Sermon Tone Analysis
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Justification has more than a legal meaning
What is justification by faith?
God's act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while at the same time declaring a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice.
We are westerners with a western mindset
Three big groupings of culture: Guilt/Innocence, Honor/Shame, Power/Fear
These aren’t clean cut - In the south we have a strong guilt/innocence culture but also a strong honor/shame culture
In China, it is a strong honor/shame culture, but there has been a great deal of influence from the West so there is also some guilt/innocence
A new perspective on justification
Not so much a new perspective as an old one - but new to us
Not just a new perspective for us but also something that I believe is foundational to living the Christian life
A Child and Yet a Servant (1-3)
An heir as a child has no rights
A Roman child came of age around 14
Until then, he was under a tutor assigned by his father
Even though he came of age, he had to wait until 25 to be counted a full-heir; from 14-25, he was under a governor
All of this is the “time appointed of the father”
The mark of a child is being told what to do
The law binds: when to do something what to do, how to do… that’s all law
For the Jews, that meant the law or more accurately, traditions of their fathers
For the Gentiles, it could mean a number of things - perhaps a fear of not doing the correct sacrifice to appease the gods
No matter the religious system, apart from Christ there is always bondage
This bondage is the essence of legalism
God says, “Here are some general principles”; legalism says “Here’s the law”
You must do this or not do that; dress like this and not that; give this much, don’t fellowship with them
In this way, it is grown-up childishness
Before Christ, we were as children
We had no status, no authority, no rank
Christ Changed Our Identity as Sons (4-7)
At the right time, God sent us His son
Jesus came as a man, made under the law
Christ came to fulfill the law
He followed the law perfectly
He came to redeem us from the law
The law put a price on our head
Also, under that law, our status was of servants and slaves, not sons
As a slave, you cannot work your way to freedom
Christ paid the price so our status could change from slaves to sons
Justification not only changed our legal standing but our legal status (4:5b)
Justification changes our relationship to God
A slave was not allowed to address the head of the family as Abba - it is the equivalent to daddy
But we also use Father, but the significance is showing that God provides, protects and support
In the same way Jesus addresses God the Father in .
we too can address God — that’s yuuge
So now, we are not slaves/servants, but we are sons
Why not daughters?
It has to do with position
Our danger in returning to the old status (8-11)
Even when our status has changed, we still have an inclination to try to be good enough
Before Christ, we served idols
Idolatry brings bondage — anything that’s not in Christ is bondage
That servanthood, leaves scars making it difficult to be free
After the civil war, slaves had a problem being free
North Koreans who leave North Korea, have a hard time outside the country
The question is, why go back into bondage?
These things are nothing, why are you doing this?
The problem is that we forget our identity
The most helpful thing you can remember in this life, is who you are
You can never hear this enough: you are free and you are in Christ
We go one of two ways:
We are never good enough, never whole enough, even enough to be good enough — so we turn to other things to make us feel that we are enough
Or we look to our jobs, our spouses, our families, or so many different things that give us identity — when we fail at these things or they are taken away, we lose everything
The most important thing you can remember throughout your entire life: you are a child of God
This is the answer that fixes the deep seeded legalism in our hearts
When you walk out of this door, today, where are you going to find your worth
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