Welcome back to Basic Training. We have 6 weeks remaining in our study of the book of Romans after today.
Let’s pray,
Father,
Open my eyes so I can see Your truth.
Open my ears so I can hear Your voice.
Open my mind so I can understand Your Word.
And open my heart so I may receive all that You want me to receive. AMEN
Up to this point we have learned that sin is a problem in the world and it doesn’t matter if you are saved or not, we all struggle.
We also have learned that God offers forgiveness of sin to all who ask and makes His righteousness available to everyone who seeks Him.
The book of Romans makes it very clear that there is only one way that we can receive God’s righteousness. Other religions would have you believe that there are many ways to God and to His righteousness, but they are wrong. There is only one way and that is through Jesus Christ, God’s Son.
The Jewish people though that righteousness came for them through their law. If they followed the Law that was given to Moses and then expounded and added to by the Sadducees and Pharisees, then they would be righteous.
They also thought that if the men were circumcised they would be righteous. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant between the Hebrew people and God, it did not bring righteousness.
Circumcision is a matter of the flesh, righteousness is a matter of the heart. You could be outwardly circumcised and not have a pure heart.
Other Jews believed that being born a Hebrew made you righteous. Paul shared in Romans 2:28-29 that this is not true.
Being born a Hebrew made you about as righteous as standing in a garage makes you an automobile.
We are not righteous because our grandparent were or our parents were.
We are not righteous because we were dedicated when we were a baby.
We are not righteous because we go to church, although it is important to go to church.
There is only one way for us to achieve God’s righteousness and that is through Jesus Christ.
In Romans 3:21-28 Paul firmly establishes that the righteousness of God is not a part of the law and that man is justified by his faith instead of the his deeds or by doing what the law says.
The Jewish Christians during Paul’s time were engrossed with the idea that because they were Jewish they were afforded certain judicial privileges in the eyes of God. They would often use the case of Abraham to prove their point.
So Paul analyzes the principle by which God saved Abraham to prove his point.
Paul spends a lot of time on this topic. Romans 3:21-8:39 are dedicated to the subject of God’s righteousness.
Paul wants us to understand that all of mankind can be brought into a right relationship the God. We can all have the assurance that God will accept us and forgive us of our sins when we turn to Him.
The reason God can do this is because of the redemptive work of His one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
It was Jesus Christ whom God sent into the earth as the Sacrificial Lamb to atone for our sins. His sacrifice on the cross provides the forgiveness of sins, the removal of shame and guilt and the promise of eternal life for each and every person.
God demonstrates His righteousness by providing these things for us through Jesus. He also demonstrates His patience with us.
Who could be as patient with us as God? Think about that for a moment. His patience with the nation of Israel. His patience with us. His patience continues to endure until that day Jesus returns again.
His patience goes as far as the east is from the west because He forgives our sins every time we ask Him to forgive us. Every time we fail, every time we mess up, He is patient and then when we confess our sins, God forgives.
As we journey on today I want to share with you three items that are provided for us through the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ; they are Justification, Sanctification, and Assurance.
(Perfect Easter topics.)
1. Justification
To be justified means to be shown as right. You are cleared of all blame and all guilt.
Justification is a legal declaration issued by God when He pronounces that a person is free from any guilt or fault and that person is now acceptable in His sight.
It is much more than just being pardoned, it is a thousand times more than being forgiven. It is being treated as if the sin never happened.
Our justification comes from the same place Abraham’s came from.
READ Romans 4:1-5
1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. Romans 4:1-5
Abraham believed in God and it was counted unto him as righteousness.
Abraham had faith, it was not the works of his flesh that was counted for righteousness, it was his faith, his belief in God.
Abraham had the works, he obeyed God, but the reason he did those thins was because of his endless faith in God. His faith led him to obey and do good works.
And because of his faith, Abraham was blessed. His blessings were not a result of his actions but rather because of his faith.
Abraham’s faith was a faith that said, God can do anything. He believed that God could bring the dead to life, he believed that God could bring provision when it all seemed impossible, and he believed that God would fulfill his word and make Abraham’s descendents as numerous as the stars.
Paul shows us in this Scripture that we can have the same justification through faith. He is saying that if we trust God, if we put our faith in Him, then it is credited to us as righteousness.
Having faith in God also means having faith in the One God sent.
When God sees our faith in Christ, he sees our union with Christ. And when he sees union with Christ, he sees the righteousness of Christ as our righteousness. So faith connects us with Christ who is our righteousness and, in that sense, faith is counted as righteousness. Faith sees and savors all that God is for us in Christ, especially his righteousness. That's what faith does.
2. Sanctification
To be sanctified means to be made holy.
We are sanctified through Jesus Christ. His act on the cross made it possible for our sins to be forgiven. All we have to do is ask for it and we receive it. Our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ and we are justified; cleared of blame and guilt.
Paul clears this up in 14 verses in Romans 6:1-14.
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:1-14
Paul, who was a Pharisee understood God’s desire for us to be holy but he also knew that it wasn’t going to be easy.
In order to be holy, we must at some point in our lives die to sin. We need to get the sin out.
Paul struggled in this area, he admits this to us in a very personal way in Romans 7:7-25.
Holiness is our goal and yet there are times that we fail. Therefore Paul points out our hope, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:25
Our hope come through one and only one source, Jesus Christ. His life, death, and resurrection back to life provide the only hope that mankind can rely on to bring them into a right relationship with God.
Jesus has given us the justification and sanctification we need which brings us to the third item that is provided for us through the righteousness of God.
To understand the third one we will look at Romans 8.
3. Assurance.
Assurance is a guarantee. It is a pledge that gives us freedom from doubt. There are four things we can be assured of.
First it is the assurance of His righteousness in our lives.
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-4 NIV
The word condemnation is the opposite of justification. Paul says there is now NO condemnation for those who turn their faith to Christ.
No condemnation means that we are not bound to the penalty of sin, that has been removed by Jesus at the cross.
Those who accept Jesus as their Savior do not live under the constant threat of judicial punishment by God. They do not live under the fear of God’s wrath but rather we live under the promise of God’s blessing.
Second is the assurance of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Romans 8:5-11 NIV
The Holy Spirit is a decisive factor in our salvation process. That is the first work of the Holy Spirit. He is there to draw us or compel us to accept Christ and walk in a relationship with God.
The second work of the Holy Spirit comes immediately after salvation. The Holy Spirit becomes a permanent part of the believers life when that person accepts Jesus as their Savior. We call this the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The third work of the Holy Spirit is what we Pentecostals call the Baptism of the Holy Spirit which is where a Christian can find a greater power that will help them follow God.
This is something that we can ask for and it is something that God will give us. There is a lot that can be said about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the different gifts of power that are available through this baptism.
Third is the assurance that we are heirs of God.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:14-17 NIV
Through salvation we become sons and daughters of God. We are adopted into His family and that means that we have a right to all God has.
An heir is a person who is entitled by law or by the terms of a will to inherit the estate of another person. In the Old Testament, Israel was the heir of God. Israel received the Promised Land as an inheritance from God.
Because we have accepted Christ as our Savior, we are an heir. Paul tells us in Galatians, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:27-29
We have assurance of this because we have been brought back into a relationship with God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we are God’s children.
Fourth is the assurance of an ever present intercession.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Romans 8:26-27 NIV
God has given us the Holy Spirit to make intercession for us in heaven.
Intercession is the act of interceding, prayer, or entreaty in favor of another. It is to intervene between parties with a view to reconciling differences. It is occupying a middle position between God and others.
The Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ does this for us in heaven.
There are a great deal of blessings that are provided for us as believers through the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ.
Justification, Sanctification, and Assurance.
What a great and awesome God we serve!
He gives us these things freely to help us and aid us as we venture through our lives. He provides these things so that we can strive for the goal that we all share in common.
What is that goal? To reach heaven.
We may not always be perfect here on earth, but through the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ we can be Justified, Sanctified, and have the Assurance of all these things. Next week we will discuss two more assurances.
Do you have this assurance in your life today?
Would you like to have this assurance?
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