Sermon Tone Analysis

Good evening, its good to see everyone this evening.

We are marching on in our study of the book of Romans, and we are right smack dab in the middle of learning about the problem with the religious man.

We have seen the issues that come from being a sinner rejecting Gods revelation, we have seen how Paul is also saying that the moral man, the one who has somewhat of a moral compass, has the same issue as the wicked man, because he is resting in his ability to be a good person.

Saying things like well, I hope my good outweighs my bad, these people are normally philanthropist and acts if charity but have no clue who God is and by default have no reason to think they will be allowed into Heaven based on the good deeds they have done.

Paul ends by addressing the religious Jew or religious people in general.

Who seek to find peace with God through acts of service and or the traditions of their ancestors.

We live in the Bible belt, by in large in our area, if you were to ask someone if they believed in God their answer would the majority of the time be yes I am a believer.

However as we learned on Sunday simply agreeing with a certain statement of faith doesn’t make you a born a gain child of God.

Just because you have faithful worship attendance that doesnt make you a child of God.

Just because you read your Bible that doesn’t make you a born again child of God.

Being a Christian means you placed the entirety of your hope in the finished work of Christ on Calvary and now have begun a daily walk with the Lord.

Everything in your life revolves around Jesus at the very center of it all.

Now that you have a relationship with God you love Him and as a result of loving Him you seek to serve Him not because you have to but because you get to.

What a privelage it is to serve the Lord.

Just because you come to church that doesn’t make you a Christian, just because your family took you to church growing up, or even served as a minister somewhere does not make you a Christian.

This is one of the things I pray the most fervently for that my children will not base their standing with the Lord on daddy’s faith, but instead would have a genuine faith relationship of their own with Jesus.

But so often I run into pastors and just members of the community, who based on conversations we have had, have basically described to me how they are following in their parents footsteps and going to church is just what they were raised to do.

BIG IDEA:

RELIGION ROBS WHAT GRACE DELIVERS

What do we mean when we say religion?

RELIGION= Well intentioned acts, based out of wrong theological beliefs, done with the hopes of making God happy with you.

That is what I mean when I say religion, The Jews were well intentioned even when they crucified Jesus.

They were wrong but they honestly believed they were doing God a favor by killing the Messiah.

Jesus even referenced this in John while addressing those who follow Him.

John 16:2-3

The religious man knows alot about God but does not know God, personally.

These scribes and pharisees did a number on Jesus and they do a number on the followers of the Lord as well.

They still exist today, they seek prestige and power and control.

Thinking they are doing the church a favor when really they bring about the destruction of the church.

All of this comes about because the religious man has based all of his hope i his actions rather than the actions of the Lord.

He has no real relationship with the Lord but whether he knows it or not is attempting to keep God’s favor on him by doing acts of self-righteousness.

So the top two problems for the religious man is:

Deceived into believing his families relationship with the Lord is automatically handed to down to him

Acts done out of a faulty theological construct will make him, or her, right with God or keep him or her right with God.

This is why Paul begins this way.

Paul starts right off the bat using their greatest ancestor against them.

He is debunking this idea that your family lineage has anything to do with your standing before God.

Remember the last chapter Paul says of what advantage is it to be a Jew?

He says the only advantage that they had was that they received the revelation of God first!

So Paul is making the case that Jews have no automatic seat at the table of the family of faith.

You Earthly bloodline does not give you access into salvation.

Acts 10:34-

EVERY NATION

DOES WHAT IS RIGHT IS ACCEPTABLE TO HIM

Now this can be confusing but I just want to show you, we do not work for our salvation that is what Paul is preaching against.

However if we actually have a relationship with the Lord then we should desire to serve Him, works are evidence of salvation, not how we gain salvation.

Some Jews thought that by their upbringing and the traditions and religious practices by their ancestors they would be found righteous in God’s sight.

There is nothing more dangerous than this, because these Jews often times were good, they went to the synagogue heck half of them served in high roles in the synagogue, however they missed Jesus.

They missed Jesus because they were blinded, because they rested in their ability to keep the law.

They relied soley upon their righteousness.

This is why teaches us:

They needed a superceeding righteousness, something not found by works alone.

They needed a superceeding righteousness, something not found by works alone.

No one could be more holy than these people, they wore all the right things, they said all the right words, they looked and acted the part.

But their hearts were far from God.

Paul is telling the religious man, that if you rest in deeds done for the Lord then you can never see salvation as a gift but rather as something expected or owed.

This robs God of His glory and elevates man’s incomplete work over the completed work of Christ on our behalf.

It can become confusing when we hear this word believe, but we have to remember this is speaking of someone initially become saved, or justified, we cannot become saved by works, however works are evidence that we have come into relationship with God.

We are given eternal life based upon the faith we place in Christ alone.

However once we enter into this relationship with God through Jesus our want to’s desires and behavior should begin to change.

If our actions never change, then one must wonder if there was ever anything internal that changes, because an internal change always results in external evidence.

Then Paul moves on from Abraham one of the Jewish greats, to another Jewish patriarch, David.

Showing that even David understood this concept.

Righteous standing before God comes apart from works.

Salvation only comes through resting everything we are in Christ alone

ONCE WE REALIZE THAT SALVATION IS AN ALREADY PURCHASED GIFT

ONCE WE REALIZE THE CHAINS OF LEGALISM AND RELIGION ARE BROKEN OFF LOOK AT THE RESULT!

Romans 4:

JOY!!!

Unspeakable JOY!! FULL OF GLORY!!

Why?

Because every lawless act you have ever done has been covered by the blood of Jesus!

YOUR SINS ARE COVERED AND ATONED FOR!

JOY!!!

WE ARE FREE TO KNOW GOD AND NOW WE HAVE MEANING AND PURPOSE AND WE NOW TRY TO LIVE FOR WHAT OUR CREATOR CREATED US FOR!

Romans 4:

NEVER THE LORD WILL NEVER CHARGE US WITH SIN!!!

PRAISE THE LORD!!!

PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE SIN HAS BEEN PLACED UNDER THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB!!

This can be confusinf since we painted a picture on Sunday morning, between a believer and a follower.

Where we said simply believing is not enough.

So which is it?

Well it is very easy to see that true belief the kind of belief that saves, always leads to action.

You see how we understand believe and what the word actually means is two very different things.

When we say believe it is to say I agree, but it is not enough to simply agree, the demons agree the demons believe and they tremble.

So what sets our belief apart from theirs?

Our allegiance to Christ and our daily submission to Him as Lord.

We must understand that circumcision was the same thing to a Jew that Baptism is to us.

It was an outward sign of an inward truth.

This is why Paul makes the distinction now going back to Abraham...

Romans 4

Paul is using Jewish heroes of the faith to show that these men understood the dynamic that it is faith and true belief connected with obedience which saves.

(Noahs Ark SEALED IN)

He is saying listen Abraham was saved even before he was circumcised but his obedience to the law only came as a result of the fact that he knew God through a faith based relationship.

But that relationship, knowing god personally lead to obedience, not out of neccesity, but out of genuine desire to obey God.

He obeyed the Law because He knew who god was.

He did not obey the law in order to know who God was.

Notice the this idea of following found in 12

FAITH IS TIED TO FEET

It is not just that Abraham obeyed in being circumzised but rather he had a continual lifestyle of following and obeying the commands of the Lord.