- [Don’t read the whole passage to open the sermon.]
- Review of the sermons up to this point:
a. Overview.
b. We are all sinners.
- Having established the problem, we are now starting to get into the answer and how exactly God is working in that.
WHAT'S THE PLAN FOR SALVATION? Righteousness from God through faith in Jesus.
- Romans 3:21-24.
a. v. 21 – We discussed last time how the Law didn’t save but only made us aware of our sin.
b. v. 22 – There is a righteousness that can save us.
- It comes from God, through faith in Jesus, to all who believe.
c. v. 23 – This is available to everyone because everyone has sinned.
d. v. 24 – Grace means that it’s a free gift.
HOW'S THAT WORK? Jesus’ sacrifice allowed God to be just and justifier.
- Romans 3:25-31.
a. v. 25 – Jesus is a sacrifice of atonement.
- What’s that mean? Atonement means to pay for sins or to satisfy a debt. One common way to think of it is that completing it makes the parties “at-one-ment,” that is, no longer divided.
- Jesus made a sacrifice to make that happen. The sacrifice was His payment for our sins.
- The blood of Jesus is the evidence and agent of that sacrifice. It represents the life of Jesus, poured out. And so we have “faith in His blood.”
b. vv. 25b-26.
- That leads to an interesting phrase: that God is both just and justifier. What’s that mean?
- First, just.
- The word is “justice” is referenced right before that and that is the sense of “just” that we are talking about. God is right and good and therefore He has to want justice. Along those lines, He has to do what is “just” (i.e. fair and right).
- This is an answer to the question, “Why couldn’t God choose to forgive our sins without Jesus doing anything?” The answer is that it wouldn’t be just. There would be no justice in that.
- God is perfectly good, perfectly righteous, and perfectly just. He could not look at the terrible sins we’ve committed, just wave His hand, and say, “Hey, let’s just pretend like it never happened, ok?” That would not be just. Those sins have not been paid for.
- That’s what we’re talking about when we say that “Jesus died for your sin.” You had sin, it separated you from God, but Jesus offered to “pay the debt” of your sin.
- My sin has been paid for by Jesus. Jesus took the penalty of that sin on Himself.
- Therefore, it is now just for God to forgive my sin. It’s been paid for.
- Second, justifier.
- This means that God is the One working to reconcile us to Himself. Most importantly, He didn’t leave the task to us to accomplish. That’s good because we certainly would have failed in it.
- No, God took upon Himself the task of reconciling us to Himself. We created the problem but He fixed the problem.
- “Justifier” doesn’t mean “the one who came up with an excuse” but rather “the one who make things right again.”
c. vv. 27-28 – So we are not justified by the Law.
- v. 27a – We have no reason to boast because it is God who has accomplished this.
- v. 27b – Specifically, it was not our obedience to the Law that accomplished it.
- v. 28 – We are justified by faith, not faith and works.
d. v. 31 – Does this trash the whole Old Testament?
- v. 31 – Does this mean that Paul is destroying the Old Testament and throwing it all away? Paul says no, but how can he say that?
BUT WHAT ABOUT ABRAHAM? Is this a change in plan?
- Romans 4:1-18.
a. v. 1-2 – Was Abraham justified by his works?
- If so, that would mean that this whole notion of faith by what Jesus did would be unnecessary.
b. v. 3 – Nope, it says that Abraham had belief – i.e. he had faith. And that led God to “credit it to him as righteousness.”
c. vv. 6-8 – Same thing with David.
d. v. 13 – Summary statement of what was the plan even in the Old Testament.
e. vv. 14-15 – What did the Law bring? Law brought wrath and an awareness of sin.
- We were sinners but the Law made that clearer for us to understand.
- You might use the analogy of a singer auditioning for American Idol who is not very good. They aren’t very good but they don’t know that they’re not very good until they have an authority inform them. They were bad before the audition but the audition allowed them to know their true state.
f. vv. 16-18 – So Abraham is the father not merely of the Jewish people but of all who live by faith.
WHAT DID ABRAHAM'S FAITH LOOK LIKE EXACTLY? A belief that God had the power to do what He promised.
- Romans 4:19-21.
a. v. 19 – There was no logical way he and Sarah should have been able to have a child.
b. vv. 20-21 – But Abraham had a belief that God had the power to do what He promised.
- This is a simple but important definition of faith.
- Faith is not wishing. Faith is not empty hoping.
- Faith is believing that God has the power to do what He promises.
- What’s that look like?
- When God says He has the power to forgive me, I believe He actually has the power to do what He promised.
- When God says He will make me into a new spiritual creation, I believe He actually has the power to do what He promised.
- When God says He loves me in spite of all I’ve done, I believe He actually has the power to do what He promised.
- When God says He will take me to be with Him someday, I believe He actually has the power to do what He promised.
c. v. 22 – One way to think about the truth in this verse is “I know I’m not righteous but I believe that God is and He will keep His Word.”
- There is more to this verse (a book’s worth) because this is a central idea in the argument Paul is making, but a key part of it is that we are credited with righteousness for believing that we are not righteous but that God is. So we don’t trust ourselves but we trust God.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT WHAT JESUS DID IS "CREDITED" TO ME? TWO BIG THINGS:
a. vv. 23-24 – This truth applies to us as well.
1. I DESERVED DEATH BECAUSE OF MY SINS BUT I'VE BEEN DELIVERED.
- Romans 4:25a.
- Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins. That is how we are forgiven of our sins. He is “just and justifier.”
2. I HAVE BEEN GIVEN A NEW SPIRITUAL LIFE AS A NEW SPIRITUAL BEING.
- Romans 4:25b.
- I have been justified as a new spiritual being because I’ve been forgiven. “Just-as-if-I’d” never sinned. The resurrection of Christ makes that possible.
