The Power of the Gospel: Faith, Redemption, and Righteousness

Good morning. I have to tell you this may be one of the most perfect weekends leading into the Christmas season and break ever

Yesterday, Melody and Kenny and Mom, John Wilson and the boys and I along with several others from Rinehart Christian Church we able to witness two baptisms in the Marmaton river

One of my brothers best friends and his wife were baptized and it was a wonderful time of praise and fellowship

This morning we got to witness the baptism of Amanda and are going to welcome her to the family here at CCC after invitation time this morning

God is moving

Keep inviting

Keep loving

Keep living like Jesus and we will continue to see those joining us and being saved and baptized as that is what it is all about

People outside these doors are dying for what you have found and His name is Jesus

Share Him with everyone you meet!!!!!!

Let’s Pray

The last couple of weeks have been heavy and rightfully so as sin is always heavy

dying to self is always heavy

realizing our position without Christ is always heavy

it is necessary because without that view of ourselves we cannot be truly dependent upon God through Faith in Christ Jesus

today we will look at the basis for that faith

the power of the Gospel

Romans 3:21-22

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Romans 3:21–22 “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:”

We talked about this in depth last week so today we will quickly touch on it

God in His righteousness and love shows us that He will save the unrighteous

salvation is through faith not works

salvation is through faith not keeping the law

Romans 1:2

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Romans 1:2 “(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)”

God promised before by His prophets and Holy Scripture that Jesus was coming and that salvation would be through faith

Romans 1:17

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Romans 1:17 “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

God’s righteousness is revealed faith to faith

The just.....those saved....Christians must live by faith

faith is so very important

without faith salvation is impossible

no amount of works

no amount of money given

no amount of time given

can do anything to save you

you cannot save yourself

i cannot save you as your pastor

only Jesus can save you

He already paid the price

Forgiveness is accessed through faith

Romans 4:11

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Romans 4:11 “And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:”

This is speaking of Abraham and God’s covenant with Abraham and the Israelites...the Jews

Physical circumcision was the sign

the seal

they way to enter into that covenant

Many point to this and say it was the act of circumcision that saved Abraham

They would be wrong

Circumcision was a sign of Abraham’s faith

a sign Abraham already had faith

that faith then allowed him to act

Now as most have seen I have steristips on my head...I had a lipoma removed Thursday......lipomas are usually just fatty tissue that form a lump and the issue I had was it was on the forehead....lipomas tend to stick to whatever is below them....that is skull, nerves, blood vessels etc so they had to take it off in the OR instead of the office

I say all that to say this I had medicine, sedation, and medicine as I am recovering for swelling and pain

folks Abraham was 99 years old when God told him to be  circumcised, no sedation

no pain meds

no dr

hopefully a sharp knife but dirt and sand and dust

if Abraham didn’t already have faith in God there is no way, at least in my mind, he would have ben circumcised at 99

faith

The same is true today.....we do not obey God to be saved but as a sign of our faith in Jesus and because we are saved

Faith

Faith is defined in

Hebrews 11:1

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Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

You cannot see salvation

you cannot see deliverance

you cannot see freedom

you cannot see the wind either but you still believe it is windy when the wind is blowing

Here is the deal

Faith....We have faith that Jesus is who He says He is....we won’t know for sure until He returns or promotes us home to heaven

Jesus is our hope

we 100% believe in Him and His promises of salvation but it is only faith until we meet Him face to face

However God, because of His great love and grace wants us to know not just hope

I John 5:13

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1 John 5:13 “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

God wants you to know

How

He told you

He had it written down so you can know

That is one of the reasons for the Bible

so you can know

That is what your faith is based upon

God

His Word

Jesus

His actions

Holy Spirit

HIs presence

Without faith you do not have salvation because it is faith that leads to repentance that leads to salvation

Why is all of this important?

Romans 3:23

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Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

You

me

anyone

everyone who has lived

is living

or will live

all have sinned

all have fallen short of the glory of God

that means we all deserve death and hell

that means we all deserve eternal punishment

we have focused on this fact a lot recently..if you want to rewatch or watch for the first time you may go to our website or app

I pray that you realize and truly believe we all sin

that we all have sinned

so let’s look at what God does about it

Romans 3:24

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Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”

There is so much going on in this verse

I want to walk down through it and make sure that some of the word’s meanings are not lost

Justified

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many say this means just as if i never sinned

that is true but not complete....it is lacking

justified comes from a Greek word that means

render just or innocent

acquitted

it has been used in the Bible to mean to show, exhibit one to be righteous

Justified is so much more than acquitted or being found not guilty

God actually covers you in His righteousness

you and I as humans with our sinful

evil nature could never be righteous

but here on earth God covers us with His righteousness until He promotes us home or Jesus returns and we receive our righteous body and the mind of Christ

What a blessing that will be!!!!!!

Redemption

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redemption comes from a Greek word that means ransom in full, riddance, deliverance, salvation

When Holy Spirit leads you to repentance that leads to salvation

the blood of Jesus is applied to your sin debt and that results in redemption

Hebrews 9:12-14

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Hebrews 9:12–14 “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

In the Old testament bulls and goats were sacrificed as atonement but could never redeem

The blood of these animals only appeased not satisfied God’s demands for payment for sin

Jesus through His perfect sacrifice

When He mounted the cross

when He became our sin

when He died for that sin

shed His blood to pay the payment for that sin

Why did God redeem you....to purge us from evil so that you serve God

you are made for more

you are not made to just sit in a pew on Sunday mornings

you are not made to just sit in men’s or women’s discipleship groups on monday nights

you are not made to just sit in a bible study wednesday nights

you are not made to just attend Free in Him on Fridays

You are made for more and that more is to serve God

shine the light of Jesus into the dark world

to live and love like Jesus so those who are lost don’t see you they see Jesus!!!!!!

God fully accepted that sacrifice on the cross as complete

whole

enough

Giving Jesus the opportunity to offer us redemption

Luke 23:44-46

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Luke 23:44–46 “And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”

This was the moment that Jesus paid the price

He had already become your sin, my sin, the sin of the whole world

He had already endured God looking away from Him for the first and only time in eternity

Now He was paying the price for that sin by His blood that was shed and by Him dying for that sin

That is when the curtain in the temple was rent in the midst

torn from top to bottom

lets understand the significance of this

first physical

this was the curtain that separated the holy of holies...where God dwelt in the temple...from the rest of the temple

This curtain was massive

60 feet tall

20 feet wide

4 inches thick

There is noting on earth that could tear that in two from top to bottom

God tore it from top to bottom signifying that He accepted Jesus sacrifice which opened up....made a way for relationship with God

Until then He was separated from the people because of sin

in Jesus and His redemption however now you and I can have direct access to God through Jesus

Imagine if you would that you have been kidnapped

Your kidnappers demand $1 million for your release

I pay that ransom for you in full

the kidnappers release you and you are free

you are no longer captive

however you decide that you want to return to captivity and your kidnappers

who would do that

You

Me

All Christians

You see we do exactly that when we return to our sin

Psalm 103:12

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Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, So far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”

transgression in Hebrew means rebellion sin

your sin

your rebellion is removed from you as far as east is from the west

I John 1:9

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1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

when you confess and repent from your sin you are forgiven

as Psalm tells us that sin is removed as far as the east is from the west

if you start walking east you will never walk west

if you start walking west you will never walk east

if you start walking north at the north pole you will start walking south

if you start walking south at the south pole you will start walking north

your sin is gone

your unrighteousness is cleansed

however just like returning to your kidnappers you can return to your sin

you can refuse Jesus redemption and return to captivity to sin

Romans 3:25-26

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Romans 3:25–26 “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

Propitiation

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comes from Greek word meaning an atoning victim

This greek word is only used twice in the new testament

translated propitiation here and mercyseat the other time

Jesus is your

Jesus is my

atoning victim

He paid our price

He stood in our place

He died so we may live

Sin always has and still requires blood payment to atone or pay for

If you accept Jesus’ blood you are redeemed....saved

if you reject Jesus and His blood you must pay with your own blood...death...however that blood is not worthy of payment just like the bulls and goats of the OT so therefore you will face eternal punishment in hell

It is Jesus’ righteousness that allows remission of sins

Remission

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comes from Greek word meaning remission

websters 1828 defines remission as release...discharge...forgiveness...pardon...giving up of the punishment

Done

signed

sealed

delivered

dun done!!!!

all through Jesus and that is what our faith is in!!!!!!!!

Do you see it

on our own you are doomed but in Christ Jesus

in His blood

you are justified

you have redemption

He is your propitiation

He provided remission of sin!!!!!

praise King Jesus!!!!!

This morning we are going to do things a little different

We are going to do a live invitation with two songs

God laid this on my heart as I was thinking about today

These two songs are very meaningful to me and should be to you as well as a Christian

At the cross.....that is the only place to receive salvation and that is where we run to leave our sin

to leave our burdens

to cry out to Jesus for His peace

Living hope....Jesus is our living hope

If you need to come talk to Jesus the altar is open the cross is open

If you need someone to pray with you they will be here

Tony and Michael and Kenny are happy to pray with you

If you need salvation come and one of them will pray with you and I will talk with you after services this morning

If you are in a place where you just need to praise King Jesus that is also what this time is for

stand and sing if you are lead to do so

run to the altar if you are lead to

if you want to come to the front to worship feel free to do that as well

do whatever God is leading you to do in these moments

Invitation