Series: The Line in the Sand
Message Title: Drawing the Line
Scripture: Romans 3:21-22a
21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
Introduction:
It doesn’t matter what illustration, parable or tale you use, practically every one of them will having a turning point, a point within the story that turns to life application; turning from a general revelation to a specific relevance for the listener.
The parable that Jesus told concerning the prodigal son tells us that he had that very point in his life. The Bible says that after he had wasted the inheritance his father had given him and was starving, he longed for the food that the pigs were eating. And, he tucked his tail between his legs and went home. His father rejoiced when he saw the son returning!
I want to share a story of just such a conversion experience; a conversion experience that happened in the heart of a young man. I want to share the turning point in one person’s life that changed the very direction and destination of his life.
It begins with his mother; a devout mother who taught her young son carefully and prayerfully. It began with a woman of God that prayed daily for herself, her family, and especially her son. The young son grew into a young man and discarded a life in Christ for a life of immorality. The boy, now turned man, was caught up in the pleasures of the flesh and the pleasures of the mind, while turning his back on the pleasures of God.
The young man was brilliant and he was talented, but he was also very full of himself; he always wanted to be the best at whatever pursuit he followed or to whatever he put his mind. With that in mind, you can get a picture of the depth of his corruption and the level to which he sank to be the best, even in immorality.
His mother still prayed for her son, much like the prodigal son’s father poured out his heart to the Father for his own son. Yet, it seemed to all around that this young man was lost to the world and would never come back home.
The young man traveled the world. He was a country boy in the big city, and we all know what happens to country boys in the big city, don’t we? The city, with its appeals and trappings overcame his senses, plunging the young man into the lowliest and most despicable of the so-called dens of iniquity. His addiction to the world was costly in many ways. While his brilliance of mind afforded him the backing and the following of many deep-pocketed, yet shallow-minded men, it did nothing for the spiritually and morally bankrupt young man. The young man was seemingly in too deep, and had even fathered an illegitimate son.
Yet, still his mother faithfully prayed for her son and sought the advice and intercession of Christian friends, priests, and bishops. All to no avail.
The lure of an even bigger and better city tugged at the heart of the young man. His twisted mind compelled him to lie to his mother before he departed, and he set off, leaving her behind in tears.
And, there it is. That was his so-called undoing, the turning point that touched him deeply: he had lied to his mother. That very thing troubled his heart and he began to sink into a depression that left him grasping for reasons and rationalizations for his life and his pursuits. He found the outstretched hand of Christ, and Jesus pulled him out of the mire of the world and set him on solid ground. He became a Christian and promptly went home to his mother. She rejoiced in the good news. She was not standing in the doorway with stick; there were no I told you this would happen. No there was only rejoicing for the prodigal son.
Not soon after the young man’s conversion, she approached her son and told him that her work on earth was done. Nine days later she went to be with the Lord.
A very touching and interesting story, don’t you think? Do you recognize it? There are hundreds, if not thousands, of just these kinds of heartrending stories. This story, however, is the somewhat abridged [edited and shortened] story of the early life of one of the greatest Christian philosophers and theologians this world has ever known. Do you know him? His name is Augustine [aw-GUHSS-tuhn].
Augustine reached a point in his life that was very similar to what was disclosed before Romans 3:21. Augustine’s life reached the lowest of lows. His life and actions were so despicable, so appalling, that even his own heart couldn’t bear it any longer. His heart longed for the filling and the satisfaction of the righteousness of God. A filling and satisfaction that had previously been displaced by worldly pleasures and material gains. His life, in a way, reached those first two words of Romans 3:21:
But now
So many have reached that moment in their life where their heart forces them to stop and say to themselves is this all there is? They reach that turning point in their life where their actions cry out against the innate God sense they have planted within themselves, shouting ENOUGH! ENOUGH!
In a sense, like Augustine, their life reaches this point in Romans 3:21, where their heart responds to the outstretched arm of God. In a sense, their life reaches that point where, not being able to sink any lower, they respond to the tugging of God on their heart and they turn and seek Him.
It doesn’t matter what the story is. It doesn’t matter how low someone has plunged and it doesn’t matter how far away from God someone believes they have strayed. All those that heed the call of God and come to Him do so from that “But now” place in their life.
Like Augustine, I’m sure there may be similar stories among our members in our congregation. Maybe less dramatic, or maybe even more dramatic; I don’t know. Yet the turning point of the story is the same. People will reach that “But now” point in their life, and, heeding the call of God, they realize that:
a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known,
The first two and half chapters of Romans tells us that man has gotten himself in so deep, that only God can get him out. How they respond to the revelation of the righteousness that God has made known will shape their eternity.
You see, in order to cover man’s sin with His righteousness, God must now enter the world of man, or man will never have the opportunity to enter into God’s world.
The righteousness of God is not the changed character of the believer. The righteousness of God is not anything that man can work toward.
Romans 1:17 tells us that the righteousness of God is Christ Himself:
Romans 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
Additionally, Christ Himself met every demand of the law and ultimately demonstrated and communicated God’s righteousness through the Cross.
(1 Corinthians 1:30) It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known,
That righteousness that was demonstrated is a righteousness that was apart from the law. It is a righteousness that has nothing to do with the law and it is separate from it, apart from it, just as Jesus, in Hebrews 4:15, was without [apart from, separate from] sin,
Hebrews 4:15
“… but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.”
Just as sin and Jesus have nothing in common so too, righteousness was not manifested in keeping the law but it was manifested at the cross when:
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The Law and Righteousness have nothing to do with each other. As a matter of fact, righteousness apart from the Law is the theme of this letter to the Romans. As a matter of fact, it is the theme of the New Testament and the entire Bible.
When you are asked by an unbeliever, “What’s this book called the Bible all about anyway?” What do you tell them? Do you tell them it’s a compilation of stories and parables? Do you tell them it’s a collection of books covering thousands of years of human history and written by more than forty human authors? Or, do you tell them that the Bible was the setting forth of the divine plan whereby God could take sinful men, clean them up, and bring them into His own perfect Heaven without fouling up Heaven and without contradicting His own righteousness by touching sinners?
Righteousness apart from the Law is the theme, and it should be the theme of any explanation of the Bible.
Righteousness apart from the law.
Righteousness apart from human works.
Righteousness apart from any of man’s own deserving lifestyle.
Be advised, though. There are counterfeits that will bother your walk with the Lord. There are cults, churches and pseudo-Christians out there today that will attempt to get you to follow their way. There are counterfeits out there that will tell you that it’s okay to do this or do that, as long as you believe that it’s right in your heart.
Last week I talked about baptism. I mentioned that our constitution firmly states that baptism by complete immersion, or awaiting baptism by immersion, is the only way of becoming a member of this church. To me, I believe, as does this church, in baptism by immersion. I believe that is the scriptural way as it demonstrates our death to sin and our resurrection in Christ. However, if you believe that baptism by sprinkling is scriptural, though I don’t have a problem with your thinking, I will advise you to be baptized by immersion. Further, it’s not up to me to allow you to be come a voting member of this church if you were baptized by sprinkling or baptized as an infant.
Now, this item of contention, in and of itself, is not something that should divide the body of Christ, yet, if there is one seemingly wrong interpretation of Scripture, then what else might there be? If there is one compromise on Scripture, where else might there be compromise?
Be on the lookout, there are many counterfeits out there that are waiting to lead you astray.
21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
Every time a man took his sacrifice to the temple for a sin offering, confessed his sin, and killed the animal, he was testifying that he had faith in a righteousness that was not his own. The law bears witness to an external righteousness that God provides, apart from the law and which the law cannot provide.
As an example, a map is drawn to indicate geographic locations. Though the map can tell you how to get to those locations, those locations still exist apart from the map.
When the map was drawn, the geographic locations didn’t suddenly appear while the cartographer [map drawing person] was moving his pen or pencil over the paper. Likewise, Righteousness, Jesus Christ, exists apart from the Law. When the Law was written, Jesus didn’t suddenly come into being, He has always been, and, He was the fulfillment of what was written in the Law, before it was written.
The Law gives evidence as do the Prophets.
(Isaiah 53:6) We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
There are more than just the Jewish requirements of two witnesses that bear witness to and bring this opportunity of Christ’s righteousness to the believer. How do we receive this righteousness?
22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
If you are trusting in your parents’ Christianity to cover you with the cloak of righteousness, then you need to rethink these two verses. If you are relying upon your baptism to wash away your sins and gain your righteousness, then your baptism was in vain. If you are counting on your church attendance to pave the way to eternal life, then you’re sadly mistaken. If you think your relationship with God hinges on what you do for Him, then you are in need of some serious help.
This piece of Scripture here is one of the most important you’ll ever read when it comes to the imputed righteousness of God.
First of all, we have to understand imputation, which is first brought out by the imputing [assign, attribute] of Adam’s sin to the entire human race with the effect that all men are considered sinners by God.
Secondly, we need to understand that the results of imputation are seen in that the righteousness of God is imputed to the believer on the basis of the fact that the believer is, through the baptism of the Spirit, in Christ. Through that union in Christ, we become a member of His body, and when we are viewed by God, God sees Christ’s righteousness and not our sin. How is that union attained? How is that baptism of the Holy Spirit attained? Through faith in the finished work of the Son of God on the cross.
22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
There we have it. The line has been drawn in the sand. Simply stated and straightforward.
Through your faith in Jesus Christ, your standing before God has been amended to reflect Christ’s righteousness. Your standing and not your state has been changed. Your state will change as you are filled with the Spirit of God and led to improve your physical, mental, and spiritual state before Him. But, remember, having an improved attitude or state before God doesn’t improve your standing before God, that’s based on Christ’s righteousness. An improved attitude or state before God doesn’t make you any better than any other believer, it is a reflection, or rather, it should be a reflection of the Spirit at work in your life, nothing more.
