many of you will go away and try to build up your own Babel-tower to get to heaven. Some of you will go the ceremony way: you will lay the foundation of the structure with infant baptism, build confirmation on it, and the Lord's Supper. "I shall go to heaven," you say. "Do not I keep Good Friday and Christmas Day? I am a better man than those dissenters. Do I not say more prayers than anyone?" You will be a long while going up that treadmill before you get an inch higher.

Another one says, "I will go and study the Bible and believe right doctrine, and I have no doubt that by believing right doctrine I shall be saved." Indeed you will not! You can be no more saved by believing right doctrine than you can by doing right actions.

"There," says another, "I like that; I shall go and believe in Christ and live as I like." Indeed, you will not! For if you believe in Christ he will not let you live as your flesh likes; by his Spirit he will constrain you to mortify its affections and lusts. If he gives you the grace to make you believe, he will give you the grace to live a holy life afterwards. You cannot believe in Christ unless you renounce every fault and resolve to serve him with full purpose of heart. What have you to do but to believe this and trust in him?

Faith is like this: There was a captain of a man-of-war whose young son was very fond of running up the ship's rigging; and one time, running after a monkey, he ran up the mast, till at last he got on to the maintruck. Now, the maintruck is like a large, round table put on to the mast, so that when the boy was on the maintruck he had plenty of room; but the difficulty was that he could not reach the mast under the table; he was not tall enough to get down from this maintruck, reach the mast, and so descend. He managed to get up there, but he never could get down. His father looked up in horror. In a few moments his son would fall down, and be dashed to pieces on the deck! The captain shouted, "Boy, the next time the ship lurches, throw yourself into the sea." It was his only way of escape; he might be picked up out of the sea, but he could not be rescued if he fell on the deck. The poor boy looked down on the sea; it was a long way; he could not bear the idea of throwing himself into the roaring current; he thought it looked dangerous. So he clung to the maintruck with all his might, though there was no doubt that he must soon let go and perish.

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The father called for a gun, and pointing it up at him, said, "Boy, the next time the ship lurches, throw yourself into the sea, or I'll shoot you!" The boy knew his father would keep his word; the ship lurched, over went the boy, splash, into the sea, and out went brawny arms after him. The sailors rescued him and brought him on deck.

Now we, like the boy, are in a position of extraordinary danger, which neither you nor I can possibly escape of ourselves. Unfortunately, we have got some good works of our own, like that maintruck, and we cling to them so fondly that we never will give them up. Christ knows that unless we do give them up, we shall be dashed to pieces at the last. He, therefore, says, "Sinner, let go of your own trust, and drop into the sea of my love." We look down and say, "Can I be saved by trusting in God? He looks as if he were angry with me, and I could not trust him."

Must the weapon of destruction be pointed directly at you? Must you hear the dreadful threat—"He that believeth not shall be damned?" It is with you now as with that boy—your position is one of imminent peril, and your slighting the Father's counsel makes peril more perilous. You must do it or else you perish! Let go your hold! That is faith when the poor sinner lets go, drops down, and is saved; and the very thing which looks as if it would destroy him is the means of his being saved. Oh! believe on Christ, poor sinners; believe on Christ. You who know your guilt and misery, come, cast yourselves upon him; come, and trust my Master and you shall never trust him in vain; but you shall find yourselves forgiven, and go your way rejoicing in Christ Jesus.

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