Reconnecting with the Gospel – Romans Series

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 39 – Unfathomable Sin and Unfathomable Righteousness

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Alright, I have to admit as I was reading through this chapter of Romans I went back and forth on how to approach this last section of scripture.  You can take it as a whole and get the overall picture of what God through Paul is trying to get across, but you will miss out on some gems that I really want everyone to see.  I also believe that the Lord rewards those who seek Him with their whole heart, and so I want to put in the work to try to get everything from this scripture that God has for us.  So, I’m going to split the rest of Romans 7 into 3 or 4 messages, and I truly believe it will be worth our time.  Hopefully you will as well.

Romans 7:12-15 – “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.  Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.  For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.”

Paul transitions here from explaining the purpose of the law (to point to the righteousness of Christ and our need for a savior), to explaining how this applies to him (and all of us) in a personal way.  I love this section of scripture, because you are able to see the heart of a Christian who loves God, who is running the race of faith, and who struggles with sin as we all do.  Please don’t read this just as another story, but know that this is a message from God to you.  Paul’s story and personal account is no different from where each of us are today.

If I said to you the words, bright, warm, shining, and “in the sky”, you would probably figure out that I was talking about the sun.  All of those descriptive words are true of the sun, but the fullness of their meaning is not found in the words, but when you look into the sky to see the sun, see it’s blinding brightness and feel the warmth it brings.  This is the same way with the law that was given to us from God.  It is descriptive of God’s righteousness, but the fullness of the law was found in Jesus Christ.
So the law that was given is holy, and the commandments we were given were holy and righteous and good because they were describing true righteousness, the holy righteousness of Jesus Christ.  So if the law that was given by God was a blessing, and we heard in previous verses that the law was meant to expose our sinfulness as we fell short of what the law required, does that mean that the law itself is the reason why we are condemned by God as sinners?  Did that which is good, bring death to us? Not at all.  Each of us is a sinner, we have bodies, but just as Jesus Christ is righteousness, and the law points to his righteousness, our actions are unrighteous, and they point to the fullness of our unrighteousness, the sin that is within us.  Does that make sense?  That was the dual purpose of the law, to point to the fullness of Righteousness in Christ, and to point to the fullness of sin in us.  Jesus Christ is not simply righteous, he is holy and righteous, he is righteousness in perfection, altogether different from what we can even fathom when we think of the word “righteous”.  We are not simply sinful, we are sinful in perfection, in our essence, altogether different than what we can even fathom when we think of the word “sin”.  Is that hard to accept?  It is because of our sin and pride that this doctrine is so hard to take in!
Isaiah 64:5-7 – “Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?  We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.  We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.  There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.”  If our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment, we do not understand righteousness, and even our best “good” deeds are stained by our sinfulness.
This is what it means when Paul is saying that “It was sin, producing death in men through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.”  So, the law is spiritual, pointing to the very essence of true righteousness which is found in God alone, which is altogether beyond what we can measure.  We cannot understand this righteousness fully because we are not spiritual, but fleshly.  We are sold under sin.  In our fleshly nature, sin is our master, and we are slaves to it.  Every inclination of our heart, every thought in our mind, and ever action is in submission to our sinfulness.  That is man’s natural condition apart from Christ, and we who know Christ, who have His righteousness through faith still struggle with our flesh, even while we long for Christ and His righteousness in our lives.  How deep is our need for Christ!  What great victory is His on the cross to redeem sinners!  But more on that in the next message…
I hope this finds you well.  Know you’re prayed for, and I will close with the blessing given from God to Moses to give to the people of God – “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”  (Numbers 6:24-26) 
Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 38 – The Grace of God is Greater than All Our Sin

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Romans 7:7-12 – “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”  But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.  I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.  For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.  So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”
Last time we talked about how the moral law of God found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.  We no longer need to look to the law to see the righteousness of God, we have the Righteous One, Jesus Christ to follow.  Today, Paul is again reinforcing the purpose of the law – which was never to be a means of salvation, rather to display our sin and need for a savior.  Today I’m going to press a bit on us all, because I feel like many professing Christians forget how desperate their need for Christ is.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is not something to be believed once and forgotten, but we live in the good news day to day, and into eternity to the praise of Jesus Christ.  I wonder sometimes if the lack of joy I see in Christian’s lives stems from forgetting to stand in awe of what Christ has done for us.  If a person understands how great the divide is between themselves as sinners and the righteousness of God, then their affections for God will be greater.  These are good affections, joy inducing affections, based only on the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  This is what the Master tells us in a parable in Luke 7:41-47 – “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?”  Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”  Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.  Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
An amazing thing happens when you start to put the Cross of Christ before you each day.  You continually remember who you are apart from Christ, what Christ has done for you, and who you are now in Christ because of His finished work.  When this happens, and the light of Christ illuminates your heart and mind, you will see your sin with greater and greater clarity. It may even appear to you that your sin is increasing, because you see it more clearly.  At the same time, you will see the righteousness of Christ with greater and greater clarity.  It may even appear to you that His righteousness is increasing, because you see it more clearly.  All the while your heart and mind is being reminded that the righteousness of God is greater than all your sin.  You are confronted again and again with how great a sinner you are, how much you have been forgiven, and how great is our Savior.  Christ paid it all. 
It is only when you have done this for a signficant period of time that you can sing aloud with Paul, Phil 3:8-9 – “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”
It is only when you stand amazed at the surpassing grace of God over your sin that you can understand and agree with Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 – “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Brothers and sisters, I am saying this for your joy and the edification of your faith – do not think higher of yourself than you ought, but continually rest in the shadow of the cross of Christ.  The law was given by God to increase our knowledge of our own sinfulness, so that we would not hope in ourselves, but in God who has mercy.  Do not rest in a past decision, but stand amazed that the God of all Creation, Jesus Christ saved you, a sinner today – right where you are.  2 Corinthians 6:1-2 – “Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”  He must increase, and we must decrease – for our joy is not found in our own greatness, but in the surpassing greatness of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He is our treasure for eternity.  He loves us.  He is jealous for us to know Him.  Hebrews 12:1-2 – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” 
Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 37 – The Law of Christ

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Romans 7:1-6 – “Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?  For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.  Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.  Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.  For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.  But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”
Why do you pay your debts when they come due?  Aside from not paying your debts being a form of stealing and the moral concern that raises, ultimately, if you don’t pay, then creditors can make all sorts of problems for you, right?
I’m not going to go into what all the “law” means today, because Paul is presuming the reader to understand, and I am presuming you to understand the “law” – at least as a standard of moral conduct.  Sufficed to say that it would include things that most people would attribute to morality like, do not steal, do not lie, don’t commit adultery, etc.  Paul uses the latter example of adultery to illustrate a crucial point about the law – that the power of the law ends with a person’s death.  Let me give you a modern day example:  If you owe a credit card company money and you don’t pay them, they can report you to the credit agencies ruining your credit score, they can send your amounts into collections to harass you, etc.  They can create all sorts of problems for you while you’re alive.  However, if you owe a debt and you die, the credit card company can’t do anything to you.  Could they send you to collections?  Yes, but what good would that do?  Could they call you asking for payment?  They’d have to speak REALLY loud!  They can still go through the motions, but the power they had over you is gone.
God gave us a good law in the Ten Commandments and Old Testament, that we should have followed.  The law gave us a glimpse into the righteousness of God.  The problem is that the law could only show us how far short each of us fell from what God required of us.  Thus the law proved only a means of condemnation for us and assured us of the righteous judgment of God.  The law could never save us, it was never meant to.
This series through Romans is called “Reconnecting with the Gospel” for a reason.  I have seen many professing Christians fall away from their faith because the gospel of Jesus Christ never takes root in their heart – it was merely something to be “believed” once and now that time has passed.  The gospel never bridges the gap between the actions of Jesus and your personal identity as a “believer”.  Now what I want you to see is that when you say you believe the gospel, that you are entrusting your salvation unto Christ through His death, burial, and resurrection.  You are identifying yourself with Him.  His death was your death.  His life is your life.  Now when we talk about identifying with the death of Jesus in the gospel, what are the implications of that for a Christian?  All of the power that the law had over you, to condemn and punish you, was borne by Jesus.  He paid our debt for everything we had done and everything we will do in full.  There is nothing left of the law that needs to be satisfied.  Having been satisfifed in full, it holds no power over us for whom Christ died.
Does this mean that we are no longer bound to the law or that we should ignore it?  Not at all. What it does mean is that we no longer have to fear the judgment of God under the law, and we have been given the fullness of the law in Jesus Christ.  No longer are we to model ourselves after the righteousness alluded to through the law, we have the Righteous One, Jesus Christ to follow.  Christ explains this in His sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 17, 21-48.  I won’t put all of that here, but in verse 17 he says “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”.  In verses 21-48 he goes on to explain the depth of the law that extended beyond mere outward action, but was a matter of obedience from the heart.  None of us could ever meet that standard of righteousness, but in Christ as a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), we can.
So if you are burdened by your sin, you are burdened in your pursuit of righteousness through works, these words of Jesus are for you:  Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”   The fear of judgment died with Christ, it has been replaced by joy in salvation in the law of Christ – Love the Lord your God, Jesus Christ, with all of your heart, soul, and mind, and love others as yourselves.  You will not be alone, but the Spirit of Christ in you will be with you always.
Grace be with you,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 36 – The Sourness of Sin and the Sweetness of Salvation

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Happy Friday to all!  I want you to know that I worked hard on that alliteration in the naming of today’s message…  Today we’re wrapping up chapter 6 of Romans.  It has been very impactful to me personally, and my hope, prayer, and eager expectation is that it will be an encouragement and means of growth for your own faith.
Romans 6:20-23 – “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I love this section of scripture.  Many people are familiar with Romans 6:23, that the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Many would think that out of the four verses we’re covering today, that would be my focus, but it’s not.  That verse is the bow on the top of the real present to us – a message from God that includes an explanation of who we were, the futility of sin, and who we are now in Christ. 

Every person is born a sinner.  It’s not simply that they sin, it’s a condition – it is who they are.  In Genesis 6:5 we see a vivid explanation of the natural condition of man – “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  That condition was not simply true of that generation, but is true of every one of us from birth.  We are given a very similar description in the New Testament in Ephesians 2:1-4 – “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

How great a need we have of a savior!  Sometimes I wonder if the reason that we see so little joy in salvation from Christians, is that they forget how desperate their condition apart from Christ truly is.  It’s not simply that we do bad from time to time and sin… that’s what we convince ourselves into believing, but the truth of God paints a far darker, more bleak picture.  We do not simply sin every once in a while, we are sinners with every thought and breath and inclination of our heart.  Sin permeates our being thoroughly.  Not only do we sin, we are enslaved to sin.  We pursue it with our lives, thereby submitting ourselves to the prince of the power of the air, satan, as well.  Once enslaved, which we are from birth, there is no hope for freedom. 

The irony is that in such a bleak situation, sinners are actually convinced that their sin is good.  We convince ourselves that they way to happiness is through sinning more and more.  Back in Romans 1:24-25 where it says “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”  (bolded by me for emphasis), the “lie” is that we can find joy pursuing our own sinful desires, instead of worshipping God, where true joy is found.  Just before that, God calls these people “fools”.  I agree, but sadly each of us has been foolish in this way.

In Romans 6:21 a simple question is asked, and I want you to hear this as a question to you personally from God, because it is – “what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?”   Put another way, if you’re caught up in sin right now, how’s that working out for you?  Is your sin delivering on the promise of happiness and peace?  What benefit has your sin been to you in your life?  I’m not saying that we don’t have a battle to fight or that it will always be easy to deny your sinful desires to pursue Christ, but what I want to do is expose the lie – no amount of sin will ever make you happy of fulfilled.  As your sin increases, so does your appetite for greater sin.  It will never be enough, and the end state of a person who makes life a pursuit of sin instead of God is death – death to God, separation from Him, and despair at the removal of all hope.  It is better to strive hard after Christ who satisfies, than to run casually towards death and despair.
The best news of all, is that God loves us – He truly loves us, and doesn’t leave us alone in our sin, but is reaching out to us continually.  He is closer than you think, and is jealous for His children.  The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  He is there today for everyone who wants to come.  This life he offers is much more than physical life, it is a fullness of life, a fullness of joy in relationship with Him.  Psalm 16:11 – “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”   
God has given you a mind, that you should know Him; that you can see the lie of sin and run towards your Savior, and he has given you a heart that by His grace and mercy you should know a fullness of joy.  He is good, His steadfast love is new each day for you and never ends, and He offers true freedom from the slavery and futility of sin, that we might be willing, joyful slaves of God in righteousness to the praise of our Lord Jesus Christ.  I hope this finds you well.  Know you’re prayed for.
Grace and Peace,
Adam 

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 35 – The Obedience that Leads to Sanctification

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Today we’re going to be encouraged in how we are to fight for faith on a daily basis.  There are some who shout “GRACE!” in church and to others, but never submit themselves to the will of God for personal righteousness in following after Christ.  These people are not believers – they don’t truly know or love Jesus, they just want something from Jesus.  They don’t want to hear anything about obedience as a mark of true faith, they want to continue in their sin.  On the other side of the spectrum, you have some people who can make obedience and “being” a Christian into such a burden the the weight of “trying to do everything you’re supposed to” is unbearable.  These people may or may not be believers, but they are definitely Pharisees, unhelpful to themselves and anyone else truly wanting to grow in their faith.  Their constant focus works and “measuring up” would contradict our Lord Jesus Christ when He said “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
There is another way to live as a Christian, that does not remove the call to obedience but also exudes peace and joy in reconciliation to Christ.  This is what we see in scripture.  2 Corinthians 5:21 – “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  That’s where we find ourselves in Romans today.
Romans 6:15-19 – “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!  Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?  But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.  I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.”
The first part of the passage above confronts a topic that I believe needs to be preached on heavily, especially in the US – what is the gospel of Jesus Christ saving us from?  What is grace for?  Most people, if they are honest with themselves, see their sin, see that God is righteous and judges their sin, and see that Jesus died for their sin.  They embrace this gospel of salvation from the judgment of sin.  What many do not embrace is  the gospel of salvation from the power of sin.  Jesus preached one gospel – to repent and believe.  Mark 1:14-15 – “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 
The gospel of Jesus Christ is salvation from both the power of sin and the judgment of sin.  You can’t have one without the other, and you can’t want one without wanting the other and still claim to love Jesus and His salvation.  If you are identifying with the risen victorious Christ, then you must also identify with the death of Christ to sin.  Today though I want to be very practical.  My burden is not to expose false-believers or call out Pharisaical behavior.  What I want to focus in on is what it means to “present you members as slaves to righteousness” and how that leads to sanctification.  Hopefully you noticed something that was very important in that scripture – the ordering of things.  Your presenting your members as slaves to righteousness leads to your sanctification, NOT your sanctification leads you to present your members as slaves to righteousness.  This exposes the error that many Christians enter into, trying merely to “pray their way into sanctification”.  That isn’t to say we ought not ask God to continually change our heart, but we also have a role to play beyond that.  God has told us from scripture that He chooses to use the actions of men for His good purposes.  (Eph 2:10, 1 Cor 3:6, 2 Cor 5:20, and on and on). 
So in some way our actions of “presenting our members as slaves to righteousness” will lead to God accomplishing sanctification in us.  This is another example of the mystery of how man’s will (choices) and God’s sovereign plan are compatible, not contradictory.  Philippians 2:12-13 – “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” 
When you have a desire for righteousness to glorify God, rejoice, that is from God and evidence of the Spirit at work in you.  When you work towards personal righteousness, rejoice, that is God at work through you, for your good and joy. 
Now, I am confident that the great many of you reading this desire the righteousness of God in your life – how else could you manage to read through these emails all the time!  So what I want to exhort you in is how to “present your members as slaves to righteousness”.  I know I can be wordy at times, so this should a nice reprieve… I’m actually going to use bullet points below:
  1. Looking to Jesus, be continually building your understanding of the righteousness of God (Start in gospels in the life of Christ – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)
  2. Be brutally honest with yourself about your current sin, including how it usually comes about
  3. Remind yourself of the weight of sin and that sin deserves (the wrath of God) 
  4. Quickly remind yourself of salvation through Jesus in the gospel from the judgment and power of sin
  5. Proactively remove those things that lead to sin from # 2 above, and replace them with things that help grow your affection for Christ and righteousness
  6. Repeat

Now the key here is being honest with yourself and not trying to see how close you can get to the edge of sin without sinning.  Meaning everyone knows that if you’re an alcoholic, going into a bar isn’t a good idea, but we need to go deeper.  If you general find your struggle with sin happening later at night, then start going to bed earlier and make it a point to redeem 30 minutes of time before you go to sleep in the Bible and prayer.  If you are struggling with anxiety/materialism with money, search for ways to start doing with less and giving more away.  Each of us have our own struggles, and the plan of attack will be slightly different for each of us.  Does this mean that we will never sin if we pursue this kind of life change to pursue righteousness?  No, but by the grace of God we might begin to grow closer in our fellowship with God, increase our joy, and grow in our sanctification.  We are all equals in this fight together and in love we need to be encouraging one another towards growth in righteousness for our joy and God’s glory.

I hope this finds you well, know you’re prayed for, and may God’s blessing be upon each of you today.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 34 – Instruments for Righteousness

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Romans 6:12-14 – “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”

Now whenever you see the word “therefore” in the Bible you have to ask yourself the question, “what is it there for?”  So we have to look back to the last message from Romans 6:1-11, and we have our answer.  In church or among Christians, you may have heard people talk about their “identity in Christ”.  That’s what the last message from Romans 6:1-11 was all about.  As a believer in Christ Jesus, your identity is rooted in His death, burial, and resurrection.  You have been born again by the Spirit of God.  In the book of Revelation we are told that we are even given a new name by God (Rev 6:17).  Perhaps there is no clearer explanation of how as Christians our “identity” is in Christ than what we see in Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”   

Romans 6:12-14 is all about believing, trusting, hoping in, the good news of Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord and manifesting your new identity in your life.  If your faith is more than words, if the Spirit of God dwells in you, there will necessarily be a disdain for sin and a yearning for Christ.  For you, Romans 6:12-14 will not be “work”, but a reminder that you are free in Christ and have the freedom to pursue joy in fellowship with Christ rather than your sin. 
My encouragement is by way of reminder that we as Christians are in the business of killing sin by pursuing joy in Christ.  Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.  There are three people I’m now talking to:
The first is the person who is actively pursuing Christ, yearning for personal obedience and righteousness for the glory of God.  Keep watch, keep going, and stay vigilant – we have an enemy that roams about seeking to destroy us. 
The second is the believer who was running well for a period of time, but now finds themselves engaging in sin, and their joy in salvation is diminished.  Stop believing the lie that joy is found in your sin and return to Christ.  Read the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32.  God is jealous for you and wants to restore you to Himself.  You are not alone, all Christians struggle, but each day is a new day and God is abundant in mercy and steadfast love.  Pray through Psalm 51, read your Bible, and surround yourself with some Christians to encourage you.
The third is the professing believer who loves their sin and wants to rationalize their sin rather than repent from it.  For you, this passage seems like a burden rather than delight.  It’s burdensome to you because you don’t really want Christ, you want your sin, and giving it up would seem very painful to you.  I have both a warning and an encouragement to you.  I would say as a warning that there is a mountain of scripture from God’s word in which we are told that as Christians have a battle to fight again sin and evil.  We are also told that there are some who profess belief, but their faith is not real and is evidenced by their sinfulness (Matt 7:21-23 and the entire book of 1 John).  Each of us should be on guard against our sin of immorality and self-righteousness, not because we seek to escape hell, but because we love Jesus and want more of Him in our lives.  If this is you, I would ask you to seriously consider 2 Corinthians 13:5 – “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”  

As an encouragement, I would tell you that Jesus’s offer of salvation from sin and joy in fellowship with Him is for you today.  Acts 2:21 – “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”.  I call upon the Lord every day, because I’m as much in need of Him today as ever.  “Today” is the day of salvation.  When tomorrow becomes “today”, it will be the day of salvation for me.  When next month becomes “today”, it will be the day of salvation for me.  We rest in the finished work of Christ “today” and everyday, “today” is the day for you to turn from your sin and enter the rest of Christ.

Hebrews 4:1-7 – “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.  For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.  For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “ As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.  For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “ And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again in this passage, “ They shall not enter My rest.” Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “ Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”

Wherever you are today, as you read this today, know that as followers of Christ, the infinitely love of God rests on you.  Keep running with endurance, and know that you’re prayed for.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 33 – Dying to Sin and Living for Joy in Righteousness

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After a long pause, we’re picking back up in Romans today.  We’ve gotten through Romans 5, which is probably the weightiest chapter of the Bible or at least in the top 5 or so.  To recap, Romans 5 is basically setting out how we are identified by God, with the conclusion being that we are identified either in Adam, or in the second Adam – Jesus Christ.  Everyone who is born of Adam, born from him, inherits Adam’s sin nature and the judgment due Adam (this is referred to as “Federal Headship” in theological circles by people who like to come up with confusing names for things).  Everyone who is born again through faith in Christ, inherits the righteousness of Christ and eternity with Him in a fullness of joy.  To give an analogy (a poor one sadly) you can think of this as two trees, either you are a branch in the tree of Adam, or you are broken off the tree of Adam and grafted into the tree of Christ.  One tree will be delivered up to be burned/judged for eternity, and the other will bear fruit and be glorious for all eternity.

With that as a background, we’re going to jump into Romans 6 which begins with the practical applications of Romans 5.  Meaning, if Romans 5 is true and we believe on Christ, and are identified with Christ, how will our lives bear out that belief and identification?

Romans 6:1-11 – “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?  By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set free from sin.  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Now the self-righteous reader might look at the people suggesting that they continue in sin that grace may abound as foolish non-believers, but I want to be fair and offer grace to those people and assume they had a legitimate logical question.  Specifically, if as a believer, you are identified with Christ, and you are living to make much of the glory of God – then there could be a logical (but flawed) argument that sinning makes much of Christ.  Basically the logic pattern is this:  The fullness of the glory (Character and majesty) of God was displayed through Christ triumphing over sin and death on the cross.  If there was “more” sin for Christ to have triumphed over, then the glory of God would be seen as even greater.  Therefore, sinning more leads to making much of the glory of God.  This argument is flawed in many different ways, but hopefully you can at least better understand where the people were coming from as not being completely illogical.  

The answer to that argument goes to the heart of what it means to actually believe and be identified with Christ.  Basically the answer given in Romans 6:2-11 is that the glory of God is made much of by manifesting the death of and resurrection Christ (the gospel message) in our own lives, namely dying to self and sin and bringing to life righteousness.  Many people talk about being a “Christian” or a “believer”, but what does your life say about who Jesus is and what you believe?  Now from personal experience, I can tell you that no matter how tempting or alluring sin may seem, it always has horrible repercussions – not only immediate, but long-term, and eternal (for non-believers).  Each of us will make decisions today to either harden our heart against the truth of God and continue in sin, or we can trust Christ, and manifest our belief in the gospel through turning from sin to pursue joy in fellowship with Christ. 

Simply put, the offer to you from Christ is freedom from sin and eternal joy in worshipping God.  Christ came to put sin to death, that he might taste death for us, become a curse for us, that we might become the righteousness of God.  My encouragement to you today, is that if your soul is burdened by sin, look to Christ.  Isaiah 53:4-6 – “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”    If your soul hungers to be right with God, if you thirst for a joy that no sin can deliver, look to Christ.  John 6:35 – Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”   What a salvation we have in Christ!  He has the same call for each of us yesterday, today, and tomorrow – Whoever would come, come.
Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 32 – Joined with Christ for Eternity

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Last time we went pretty deep into a subject that doesn’t get talked about much, the Federal Headship of Adam, and the Superior Headship of Christ for believers.  I don’t know why pastors don’t talk about the hard things in the Bible.  I am comforted by the words of Christ, who when he was about to be crucified said this to his disciples – John 16:12-13 – “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth”  Now, we know that as believers, the Holy Spirit dwells in us.  So I realize that what we talked about last time was meaty and difficult maybe for some to take in, but we stand or fall on God’s Word as truth.  I am confident that the Spirit will guide you into all truth, even those truths that are difficult. 

Today’s message continues the message from last time, which is my way of saying that it’s not going to be much easier.  That message again was that through Adam, all man has sinned and been condemned to judgment (even before they are physically born)  (Psalm 51:5).  Eveneryone of us is a physical descendant of Adam.  Although we cannot remember it, in God’s eyes, all of humanity was with Adam when He sinned against God (in his loins).  This truth is set up as a comparison to our salvation in Christ.  While none of us were actually on the cross with Jesus, and we cannot remember it, not by the flesh, but by our faith, we were with Christ.  Just as Adam’s sin was counted to us as condemnation and death, Christ’s death through our faith, has given us salvation and life through Him.  Through Christ, the “second Adam”, according to the will of our Heavenly Father, everyone of us has been born again through the Spirit of God.  Much more than that, every blessing that is found in Christ has been promised to us, who are adopted sons and daughters of God.  

Let’s be honest, it’s difficult to take in that everyone is condemned by God before they’re born. If you’re having a hard time with that, and saying “that’s not fair”, I’ve been there, so I’m sympathetic to that reaction.  However, I never promised to preach an easy message, just the Truth from God’s Word.  My exhortation is to look at what happened after Jesus’ sermons.  You’d have thought that thousands would run to Him, but more often than not, He would start a message with a great crowd, but by the end, no one save His disciples would be left.  We must humble ourselves before God, and submit that while we may not understand some things, it is Truth because God has told us it is truth, and then ask/work to see God’s good purposes in it.

Why is all of this talk from Romans 5 about the headship of Adam and the headship of Christ important?  It’s important to understand because it explains so much of the Bible.  Let me talk through a few questions and answers based on this Truth from Romans 5.
Question:  Why was it important that Jesus was born of the Spirit and not physically through Joseph?  Answer from Romans 5 – Because if Jesus would have been born through Joseph, he would have been born a sinner as all of us are, and there is no salvation from sin for a sinner.  There is only salvation through the spotless righteous Lamb of God.
Question:  Why is it important to believe in that everyone is born a sinner through Adam?  Because if people do not realize that their “sin problem” before God is not primarily that they sin (that is to say they do sinful acts) but that they are a sinner (that is to imply every thought and intention falls short of the righteousness of God), then people will always be trying to “clean themselves up” instead of falling down on their knees and pleading the mercy of God.  Look at the example given of the Pharisee and Tax Collector in Luke 18 to illustrate this.  Luke 18:9-14 – “He (Jesus) also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” 
Question:  Without trying to understand the mind of God completely (no one can), why might God have ordained things in this way?  Meaning if the end goal of God is His glory being magnified and enjoyed by His Church forever, how does this glorify God to have everyone born a sinner?  Humbly I would submit, that in part this was done to show how great the mercy and love of God is that He would come and die for His Church, a sinful people living under judgment.  Just above in Romans 5:7-8 we are told – “one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Was God’s love present before the condemnation of man through the fall of Adam?  Yes, He never chanegs; but his love wasn’t shown to us as glorious as it was through Christ on the cross.
Question:  Why is it important to know that ultimately God judges only two groups of people, Adam, and everyone born of him and Christ, and everyone born of Him?  Further why is it important to accept that Adam was your father, and his sin was imputed to you?   A lot of reasons, but let’s start with the second half of that question.  If you can understand and accept that Adam was your father, and his sin was imputed to you, the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to you through faith, is going to make a whole lot more sense.  Through faith, as a believer in Jesus Christ, you are now a new creation (2 Cor 5:17).  Christ is now your Saviour and Father, and whereas in the flesh, your former self had the sin of Adam imputed to you, now as a new Creation, the sin is gone, the wrath of God removed, and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to you.   Further, a lot of the language you’re going to read in the Bible is going to make a lot more sense.  Specifically, your “adoption” as sons and daughters, Christ as the “head” of the body/church, and imagery of you being grafted into Christ (Romans 11), the language of being “in” Christ, etc.  I could go on, but all of that language should start to have a rich meaning to you if you understand Romans 5.
Ultimately, I’m digging into Romans 5 because although it maybe difficult and confusing at first, I think in the long term, it will bring clarity to your understanding of the saving work of Christ, strengthen your faith, and be a wellspring of joy to you.  If you can believe this, all of that was just the intro.  Now let’s continue through the Word.    

Romans 5:15-21 – “But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.  And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.  For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.  Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.  For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.   Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,  so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

I could literally spend hours here and probably only scratch the surface of what is being proclaimed.  Here’s what I want to focus on today; the grace of God in Jesus Christ is sufficient to cover ALL your sin.  I want to do a quick side by side comparison between Adam and Jesus, as Paul describes above.
What did each do?
Adam committed one sin – unbelief, manifested through his choosing to believe Satan instead of God and eating the fruit he was forbidden to eat
Jesus committed one act of righteousness – belief, manifested through his trusting the will of the Father and dying in the place of sinners to redeem a people to God
What was the consequence?
Adam’s sinful act – death and separation from God to himself and everyone that came from him physically
Christ’s righteous act – life and reconciliation to God for Himself (rising from the dead to sit at the right hand of God) and everyone that came from Him spiritually by faith.
What is the abiding fruit of Adam and Christ?
Adam – sin, which continually grows, leading to final condemnation, judgment, and the wrath of God
Christ – grace, which continually grows, leading to complete righteousness, and the peace, love, and joy of God
There is ONE main thing that if you get nothing else out of today’s scripture, I want you to see, know,  and savor deep in your heart:  Just as there is no hope for anyone who is from Adam, born a sinner, condemened to die, there is nothing that can rob you of your hope if your hope is in Christ.  Just as there is no hope for the most moral of people who have been born of Adam, because their condemnation was secured in him, and they themselves are sinners inwardly, there is always hope for anyone who trusts in Christ.  Why?  Because when Christ died, his one act of righteousness, ACTUALLY saved people.  Jesus’s act of righteousness didn’t just cover your first 20 years of sin, or 50 years of sin, Christ’s death covered ALL your sin.  He did not leave men to ask sinners to manifest belief (righteousness) in themselves; they never would!  Even the faith to believe is a gift from God, secured by Christ’s finished work on the cross.  Just as non-believers remain joined to Adam, and receive the condemnation due him, all believers are joined to Christ through faith, and the victory over death and sin that Christ evidenced through his ressurection is yours as well.  This is foundational.  Every one of us as believers will have ups and downs, times where we feel closer to God than others, but at our core, when everything else is lost, we cannot lose Christ.  My hope for each of you, is that this doctrine, although difficult to take in, will give you a peace that surpasses all understanding.  If you hope in Christ alone, if you love God and seek to follow after him; know that He is enough.
I apologize that this message has taken me so long to get out.  There’s a combination of reasons between my studying for my CPA exam (without a love for accounting) and honestly, the difficulty of this text and deciding where to press.  We really could spend a year in this one chapter of Romans, and be well served.  If you are a Christian, at some point you’re going to have to wrestle through Romans 5 and 9 honestly, and ask God to grant you wisdom and Truth in accepting it.  I say acceptance because the hardest part of these two chapters are not as much interpretating what it says as it is accepting that it means EXACTLY what it says.  Though it may stretch your faith, I promise you, it will be healing to your soul to know that from beginning to end, God is in control, and He is good.  We bring nothing but our sin to the table, but in Christ, we have been given a new righteousness, the righteousness of God.  We are already accepted by God for once and always, because we are in Christ through faith.  Know that you’re loved and prayed for.
Grace be with you,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 31 – The Headship of Christ

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As promised, today we’re going to seminary together.  These waters we’re wading into are deep, but hopefully will be helpful to better understand the gospel.  Specifically, today we’re going to look at the depth of man’s sin, and what is called the “Federal Headship” of Adam.

I want to ask a leading question first.  What is man’s greatest problem?  Now many people would answer “sin”, and not a bad answer in itself, but not really complete in light of Romans 5.  I want to take that answer a step further today, and suggest that man’s greatest problem is that he is born through the line of Adam, thereby inheriting the condemnation of Adam.

Let me explain what I mean by that.  Most people know the story of Adam from Genesis, how Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil against the command of God.  The consequence of Adam’s rebellion was the judgment of God that Adam would endure hardship from then on and would ultimately return to the earth (death).  Federal Headship is the Biblical concept that Adam, as the first born man, represented all of humanity, thus when Adam sinned against God, His sin was counted (imputed is the Christianese term) to all of humanity.  That means that the consequences of Adam’s sin; a sinful nature, physical death, and separation from God were also put on everyone that would come through the line of Adam.  (Quick side note:  This is also why it was essential that Jesus was born of the Spirit, not through Joseph)  Therefore, everyone born through Adam has already been judged by God as guilty in Adam.  In a very real sense, every one of us is born already condemned.  People talk about sin and separation from God as being the “cause” of our judgment, but really those are not the cause of our judgment primarily, sin and separation from God is our judgment, the fact that we willfully continue as sinners merely stores up the wrath of God against us to be unleashed upon those unbelievers for eternal punishment.

How do we know that man is born condemned?  Aside from the Bible telling us it is so, that everyone of us is born in iniquity (Psalm 51:5), it is seen because everyone of us sins against God in the same manner as our common father, Adam, and everyone of us sees the fruit of that sinfulness in physical death.  Adam’s sin was counted as our sin.  In many cultures, this idea is well understood and accepted without issue, but in the US and western culture people (myself included initially) often take issue saying “it’s not fair”.  My short answer to that response is that everyone who makes that argument has themself sinned against God willfully, and therefore their point about fairness is moot.  The longer answer is that the complete and total fall of ALL humanity through Adam is actually good news to us, and I explain why that is so.  That’s where I hope to get to today; where as a believer in Jesus Christ, you are encouraged by this Biblical doctrine of Federal Headship and find a greater peace and joy through Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:12-14 – “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned — for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.  Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.”

A lot of people think about sin as perhaps breaking one of God’s 10 commandments.  Romans 5 raises an interesting question though.  If one of the consequences of sin was death, how was it that people were dying before God gave Moses the written law? (roughly 2,500 – 3,500 years)  The answer given above is that sin was already present in the world, evidenced by physical death.  The entire purpose of the written law was not to remove sin from man, but simply to be a mirror to show man how truly sinful and fallen they were, that they could “count” their own sins.  I would lose count personally after a couple days of living.  In Adam, as mankind’s federal head, man had fallen such that they were incapable of any true righteousness before God.

So how does the Federal Headship tie into the gospel and why is it good news?  To understand that in Adam, your Federal Head, you have already been judged and condemned, you are immediately confronted with the reality that in yourself you have 0 hope, none.  No amount of “good works” could undo the condemnation already incurred.  It would be like a convicted murderer on death row, going back to the judge and asking to be set free because he’d cleaned up his cell some.  Now, there is no more troubling knowledge for those who fear God to know that He has already condemned you, and your time/sins now are only storing up God’s wrath to be unleashed upon you for all eternity.  If you do not see that, you will not treasure Christ as you ought, you will not understand what Christ accomplished for you as you ought, and your joy in Christ will be limited because you will believe that Christ merely covered “part” of you on the cross (the sinful part) instead of ransoming a whole condemned person under judgment already.  Even more, just as the sin of Adam was imputed to you through Adam’s sin, the perfect righteousness of Christ has now been imputed to you through faith in the finished work of Jesus.  If through one sin in Adam, you were condemned to die, how much greater must the grace of God through Jesus Christ be to you, who have inherited His life and righteousness?  Let’s see how this is explained in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 – “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” 
God is so loving to those with eyes to see, so I want you all to see and feel what I’m about to say.  All of this was actually good news for man.  How so?  The answer is actually given later in Romans 8:1-4, 28-30 – “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.  For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”  Simply put, the second creation of man, the new creation in Jesus Christ described in 2 Corinthians 5:17 is MUCH greater than Adam.  Adam walked with God, but He did not know the plans of God.  Adam talked with God, but He did not have the Holy Spirit within.  Adam obeyed God, but he did not reflect the glory of God like we will.  Adam lived a relatively care-free life, but He did not have the fullness of joy in perfect fellowship with Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, my hope is that this doctrine would be sweet to you and encouraging to your soul.  While your condemnation in Adam was complete, our freedom in Christ is greater still.  We boast in no righteousness of our flesh, but in the perfect righteousness of Christ which has been imputed to us.  What greater news is there than the wrath of God removed through the blood of Christ, the infinite love of God poured out to us for eternity who are joined with Christ, and the joy of the glory of God as a treasure from a God with infinite power at his disposal to maximize his glory and thus, our joy?  Paul speaks of our joining with Christ through faith in a verse many of us will be familiar with, and if you are not, I commend it to you as worthy of memorizing – Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”   More than words on a page, that is reality for those of us who have been set free from our bondage to know and love our Lord Jesus Christ.  My hope and prayer is that each of us would own this verse, that we would claim the victory and life that Christ accomplished for us, and walk in fellowship with our God.
Grace be with you,
Adam 

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 30 – At The Right Time Christ Died For The Ungodly

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For many of you like myself, today is the first day back from a long vacation, and the first work day of the new year.  As we ease back into work mode, we too are going to ease back into Romans 5, before we get really, really deep in the next few messages.  My hope is that as always you are encouraged in knowing and following Jesus Christ our Lord.  There is no greater joy than fellowship with God.  So that is my goal today and everday – to lift up the name of Jesus Christ to you, and pray that if He wills, He will reveal more of Himself to you through the Word.  My hope is that your true teacher, the Holy Spirit within you, would grant you renewal, fresh eyes to see and savor God in Jesus Christ – for your joy.

Romans 5:6-11 – “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.  More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” 

Its the most common lie Satan attacks us with;  “You are not good enough for God to love you”.  Do you know how Jesus responded to that lie?  Mark 2:15-17 – “And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.  And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  

Everyone is born a sinner.  Unlike how most people commonly refer to “sin”, our sin is a state of being rather than sinful actions we commit.  The sinful actions are simply fruit of sin that is already within us.  This will make more sense next time if this idea is unfamiliar to you.  So in one sense, our “sin” problem is much greater than we might think.  If you are waiting to arrive at a point where you are accepted by God on your own merits, it will NEVER happen.  I’ve got about 10 good years under my belt really pursuing Christ well, and I would tell you that I still sin everyday, still have to ask God’s forgiveness everday and the forgiveness of others often, but don’t take my word alone for this.  I recommend you talk openly with a Christian in their 70s or 80s about the sin they are still fighting.  You will always be battling sin on this side of eternity.  There was sin in you when you were born, you have sinned all your life until today, you will sin today, and you will sin every day until you die.  I says this not to make light of sin, but to make much of the holiness of God.  Even as a Christian, on this side of eternity your best prayer carries in it enough sin to merit God’s damnation of you for all eternity.  However, Psalm 32:1-2 tells us – “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity”   A good question here to answer for yourself, is “what sin did the blood of Jesus cover”?  Did it cover my sin yesterday?  Did it cover my sin today?  Did it cover my sin tomorrow?  The answer to all of these questions is Yes and Amen.
Let’s circle back to the text above.  When did Christ go to the cross?  Was it while His people Israel were triumphing over their enemies?  No, Israel had been conquered by Rome.  Was it while the religious leaders were passionately pursuing the Lord?  No, Jesus spoke most critically of the religious leaders of that time as hypocrites, who were in love with the world rather than its Creator.  Was it at a time when the people would see their God persecuted and cry out to save Him?  No, the people chose to save a murderer, Barabbas, instead of their King, who they cried out to have crucified.  That was the state of God’s people when He chose to die for them.  That was the “right time”.  Why?  It was to show that Christ saves sinners and to demonstrate the great love with which God loves us.  That truth of the gospel is for you; God’s encouragement to you as you put to death sin in your life and defend against the lies of the enemy.
Paul continues above by asking rhetorically, if God loved you enough to die for you while you were an enemy of God, how much greater love and joy must he have for you now that you have been reconciled to Him?  There is a sense in which God loves everyone.  We all breathe the same air and when it rains, it benefits us all.  However, there is a much greater love and plan for those who by faith are in Christ Jesus; covered by His blood; reconciled to God.  God’s love is poured out to us through Jesus Christ, perfect fellowship with God for our joy, a joy unspeakable without end.  My lawyer logical side is coming out here, but I think it will be helpful for me just list out a few things to help you see God’s plan for His glory and your joy through Jesus and the gospel.
  1. God having infinite power is working at all times to maximize His own joy
  2. Given God is perfect, having no imperfection, therefore there is nothing (no created thing) capable of producing greater joy outside God Himself
  3. God therefore pursues His own joy through enjoying Himself and Making His Glory (Perfections) known
  4. If there is nothing greater than God Himself, no greater joy to be found, the best “good news” of the Gospel of Jesus for us would be fellowship with God

This kind of puts a dagger in the whole “prosperity gospel” idea of health and wealth.  To live is Christ and to die is gain!  (Phil 1:21) We should feel that every day.  Each day is a new day to put to death sin, love others, and enjoy a closer fellowship with Christ – for our joy.  If being sick helps me draw closer to Christ, let me be sick.  If being poor helps draw me closer to Christ, let me be poor.  God is not about robbing you of joy, He is about giving you joy in full, fellowship with the Living God.  Creation, obedience to God, studying God’s Word, surrounding ourselves with Christian community (more than just one or two days a week)…. these are all means of pointing you towards the glory of God for your joy.

That’s my encouragement for today.  We don’t have to wait for a New Year, each day, each hour, each moment is an opportunity for renewed fellowship with God, resting on the finished work of Jesus Christ.  God didn’t save us from something (judgment) but He saved us to someone (Himself in Jesus Christ) for everlasting infinite joy.  Let us therefore not look around as much at the “sin” that remains in our life, but look to the author and perfector of our faith, Jesus Christ, and find in Him a joy that kills any desire that would draw us away from Him.

Grace and Peace,
Adam