Untitled Sermon (34)

We now pick up where we left off. Several times throughout this study we have seen Paul repeat himself. Often he repeats himself in different ways and I have been emphasizing that what we are reading at this point is not anything new.

That Paul is just expanding on things that he has already stated. There's an old story of a young man who faithfully went to church every Sunday. He would sit and listen to the preacher and over the last few weeks he grew a little annoyed.

He was annoyed because over the course of the last few weeks the preacher was preaching the same sermon. So on this particular Sunday he decided that he was going to approach the preacher and addressed this issue.

He said preacher, you have preach that sermon already. I have heard you preach that sermon numerous times. Why do you insist on preaching the same sermon? And the preacher asked the young man have you applied that sermon to your life.

The young man said well No. And the preacher said well then I guess I have to preach it again. It's a way of understanding why Paul repeats himself, why preachers repeat themselves. It is the mark of a good preacher and teacher.

This person understands that they are not going to act the 1st time they hear it. And that is what Paul is doing here. He repeats himself because he is a good teacher and he knows people will not apply it the 1st time hearing it.

And the issues he raises in this section are things we have covered before but they are also things that need to be addressed in our current culture. They are things that need to be addressed to human beings in general.

Because we are so prone to trusting in ourselves and so prone in the thinking our actions contribution something. We think we are in control. We think we actually contribute something. We think if we don't contribute something then something must be wrong.

What we are failing to see is that because this is an issue with humanity we actually look and sound like the rest the world. Different intentions different motives but ultimately we looking sound like the rest of the world.

Think about the Christmas song Santa Claus is coming to town. It is a secular Christmas song. It is a secular Christmas song that applies much of God's attributions to Santa Claus. Lines like he knows when you were sleeping and he knows when you are awake.

And then the lyrics go on to say he knows when you have been badd or good so be good for goodness sake. Be good for the sake of goodness. We can see ministries were the minister will preach heresy and somebody will come along and say well look at all the good he has done.

Forget about the lies, look at his actions. I mean obviously we have to ignore the fact that his actions are that of a liar, but Hey look what he did for the community. And that's what we boil down humanity to that's what we boil down the faith to. They do a lot of good.

We see this with celebrities and they go out and do something and people go all look at all the good that they are doing. And its to the point were younger generations now hold the philosophy that people are the most important things so we need to be working towards serving other people for the sake of serving people.

So, someone who serves people because they are really serving God the modern mind says why can't you to serve people for the sake of being good to people. This way of thinking is not restricted to young people it it just happens to be the norm with younger adults.

It is the doorway to a blended religion where God is not Honored and societee has no value on life and the procreation of life. If somebody wants to mutilate their body in order to become the opposit gender, well then it is our job to lovingly support them and encourage them to do so because we are here to love people for the sake of loving people.

And this is deemed a good work. It is this very attitude that has allowed sin to dominate within the walls of mainline protestant Christianity.

The liberal movements that has taken place within much of the United Methodist Church many sections of lutheranism and within the Presbyterian Church USA.

Baptist are not clean of liberal influence as well. There are many Baptist denominations out there that are progressively moving left and are affirming the same sins that these other mainline protestant churches have been affirming.

They have the opinion that people are the highest authority and these are the ones we need to be doing good for. They clearly do not have a biblical view of Works and of faith because if they did their highest priority would be to serve and honor God.

And in serving and honoring God they serve people according to god's standers.Now that is on the far left side of things. There are still many conservative churches and conservative people who are trusting in their own personal good works.

And today we're going to a dress the full implications of good works here. So let's unpack our text for today and see what Paul is trying to communicate to us.

Romans 10:5 NASB95

For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness.

Right at the beginning of this verse we see the word for. This ties is back to previous vs. But if you have been paying attention the last 3 versus also have that word for. This means that Paul is building an argument based on what was said in previous chapters.

Keep in mind that Paul Is proclaiming a message that addresses his Jewish kinsmen directly. It was for them that Paul wished he could be a curse for. And he is talking about the them when he says I testify that they have a great zeal but no knowledge.

So he is building this argument based on what has already been previously said. And the context of everything that he is saying about the Jews people is within the context of God's sovereign plan. Paul if you are saying that god is in control then what about the Jewish people?

M Paul's response to that was not all of Israel is Of Israel. And had they been diligent in their studies they would know that . But as we will see they are blinded to this . So now we come to verse 5 And Paul is very wise to mention the name of Moses.

Because the Jewish people Honor Moses with so much that Paul flat out says Moses writes. Use quoting . And while it is true that Moses is the one who wrote this it is God who is the 1 who says this .

To the man who practices righteousness, This righteousness is based on the law. What law a? The law of Moses or the 10 commandments. Righteousness is based on the 10 commandments. Here is the question, is it possible for man To practiss righteousness That will save him?

Can a person live out the 10 commandments and the requirement of righteousness that They can be saved? The Jewish people believe that they could. And there are some people who still believe they can.

Let's think about the law for a moment here. When the law was given on Mount Sinai, Israel fell in Great fear. They were not like OK God no problem . There was so much anguish over the law that Moses actually broke the 1st tablets.

Think about this for a second do you share that same fear over the law or have you put up a wall against the seriousness of the law. Have you treated the law like the Jewish people have treated the law. This law was given and all of Is real Fell in great fear.

And over the course of time the Jewish people brought the law of God down to their level. Instead of looking at the law as being higher than them that the law is god's standards, the lowered it and brought it down and they defined the standards.

And Then the law was reduced down to a simple checklist. On a your mother and your father, no problem. Been there done that accomplished at all. Then we fast forward and Jesus is on the scene. Andy he preached a sermon that people today spend their entire careers breaking Down.

The sermon on the mount. There's an entire seminary course just on that sermon. It is there where Jesus defined the law. And exposed how far the human heart was no from the law of God. You shall not murder, no problem I've never killed anybody.

And Jesus is saying really? You think you have never done that? If you have so much as have a feeling of hatred within you, then you have already committed that murder. You're not a murderer based on the action you are a murderer based on the emotion.

Today we play games with words and we are making the same mistakes that the Jewish people made. We are putting up a wall between us and the law. So we say well I never actually hated, I have disliked, but I have never hated.

Look your word play may come for you but it does not hold a candle against God's holy standards. Your word play is only convincing yourself that you are not a sinner. Every human being at some point has felt a hateful Emotion.

And we do not live according to our standards, we live according to God's standards and according to God's standards this sanctuary is filled with murderers. Our jobs are not to use word play to explain our guilt away. Our jobs are to confess this emotion we have felt and recognize that we are guilty of this and recognize all the more need for a savior.

You say you have never committed adultery, Jesus says if you have so much lusted in your heart you have already committed the act. The deed has been done in your mind and in your heart. You didn't act on This feeling you had, good for you it does not hold up to God's holy standards.

You say you have never stolen? Really? Have you returned everything you claimed you were going to return? Has anyone ever made A CD for you. You like to song and somebody made you a copy. Did you pay for that music?

It is not an issue of if it was intentional theft or not, people borrow stuff all the time with the intentions of returning it and never do. We are not talking about the intent were talking about theft itself.

Have you honored your mother and your father. Why yes I have. Really? We are beginning to find out that you are a murderer, a thief and an adulterer, how was that honoring your parents?

Have you ever told a lie? Just a little white lie? Ultimately the purpose of the sermon on the mount was an opportunity to tell fallen man that what we have turned the law into, that is a simple checklist of rules that we just need to follow and we will be OK, was not actually what we are turning it into.

What we learn is, is God is not strictly concerned with our outward expressions but God peers to the heart of man. It's not good enough to keep yourself In check, you have to keep your very thoughts at emotions in check.

Have you ever in your life thought something and then you had to shake your head and go why in the world would I think something like that . You have to keep that in check.

And what does Paul say at the end of verse 5? The man who practices this law shall live by that righteousness. You shall live by it. It's not good enough to affirm that the law is law and it's not good enough to attempt to live by the law.

But you have to live by it in its fullness. You have to continue in it perfectly. The moment you fail to perfectly live by the law of righteousness is the moment you are guilty. Let's forget for a second that sin is inherited.

You have to live by this from the moment of birth all the way till your death. Who can do this? Only Jesus. If you tell me that there is a living person out there who is capable of living out the law then it is possible for anyone to live out the law and therefore there is no need for a savior.

This is the implication here if you think you can uphold the law then there was no need for Jesus to come and uphold the law for you, there was no need for Jesus to go through death for you. Because when you die death would have nothing on you if you were able to fulfill all righteousness.

This was the whole point of the ministry of Jesus is to point out how incapable we are. And how many times we have to draw out, point out That a law is not void. The law has not been done away with, the law is very much still in effect the issue at hand is that there is no living person who is capable of keeping it.

Do we understand that about ourselves comet do we get that we are not capable To keep all righteousness? Jesus emphasized this very thing to the pharasiess.

Luke 16:14 NASB95

Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him.

Paul is presenting 2 positions to us and what we just read in verse 5 is the 1st position. This is the position he has been emphasizing, and the emphasis has been the all fall short of the glory of God. You cannot live up to this standard. To say that you could makes you as righteous as jesus

And When we measure ourselves up to this law we should fall in great fear. And the fact that we do not fear this law is concerning. It should concern you. You must recognize your inability to be righteous. Because if you can not recognize that you can not see the need for a savior.

Or perhaps you have live view of the atonement that's not biblical. Maybe you hold at the current view that Jesus died because I'm worth it. The death of Jesus has nothing to do with our worth has everything to do with his glory.

That's not to say that we are worth list, because I'm not saying that period what I am saying is that we need to crucify ourselves and recognize that it is not about us. And we can not live up to the holy standard that God has set.

You can keep a good work checkless, good for you. What is in your heart. That is the 1st position that Paul is laying out for us. If you think you can fulfill all righteousness you better do it to your last Breath. End if you can't fulfill it and completed both externally and internally then you have failed and you will die in your sin.

Now here is the 2nd position.

Romans 10:6–8 NASB95

But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,

Paul is still quoting Moses yet he does not announce that he is quoting Moses. Why he does that we do not know. This time he is quoting from and it is not a perfect quote. It is more a paraphrase.

The context is fitting. Moses preached to Israel and told them they had these 2 options. And they are now without excuse. And that is a sentry what Paul is saying here. And he is drawing out the same point.

So the 1st argument is righteousness by the law and now he is talking about righteousness on faith. And what he is saying here is That the righteousness by faith does not say in its heart who will ascend into the heaven.

That is who will take on this great journey to seek out God by trying to reach himself up into the heavens. And the same righteousness by faith also does not say who will descend into the abyss. Now what Moses has to say Deuteronomy is who will search the sea.

Really, it has the same meaning. The ocean, the waters in general were considered The abyss . It was often used as a metaphor for death, or for hell. The idea is this, Righteousness by faith is not you setting out on this great journey.

You do not spend your life trying to search out this faith. You don't climb up at the highest point of it all and tried to bring Jesus down to you nor do you Search the great and grand ocean to have faith. It is not required of you to put in all this labor in order to receive this justification.

And that is what Paul is talking about here. Justification by faith and by faith alone. He is making a complete distinction between the law and the gospel. So do you see how repetitive Paul is and it is for our Good.

And hes saying you do not have to go on to this great journey in order to have this righteousness. Because the word is near to you and it's in your mouth and in your heart. You do not have to go far in order to receive this word.

While there is so much mystery and so much to learn in the pages of scripture , Salvation is still so simple. But it is not something you achieve it is something you receive.

All of these people are trying to be good for goodness sake and all they are really doing is attempting to make themselves feel better while they are on the road to hell. And there are so many accusations tossed towards christians.

How often will we hear from atheist that the very reason why we make up a God is because we are afraid of death. I think the reason why they do not believe in God is because they are actually afraid of death and the judgment that is to come.

We have to guard ourselves from our own prone inherent sinfulness that was to proclaim our works. And often when a message like this is preached people assume that the pastor is preaching that works are not necessary or don't matter.

And it is for that very reason why preachers must be repetitive because that is not the conclusion here. The conclusion here is not that works do not matter or that God does not care about our works. It is that we are not able.

Do you get that? Do you understand that you do not have the capability of righteousness.If any one of you in here thinks that your works are righteous that is a declaration of your arrogance. You are filled with much pride and that steamy in itself shows your inherent sinful behavior.

So again it is not that works do not matter, it is you were not capable. So the father sent the son to secure salvation for all of those who belong to him and the Holy Spirit is the one that opened your heart to this word of faith, the very word we are proclaiming now,

He opens your heart to this message and enables you to do good not for goodness sake, and not because it adds to your salvation. But because now you are a new creation and that is your new attitude. It is not a perfected attitude, not on day one as a Christian not on day a 1000 as a Christian.

But it is a new behavior, it is a new desire and it is the result of salvation. So we can never boast in our own works, we can never say we are the ones who have done these things rather it is God who has done these things by giving us a new nature, by giving us a faith, by placing this in our heart.

So that you can.. .

Romans 10:9 NASB95

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;