20) God's Righteousness Through Faith
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Today we will continue in the third chapter of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. We started a very rich passage on the righteousness of God. The righteousness that has been revealed and attested by the Law and the prophets. The righteousness of God has been made manifest and real, tangible for all mankind to see.
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets.
The righteousness of God is very important concept for us to understand. It is also imperative that we have an understanding of our own righteousness. God’s righteousness is different from man’s. For God is the writer of the standard that defines what is right or wrong. He gave it to humanity through prophets and the commands, statutes, and ordinances that God issued to guide people to do what is right under the standard, under the law.
His commands define what is moral. They set the promises and punishments that are received for one live lives that either practice what is right or practice what is wrong.
6 He will repay each one according to his works: 7 eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness.
Man sits in a desperate situation he is foretold that each person will stand before judgment on whether they lived in alignment to the moral laws of God. But a man who evaluates his own life against the scriptures will very quickly come to the conclusion that he cannot meet these laws. His own works testify against him. There is no one who will be saved. There is no one righteous not even one.
12 All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.
The moral law has been given. It set the standard. In man’s own mind he has tried, so hard. He has done his best. Surely if there is a God, and he is good, then I can trust that he will consider all that I have done. I will be fine.
Only if you accept being fine as receiving all of God’s wrath and anger that you have earned by your own actions. When there is no hope, when the darkness is complete and they come the place of knowing there is no escape. When we can no longer stand on our worthless works, we turn to see a light in the darkness. The light of man has come into the world, he has completed the work, he has been proven righteous before the court and he can save by giving his righteousness to men.
Turn with me to Romans 3 verse 21
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. 26 God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
We are going to explore how a person receives God’s righteousness.
Man Receives Righteousness
Man Receives Righteousness
22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
The righteousness of God is through faith. Faith in the man named Jesus. The messiah, the savior. Immanuel for he will save people from their sins.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”
God is with us and we see his righteousness in the flesh. The righteousness of God is through Faith. Notice that this isn’t the righteousness of man is through faith. This is the full righteousness of the one who is all good, all holy. The only righteousness that can stand before the court is God’s and so he gives it to men and women, to the rich and the poor, to the weak and the healthy, to the elder and the child.
The one and only way to receive God’s righteousness is through faith.
16 and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified.
This brings forth peace with God. a person move from and enemy to a friend.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is by faith that a person obtains access to God
2 We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
12 In him we have boldness and confident access through faith in him.
It is by faith that a person stands fast. Like a soldier when the enemy charges, it is by faith a Christian stands.
20 True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but beware,
It is how a person receives the promised spirit
14 The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.
It is through faith that a person become a son or daughter of God.
26 for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus.
Through faith we are raised from the dead.
12 when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
It is by faith and faith alone a person is saved
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—
It is how a person is guarded until the end
5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
Through faith in Jesus Christ brings righteousness, peace, access, endurance, the Spirit of God, adoption as sons, resurrection, salvation, and perseverance. These are just some of the scriptures that speak to the centrality of the effects of God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. It is fundamentality important that what we call faith is actually faith. Paul will speak on faith over 20 times in the next chapter in a half. You can see this is an important idea that they were wrestling with or Paul was fighting against false teachings that were contrary to the idea that faith alone in Jesus saves. For it is the only way a person can please God.
6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
There are many arguments about who will receive salivation in the next life and what is required to get there. Other religions will focus on faith plus other things. They rely on a scale to be set before the court to weigh the good verses the bad and to see if you are good enough. The person then spends their life attempting earn enough credit to hopefully get by in the end.
But here there is a specific group that will receive the righteousness of God through faith. It is give to all who will believe.
22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction.
The author of Hebrews states that faith is this
1 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.
Faith from the Greek root word that means to believe. When we speak of one who believes they are one who trusts in what they have faith in.
Why do we call them trust funds? Why when a person dies do they set up a trust? Because they must have faith and belief that the trust will execute their will they way that they have set it up. They won’t be around to oversee it themselves so they create a trust.
I can stand at the airport with my kids and look out at the planes. I can have faith that each plane that takes off is able to carry me safely to my final destination but it is different to put my trust in it. To buy a ticket board the plane, buckle up, listen to the safety talk, and then allow a metal bucket weighing around 175,000 pounds, to fly at 600 miles per hour at 30 to 40 thousand feet over the ground.
Paul speaks of the one who receives God’s righteousness by faith as a person who believes. One who has strapped his life to the the hope that that Jesus saves.
Does this mean that anyone who believes in anything will receive righteousness? Where does belief come from? We live in a world of confusion. There are so many ideas and arguments about anything and everything. What must a person believe in to receive this grace.
It comes from what has been heard.
To the church at Ephesus,
13 In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed.
After Peter’s message
4 But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
Paul’s message,
17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
Author of Hebrews warning
2 For we also have received the good news just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith.
There is one message that is spoken in the bible and that is the message of reconciliation.
19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.
This is the message that is sent into the world to convict the sinner and to put forth the truth that one must believe in to be saved.
14 How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. 16 But not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.
Faith comes from what is heard and what is believed. This is the basis of what Paul puts here.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.
For in it is eternal life on the basis of God’s love.
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
For all men and women are in need of God’s righteousness because there is no distinction.
Man is Justified
Man is Justified
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
All have broken the law. All have iniquity. All are transgressors. All are law breakers. All have sinned. All fall short of the glory of God. Adam and Eve were their in full glory. They were esteemed in the high place, in the presence of the Lord. They were given a single command that they transgressed, and since that time there has not been one person who has been in the same level of esteem. That is in the high place with God.
They are found to be guilty and so when the one who believes and has faith is saved at the same moment they are freely justified. To be declared righteous before the judge, “just as if I never sinned”. There is no guilt found on them. For their iniquity has been covered with full atonement before the Lord and the full righteousness of Jesus’ perfect fulfilment of the law in his human life has been given to them on his behalf.
Freely given, a gift, by his grace so that no one may boast.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast.
God’s message is the message that God loves, and in his love he has made us alive in him through faith in Jesus. He has saved sinners from the justice of God. If we circle back around to the payment that is due.
6 He will repay each one according to his works: 7 eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness.
The works will be judged and what will be found is that there will be those who believe and have God’s righteous, will be living lives that seek, glory, honor, and immortality. There will be others that will put their trust in any thing but but God. They may profess belief but they will never step onto the plane. They will never pick up their cross and deny themselves.
They will live lives that are filled with trust in the things of this world. The creature comforts. The security of the bank account. Their own morality. Their church affiliation. The security of being a “good” person. The confidence of not being as bad as the other guy. The confidence that we can figure it out. We can make it work. We can dream it and it will happen. If we just wish enough. The issue is that the righteousness that save people from the sin they committed, comes from outside of themselves. It is credited to them.
21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.
Salvation never depends on us, it depends on him.
21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
People are justified by God Grace.
By God’s grace. By his unmerited favor, is unconditional blessing, he has justified sinners. This was accomplished through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Man’s Redemption by God’s Grace
Man’s Redemption by God’s Grace
24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
There are a couple ways that redemption is used in the scriptures. It is used to describe a person buying back a property that was sold. We may think of Ruth and Boaz as the kinsmen redeemer. The Levitical Law had many instructions on how people could redeem property.
We also see the idea of a person paying a ransom that is owed to another. We would think of a kidnapper being paid a ransom to redeem their children.
There is also the idea of redeeming something from one state to another from one quality to another. To redeem something back to a better state.
We see that Christ came to be a servant to the point of giving his life to be a payment ransom for many.
26 It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Bought at a price
23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of people.
To be redeemed from lawlessness.
13 while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works.
To be redeemed from the old empty life.
18 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was revealed in these last times for you. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Redemption as the forgiveness of sins.
13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14 In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He became our redemption.
30 It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
We have been redeemed but not fully revealed.
13 In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. 14 The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.
30 And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption.
A redemption that was planed before the foundation of the earth.
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. 5 He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
The price of your redemption was the life of Jesus. The payment that was required for you to be forgiven of sins was the life of Jesus. The cost of your salvation was the precious blood of the Lamb of God. The spotless, faultless, sinner, righteous, obedient, man, Jesus. Oh what a great price to be paid. To be freely purchased as the people of God.
9 And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and you purchased people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Conclusion
Conclusion
For there are many out there today that will say, of course I have faith. But then they live lives completely contradictory to the any of the command that God has given his people.
Trust is the action of faith
Let us pray.
Let us pray.
Prayer
Blessing/Benediction
5 Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus,
