1. The Gospel is a gift from God.
a. SALVATION… to be saved from the Penalty of Sin (justification), the Power of sin (Sanctification), and the Presence of Sin (Future Glorification).
b. And as with ANY gift, it’s simply to be ACCEPTED.
God says, “I know sin has damaged and destroyed you, but I offer you life, and that life is in my Son, Jesus Christ.”
John 1:4-5 (NKJV) 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
And the Gospel is for ALL WHO BELIEVE, not just some certain groups of people.
• The Bible is full of WHOEVER & EVERYONE statements…
Matthew 12:50 (NKJV) 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
John 4:13-14 (NKJV) 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
John 11:26 (NKJV) 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
And for anyone, and for everyone, and for whoever will believe in Jesus… for the Jew and for the Greek… (Gentile)
• If you believe, you will not perish, but have everlasting life.
• You don’t have to pay for it, or earn it, or work for it.
• The price has been paid by Jesus Himself!
NOW Everyone shares basic needs… whether you’re young or old, rich or poor, Jew or Gentile, we all share the same basic needs.
#1 – GUILT
• Being born into sin brings with it a tremendous amount of guilt.
• It’s a burden that gets heavier with every day that passes.
• Yes some ignore it. Some have seared their conscience.
• But the gospel addresses it as many have come to Jesus had the burden of guilt removed, their sins forgiven!
#2 – LONELINESS.
• It’s possible to be surrounded with people and still be lonely.
• And folks all over this globe deal with feelings of isolation, loneliness, and even some desperation.
• But the gospel addresses it as Jesus said I’ll come to you and never leave or forsake you!
#3 – ETERNITY.
• People struggle with the question: Where will I go when I die?
• Every single culture on the planet wrestles with this question.
• Some deny there is an eternity, others pour themselves into today living for this world.
• But the gospel addresses it by offering ETERNAL LIFE.
#4 – SECURITY.
• Everyone has a need to be loved and accepted.
• No matter what a person looks like on the outside, they have this need deep down on the inside.
• There is only one way to have that need met and it’s thought the gospel and a real relationship with Jesus.
These needs are common to every single human being on the planet.
• AND through the gospel, they are answered with certainty, clarity, and finality. The gospel gives both HOPE & HELP!
• In Jesus there is life….
John 10:10 (NKJV) 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
SO THEN, the question becomes ‘how does a person get into heaven? What is the requirement?’
• And this is where man and religion have rushed in with answers that wildly go all over the place.
• But the Bible says that what we need to get to heaven is righteous perfection.
• Well, some say, I’m a good person doing good and therefore compared to so and so I’m righteous & perfect! But Bible says:
Isaiah 64:6 (NKJV) 6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
Filthy rags… think of a dirty, soiled, stinky diaper.
• If I was to run over to the nursery right now & bring one back for you and just drop right here in the middle of the room! WHEW!
• GET THAT THING OUT OF HERE! You’re right.
• That’s our righteousness before God! It stinks!
• AND we can be sure, God will NOT accept it.
• So we need a righteousness FROM God… look again at v16-17
I. (1:17) A RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD!
1. (17) THE GOSPEL IS GOOD NEWS
a. The gospel is good news… really good news.
b. Activated by faith, salvation brings the very righteousness of God into our lives!
Remember back in Philippians 3:8-9, Paul wrestled over his past.
• He had done many things in the name of God, attained many goals, climbed many ladders… but now in Jesus, things changed!
NOTE: the way we become righteous in the eyes of God is through faith in His Son.
• When we step into the righteous One, we are accepted.
• But if we try to come with our own righteousness, the Bible says we will be cast out of heaven because all of our righteous deeds are as filthy rags.
• GOD IS NOT IMPRESSED with you or your good works.
• But He’s very impressed with His Son!
• Those who are in Christ will be in heaven.
1 John 5:11-12 (NKJV) 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
REMEMBER, 1:17 is the key to all of the book of Romans.
• Man is hopeless but God has helped him!
• In the death of Jesus, God revealed his righteousness by punishing sin.
• In the resurrection of Jesus, God revealed his righteousness by making salvation available to the believing sinner!
THE ‘JUST’ Paul says, shall live BY FAITH.
• The Gospel reveals a righteousness that is BY FAITH.
• Let’s flip back to Habakkuk 2.
• God comes to the prophet and reveals a wild work.
• Then the message comes to him and he’s to write this down and make it plain… the just shall live by faith!
• Although judgment will come, those who believe will come through it OK.
THE ‘JUST’ Paul says, shall live BY FAITH.
• What a powerful verse of spiritual freedom.
• This is the very passage that sparked a REVOLUTION in Martin Luther that led to a REFORMATION in the Church!!!
• I pray that it does the same for us!!!!
We have read of Martin Luther, beating himself daily, striving in this way and that to gain the blessings of God, working, striving, struggling to be in a right in his RELIGION…
• Comes upon this glorious truth and His life is infused with the very power of God!
So too you, perhaps: striving to please God; Struggling to keep the law; Working to gain the blessings and acceptance of God.
• You, the just, shall live by your faith in Him. That simple!
• The WHOLE THING is by faith gang!
• It’s not DO, DO, DO… NO… It’s DONE in Him & by Him!
NOW… You’ll notice as you read through the New Testament that this passage is used three times to establish a doctrinal and practical understanding of faith.
FIRST IN ROMANS 1:17, Paul emphasizes the JUST shall live by faith as he details for us truths surrounding justification.
NEXT IN HEBREWS 11, Paul emphasizes the FAITH a just person lives by as he highlights the changed lives of faith.
And here in GALATIANS 3, Paul emphasizes how a BELIEVER SHALL LIVE… faith!
• The road to peace, the path to blessings, and the way of fruitfulness is a life lived solely and purely BY FAITH!
• That’s it… get rid of the hang-ups and works burdens and turn to God through faith.
Wait a minute… what are you saying Ed? You mean I DON’T HAVE to have morning devotions? NO Don’t have to read my Bible? NO Don’t have to come to church or fellowship? NO I don’t have to quit that habit? NO
APP: The life of faith is NO YOU DON’T GOT TO… you GET TO.
• It’s a whole different attitude… because of my faith, I can now hang out with God through His Son Jesus Christ.
• The Creator of the universe is interested in sharing with me wonderful insights and glorious assurances!
• So I come to Him not to gain His acceptance but instead to give of myself back to Him for all He’s done for me!
And the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith…
• Now Paul could be referring to the faith of every person that believes, one by one, from faith, to your faith, to your faith.
• He could also be referring to the life of faith we live day by day.
This is WHERE WE CAN make a great mistake.
• As we close, please listen carefully…
• We all know and believe that salvation is FROM FAITH because it all began for us as we simply believed the gospel.
• But then we go FROM FAITH, TO WORKS!
• We begin to condemn, and expect, and lay heavy trips on ourselves and others… tow the line there believer!
• Get busy for the things God. We have got to work!
• And often this verse is brought out…
Philippians 2:12 (NKJV) 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
But we have to keep reading… v13
• Its’ God working in you… so God can work out through you!
Paul says no, no, salvation is FROM faith to faith.
Yes, the Just shall live their entire lives by faith.
• Faith is not just the beginning of your salvation, and it’s not just the end of your salvation… it’s the staying power of your Christian walk!
Colossians 2:6 (NKJV) 6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
In Jesus we are not bound by DUTIES, we are not burdened with OBLIGATIONS, but rather we are compelled & constrained to Jesus by His love! -- And our lives? They are lives lived by faith.
Now aren’t you glad it doesn’t say:
• The just shall live by works!
• The just shall live by all the church requires from them.
• The just shall live by rules, regulations, rituals.
• The just shall live by crawling backward on your knees on nails, glass, and sharp jagged rocks.
• No, no way… we end where we began… the Just shall live by faith!
AMEN TO THAT!
