“Enough is Enough!”
Ephesians 2:8-9 and Romans 3:21-28
So most of us can picture an exasperated parent, perhaps it was you…. Your children were arguing or misbehaving and it’s just time to stop and you look at your kids and you say, that’s it! Enough is enough! That phrase can also be put into a question. When is enough, enough? When will I know whether or not I am doing enough? Maybe you work in a situation; in an office and you’re frustrated and you find yourself wondering, am I doing enough???.....will it ever be enough and you wonder will I ever be able to please my boss? So you go home each night with a nagging frustration of no matter how much you have done, no matter how hard you have worked…. Will it ever be enough? Have I done enough? Is my enough, really enough? And it can be a very frustrating place to be.
But let me tell you something that is even more frustrating. It is when you are asking that question about your relationship with God. And millions of people, some of you I am sure ask that question all the time. Is enough, enough? Is what I am doing enough to be forgiven? Is it enough to earn God’s love? People ask that question today and they were asking to 500 years ago during a time we now call the Protestant Reformation. There was a man named Martin Luther who had struggled with that very question; when is enough, enough?
Well we’ve been looking at 5 truths that have changed history. 500 years ago Martin Luther went to the church in Wittenberg Germany and he posted his 95 these. 95 complaints against the church. And these can be summed up in 5 teachings.
(1) Sola scriptura. Scripture alone. What is our authority? The Bible alone.
(2) Sola Gratia. Grace alone. What does it take to be saved? Grace. Nothing else.
(3) Solus Christus. Christ alone. We have one mediator. One. His name is Jesus Christ.
(4) Now today. Sola Fide. Faith alone. For by grace are you saved through faith.
These truths have absolutely change the history of the church and as I have said you must nail the same truths down in your life as well. What Martin Luther did 500 years ago you need to do today. Martin Luther didn’t come up with new ideas. Martin Luther went back to old ideas-to the message of Jesus; to the message of Scripture-the apostles and he asked the question, does my church look like what is described here again in NT and his answer was a resounding no. No it doesn’t.
Luther began reading Scripture he discovered the simple truth... We are not saved by how much we can do for God... We are saved by what Christ has done for us... By placing my faith in Christ and Christ alone. When Luther discovered this-he said, I feel now like I’ve been born again. Look at the Scripture with me. Romans 3:21-26 than one verse in Ephesians 2:8. I have it on the screen in several versions I want you to see it here... Ephesians 2:8.
When Luther saw this, he came to the conclusion that the system was broken and it must be fixed. Again this is not a message against the Catholic Church. The purpose of this series of messages is that God’s ways are better. We are sinners who are made right with God by grace alone, through faith alone in the person of Christ alone and that goes for their church and that goes in this church.
See the greatest moments in history have not been when people have come up with a new idea-you will remember Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun-the greatest moments in history have been when we have picked up this book and gone back to the master’s plan. When we have dug through the garbage in the false teachings, the truths that have been varied and have come back to what the Bible teaches us about how to follow Jesus. This series is not about which group do you want to be in?-this group or that group this is a group I want to be in. I want to be part of the group that goes right back to this book.
Verse 28. This is about as clear as it gets. There are three words that are very important here today. Three words I want us to look at. They are justification. Faith. Works. So was to talk about these three words and I want to help us understand what they really mean because we cannot understand faith alone until we get a handle on these three words.
1. Justification. It’s a legal word. It’s used in a court of law. And here is what we need to know. Justification is a position. It is not a process. It is where I am standing. God puts you in that position. You do not have to work to be justified. And when God justifies you it is just as if you have never sinned.
Justification is a verdict. It is a position. And it is something that God does for you and me. Now in Romans we learned this... The first three chapters of Romans are written so that we will learn to keep quiet. Look at chapter 3:19. So that every mouth will be shut. You think you’ve got this all figured out. I will be saved if I do this or that.. He says just be quite. Justification is not something I can earn, not something I can work for but it is something I can receive. I can’t do it but God can do it for me.
Is as though the judge of the universe has said even before there is a trial, even before a jury is selected, I can tell you what the verdict is going to be. Here it is. You’re guilty. You have sinned. You can’t save yourself. You’re justified. Not because of anything you did. But because of what Christ did for you.
Justified. Notice it is in the past tense. How you receive it? You believe! He declares the ungodly (that is you and me in case you’re wondering) he declares the ungodly is righteous! It’s like you show up at a restaurant-take your family, you get the bill is $100. You say hey, I just remembered I don’t have any money. Waitresses will what are you doing here? Well here my phone… I got some Pokémon points and they say okay will take them.
Romans 4:7-8. Would you like to be a man/woman who God will never charge with sin? You say well it’s way too late for me pastor. Well I know if you’re depending on your enough, you’re right. But if you’re depending on HIS enough, it’s never too late. Verse 24. He says it will be credited to those of us who have…
• Really worked hard. Just be quiet.
• who have kept all the rules. Just hush.
• no, it is to those who believe in him.
He says, you think you have a chance on your own.. Just hush. If I will believe in Christ, God will credit that to me for righteousness. You believe in the bill is paid.
Think of a little boy going to the country fair with his dad and they go up to where they shoot at the target... If you hit it you win the teddy bear... He misses every time. The dad then picks it up... shoots and hits every time and the dad gets the prize and he gives it to the child. Child didn’t do the shooting, didn’t pay to play, didn’t earn it... The only thing he did was receive the gift. God did it for you and me through Jesus. He did what we could not do any offers it to us if we will just believe. Justification is a verdict and it’s already decided.
Now it is very difficult for us and one of the reasons is this-every thing in the world is built on merit. You get what you are. You want an A in school, don’t expect the teacher to give you in a when you were lazy, didn’t do your homework; failed every test... Well Suzy got an A, can I have hers? No. Any teacher worth their salt is going to say no... You get what you earn... She gets what she heard. It’s how school works; it’s how business works, it’s how athletic programs work but what works there does not work here. It is not what will save your soul. Because your “enough” will never be enough. But He is enough.
2. Faith. Now we have to draw distinction here. Because there is a difference. Listen, there’s a faith that saves and there’s a faith that does not say. They may be thing a pastor thought you said if I believe that’s enough. Here’s the difference. Look at James 2:19 NLT. Distinction. Here’s a chair. There’s a difference in believing on it and trusting in. Sitting in. There’s a difference in believing airplane will fly actually boarding/getting on the plane. I believe in the doctor... I believe he knows the principles of medicine... He wrote me a prescription so I will set this prescription bottles shall file look at it every day. No I take it. Faith is not just believing... It’s sitting in the chair; it’s getting on the plane. It’s taking the medicine. Faith is trusting in Jesus. Really trusting.
Parable of the pearl of great price: searched, found it and sold everything he had to get it.
Parable of the treasure found in a field: in order to get it the man has to be the field. To extract it.
Paul says everything else is like garbage. Saving faith is trusting in something. There’s a difference in believing on something and believing in something. Now we have to understand this distinction because if we don’t then we live in a very dangerous area. I can't tell you how many times a talk to someone asked them are you a follower of Christ and they want to describe a prayer they prayed in the third grade. I pray the rosary. I said my Hail Mary. I passed my class. Trusting in Christ is believing that Jesus has something that is better than anything I have. So I decide to follow him. I sit in the chair, I get on the plane, I take the medicine. We are justified by faith.
3. Works. We need this because people will begin to say, so you have faith in your saved-now you can do whatever you want. Nope. Let me tell you what the greatest motivator in life is. His love. It’s not about what you can earn. It’s not about merit. The greatest motivator in life is love. I follow Jesus for this reason. I love him. I love Jesus. I don’t have to win his approval. I have it. I’ve been justified. The believer who is motivated by love is far more motivated to be obedient than one who is motivated by fear. Look at what Paul says in chapter 6 of Romans verse one. Should we just keep on sinning?? I mean hey, God’s gonna forgive us. Absolutely not.
Listen, works are and even effect of grace. They are not the cause of grace. God doesn’t show us grace because of our works. God shows you grace before you ever do one thing for him. You will never be able to do one thing to make God love you more and you will never be able to do one thing to make God love you less. God is love and he loves you. That is a fact that we will never change. John Murray wrote the justification is by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone. Real faith will always produce real works. When the gospel takes root, people want to live holy lives-not to earn the grace of God but because we have already received it.
So what do we say? When is enough, enough? How many good things do I have to do to pay for the bad things I have done? How many religious deeds must I do to atone for my guilt? And deep down in your conscience, there is this voice that says, have you done enough? Are you doing enough? Are you sure? After all, when is enough, enough?
LAST SLIDE
BOW HEADS
Here is when it is enough. Enough is enough when you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is enough. You could never do enough. His enough is enough. That’s the beauty of the gospel. Trusting in the only one who can save. His enough is enough. If this it has described you today, you simply need to say, I admit today mind enough to never be enough. I can’t do it and I’m tired of trying. I want to trust you and you alone.
