What Do I Do To Be Made Right In God's Sight?
Notes
Transcript
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Paul in Romans 3:10-18 quotes seven OT passages to demonstrate that all mankind is under sin’s dominion.
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Bildad, one of Job’s friends asked the question:
How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?
What do I do? What do I do to be right in God’s sight?
Sin brings the wrath of God.
Sin brings the wrath of God.
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Every person who has been born in this earth with the exception of one (Jesus Christ) has been born into sin and has a disposition toward committing sin.
It doesn’t matter how good you think you are. There are some people in the world that believe that if they could just be a good person, that they will make it to heaven, they think if their good can just outweigh their bad that they’ll make it into the kingdom of God, and they are on their way to the lake of fire!
You can never be justified by works alone. Why? Because you were fashioned and born into sin.
When we live in sin, when we live apart from the LORD we are living in sin!!! If we live in sin, the scriptures declare that you are storing up wrath. Just because bad things haven’t happen to you doesn’t mean that you are okay. Just because things may be going right in your life, new car, new home, new clothes, full bank account, doesn’t mean that you are alright with God!!! The reason you are still here is because of God’s mercy and grace, He’s giving you an opportunity to repent and get it right with Him. Church we need to know, the world needs to know that the WRATH OF GOD IS COMING!!!
John saw in a prophetic vision the day of the Lord in which he writes:
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
What do I do? What do I do to be made right in the sight of God? How do I escape this wrath that is coming?
Coming to church alone can’t justify you, giving an offering can’t justify you, reading your bible can’t justify you, saying your nightly prayers can’t justify you.
Wearing a skirt to your ankles can’t justify you, singing on the choir, serving on the deacon board, being a missionary, being a preacher, cannot justify you.
An apology to God isn’t enough, Baptism alone doesn’t justify you, adhering to a set of rules and regulations won’t justify you. Doing this or NOT doing that will not justify you.
Paul wrote in Romans 3:20:
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
True Christianity has NEVER been about rules and regulations. True Christianity is about relationship, it is about faith in Christ which produces a relationship with God. When you have a relationship with God, God begins to conform you into his image:
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
See when you have your relationship with God right, God says:
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
What do I do? What do I do to be right in God’s sight?
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
The NLT says “But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him (God) without keeping the requirements of the law,”
Verse 22:
We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ!!!
We couldn’t make ourselves right in the sight of God. So Jesus himself, the righteous one, the Holy One, the one who knew no sin, stepped out of eternity, put on human flesh, came into this sinful dark world, suffered at the hands of sinful man, was nailed to a rugged cross, died for our sins, rose on the third day, ascended back to Heaven, sat down on the right hand of God, sent back the Holy Ghost, and is offering up intercession on our behalf. We couldn’t do it, but thank God Jesus did it for us!!!
Through the death of his cross, Jesus made us right with God!!!
Anyone who places their faith in Jesus Christ, anyone who trusts in what Jesus did whether Jew or Gentile, whether circumcised or uncircumcised is made right with God because of what Jesus did for us.
Paul then says:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
“All have sinned and fall (present tense) short of the glory of God.”
Doesn’t matter how long you been in church, doesn’t matter who you are or what background you come from.
It doesn’t matter how good you think you are, it doesn’t matter how much money you give to the poor, it doesn’t matter if you try to treat people right, it doesn’t matter if you don’t curse, if you don’t lie.......all have sinned and all fall short of the glory (the standard) of God.
WE ALL NEED A SAVIOR.....WE ALL NEED TO BE SAVED!!! JESUS IS THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN SAVE US!!! HE’S THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN HELP US!!! HE’S THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN CHANGE US!!!
Until you realize this.....you won’t see the need for a savior. You won’t see the need for salvation, you won’t see a need for calling and crying out to God for God to have mercy on you!!!
When you realize that your soul is at stake, when you realize that the wrath of God is going to be revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, when you realize that I by myself, I can never be good enough, it will cause you to cry out LORD SAVE ME!!! LORD FORGIVE ME!!! LORD WASH ME IN YOUR BLOOD!!! LORD MAKE ME OVER AGAIN!!!
YET!!!! God in his GRACE!!! I SAID GOD IN HIS GRACE!!! Freely makes us right, not freely made us right (past tense), I’m talking about right now.....God makes us right in his sight!
Paul records in verse 24:
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
There are two key terms here:
Grace:
Old Testament- moral quality of kindness, displaying a favorable disposition. Can also mean beauty.
New Testament- free favor, kindness, can be used to denote kindness of a master towards his inferior servants, and especially with God’s kindness towards mankind.
More specifically, grace is defined in the New Testament as the kindness of God towards those who don’t deserve it. It is favor towards one who is ill-deserved, it grants the sinner pardon from their sins, and bids them acceptance into eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.
It is God’s grace that saves us, it is God’s grace that keeps us, it is God grace that strengthens us, it is God’s grace that increases our christian character, it is God’s grace that makes us more like Him, it is God’s grace that gives us spiritual gifts, it is God’s grace that secures our salvation. And grace says “You don’t deserve it, but because God is good.....he grants you undeserved favor.”
I need someone to lift your hands and tell the LORD THANK YOU FOR YOUR GRACE!!!
Two spiritual facts:
Two spiritual facts:
1. Jesus died to reconcile us back to God.
1. Jesus died to reconcile us back to God.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
For the unsaved as well as the saved, this means that Jesus died so that our relationship with God could be repaired. He died to win you back to God, He died to bring you back to God, He died so that you could come back to God and have a relationship with the one true, only, living God.
Not only that, Paul also says towards the end of this passage “we shall be saved by his life.” This is future-tense, we are going to be saved from wrath, we are going to be saved from judgement, we are going to be saved from death.
For the saved people, you deserved to die, you deserved to be on your way to the lake of fire, but thank God he saved us!
2. Jesus died so that you could be justified before God.
2. Jesus died so that you could be justified before God.
Justification involves our legal status before God. There are only two statuses that you can have. 1. Guilty (ungodly/unrighteous) or 2. Justified (Godly/righteous)
When you commit a crime you are guilty of that crime.
When we were born into this world, when we were born into sin, we were born guilty.
What do I do? What do I do to be right in God’s sight?
I’m going to say this and some of you are going to look at me crazy but bear with me.
There is no action you can take that will justify you before God.
There is nothing that you can do (action wise) Because even on your best day.....you’re a sinner.
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
But here is the good news:
Jesus already did the work for you!
Jesus did what you couldn’t do, Jesus did what you can’t do. He did the work, he accomplished what was needed for you to be righteous in God’s sight.
When Jesus died on the cross......when he lifted up his voice and said “It Is Finished” He completed the work that was necessary for you to be right in the sight of God.
The only thing you have to do now is believe it and receive it!!! Faith in Jesus’ atoning work is what saves us.
Consider Abraham:
What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Abraham was a man of faith. Abraham was considered to be a righteous man. Yet, we see in Abraham’s life that Abraham made some questionable choices. There were a couple of times that Abraham messed up, there were a couple of times that Abraham struggled in faith.
But Abraham was never justified because of his actions, he was justified because of his faith! Because Abraham had faith, God acknowledge that this same man that messed up, this same man that made questionable choices in life, this same man that had ups and downs in his faith, God considered him to be righteous!
When you work to earn something it is not a gift. When you work, you receive because payment because you earned it.
The scriptures declare that man could never work to earn salvation. You can’t do anything to be righteous.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Paul uses the word Logizomal which means “counted” or credited/charged. Sometimes when you have credit, you are able to get things that you may not be able to pay for. You don’t have the money, but you can receive the goods and it is credited to you even when you don’t have the money.
The moment that you believe and accept that Jesus died for your sins, when you accept the free gift of salvation and the forgiveness of sins that comes from the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection, you are credited with righteousness.
Some of you Pharisees ain’t liking this message because you think you gotta do X, Y, Z in order to be saved, but I’m preaching what the bible says!
When God saves us, the battle is just beginning, we have two natures within us that wars against one another, the flesh vs the Spirit. You need to know that just because you are saved doesn’t mean that you won’t mess up from time to time. It doesn’t mean that you won’t make the wrong decisions from time to time, it doesn’t mean you won’t say the wrong thing, you won’t think the wrong thing.
But thank God, that even if I should mess up, because of what Jesus did for me, He considers me to still be righteous. Abraham messed up......but God considered Abraham to still be righteous.
Conclusion:
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
“Let us grasp the fact that we have peace”
The Lord Jesus didn’t die on the cross to be your enemy. He died on the cross, he shed his blood for you to be reconciled back to God. He died, in order for you to be righteous, he died, in order for you to be free, he died in order for you to be saved from the wrath to come.
The Bible declares:
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
He died so you could be blessed, He died, so that you could be delivered, He died, so that you could be healed. It is by grace that you are saved. I’m saved not because of my goodness, but I’m saved because of the grace of God. Jesus is the grace of God, his death and the shedding of his blood is the grace of God. His resurrection to secure our forgiveness of sins......IS GOD’S GRACE!!! WE DIDN’T DESERVE IT!!!! BUT THANK GOD FOR HIS GRACE!!!
Paul said:
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Happy are those whose disobedience is forgiven and whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin.
I didn’t deserve it, but thank God for his grace!!! Should’ve been on my way to the lake of fire, but thank God for his grace! Should’ve died a long time ago, but thank God for his grace!!!
And now,
Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
I can rejoice, when I run into problems and trials, I can rejoice because the Bible says:
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
If God be for us, who can stand against us?
If God be for us, what can stand against us?
All because of what Jesus done for me, all because of the victory he’s given to us, we can confidently square our shoulders and lift our heads up and say:
NAY IN ALL THESE THINGS WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM THAT LOVED US!!! Testify to three people and tell them neighbor.......YOU ARE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR!!!
ALTAR CALL:
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?