The Peace of Justification
Notes
Transcript
1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching A Costly Experiment
A Costly Experiment
According to John Adams, a third of the American colonists was against the Revolution, another third was indifferent, but the other third was active in the Revolution; and it is to them that we are indebted for our way of life. The freedom, the peace they cherished and purchased, was a costly, daring thing.
As we know - PEACE is something that MOST OFTEN - needs to be FOUGHT for...
BECAUSE the pride of man will do it’s best to blur the DIFFERENCE between...
Tyranny and peace (in a physical world)
And - Idolatry and peace (in the spiritual world)
PEACE is ALSO - PERSUED and cherished!
What is often MOST ATTRACTIVE about a good vacation?
PEACE
Getting away from all the...
DEMANDS of life
NUANCE
Day-to-Day DECISIONS
We LONG for PEACE - AND I THINK WE KNOW THIS TO BE TRUE...
Because - our SOULS - long for peace.
Today we'll be breaking into Romans chapter 5...
For the past several chapters - We’ve seen Paul BUILD the case that justification COMES by:
Faith not works
Grace not law
and Divine power, not human effort
And if you recall, Paul kept going back and pointing to Abraham, as the perfect evidence for Justification by Faith.
The ironic thing - was that Abraham had been the Jews perfect evidence for Justification by WORKS...
...at least THEY thought so...
And so Paul takes their best evidence, and flips it on it's head.
Not only did Paul explain that Abraham was in fact justified by FAITH, but that his faith grew stronger in trusting God.
From LAST WEEK - verse 20 in chapter 4 told us this:
20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Abraham's faith grew strong...fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.
What did God promise?
God had promised (when Abraham was 75 years old) that he and his wife...
would have a child
NOW - 75 years old - seems improbable...
BUT God made it even MORE impossible - and waited 25 more years - for Abraham to have his child… ISAAC.
WHY? - to remove all human boasting!
Abraham looked at his situation...considered his flesh
and thought...
That's impossible....THEREFORE..
...that's EXACTLY what God is going to do!
And then Paul provides us with the best news...
That the way to get right with God - will never change...
...that it will ALWAYS be by faith alone in Christ alone.
22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”
23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,
24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Do you see that Paul here, as he writes these words, has us in his mind?
23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,
24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
"It" - (God's Righteousness) will be counted to US Who Believe in Him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord.
Us who believe
All those who would believe...
...BUT BELIEVE WHAT ABOUT JESUS OUR LORD?
verse 25:
25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Those who believe that Jesus Christ was killed for their sins, and raised for their justification...
...are those to whom God's righteousness is counted...or imputed.
We can't even begin to fathom the righteousness of God...
...and yet it is counted to us who believe.
You know there are many gifts that come as a result of our Faith...
...and this week Paul is going to reveal for us possibly some of the most overlooked gifts that we receive as a result of faith.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
I think you'd probably agree that if we wanted to just list out all the gifts that come as a result of faith...
...we could just walk thru each verse...
...and write down that gift and be done with it...
BUT, seeing that the point of Scripture is to reveal to us WHO GOD IS...
What we really want to do is contemplate...
what these gifts say about the giver...
What do these gifts reveal about God?
So let's get to it:
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
SLIDE: Justification by Faith: Brings Peace with God
Justification by Faith
Justification by Faith
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 10 years or so, you would know that Christians have been persecuted in the middle east during that time....
And the middle east, really for decades, has been a melting pot of chaos.
Iraq
Iran
Afghanistan
Syria
Israel
Pakistan
It's almost surprising that all of these places still exist...right?
Given the hatred that saturates that area.
Everyday we hear something about war or possible war...
And our reply is what?
Just keep the peace...!!
Just keep the peace.
Now, when we break down our meaning of "peace" in that instance, that's not the same peace that Paul mentions in chapter 5 verse 1.
When we say - "Just keep the peace"
What we're basically asking for is what?
Civility
What is Civility?
formal politeness and courtesy in behavior or speech:
So basically we're saying - Listen, I don't care if you hate each other...just be polite...
...show some table manners here...
...We want to see, external politeness...
...external civility...
In verse 1 here when Paul says:
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the FIRST gift of justification we're going to look at...AND...
...this isn't merely external politeness - goodwill.
...this isn't civility that Paul's talking about...
This is an eternal grace of God, bestowed upon those who believe in Jesus.
And if this grace, this gift of peace, is something that is given due to faith...
...then clearly we are without this peace before having faith in Jesus.
before we put our faith and trust in Christ, we do not have peace with God...
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
So before justification by faith, the wrath of God remains on us...
The peace with God that Paul is talking about here in verse 1 is a byproduct of:
God's wrath being removed
The condemnation of God being lifted (no condemnation for those in Christ)
The result?
Peace with God.
Following justification by faith, no longer does God's wrath remain on us...
...no longer does the condemnation of God remain on us...
If the wrath of God has been removed from us, and there is now no condemnation for those in Christ,
then the trials that God walks me through are not due to His wrath toward me...
...but instead due to His mercy as He draws me closer to Him...
...in and thru that trial.
LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN!!
SLIDE:
If I have surrendered myself to Jesus, trusting in Him and Him alone for my salvation, then any trials that God walks me through are not due to His wrath toward me, but instead due to His mercy, as He draws me closer to Him in and through that trial.
And SOOOO - the peace we're talking about here isn't a fragile peace...
...here today...gone tomorrow!
How do we know this?
This peace comes through our Lord Jesus Christ...
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Back to verse 25 of chapter 4:
25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Christ was killed (delivered up) for our sins, and raised for our justification.
He was raised for our justification, therefore faith IN Christ...in Him...
...justifies us before God...
...and therefore brings us peace with God...through Jesus
An eternal sacrifice...
with an eternal reward...
brings eternal peace...
IF you have been justified BY Faith in Jesus Christ...
...YOU WILL FOREVER BE AT PEACE WITH GOD...
verse 1 says - ...since we've BEEN JUSTIFIED by faith, we HAVE peace with God...
this phrase "we have peace" is in the present tense...
The verb tense where the writer portrays an action in process or a state of being with no assessment of the action’s completion
Eternally at peace with God...
And so this impacts us in our lives...
Being at peace with the creator of the universe impacts how we live...
And it should IMPACT US - on both sides of the equation!
On the one side:
It should impact our faithful successes
We should NEVER view our faithful successes as the BASIS of God’s LOVE toward us!
We should never look at our God-Honoring deeds as - FUEL to the FIRE of God’s LOVE for us.
The BASIS of God’s LOVE FOR ME - is JESUS and what He did FOR ME...
And my FAITH in Him - CONNECTS ME - to the basis of God’s LOVE for me - Jesus Himself!
THAT’s one side of the equation...
On the OTHER Side....
PEACE with God - should IMPACT our FAILURES of faithfulness
If I STUMBLE - - WHEN I stumble...
I MUST KNOW - I HAVE Peace with God!
And God LITERALLY WANTS us to KNOW THIS...!
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
THIS verse - THIS truth - is meant to REMIND us of what?
The PEACE with God - that Justification by Faith - BRINGS!
SO PEACE with God should help us with 2 THINGS - at least...
SLIDE:
Peace with God should guard us from self-righteous thoughts, thinking that my good deeds earn me peace with God, and it should guard me from despair in thinking my failures decrease God’s love for me.
And this peace - is eternal.
But this is not the only blessing that comes by way of Justification by faith.
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
What do we see here?
SLIDE: Justification by Faith: Brings Joy in the Hope of God
Justification by Faith
Justification by Faith
back to v2
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
I think we'd all agree that HOPE can be a very powerful thing...
*A strange case was heard before the Court of Special Sessions in Brooklyn, New York. Harry G. Purvis, local businessman, was charged with violating a community ordinance. He had placed a large sign on his building calling for peace through world federation. The neighbors objected to the sign and hauled him into court, charging that under a certain ordinance nothing could be advertised that could not be obtained on the premises. Peace, the petition contended, could not be packaged and sold.
Among the witnesses for the defense was the distinguished journalist, Norman Cousins, who said that in his opinion the product being advertised was available. And the product was hope!
We've all heard stories of people surviving freak accidents because they were "hoping" to see their kids one last time, and so they pressed on.
And so they say that that hope drove them...
But we put our hope in many things don't we:
We put our hope in:
Our spouse
Our athletic ability (hope I make it all the way)
Organic food (hope to live till I'm 110)
Our work ethic (hope to make it up that corporate latter)
Our bank account (hope to retire early)
Our moral compass
All of these things - temporal right?
All of these things - limited right?
We can eat as much spinach as we want....we're going to die.
We're going to die...
SO, where do we put our hope?
When we put our hope in something that is limited, our response to that hope will also be limited.
I wanna see hands:
How many of you would bet your life's savings and all your possessions that the Browns will win the Superbowl this year?
No one's jumpin on that train right?
When we put our hope in something that is limited, doubts rise...
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
We rejoice in hope of the glory of God...
THIS hope, grounded in that which is NOT limited...
Having been justified by faith, we are given a new hope...
...a HOPE of what's to come...
*Podcast (this past Wed - Spoke to an Inmate) - What keeps him going? HOPE.
And this hope, grounded in the promises of God, is absolutely certain.
This HOPE isn't wishful thinking...like so much of our hope is today.
We hope to find our soul mate
We hope to get into that school
We hope our kids grow up to be kind
We hope our kids will learn to use the potty
We hope,
We hope,
We hope...
Having been justified, we HOPE in the glory of God...
But not only that....
BECAUSE we KNOW this is certain...
What does it say - - we REJOICE in hope of the glory of God!
Having been justified by faith, our joy becomes rooted in the glory of God...
And we begin living out God's will for our lives...to glorify Him.
So we rejoice in what's to come!
We rejoice in what we KNOW is to come....what is coming for us!
Now you might be thinking - - well, that would be enough.
Knowing of how good it's gonna be, we can rejoice...
But Paul takes it a step further...
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
SLIDE: Justification by Faith: Brings Joy in the Midst of Suffering
Justification by Faith
Justification by Faith
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
Paul introduces something here that really goes against the grain of the world and our society.
Paul is NOT saying that as Christians, we are to grin and bear the sufferings that come our way...
No he's saying we are to rejoice in our sufferings...
The world would say - ok, why?
Why on earth would you rejoice in the sufferings of this life?
Well, Paul would say, it goes back to what we just mentioned.
The sufferings of this world, have in their view, the glory of God.
How is that?
*Years ago - one of my cousins moved down to Houston due to his job, and so he was immersed in...Texas heat.
Has anyone ever been to Texas in the summer?
There's not much like it...
It's just brutally hot...
There's no escaping the heat.
And so THAT summer - that he moved there - ...he SUFFERED in that heat!...
NOW - His suffering in that heat... produced an endurance TO that heat...
What does the verse say?
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
Now, none of us live in Texas but we've experienced this sort of thing in other ways...
If you work out in here...
the stress that you place on your muscles, is creating an endurance in those muscles...
If you run in here...
the stress that you place on your cardiovascular system is building cardiovascular endurance...
If you've ever been on a diet...
the denial of a certain type of food can build an endurance to allow you to continue to deny yourself that food...
*Pop - for me
When God walks us through trials, those trials are meant to build in us an endurance to continue on - in pursuit of Christ
Do you know anybody who just always meets suffering HEAD ON...
...rejoicing in the Lord through it?
If you would have been with us Wednesday evening on that call with that inmate - the COMMON THEME that ran throughout what he was saying - was - I WILL GLORIFY God - JOYFULLY - - IN MY SUFFERING.
Where does that come from?
It comes from them understanding that their suffering has in it's view - - the Glory of God...
And in that...they rejoice.
They see what's ahead...
They're suffering in the 150 degree heat....KNOWING with all certainty that the 70 degree ETERNITY is just up ahead.
And so they endure...REJOICING!
And this endurance is NOT an act of the human will.
You remember we talked justification coming by divine power, and NOT human effort.
Well this endurance is not accomplished through human effort...
This endurance is a grace-driven endurance...
What does that mean?
It means that this spiritual endurance:
Depends on God, His Spirit, and His word...and not on worldly things
Spiritual endurance relies on God, and His word.
This is what "living by faith...not sight" - means.
So often in life we look at our circumstances and we do what?
gather the evidence...and then call for a verdict
so often we look at our circumstances and we just do the math (well, I guess God can't help us...we only have this many)
No, spiritual endurance relies on God, His Spirit, and His word....not on worldly things.
Spiritual Endurance - validates our faith
We don't know what our endurance level is until we experience the trial.
I could tell you how i think i would respond to a 2 mile run right now, but until I do it, until i stress myself, I really don't know.
Trials reveal the strength of our endurance
Spiritual Endurance - is a humble endurance
I can't tell you how many times i've heard people on TV talking about how they climbed out of the valley of cancer, and then standing on the edge and looking back at what they walked through, they say:
"I just WILLED myself to live"
Every time I hear it I cringe.
No - Spiritual endurance is a grace-driven endurance.
...it's a humble endurance.
Spiritual Endurance - has higher affections for Jesus than anything else
When we look at Abraham and Isaac, our love for Christ must exceed our love for our families and everything else...
Our trials reveal to us what we truly love...
And as we see in our passage today, It’s the TRIALS of life that are meant to INCREASE our HOPE in God...
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
The hope of what's to come sustains us...
And having been justified by faith in Christ...
...we have obtained access into this grace...
...and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
AND HOPING in GOD - we can REJOICE in the midst of “suffering for Christ’s sake”
And so as we talked about last week...
Get your eyes off of you...and look to Him!
Don't put your hope in:
your spouse
your athletic ability (hope I make it all the way)
your organic food choices (hope to live till I'm 110)
your work ethic (hope to make it up that corporate latter)
your bank account (hope to retire early)
your moral compass
PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD
PUT YOUR HOPE IN HIM....
And you will NOT be put to shame...how can we say that?
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
SLIDE: Justification by Faith: Brings God’s Love by way of The Holy Spirit
Justification by Faith
Justification by Faith
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Because we have been justified by faith in Christ, we received the Holy Spirit.
Because we have received the Holy Spirit, the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
God is our everything.
It's one thing to walk out of here today knowing that justification by faith in Christ brings a hope for today and tomorrow...
That justification by Faith brings...:
SUMMARY
Peace with God
Joy in the Hope of God
Joy in the Midst of Suffering
God's Love
Holy Spirit
It's one thing to leave here with our list, trying to apply these things, but....
But it's another thing to ask - What do these gifts reveal about who God is?
The fact that justification by faith in Christ brings with it:
the Holy Spirit
God's love
peace with God
hope (for today and tomorrow)...
Says something about God.
And next week, as we dig deeper into this "Peace with God", we'll see these gifts elevating the God we serve...
Let's Pray....
