Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 29 – Peace and Joy through the Lord Jesus Christ

Romans 5:1-5 – “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Before we jump into Romans 5, lets have a quick recap of where we are in Romans.  In Romans 1-the middle of chapter 3 Paul was basically saying one thing – everyone of us knows God, everyone of us has rejected God, and everyone of us should rightly be condemned as sinners.  This answers the questions about “what about the person in the middle of nowhere that never hears the gospel?”.  The answer is simple, they know God through creation and have rejected Him in their sin.  So no one is clean; no one can go before God with any kind of justifiable defense as to why they should not be judged by Him for their sin.  From the middle of Romans 3-Romans 4 Paul tells us that God put forth His Son, Jesus, God in flesh, to bear the bear our sin, die, be raised in life from death, and that everyone who believes this Provision and Promise of God is declared righteous through Jesus’s finished work.

Now we turn to Romans 5.  I love Romans 5.  The first part of Romans 5 talks about what God has done for us in Christ as individuals; and individuals perspective of salvation and redemption.  The second half of Romans 5 talks about God’s view of salvation and redemption. When we get there, the second half of Romans 5 is deep and challenging, and therefore, we’re probably going to spend a good bit of time here, but it will be well worth our efforts.

Let’s jump in.  Paul writes a building argument in these first 5 verses that as Christians we should be joyful in every circumstance.  That’s the end result of faith, joy in God, specifically the “hope of the glory of God” which we’ll break down what that means in a bit.  So what is the foundation for joy?  Paul tells us in verse one, it is peace with God.  Now in Nahum 1:3 we are told “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.  His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”  Now, I love God, but knowing God, I also know that His righteousness is perfect and mine is far from it (those who know me well will support this claim).  So if I read that passage in Nahum, that’s pretty scary, right!  You should be scared!  My first reaction would be fear.  There’s a healthy fear of the Lord, even for a believer, but that’s another message for another day.  Now remember that in Romans 1-3 we’ve already shown how everyone knows God and rejects him in their sin.  There’s   So how does someone who is a sinner have peace with God who is righteous and just – not forgiving sin?

We have peace with God because we have been justified (declared righteous) by faith (believing/trusting God) through our Lord Jesus Christ.  What I want to focus in on here is how in verse one, it says through our “Lord Jesus Christ”.  Now remember, that our goal is joy in the glory of God, with peace with God as the foundation.  So it’s important to get this foundational part right.  We want to know, what does it mean for Jesus to be called Lord?  What does it mean for Jesus to be called Christ?  The word Christ, Cristos in greek, means the Messiah, the promised/annointed one of God.  God had made promises about the coming Messiah, that our iniquity and sin would be place on Him, and that He would redeem a people to God.  God cannot lie, therefore, all the promises of God to us in the Messiah, have been fulfilled in Christ.  Second, Jesus is Lord.  The word Lord, Kurios in Greek, means that we belong to Jesus that he is our master and has control over us.  Now to those who bristle at the idea of being “owned” and calling Jesus “master”, before you jump ship here I want you to think about one thing; if God loves you enough to die in your place and His plan is for your infinite joy in knowing Him and walking in a right relationship with Him, why wouldn’t you jump at the opportunity to do EXACTLY what He commands of you?
Some people try to have a relationship with Jesus as the Christ (Messiah), but not as the Lord.  That is a tragedy.  That’s not Jesus.  We need to be reminded that whereas before we were slaves to sin, now we have a new master, Jesus.  If I’m trying to enjoy the glory of God built on a foundation of peace with Him, but I’ve got the whole foundation messed up, it makes sense that I’m not going to get very far, right?  So when we speak of being saved through faith in Jesus, implied there is that it is the right Jesus; the Jesus that is the promised one of God and the Jesus who is Lord of our life.
Ok, so we have the right Jesus and we are believing on Him, submitting ourselves to Him.  What now?  We are told that we have been declared righteous.  What happens if you struggle and fall into sin?  All your past, present, and future sins were put on Jesus, His victory and his righteousness are yours by faith.  God’s not going to drag you back into court.  There is no double jeopardy (for you legal people).  I don’t want to make you complacent in your fight against sin; being about the Kingdom of God and personal righteousness is part of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, but I want you to be able to look to Jesus and find in Him rest and peace.  That is what it means in verse two that through Him we have access to grace by which we stand.  Grace is not some mystical idea, Jesus paid it all for you in His blood on the cross.  His blood is your grace.  The blood of Christ covers all your sin.
Ok, so we’ve got our guilt problem covered and we have peace.  Where is the joy?  Our joy as believers is in the hope of the glory of God.  Ok, so that sounds great, but what does it mean?  Hope here doesn’t mean like hoping Santa is going to bring you a certain present, the word means eager expectation.  So it’s like knowing Santa (mom and dad) got you the toy you really wanted for Christmas, but you have to wait for it, but you know it’s coming.  That analogy is probably stained by some sinful materialism, so it’s not the best, but you get the idea.  You are hoping for what you know is coming.  Really excited.  REALLY excited.  Now what is the “glory of God”?  In a word, Jesus.  Psalm 16:11 says in the presence of God is a fullness of Joy, and at His right hand (Christ sat down at the right hand of God) are pleasures forevermore.  If God’s glory is his characteristics in their perfection, and in Hebrews 1:3 we are told of Jesus – “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature”, then the glory of God means we get Jesus.  Not for 3-4 years like the disciples, but for eternity, in perfect relationship with Him.  Infinite joy.  No suffering, no sin, but pleasure forevermore.
So we have peace by faith, and joy in hope of the glory of God.  What Paul says after that is that even those things that would seemingly rob us of joy, like suffering, God is going to use to actually increase it.  If one approaches suffering with a view of eternity in the hope of the glory of God, then even death is a means to rejoice.  Our bodies failing only remind us that we are closer to being with Christ.  A lost loved one reminds us that God is going to call us home too one day.  How can we sustain this joy, and trust that God is good even through suffering and loss?  Because God has given us Himself already through the Holy Spirit, indwelling us with the knowledge of His great love for us in Jesus.
My hope and prayer is for your continued joy in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Know you’re loved in Christ more than you can imagine, He is in control, and His plan, whatever your life looks like now, is for your joy in Him.  Rejoice in that, God is faithful.
Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 28 – Believe God Today

Romans 4:13-25  “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.  For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.  That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead ( since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

Christians, it’s been a while since we were in Romans and so I’m looking forward to continuing our study of the gospel from Romans today.  Before we jump into Romans, I’ve got a quick exhortation (this one’s a free bonus).  Have you ever stopped to think about how important “today” is?  Living as a Christian isn’t so much about yesterday or even tomorrow, as it is “today”.  God has something to say about our past and He has given us promises for our future, but nothing is as important as what He has to say to you, today.  We see this all over scripture.  We are exhorted specifically in Hebrews 4:7 – “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”  Today and every day, we are to strive to enter into the rest, the shalom, that is afforded us through the gospel of Jesus Christ.  In this way, the gospel is not the beginning of faith, it is not a part of faith, it is central to everything.  It is the water that gives us life as a new creation in Christ.  This is why we are working through Romans, the fullest explanation of the gospel of Jesus ever written.

In much of Romans 4, we’ve been looking at Abraham, who is put forth by Paul as the achetype of our faith.  Abraham, though not knowing the name “Jesus”, believed God, trusted God’s promises, and it was counted to Him as righteousness.  So for us, we too are saved by believing God; specifically God’s promise of salvation through Jesus Christ.  Some well meaning Christians sometimes say to “preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words”.  It’s necessary to use words, all the time.  It’s necessary for anyone to believe and it’s nourishment for your own soul as a believer.
There is no salvation apart from believing the specific promises of God through Jesus Christ.  We are told in Romans 10:14-17 – “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”  
So, as Abraham believed God would provide him with offspring and make him the father of many nations.  Abraham was fully convinced that God was able to do what He promised.  it was Abraham’s believing God that was counted to him as righteousness.
So what has God told each of us?  What has God given us to believe?
  • God has told you that Jesus was delivered up to be crucified for your trespasses.  Jesus died 2000 years before you were born, so when God is speaking of your trespasses, He has in mind every trespass against Him, past, present, and future.  Everything was put on Christ.  God’s wrath was poured out on His Son, Jesus, for ALL your sin.
  • God has told you that you were justified, declared righteous, by God.  This includes not only your being declared not guilty of any sin, but the perfect life of Christ, His righteousness being credited to you.  When you die, and you stand before God, you will not be naked, you will be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
  • God has told you that just as the grave could not hold Christ, we too will be raised with Him, to an eternal fellowship with Him – a joy that words cannot do justice.
Just as for Abraham to have a son at his age was not only improbable, but impossible, yet he believed God, so too is our reconciliation to God impossible for us to accomplish.  We could never work our way to God, the only thing the commands of God show is how sinful we truly are.  But just as our reconciliation to God is impossible for us, all things are possible for God, and He has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him through the blood, death, and resurrection of Jesus, a great gospel for those who hope against hope to believe.  We believe the promises of God through Jesus Christ or we perish in our sin.  No one wants to go to hell though, and so we are surrounded by a great many false professions of faith.  Believing is much more than mere agreeing, though.  Look what is written in Romans 10 above.  Not all have “obeyed” the gospel, and then the saying “who has believed”.  They are not separate.  True belief has as its consequence obedience in line with that belief.  If you believe speeding at 150mph in your car will likely lead to your death, you will be obedient to not go that fast if you value your life.  If you have been united with Christ, you cannot go on sinning against a God you love, because you value Jesus and your salvation through Him.
The root lie of all sin is that you would be happier pursuing joy in the world as a God of your own making, rather than serving and worshiping your Creator, the God who loves you enough to die in your place.  This lie has been shattered by the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It’s still out there, tempting you, but whereas you were formerly dead in your trespasses, blind to this lie, you now are free by the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ.  You know God, you know He is good, seeing the love with which He has loved you in Jesus, and so you trust Him when he says that obedience to Him will not take away from your life, but give you life in its fullest measure.
This gospel and believing has as its result an obedience to God.  Who can say to God, I believe you for this part, but not for the other?  Who can say to God, I believe you for salvation, but not for obedience in this one area of my life?   Who can say to God, I believe that in your presence is a fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11), but I’m going to pursue a greater joy in the world apart from you?  You cannot say to yourself, I believe God, yet not believe Him, right?  Yet this is how many people try to dance around their sin and disobedience.    This is the good news of the gospel, that you should know the Truth, and the Truth should set you free.  God is not out to rob you of joy, but to give it to you in full.
My exhortation for each of us, today, is to believe God.  Get around others who believe God and will encourage your faith from the Word.  If you have been set free by the gospel, you do not have to continue in sin.  Yesterday has no bearing on your today.  Believe God today, and stop mistaking the shadow for the substance.  Even now, for those who believe, the Truth, Jesus Christ, is with you, in you as the Holy Spirit.  Know the Word of Christ, and believe Him.  Hope in Christ will never disappoint.  Even if the world should crumble around us, it is only a reminder that this isn’t our home, that we have a place prepared for us for eternity by Him who loved us enough to die in our place, and that He has secured for us in Himself a greater posession than the whole world could ever offer.
Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 27 – Saving Belief – To Know, Love, and Trust Jesus

Romans 4:9-15 – “Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.  How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised.  He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.  For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.  For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.  For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.” 

Paul above is using God’s Word in the story of Abraham to put the final dagger in the jewish belief that any of their works merited in part or whole their acceptance before God.  Specifically, an argument that the Jewish readers might have made to Paul at this point was that God commanded God to be circumcised, and thus it was Abraham’s circumcision under the law of God that made him righteous.  So the important question to answer is when was Abraham justified, declared righteous, before God.  Was it before he was circumcised or after.  To put it in a modern day context for the majority of us who do not come from a Jewish background, some Christians mistakenly believe that their baptism contributes to their actual salvation.  So are you saved before baptism or after?  Lets look at the text Paul is referencing about Abraham from Genesis 15.

Genesis 15:1-6 – “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”  And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir;your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

If you read on, you’ll find out that this promise of God was made some twenty years before God commanded Abraham and his household to be circumcised in chapter 17 (The sign and seal of Abraham’s faith).  So it was that Abraham’s righteousness was credited to him before any works had been performed.  It was because Abraham believed God, that his obedience followed, not the other way around.

So what does this all mean to us?  It is so tempting to believe that your right standing before God rests on the things you do.  Do you have victory over this sin or that, etc.  This is perpetuated by many self-righteous persons within the church.  This is the burden of the law that no one can bear.  You aren’t perfect, that’s why you need a savior.  One has good reason to question whether he is truly saved if he continues in sin unrepentantly (1 John 3:9), but the opposite is not true.  Just because we might look good on the outside doesn’t mean we truly know and love God.  The world is full of good, moral, churchgoing people who act that way for a myriad of reasons other than saving belief in Jesus Christ our Lord.  My hope is that you will press into your heart that you are righteous because you believe God, not because of anything external that you do, but because you believe God; to know Him, love Him, and trust Him.

You cannot believe God without knowing anything about Him.

You cannot believe God if you reject His character and glory.

You cannot believe God if you do not trust him.

My exhortation is to not evaluate the condition of your faith based solely on those things external, and move the battle for faith inward to ask yourself if you truly believe.  Do not despair if you cannot see much knowledge, love, and trust of God in your heart; God has promised that we can move mountains even with the faith of a tiny mustard seed.  Know that Christ came to set you free and has told you that his yoke is easy and burden light.  Pray earnestly therefore, that God would incline your heart towards Him increasingly.  Seek Him in His Word, daily, not to check off a box, but to grow your knowledge and love for your Savior.  If you believe God; know Him, love Him, and trust Him, then the external outworkings of that belief will come, but just as with Abraham, your belief is what is credited to you as righteousness, nothing else.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 26 – Abraham Believed God

So this last week, we wrapped up Romans 3.  For those of you keeping track, we’ve had 25 messages covering those 3 chapters.  So it’s taken us about 2.5 months to get through 3 chapters.  If you’re looking ahead you may notice that Romans is 16 chapters long, do a little math and figure that we’re on pace to wrap up our study of Romans in the beginning of October next year.  Now, if we did take that long, I assure you, it would be time well spent, however, that is not my plan.  I’m going to start speeding things up a bit, with the exception of Romans 5 and Romans 9.  There’s just no way to do those chapters justice without taking some time there.  I want these emails to be encouraging, and not burdensome, so brevity may win out over lengthy exposition in some cases.
That said my encouragement to you, is to dig into Romans yourself during this time if you are able to do so.  If you read 2 chapters of Romans a day on average, you could make it through the entire book in 8 days.  If you committed yourself to that task for a month, you would have almost ready Romans all the way through, 4 times.  If you committed to start today, by the end of the year, you would have read through all of Romans 6 times.  What a treasure that would be to have the gospel saturating your heart in that way.  What a blessing that would be to your own life and others.
With all that said, let’s start into Romans 4.  Here Paul is continuing his argument that we are justified (declared righteous) by God through faith, not works.  He is appealing to the faith of Abraham, as an example to us of how our faith is credited to us as righteousness.
Romans 4:1-8 – “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?  For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say?”Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”  Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.  And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:  “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.  Notice it doesn’t say Abraham believed in God, it says he believed God.  Big difference.  Especially when in James 2:19 we are told – “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”  Faith is not believing in God, faith is believing God.  Meaning, faith is not simply a passive intellectual acknowledgment to God’s existence, what He has done on the cross through Christ, or even right thoughts about the character and nature of God.  Satan has seen God face to face and Satan saw Christ crucified and risen.  Knowledge of God, is not faith.  Our enemy, would love nothing more than for people to coast by in their “faith”, never truly trusting God, never praying for God to give them faith to believe, to die to themselves and follow Him.  Faith is heart consuming, life altering, believing God.  In Genesis 15, Abraham believed God and did exactly what God told Him to do, which was trusting and believing in God.
Many people get mixed up with the book of James, when it is said that we are justified by works.  Some people are even afraid to preach through James because they believe it’s confusing.  Some may even see what James has to say about being justified with works as a contradiction to what Paul is saying here, so let’s go ahead and clear that up right now.  James 2:21-24 – “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?  You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.  You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” 

This is not a contradiction, James is saying the exact same thing as Paul.  The faith Paul is describing is not a passive faith in God, but an active believing God and trusting His Word to us.  This is the same faith described by James.  What can you say then about the intersection of faith and works?  Can the person who is declared righteous through faith in the shed blood of Christ continue in unrighteousness?  NO!  Can’t you see that all unrighteousness is rooted in unbelief of God and His Word?  It is a lack of belief that Christ is a treasure above anything the world might offer, and He has reconciled us to God.  This is why later in Romans 14, Paul says “whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”  If you believe God, then your life will follow that belief, and you will walk in obedience to Him, trusting Him.

Lets get a picture going… Let’s say that you have a rough day, and you fall into sin, and let out some of your frustration on a waiter.  I know none of you reading this have ever allowed your frustrations to overflow to an unrelated party… but assuming you did, let’s continue.   Now, you go off to the bathroom to wash up before the food arrives, and come back very thirsty.  Your good friend you’re eating with tells you that while you were in the bathroom, he witnessed your waiter spit into the tasty beverage that’s now in front of you.  You are really thirsty, so what do you do?  If you believe your friend, you will not drink it.  If you do not believe your friend, you will.  Don’t you see how actions manifest your belief?  Either way, your actions are evidencing your belief.  Either drinking or not drinking.  You cannot separate faith and works.  True faith will always result in works that manifest that belief.  God has given us the entire Bible, His Word to us, and we will either believe Him, and follow after Him, or we will not.  Our actions will give witness to whether or not we believe God.  Make no mistake though, Abraham was not credited as righteous because he believed in God, but because he believed God, and his actions followed that belief.  There is a faith that saves and a “faith” that is useless that cannot save.  One results in heart and life change by the Spirit of God, the other in mere head knowledge about God and an unregenerate heart.

We are not saved by our works.  We are not saved by our faith + works.  We are saved because we believe God.  We are saved by faith alone.   Our lawless deeds are forgiven, our sins past, present, and future are covered in Christ’s blood – blessed are we whom the Lord will not count our sin against us.  We believe that God has sent His only Son, Jesus Christ into the world to die for our sin, that He was buried, that He was raised on the 3rd day by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that we who trust in Him have been reconciled to God – declared righteous by our faith.  Now, let our light so shine before the world, that they will see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven.  As we die to ourselves daily to follow after Christ, believing Him, let the world marvel at how great a surpassing treasure we have in Christ, even amidst struggles, loss, and suffering.  Pray earnestly for the faith that saves.  Encourage others daily, to not only believe in God and the gospel, but encourage them to greater faith through God’s promises in His Word to believe God and live out the gospel.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 25 – The Law of Faith

Romans 3:23-31 – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.  It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.  Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.  For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.  Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.  Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”

Many people want to treat faith as empty; something that is mere passive head knowledge.  They say, “I believe that Jesus died for my sins, so I’m saved”.  That is their “faith”.  They hold fast to a confession made long ago, perhaps as a child, and point to the verse in Romans 10:9 for assurance – “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  What did Jesus say in response to such people?  Luke 6:46-49 – “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:  he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.  But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” 

Now in Romans 1-3:20, Paul has painstakenly rebutted every argument that would seek to deny man’s accountability before God as a sinner.  He has well established our just condemnation before a Righteous and Holy God.  Now he is turning to offer hope for those who would believe, by preaching salvation through faith alone in Christ alone.  This was very different from what the Jewish readers of Paul’s day had been taught.  The Jewish holy men, had taught that righteousness came through adherance to the laws of God given through Moses.  In Romans 3:23-31 above, Paul is answering the next question he expects any Jewish reader to ask, “What about all of the laws of God?”  “If we are not saved through upholding them, does this mean we are setting them aside altogether?”  No, he answers, the law points to the righteousness of Christ, and we uphold the law as we follow after Christ.  Further, regarding the law we are told in Galatians 5:14  – “the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”    Hear Christ’s response about the law in Matthew 22:36-40 – “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”  And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”  (Note that reference to the Law and the Prophets simply refers to all of the writings of the Old Testament)

Christ fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law – perfectly.  Many people want to treat the grace of God as license to live free to sin.  That is a very shallow view of faith, and one that cannot save you.  No, just as the Jews sought righteousness under the law, we are to seek our righteousness under the law of faith.  Saving faith is much more than passive intellectual assent to facts about Jesus – it is a complete union with Christ, both in His death to sin and life to righteousness.  This is the law we are held to, this is the law that Paul describes 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.”  Further, our unity with Christ by faith is manifested through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Christ Himself, through our faith.  Ephesians 1:13 – “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

My exhortation today, is to ask yourself one question:  What does my heart’s affections and life goals say about my faith and unity with Christ?  The good news of the gospel, that the righteousness required of us, that we all have fallen short of, was fulfilled in Christ and available to us through faith in Him.  Are you subject to the law of faith, or are you satisfied with mere head knowledge about Christ?  We are free, but let us continue to hold fast to our faith.  True faith is living, active, moving forward.  Let us not be numbered as those spoken of in Hebrews 10:26-27 – “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.”

My encouragement to you today comes immediately after the verse above from Hebrews 10:35-39 –  Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.  For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”  But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

I will say it again, you are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.  Keep running the race set before you by God, knowing that there is laid up for you a crown of righteousness in Christ.  Know you’re prayed for.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 24 – Right with God

Romans 3:23-26 – “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.  It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

From the beginning, man has sought to be right with God.  Even atheism, in a sense, is an attempt at this in that how they right themselves with God in that they seek to avoid accountability by denying He exists.  So it is true of every person, whatever their beliefs, that inwardly there is this question that must be answered – “What must I do to be right with God?”

You know, a lot of people speak about various religions in the world, but really there are only two.  You have the religion of man’s achievement or of God’s achievement.  Every other religion, apart from Christianity seeks to be right with God through their own achievement.  The Pharisees, the “Holy” men in Jesus’s day sought to become right with God based on their own achievement and Jesus rebuked them.  In Matthew 5:20 Jesus tells the thousands who had come to hear Him, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”   What has man to offer God?  What sacrifice could he give that was not given to Him by God?  Psalm 50:7-10 – “Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you.  I am God, your God.  Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me.  I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds.  For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.”   If you were to work your whole life for righteousness, what credit would that be to you?  Where does your strength come from?  Whose air do you breathe?  Acts 17:24-25 – “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” 

It has been revealed throughout God’s revelation in His Word that from the beginning salvation was not about man’s achievement but God’s achievement.  It was foreshadowed in the Law and the Prophets, and manifested in Christ.  Hear Jesus’s words in Luke 24:44-47 – “Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” 
Look to the Old Testament (Law and the Prophets and Psalms) and see.  God told Abraham to number the stars if he could, and promised that his offspring would be the same.  Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.  Later God called on Abraham to sacrifice His only son, Isaac.  When asked by Isaac where the sacrifice was, Abraham replied “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”  (Gen 22:8)  Later God responds to Abraham’s faith, Gen 22:12-14 – “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.” 
Abraham did not know who the name Jesus, but He believed the promise of God and believed that God would provide the sacrifice.  We too, if we would be right with God, should not look to ourselves, but to Jesus, who was the fulfillment of all of the promises of God, the once and final sacrifice for our sin.  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.”  Not our righteousness, but the righteousness of God.  Not our achievement, Christ’s achievement.  This is gospel.  In the old testament, no sacrifice atoned for a single sin, but those who gave them believed God’s promise to provide a sacrifice and their sacrifice was one of symbol and thanksgiving of their belief.  Now we all, believing and trusting the promises of God fulfillled in Christ offer up a sacrifice of obedience, not to inherit a righteousness apart from Christ, but from thanksgiving and a symbol that He is in us.
My exhortation today comes as way of reminder – if you would be right with God, make your heart wholly united with Christ and believe on Him.  He is just and the justifier of all who believe Him.
Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 23 – Righteous by Ransom

Romans 3:21-25 – “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”
The fight for faith is a daily one.  It begins anew each morning and continues through to when you go to sleep each night.  We are given tools, “means of grace”, such as prayer, God’s Word, Christian Community, Communion, Baptism, Fasting, Evangelism, and Works of Service to help us in our fight.  The foundation of all of those means of grace is the gospel, namely what we believe about ourselves and Christ.  The question I want to answer today is what does it mean to have your “identity in Christ”.
From above we see that the righteousness of God is given to us by faith in Christ.  We also see that our being declared (justified) as righteous is by grace (a free gift).  Finally we are told that the free gift of being declared righteous in Christ came at a cost, Christ’s blood.  The English word for redemption was taken from the Greek word “apolutrosis”.  What the Greek word apolutrosis literally means is a “releasing or liberation effected by the payment of a ransom”.  This is identity altering gospel.
You are not your own, you were bought for a price – Christ’s blood.  1 Peter 1:18-19 – “you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” You are righteous through no work of your own, but because God declared you as righteous through Christ.  What about our daily struggles against sin?  I do not mean to make light of that or suggest that we do not have a battle to fight, but we fight that battle with Christ through faith.  Our final victory over sin does not come through our efforts, but the final victory was accomplished through Christ’s blood.  We do not labor against sin on our own behalf, but for Him who ransomed us; in love we strive for personal holiness that the glory of God in Jesus Christ would be manifested, shown as a light to a sinful world.  We proclaim with Paul – “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.”  Likewise, we view ourselves and others in a like manner, rejoicing as believers in 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 – “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.  From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he isa new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  
Though we were purchased by Christ’s blood we are much more than slaves, we are the adopted sons and daughters of God, co-heirs with Christ.  Galatians 4:4-7 – “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” 

I say these things, not that we would think higher of ourselves, but that we would rejoice at how great a salvation we have in Jesus Christ.  We have an enemy who would love nothing more than for us to forget these gospel truths, but the promises of God will never fail.  I encourage you to largely ignore everything I have said, save God’s Word alone, and be encouraged by Isaiah 40:8 – “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 22 – All Have Fallen Short

Last time we looked at doctrine of total depravity, that there is nothing good in man.  This offends the pride of natural man, and this is the “offense” of the cross that keeps many from simply coming to Christ to ask for mercy.
Here is a parable told by Jesus to the disciples in Luke 18:10-14 – “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.”
Why do I love the doctrine of total depravity?  Because it teaches me that there is absolutely nothing in me worthy of salvation, and forces me to trust completely in the mercy of Christ.  When I am weak, I see more of the strength of Christ.  2 Corinthians 12:9-10  “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.”  If that is true, how glorious is the doctrine of total depravity!  There was NOTHING of worth in me for Christ to save, but it pleased Him to demonstrate His mercy through me.
Where then is boasting?  If you see any good in me, that is to the glory of Christ alone!  I will not boast in any “decision”, I will not boast in any “work”, I will not boast in any “belief”, but that it should be rightly attributed to the shed blood of Christ, His grace to me, and His Spirit within me.
How do I take comfort after reading Romans 3:9-20?  The rest of Romans.
Romans 3:21-23 – “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
The only people in Heaven are righteous people.  None is righteous, save Jesus Christ alone.  His righteousness is ours through faith and even that faith to believe was a gift purchased through His blood on the cross.  That means, yesterday, today, and tomorrow when God sees you, He sees the perfect righteousness of Christ.  Words cannot describe how great a love God has for Christ, and when He sees you, He sees Him.  Now if there is nothing in your power that brings you to Christ, save Christ alone, what is there that can take you away from Him?  NOTHING.  This is why we can have peace in the assurance of our salvation through Christ alone.  This is why we can press the promises of Romans 8:33-39 deep into our hearts when struggles/suffering comes our way.
Romans 8:33-39 – “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.  Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Everyone falls short… daily.  If you are waiting to clean your life up to “get right with God”, you will never get there.  The good news is that God sent His Son, Christ, that we who believe would be given His righteousness.  Today is the day of salvation.  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law of works, by becoming a curse for us on a tree, that we might be reconciled to God through His righteousness.  Nothing can be added to His work and nothing can be taken away.  My encouragement is to remind yourself and your fellow brothers and sisters of this Truth daily.
Grace and Peace,
Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 21 – Total Depravity and Salvation to the Uttermost

Well, it’s been a while since the last WFTD.  A few things have contributed to that, but honestly, the biggest hurdle for me has been to attempt do justice to the gravity of this text.  While I hold to the belief that all of the Word of God needs to be wielded in order to know Him rightly, know ourselves rightly, and understand His will for us – so much of my understanding of God was challenged, transformed, and now built upon this passage in Romans 3, especially Romans 3:10-11.  I am prayerful that God would grant eyes to see all that He has for us in this text.  Much like other parts of God’s Word to us in Romans, the most difficult part is not in the exposition of the text, but in accepting that God means EXACTLY what He says.  My task then, is not to be clever or make light of hard doctrinal truths, but to fulfill the calling laid out for a teacher from Ephesians 4.

Ephesians 4:11-14 says this – “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” 

Some of you reading this are not where I would like you to be on the issues I’m going to raise today.  I want you to know, that is ok.  I still hold a great affection and love for you as my brother and sister in Christ.  My request is that you prayerfully consider the Word today, not so much my words, but the Word spoken by God to us.  If I press on your beliefs some, know that my goal is your joy in deeper fellowship with Christ.

If there was a crescendo to Paul’s first three chapters of Romans where he is outlining how everyone is accountable to God, everyone has fallen short, and no one is righteous on their own, it would certainly be this passage in Romans 3. Romans 3:9-20 – “What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:  “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”  “The venom of asps is under their lips.”  “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”  “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.”  “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”  Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.  For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”  (bolded for emphasis from me)

Let me restate simply what God says above, and I challenge you to think on the implications.

  • No one is righteous
  • No one understands
  • No one seeks for God
  • No one does good

What is being described above is the “total depravity” of man.  Total depravity, used primarily as a theological term means that man’s condition from birth is completely sinful, incapable of doing any good and unwilling to do any good. What I’m about to say, I say looking back on years spent in the Word and years pursuing joy in fellowship with God; if you rightly understand your own depravity as complete and full, eventually every other piece of your theology (your understanding of God / redemption / salvation) will correctly fall into place.

Acts 17:26-27 – And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us”

That seems like a contradiction, right?  In Acts we are told that God desires for us to seek after him and in Romans we are told that no one does.  No one.

There are two ways to approach these two texts together

1)      You take a man-centered view, whereby you say God makes men savable, but requires something apart from Himself to actually save; namely the belief/faith of man.

2)      You take a God-centered view, whereby you stand in awe that God actually saves sinners, and grace covers all sin, first and foremost your unbelief, whereby even the faith to believe/seek after God is a gift purchased by the blood of Christ.

Now if you’re in the first camp, I don’t want to beat you up, but I do want you to consider, whether or not what you believe makes sense in light of Romans 3.  Instead of discussing how prideful it is to believe that man enters into salvation apart from God, I want to help you bridge the gap between the offense of total depravity to joy in knowing Jesus Christ as completely your Savior.

Total Depravity offends the pride of man.  It was well understood that this would be offensive to a natural man, and was written of throughout the Bible.

Galatians 5:11 – “But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed

Isaiah 8:13-14 – “But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.  And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” 

You cannot work your way to God.  There is nothing in you righteous that would please God.  If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, even your unbelief was a sin that was covered through the blood of Christ, just as any other.  In fact, it is written that unbelief is the root of all sin.

Romans 14:23 – whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

Right now hopefully you’re seeing the depth of our sin problem. We have no hope in ourselves.  This is why in Ephesians 2 we are told that we are dead in our sins and trespasses.  Jesus gave a picture of this death, and our hope of salvation in Him, in Lazarus.  John 11:41-44 – “Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”  When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”  The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”  Jesus goes to Lazarus, Lazarus doesn’t come to Him.  Jesus gives life to Lazarus without Lazarus asking as a gift.  Jesus gives a command for Lazarus to be unbound, Lazarus doesn’t unbind himself.

When God says that He forgives sin, he doesn’t mean it like you or I.  Nahum 1:3 –The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”  God is infinitely holy and just.  His justice demands punishment against all sin.  Every breath of your life has been sinful and infinitely offensive to our Holy God.  You were incapable of ANY good.  You would NEVER seek after God.  You were not righteous.  But the righteousness of Christ is greater than ALL your sin.  God did not forgive your sin; your sin was placed on Christ.  The infinite wrath of God was poured out on Him who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.  It pleased God, Christian, for His eternal purpose for His glory, to demonstrate His love and mercy to you.  It was not deserved.  It was not owed.  It was a gift.  He is the giver of salvation – all glory belongs to Christ.

It is because Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end of salvation, that we can rest in full assurance of our faith.  Philippians 1:6 – “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”  It is because Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end of salvation, that I can look upon past sin and current struggles and proclaim “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Our sin was greater than we could ever imagine, but so is our salvation in Christ.  2 Corinthians 5:16-18 – “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.  Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation”  

My prayer and hope is that God would continually illuminate our sin in the light of His glory.  My prayer is not that we would make light of our sin or rest any hope of salvation in ourselves, but that we would turn to the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:2) and find peace, rest, freedom, and joy in Him.

Grace and Peace,

Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 20 – Grace Led Salvation in Christ Alone

Romans 3:1-8 – “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?  Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.  What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?  By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”

But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.)  By no means! For then how could God judge the world?  But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.”

I’ve been going back and forth on this message for a week.  I have so much to share here, so much joy-bringing Truth that I want all to see.  It feels as though words are not sufficient, but my prayer is that God would use His Word to magnify his name and encourage and edify each of you.  Last time, we saw that the giving of the law to Israel was meant to point them to two things 1) their inability to uphold the righteousness the law required and 2) the righteousness of God.  Now a humble man would see their sinfulness exposed in the law, and fall down pleading the mercy of God.  A self-righteous man would work with all his might to become as outwardly righteous as possible, while inwardly remaining unchanged from the heart.  How dreadful news it must have been for those self-righteous people in Jesus’ time to hear the words – Matthew 5:20-22, 27-28 – “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

If the most outwardly righteous persons among them did not have the righteousness required of God, what hope was there for everyone else?  These people were brought up believing that they should strive to follow the law as much as possible, and where they fell short they should sacrifice animals to God in line with the law.  What was missing was true brokenness over their sin; that they had sinned against God whom they love.  That heart was far from the Pharisees and self-righteous.  Those who held up God’s Word should have looked closer at their King David’s response to God after His sin in Psalm 51:16-17 – “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

Each day I pray about how God would have me wield His Word for edification and encouragement.  What timely message would He have me deliver, to lift up Christ, as glorious and mighty to save?  What all-satisfying picture of His majesty can I give to push back the darkness, to thwart the schemes of the enemy that seeks to devour every one of us?  I believe that is possible to do from every text of the Bible, and that is my goal.  With that in mind, this text above from Romans is continuing to build Paul’s case that no one is righteous, only Christ is righteous.  Moreover, we are being shown that even our unrighteousness serves to magnify the righteousness of God, when he condemns us for it.  Can you accept that?  Can you take it in that God has a purpose even in unrighteousness in that is serves to display His own righteousness, and that He is good for it?  Most people never move beyond their self-centered view of God.  Let me ask a question, and ask that you answer honestly.  Do you still believe God owes you something?  What if despite your pleas, God condemned you?  Would that not be the most just thing for Him to do?  How can you make accusations against the justice and character of God when you deny him in 1,000 ways every day through sinful thoughts and actions?

How often you have neglected time with God for other trivial things like going out with friends, TV, or Facebook.  You take a moment to tell the world your plans on Facebook, but you haven’t prayed to see what God’s plans for you are.  You harbor anger in your heart against others; you speak unkind words, gossiping about others’ business and life affairs.  You neglect the orphan who will cry themselves to sleep tonight, hungry and alone.  You neglect the widow who has no one to care for her.  You sleep in comfort while the world crumbles around you, and you want to make judgments on God?

Jesus tells a parable in Luke 18 of a Pharisee (righteous man) and a Tax Collector (sinful traitor):  Luke 18:9-14 – “He 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.”

Those of you who rest in some past “decision” for Christ, and you have “moved on” from feeling the weight of the glory of God over your sin daily – YOU ARE THE PHARISEE.  I’ve said it before, but let me say it again; there is only hope for the hopeless.  If you are struggling with sin, if you hate it, if you long for peace with God, Jesus Christ is very good news for you.  Run to Him; His blood has covered your sin; continue to fight the fight of faith knowing that in Christ the victory has already been accomplished.  If you make the assumption that you are right with God because of some decision you made at a point in time in the past, but have no struggle with sin, rather you are comfortable with it… you’re still way better than most people, after all you you go to church, you belong to a small group Bible study, you pray, you tithe, you do all the things a “good Christian” is supposed to do, but there is no fear of God in you, you should be very afraid.

This is not meant to be fear mongering.  This is God’s Truth.  Unfortunately, the world is full of false teachers and bad theology, and many people who believe that they are saved, are not, and will hear terrifying words of judgment from God when they die (Matt 7:20-22).  My goal is twofold – for the self-righteous person whose hope is in a past decision, I want to press on them, and impose a healthy fear of the righteousness and impartiality of God; for the struggling sinner who is broken in their sin and does not know where to turn, I want to deal with you very gently and lift up Christ, our great Redeemer, who has made an end to all sin for those who hope in Him.

If perhaps I fall harder on those in the first camp, it’s because I was that person; and I am prone to slip back into that mindset if I am not vigilant to kill every ounce of pride and self-righteousness in me.  It is so easy for me to fall back into that same sense of confidence in works.  It is very easy to lose sight of the majesty of the righteousness of Christ and the grace by which I know life daily.  That is why the first three chapters of Romans are so helpful – we see that there is nothing in us worthy of salvation.  Further, the hardest person to convince they are in need of Jesus are those who already believe they have him.  Know that I love both these people; the sinner who knows he/she is a sinner, and the self-righteous person who does not.  My goal isn’t that all of you would run around scared that you’re not saved all the time, rather my goal is for you to see how great a salvation we have in Jesus Christ, and to truly know, taste, feel, and delight in his grace and mercy DAILY.  You cannot live life as a Christian apart from understanding that you rest in the grace of God, daily, not because of a past decision, but because you are God’s – He holds you secure, and is working out your salvation every day.  (Phil 2:12-13)  That can only truly happen, however, when we rightly understand who God is and we are apart from Him.  So that’s what I’m working towards, in the same way Paul was.  That is why the first three chapters of Romans are so helpful – we see that there is nothing in us worthy of salvation.  Before we can delight in the grace and salvation described in Romans 4-8, we must first see how great our own depravity and need is.

Let’s press on that some here and begin with a simple statement that most secular humanists will cringe at.  God is ultimate, and you are not.  He is our Creator and as such is infinitely more valuable than we are.  His glory is infinitely more valuable than whatever circumstance or struggles we find ourselves in to accomplish this end.  God does not need man to be complete and God does not owe man anything.  Acts 17:25 – “He is not served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”   Again He says in Psalm 50:12 – “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.”  Further, he says in Isaiah 45:7 – “I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.”  It is tempting for a self-centered person who does not know God here to want to judge God, and say “If that’s who God is, then I’m not going to worship Him!”  You might also say, if God causes cancer, I’m not going to worship Him!  Ok, that’s your choice, but know that you’ve made an idol out of health, over the glory of God.  But for me, my life was purchased by the blood of Christ.  If it is His will for His glory to be magnified through my weakness in cancer, praise God, give me cancer.  It is not for me to understand how everything works, including evil, sickness, calamity, etc. for the glory of God, and in truth I do not care.  Romans 8:18 – “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”  If my treasure for eternity is the glory of God, I want to make much of His glory, whatever the cost; it is infinitely more valuable than physical comfort or anything else.  My hope is that same heart would be in each of you.

We hold this treasure in jars of clay, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  My goal isn’t to convince you today that even your faith to believe is a gift of God (it is, ref Eph 2:8-9), but to change what the terms “salvation” and “living under grace” mean to you.  The fight of faith isn’t to work your way to God in obedience, it is to be overwhelmed by the unmerited favor of God shown to you through Jesus Christ; to believe that Christ’s blood has made payment for your sin; that His perfect righteousness is yours, and all of this is a gift.  You follow after Jesus because you love Him and you want more of Him in your life.  If you’re heart’s not there, if you want to believe that you’ve got Jesus because of something you’ve done; look back to the gospel and pray for God to incline your heart to Him.  You are not righteous, you never were, and you won’t be tomorrow.  No matter how hard you try, we all fall short… daily.  The point of all of the laws of God was to point you to Him.  Rest in Him.  Find your Peace in His finished work.  Delight yourself in Him, and all that He is for you – Savior, Lord, Healer, Treasure, Friend, Loving Father, and ever Faithful.  In love, manifest and share Him with those God has placed around you.  Christ is all, in Him we find all that we need.

Grace and Peace,

Adam