Grace
Rom 3:24
1. Some Questions that Need to Be Asked About Grace
a. What are the characteristics of a true gift?
(1) The giver does all of the work
(2) It was the giver’s idea
(3) The giver bears all the cost
(4) It is given for pure motives
(5) It is given for the benefit of the recipient
(6) It makes the giver joyful when it is received and appreciated
(7) The quality and value of the gift reflect back on the giver
b. What caused God to give us salvation by His grace?
(1) The answer, first of all, is nothing—The Grace of God is unmotivated outside of His own purpose, love, mercy, will, and good pleasure—(2 Tim 1:9) "who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,"
(2) God created us for His own glory, and for His pleasure—(Rev 4:11) ""You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.""
(3) God has no needs, so He did not create us nor save us because we can add anything to Him—(Acts 17:25) ""Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything…."
(4) God was not lonesome—He has forever enjoyed the perfect internal relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit—(John 17:24) ""…You loved Me before the foundation of the world."
(5) God was not required to create us, and He is not subject to the whims and laws of the universe He Himself created.
(6) God created us for one reason—to bring glory to Him—(Isa 43:7) "Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.""
2. “…being justified freely…”
a. “…freely…” The word means “without a cause…”
(1) Sometimes in the Bible, we miss a word that is not as obvious as another word, or that seems to be repetitious.
(2) The Truth is, the Holy Spirit has a purpose for every word, and here is one whose importance has been overlooked by many
(3) Without a cause—what an introduction to Grace!
(a) Jesus told His disciples to minister without a cause—Mat 10:8 ""Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely [without a cause] you have received, freely give."
(b) They hated Jesus for no reason—John 15:25 ""But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'"
(c) If salvation is earned by the Law, Christ died for nothing—Gal 2:21 ""I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.""
(d) We who are saved by God’s grace will drink the water of life in Heaven without a price, without a cause—
(i) Rev 21:6 "And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely [without a cause] to him who thirsts."
(ii) Rev 22:17 "And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely."[without a cause]
b. “Without a cause” is a good description of Grace.
(1) Grace is free, FREE!
(2) There is no cause, nor any reason, nor any bribe, price, or contribution from us that leads to our being saved by Grace—it is all without a cause.
(3) Isa 55:1 ""Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price…"
3. The Old Testament Root Of Grace—God’s Chesed
a. The multi-faceted character of God—God’s chesedh, one of the most important words in the Old Testament.
b. God’s chesedh—very full term— Chesedh is variously translated as “mercy, lovingkindness, grace etc.,” , perhaps best defined as, “Oh love that will not let me go…”
c. Examples:
(Gen 39:21) "But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy…."
(Exo 15:13) "You in Your mercy have led forth The people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength To Your holy habitation."
(Psa 13:5) "But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation."
(Psa 17:7) "Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You From those who rise up against them."
(Psa 23:6) "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever."
(Psa 33:18) "Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy,"
(Psa 103:8) "The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy."
(Psa 136) "Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. 3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever: 4 To Him who alone does great wonders, For His mercy endures forever; 5 To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, For His mercy endures forever…”
d. The word chesedh assumes a covenant with Jehovah
e. When Jehovah wanted to express His character, chesedh, combined with emeth (truth) is the word He used.
· Exo 34:6 "And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth…”
f. God’s Character as Revealed by His Chesed: God is Good
(1) God is Good, Solitary, and Sovereign in all His works—Ps 136:4
(2) God is Good, Solitary, and Sovereign in Creation—136:4-9
(3) God is Good, Solitary, and Sovereign in His Redemptive Acts—136:10-24
(4) God, in His Providence, has acted, and continues to act, in the world of men, controlling the flow of History for His own Glory
(5) God is Good, Solitary, and Sovereign in His common Grace to all mankind. 136:25-26
4. Grace—3:24 “… Being justified freely by his grace…
”
a. What a pair of parallel concepts—free and grace!
b. Basic Facts
(1) In all the vastness of our world, in all of the diversity of religious beliefs, there are only two essential types of belief, works and Grace.
(2) There seem to be many differences between the world's religions, but they are all essentially the same--they all center around human works
(3) Unfortunately, within this group of religions based on human effort are many species of religion that go by the name of Christianity.
(4) The thing that makes Christianity far different from all other religions is the concept of Grace.
(5) Salvation is 100 percent a work of God--we are unable, because of our bondage to sin and rebellion, to do anything meriting God’s favor. God reaches down to save people--He conceived the plan, He sent His Son to accomplish the plan--He does 100% of the work.
c. Undeserved Grace—
(1) What is Grace? God's unmerited favor?
(2) It is not just unmerited favor that constitutes Grace--it is favor shown where there is positive demerit.
(3) To show kindness to a stranger is not Grace, but to show kindness to an enemy, that is Grace.
(4) G-R-A-C-E: God's Riches At Christ's Expense
(5) The objects of His Grace
(a) Spiritually dead sinners—(Rom 3:10-12) "As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.""
(Rom 3:23) "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
(b) Spiritually dead people—‘(Eph 2:1) "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
(c) Servants of the enemy—2:2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."
(d) Enemies of God—(Rom 8:6-7) "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be."
d. Unsought Grace
(Eph 2:4-5) "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…”
(Isa 64:6-7) "But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. 7 And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You…”
(Rom 3:9-11) "What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. 10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God."
e. Unbought Grace
(1) G0d's Grace--His Work – Eph 2:8-10:
(2) What is more, we can add nothing
(3) Indeed, to try to add any human works to grace destroys grace—Rom 11:5-6
f. Free Justification through Grace means that salvation is a gift.
(1) God was not obligated to save
(2) God was not compelled to save
(3) God did not have a NEED to save
(4) God saved because of His love and mercy—salvation is a gift!
(Rom 6:23) "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(Rom 8:32) "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"
(2 Pet 1:3) "as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,"
g. Signs of Grace
(1) Salvation
(2) Spiritual Gifts—(Rom 12:6) "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them
(3) Purpose and Providence—(Gen 6:8) "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."
(a) (Exo 33:16-17) ""…17 So the LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.""
(b) (Prov 3:34) "Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble."
(4) (Zec 12:10) ""And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn."
(5) Greeting Grace
(a) (Heb 13:25) "Grace be with you all. Amen."
(b) (Col 4:18) "This salutation by my own hand; Paul. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Amen."
(c) (2 Th 2:16) "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,"
(6) Strengthening Grace—(2 Tim 2:1) "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."
h. The Source of Grace—
(1) (John 1:14) "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
(2) (John 1:16-17) "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
Friday, February 29, 2008
Justified
Four Big Words:
Word #1: Justified
Rom 3:24 “…Being justified …”
Introductory Thoughts
* The Son of God, God the Son, the Lord Jesus Himself—the Perfect One, the Almighty Jehovah God Himself came and lived in human flesh—He walked in my moccasins.
** He lived for me
** He Suffered for me
** He died for me
** He Rose for me
** He ascended for me
** Where He intercedes for me
** He sent a man to preach to me
** He sent His Holy Spirit to convict me
** He called me, He saved me
** He leads me,
** and one day, He is returning for me…..
* How can anything I do add to that?
· The fact is, that I was lost in sin, dead as a rock, totally spiritually destitute, and without any hope—I did not want God, I did not know about God, I did not seek Him on my own, and I paid none of the price, nor did any of the work that led to my salvation. God Saved Me, and He did ALL the work.
And one fact that we must keep in our minds is this: individual justification is an event, not a process
For each saved person, the whole journey of salvation [after justification] including sanctification and finally glorification, involves a process of growth—but not so with justification: justification was, is, and shall ever be, an event.
This is the event when God Saves a Sinner.
1. Justified—A Bible Survey
a. Old Testament
(1) The Suffering Servant in Isaiah is the One who will justify His people—(Isa 53:11) "He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities."
(2) Paul’s text for the whole Roman letter was in Habakkuk—(Hab 2:4) ""Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith."
(3) Being Justified and right with God made the Old Testament saints shout—(Psa 32:11) "Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!"
(4) Being justified brings joy and praise that is called beautiful—(Psa 33:1) "Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful."
(5) (Psa 64:10) "The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory."
(6) But what is the basis for this righteousness? How do the upright become upright?
(7) Every human in the Old Testament who was declared to be righteous must have been declared righteous in the same way that Abraham was—(Gen 15:6) "And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness."
(8) Why MUST this be?
(a) It must be, because man is evil by nature—(Gen 8:21) "… the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth…”
(b) It must be, because man is born that way—
(i) (Psa 58:3) "The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies."
(ii) (Psa 51:4-5) "…. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me."
(c) It must be, because all humans are sinners, except that One Who died for the sinners—(Psa 14:3) "They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one."
b. New Testament Survey of Justification
(1) The Law cannot justify—(Rom 3:20) "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
(2) In the great finale that is yet to come in this 3rd chapter of Romans we see that only by faith can a man be justified—(Rom 3:28) "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law."
(3) Justification by faith removes all boasting—(Rom 4:2) "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God." When we preach and teach the Truth that God Saves Sinners, it leaves no room for boasting. When I get to Heaven, I will not speak of my decision to follow Christ, nor my sometimes obedience to Him. When I get to Heaven, my entire testimony will be that God saves sinners, of whom I am chief.
(4) Justification brings peace with God—our very minds have been at war with Him, and justification ends the war with our surrender to His Majesty—(Rom 5:1) "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,"
(5) Justification happens as Christ’s blood sacrifice justifies us and removes the sentence of God’s wrath from us—(Rom 5:9) "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him."
(6) A summary of Justification is perhaps found in Galatians—(Gal 2:16)
(a) There is no process that can lead us too justification—"…knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law…” the verb tense here is the present, a continuous sense, but since it is negative, we see that Justification is NOT a process
(b) What does result in Justification: faith in Christ— “…but by faith in Jesus Christ…”
(c) The experience of faith is not a process, it is an event— “…even we have believed [aorist tense] in Christ Jesus…”
(d) Saving faith results in justification at a point in time— “…that we might be [aorist] justified by faith in Christ…”
(e) Works religion cannot and will not save—“… and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified."
(7) And the grace of justification gives us an eternal hope—a certain thing—(Titus 3:7) "that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
(8) And our hope is not a “maybe” thing, it is a “certainly” thing—(Heb 6:18-19) "that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,"
2. Justified—3:24 Being justified
a. Being Justified… δικαιοuμενοι
(1) First, the meaning of the word—(Parson’s Quick Verse) “…to put into a right relationship (with God); acquit, declare and treat as righteous; show or prove to be right…”
(2) Each man or woman who is justified at a point in time, has been declared free from sin, declared righteous according to God’s Standard, and founded upon the Rock
b. The doctrine of Justification—what justification is NOT
(1) It is NOT infused righteousness
(a) In the false doctrine of “infusion,” the idea is that God gives us the ability to work good works and to become acceptable to God through those good works.
(b) This does not deal with past sin, with our sin natures, nor with the question of how I as a man can become holy by my own works.
(2) Justification is NOT God accepting my faith as a work that he decides to accept in lieu of other works.
(3) Justification does not put me where Adam was so that I can earn my salvation from here on out.
c. What justification IS
(1) It is, first of all, a legal declaration that the one justified is “innocent” of all the charges of sin against him or her.
(2) Then, it is a declaration that not only is the one who is justified declared “innocent” of sin, that same one is declared to have acquired positive righteousness, a life of good deeds.
(3) This legal declaration of innocence and righteousness is made by God the Father for each and every person who believes in Christ for salvation.
3. How Does This Event Called Justification Take Place?
a. Conviction: The Preparation for the Event—It begins with a sinner coming under conviction by the Holy Spirit—(John 16:8) ""And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:"
(1) Their hearts were convicted at Pentecost—(Acts 2:37) "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?""
(2) Paul’s example holds true—look at his sudden change of attitude—(Acts 9:5) "And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.""
(3) And the Philippian jailer came under the conviction of the Spirit dramatically, and was ready to receive the Truth— (Acts 16:30-31) "And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.""
(4) The secret to understanding salvation is that it is an act of God from beginning to the end.
b. It continues with a sinner who hears the Word of God and Responds—Rom 10:8 “…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…”
c. This convicted sinner then calls out to God and is saved—Rom 10:13 “ “…whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."
d. But, If the Word is not preached, how will they hear the Truth?
(1) If you don’t believe, you will just sit there—“…14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
(2) Before faith there must be at least a little knowledge—Christianity is a fact-filled faith. “… And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?”
(3) God’s messenger to bring salvation— “…And how shall they hear without a preacher?...”
(a) And believe me, this is not restricted to pulpit preachers, but to everyone who proclaims the Gospel.
(b) But pulpit preacher, evangelist, missionary, Sunday School teacher, jail worker, worship leader—if they are not being discipled, trained, and readied for action…God will raise up someone anyway.
(4) The preachers of the Gospel are people who have been saved, trained, and launched on a mission—and God must be the sender “…15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent?”
(5) Those sent by God who respond in obedience are called “those with beautiful feet,” Why? "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"
(6) The beauty of the feet—a Hebrew way of saying that the message they bring is welcome, as will be the message which brings the restored nation of Israel to the Messiah on that day—(Isa 52:7) "How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!""
(7) The Tragedy—not everyone listens and obeys the Truth “… 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?"
(8) But regardless, it is through the proclamation of the Word that the Gospel goes forth— “…17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
e. The Four Fold Ministry to the Church, the Gifts of Christ Himself to the churches in Eph 4:11 are apostles, prophets, evangelists and teaching pastors—(Eph 4:11) "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,"
(1) The First two have been surpassed by the closing of the Apostolic age, and the closing of the canon of Scripture but the evangelist and the teaching pastor (who are sometimes the same man), are still with us.
(2) And yet, even our ministry is not to be the sole proclaimers, but in Eph 4:12-16, God makes it plain that all in the church are to grow up able to proclaim the Truth, and able to support, encourage, and pray for those whose whole occupation is to preach the Gospel.
(3) However we look at it, we must realize that the preaching of the Cross is at the center of what we do in church.
(1 Cor 1:17) "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect."
(1 Cor 1:21) "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."
(1 Cor 1:23) "but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,"
(2 Cor 4:5) "For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake."
(Col 1:28) "Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."
(2 Tim 4:2) "Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching."
Word #1: Justified
Rom 3:24 “…Being justified …”
Introductory Thoughts
* The Son of God, God the Son, the Lord Jesus Himself—the Perfect One, the Almighty Jehovah God Himself came and lived in human flesh—He walked in my moccasins.
** He lived for me
** He Suffered for me
** He died for me
** He Rose for me
** He ascended for me
** Where He intercedes for me
** He sent a man to preach to me
** He sent His Holy Spirit to convict me
** He called me, He saved me
** He leads me,
** and one day, He is returning for me…..
* How can anything I do add to that?
· The fact is, that I was lost in sin, dead as a rock, totally spiritually destitute, and without any hope—I did not want God, I did not know about God, I did not seek Him on my own, and I paid none of the price, nor did any of the work that led to my salvation. God Saved Me, and He did ALL the work.
And one fact that we must keep in our minds is this: individual justification is an event, not a process
For each saved person, the whole journey of salvation [after justification] including sanctification and finally glorification, involves a process of growth—but not so with justification: justification was, is, and shall ever be, an event.
This is the event when God Saves a Sinner.
1. Justified—A Bible Survey
a. Old Testament
(1) The Suffering Servant in Isaiah is the One who will justify His people—(Isa 53:11) "He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities."
(2) Paul’s text for the whole Roman letter was in Habakkuk—(Hab 2:4) ""Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith."
(3) Being Justified and right with God made the Old Testament saints shout—(Psa 32:11) "Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!"
(4) Being justified brings joy and praise that is called beautiful—(Psa 33:1) "Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful."
(5) (Psa 64:10) "The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory."
(6) But what is the basis for this righteousness? How do the upright become upright?
(7) Every human in the Old Testament who was declared to be righteous must have been declared righteous in the same way that Abraham was—(Gen 15:6) "And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness."
(8) Why MUST this be?
(a) It must be, because man is evil by nature—(Gen 8:21) "… the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth…”
(b) It must be, because man is born that way—
(i) (Psa 58:3) "The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies."
(ii) (Psa 51:4-5) "…. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me."
(c) It must be, because all humans are sinners, except that One Who died for the sinners—(Psa 14:3) "They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one."
b. New Testament Survey of Justification
(1) The Law cannot justify—(Rom 3:20) "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
(2) In the great finale that is yet to come in this 3rd chapter of Romans we see that only by faith can a man be justified—(Rom 3:28) "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law."
(3) Justification by faith removes all boasting—(Rom 4:2) "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God." When we preach and teach the Truth that God Saves Sinners, it leaves no room for boasting. When I get to Heaven, I will not speak of my decision to follow Christ, nor my sometimes obedience to Him. When I get to Heaven, my entire testimony will be that God saves sinners, of whom I am chief.
(4) Justification brings peace with God—our very minds have been at war with Him, and justification ends the war with our surrender to His Majesty—(Rom 5:1) "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,"
(5) Justification happens as Christ’s blood sacrifice justifies us and removes the sentence of God’s wrath from us—(Rom 5:9) "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him."
(6) A summary of Justification is perhaps found in Galatians—(Gal 2:16)
(a) There is no process that can lead us too justification—"…knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law…” the verb tense here is the present, a continuous sense, but since it is negative, we see that Justification is NOT a process
(b) What does result in Justification: faith in Christ— “…but by faith in Jesus Christ…”
(c) The experience of faith is not a process, it is an event— “…even we have believed [aorist tense] in Christ Jesus…”
(d) Saving faith results in justification at a point in time— “…that we might be [aorist] justified by faith in Christ…”
(e) Works religion cannot and will not save—“… and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified."
(7) And the grace of justification gives us an eternal hope—a certain thing—(Titus 3:7) "that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
(8) And our hope is not a “maybe” thing, it is a “certainly” thing—(Heb 6:18-19) "that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,"
2. Justified—3:24 Being justified
a. Being Justified… δικαιοuμενοι
(1) First, the meaning of the word—(Parson’s Quick Verse) “…to put into a right relationship (with God); acquit, declare and treat as righteous; show or prove to be right…”
(2) Each man or woman who is justified at a point in time, has been declared free from sin, declared righteous according to God’s Standard, and founded upon the Rock
b. The doctrine of Justification—what justification is NOT
(1) It is NOT infused righteousness
(a) In the false doctrine of “infusion,” the idea is that God gives us the ability to work good works and to become acceptable to God through those good works.
(b) This does not deal with past sin, with our sin natures, nor with the question of how I as a man can become holy by my own works.
(2) Justification is NOT God accepting my faith as a work that he decides to accept in lieu of other works.
(3) Justification does not put me where Adam was so that I can earn my salvation from here on out.
c. What justification IS
(1) It is, first of all, a legal declaration that the one justified is “innocent” of all the charges of sin against him or her.
(2) Then, it is a declaration that not only is the one who is justified declared “innocent” of sin, that same one is declared to have acquired positive righteousness, a life of good deeds.
(3) This legal declaration of innocence and righteousness is made by God the Father for each and every person who believes in Christ for salvation.
3. How Does This Event Called Justification Take Place?
a. Conviction: The Preparation for the Event—It begins with a sinner coming under conviction by the Holy Spirit—(John 16:8) ""And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:"
(1) Their hearts were convicted at Pentecost—(Acts 2:37) "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?""
(2) Paul’s example holds true—look at his sudden change of attitude—(Acts 9:5) "And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.""
(3) And the Philippian jailer came under the conviction of the Spirit dramatically, and was ready to receive the Truth— (Acts 16:30-31) "And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.""
(4) The secret to understanding salvation is that it is an act of God from beginning to the end.
b. It continues with a sinner who hears the Word of God and Responds—Rom 10:8 “…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…”
c. This convicted sinner then calls out to God and is saved—Rom 10:13 “ “…whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."
d. But, If the Word is not preached, how will they hear the Truth?
(1) If you don’t believe, you will just sit there—“…14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
(2) Before faith there must be at least a little knowledge—Christianity is a fact-filled faith. “… And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?”
(3) God’s messenger to bring salvation— “…And how shall they hear without a preacher?...”
(a) And believe me, this is not restricted to pulpit preachers, but to everyone who proclaims the Gospel.
(b) But pulpit preacher, evangelist, missionary, Sunday School teacher, jail worker, worship leader—if they are not being discipled, trained, and readied for action…God will raise up someone anyway.
(4) The preachers of the Gospel are people who have been saved, trained, and launched on a mission—and God must be the sender “…15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent?”
(5) Those sent by God who respond in obedience are called “those with beautiful feet,” Why? "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"
(6) The beauty of the feet—a Hebrew way of saying that the message they bring is welcome, as will be the message which brings the restored nation of Israel to the Messiah on that day—(Isa 52:7) "How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!""
(7) The Tragedy—not everyone listens and obeys the Truth “… 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?"
(8) But regardless, it is through the proclamation of the Word that the Gospel goes forth— “…17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
e. The Four Fold Ministry to the Church, the Gifts of Christ Himself to the churches in Eph 4:11 are apostles, prophets, evangelists and teaching pastors—(Eph 4:11) "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,"
(1) The First two have been surpassed by the closing of the Apostolic age, and the closing of the canon of Scripture but the evangelist and the teaching pastor (who are sometimes the same man), are still with us.
(2) And yet, even our ministry is not to be the sole proclaimers, but in Eph 4:12-16, God makes it plain that all in the church are to grow up able to proclaim the Truth, and able to support, encourage, and pray for those whose whole occupation is to preach the Gospel.
(3) However we look at it, we must realize that the preaching of the Cross is at the center of what we do in church.
(1 Cor 1:17) "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect."
(1 Cor 1:21) "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."
(1 Cor 1:23) "but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,"
(2 Cor 4:5) "For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake."
(Col 1:28) "Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."
(2 Tim 4:2) "Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching."
No Distinctions
Jesus Loves The Little Children of The World (Including the Ones Right Here In Hickman County)
Rom 3:22d— “…to all and upon all who believe, for there is no difference…”
1. Introductory Thoughts—
a. There are NO exceptions to the absolute need to be saved, to be justified, by faith in Christ
(1) NO one is too good to need salvation—Rom 3:10-12
(2) No one is too bad to receive salvation—(1 Tim 1:12-16) "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, 13 although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man…”
(3) No race, kindred, tribe, or tongue is restricted from salvation—(Rev 7:9) "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands..”
(4) There are few qualifications for salvation—you must still be alive, you must be willing, and you must be convicted by the Holy Spirit that Christ is a great Savior and you are a great sinner…(John 16:8) ""And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…”
(5) There is only one author of Salvation—(Heb 12:2) "… looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”
(6) God will reject no one who comes for salvation—(John 6:37) ""All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out."
(7) There is no price for it that we can pay—(Isa 55:1) ""Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price."
(8) There is no line waiting, come today—(2 Cor 6:2) "For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
(9) The ground is level at the foot of the cross—come to Him now, or suffer eternal loss.
b. There is no difference—our context
(1) There is no difference between people because we have the same greatest need—righteousness put to our account.
(2) There is no difference between people because we all have the same spiritual ability—none
(3) There is no difference between people, because there is one Solution to our problem, no matter who are what we are or think we are—and that Solution rests in the Person and Work of Jesus, the Son of God and God the Son, the Savior of the World.
(4) There is no difference because no matter who we are, the only way to have this righteousness of God apart from the Law is through faith in Christ Jesus.
(5) No matter who we think we are this salvation comes as a gift of God’s Grace through the voluntary blood sacrifice of our Savior.
(6) No matter who we are or who or what we think we are, we must turn from your sins to Christ, we must bow the knee to the Master. There is no difference.
(7) But people surely act as if there were differences.
2. There is no difference—but man creates artificial barriers.
a. Paul lived in a world of great differences—
(1) Roman Arrogance, Greek pride, Jewish exclusiveness, prejudice against the “barbarians”
(2) This problem existed in the churches too.
(a) Jews who had professed Christ often thought they were several cuts above the Gentiles in the same church—this false idea actually led to the beginnings of the first cult—the Judaizers
(b) Greeks thought everyone else was a “barbarian.”
(c) The majority of the church were slaves and the poor, and according to James, there were tensions and problems in this relationship between the rich believers and the poor. (James 2:5-6)
(d) Then, of all people, there were within some of the churches people named Scythians, a barbarian tribe of hooligans and outlaws
(e) And yet, these people had one great thing, the greatest thing, in common—they were blood bought, born again believers in Christ, brothers and sisters in a great communion that the Bible says should transcend all other differences— (Gal 3:28) "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
(Col 3:11) "where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all."
b. Even today, we live in a world of man-made differences—race, nationality, incredible wealth and incredible poverty, a world of blue bloods and red necks, of people with nothing and people with everything
c. Yes, there are Many Differences within mankind, but all are false
(1) There is no difference by (worldly) wisdom or intelligence—(1 Cor 1:17-23)
(2) There is no difference because of Family or Name
(a) To Him, we all came out of the same dust— (Gen 3:19) "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.""
(b) A perfect example—Paul’s background— (Phil 3:7) "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ."
(3) There is no difference by human religion or religious upbringing—again, consider Paul—
(4) There is no difference because of race, color, or nationality—Because
(a) All men are made of one blood—Acts 17:26,
(b) All human flesh is the same kind of flesh—1 Cor 15:39
(c) Jesus died for all mankind—(1 John 2:2) "And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."
3. There Is No Difference Because—“…all have sinned…”
a. First of all, why is the Bible bringing THIS up again?
(1) Because we can never hear this enough
(2) Having made the point that there is no difference among people,
b. Here we are looking at the negative side of the righteousness equation—the fact that we have sinned against God and man, every single one of us. If nothing else unites the world, it is this: we are all sinners by heritage, by nature, and by choice
c. In the Greek, the verb is in the aorist tense, a snapshot. This strongly implies three things
(1) Viewed as one snapshot, one block of time, it is as if God is looking at this and seeing the entirety of human activity throughout the ages as one huge mess of sin.
(2) When the first man sinned (Rom 5:12, also an aorist), we all became guilty through him.
(3) And when the first man sinned, we also became sinners by nature—(Eph 2:3) "… we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."
d. The Apple Does Not Fall Far From the Tree
(1) Every human being is conceived in sin—(Psa 51:4-5) "Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight; That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me."
(2) Every human being is a liar from birth—(Psa 58:3) "The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies."
(3) Man’s heart is evil from an early age—(Gen 8:21) "…the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth…”
e. But sin is not the whole story—there is also a complete lack of moral actions and good works
4. All Fall Short of the Glory—(Rom 3:23) "…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…"
a. We fall short of the standard, we all fail to measure up.
(1) Jesus, distinct from all other human beings, could say at the end of His life: (John 17:4) ""I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do."
(2) He alone is the Standard of righteousness—(Acts 17:31) ""because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."" In God’s judgments, Jesus will not only be the Judge, He will be the standard
b. God’s Glory defined A very large topic
(1) The Meaning of the Words
(a) OT, “kabod”: weight, or worthiness, splendor, wealth, reputation.
(b) NT, “doxa”: reputation. “…its chief use is to describe the revelation of the character and the presence of God in the Person and work of Jesus Christ…” (New Bible Dictionary)
(2) Hundreds of References
(3) The Glory of the Lord is spoken of as a burning light which no sinful man may see. Exo 33:18-22 "And he said, "Please, show me Your glory." 19 Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." 20 But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live." 21 And the LORD said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 "So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by."
(4) The Glory of God is seen in His creation…Psa 19:1 "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork."
(5) The Glory of God is spoken of as a vision of His Presence…Acts 7:55 "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,"
(6) The Glory of God is the light which will light heaven itself. Rev 21:23 "The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light."
c. The Glory of God is the burning light of His Presence, revealing the absolute perfection of His Being, and encompassing all of His attributes, but the particular emphasis of this term here is on Christ:
(1) He is the Standard by which all others are compared.
(2) The moral perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ is beyond all others—He alone has fulfilled the Law—Mat 5:17
(3) He is fit to be our Savior, because he is the Lamb without blemish, without spot.
(4) The Power and Authority of Christ
(5) The Manifested Glory of Christ through His Person and Work
(6) We behold HIS glory, we put all our trust in Him, we follow Him.
d. But we all fall short of Him, which is why we need Him as our Lord and Savior.
e. Comparisons You might look good compared to your neighbor, but how do you look next to Christ?
Rom 3:22d— “…to all and upon all who believe, for there is no difference…”
1. Introductory Thoughts—
a. There are NO exceptions to the absolute need to be saved, to be justified, by faith in Christ
(1) NO one is too good to need salvation—Rom 3:10-12
(2) No one is too bad to receive salvation—(1 Tim 1:12-16) "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, 13 although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man…”
(3) No race, kindred, tribe, or tongue is restricted from salvation—(Rev 7:9) "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands..”
(4) There are few qualifications for salvation—you must still be alive, you must be willing, and you must be convicted by the Holy Spirit that Christ is a great Savior and you are a great sinner…(John 16:8) ""And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…”
(5) There is only one author of Salvation—(Heb 12:2) "… looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”
(6) God will reject no one who comes for salvation—(John 6:37) ""All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out."
(7) There is no price for it that we can pay—(Isa 55:1) ""Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price."
(8) There is no line waiting, come today—(2 Cor 6:2) "For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
(9) The ground is level at the foot of the cross—come to Him now, or suffer eternal loss.
b. There is no difference—our context
(1) There is no difference between people because we have the same greatest need—righteousness put to our account.
(2) There is no difference between people because we all have the same spiritual ability—none
(3) There is no difference between people, because there is one Solution to our problem, no matter who are what we are or think we are—and that Solution rests in the Person and Work of Jesus, the Son of God and God the Son, the Savior of the World.
(4) There is no difference because no matter who we are, the only way to have this righteousness of God apart from the Law is through faith in Christ Jesus.
(5) No matter who we think we are this salvation comes as a gift of God’s Grace through the voluntary blood sacrifice of our Savior.
(6) No matter who we are or who or what we think we are, we must turn from your sins to Christ, we must bow the knee to the Master. There is no difference.
(7) But people surely act as if there were differences.
2. There is no difference—but man creates artificial barriers.
a. Paul lived in a world of great differences—
(1) Roman Arrogance, Greek pride, Jewish exclusiveness, prejudice against the “barbarians”
(2) This problem existed in the churches too.
(a) Jews who had professed Christ often thought they were several cuts above the Gentiles in the same church—this false idea actually led to the beginnings of the first cult—the Judaizers
(b) Greeks thought everyone else was a “barbarian.”
(c) The majority of the church were slaves and the poor, and according to James, there were tensions and problems in this relationship between the rich believers and the poor. (James 2:5-6)
(d) Then, of all people, there were within some of the churches people named Scythians, a barbarian tribe of hooligans and outlaws
(e) And yet, these people had one great thing, the greatest thing, in common—they were blood bought, born again believers in Christ, brothers and sisters in a great communion that the Bible says should transcend all other differences— (Gal 3:28) "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
(Col 3:11) "where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all."
b. Even today, we live in a world of man-made differences—race, nationality, incredible wealth and incredible poverty, a world of blue bloods and red necks, of people with nothing and people with everything
c. Yes, there are Many Differences within mankind, but all are false
(1) There is no difference by (worldly) wisdom or intelligence—(1 Cor 1:17-23)
(2) There is no difference because of Family or Name
(a) To Him, we all came out of the same dust— (Gen 3:19) "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.""
(b) A perfect example—Paul’s background— (Phil 3:7) "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ."
(3) There is no difference by human religion or religious upbringing—again, consider Paul—
(4) There is no difference because of race, color, or nationality—Because
(a) All men are made of one blood—Acts 17:26,
(b) All human flesh is the same kind of flesh—1 Cor 15:39
(c) Jesus died for all mankind—(1 John 2:2) "And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."
3. There Is No Difference Because—“…all have sinned…”
a. First of all, why is the Bible bringing THIS up again?
(1) Because we can never hear this enough
(2) Having made the point that there is no difference among people,
b. Here we are looking at the negative side of the righteousness equation—the fact that we have sinned against God and man, every single one of us. If nothing else unites the world, it is this: we are all sinners by heritage, by nature, and by choice
c. In the Greek, the verb is in the aorist tense, a snapshot. This strongly implies three things
(1) Viewed as one snapshot, one block of time, it is as if God is looking at this and seeing the entirety of human activity throughout the ages as one huge mess of sin.
(2) When the first man sinned (Rom 5:12, also an aorist), we all became guilty through him.
(3) And when the first man sinned, we also became sinners by nature—(Eph 2:3) "… we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."
d. The Apple Does Not Fall Far From the Tree
(1) Every human being is conceived in sin—(Psa 51:4-5) "Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight; That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me."
(2) Every human being is a liar from birth—(Psa 58:3) "The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies."
(3) Man’s heart is evil from an early age—(Gen 8:21) "…the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth…”
e. But sin is not the whole story—there is also a complete lack of moral actions and good works
4. All Fall Short of the Glory—(Rom 3:23) "…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…"
a. We fall short of the standard, we all fail to measure up.
(1) Jesus, distinct from all other human beings, could say at the end of His life: (John 17:4) ""I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do."
(2) He alone is the Standard of righteousness—(Acts 17:31) ""because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."" In God’s judgments, Jesus will not only be the Judge, He will be the standard
b. God’s Glory defined A very large topic
(1) The Meaning of the Words
(a) OT, “kabod”: weight, or worthiness, splendor, wealth, reputation.
(b) NT, “doxa”: reputation. “…its chief use is to describe the revelation of the character and the presence of God in the Person and work of Jesus Christ…” (New Bible Dictionary)
(2) Hundreds of References
(3) The Glory of the Lord is spoken of as a burning light which no sinful man may see. Exo 33:18-22 "And he said, "Please, show me Your glory." 19 Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." 20 But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live." 21 And the LORD said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 "So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by."
(4) The Glory of God is seen in His creation…Psa 19:1 "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork."
(5) The Glory of God is spoken of as a vision of His Presence…Acts 7:55 "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,"
(6) The Glory of God is the light which will light heaven itself. Rev 21:23 "The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light."
c. The Glory of God is the burning light of His Presence, revealing the absolute perfection of His Being, and encompassing all of His attributes, but the particular emphasis of this term here is on Christ:
(1) He is the Standard by which all others are compared.
(2) The moral perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ is beyond all others—He alone has fulfilled the Law—Mat 5:17
(3) He is fit to be our Savior, because he is the Lamb without blemish, without spot.
(4) The Power and Authority of Christ
(5) The Manifested Glory of Christ through His Person and Work
(6) We behold HIS glory, we put all our trust in Him, we follow Him.
d. But we all fall short of Him, which is why we need Him as our Lord and Savior.
e. Comparisons You might look good compared to your neighbor, but how do you look next to Christ?
Saturday, February 9, 2008
God’s Righteousness—Rom 3:22
Reading 3:19-26
1. God’s Righteousness Rom 3:22 “…even the righteousness of God…”
a. The Biggest need I have as a human being is to be righteous in God’s eyes, and I cannot achieve that state by anything I do, any work I perform, or any formula I might repeat.
b. I must have righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (Mat 5:20), or I will never see Heaven
c. I must have righteousness, or I will perish
d. I can’t produce righteousness, I can’t buy it, and I can’t fake it, because the righteous Judge of the universe can’t be fooled by falsehood. What am I going to do?
e. Someone must have creates righteousness for me—and that Someone is my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, The Son of God and The Son of Man
2. Righteousness Made By Hand
a. How has Jesus Christ created righteousness for me?
b. First, He came as a man, as the Seed of the Woman
(1) “…the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” Jn 1:14
(2) (Phil 2:6-8) "who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."
c. He had no sin, knew no sin, and did no sin
(Heb 4:15) "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."
(2 Cor 5:21) "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
(1 Pet 2:22) ""Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth"
d. He obeyed the Law—(Mat 5:17) ""Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."
e. He withstood, in the battles he fought with Satan, the same temptations that Adam and Eve succumbed to. (1 John 2:16) "For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world."
(1) The Lust of the Flesh (Mat 4:3-10) "… "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."
(2) The Lust of the eyes… “ 8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
(3) The Pride of Life “… 5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down…”
f. The Works of My Savior were perfect, fully complete—(John 17:4) ""I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do."
g. He was totally approved by the Father. Mat 17:5 "While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!""
h. But God is saying that of His Beloved Son—How can I share in that approval?
i. This is the love that has been lavished on the Son by the Father throughout all eternity
John 17:5 ""And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."
John 17:-25 ""… You loved Me before the foundation of the world"
(1) How can I share in this? How can I, a sinner and a rebel, a scoundrel and a scallywag, the man whose sin demands just punishment from God, How can I share in this glory, this love, this righteousness?
(2) I could not buy a share in this for all the riches the universe has ever produced.
(3) I could not earn this righteousness by any degree of self-abasement or self-sacrifice.
(4) No religious action of mine can move me one inch in the direction of where I must be
(5) Could my tears forever flow, could my my zeal no respite know, these for sin would on not atone, thou must save, and Thou alone.
(6) My credit is no good in eternal things
(7) I have no gift to bring that can even begin to influence the Owner of this precious treasure
(8) What great act does God require of any who would gain these eternal riches?
(9) How can I be righteous? What do you want Lord? What must I do to be saved?
Acts 16:31 “…"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.""
j. This great, eternal treasure, without which I cannot live in God’s Presence, is available to me and to you, and to “all who are afar off…” Acts 2:39, through faith alone.
3. Faith—A Much Misused Word “… the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ…”
a. Faith is not the cause of our salvation, it is the WAY of our salvation “…through faith…”
(1) Faith is not something that we use to buy something we could not otherwise afford
(2) Faith is the medium, the pathway, the road, through which the salvation of God flows
b. Definition of faith “…through faith…”
(1) What true, saving Faith is NOT
(a) Saving faith is not acknowledging a set of facts
(b) Saving faith is NOT certain knowledge of the Truth—(Luke 4:33-34) "Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, 34 saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are; the Holy One of God!""
(c) Saving faith is NOT “believing in God” (James 2:19) "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe; and tremble!"
(d) Saving Faith is not believing in lies and heresy—no matter how sincerely believed
(e) Saving faith is NOT Doctrinally correct but dead faith.
c. Is there then, a “faith” that does not save? YES!
(1) It is what Paul calls “believing in vain.” (1 Cor 15:2) "by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you; unless you believed in vain." Gal 4:11 "I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain."
(2) What is the nature of non-saving faith?
(a) Faith in the wrong Object
(b) Faith that does not come from the “heart,.” The innermost part of our being
(c) Faith that does not change a life
(3) What are some examples of non-saving faith found in the Bible?
(a) The people in 1 John 2:18-23
(b) Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8
(c) The False teachers in Jude and 2 Peter
(d) Hymanaeus and Philetus—(2 Tim 2:16-17) "But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort,"
(e) Demas (2 Tim 4:10) "for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica; Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia."
(f) The heretics and attackers warned against in Acts 20:28-32
d. What Saving Faith Is: (Rom 10:9) "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
(a) It faith that rises from the depths of your soul—(Rom 10:9) "… believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
(b) It is faith sufficient to cause you to confess the Lordship of Christ—
(c) It is Eph 2:10 faith, the kind that changes lives
(2) Saving Faith is more than mere acknowledgment of facts—the believer puts their entire faith and trust in Christ.
(3) Saving Faith is a sure thing, not a maybe thing. “Hope,” one of the elements of saving faith, is always a sure thing.
(4) When we have True Faith, we are convinced of the reality of what we believe in—(Heb 11:1) “…1Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (NASB)
4. The Way of righteousness is through faith in Christ Alone—(Rom 3:22) "… through faith in Jesus Christ…”
a. True Faith is In the right Object of faith,
(1) It is centered therefore, in Christ Jesus—
(2) But the Object of our faith must be in the real Jesus
(a) God and Man
(b) Eternal
(c) Lord and Savior
b. The Fashionable heresy—It is taken to be quite fashionable and quite well-mannered and sociable to say that Christ Jesus is not really the only way to heaven
(1) But there are no other ways
(1 Tim 2:5) "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,"
(John 14:6) "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
(Acts 4:12) ""Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.""
(2) There are no other ways
(a) There is no salvation in Buddha
(b) There is no salvation in Mohammed
(c) There is no salvation in the cults
(d) There is no salvation in so-called Christian liberalism, because they have no Bible, no Savior, and no Salvation—their religion is dead
(e) There is no salvation in legalism
(f) There is no salvation in psychology or therapy
(g) There is no salvation in support groups
(h) There is no salvation in politics
(i) There is no salvation in Drugs, alcohol, and partying
(j) There is no salvation in your work or your hobbies.
(k) There is no salvation in church membership
(l) There is no salvation in baptism
(m) There is no salvation in a heartless, dead, faith.
(3) But there is salvation, and that salvation is in Jesus alone!
c. Salvation—“…unto all and upon all them that believe…”
(1) The word is a present participle, what is called an accusative verb, which just means they it is are the object of the action—“unto all the ones believing…”
(2) This is True Saving Faith.
(a) It is “right now” faith—present
(b) It is continuous faith—present participle
(c) The faith that fizzled in the finals was flawed from the first
(3) The way of salvation is open to all—it is unto all – That is, the gospel is open to all, to all who hear it… Isa 45:22 , Mat 28:19-20, Rev 5:9
(4) The way of salvation is effective only for believers “…and upon all them that believe…” Christ came for “whosoever will” believe, not for the “whosoever won’ts”--John 3:16 , Heb 9:28
1. God’s Righteousness Rom 3:22 “…even the righteousness of God…”
a. The Biggest need I have as a human being is to be righteous in God’s eyes, and I cannot achieve that state by anything I do, any work I perform, or any formula I might repeat.
b. I must have righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (Mat 5:20), or I will never see Heaven
c. I must have righteousness, or I will perish
d. I can’t produce righteousness, I can’t buy it, and I can’t fake it, because the righteous Judge of the universe can’t be fooled by falsehood. What am I going to do?
e. Someone must have creates righteousness for me—and that Someone is my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, The Son of God and The Son of Man
2. Righteousness Made By Hand
a. How has Jesus Christ created righteousness for me?
b. First, He came as a man, as the Seed of the Woman
(1) “…the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” Jn 1:14
(2) (Phil 2:6-8) "who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."
c. He had no sin, knew no sin, and did no sin
(Heb 4:15) "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."
(2 Cor 5:21) "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
(1 Pet 2:22) ""Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth"
d. He obeyed the Law—(Mat 5:17) ""Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."
e. He withstood, in the battles he fought with Satan, the same temptations that Adam and Eve succumbed to. (1 John 2:16) "For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world."
(1) The Lust of the Flesh (Mat 4:3-10) "… "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."
(2) The Lust of the eyes… “ 8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
(3) The Pride of Life “… 5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down…”
f. The Works of My Savior were perfect, fully complete—(John 17:4) ""I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do."
g. He was totally approved by the Father. Mat 17:5 "While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!""
h. But God is saying that of His Beloved Son—How can I share in that approval?
i. This is the love that has been lavished on the Son by the Father throughout all eternity
John 17:5 ""And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."
John 17:-25 ""… You loved Me before the foundation of the world"
(1) How can I share in this? How can I, a sinner and a rebel, a scoundrel and a scallywag, the man whose sin demands just punishment from God, How can I share in this glory, this love, this righteousness?
(2) I could not buy a share in this for all the riches the universe has ever produced.
(3) I could not earn this righteousness by any degree of self-abasement or self-sacrifice.
(4) No religious action of mine can move me one inch in the direction of where I must be
(5) Could my tears forever flow, could my my zeal no respite know, these for sin would on not atone, thou must save, and Thou alone.
(6) My credit is no good in eternal things
(7) I have no gift to bring that can even begin to influence the Owner of this precious treasure
(8) What great act does God require of any who would gain these eternal riches?
(9) How can I be righteous? What do you want Lord? What must I do to be saved?
Acts 16:31 “…"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.""
j. This great, eternal treasure, without which I cannot live in God’s Presence, is available to me and to you, and to “all who are afar off…” Acts 2:39, through faith alone.
3. Faith—A Much Misused Word “… the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ…”
a. Faith is not the cause of our salvation, it is the WAY of our salvation “…through faith…”
(1) Faith is not something that we use to buy something we could not otherwise afford
(2) Faith is the medium, the pathway, the road, through which the salvation of God flows
b. Definition of faith “…through faith…”
(1) What true, saving Faith is NOT
(a) Saving faith is not acknowledging a set of facts
(b) Saving faith is NOT certain knowledge of the Truth—(Luke 4:33-34) "Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, 34 saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are; the Holy One of God!""
(c) Saving faith is NOT “believing in God” (James 2:19) "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe; and tremble!"
(d) Saving Faith is not believing in lies and heresy—no matter how sincerely believed
(e) Saving faith is NOT Doctrinally correct but dead faith.
c. Is there then, a “faith” that does not save? YES!
(1) It is what Paul calls “believing in vain.” (1 Cor 15:2) "by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you; unless you believed in vain." Gal 4:11 "I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain."
(2) What is the nature of non-saving faith?
(a) Faith in the wrong Object
(b) Faith that does not come from the “heart,.” The innermost part of our being
(c) Faith that does not change a life
(3) What are some examples of non-saving faith found in the Bible?
(a) The people in 1 John 2:18-23
(b) Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8
(c) The False teachers in Jude and 2 Peter
(d) Hymanaeus and Philetus—(2 Tim 2:16-17) "But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort,"
(e) Demas (2 Tim 4:10) "for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica; Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia."
(f) The heretics and attackers warned against in Acts 20:28-32
d. What Saving Faith Is: (Rom 10:9) "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
(a) It faith that rises from the depths of your soul—(Rom 10:9) "… believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
(b) It is faith sufficient to cause you to confess the Lordship of Christ—
(c) It is Eph 2:10 faith, the kind that changes lives
(2) Saving Faith is more than mere acknowledgment of facts—the believer puts their entire faith and trust in Christ.
(3) Saving Faith is a sure thing, not a maybe thing. “Hope,” one of the elements of saving faith, is always a sure thing.
(4) When we have True Faith, we are convinced of the reality of what we believe in—(Heb 11:1) “…1Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (NASB)
4. The Way of righteousness is through faith in Christ Alone—(Rom 3:22) "… through faith in Jesus Christ…”
a. True Faith is In the right Object of faith,
(1) It is centered therefore, in Christ Jesus—
(2) But the Object of our faith must be in the real Jesus
(a) God and Man
(b) Eternal
(c) Lord and Savior
b. The Fashionable heresy—It is taken to be quite fashionable and quite well-mannered and sociable to say that Christ Jesus is not really the only way to heaven
(1) But there are no other ways
(1 Tim 2:5) "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,"
(John 14:6) "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
(Acts 4:12) ""Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.""
(2) There are no other ways
(a) There is no salvation in Buddha
(b) There is no salvation in Mohammed
(c) There is no salvation in the cults
(d) There is no salvation in so-called Christian liberalism, because they have no Bible, no Savior, and no Salvation—their religion is dead
(e) There is no salvation in legalism
(f) There is no salvation in psychology or therapy
(g) There is no salvation in support groups
(h) There is no salvation in politics
(i) There is no salvation in Drugs, alcohol, and partying
(j) There is no salvation in your work or your hobbies.
(k) There is no salvation in church membership
(l) There is no salvation in baptism
(m) There is no salvation in a heartless, dead, faith.
(3) But there is salvation, and that salvation is in Jesus alone!
c. Salvation—“…unto all and upon all them that believe…”
(1) The word is a present participle, what is called an accusative verb, which just means they it is are the object of the action—“unto all the ones believing…”
(2) This is True Saving Faith.
(a) It is “right now” faith—present
(b) It is continuous faith—present participle
(c) The faith that fizzled in the finals was flawed from the first
(3) The way of salvation is open to all—it is unto all – That is, the gospel is open to all, to all who hear it… Isa 45:22 , Mat 28:19-20, Rev 5:9
(4) The way of salvation is effective only for believers “…and upon all them that believe…” Christ came for “whosoever will” believe, not for the “whosoever won’ts”--John 3:16 , Heb 9:28
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