Winning the Prize

Romans 3:21-31

Big idea:

The Law reveals that Jesus is both savior and king

Structure:

The law reveals Jesus (21 - 22)

Jesus is savior (23-26)

Jesus is king (27 -31)

Welcome to the sermon section of the service, this part of the service is where we not only read from God’s word in the Bible but we are also challenged and encouraged by what the Bible means for you and I today. This part of the service is for each of us to see Jesus from the scriptures, a little more clearer. And it is my prayer and hope that through the preaching of God’s word that you would grow to love God.

And before we preach, we pray, asking God to help us to hear his message to the church.

Lets pray,

Dear Jesus, be with us today, open our eyes and ears that we may hear you and see you,

Bless the preaching of your Word, we pray in Jesus name,

Amen.

Hey Joe, If won lotto tonight, I would give you one million dollars. A good friend of mine said to me recently,

To which I replied, Thank you, that would be very kind of you.

And it’s funny, really, when someone offers you something so wildly generous that it might even lead us to think, well what would I do if my mate won Lotto, would I hope to be gifted some? Would I trust that I deserve some for all the ways I’ve helped them out in life? Would I just ignore it and trust the fact that we are mates and things won’t change between us?

I think I would be quite nervous for my friend if they won Lotto, because it might be a bit scary to think about how life would change for them.

Now, my friend hasn’t been put in that dilemma, however, there is someone who won a prize far better and far more important than Lotto, and do you know, he actually shares his gift, all of it.

His name is Jesus. And his prize, is not Lotto, rather, his prize is an everlasting relationship with God, a prize that takes him into the place where there is no pain or suffering, no wickedness or evil.

The prize that Jesus won is a perfect relationship with God. And the best part is that he didn’t win it for himself, he actually won it for us that we would have a perfect relationship with God.

And that right there is really what Easter is all about.

At Easter, we remember the death of Jesus on the cross, that was good Friday. And it’s good, because this cross represents the punishment that we deserve for our sins, the punishment that Jesus took on our behalf. And that is good indeed.

And then on Sunday, we remember that Jesus didn’t stay dead! Jesus rose from the grave, showing the world that he is more powerful than sin, more powerful than death, more powerful, because he is God.

Jesus then ascends to the throne in Heaven, to rule in his kingdom forever, offering the world the only way to enter this kingdom, this heaven.

Which means that the news of Easter is that God died to pay the price of our sins, and rose again to rule forever. And what makes that good news, is simply that by God doing all of that, God has shown the way to have a right relationship with God, which means that we can live forever with God in heaven. And that is certainly good news!

but there is a catch, or a couple of terms and conditions as it were. And it’s here in chapter 3 verses 21-31 where Paul shows us that there are in fact two conditions to receiving this gift of a right relationship with him.

And it’s these two conditions, that interestingly wasn’t all that agreed upon by the early church in Rome. See the Roman church is mixed with Jewish Christians, and Gentile Christians. Which means, it’s a church of people who grew up knowing God, from attending church all their life, that we might call religious people. And they are mixed with people who grew up not knowing God, simply they grew up in the culture of the day, and we might call them non-religious people.

Which is a very similar setting to the make up of people here in this church today, that’s right, here in this building, as we have lots of religious and non religious people here today.

And like any church, we often have difficulties in understanding exactly what these two conditions mean for our lives today.

Therefore, today we will see from the passage three key points to help us understand what Paul is saying to the church in Rome:

The Law reveals Jesus

Jesus is savior

Jesus is king

So let’s start with the law

The law reveals Jesus

Now, up until this point in the book of Romans, Paul has largely been telling both the religious people and the non-religious people all about sin. And he’s done it in a Non-religious people, this is your heart issue, and religious people this is your heart issue.

So now, Paul the author, is explaining the good news of Jesus in light of both groups key heart issue. And he starts in the context of history.

Paul begins verse 21:But now, the righteousness of God that has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it.

In other words, Paul said, the right way to live in relationship with God has now been shown and it wasn’t the law. Although, the law and history have always been talking about this right way to live in relationship with God.

Because in speaking of the law and the prophets, Paul is talking about the whole Old Testament. And the basically the gist of the Old Testament is that God is showing his people how to have a right relationship with him. That’s basically 99% of the Old Testament,

The remaining 1% of the OT is simply God showing us the beauty and wonder of what life with him looks like. It shows us what our best life should be. Because it shows us what we were made for, which is, living in a right relationship with God.

But now, in the New Testament, in the book of Romans, Paul is saying that the right way, is not trusting in the law itself. But rather trusting in the revealed right way, which is trusting in Jesus.

Verse 22: The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

Saying: that the way to have a right relationship with God is through faith in Jesus, and that is for anyone who believes.

Which is to say that the Old Testament was always talking about having faith in Jesus in order to live with God.

See the Old Testament was preparing everyone throughout history for this moment when Jesus would come and show us the way. Which is to say that Jesus was not unexpected, rather Jesus was always the plan from the beginning of the Bible.

Which is cool, that Paul is picking up on that for this passage, because, it is at this point when the tension of the two conditions of this gift of God, really hits the heart issue of both the religious and the non-religious.

A heart issue that will be a challenge for all of us here today, let us first address the religious folks as we unpack the second point:

2. Jesus is the savior

Now, you’re a faithful religious person right, you’ve worshiped God all your life by going to the church to pray, you say sorry to God for your sins. You feel deeply connected to the church system because you trust that church is keeping you in a right relationship with God.

And now Paul addresses you the religious with a confronting reality of what it means to have a right relationship with God.

Because the first condition of receiving God’s gift is that it’s not for just the religious people.

Verse 23, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Now this is pretty hard hitting for those in the church of Rome who were reading this, simply because the issue for the religious people is that they would offer all these items like animals and birds to God through the church, they would give their money and time, all as an offering to God to pay the price of their sin.

And in offering all this stuff to God, one would trust that they have been saved from the penalty of their sin. Kind of like a transaction,

Like, here ya go God, I’ve got a goat, a dove and a few grains to offer you this week, as I was a little naughty on Wednesday. There ya go, thanks for making all things cool between us.

Now, in the days of Jesus, that basically is how religion was being practiced.

Which Paul is saying, hey all of that stuff is not what actually saved you from your sin. It didn’t back in the Old Testament, and it doesn’t save you from your sin today.

Jesus is what saves you, he is the savior of the world, He the one who died on our behalf to pay the price of our sins.

Jesus is the savior. Not your religion. Paul uses a range of terms that bear so much meaning to the reality of what Jesus has done, terms that each highlight in their own way how significant this work of the cross is.

Paul speaks of being Justified, redeemed, propitiated. Lovely technical terms that each highlight the gravity of how important and full the work of Jesus on this cross is.

It is from this passage that we can say Jesus alone is the way to being in a right relationship with God. There is nothing extra to be done, nothing to add. Put your trust in Jesus alone.

And the work of Jesus is full, because the historical offerings that were given by people in the Old Testament in accordance to the law, were able to be “passed over” as the offerings were given in faith that God would one day provide the full and final offering.

And you have to understand how difficult this is to the religious person. Because if anyone knows anything about having a right relationship with God, it’s a religious person. You know the ones who’ve been at church all their lives, the ones who read the Bible everyday, who give money to the church, they pray and so on.

Because the difficulty for the religious person is to let go of what the heart trusts about what it takes to have a right relationship with God. To trust in Faith alone by trusting in Jesus alone is a struggle for someone who trusts their religion. Because the temptation to add the “oh but I read my Bible everyday, or I go to church and give money” is so tempting.

Tempting because it’s takes effort to do religious things, like go to church and read our Bibles, and when we put effort into something we can sometimes think we deserve some recognition for our efforts. which is fine if you want a prize for reading your Bible, however, simply reading the Bible doesn’t give you the prize of a right relationship with God.

Now, while faith in Jesus alone might be difficult for the religious person, it’s actually not all that difficult for the non-religious person to agree with that. See the non-religious person might actually be pretty stoked that this Jesus guy pays the price of the sin of the world.

One might say, Sure, I’m not religious, don’t really go to church, don’t really care much about God. But you’re telling me that someone else is keen to pay for my sins? Awesome, sign me up, I’ll have faith in that. And why not, it’s like a great insurance card or get out of jail free card.

And certainly if the passage ended at verse 26, the Gospel would simply be Jesus as the savior. The one who took the bullet for us, However, that not all that the Gospel means, for now Paul then leans into the second condition of receiving God’s grace which is to trust that

3. Jesus is the King

And so he brings back up the law.

And now he’s really explaining how the law functions now. Because for the religious people in the Old Testament, the law functioned as a rule over their lives, it instructed them in the way of having a right relationship with God.

So it’s a fair question to ask really, what then becomes of the law?

And you can feel the tension, because faith in Jesus is not just something to fix the sin in our life, like an ongoing roundabout of I sin, I say sorry, I sin again, I say sorry. and so on.

And the religious people know this, because they have had the law. For the law teaches people how to live in a right relationship with God. The law is for shaping everyday life and society, its for growing to be more like the author of the law, more like God.

And this here is the tension for the non-religious people. Because non-relgious people are quite content with the way they live their lives.

I mean, look I’m a non-religious person, and who are you to tell me how to live my own life?

And kind of fair enough. People are always telling other people how to live their lives, it’s a real off putting conversation when someone tells me what to do with my life.

See the heart issue for the non-religious person that Paul has been addressing is really the issue of trusting in one’s own moral compass. One’s own knowledge and wisdom for how to live life.

So Paul in verse 29, brings it all together by saying that God is one. He is both the God of the religious, and the non religious. And it’s God who brings both groups into a right relationship with himself, through faith in Jesus.

One God. Which means that when God tells the world how to live in a right relationship with him, by giving the world the law. Everyone who comes into a right relationship with God now ought to seek the right kind of wisdom for how to continue to live this life.

See when we trust in ourselves for the right way to live, we are trusting in our own rule. We become our own kings. We are saying that I will choose what wisdom to take on board and I will choose to live the life that I see is the right way to live.

Which is fine really, if we are living in a world with no God, or no future. You know, if live just ends when we die and there’s just nothingness, then sure live your best life according yourself, because why not.

Except. That’s not the world we live in. Unfortunately, for the non-religious people. God is both God of the religious and the non-religious, and so to live with yourself as the ruler, yourself as the king, is to deny that the law of God is for your good. It’s to say, hey God, I hear ya, but I just don’t want your wisdom, your knowledge, your love.

And to really drive that point home, Paul says, verse 30, God is the one who will justify the religious by faith and the non-religious by by faith.

That both groups, as in all people, are to be justified by the one God, the one God whom prepared his people with the law. That is the exact same law that reveals the right way to live with God.

The same law that points to Jesus, the one whom we put our trust in for our sins, is Jesus the one we put our trust in for how to live.

Therefore Paul says, we uphold the law.

We put our trust in Jesus for how to live each day. We trust him for how to order our lives and trust that his order, his rule is for our good.

Which is why the second condition of receiving God’s gift of grace, is to live with Jesus as king. To stop trusting in ourselves to be king, and trust in Jesus.

For that is what Easter is all about! Jesus dies on the cross and rises to life eternal. Jesus saves us from the cost of our sins which brings us into a right relationship with God. And Jesus rules over our lives as he teaches us how to live in a right relationship with God.

And so Paul is saying, we don’t have one condition without the other, both are for our good both are what we have faith in.

Now, let me appeal to each of you,

I’m asking you today, would you lay your religion down and quit putting your trust in the way you live, and instead put your trust in Jesus alone in order to have a right relationship with God.

I’m also asking, Would you quit putting your trust in your own rule over your life. And instead trust that Jesus’ rule over your live is for your good as it teaches us how to live in a right relationship with God.

And I’m asking this because, your God, the God of the world, he loves you, he made you for a relationship with him and he has shown us how much he love us all because he did all of this at Easter for us.

See Easter is so much more than chocolates and bunnies. Easter is about the grace of God that has been given to the world as a gift, that all who turn to Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and live with him as king of their lives will live forever in a right relationship with God.

Let’s pray.