Big Faith - Pt 3
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This is my third week preaching on the issue of Faith, working through the book of Romans. Starting in Chapter 4 Paul describes the inner workings of our salvation - mainly that our salvation is dependent on the Grace of God sending his son to die on the cross AND our response to that needing to be one of faith. That Faith is counted to us as righteousness from chapter 4 and we see at the beginning of chapter 5 that faith causes for us a monumental shift in who we are for eternity.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
Since we have been justified by faith:
We have Peace with God
We have access to Grace
We boast in the hope of Glory.
Those are huge changes in who we are for eternity. Originally I had thought that I would spend one week in this passage of scripture and then move on, but there is so much to cover. And so we are on week 3 of Big Faith. Let’s Pray.
PRAY.
Our faith aught to have life changing implications. So often in the world we have people who claim to believe, and yet live exactly as the world lives. Do we think that honors God? Are we fulfilling our side of the covenant that way?
No, absolutely not.
As I have studied through this concept of faith - I have found that as a believer it is the catalyst of so much more in our lives.
We say “I believe in Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior” and we attribute that only to eternity. We put it in a pretty little box.
That’s where my sins go when I am finished with them. In the pretty little Jesus box.
That’s how I am going to deal with eternity, in the pretty little Jesus box.
The reality is that faith is supposed to change everything.
RECAP: What is Faith?
Greek - Pisteuo PEESTEVOH
The act of Believing or trusting something on the basis of truthfulness and reliability.
Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.
For by this our ancestors were approved.
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?
And that is supposed to change everything.
First, it changes our spiritual position. We talked about that last week.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
The second change, the one I want to talk about today is a change in our mind set. In college my Bible professor described this as a change in world view. We are going to see some things here that matter to God, and because they matter to God, they should matter to us. As we talk about this today - I want to be thinking about where your mind is.
And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance,
endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.
This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
And not only that!
A little bit of spunk there.
We - believers.
Also… adding this conversation very concretely to the original. This is still within the results of faith. Its covered by the therefore statement in the beginning of the chapter.
REJOICE.
Other translations: Boast, glory… the point is we celebrate
and what is it we are celebrating? Our afflictions.
Our troubles.
We celebrate the bad stuff going on in our lives.
We celebrate the suffering we are enduring.
And that, like salvation by grace and faith, doesn’t. make. sense.
The natural response to suffering, is whining.
You can test that theory by asking a child to pick up their own mess.
Oh the horror!
Immediate complaint.
That is the natural response. Ask someone at work how their day is going and the most likely thing to come out of their mouth is some derivative of “it’s goin”
It is almost like that is one of the ways we believe we can feel better about the situation - if we share our woes with others.
And yet Paul says that for the believer, justified by faith, we should rejoice in our troubles.
That requires a change of mindset.
The natural way of thinking is that we get what we deserve and we deserve good things because we are good people.
Karma teaches this as a principal.
And to some respects, the Bible teaches this also - that which you sow you will also reap.
Another troubled mindset is in the believer that because we are Christians, we aught to be living incredible lives of abundance. We get what I call the spoiled brat mindset.
I am a child of the most high God!
I am a son of the King.
I deserve good things because of who I am.
And again, some of this is true. But someone who calls Jesus Lord finds themselves in a very different reality.
Because we are promised some difficult times.
The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.
For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.
I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body, that is, the church.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and the rivers will not overwhelm you, When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched and the flame will not burn you.
Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials,
because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
One who is righteous has many adversities, but the Lord rescues him from them all.
You caused me to experience many troubles and misfortunes, but you will revive me again. You will bring me up again, even from the depths of the earth.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
There seems to be a theme here.
We are going to have trouble.
We are going to suffer.
Why?
Some of it, is because we make bad choices.
Some of it, is because we live in a fallen world
Some of it - as we are working through today - is because God is invested in who we become during this life.
Biblical Principal:
For a christian, justified by faith,
Suffering produces endurance.
Endurance, is something that God cares about.
But as for you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary in doing good.
God’s will for our lives includes that we are not people who waver.
God is not interested in christians who bend a break and blow over at every inconvenience.
His desire for us is that we have endurance.
So with our measure of faith, with the hope that we are given, we have the ability to endure suffering and tribulation and by getting through those things… we build endurance.
That endurance builds - and becomes something tangible for us.
Proven Character.
Once we get though a few things, we understand - and the people around us understand that we are people who can get through some things.
If in the gym I know I can lift 300 pounds, and I see something in front of me that weighs 100, I know that is something I can lift easily. No problem.
I prove it to myself. I prove it to others.
And that, produces hope.
You have some hope, you start with some hope.
But through these things we build it, we refine it, we establish it. And that gives us fuel for the next thing.
God cares about perseverance, God cares about our character.
Its one and then the other.
God’s purpose is not to take away all of our troubles. That isn’t his desire at all. He wants to make us more like Jesus.
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.
Being a christian is the result of the experience of God’s love being poured out in your heart.
God proves currently that he loves us by having sent his son.
Paul looks at all of these things, understanding God’s purpose and he says we aught to be excited about it.
If we don’t have the right mindset about it, we might look at our experience and curse God, because our stuff is hard. and its not just your stuff. Its all of our stuff. Its hard.
Paul wants to help us have a correct mindset.
We can get excited, if we see God’s purpose.
We can get excited - if we know God is working.
So I want to end my message this morning with this - what do you think about where you are?
Do you know God Loves you?
Do you know God has things figured out for you?
Do you know he cares about who you are?
Vrs 5 becomes a prayer for us.
This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.