BY FAITH AND THROUGH FAITH
Notes
Transcript
INTRO
Last week we talked about inward faith.
Paul talked about Jews and Gentiles, now he puts them all together.
He will use the phrase, “no distinction”
The world today separates everyone into categories.
Jesus cut through the distinctives and laid out a Gospel that is Universal. The gospel of Christ appeals to everyone, everywhere. It is not racist it does not have a cast system, you can be rich or poor, young or old, male or female. It is needed by all and has a solution for all.
Paul starts by quoting Ps 14:1-3
9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
10 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And the path of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;
20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.
Isn’t it cool to see Gods Mercy and Love. How seeks us out while we are sinners. The church is full of sinners that God is seeking out and calling you to himself. What we do here is say thank you and recognize all that God has done.
The Law reveals sin to us
When your cruising down the freeway at 80 miles per hour that little sign that says 65 lets you know that you a re breaking the law.
WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT
If your a Jew the law reveals to you that you are a sinner and in need of a savior. To the Gentile you as well are sinners everyone is in need of a savior. Why? we are controlled by sin
1. Both Jew and Gentile are sinners
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
2. Self Centered —v. 11. No one understands or seeks God. God looked down from heaven to see if any sought God—Ps. 14:2
2 The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God.
Life for the most part is all about us. Think about your day. You are the king or queen of your own kingdom. Giving god an hour and a half on Sunday is a challenge for most. It depends when their favorite team is playing if they can make it to church or not. Oh Oh.
You don’t know how thankful i am tha you are here today.
3. Heart Sickness —v. 12. They chose to go astray. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
We all have heart disease. We need to turn in in for a new one. We have evil thoughts , evil desires and have evil motives . It is a wonder God puts up with us.
4. Operate with Deception —vv. 12–18. Unprofitable people:
6 “Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the Lord.
5. Mouth Problem —v. 13-14
6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.
6. Feet That Shed Blood —v. 15. Shed blood—Prov. 6:18
18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil,
7. Way is full of Destruction and Misery—Prov. 2:15
15 Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways;
8. No respect—vv. 17–18. No peace or honor—Isa. 48:22
22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.
The religious leaders had a form of religion but didn’t know God in a personal way. They fasted, prayed, paid tithes, but these were outward manifestations only. They did not have God in their hearts—
We are now held Responsible—we are now held responsible by the law .
Isn’t it interesting that society pushes irresponsibility. A question was raised in Chicago about the judges allowing criminals to walk free and not be prosecuted. Now they have to close major department stores down because mobs of young people are breaking in a stealing everything they can get there hands on. Knowing that they will never be held responsible. Another question was asked and that was who are the parents of these kids.
We live in a morally sick world.
Where a 12 year old is responsible to make a life altering decision to change there gender but is not responsible enough to drink or get there ear s pierced without and adult.
God holds us accountable. Why because He is righteous.
Righteousness is Manifested through Christ Jesus vv. 21–24
Pardon—v. 21. God’s way of salvation and righteousness is through Christ. See John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Gods Salvation Plan—v. 22. Righteousness by faith is for all who believe. We must be born again
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;
2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Everything is through Jesus Christ
30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
Here is a word we don’t use from the pulpit anymore.
Propitiation - Appeasing the wrath and gaining God’s good will. I broke it down into two “p”s.
1. The plan—v. 25. “For God sent Christ Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to end all God’s anger against us. He used Christ’s blood and our faith as the means of saving us from His wrath. In this He was being entirely fair, even though He did not punish those who sinned in former times. For He was looking forward to the time when Christ would come and take away those sins”—LB.
2. The pardon—v. 26. He forgives all sin. He saves to the uttermost—Heb. 7:25 . All who call upon Him will be saved—Rom. 10:13, John 6:37.
25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Propitiation)
The Bible states that it was only the cross that did this. Jesus is “the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn 2:2 KJV).
When the NT says “propitiation,” then, it means that Jesus’ death on the cross for the sins of mankind put away God’s wrath against his people once and for all.
People don’t just commit sin they are under sin
Marxist believe distribution of wealth is our problem, BLM believes white supremacy is the problem, Philosophers, and Gnostics believe we have a knowledge problem, Many Americans believe we have a political problem, Everyone believes we have a moral problem.
In reality we have a serious sin problem
It wants to master you, it has a grip on you.
No other religion has an answer to the power of sin problem.
Jesu is the solution
He is the means of salvation, redemption, justification, atonement.
It his work on the Cross.
The cross is where sin is dealt with
We are brought back into right Relationship—vv. 27–31
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Conclusion
Altar Call.
Pascal Quote, “To make a man a saint, it must indeed be by grace; and whoever doubts this does not know what a saint is, or a man.”