Concluding the Testimony
Notes
Transcript
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,
to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,
since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.
Intro:
Intro:
Romans 3 concludes the point Paul has been making from the beginning of Romans. We are all sinners!
He breaks us down and answers all our protests of righteousness based on any false ideas we may have.
In Ch 3, he has shown our utter corruption.
He listed several sins and they fall into
Three categories:
1. Character - v10-12 Mind (None understand)
2. Conversation - v13-14 Heart (None seek)
3. Conduct - v15-17 Will (None do good)
Today, we are focussing on 20-31
It has been a dark picture up until this point. But now the good news!
AG: Ricky Hoyt is a little boy who’s completely and permanently disabled. As well as being physically disabled, he’s intellectually disabled as well. He can’t walk, he can’t talk, he can’t even eat without help. Ricky can’t do anything.
But a few years back, Ricky Hoyt completed the HAWAIIAN IRON MAN TRIATHLON. It was a SWIM, a RIDE and a RUN. And he made it to the finish line.
Now it’s pretty obvious that Ricky didn’t do it on his own. Ricky couldn’t do anything. But his dad Jack carried him all the way. During the swim section of the triathlon, he pulled him along in a little dinghy. In the cycling section, Jack pedalled 112 miles with Ricky strapped into a cart behind him. And on foot, he dragged him in a little trailer 26 miles. Until finally, Ricky’s dad carried him over the finishing line. And Ricky Hoyt became the first totally disabled person to ever complete the Hawaiin Iron Man triathlon.
RS: In spiritual terms, we’re TOTALLY DISABLED. In spiritual terms, on our own we can’t do a thing. BUT OUR HEAVENLY FATHER HAS CARRIED US ACROSS THE LINE.
Now there is a New Way
Now there is a New Way
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
But now, he says, the Law and the Prophets in the Old Testament pointed to it, they testified to it, but now it’s HERE.
even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
People were and still trusted their on good deeds
Many view the judgment as a balance
In chemistry, we used a balance where you place a sample on one side of the scale and then put known weights on the other to measure the mass. It is a more accurate way to measure.
Many wrongfully think that is hat God will do
They envision a balance with all their good on one side and their bad on the other.
Of course they think (or hope) they have done enough good to outweigh their bad and earn salvation.
Paul has made a clear case that is completely foolish!
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
BUT NOW: God has made a way through Jesus Christ!
His righteousness is the only thing that can eliminate our sin.
Justified by Grace
Justified by Grace
God declares all who have faith in Jesus just.
Justify means DECLARE RIGHTEOUS, not symbolically or potentially but actually.
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
And you can see it if you look at verse 23 and 24. Paul’s saying, everyone’s sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Back in verse 20 he said no-one will be DECLARED RIGHTEOUS by keeping the law. But - verse 24 - we’re JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE.
In other words, forget about justifying yourself, forget about trying to prove how righteous you are - GOD’S DONE IT FOR YOU.
He did all the work! He did it out of his GRACE, his sheer generosity.
It’s an amazing thought here. Cause he’s saying, rather than turning up to God and having to justify yourself, having to make excuses, HE’S DONE IT FOR YOU. And it’s GOD who’s going to say, it’s okay, doesn’t matter what you’ve done, YOU’RE JUSTIFIED.
even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
Read it again from the end of verse 22.
There is no difference, for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, AND ARE JUSTIFIED FREELY by his grace... and keep reading, cause it takes us to our next word...
Redemption came by Christ Jesus
Redemption came by Christ Jesus
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
You’ve seen pan shops. Maybe you’ve even got to the point where you’ve had to use one.
You’re tight for cash. So you take off your wedding ring, or you grab your portable tv, and you take it in, and they give you about half what it’s worth.
Now that’s not quite the end of the story, cause if it’s a pawn shop, if things take a turn for the better, you can actually get your stuff back.
When you get some money together, you can go back in - and you can REDEEM your wedding ring. Which means you can BUY IT BACK FROM CAPTIVITY. You can pay the price to set it free again. B
Jesus redeems us! He Pays THE PRICE to buy us back.
Which Paul says is exactly what Jesus has done. He’s paid for us. He’s redeemed us.
He redeemed us by His blood, His sacrificial giving of His life on the cross.
whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,
to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
God couldn’t just declare us righteous and ignore our sins
God is just
Sin has to be penalized
Atonement has to be made
He did that in Jesus!
ATONEMENT means to MAKE UP FOR A WRONG. Atonement means to MAKE AMENDS. .
Atonement is when you drop and break your friends best coffee cup and you buy a new one to replace it. Atonement is PAYING THE PRICE FOR A WRONG.
To put it right.
And the sacrifice of Atonement it’s talking about in verse 25 is the DEATH OF JESUS. Sacrificed on the cross to MAKE AMENDS for our sin. To pay the price for our wrongs. We deserve to GO TO HELL. And Jesus made up for that. He REDEEMED US - by paying with his life.
WHY DID GOD DO IT?
WHY DID GOD DO IT?
To demonstrate His righteousness. He alone can only make you right.
Paul gives us a DO and a DON’T.
Don’t Boast
Don’t Boast
First of all, the don’t. In the light of what God’s done, he says, one thing you definitely can’t do is BOAST.
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.
One thing you can’t do is have a stuck up spiritually superior sort of attitude.
And in the church at Rome, it seems like that was a problem.
You’ve got the Christians with a Jewish background on the one hand, and the Christians from a Gentile background on the other.
It seems like the Jews were boasting about their great religious pedigree, about their laws and regulations.And it was causing real division.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,
since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
where is boasting?
I mean, there’s no point Ricky Hoyt BOASTING about finishing the Triathlon. Cause it’s his DAD who did all the hard work.
It’s the same with us.
No point BOASTING. Or acting superior. Or thinking that there’s something about you that somehow DESERVED to be REDEEMED by God. Where then is boasting? It’s excluded, says Paul, cause we’re all on exactly the same footing. Sinners. Who God has justified. And that means the only right way to deal with each other is in HUMILITY. As forgiven sinner to forgiven sinner.
Have Faith
Have Faith
There’s a second part of our response.
We’ve just looked at the DON’T. Well, this one’s the DO. And Paul says the one thing you’ve got to do, is HAVE FAITH. Look through the passage again, and you’ll wonder how you missed seeing it - cause Paul’s talking about faith everywhere you look. Verse 22.
This righteousness from God comes THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS.
And again in verse 25. Through FAITH IN HIS BLOOD.
Verse 26. God is the one who justifies those who HAVE FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS.
Verse 27. It’s there again. A
And verse 28 - a man is justified by FAITH apart from observing the law. A
And verse 30 and verse 31.
since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.
FAITH: Seven times. Because it’s THE KEY.
Faith means TRUSTING IN GOD TO DO WHAT HE PROMISES.
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—
not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Conc
Conc
Which is exactly what God’s calling you to do. And me. And maybe you’ve never got to the point of doing that - TRUSTING the God who paid the price for you. Who REDEEMED YOU. Who gave his son to ATONE FOR YOUR SINS. And maybe you need to get to that point of saying, “I intend to TRUST JESUS from now on. To let him be the boss. And set my directions for me.”
Maybe you’ve always figured God would let you in because your good points outweigh your bad points. Maybe you figured God would let you in cause you’ve always been RELIGIOUS. And you’d be WRONG.
Maybe you never knew Jesus was prepared to carry you. That you don’t need to JUSTIFY YOURSELF. Cause he’s done it for you.
It’s great news. So maybe for you it’s time to stop trying to do that. And jump on board. To let him take you over the line.
