Freed By Grace
Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 1:24:09
0 ratings
· 34 viewsFiles
Notes
Transcript
-
Romans 3:19–26 (ESV)
19 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.
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 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.
26 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.
---
ILL. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
We marvel at people who don’t quit.
Those who continue to grind away...
working as hard as they can day after day, year after year.
They keep plugging along.
And even though they might not be the most naturally gifted,
they make it to the professional ranks.
Yet, what happens when we face an insurmountable hurdle.
The holiness of God.
Our Natural Way of Thinking… Work to Fix Our Problems
Our Natural Way of Thinking… Work to Fix Our Problems
(v. 19-20) Describes the Law of God.
B/c of the Law of God,
we are accountable to God for our lives.
B/c of the Law of God,
we are given a knowledge of sin.
Even more pointed,
we have an awareness of our own rebellion and stubbornness against God.
Law of God CANNOT justify you,
since no human being can keep it.
So this pushes against the natural human solution to things.
See a problem… Work to Fix that Problem
Work to straighten things out.
Ex. If you feel like your life is in disarray,
you get organized.
Ex. If you don’t like the way you look,
you start running or working out.
See the problem… work to fix the problem.
There are a few issues with that way thinking here...
(v. 9-18) We have a BIG problem.
It describes the depravity of the human heart.
Bleak picture, Hopeless
We have woefully underestimated the problem.
“No one righteous, not even one.”
“No one who seeks God.”
“No one who does good.”
“No fear of God in them.”
So, not only have we underestimated the problem,
we have actually misdiagnosed the problem.
Since people are not seeking God,
they are actually working to fix something but are working in the completely wrong direction.
(v. 20) Uh, Oh…
“no human being will be justified by the work of the Law.”
Our actions don't justify us. They actually condemn us.
ILL. You may have heard this illustration of our problem with God.
Record Book of Sin:
Let’s imagine this book in my right hand contains a detailed account of my life. Each page has the details of all my sins; every word I have spoken, every thought that ever crossed my mind, every wrong deed I’ve ever done.
Here then (hold up book) is the problem - my sin. (Place book in palm of left hand.) God loves me (point to your left hand) but He hates my sin (point at the book on top of your hand) and must punish it. My sin separates me from God. There are times I have tried to take care of this problem. I would try to turn my life around. Sometimes I tried to turn over a new leaf. But the problem was still there. By my own efforts I cannot make things right with God.
“But” in (v. 21)
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
We Obtain What We Need Apart from Our Work
We Obtain What We Need Apart from Our Work
Our solution comes from OUTSIDE of our work.
“apart from the Law”
Law and Prophets point to the answer...
they point to Jesus.
“manifested” - displayed, made known.
Romans 3:22 (ESV)
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
“in Jesus”
“through faith”
“by grace”
“as a gift”
NO EXCEPTIONS (“no distinction”)
Romans 3:22–23 (ESV)
For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
No Exceptions...
Everyone of us have sinned.
The root word for "sin" here...
when used in ancient literature about archery...
where an archer missing the target ("missing the mark").
However, that seems to only think of sin as behaviors.
But the fuller sense would include the idolatry of my heart
and propensity to suppress the truth of God.
---
Faith —> Resting on Jesus
So salvation is not simply “not by works”...
"through faith" helps us understand...
faith is the instrument by which we receive Christ and His righteousness...
Scripture never says that we are justified "on account of faith".
it comes to us by “resting”.
Wow… that is not very productive.
Actually, that is maddening to those who have worked hard all their life to earn the life they have.
Jesus says, “Rest on me.”
25 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.
“through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”
Propitiation - "turning away of anger by the offering of a gift."
The gift is Jesus' blood.
Some translations - "sacrifice of atonement".
"show God's righteousness"
B/c of God's forebearance, it can seem that God does not take sin seriously or that he is not just. However, the cross is the greatest proof of the righteous judgment of God. Rather than bearing patiently forever, he pours out his wrath on himself.
This speaks to a driven culture, like ours.
Success and achievement are some of the highest regarded aspects of life.
---
Free gift of Justification
Justification and Righteousness are interchangeable.
Righteousness is a legal standing that is the result of perfect behavior.
Or "a performance record that opens doors".
To be brought into great blessing b/c you performed perfectly.
Justification - to be treated "as if"...
we had a perfect record.
Justification is a judicial act of God pardoning sinners,
and accepting them as righteous.
and permanently right their previously estranged relationship with himself.
Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies, January 5,
“If you obey for a thousand years, you’re no more accepted than when you first believed; your acceptance is based on Christ’s righteousness and not yours.”
I think we can believe this,
but we often struggle to believe the implications of this doctrine.
Think about the opposite,
How do you feel when you disobey and fail miserably in your sin?
Do you feel that you are now less accepted?
Many would say “yes”
Jerry Bridges,
“We recognize that even our best efforts cannot get us to heaven, but we do think they earn God’s blessing in our daily lives… We were saved by grace, but we are living by performance.”
---
ILL. Chicago Pastor and Son
Great kid all the way up through high school.
About 19 or 20 yrs. old,
Starts distancing himself from his family.
Doesn't come home for birthday's or holidays.
And dives headlong into a lifestyle of the drug culture.
And no contact for a year and a half.
One Saturday night/Sunday morning, the phone rings at 2am.
It was the police.
DUI... "we've got your son if you want to come get him out of jail."
So he goes down to the police station in the township where they lived.
Police - "We don't know what you're talking about.
We don't have that boy here."
Goes to the next township over...
They say the same thing,
"we don't know what you're talking about".
He tries another police station... nothing.
At this point it was 4am,
He was already up and it was now Sunday morning.
So he figured he'd go to the last place that he knew his son lived.
Arriving there around 5am,
he pulls up to a crack house.
He walks in with furniture scattered around the house...
mattresses all over the floor...
people passed out everywhere.
Goes to a back room and finds his son...
laying asleep on a mattress.
The dad's heart breaks,
he kneels down and he kisses his son on the forehead.
About 3 months later,
his son showed up.
Two weeks later... again.
And again, and again.
Eventually, all the time.
And back integrated to the family.
And the dad finally got the courage to ask,
"What happened to draw you out of that life?"
The son said, "Dad, you don't know."
Dad, "No. I don't have a clue."
Son, "It was that night, dad.
The night when you came and found me."
"That call you got from the police...
That was one of my friends playing a prank on you."
"And we were all laughing that you were out in the middle of the night looking for me.
But the one thing we never imagined
was that you would come to the house."
"And Dad, we saw you coming down the street.
And we all dove for the beds.
"Dad, I wasn't asleep when you came to the house."
"And when you walked into the house and found me,
I knew that you would be so furious at me
that I was ready for you to kick me as hard as you could."
"Dad, you want to know what changed me...
"You kissed me."
Being accepted, cherished, and loved...
when we know we deserve to be kicked...
That transforms our us.
We are Freed from the Constant Need for Validation
We are Freed from the Constant Need for Validation
“shows God’s righteousness”
26 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.
“just and the justifier”
just and the justifier
He is Perfect justice,
AND the one who rescues those who transgress that perfect justice.
He is the one who is "righteous".
He is the one who has lived the law.
His life doesn't negate the law but upholds the law.
Our salvation was earned...
but not by us.
It was earned/merited by the life of Jesus.
Justifier - the one who validates us.
He declares us as righteous (treats us as righteous),
but yet, allows that freely given status to lead to transformation into actual righteousness.
---
App. This is a message that everyone of us needs to hear,
but we also need to reorient to it in how we live.
And, don’t you think people in our culture need to hear this too.
This is a wonderful message of hope and freedom.
Culture says, “I need you to accept me.”
“If you don’t validate me and my lifestyle,
that is HATE.”
That’s why we give out “participation awards”.
almost 90% of kids make the Honor Roll or Headmasters list.
Why?
B/c everyone needs to be validated.
We recognize people’s need for it.
So we try to fill it or at least, try not to bring it to the surface.
When you make a post on social media,
what do you find yourself doing after?
Checking how many people saw it,
liked it, commented on it.
How you feel about your comments or yourself is based on how many people like your post.
We live in a “validation craving” world.
But all of those things don’t help feel validated.
You make the honor roll and still feel that you need further validation.
You make Straight A’s… feeling is still there.
You get a great job, become wildly successful...
feeling is still there.
Why? B/c the think you chased after in your life...
thinking it would soothe that nagging feeling in your soul,
that nagging feeling is still there.
It’s almost as if you couldn’t possibly be good enough to take it away...
And there… is the truth of the Gospel.
You are correct...
No level of success or acceptance will ever soothe your soul.
B/c you will always need more
or you know that it can be taken away
or you have keep it up.
So, success is a trap unto itself.
You achieve something,
but you know you have to do it again and again...
So it doesn’t help.
But success and achievement were never meant to do that.
It is right to pursue excellence for the glory of God...
Yet, it can never validate you...
You are already justified...
we simply say it, but don’t believe it in our heart.
App. Diagnostics that you are not living according to the righteousness of God, but according to performance.
Pride - for accomplishing something
Fear - that what you have will be taken away.