Rom 4-Faith & Righteousness
| The Blessedness of Faith! Romans 4:1-9
June 4, 2006 (New Living Translation) 1Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What were his experiences concerning this question of being saved by faith? 2 Was it because of his good deeds that God accepted him? If so, he would have had something to boast about. But from God’s point of view Abraham had no basis at all for pride. 3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous.”4 When people work, their wages are not a gift. Workers earn what they receive. 5 But people are declared righteous because of their faith, not because of their work.6 King David spoke of this, describing the happiness of an undeserving sinner who is declared to be righteous:7 “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven,whose sins are put out of sight.8 Yes, what joy for thosewhose sin is no longer counted against them by the Lord.”9 Now then, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it for Gentiles, too? Well, what about Abraham? We have been saying he was declared righteous by God because of his faith. Pray. Scripture Memory: Romans 5:6-8 – 6At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Intro:Question: What benefits are there in being a Christian… besides pie in the sky when you die? – Why do we baptize our children? The Blessing of faith (v. 9) – “Is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it for Gentiles, too?”The Shorter Catechism Questions 32 & 36: “What benefits to do those who are effectually called share in this life?”Seven benefits of being a Christian here and now:Justification, adoption, sanctification, assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, and growing and persevering in grace to the end of our lives 1. JustificationHave you ever felt the need to justify yourself?When we stand guilty, we all feel this need. How often do any of us say, “there is really no excuse for what I have done (or not done)”?When we stand before God all pretense will be stripped away, and deep in our hearts we know that. We know that we are separated from God because of our sin and within each of us is a “God-shaped vacuum.”The first benefit of being a Christian is that we can be confident that God has provided our justification. He has paid the penalty we earned and has covered us with His own righteousness. Benefit #1: We are no longer alienated from God. 2. AdoptionI have cousin who adopted two children because he and his wife were unable to have children of their own. A few years later she got conceived and gave birth to a baby daughter. Do you think that that third child was any more loved than the first two?The fact that we have been truly adopted by God makes us His children, not merely by virtue of creation, but by virtue of His special love. Being family puts us in a completely different category than non-family…Important to distinguish between adoption, and even parentage in this fallen and broken world and adoption into God’s familyWith God as Father:F There will be no disowning. As God adopts us, the Scriptures say, He puts His Spirit in us as a pledge guaranteeing our inheritance. (Eph. 1:13b-14 – Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. )F There will be no favoritism.Ex: the Moroccan who asked a missionary friend which of his children was his favorite…Q: Do you know who God’s favorite child is? – YOU!How do I know that, He demonstrated the depth of his love for you this: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) F There will be no abandonmentQuoting Deuteronomy 6; Joshua 1; and Psalm 37, the writer of Hebrews writes: “He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’” (Hebrews 13:5bNew American Standard Bible)Romans 8:15 (NIV) – You received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Benefit #2: We can call God “Father”. 3. SanctificationThis is the process in which God’s grace makes us more and more like Christ. He enables us more and more to become dead to sin and alive to righteousness (SC. # 35 – Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace by which our whole person is made new in the image of God, and we are made more and more able to become dead to sin and alive to righteousness).It is interesting to look back on our lives. Inevitably we tend to shudder at how immature we were. In fact, if we cannot look back at former evidence of immaturity, it may mean that we have not matured. We all desire to grow, to improve. – Heaven – no more regrets…Who among us does not long to grow in grace and to become more like Jesus in practice, as well as in standing?Benefit #3: God is changing us from the inside out. 4. Assurance of God’s loveWhen we are truly confident in God’s love for us, We no longer have anything to fear. Romans 8:31 – “If God is for us, who can be against us?”1 John 4:18 – “Perfect love casts out fear.”We do not need to fear the future because the One who holds the future in His hands loves us.We do not need to fear the unknown because the One who knows all things loves us.We do not need to fear anything, because the One holds ALL things in His hands loves us. We no longer have to fear death, because for the one whom God loves, death is like being released from our cocoon to soar free.Benefit #4: Confidence that God truly does love us. 5. Peace of conscienceGuilt is a terrible thing to carry. We all have regrets. Some of us have done things which can never be undone and we have a hard time living with that. Deep down, we all know that even at the best of times, we COULD have done more. We COULD have done better.And yet, all of these regrets are merely external manifestations of a MUCH deeper guilt which we all bear, that of sin against our God.Being a Christian does NOT mean that we cease from sin. But it DOES mean that every time we do sin, we have a clean slate for the asking.Because (when) we are at peace with God, we can be at peace with ourselves and with others…- the Gospel - Benefit #5: A clear conscience. 6. Joy in the Holy SpiritJoy is something which goes MUCH deeper than happiness. We can experience deep joy even in the midst of intense sorrow. Joy has to do with a deep-rooted confidence that I am truly secure, secure in God’s love and secure in His power.True joy is something which is bound up in Christ. It is something which cannot truly be known apart from Him.Phil. 4:4 – “Rejoice in the Lord”Nehemiah 8:10 – “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”Q: What enables a person to be joyful in the midst of deep sorrow or pain?Benefit #6: We can experience deep joy, even in the midst of intense sorrow. 7. Growing and persevering in grace to the end of our livesThere is always light at the end of the tunnel for the Christian. Just as we understand that God drew us to Himself in the midst of our sin and rebellion, so we can be confident that He will not give up on us.Phil. 1:6 – He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. You could say that He “believes in us…”We are all encouraged when someone really believes in us. But in this case, His belief in us is founded on His OWN faithfulness, rather than ours. It is founded on the fact that He has invested the death and resurrection of His own Son, Jesus Christ and has given us His Holy Spirit to dwell within us.Benefit #7: In the end His grace WILL prevail and we will see Him face to face. A Truth to Remember & A Challenge to Consider: Christianity is not merely about life after death. There are some very tangible benefits here and now. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, are these benefits real enough in your life that you can see a value in sharing this Good News with those around you? | | |