Romans 3:29-31
Notes
Transcript
This morning we jump back into our series or journey through the Letter to the Jews in Rome called Romans
Written by Paul to Jews in Rome
Paul thus far as been what seems like pretty rough on the Jews
They have an understanding with a relationship with God through the Abraham Covenant
That they will obey the law and that God will be their God and they will be His people
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
God desires all people to be saved through a personal relationship with Jesus
He intended to use the Jews to be a light to the world
See salvation would come to them first and then they were take that salvation into a lost world
But things go arey
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.
Paul again is asking questions
The Jews believed their salvation was tied to the law and also the
We see that the Jews believed their salvation was through the convenient through Moses
3 Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. 5 ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” 7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.
If you will obey my voice
If you will obey my voice then you shall be my own possession
The Jews were to be Gods Holy People set aside for the salvation of those who believe
It was to the Jews first and they believed that if they just followed the law, they would be good
Except no one can every follow the law
Especially when Jesus shows up and shows them that you may be right physically
Meaning you may have not physically killed anyone but you could hate them in your heart and that is just the same
There for they are guilty of their sin
Sin is a problem for everyone
Paul is explaining to the Jew that yes you recieved the oracles of God first but the oracles of God do not save you
it is by faith you and I are saved
That is why Paul is asking them what boasting is there in being a Jew
There is no because you are not justified by works but you are justified by Faith
You and I today are justified by Faith in Christ
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.
Let me be clear
It is faith that saves you and since faith is not seen it is seen through your works
Working does not save you but from of our faith in Christ is your works
Now some of you will hear that and go ok I can fake it till I make it except you can’t you will be found out
Your works are a product of your faith you have in Christ Jesus
Without the faith in Christ Jesus you are just being a good person as defined by the world
And it is just behavior modification
See it is your faith in Christ Jesus that should drive you to action
That is what Paul is trying to get the Jews in Rome to understand that it is only through faith in Christ that you are made righteous
that you are made righteous through your faith in Christ
It would have blown their minds
You mean it has nothing to do with how Good of a person I am
Nope
It means there is nothing I can do myself to be saved
No
That is what the Jews had such a problem understanding because for so long it was all done through the physical law
And now because of the death and resurrection of Christ things have changed
It is no longer of the Law but Faith in Christ
Paul continues to ask questions
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.
After Pauls comment about righteousness only through faith and not works of the law
He goes right back to the Jews and gets to the heart of the matter
He is asking them
Do you really think that God is only the God of the Jews?
Is He not the God of the gentiles also?
And church probably they would have believed that God was only the God of the Jews
And they would have disagreed that He was not the God of the gentiles
Church let me be clear
God is the God of the Universe
Who created dirt church he most defiantly the God of everyone
And because He is the God of everyone He will save everyone who
Repents and trust in Jesus
Paul is making that clear to the Jews
It is no longer about the law or what you can do
It is through faith in Jesus
31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.
Then Paul ends with the final question of the chapter or of today
After He has spent probably the last chapter explaining to them it is no longer by works that you are made righteous
That Jesus came to die and was raised again
And because of that salvation is through a personal relationship with Christ
Paul asks do we nullify the law by our faith in Jesus
NO
May it NEVER BE
We know establish the law
By Jesus’s own words
17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
Jesus explains that He did not come to abolish the law
Jesus did not come to get ride of the law
Jesus did not come to do away with the Jewish law
But church He came to fulfill it
Remember that through the Mosiac Covenant if they obeyed Gods voice they would be His people and they would be His God
And they must have thought that as long as they followed the rules they would be righteous
Then Jesus comes and says some different things
Jesus is now saying it is no longer about the physical following of the law but now it is a matter of the heart
And they get upset
Jesus then says I didn’t come to get ride of the law actually I came to fulfill the law
To fulfill the law
23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
The law points us to Christ as our savior
That was the purpose of the law to show us Christ and point us to a personal relationship with Christ
And since Christ came He did fulfill the law
And now that He did come we are no longer under the law
But under grace because of what Christ did on the cross by taking your sin and my sin and dying on the cross
The law leads us to Christ
And because of Christ we can be saved through faith in Jesus
And because if you repent and trust in Jesus you can be saved
And it is through that personal relationship with Jesus that you are driven to action to works
This morning the message to you is you can be saved through a personal relationship with Christ
As band comes up
You can meet people at the front and talk with them about make the decision this morning to be saved by faith in Christ
Or maybe you need to spend sometime at the alter in prayer
the altar is open
