One Race, One God, One Law, One Gospel

(Rom 3:29-31) "Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law."

1. One Race—(Rom 3:29) "Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also…”

a. The Jew and Gentile problem

(1) The Jews regarded Gentiles as subhuman

(2) The Jews would have nothing to do with the Gentiles
(3) The Gentiles thought the Jews were exclusive and odd

(4) In the church, some Jewish believers offended Gentile believers by their adherence to the Mosaic laws and customs

(5) And, Gentile believers often tended to offend the Jewish believers by not being sensitive to their cultural heritage

b. Racial problems in history and in the world today

(1) Man’s history since Babel, when God divided the earth, is to be tribal—we here in the US have missed most of that because of the American “melting pot”, which really is more like a tossed salad.

(2) There are between 45 and 66 wars going on most of the time in the world, and most of them have to do with race, ethnicity, religion, or some other “nationalist” kind of issue

c. WE ARE ONE RACE

(1) We are one race, descended from Adam through Noah, We are “one blood,” as Paul tells us in Acts 17, but we can’t get it right—Why?

(2) The most segregated hour in America is eleven o’clock Sunday morning—we have made real progress here at FBC Clinton, but why is this a problem?

(3) As Dr. E.V. Hill once said, the regular Muslims, the Buddhists, and most of the drug dealers have no problem with this—why so the church?

(4) What did God Show Peter about this?

(a) (Acts 10:28) "Then he said to them, "You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean."

(b) (Acts 10:34-35) "Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 "But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him."

(5) What is the problem? Three letters S—I—N


2. One God—(Rom 3:30) “… since there is one God …”

a. False teachings about the basic nature of God

(1) False teaching: Atheism

(2) False teaching: Agnosticism

(3) False teaching: Inclusivism

(a) False teaching: There are many different and valid manifestations of God

(b) False teaching: There are many ways to God

(c) False teaching: Jesus Christ is A way to God.

(4) False teaching: Post-modern theology—we can’t know for sure if there is only one God, but there might be.

b. The positive teaching on God

(1) The Bible’s answer –One God

(1 Cor 8:6) "yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live."

Ex 20:3, De 4:35, De 6:4

3. One Law—“…31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law…"

a. The Great Misconception—God does not just “forgive and forget”—to save us, someone must pay for every sin.

b. God’s Nature Demands it!

(1) God is an Absolute God of Righteousness, Holiness and Justice, He must have a resolution for each and every sin, or He denies His own character

(2) But, isn’t God merciful? Certainly, but God’s Mercy is not EMPTY mercy, with no resolution of sin. Here what the Scriptures say on this:

(Exo 34:4-7) "So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone. 5 Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 "keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.""

(Ezek 18:4) ""Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die."

c. The Bible teaches it in many places, that we shall all give an account to God.

(1) For believers, for any and all who believe, the payment was made at the Cross, in a substitutionary atonement, and though we will have our Christian life evaluated for the giving of rewards, we will not come, ever again, into Krina judgment

(2) For the unsaved, their payment is made personally, for all of their sins—Rev 20:11-15, Mat 7:21-23

d. How, then does God’s salvation plan, justification by faith alone, uphold the Law (in all its editions—conscience, nature, conviction and revelation)?

(1) First—Every sinner is dealt with on an individual basis. The details are enormous—all of the sins of every human being who ever lived are included in this record

(2) Second, every sin is paid for

(a) For believers, for any and all who believe, the payment was made at the Cross, in a substitutionary atonement, and every name of every true believer is to be found in the Book of Life. And though we will have our Christian life evaluated for the giving of rewards, we will not come, ever again, into Krina judgment—

(b) Remember, that Christ died to make salvation possible for all, but it is when we believe that propitiation takes place.

(c) For the unsaved, their payment is made personally, for all of their sins—Rev 20:11-15, Mat 7:21-23, through being thrown into the Lake of Fire for all eternity.

e. Because our sins have been paid for by Christ, every single sin of every believer is paid for. Because the lost do not believe and avail themselves of the glorious satisfaction for their sins, they pay for each and every one for all eternity.

4. One Gospel—(Rom 3:30) “… since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith…”

a. Again, God is not inclusive—there is only One True God—“one God”

b. “…Who Will Justify…

(1) First, GOD will justify—He alone is the One who saves—AS in Romans 8:33—“…It is God who Justifies…”

(2) Second, God will justify those who truly confess His Son as their Lord and Savior and who truly believe in their hearts that God has raised Him from the dead—Rom 10:9-13. No one is turned away

(3) God Sent His Son to heal us of our wretched condition of being captive to sin, and there is only one way for that to be made so—(1 Tim 2:5) "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,"

(4) He sent His Son, Who is the Way to this one Salvation—(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."

(5) This way of salvation is the ONLY way of salvation—(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.""

(6) And Knowing Him, Knowing the Triune God, IS eternal life, as we will rest in Him forever, serve Him forever, Learn of Him forever, Glorify and praise Him forever—(John 17:3) ""And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

c. One of the things that Christ desires is to break down the walls and barriers between His people—He desires unity, not the false unity of compromise and watering-down religion to a feel-good society, least-common-denominator—no.

d. Instead, God desires unity of the Holy kind—unified in these things:

(1) Truth—Jude 1:3—We are to be dedicated to the faith—One Faith—Eph 4

(2) Community—We are to be unified in the basics of what a church is—a group of people committed to the Apostles’ doctrine, fellowship (which is shared ministry), the breaking of bread, and prayer—Acts 2:42

(3) Mission—Mat 28:18-20—to make DISCIPLES who will follow Christ in thought, word, and deed.

(4) Purity—we admonish one another and exhort one another to good works. (Col 1:28, Heb 10:24-25

(5) Warfare—the war within, and the war without. 2 Cor 10:1-6 shows us the battlefield for warfare is not in houses “possessed” by demons, or in confronting demonic forces on some level that no mere human can imagine. No—our battle is in the minds of people who are dominated by the strongholds of Satan—

e. The point of real unity for the church is the “faith once delivered to the saints.”

(1) The Faith that Jesus preached, The Faith by which we are saved

(2) The Faith that does not change, has not changed, and will never change, unto eternity, world without end.

(3) It is the Faith that sounded forth from the great revival in Jerusalem—(Acts 6:7) "Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to THE FAITH."

(4) It is the set of truths about salvation that grew in spite of all of the powers of Hell—(Acts 16:5) "So the churches were strengthened in THE FAITH, and increased in number daily."

(5) The Mission of the church is to teach and LIVE these tings— (Rom 1:5) "Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to THE FAITH among all nations for His name,"

(6) This is the faith in which we stand, on guard, ready to defend and give an answer—(1 Cor 16:13) "Watch, stand fast in THE FAITH, be brave, be strong."



(7) This is the faith by which you can test yourself —(2 Cor 13:5) "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in THE FAITH..”

(8) This is the place where you hold your ground—(Col 1:23) "… continue in THE FAITH, grounded and steadfast…”

(9) This is the faith in which we teach and plant the true believers— (Col 2:7) "rooted and built up in Him and established in THE FAITH, as you have been taught…."

(10) This is the faith that we pass on as a holy legacy— (1 Tim 1:2) "To Timothy, a true son in THE FAITH…”

(11) (2 Tim 4:7) "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept THE FAITH."

(12) (1 Pet 5:9) "Resist [the Devil and demonic forces], steadfast in THE FAITH…”

(13) (Jude 1:3) "… contend earnestly for THE FAITH which was once for all delivered to the saints."

(14) There is only ONE Faith! (Eph 4:4-6) "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."

One Race, One God, One Law, One Gospel.