Maybe you try to live a good life, maybe you even try to live a godly life.
Maybe you try your hardest to remain faithful, to be an obedient disciple of Jesus.
Maybe sometimes that is easier said than done.
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Maybe its safe for me to assume that we all seek to at least keep the 10 commandments.
or Maybe your aim is to follow the two greatest commandments that Jesus emphasised:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength and your neighbour as yourself.”
Maybe we try to do what Jesus commanded us to do...
but how many of us really succeed, 24 hours a day 7 days a week?
My assumption is that none of us fully keep God’s law or commandments.
We might not physically murder someone,
but do we murder by our attitude, looks or words?
We might physically avoid adultery,
but where do we allow our thoughts to travel?
We might avoid outright blasphemy from our lips, but what do we allow ourselves to read, watch or listen to?
We might be very honouring to our parents,
but every one of us have probably upset or disobeyed them at some time in our lives.
We might not be blatant, deliberate liars,
but do we avoid even little white lies.
We might all be guilty of wishing we had something that someone else has.
And if we are really honest,
none of us really gives God our whole heart and mind and strength all the time, do we?
So what can be done about our situation?
We want to be better at living godly lives.
We want to be acceptable to God.
We want the results of our shortcomings and sins to be overcome, wiped clean.
So how can we do it?
We’ve heard the bad news.
We’ve looked in the mirror and we don’t like what we see.
What can be done? What’s the good news?
We can find the answer in the passage I would like us to focus on this evening in the Book of Romans.
Romans was written by The Apostle Paul.
You could describe Paul as the Jew of Jews.
He was a Pharisee who had been brought up to live by the law.
When it came to meeting the demands of the God’s law and Jewish tradition Paul was the top of the class.
But God revealed to Paul a great truth about the law.
It was evident to Paul that the more he understand the law, the more he discovered his own failure to obey it.
The more Paul tried to live a righteous life in his own strength, the more he realised his own shortcomings.
Let’s read Romans 3:21-28
21God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when He held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26for He was looking ahead and including them in what He would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate His righteousness, for He himself is fair and just, and He declares sinners to be right in His sight when they believe in Jesus.
27Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
(Romans 3:21-28)
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God has worked a miracle.
Jesus Christ came into this world, not just to show us how it’s done, but to do it on our behalf.
We are not under the curse of the law, we are saved by the Grace of God.
Salvation is not something we can earn it is a free gift to everyone that accepts Jesus as Saviour.
When we turn to Jesus for salvation,
when we believe that he is the one sent by God to take us back to God, then we are forgiven,
we are saved!
Despite our short comings, because of His sacrifice Jesus’ righteousness will be considered to be ours as well.
We are saved by our faith in Christ not by our ability to keep the law.
When we accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour we enter into a relationship based on faith
not a religion based on our attempts to reach God.
We can have a real relationship with the God who loves us, cares for us and has a perfect plan for each of us.
A relationship that will last for eternity.
Trusting Jesus as Saviour is not a temporary association.
It is not something we should treat casually.
Each day we are meant to move forward in our faith.
To grow closer to God.
To serve Him by faith.
To love Him more and more each day.
To know Him more.
To know Him more... Maybe that is where the problem is for some people.
There are people in churches around the world who go to church but do not really want to know God more.
Maybe they want a God they can shape into their own image, rather than becoming more like Christ.
People who are actually more happy to be religious than actually have a real relationship with God.
Billy Graham once said that 30% of the people who accepted Jesus as Saviour at his crusades were people who were already church members somewhere.
But they realised that going to church, being religious, could not save them, they realised they needed to be saved by really placing their faith in Jesus.
They may have attended church or Sunday school regularly.
They may have listen to many sermons.
They may have been involved in or even led church activities.
But they were not in a real relationship with GOD.
Yet they came to the point where they realised that they could be made right with God by really placing their faith in Jesus Christ.
They understood that they needed to have their OWN relationship with God, that they needed Jesus.
It doesn’t matter if you are a good person
It doesn’t matter if you go to church every week
It doesn’t matter if all your friends are Christians
It doesn’t matter if your parents are Christians
It doesn’t matter if you try to never do anything wrong
Salvation is not something you can earn, it is a FREE gift that you have to accept.
To be a Christian and you need to know Jesus for yourself, for your own salvation.
When we come to Christ we need to admit that we are guilty, we need to understand that we are sinners.
We must believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross to pay the debt for our sins
We also need to believe that Jesus rose from the dead 3 days after his crucifixion.
We need to believe later Jesus defeated death so that we can have eternal life in Heaven
Then we have to accept his gift of salvation,
if we admit our sins, believe in Jesus and what he did for us, and accept him as our saviour then we have the gift of salvation.
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So that’s the Good News,
It’s not our efforts,
its not our goodness,
Its not our religious activities, its not in our abilities or strengths,
Its all because of Jesus.
But, that does not mean we are meant to sit back and do nothing.
Yes Christ, accomplished everything needed for our salvation, and we can not add to our salvation.
But what we can do, what we should do,
what we must do is share what we have discovered with others.
Everyone needs to have an opportunity to understand who Jesus is and to come into a real relationship with Him.
Everyone needs to have the opportunity to accept the gift of salvation.
God has saved us to be messengers of the Gospel
God has saved us to be involved in sharing the Gospel
God has saved us and that should fill us with Joy
God has saved us and we need to share the love of God.
God has saved us and we should live as the people God intends us to be.
God has saved us and we need to move forward in our faith.
I always wear this ring - it has a simple inscription - it says HE DIED FOR ME - I LIVE FOR HIM.
Our efforts will never save us but we need to make an effort to share Christ with others.
We need to be willing to live for Him.
That may mean we have to willingly surrender some stuff from our lives that will not bring Him glory.
That may mean that we have to avoid certain behaviours, that we avoid certain actions.
Following Christ is not like going to a sel service buffet
We cant pick only the bits we like and ignore the rest
Salvation is a free gift, but salvation comes with a price, and that price is turning from sin and following Christ.
Are you willing to pay the price?
Have you paid that price?
Accepting the gift of Salvation requires a decision…
Jesus said there is a broad road…….He also said there is a narrow road, which road are you on
Jesus said some people build their house on sand…..others build their house on ROCK,
Where are you building your house?
Jesus said some people will follow darkness……….others will chose to follow the light,
Which are you following?
Jesus said He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Those who really believe that are Saved, those who reject Him are not.
Being a Christian is more than living a good life
It is more than having Christian parents
It is more than having Christian friends
It is more than attending church
It is all about being in a real relationship with Him
and accepting the gift of salvation.
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Where is your heart tonight? Where are you?
Are you in a real living relationship with God?
Do you know your sins are forgiven?
Have you accepted the free gift of Salvation?
If you haven’t why not do it right now.
Ask Jesus into your life.
If you’re already a follower of Jesus Christ then let me remind again that your salvation depends on the finished work of Jesus, not on your ability to obey.
God knows your weaknesses and he’s sent Jesus Christ to overcome them on your behalf.
**************COMMUNION****************
As we come to the Communion Table,
We don’t need to be depressed about our sinfulness or our behavior.
We don’t need to give up in disgust at your repeated failure to obey the commandments.
Jesus Christ came to restore us to what we were always meant to be.
Jesus brought a light into a world darkened by sin, to bring new life to those who would place their trust in Him.
God wants a relationship with you.
But often we make wrong choices in our lives and that can cause us to feel separated from God.
Sin leaves us empty and searching for something, anything that will give meaning and purpose to life—things like money, sex, power or possessions.
The Old Testament is full of examples of God calling out to His people, inviting them,
Inviting us into a real relationship with Him.
Many times, the people of Israel would wander away from their covenant relationship.
When they wandered God called them to return to a genuine relationship.
God’s call often came through prophets like Ezekiel and Jonah.
God even went so far as to command Hosea to marry a prostitute named Gomer as a demonstration of the lengths He was willing to go to offer this relationship to His people.
Reaching... seeking...
Those are the words that describe God in relation to us.
But God’s offer did not end with the Old Testament prophets, nor with the nation of Israel.
God was working in His Son, Jesus Christ, to offer all creation this relationship.
Jesus began his earthly ministry by reminding everyone who would listen to him that God was still at work seeking to redeem His people.
One day very early in Jesus’ ministry he was in the synagogue on the Sabbath. It came time to read the Scripture.
He unrolled the scroll of Isaiah and this is what he read:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come. (Luke 4:18-19).
At the Cross is where the price was paid for our release. Jesus body was broken, His blood was shed.
Because All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ
John Newton’s hymn Amazing Grace speaks of the power of God’s grace working in our lives to bring us to the moment we believe in God.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed.
God has given us the freedom to accept or reject his Grace.
God makes this offer because He loves us.
He loves us unconditionally.
He doesn’t love us because we’re perfect.
He loves us in spite of the fact we’re not perfect.
But because of Christ’s finished work at the cross, God looks at you and its the righteousness of Christ He sees.
We can’t earn our salvation it is a free gift for all that trust Jesus as Saviour and Lord.
The Apostle Paul wrote:
For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.”
In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
