Sept 7, 2025 - Means of Salvation
Notes
Transcript
Last week we walked thru the first 5 verses of chapter 5, and found that:
having been justified by faith alone in Christ alone, we have peace with God.
That we have peace with God, ONLY IF we have been justified by faith alone in Christ alone.
And we saw that this peace is more than merely external goodwill.
We saw that this peace is an ETERNAL grace, given by God to those who believe.
IF you have been justified BY Faith in Jesus Christ...
...YOU WILL FOREVER BE AT PEACE WITH GOD...
Christ's eternal sacrifice...leads to an eternal reward.
And because this peace is now ours, a new hope arises.
We now rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Where our joy was once rooted in ourselves, we now find our joy rooted in the glory of God...
...and this hope, now ours, has in it's view His glory.
And so even in suffering...we rejoice, because as verse 3 says:
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.
Gospel suffering produces endurance...
and this endurance:
Depends on God, His Spirit, and His word...and not on worldly things
Spiritual Endurance - validates our faith
Spiritual Endurance - is a humble endurance
Spiritual Endurance - has higher affections for Jesus than anything else
Spiritual Endurance - leads to eternal Hope
...allowing us to endure... (full circle)
And so Peace with God is something to rejoice in!
And how this all plays out speaks to who God is...
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
We finished last week, by making it clear that the point of Scripture is to reveal who God is...
And yet in looking at these verses today...
we could approach them in 2 ways...
We could walk thru these verses and write down all the characteristics of man...
Before being reconciled, man is...
Before being reconciled, man is...
Taking this approach would actually make this sermon - Anthropocentric (man-centered).
On the flip side, we could make this sermon - Theocentric (God-centered).
We could walk thru these verses and write down all the characteristics of God...
Christ died for...
Christ saves....
Christ...
And so we're going to take the Theocentric approach....
We want to get our eyes on God
The first characteristic of God from this text i'd like us to get our eyes on is this:
SLIDE: How Justification Comes: God Empowers the Powerless
How Justification Comes
How Justification Comes
We saw last week in verses 1-5 that only through Jesus can we obtain access to the grace of Peace.
And it echoes what Paul said throughout chapter 4...
That justification comes by:
faith not works
grace not law
divine power, not human effort....
PARAPHRASE - God not you
And we see that here in verse 6:
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
While we were still weak (HELPLESS - NASB)...
While we were still powerless...to do anything about our relationship with God...
...God did something.
Does God wait for us to become righteous before He redeems us?
No!
We're powerless to move toward God.
...Powerless to seek after God...
We remember what Paul said in chapter 3:
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
It says NO ONE seeks for God...
NO ONE gets their eyes off of themselves to gaze at God...
And soo many people believe that they will MAKE IT TO HEAVEN because of their worth...
YET...
YET...
Verse 12:
- All have turned aside; together (ALL) have become worthless.
We are worthless, and so if we stand before God justified, it's not DUE to our worth, but IN SPITE of our worth.
By Faith Alone in Christ alone...we are justified.
By His work...and not our own..
God empowers the powerless
And where does this power come from?
The cross of Christ.
What did Romans 5:6 say?
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died...
But what does Matthew 27:35 say?
35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.
36 Then they sat down and kept watch over him there.
God empowers the powerless through the cross of Christ!
And yet WE so often treat the cross of Christ like a museum exhibit....and we come to the museum on Sunday mornings...
And we walk up to the "Cross Exhibit"...sit down...and stare.
Minutes later, we get up, walk out the room...
...and get back to our lives.
Like those Roman soldiers, many of us merely lapse into inaction.
But the cross of Christ is infinitely more than a showcase,
Infinitely more than an exhibit to arouse curiousity.
It is a call to action, commitment, and discipleship.
God empowers the powerless
Have you ever felt this empowering?
Do you feel God drawing you ever-closer to Him?
Is God using you to empower the powerless around you?
Is your life defined by:
action for Christ
Commitment to Christ
Discipleship in Christ
We have people here in the church who are GIFTED at building things.
We have at least one guy who can build a car - from scratch - and it would work
We have some men who could build a computer - from scratch - and it would work.
There are LOTS of items that we OWN - that we had to PUT TOGETHER!
Chairs...
Lawnmowers
Desks
We PUT them together- so that they’ll be able to LIVE OUT what they were MADE TO DO!
Now, whether you think so or not, everyday that you wake up...
you prepare yourself to accomplish what you deem to be your purpose for that day.
You wake up in the morning, and you stand before all the parts...
And we say - Well, this is my purpose for today, so let me grab this, and that...
Now, everyday that you go out into the world and interact with the people in your circles...the people around you...
What they do is -
They open up your manual, and ask themselves...
What is this person all about?
What parts make up this person?
And a lot of times what they see, is that:
we put on our coat of pride
we put on our sexy shades
we grabbed our cannon, so we can bomb all the cars that are going to cut me off today
we slipped on our gloves of greed
And this is what they experience in us...instead of seeing that we adorned ourselves with:
action for Christ
commitment to Christ
and discipleship in Christ
For those of us who are His, we must remember that God empowers the powerless...
...to these things (action, commitment, discipleship)
Meditate on this.
God empowers the powerless, through the cross of Christ....through the death of Christ.
And not only does God empower the powerless, but He...
SLIDE: How Justification Comes: God Reconciles the Rebellious
How Justification Comes
How Justification Comes
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
I have to admit that I don't always contemplate verse 8 here.
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Being weak, Christ died for...who?
- the ungodly.
Imagine tomorrow morning, you wake up and turn on the news.
And you find out that The United States was going to RELEASE all of it’s INMATES on death row - - the worst of the worst...
BECAUSE - some random guy stepped up and said that the government could KILL HIM - in their place.
And HIS death - would set them free!
What would the world say to that??
The ironic thing is that the world would stand up and...CRY FOUL!
"That's not FAIR!"
"That's not FAIR!"
And so the world doesn't understand that Christ did the same thing for them!
Why don't they understand??
Because the world doesn't see itself in this story!
The world doesn't look to the cross and say - "WOW, I didn't deserve that!"
The world looks to the cross and says - "I DON'T NEED THAT!" "I DON'T WANT THAT!"
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
The world doesn't WANT the Light.
The world is in rebellion against the Light.
When we, as Christians go out to take the name of Christ to the world, we're not going to people who are indifferent to God.
We're going to people who are in active rebellion against God.
People who are living in the King's castle...
These people live in the world that God has made...
They breathe the air that God supplies...
They taste the food that God has created...
AND YET they're out to kill the King.
They're out to take over the Castle...
In rebellion against the King.
And it's in that Rebellion, that Christ comes and dies for them.
He dies at the hands of the ones for whom He saves...(us).
We put Christ on the cross...
Our sin and rebellion against Him put Him there
What’s our podcast called?
WE KILLED JESUS
While we were sinners, He died for us.
And so He reconciles the rebellious...
How?
Through the cross of Christ.
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
We wanted no part of this reconciliation.
The very second that you tell the world that it NEEDS to be reconciled to God because of its rebellion against Him...
...what does the world do?
It postures up!
"I don't need to be reconciled to God! I don't NEED to submit to a higher authority!
As Romans 3 told us earlier...
No one would choose this reconciliation...
We would say - We don't need it...We don't want it...
Which highlights the fact even more that we must not forget that God empowers the powerless.
When we take the name of Christ to the world, we're going to get push back.
The world doesn't want what we have...
And so, we must prepare ourselves.
We must adorn ourselves with:
action for Christ
commitment to Christ
discipleship in Christ
This is how God will use YOU to empower the powerless around you, and reconcile the rebellious around you.
And so therefore, not only does God:
Empower the Powerless...and...
Reconcile the Rebellious
But as we'll see in the text, He also...
SLIDE: How Justification Comes: God Secures the Promise
How Justification Comes
How Justification Comes
9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
So we can see here that Christ's work on the cross...
...not only justifies, but saves.
justified by His blood
saved by His life
verse 9 tells us that we need rescued from the wrath of God.
9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
We need rescued from His wrath...
And the rescue plan is Jesus Christ.
Justified by His blood (delivered up for our trespasses, and raised for our justification)
and saved by His life
We talked about it a couple weeks ago...
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Christ seals the promise of blessing
12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
Who guards what has been entrusted to us?
"I am convinced that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me."
And unless we think God is able, but UNWILLING to guard this...
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As parents, is there anything you can think of that would remove your love for your kids?
Anything they could do - where you would CONCLUDE...
ok...I don’t love them anymore.
We know we're not perfect creatures, but I can't think of anything...
God secures the promise...and...
It all filters back to Christ.
SUMMARY
How Justification Comes:
Empowers the powerless...through Christ
Reconciles the rebellious...through Christ
Secures the promise....through Christ
This is our God.
He has made a way that we would be reconciled to Him.
So as we leave here, let's consider a few things:
Because God empowers the powerless...
He wants to work through you, to empower the powerless around you.
LISTEN - IF YOU ARE HIS.… - -
He HAS empowered you...
Problem is - MANY of us - do not believe that!
*IMAGINE THIS - what would you say to your 20 year old son - if when he was 19 years old - he decided that he was done walking...and instead - chose to use a wheelchair?
So he’s been using a wheelchair for a YEAR...
WITH HEALTHY legs!
Would you be - supportive of that?
Frustrated?
Let’s say - it continued...and now it’s been 5 years since he’s walked...and he has healthy legs?
We would THINK - WHY ARE YOU NOT WALKING?? You CAN WALK!!
YOU HAVE THE POWER TO WALK!! Why won’t YOU??
We would think - WOW - what a WASTE!!
The reality IS - If YOU BELONG to God - and ARE HIS - BY FAITH in Christ...
Then - HE HAS EMPOWERED YOU!!
You HAVE the HOLY SPIRIT LIVING INSIDE YOU...
But do you LIVE THAT OUT?
Do you TRUST THAT God HAS EQUIPPED YOU - to do that SCARY THING?
Or are you still in the wheelchair?
Not UNDERSTANDING / Truly Believing WHO YOU ARE in Christ?
By FAITH in Christ - WE HAVE BEEN EMPOWERED...
therefore...
adorn yourself with "action for Christ"
adorn yourself with "commitment to Christ"
adorn yourself with "discipleship in Christ"
Let this be who you are.
Because God reconciles the rebellious...
Understand that we're going to get opposition out there....
Don't be surprised by it!
It's coming...and so all the more reason to:
adorn yourself with "action for Christ"
adorn yourself with "commitment to Christ"
adorn yourself with "discipleship in Christ"
And because God secures the promise...
trust in Him more...when everything says - No don't trust Him, trust Him
Walk by faith, not sight...
Don't always do the math...trust God to make things happen...
We know how this thing is going to end....no need to fear
Therefore...pursue Christ more...
...more passionately
And all for His namesake.
His glory
And your joy.
This is something we can rejoice in.
verse 11:
11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Let's Pray....
