The Grace of God Supersedes Your Sin
Romans: Unashamed - Building the Church through the Gospel • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 54 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
What is the OBJECTIVE of this Sermon?
To show the superiority of Grace over Sin
What is the DESIRED RESPONSE for this Sermon?
To appreciate our standing before God because of His Grace and to extend that Grace around us.
TENSION - Where does the tension lie?
The tension for me is why often so forgetful of God’s amazing grace and why do I fail to extend that grace to others.
Me - Yancey
A prostitute came to me in wretched straits, homeless, sick, unable to buy food for her two-year-old daughter. Through sobs and tears, she told me she had been renting out her daughter—two years old!—to men interested in kinky sex. She made more renting out her daughter for an hour than she could earn on her own in a night. She had to do it, she said, to support her own drug habit. I could hardly bear hearing her sordid story. For one thing, it made me legally liable—I’m required to report cases of child abuse. I had no idea what to say to this woman. At last I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help. I will never forget the look of pure, naive shock that crossed her face. “Church!” she cried. “Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse.” What struck me about my friend’s story is that women much like this prostitute fled toward Jesus, not away from him. The worse a person felt about herself, the more likely she saw Jesus as a refuge. Has the church lost that gift? Evidently the down-and-out, who flocked to Jesus when he lived on earth, no longer feel welcome among his followers. What has happened? The more I pondered this question, the more I felt drawn to one word as the key. All that follows uncoils from that one word.
Yancey, Philip. What's So Amazing About Grace? (pp. 11-12). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
I would submit to you that the legalist doesn’t understand grace and thus has a difficult time extending grace!
I hope this sermon will help us all abandon any vestige of legalism in our hearts and instead revel in the grace that God continues to lavish on us as followers of Jesus!
First, in order to give out grace, we must understand grace’s benefit in our own lives.
I am a recipient of God’s amazing, superseding grace. Why?
Born with not father to an unwed mother - grace, I was born!
Given up for adoption - grace, I was sacrificed for!
Raised in a wonderful home - grace, given love, care, provision and protection.
Grew up being taught and thinking that I must earn my way to heaven - grace, a process that helped my “get lost” so I’d be ready, one day to understand the gospel.
God stepped in through a powerful bible study and reoriented my thinking and my heart - He saved me from an eternal Hell. - overflowing grace which is saving grace!
I experiences that day in October of 1991 (30 years ago) His AMAZING Grace. And I have been the continued recipient of this grace for these many years.
We - Each on of us here, if we are true believers in Christ, have an AMAZING Grace story. This is a story that God gives you! Your story is evidence of a changed life. The grace that changed your life and is still changing your life. Just the very act of breathing is an act of God’s providential grace!
God - We are at the end of Romans 5 today. Grace has become an increasing theme in this chapter. Why does Paul bring this theme of Grace in chapter 5? Well, when you come to the end of the Law, there is no hope. It is only with God’s grace alone that true and lasting hope is found.
“Grace is the most perplexing, powerful force in the universe, and, I believe, the only hope for our twisted, violent planet.” - Phillip Yancey
Main Idea - God’s Law Reveals Sin. God’s Grace Unveils Life!
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Hey, sinner! These have to be some of the most hope filled words in God’s holy word!
Let’s tear these verses apart and see what is so amazing a powerful about grace...
1. Your Sin is Greater Than You Think (vs. 20)
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
Do you remember what Jesus talks about in Matthew 7? He talks about judgment and sin. In particular, Jesus wants his disciples to understand their own sin. And so He does a comparison of their sin verses another’s.
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
The point? Your sin is bad. Really bad!
Why did God send the Law to Moses 430 years after establishing His covenant people through Abraham?
What is one of the purposes of God’s Law? It “came alongside” God’s people!
Why? To reveal/accentuate their sinful lives. Lives riddled with sin. And it is in this sense that the Law “increased the trespass.”
Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.
How did God respond? By giving “Superabounding” grace.
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Don’t you love this concept? Overflowing, superabounding GRACE??
We’re going to talk about this idea of grace in just a few minutes. But first I want you to consider this very important point Paul makes in the first half of verse
The point of this verse? You are more sinful than you like to admit to other and especially to yourself. How do you know this? God’s law proves it!
Do you love conjunctions? I do!
Do you see a conjunction worth noting in verse 20?
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
BUT! But what? But where sin INCREASED...
How does sin increase? Sin doesn’t actually increase in the sense that there becomes more of it. But it does increase in the sense that we can become more aware of its presence in our lives.
Pink Elephants! (don’t think about pink elephants).
I gave you a command, and you are breaking it! But the point is I infected your thinking telling you about pink elephants and not to think about them and now all you are doing is thinking about pink elephants! Ugh!
Paul suggests the same problem when it comes to sin...
What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
As soon Paul understood the particular act of coveting was a sin, all he did was covet. It increased in his life!
Back to our hope filled conjunction...
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
Do you see the HOPE? Sin is present! Sin is pervasive! Sin is all encompassing! BUT GRACE IS BIGGER! GRACE IS LARGER! GRACE IS SUPERABOUNDING!
GRACE IS GREATER THAN ALL OF OUR SIN!
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary's mount out-poured–
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Sin and despair, like the sea-waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater– yes, grace untold–
Points to the Refuge, the mighty Cross. [Refrain]
Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
All who are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive? [Refrain]
Refrain:
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!
Apply - The grace of our God is a concept that ought to radically change our lives. I have been forever marked by His grace and CANNOT change back to what I once was because - why?
The law has cursed you and as a result sin has infected you in every way!
BUT GRACE!
Grace is greater than your sin infection!
Grace is greater than your condemnation!
Grace is your one and only life line to God’s eternal promises for you!
So a couple questions for you.
1. Have you taken ahold of God’s grace for you?
2. Christian - is the superabounding grace in your life superabounding towards others?
Review - God’s Law Reveals Sin. God’s Grace Unveils Life!
Your Sin Is Greater Than You Think.
2. God’s Grace is Greater Still (vs. 21)
Honestly, that is what I’ve just spent the last several minutes proving to you the superiority of God’s amazing grace.
Now I want to show you from the text WHY it is superior.
Check out what Paul says...
so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
As we have discovered, sin is real. Sin is powerful. Sin is pervasive. Sin is something we all have and wrestle with.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
Now, as a point of comparison, Paul says that the sin that reigned as king (King Sin if you will?), as powerful as it has been throughout the history of humanity, it is no match for the power of KING Grace!
Grace is personified and is demonstrated as a righteous leader who delivers His subjects to eternal life! What tremendous power. How does “King Grace” accomplish this?
Surprise, King Grace is actually King Jesus!
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
King Jesus is...
Righteous - What is right and pleasing to God.
In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
Eternal - Infinite time.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
One who Saves - this is the meaning of the name Jesus
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
King of all kings - even king sin/death
He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Sovereign over all - LORD / Yahweh
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Why does Paul point this out? Why does he think it is important for his readers to understand?
Because, he has just spent three chapters hammering home the point that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
In chapter 4 he talks about faith and uses Abraham as the prime example of faith.
And even in the beginning of chapter 5 he talks about the benefit of faith, peace with God!
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So all have sinned...
Earning heaven is not an option...
Faith is the answer...
Why would God do all of this? Why would He develop and execute a plan that would rescue people from their sin and redeem them for all of eternity?
Grace! God’s character is that of grace. And grace is shocking when you truly understand it.
Illustrate - Max Lucado tells a wonderful story that demonstrates so well the gracious character of our God...
Longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood, Christina wanted to see the world. Discontent with a home having only a pallet on the floor, a washbasin, and a wood-burning stove, she dreamed of a better life in the city. One morning she slipped away, breaking her mother's heart. Knowing what life on the streets would be like for her young, attractive daughter, Maria hurriedly packed to go find her. On her way to the bus stop she entered a drugstore to get one last thing. Pictures. She sat in the photograph booth, closed the curtain, and spent all she could on pictures of herself. With her purse full of small black-and-white photos, she boarded the next bus to Rio de Janiero. Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money. She also knew that her daughter was too stubborn to give up. When pride meets hunger, a human will do things that were before unthinkable. Knowing this, Maria began her search. Bars, hotels, nightclubs, any place with the reputation for street walkers or prostitutes. She went to them all. And at each place she left her picture--taped on a bathroom mirror, tacked to a hotel bulletin board, fastened to a corner phone booth. And on the back of each photo she wrote a note. It wasn't too long before both the money and the pictures ran out, and Maria had to go home. The weary mother wept as the bus began its long journey back to her small village.
It was a few weeks later that young Christina descended the hotel stairs. Her young face was tired. Her brown eyes no longer danced with youth but spoke of pain and fear. Her laughter was broken. Her dream had become a nightmare. A thousand times over she had longed to trade these countless beds for her secure pallet. Yet the little village was, in too many ways, too far away. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes noticed a familiar face. She looked again, and there on the lobby mirror was a small picture of her mother. Christina's eyes burned and her throat tightened as she walked across the room and removed the small photo. Written on the back was this compelling invitation. "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn't matter. Please come home." She did.
Max Lucade, No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, Multnomah Press, 1986, pp. 158-9.
Apply - To be abundantly clear, from God’s holy and righteous perspective you and I are wicked and wretched sinners. Your sinful offenses are too numerous to number. There are not powerful enough words in the human languages to articulate this truth.
However, James does a great job in his letter when He says.
Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Why? Because when sin is your king all you have to look forward to is death.
However, King Grace (AKA Jesus) reigns over your life, you have life and have it abundantly. You have ETERNAL LIFE!
Why? Because of the gospel!
Although out of pure grace God does not impute our sins to us, He nonetheless did not want to do this until complete and ample satisfaction of His law and His righteousness had been made. Since this was impossible for us, God ordained for us, in our place, One who took upon Himself all the punishment we deserve. He fulfilled the law for us. He averted the judgment of God from us and appeased God's wrath. Grace, therefore, costs us nothing, but is cost Another much to get it for us. Grace was purchased with an incalculable, infinite treasure, the Son of God Himself."
Martin Luther, Daily Walk, May 5, 1992.
How can you be saved today and experience the GRACE of God?
We first have to acknowledge that there’s something to admit—that you and I have sinned against God and could never make up for our wrongdoing.
Second, we must believe that Jesus has taken on the penalty for our sins and conquered death once and for all.
Finally, we must consider the implications of placing our faith in God. Admitting and believing has to be followed by obedience and repentance. The rest of our days will be spent turning away from sin and towards God, by the help of His Spirit (John 14:15–17). This is a transformation that touches every facet of life. - TFL
Review - God’s Law Reveals Sin. God’s Grace Unveils Life!
Your Sin Is Greater Than You Think.
God’s Grace is Greater Still
You - Why is Paul pointing this out? Well, It’s a pretty cool and encouraging theological truth that ought to impact your thinking thus impact your joy! It is an absolutely life changing truth that should leave you forever changed, forever, loving, forever kind and gracious.
And it should also change the way you interact with other.
Charles Spurgeon said, “The Christian man is not allowed to hate anyone.”
I would add the corollary to his point...
A Christian man or woman is only allowed to love everyone!
Does the grace of God compel you to love as Christ loved.
I would submit to you, friends that if you do not strive to love as Christ loved, you know nothing of the grace of God. You don’t understand the cross of Christ. You cannot comprehend the lengths that God went through to redeem you.
God’s love is only possible for you BECAUSE of God’s AMAZING grace.
How would your life change if you purposed to understand God’s grace for what it truly is - it’s not something you deserve, but something freely given to you - “not because of works of righteousness, but because of His great mercy he has for you.”
Here are some ways I think you might change if you purposed to understand God’s amazing grace.
You will stop judging people’s character because you do not agree with their ideology.
You will start serving people, especially those whom you disagree (Jesus did this all the time).
You will extend grace to people in your life that do not deserve it. After all, that’s what God did and does for you!
“I rejected the church for a time because I found so little grace there. I returned because I found grace nowhere else.” - Yancey
We - We are a people born by grace to live in light of God’s grace. It must permeate the core of who we are. In other words this church, this group of Jesus followers must be know for our grace!
What if ABC’s culture was a determined culture of grace? What do I mean by this? I mean each one of this body was determined to be gracious. That we don’t just speak about grace, we show it!
By the way, that’s the best way to help people understand grace!
“I would far rather convey grace than explain it.” Yancey
Would you join me in helping our culture be a culture of determined, superabounding grace?
Why? Because of God’s determined, superabounding grace He continues to have for us!
Connection Group Reflection Questions
God’s grace is beautiful and shocking. What shocks you about the grace of God?
Why is legalism an easier default reaction than grace?
What do these verses teach me about our character?
What do these verses teach me about God and his character?
Because these words are from God, they are TRUTH! What truth is he asking me to believe?
What do I need to do to obey him?
With whom can I share these truths?