Performance vs. Promise...

This week, we have been looking at a section of a letter in the Bible called the Book of Romans where a man named Paul reveal for us the timeless truth that our rescue from selfishness and sin requires trusting in God's promise instead of our performance. After pointing followers of Jesus throughout history to the reality that both Abraham and King David were rescued by trusting God’s promise and not their performance, Paul concludes this section of his letter to the church at Rome by asking and answering a question. And it is this question and its answer that has profound implications for us today. So let’s look at this question together, beginning in Romans 4:9:

Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, "FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS."

After speaking of God’s blessing of giving credit to Abraham when he had no credit with God as a result of his confident trust in God’s promise, Paul asks a question. This question, if asked today, would sound something like this: When did God give Abraham the credit in his account that resulted in Abraham being declared not guilty and right with God? Was Abraham declared not guilty of having a problem with God and being right with God before he was circumcised or after? Now to understand what the Apostle Paul is asking here, we first need to understand what circumcision is and its significance to the Jewish people. Circumcision is a surgical procedure that involves removing the foreskin from the male genitals with a surgical knife, or in this case, a knife made of stone.

The reason that circumcision was so significant was that circumcision was a covenant sign that identified the Jewish people as being God’s people. Circumcision was an outward sign was done in order to demonstrate an inward commitment and relationship to God. Circumcision was a religious act that was required to be performed under the Law so that you would be able to be identified as being right with God as part of the Jewish religious system. Circumcision was something you did for God. By contrast an uncircumcised person was viewed as being in a state which was not right with God and not identified as being part of God’s people. Paul asks the question, and then points us to the answer by quoting Genesis 15:6, which we looked at earlier.
By why would Paul quote the same section of the Bible a second time? We find the answer in verse 10,

How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.

Here Paul reveals the reality that God’s blessing of giving credit to Abraham when he had no credit with God as a result of his confident trust in God’s promise occurred before Abraham performed any religious activity that God had commanded. You see, God’s command of circumcision is recorded for us in Genesis 17, when Abraham was 99 years old. However, Abraham was given credit by God as being right with Him some 13 years earlier, in Genesis 15:6, when Abraham was 86 years old. You see, God gave Abraham righteousness, or the state of being right with God as a result of his confident trust in God’s promise, not his performance. Paul here is revealing for us the reality that our rescue has always required trusting God’s promises and not our performance. It has never been about what we do or our performance for God. From the very beginning, our rescue from the problem we have with God has always required trusting in God’s promise.

Now you may be wondering “Well, then why did God command Abraham do be circumcised if that had nothing to do with him entering into a right relationship with God? What good is circumcision? Paul answers this question for us in verses 11-12. First Paul states that Abraham received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised. The word seal here refers to something that confirms or authenticates something as true. The point that Paul is making here is that Abraham was circumcised in order to demonstrate and authenticate the fact that God had already given credit to Abraham as a result of his confident trust in God’s promise that made him right with God. Performing a circumcision did not cause Abraham to be credited as being right with God; performing the circumcision was a sign that Abraham was already right with God as a result of His confident trust in God’s promise.

That is why we are such strong proponents of baptism by immersion of those who have already professed their confident trust in Jesus Christ. Just as circumcision was in the Old Testament, baptism is on outward performance that serves as a sign that demonstrates and authenticates an inward faith. That is why we do not baptize infants or children until they have placed heir confident trust in Christ. And because Abraham was credited as being right with God prior to performing any religious activity, he was able to be the father, or the forerunner who provides an example to follow, for all humanity. Whether religious or irreligious, all of humanity has the opportunity to be rescued just as Abraham was rescued.

You see, our rescue requires trusting in God’s promises instead of our performance such as circumcision or baptism. Yet it is so easy for us to fall in the trap of trusting our own performance rather than God’s. It is so easy to trust in our own ability to believe as though believing was an activity that we perform instead of a gift we are given. It is so easy to trust our own performance when it comes to sticking to the decision instead of trusting in God’s decision. It is so easy to trust in our ability to choose instead of trusting in God’s choice and promises.

Have I just described you? Do you trust in your own performance for God when it comes to your relationship with God? Do you trust that your own performance will result in God giving you the credit that you need to be right with Him? If you are here this morning and are trying to trust in your performance for God, I just have a question? How’s it working out for you? Because, as we discovered earlier, God will only give you what your performance has earned. And do you really want God to give you what you have earned? You see, living life by performance for God usually results in a life that is filled with either pride or despair.

And, as we have seen, our rescue requires trusting in God’s promise instead of our performance. That is how Abraham and David were rescued; they were rescued by by placing their confident trust in God’s promise, not their performance. And the reality is that is always how it has been. All of humanity throughout history is rescued not by their performance for God, but by trusting in God’s promises for them. For those in the Old Testament, it was placing their confident trust in God and His promises. For those who lived in the New Testament, and for us here this morning, it is placing our confident trust in the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a rescuer, Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection provides the opportunity for forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for.

Because the timeless reality is that our rescue requires trusting in God’s promise instead of our performance.

Rescue Revealed by a King's Trust in God's Promise...

Yesterday, we looked at a section of a letter in the Bible called the Book of Romans. And in this section of this letter, we saw a man named Paul reveal for us the timeless truth that our rescue from selfishness and sin requires trusting in God's promise instead of our performance. Through an Old Testament story involving a man named Abraham, Paul explained that those who attempt to do things for God in order to get right with God, are only given what they have earned. To attempt to be rescued from selfishness and sin by trusting in our performance will only result in us receiving what we are owed for all our efforts. And as we discovered earlier in this series, our performance will never be able to rescue us from the problem we have with God as a result of our selfish rebellion and sin.

However, the person who trusts in God’s promise through the message of the gospel will receive credit to their account that previously had no credit. When we trust in God’s promise to declare us not guilty of our selfish rebellion and sin as we believe, trust, and follow Jesus as Lord and Leader, it is that confident trust in God’s promise that God credits our account as being right with Him. Because our rescue requires trusting in God’s promise instead of our performance. But Abraham was not the only prominent member of the Jewish people in the Old Testament that spoke of trusting in God’s promise instead of their performance. We see Paul introduce us to a second prominent figure in the Old Testament, beginning in Romans 5:6:

just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. "BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT."

Here we see the Apostle Paul point the readers of this letter, and us here today, to a section of a letter that is recorded for us in our Bibles, called the book of Psalms. This section of this letter was written by a man named David. To understand why King David is so significant we first need to understand who King David was and the role that he played in the Jewish nation. David was the youngest of the eight sons of Jesse, who God chose to become King of the Jewish people. And it was David who was known as the greatest king that ever led the Jewish people. It was King David that led the Jewish armies to conquer their enemies. It was King David who captured Jerusalem and established it as their capital city. It was King David who established the Jewish nation as a military and political power in the world. And it was King David who was described in the Bible as a man after God’s own heart.

But notice what king David wrote when it came to his relationship with God which Paul quotes from Psalm 32:1-2. King David, in a Psalm of worship to the Lord, exclaims the blessings that come from being forgiven of the selfish and sinful actions that flow from a selfish and sinful heart. He exclaims the blessings of having our selfish and sinful acts of commission and omission forgiven. And he exclaims the blessings that come from the Lord not taking into account our selfish rebellion and sin. Now the phrase take into account is the same word that is translated credit or reckon.

King David is exclaiming the blessings that come because God does not credit our accounts based on our performance. Because King David knew what his performance was. And he knew that his performance would not rescue him or anyone else. He knew the blessings that came as a result of God giving credit to a person’s account that had no credit or account. And Paul wanted the members of the church at Rome, and followers of Jesus throughout history to know what king David knew, which is that our rescue requires trusting in God’s promise instead of our performance.

After pointing followers of Jesus throughout history to the reality that both Abraham and King David were rescued by trusting God’s promise and not their performance, Paul concludes this section of his letter to the church at Rome by asking and answering a question. Tomorrow, we will look at this question and answer that has profound implications for us today.

Our Rescue Requires Trusting in God's Promise Instead of our Performance...

Last week, we saw the Apostle Paul reveal for us a timeless truth that provides for us a timeless hope. And that timeless truth that provides for us a timeless hope is that God rightly rescues from rebellion through faith in Christ. We left off last week discovering that because it is God’s activity and not our activity that rescues us from selfish rebellion and sin, there is no room for pride.

However, just like today, for some readers of this letter, there seemed to be resistance to the idea that we could only be rescued by faith in what God has done for us and not by what we can do for God. Their resistance was due to the fact that they believed that the message of the gospel nullified the law; In other words the message of the gospel seemed to make the Old Testament worthless and irrelevant. Last week, we saw Paul respond to this resistance with the strongest negative response possible and explain that the the message of the gospel does not undercut the teachings of the Old Testament; faith actually reinforces the teachings of the Bible.

Today, I would like us to look at another section of a letter in our Bibles called the book of Romans. And in this section, we will see the Apostle Paul respond to this resistance by some of the readers of this letter by showing that the message of God’s right rescue from rebellion through faith in Christ not only reinforces the teachings of the Bible. In his response, we will see Paul introduce us to two people who played a prominent role in God’s activity throughout the history of the Jewish people. And through the lives of these two prominent people, we will discover a timeless truth that is essential to embrace if we are to experience rescue from the insurmountable problem that our selfish rebellion and sin creates for us. So let’s look together at this section of this letter, beginning in Romans 4:1:

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

Paul begins this section of his letter with a question: “what then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?” If Paul was here with us this morning and asking this question in the language of our culture today, this question would sound something like this: “Let’s talk about Abraham, who all religious Jewish people find their identity in as the father of the Jewish people. What did Abraham discover during his life about how to become right with God? How was Abraham declared not guilty of having a problem with God? What rescued Abraham?

Now to understand why Paul would even mention Abraham here, we first need to understand who Abraham was and his significance to the Jewish people. You see Abraham was the father of the Jewish people. He was the George Washington of the Jewish nation. Abraham was viewed with the utmost respect by the Jewish people. Abraham was the head of the family tree of the Jewish people. So this question would have grabbed the attention of every Jewish person reading this letter. The very people who were objecting to the idea that the message that rescue from selfishness and sin was by what God did for us instead of what we do for God. The very people who viewed God’s right rescue from rebellion by faith in Christ as nullifying the teachings of the Old Testament as being worthless and irrelevant. Because for those who were involved in the Jewish religious system, rescue from selfishness and sin came from what you did for God by keeping the requirements of the Law, which are the first five books in our Bibles today.

But notice what Paul states in verse 2: “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.”? In other words, if Abraham was declared not guilty of having a problem with God by what He did for God, he has something to boast about. If Abraham was able to rescue himself by what he did for God by keeping the requirements of the Law, then he can take pride in his accomplishments. However, Paul then confronts the religious Jewish idea that our rescue from selfishness and sin came from what you did for God by stating that if Abraham was declared not guilty by his works, or what he did for God, he has something to boast about, but not before God. Paul is saying “well if Abraham was rescued and declared not guilty by what he did for God then he could take pride, but he wasn’t. Abraham was not rescued from his selfish rebellion and sin by what he did for God”.

And it is in this section of this letter that we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us a timeless truth about what rescues us from our selfish rebellion and sin. And that timeless truth is this; our rescue requires trusting in God’s promise instead of our performance. The Apostle’s point in verse 2 is that Abraham could brag and boast if his performance was what brought him rescue from selfishness and sin and brought him into a right relationship with God. But it wasn’t Abraham’s performance that rescued him and made him right with God. It was Abraham’s trust in God’s promise that rescued Abraham and made him right with God. And in the same way today, our rescue from the problem of selfish rebellion and sin cannot be achieved by performance. Instead, the only way that we can be rescued from our selfish rebellion and sin is by trusting in God’s promise. We see Paul reveal this reality through Abraham’s story, beginning in Romans 4:3. Let’s look at it together:

For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

Here we see the Apostle Paul point the readers of this letter, and us here today, to a story that is recorded for us in the very first book of our Bibles, called the book of Genesis. And while the Jewish readers of this letter would be very familiar with this story, some of us here this morning may not be quite as familiar. So let’s go back and look at this story together, beginning in Genesis 15:1:

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great." Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir." Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir." And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."

Earlier in the book of Genesis, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said “get up, leave your family and your country to go to a land that I will show you. Just get up and start walking. And once you get there, I will make you a great nation and make your name great”. Abraham was 75 years old at the time. Yet now, 11 years later, in Genesis 15, we see God remind Abraham, who is now 86, of His promise to him. Abraham responds to God’s reminder with a question “How is my reward going to great? There is no legacy. I have no children. I am getting old. You are going to have to give the reward to servant.” God then makes an amazing and seemingly impossible promise to Abraham. Your servant will not be your heir. No, Abraham, you will have a child. And you will not have a small legacy. Your legacy, your descendants will be too great to count. Now at that point, Abraham has a decision to make. What will he do with what he has just heard? We see what Abraham did in Genesis 15:6, which Paul quotes in Romans 4:3:

Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Abraham responded to God’s promise by believing God’s promise. Now the word believed here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, is the same word for faith. It conveys the idea of entrusting oneself to someone in complete confidence. Abraham placed his compete confidence in God and God’s promise. Abraham confidently trusted that God was a promise maker and that God was a promise keeper. And as a result of Abraham’s faith, as a result of his confident trust in God’s promise, it was reckoned, or credited to him as righteousness. To reckon or credit literally means to put credit to ones account who has no credit or account. God gave credit to Abraham, who had no credit or standing before God. And what God gave Abraham was righteousness, which as we discovered earlier in this series is the quality or state of being right with God. As a result of his confident trust in God’s promise, Abraham was given credit by God as being right with Him.

Paul then unpacks and applies the timeless truth contained in the story of Abraham to the members of the church at Rome, and to us here today, in verses 4-5. To help us understand what Paul is communicating here, let’s ask a question. Why do we work? Now, if we were to make a list of the reasons why we work, while there may be many different factors listed as to why we work, I believe that every list would have one common denominator; we work to get paid. And when we get our paychecks, we do not look at that paycheck as a gift, do we? No, we look at that paycheck as something that is due us, don’t we? I mean we worked hard for that money. For some here, you may feel like your paycheck does not reflect how hard you worked. However, none of us feel like our employer is paying us voluntarily as a favor, do we? Our employers would not pay us if we did not work for it, just out of the goodness of their hearts. Our employers pay us because they have to, they owe us that money; we earned that money through our work.

Paul’s point here is that in the same way, those who attempt to do things for God in order to get right with God, are only given what they have earned. To attempt to be rescued from selfishness and sin by trusting in our performance will only result in us receiving what we are owed for all our efforts. And as we discovered earlier our performance will never be able to rescue us from the problem we have with God as a result of our selfish rebellion and sin. However, the person who trusts in God’s promise through the message of the gospel will receive credit to their account that previously had no credit. When we trust in God’s promise to declare us not guilty of our selfish rebellion and sin as we believe, trust, and follow Jesus as Lord and Leader, it is that confident trust in God’s promise that God credits our account as being right with Him. Because our rescue requires trusting in God’s promise instead of our performance.

But Abraham was not the only prominent member of the Jewish people in the Old Testament that spoke of trusting in God’s promise instead of their performance. Tomorrow, we will see Paul introduce us to another prominent figure from the history of the Jewish people.

A Rescue that Removes Pride and Reinforces the Bible...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter in the Bible that reveals the reality that God rightly rescues from rebellion through faith in Christ. In Romans 3:21-31, we see a man named Paul reveal for us five different aspects of God's right rescue through faith. We have discovered that God's right rescue through faith is independent of our effort, is required by all, and results in a not guilty verdict. Paul then continues to reveal the implications that God’s right rescue from rebellion through faith in Christ have on humanity in Romans 3:27-30:

Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

In these verses, we see the Apostle Paul ask a string of questions designed to reveal the timeless implications that God’s right rescue from rebellion through faith in Christ has on all humanity. First, Paul asks “Where is the boasting”? Paul then answers this question by stating that it is excluded. In other words, there is no room for pride when it comes to our relationship with God. Pride is shut out, there is no opening for boasting and pride to enter into a conversation about our relationship with God.

Now a natural push back or question that may arise here is “Why not? Why is there no room for pride”? Paul, anticipating this response, responds with a second question: By what kind of Law? Of works? If Paul was asking this question in the language we use in today’s culture, the question would sound something like this: “What religious, moral or ethical system did you perfectly follow to make you right with God? Was it what you did for God that enabled God to declare you not guilty of having a problem with Him?” Paul then answers this question by stating that it was the Law of faith. But what does that mean? Paul’s point here is that it is not what we do for God that can make us not guilty of having a problem with God. Instead, it is what God does for us through Jesus Christ; and it is the placing of our confident trust of what God has done for us through Christ and the message of the gospel that make makes us not guilty.

And it is here that we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us the reality that God’s right rescue through faith removes pride in human effort. It is because of God’s activity and not our activity that we are rescued from selfish rebellion and sin. And because it is God’s activity and not our activity that rescues us from selfish rebellion and sin, there is no room for pride.

Paul reinforces this reality in verse 28 when he states that we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. The Apostle had a strong point of view; and that strong point of view was that it was by placing ones confident trust in what God had done through Christ that resulted in a person being declared not guilty and being able to enter into the relationship with God that they were created for. Having a relationship with God was independent of what you did for God in order to remove the guilt that came from selfish rebellion and sin. And for the Jewish people of Paul’s day, this would have been viewed as a scandalous statement. This would have put Paul at odds with the religious people of his day, just as the message and teaching of Jesus often offended and put Him at odds with the self righteous religious people that He encountered.

Yet, instead of backing down, Paul laid down the gauntlet and dug his heels in with another set of questions: “Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also?” In other words, “do you Jewish religious people think that you have exclusivity because you are God’s chosen people? Do you think that you are somehow better that irreligious people because you go to church and try to do things for God?” Paul then answers his questions in a way that would have offended the Jewish religious people of his day: “Yes, of Gentiles also,”? This would have been incredibly offensive for a Jewish person because they took great pride in their religious heritage. They took great pride in having the Old Testament; they took great pride in having the temple; they took great pride in their traditions; they took great pride in what they did for God.

Maybe you are reading this and I have just described you. You take great pride in what you do for God and there is no way that God would look at irreligious people that same way He looks at you. And there is something within you that consciously or unconsciously believes that God chose you because of all that you did for God. Or maybe you would describe your life as being irreligious and rebellious. Your life has been spent running from God and rebelling against God. Regardless of whether you consider yourself religious or irreligious, from God’s perspective there is one way and only one way that anyone is declared not guilty of having a problem with God. There is only one way to receive rescue and redemption from slavery to selfishness and sin and enter into the relationship with God that you were created for. And that one way is through faith in Christ.

Paul explains that whether you are circumcised, which was a religious act that served to identify someone as being a part of the Jewish religious system, or uncircumcised, which referred to a person who was not identified as being a part of the Jewish religious system, freedom and rescue from selfish rebellion and sin comes by faith in Christ. Regardless of your past, good or bad, rescue and redemption comes not from what you do for God; rescue and redemption comes from believing, trusting, and leaning into what God has done for you through Jesus life, death, and resurrection. We are united by faith in Christ as part of the community of believers called the church, regardless of race, sex, or socio-economic factors. And this removes all possibility of pride. Now a natural question that arises here we see echoed by Paul in verse 31:

Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

In other words, then what is the point of the Old Testament? Why should I even read it? Because you seem to be saying that it is all about Jesus and faith and not about the Old Testament Law. So is the Old Testament worthless and irrelevant”? Paul responds to this question with the strongest negative response that is possible in the language that this letter was originally written in. At Wal-Mart this objection might sound like this: No bleeping Way!! Instead, Paul explains that faith actually establishes the Law. Here we see Paul reveal for us the reality that God’s right rescue through faith reinforces the Bible. The word establish here literally means to validate something.

Paul’s point here is that the Bible has always been about faith. Faith actually validates the message and the teachings of the Old Testament. And as we will see next week, the people who lived during the times of the Old Testament, just like today, were not rescued and redeemed from selfish rebellion and sin because of what they did for God. Just like today, the people who lived during the times of the Old Testament were saved as a result in placing their confident trust in who God is and what He called them to do. People throughout history have always been saved as a result of believing, trusting and following God’s transformational intervention and activity in the world. Next week, we will Paul reveal for us God’s transformational intervention and activity in the Old Testament.

And for us the timeless reality that provides hope is that God rightly rescues from rebellion through faith in Christ. We have seen that God’s right rescue through faith is independent of our effort. We have seen that God’s right rescue through faith is required by all. We have seen that God’s right rescue through faith results in a not guilty verdict. We have seen that God’s right rescue through faith removes pride in human effort. And we have seen that God’s right rescue through faith reinforces the Bible.

So are you trying to get right with God by what you do for Him? If that is you, here’s the question: How’s it working for you? Because the reality is that our attempts to do things for God only lead to either pride or desperation. Because there is nothing that we can do that will result in us being able to experience the relationship with God we were created for. However, as Paul reveals for us in this section of this letter, the timeless truth that provides us a timeless hope is that God rightly rescues from rebellion through faith in Christ. Because, it has always been about what God does for us that provides the opportunity for rescue, for forgiveness, and for us to experience the relationship with God we were created for.

The Rescue that Results in a "Not Guilty" Verdict...

Yesterday, we looked at a section of a letter in the Bible that reveals the reality that God rightly rescues from rebellion through faith in Christ. In Romans 3:21-31, we see a man named Paul reveal for us five different aspects of God's right rescue through faith. We discovered that God's right rescue through faith is independent of our effort and is required by all. All humanity is flawed and fallen and is completely helpless. And because we are all flawed and fallen, we all need to be rescued. And as Paul continues in this section of this letter, we see revealed for us exactly how God rightly rescues from rebellion through faith in Christ in verses 24-26:

being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Now to fully understand what Paul is communicating here, we first must wrap our mind around some terms. The word justified here is a legal term that means to be found or declared not guilty of something. In this case Paul is explaining that we are declared not guilty of having a problem with God. The Apostle then explains that we are not guilty as a gift by His grace. The word grace refers to God’s transformational intervention and activity in the world. God rightly intervened and acted in order to rescue from rebellion. How God intervened and acted in order to rescue from rebellion was through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

This word redemption is a huge word in our Bibles. This word was used in Paul’s day to describe what occurred at a slave market. In Paul’s day, if one needed additional labor or servants, one could go down to the local slave market, where people were placed into slavery as a result of debts that they had accrued and were unable to pay. There was no bankruptcy in Paul’s day, there was slavery. Thus people were sold to pay off their debts. So when Paul uses the words justify and redemption here, he is revealing for us the reality that God’s right rescue through faith results in a not guilty verdict. God rightly intervened and acted to redeem us, to rescue us from slavery to our selfish sin and rebellion through His Son Jesus in order that we would be able to be declared not guilty of having a problem with God.

In verse 25, Paul explains that God rescued and redeemed us through Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. But what does that mean? The word propitiation refers to the satisfaction of God’s right and just response to selfish rebellion and sin. This morning, God has every right to judge selfish rebellion and sin. And God cannot ignore His perfect Law and justice. God’s perfect justice demands that the selfish rebellion and sin of all humanity be punished. Otherwise God would not be just, would He?

So to demonstrate, or to prove to the universe that God is right, Paul explains that God sent His Son Jesus, who entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be publicly treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God’s right and just response to selfish rebellion and sin could be satisfied. You see Jesus publicly died on the cross to prove that God is perfectly just and that God is perfectly right. The cross is public proof that God is just and demands justice.

And it is in Jesus public execution for the selfish rebellion of all humanity that reveals that God’s rescue through faith results in a not guilty verdict for all humanity throughout history who demonstrated faith in God and the promises of God. When Paul uses the phrase “because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed”, the word forbearance literally means to display tolerance. In other words, prior to Jesus life, death and resurrection, God proved that He is was perfectly right and just by deliberately tolerating and putting up with the selfish rebellion of all humanity throughout history so that, at just the right time, Jesus would enter into humanity to live the life that we refuse to live and die the death we deserve to die.

And in verse 26, we see that it is through Jesus life, death, and resurrection that God proves that He is right and that He is not only just, but that He can also be the One who is able to declare the person who has faith and confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel as being not guilty of having a problem with God. Now, since there are a lot of 50 cent theological words in these verses, let’s look at these verses again, this time replacing the 50 cent words with what these words mean in the language of our culture today, beginning in Romans 3:24:

being declared not guilty as a gift by God’s intervention and activity through the rescue and redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as He publicly died on the cross to satisfy God’s right and just response to our selfish sin and rebellion through His life, death and resurrection. Thus we are declared not guilty through faith in what God did through Jesus. This was to prove that God is right and just, because in the tolerance of God He deliberately chose to put up with the sins previously committed; for the proof, I say, that God is right and just at the present time, so that He would be just and the One who declares a person not guilty who has faith in Jesus.

We are declared not guilty because of God’s gracious and generous intervention and activity in the world through Christ, whose public execution for our selfish sin and rebellion serves as the proof that God is right and just and the only One who can declare the person who has faith and confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel as being not guilty of having a problem with God.

Paul then continues to reveal the implications that God’s right rescue from rebellion through faith in Christ has on humanity. We will look at those implications tomorrow.

A Right Rescue the Provides Hope...

Last week, we saw the Apostle Paul reveal the reality that the Bible reveals that we are all guilty of having a huge problem with God that is insurmountable. After revealing that all humanity has a huge problem with God that is insurmountable and that we are accountable for, we see two small words that provide huge hope for all of humanity. And those two small words are found in Romans 3:21: But now. In other words, all humanity throughout history has a huge problem with God; a problem that human effort and religion has been unable to solve throughout history. But now: But now something has happened. Something has happened that provides hope; something has happened that provides the opportunity for rescue. Let’s look together at what happened, beginning in Romans 3:21:

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

Paul begins this section of his letter to the church at Rome by explaining that something happened apart from the Law. And what happened was that the righteousness of God has been manifested. As we discovered in the previous sermon series, a simple and accurate definition of this 50 cent word righteousness is that righteousness is the quality or state of being right. Paul’s point here is that the fact that God is right has been manifested. In other words, it has become public knowledge that God is right.

And in Romans 3:21-31, we see revealed for us a timeless truth that provides for us a timeless hope. And that timeless truth that provides for us a timeless hope is this: God rightly rescues from rebellion through faith in Christ. While all humanity is guilty of having a huge problem with God, God responded to our problem by rightly rescuing us from our rebellion. And in Romans 3:21-31, we see Paul unpack four different aspects of God’s right rescue from our rebellion.

First, we see that God’s right rescue through faith is independent of our effort. Paul explains that that fact that God is right became known apart from the Law. But what does that mean? What Paul is communicating here is that the Law or the first five books in our Bibles today, is not what makes us right with God. The fact that God is right is not connected to what we do with the Law. As we saw last week, there is nothing that we can do for God that makes us right with God. The law can never declare us as being not guilty of having a problem with God. Instead the Law is what condemns us as having a problem with God. On the contrary, the fact that God is right is independent of what we do with the Law.

However, Paul explains that the Law and the Prophets, or the Old Testament, repeatedly points us to that fact that God is right; a fact that has now become known. Paul then reveals how that fact that God is right has been made known in verse 22:

even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Here we see Paul explain that the fact that God is right has now been made known through faith in Christ. This morning the timeless reality is that God is right. God always has been right; God always will be right. And the extent that we are right when it comes to our relationship with God is directly related to the extent that our heads, hearts, and hands line up with what God believes is right, because God is right.

And this reality has been made known to all humanity through the message of the gospel. The message that that while all of humanity was created for a relationship with God and one another, all of humanity selfishly chose to reject that relationship, instead choosing to love our selves over God and others. And it is out of our selfishness that we do things that hurt God and those around us, which the Bible calls sin. And it is that selfish rebellion and sin that makes us guilty of having a huge problem with God that is insurmountable. The message of the gospel reveals that God responded to our problem of selfish rebellion and sin by sending His Son Jesus, God in a bod, who entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. The message of the gospel reveals that Jesus died on the cross, was buried in a tomb dead as a door nail, and was brought back to life as a result of the Holy Spirit’s transforming and supernatural activity in order to be our Lord and Savior. And it is the message of the gospel that provides the opportunity for all humanity to receive the forgiveness of sin and enter into the relationship with God that they were created for by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

In addition, the message of the gospel that provides the means by which God rightly rescues from rebellion through faith in Christ is available to all who believe. All who place their confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel will be rescued, because there is no distinction. Regardless of social, economic, cultural or ethnic status, it is by faith that we are rescued by God from our rebellion because as Paul states in verses 23 there is no distinction; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

The Apostle is revealing for us the reality that God’s right rescue through faith is required by all. When the Bible uses the word sin, it is referring to our acts of commission and omission that are committed against God and others that flow from our selfish rebellion against God and the word of God. The word fall short here is an interesting word. This word literally means to experience a deficiency or be lacking in something that is desirable. What all humanity lack is the ability to be in right relationship with God as a result of our own effort.

As we discovered in the last sermon series, no person has the perfection that God requires. And intuitively we know this to be the case; we even have a phrase for this reality, don’t we; “well nobody’s perfect”. That is 100% accurate and Biblical. No one has the perfection that is required and no one is able to achieve that perfection; our selfish rebellion and sin is universal and insurmountable in nature and scope. All humanity is flawed and fallen and is completely helpless. And because we are all flawed and fallen, we all need to be rescued.

As Paul continues, we see revealed for us exactly how God rightly rescues from rebellion through faith in Christ. We will look at that tomorrow.

An Exciting New Chapter at City Bible Church...

As a church we believe and value children and families. And for the past several years we have been very intentional in creating environments that would create the space for God to move for the salvation and spiritual growth of children and families.

As a pastor, it is encouraging when a church community responds to God's kingdom mission and vision by investing their time, talents, and treasure in that mission and vision. And as a result of God's leading and the response of His followers to His leading, City Bible Church is excited to begin the process looking to add a full-time staff person that would provide leadership to Children and Family Ministries.

We appreciate your prayers as we seek God's guidance and provision in this new staff position. And I look forward to sharing with you all that God does throughout this process...

Information about the position and the process is available at the church website;

http://citybiblechurchbhc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=13&Itemid=19