Latest / HBCWestminster / 1.22.23 Romans 3:19-31 Pastor Danny Gardner

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1.22.23 Romans 3:19-31 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Romans chapter 3 and verse 19. I'm going to read our text this morning. If you're able to stand in honor of God's Word, would you do that? And we'll read, pray, and begin. Verse 19, now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.
• 0:53
  This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
• 1:01
  It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It's excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No. By the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one.
• 1:28
  Who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith? Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means. On the contrary, we uphold the law. Would you pray with me, church? Father God, deepen in us, we pray, a sense of our holy relationship with you. You, Lord, are our creator, our God, our savior, our bridegroom, our friend. We rejoice.
• 2:01
  Lord, as we often consider your holiness compared to our wretchedness and your majesty compared to our meanness and your beauty compared to our vileness and your purity compared to our filth, nevertheless, Lord, we rejoice because we know that your blood can make us clean. And so give us the daily bread that is needful for our souls as we look to your eternal word. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank you, church.
• 2:30
  Martin Luther said of this portion of Scripture that it is the chief point and very central place of the epistle and of the whole Bible. Make sure you catch what he just said. These, the verses before us this morning, are the most important verses in the Bible. In my personal Bible reading, last week I finished the book of Leviticus.
• 2:54
  I was fascinated this time through it, as we go through it every year, this time through it I came across chapter 16 again, and the description of two goats. Every year on one specific day called Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, the high priest, in that case it was Aaron, the first high priest, the brother of Moses, Aaron, was commanded to treat those two goats very differently.
• 3:17
  If you're not yet familiar with your Old Testaments, perhaps I can give a simple explanation which will get you up to speed. The people of God during the time of the Exodus, which is when the book of Leviticus takes place, would meet with God at a very special tent called the Tent of Meeting or the Tabernacle.
• 3:34
  Here is a picture of a recreation of the tabernacle. Don't think this is an actual picture of the actual tabernacle. It's not still there set up in the desert somewhere. But this is to the dimensions described in the scriptures. It would have looked something like this, the tent of meeting the tabernacle. And the tabernacle housed a number of different rooms. That first room here would be kind of the entrance to the tabernacle. The first room, the outer room, separated by this big curtain of the inner room.
• 4:03
  Inside of that outer room were contained certain items, such as this candelabra, a menorah. The candelabra reminded the people that God is light. Don't forget, church, that Jesus himself said in John chapter 8 that he was the light of the world. He was using that menorah, that candelabra, as a metaphor. I am actually the light of the world.
• 4:27
  The tabernacle contained not only the menorah, but also this called table of the showbread right there. The showbread were 12 stacked loaves of bread, each loaf representing the 12 tribes of Israel. These reminded the people that God is the supplier of life and abundance. He is the giver of bread. And don't forget, church, that Jesus in John chapter 6 claimed to be the bread of life. I am the one. I am the bread.
• 4:53
  And finally, also it housed what was called the altar of incense. The altar of incense right there, perpetually giving off a sweet swelling aroma, represented the presence of God and the prayers of the people. Jesus claimed to be the presence of God. We know he even taught his disciples how to pray. Now, all of those things in that outer room were important. But the most important, the most vital room in the tabernacle was actually behind that curtain.
• 5:21
  This was called the most holy place or the holy of holies, the inner room above which the presence of God dwelt. By day it was in cloud form and by night in fire. Here is an artist's rendition of what it may have looked like. You see there the tabernacle at night directly above that holy of holies. The most holy place was this pillar of fire representing the very presence of God.
• 5:49
  contained within that holy of holies lay one item the ark of the covenant here is a recreation of the ark above the lid to the ark were fashioned two golden cherubim angels arms wings outstretched and touching covering what was called the mercy seat and that is the lid to the ark of the covenant the mercy seat
• 6:14
  Contained inside of the Ark of the Covenant were a number of items. You know that these were collected over the course of time, a jar of manna from the wilderness to remind the people of God's provision. Aaron's staff, which in the book of Numbers would eventually bud. You remember that first high priest would hold a staff, Aaron, and his staff, that long shaft of wood, actually began to produce fruit.
• 6:35
  It was crazy. It budded, flowers and fruit began to be produced. They stuck that into the Ark of the Covenant. But probably most memorable, maybe even most important, were the Ten Commandments. The two tablets upon which were written the first Ten Commandments by the very finger of God in God's own handwriting contained inside of the Ark to remind the people of the law, which as we've been studying,
• 7:03
  provided only one thing. And we come back now to the book of Romans. We have for the past four months been studying Romans 1 to 3. And I said it's all about the law. And I said that the law provided mankind with only one thing. Do you guys remember? It's a C word. Condemnation. That we are all condemned because of the law.
• 7:27
  Now, if you remember back to your Indiana Jones days, then you'll know not to take the lid off of the Ark of the Covenant, right? Or else what will happen? Your faces will melt, okay? Now, that was Hollywood. That was their rendition of it. But nevertheless, maybe a little kernel of truth in there. Because contained within the Ark, you take that lid off, now you are fully exposed to the law, to the condemnation, to the justice and the punishment.
• 7:57
  of god romans chapter 3 and verse 19 now we know it says that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to god perhaps you remember back to romans chapter 1 we were there in september and october romans chapter 1 which says that before the throne of god we are all without excuse
• 8:21
  We cannot stand before the throne of God and offer excuses on why that law, that particular commandment does not apply to us, Lord. We should just be let off the hook. He says, no, every mouth before the law will be stopped. The whole world will be held accountable. Verse 20 is the key. For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight. The only thing that can happen is face melting.
• 8:48
  Do you see what he says? Since through the law comes knowledge of sin. Now what the law does is forces us, it exposes us to our own inadequacy. That's all it does. And because we are inadequate, we are therefore under the punishment and judgment of God. And so now we back up to that day of atonement. That one day Yom Kippur, the high priest, Leviticus 16, was to take two goats. The first goat was literally called the goat that goes away.
• 9:18
  We use the word scapegoat. That's where the idea of a scapegoat came from. It's from the Bible. Aaron, the high priest, was to place his hands upon the goat's head, symbolically transferring, using his hands, transferring the sins of the people to the goat. And then the goat was to be released into the wilderness where it would wander away. And the farther and farther and farther the goat got, the farther the sins of the people were removed, separated from the people, carrying with it their failures.
• 9:48
  The second goat was to be sacrificed to the Lord for the sin of the people. Its blood was collected. Its blood was then sprinkled by the high priest right on that mercy seat, the lid of the Ark of the Covenant. He was to take the blood of the goat and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and then sprinkle it on the floor in front of the mercy seat. The symbolism there.
• 10:12
  was that the law of God contained within the ark, which represented his righteous requirement and demanded the blood of all sinners, could now only be accessed through what? The blood of the goat. The only way the law could even view the people was through the blood of the goat.
• 10:38
  We concluded last Sunday our study of the first major section of Romans, chapters 1 to 3, that God's righteousness is revealed through the universal condemnation of man because of our unmitigated rebellion. And as we begin now a new section of Romans, we ask the same question we left off with last week. If the law only condemns, then how can we be justified? How can we be forgiven apart from the law? And the answer is...
• 11:08
  Because of the blood of the goat. Jesus Christ, the righteous. If you're taking notes this morning, our sermon has two points and you'll find that they are easy to remember. Point number one, Jesus is the goat. And point number two, Jesus is the goat. All right, so you can write those down if you'd like. They are easy to remember. Let's look first at Jesus is the goat. And if you're taking notes, make sure you write the word goat.
• 11:38
  All in lowercase letters, it is a metaphor for an actual goat. Consider the things in that Day of Atonement ritual that were representative of Jesus. Everything represented Jesus. The incense, the bread, the light, the high priest, the tabernacle, the goat that would carry away the sin of the people as far as east is from the west, and the goat that would be sacrificed for the sin of the people. All of it.
• 12:07
  All of it was representative of Jesus because Jesus was the goat. The author of Romans in verse 21 answers a question that hasn't even been asked. Look at verse 21. You'll see here that everything in the book shifts with one word, and it's the word, but. He says, verse 21, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. Can I get an amen?
• 12:34
  Amen. This is what makes the good news good news. That word, but. A conjunction of contrast. And what a marvelous and wonderful contrast it is. If we had been left only with verse 20, we would have been left with no hope at all. You're all condemned, and that's it. But praise God for what I'm going to call now this back door to salvation.
• 13:04
  One commentator has worded it this way. He said, rarely does the Bible bring together in so few verses so many important theological ideas. The righteousness of God. Justification. The shift in salvation history. Everything changes. Do you see what he's saying? Faith, sin, redemption, grace, propitiation, forgiveness, and the justice of God.
• 13:27
  Here, more than anywhere else in all of Romans, here Paul explains why Christ's coming means good news for needy, sinful people. In other words, the gospel is only good news because there is a way to heaven apart from the law. You may ask, well, how did God do it? You pick up right there in verse 21. He says, the law and the prophets bear witness to it.
• 13:54
  The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. God's righteousness, a clean start, a new heart are all available through faith in Jesus Christ. That is the gospel. The coming of Jesus, his death and resurrection inaugurated a new era in salvation history. It changed.
• 14:23
  everything and notice in these two verses the repeated use of the word all verse 22 says all who believe the verse 23 says all have sinned the implication in verse 23 is that all fall short of the glory of god and the church because they do all need salvation no one is exempt all of us are under sin's power and therefore we all need a savior
• 14:53
  And that'll make sense. But what does he mean when he says, and we fall short of the glory of God? The word for glory is the Greek word doxa. We get the word doxology from it. In fact, we sing the doxology, praise God from whom all blessings flow. It can be translated as praise, can be translated as glory as here. It can refer to the very presence, the awesome presence of God, but it also describes the intended eternal destiny for all people.
• 15:24
  You and I were intended for, bound for glory, the glorious eternity of heaven, glory, doxa, that eternal destiny that was lost at the fall. Human beings were always intended to share in the glory of God. But when Adam and Eve sinned, we know they were forcibly separated from God's presence and therefore forcibly separated from his glory.
• 15:53
  When the Apostle Paul says we fall short of the glory of God, he's referring back to that instance, the day that we all failed. That phrase, fall short, hustereo, is the basic meaning, carries with it the basic meaning of being inferior or coming in last place. That's an interesting idea. Sometimes we think of fall short and we think of just barely missing it.
• 16:20
  Like, I just barely fell short. We lost by one point or by one run or by one goal. We just fell short. But that is not what he's communicating here. He says, if the chase for the glory of God were a race, humanity came in last place. When it comes to the glory of God, we fell way short, way short. And he continues in verse 24.
• 16:50
  We've all sinned and we've all fallen short and we can all be justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We can be justified. That justification is a declaration of righteousness. The declaration of God that every demand of the law has been satisfied.
• 17:13
  That there remains no unpaid sin which continues to cry out against the sinner. Justification is a legal transaction. It changes the very standing of the sinner before God legally. We are legally declared justified. Christ's righteousness, his perfection is credited, imputed, assigned to the sinner's account and thereby making the redeemed one legally.
• 17:42
  innocent an easy way to remember the definition of justified if you want to circle that word in your in your bible circle that word and write a little arrow up to the margin for a simple definition just pull the word apart just as if i'd never sinned when the lord looks at you that's what he looks at in christ justified means just as if you'd never sinned in the first place can you imagine it's gone
• 18:13
  Legally declared innocent. Verse 25 referring to Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation, satisfaction, or atonement by His blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. The blood of Jesus Christ brought atonement for sin. And if you're looking for an easy way to remember atonement, again, just pull the word apart. At one.
• 18:43
  through the blood of Christ. Because our sins have been atoned for, we can become one again. The fellowship with the Father that we lost because of sin can be regained. A genuine friendship with God. We are now at one with God again. He continues, verse 26, it was to show his righteousness at the present time. And here he creates kind of a little dichotomy in verse 26.
• 19:10
  Two things he juxtaposes here which shouldn't necessarily go together, and I'll explain them. To show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. How is it that God, who is the judge,
• 19:30
  How can he be just, in other words, paying the penalty for every single sin and yet justify forgiving those who are sinners? How can both of those things be true at the same time? Now, as every judge knows, you cannot just let sin go unpunished. Every victim demands justice. And for a judge to look at a criminal and say, well, you can just go.
• 19:58
  you don't have to pay the penalty for your sin, actually disintegrates society. The only way a society works is if its citizens abide by the law. And when they don't abide by the law, they must submit to the punishment. A judge who refuses to punish crime is an unjust judge. Now, in the same way, the universe cannot work.
• 20:26
  unless its citizens abide by the law. And when they don't, they must suffer the consequences. In the same way, the judge of the universe must punish sin. If he refuses, if sin is left unchecked, if he just says, oh, you just don't have to worry about it, well, you can just go, then he is an unjust judge.
• 20:48
  This simple statement in verse 26 explains how God really can be the justifier, the forgiver of sinners, and yet remain a just judge, punishing every sin by placing that punishment on his son, the goat, for the sins that they commit. This is what the author meant. If you skip down just a couple of verses to verse 29, this is what he meant.
• 21:12
  In verse 29, when he says, or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles? So the ones who have received the law, the ones who have received circumcision, all of those advantages we talked about last week, is he not the God of them? Yes, but he's also the God of Gentiles who don't have the law and who have not been circumcised and all of the, yes, of Gentiles also, he says, since God is one. Who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith? God, that same God. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?
• 21:41
  Is God unjust by declaring us justified, he's asking? No, on the contrary, we are actually upholding the law. Every single facet of the law really is fulfilled in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. Jesus is the goat.
• 22:05
  His is the blood that covers the mercy seat so that by faith we are no longer condemned and yet God remains a just judge. What a brilliant truth. Again, if you're taking notes, point number two, Jesus is the GOAT. And make sure this time you write the word GOAT in all capital letters. It's an acronym for the greatest of all time. Jesus is the greatest of all time. And there's a lot of talk recently about who are the greatest of all time.
• 22:37
  particular disciplines. Guys on SportsCenter or wherever will ask, who is the GOAT of men's basketball? Clearly, Michael Jordan. Who is the GOAT NFL quarterback? And despite the pain it causes for those who live here in Denver, you must conclude that it is Tom Brady, right? And you got to, you know, spit or something when you say his name, but nevertheless, why do we hate him so much? Because he really is the best. I mean, you just can't, yes, it's why he's so universally hated.
• 23:06
  Who is the GOAT female vocalist? Has to be Whitney Houston, no argument there. Who's the GOAT in swimming? Michael Phelps. Who's the GOAT in boxing? Muhammad Ali. Who's the GOAT in hockey? Wayne Gretzky. Who's the GOAT in men's soccer? Nobody cares. And listen, and not to trivialize it, I noticed there, and for all the soccer fans, I'm sorry, I didn't even mention baseball, so I'm leaving mine off too, but I don't want to trivialize it here, but when it comes to justification, think about this.
• 23:34
  When it comes to the salvation of souls, who is the greatest of all time? And I think you have to ask, who did what no one else could do? It has to be Jesus Christ. No one else can claim any of the credit. And that's exactly what he says in verse 27. What becomes of our boasting?
• 23:57
  Do you want to listen to all of that about justification and then stand before the throne and brag about how faithful you've been, how great you are? Right, do you see what he's saying? What becomes of our boasting? It's excluded. Jesus is the one who did what nobody else could do. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, by the law of faith, the very fact that we cannot be justified by our faith.
• 24:25
  faithfulness by our adherence to the law demands that we give credit to whom it is due the author continues verse 28 for we hold one is justified by faith apart from works of the law if we are not saved by works i think what the author does is kind of leaves us up with this idea of rather than saving works it's saving faith and if we're not saved by our works
• 24:56
  What part do works play in the life of the believer? Any? Does that mean we're no longer required to obey the law at all? What is genuine saving faith? We know that saving faith is not simply outward morality, just living a good life, because plenty of moral people are unregenerate.
• 25:17
  We also know that it is not merely intellectual knowledge of God that you could say, well, I went to seminary or I took a Bible class or I know a lot about God or I read the Bible because there are plenty of theologians who could recite chapter and verse to all kinds of theological theories who nevertheless do not actually know the Lord. They say, well, what about religious involvement? I mean, I go to church and I've taken communion and I was baptized. Nope. I shudder to think that there may be some among us.
• 25:46
  Even on Sunday mornings who are yet unsaved, singing the songs, clapping their hands, saying the prayers. It isn't remorse over sin even. Well, maybe I'm just really sorry for the bad things I've done or a mere profession of faith. I say the name of Jesus or making a decision for Christ or praying some prayer of salvation when they were seven. None of these things are proofs of saving faith.
• 26:11
  I've appreciated the work of John MacArthur on this point, would refer you to his commentary on Romans for a fuller explanation, but allow me to give us some proofs. I'm going to call them irrefutable proofs of saving faith. Saving faith results in certain proofs of having been justified. How do I know? Can I know that I've been saved? And if so, how do I know?
• 26:36
  1 John 5 and verse 13 says this, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. God does not want to leave his children in uncertainty about his relationship with him. You can know beyond a shadow of a doubt, church, before you even leave this building this morning.
• 26:57
  Whether you are saved or not. And I would encourage you to check your own hearts against this list as I give it, to do as 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 5 says, to examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. This is nowhere near an exhaustive list, but saving faith results in certain things. Notice first, saving faith results in love for God. The true child of God has an innate,
• 27:30
  love for him. The one who does not have saving faith does not love him. Ask yourself, do I genuinely love the Lord? Romans chapter 8 and verse 7 says this, the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Love for God is the litmus test of saving faith.
• 27:58
  and will determine the direction of the true believer's life. I love him, and I want more of him. That is first. Notice second. Second, saving faith results in hatred of sin. The person who genuinely loves God will also hate what God hates. Imagine how this would work out between spouses, where you would say, I love my spouse, and yet...
• 28:27
  I also love the things which hurt them the most. I said, well, that's not genuine love then.
• 28:35
  I love my spouse, but I'm going to participate in the things which are most hurtful to him or her. They'd say, well, no, then you don't actually love your spouse, right? Because to love your spouse genuinely means loving them means hating what hurts them, hating what they hate. The person who genuinely loves God will also hate what God hates. You cannot genuinely say that you love someone and then turn around and also love those things which hurt them.
• 29:01
  In Matthew 6, verse 24, Jesus said, You cannot serve two masters. Either you'll hate the one and love the other, or you'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. James 4, verse 4, Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Now, the world there is being used as kind of everything which sets itself up against God, everything which is opposed to God. It's not necessarily referring to your unsaved neighbor, like I'm supposed to hate them.
• 29:27
  Well, no, you're not supposed to hate them. Love them into the kingdom. That's what he says. But to love the things which oppose God and set themselves up against God, he says, you can't be friends with God and friends with that. Therefore, he says, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. It seems pretty clear here, I think, that to love the God of righteousness demands a deep abhorrence for sin.
• 29:54
  If a person's sin doesn't bother him and increasingly put him under conviction to the point that he confesses it and pleads for forgiveness, then that person's faith is questionable. You guys all know, and make sure you hear me on this church, it is not to say that we as believers must live perfect lives. None of us can claim perfection here. We can claim direction rather than perfection.
• 30:16
  Right? Which way are your toes pointed? That's the question we asked last week. It's not to say that you will never fail again. And if you do, you've lost your salvation. That's not what the scriptures teach. Rather, is it your desire to bring glory and honor and a smiling face to your heavenly father? It will result in hatred of sin. Notice third, saving faith results in genuine humility. The one who is genuinely saved will seek to bring glory and honor to God rather than to who? To ourselves.
• 30:48
  Salvation begins on our knees, an expression of our own inadequacy. The reason that you and I prayed that very first prayer is because we were making a declaration that we couldn't do it. How counterintuitive then, once you have gotten on your knees before the Lord, how counterintuitive to then exalt yourself.
• 31:12
  Exalting oneself, therefore, is the opposite of saving faith. Notice how Jesus himself defined discipleship in Luke 9, verse 23. He said to them all, if anyone would come after me, if you want to be a genuine follower, disciple, child of God, let him very first, what does he say? Deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
• 31:37
  results in humility. Fourth, saving faith results in a desire to be in God's presence. You want to be where God is. And this specifically there, God's presence in the people of God and in prayer. You want to be around God's people and you want to be in communion with God in prayer. Every Christian, I think, will admit that they do not pray as frequently or with as much fervor as they'd like.
• 32:04
  But the heartfelt desire of every Christian will be to enjoy the presence of God. The heartfelt desire of every Christian will be to enjoy the presence of God in communion with their Savior through prayer. Galatians chapter 4 and verse 6. He says, because you are sons of God, genuinely here, children of God, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.
• 32:29
  crying, Abba, Father. Notice there, if you are genuinely children of God, then the Spirit of God lives in you and is compelling you to cry out to your heavenly Father. And listen, friends, if you don't desire to be in the presence of God, then one of two things I think is true. Either you are actually saved, but you are harboring some kind of sin which is keeping you from entering God's presence, like Adam and Eve who cowered in the bushes.
• 33:00
  so as not to be discovered, or either you're harboring some kind of sin, or the genuineness of your salvation is suspect. Those who express saving faith genuinely desire to be in God's presence. Fifth, saving faith results in spiritual growth. In the parable of the soils, the Lord Jesus reminds us that if the seed of the gospel has truly penetrated our hearts, then our lives will produce spiritual fruit to varying degrees.
• 33:29
  And that fruit could be all kinds of different fruit. The New Testament describes different types of fruit. Maybe it is the fruit of evangelism. In Mark chapter 8 and verse 20, Jesus says those who are sown on the good soil, the seeds of the gospel that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit 30-fold.
• 33:51
  60-fold, 100-fold, that genuine believers desire not only to be in God's presence, but also to usher others into God's presence. That it would be our desire to actually replicate our faith, to invite others into the kingdom as well. It could be the fruit of evangelism. It could also be the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 22. The fruit of the Spirit is love and joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
• 34:21
  A year ago, January 2022, I did my resolutions. I always call them goals. I don't call them resolutions just like everybody else, but I did my goals and I had memorized Galatians 5.22 and I really wanted the fruit of the Spirit, the manifestations of the Spirit to be evident in my own life. And so I began to pray for a different fruit of the Spirit every month. In January, I paid for love. February, joy. March, peace. And I called it the fruit of the month.
• 34:47
  the fruit of the month and just begin to pray lord i want to i if your holy spirit lives in me i want people to be able to see the fruit of the spirit in us it could also be the fruit of maturing into christ likeness ephesians chapter 4 and verse 13 it says to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of christ until and notice he gives three things here in a list
• 35:13
  We build up the body, right? We are producing spiritual fruit. What is the fruit? We all attain to the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the Son of God, unity, to maturity, to mature manhood, and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. We would bear Christ's image into Christ's likeness. Those who have saving faith will produce, will result in spiritual growth, the production of spiritual fruit. Notice finally, saving faith results in obedient living.
• 35:43
  We know that no one is saved by good works. We also know that the result of saving faith is the production of good works to the glory of God. 1 John 2, by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. Whoever says, I know him, but doesn't keep his commandments is a liar and the truth isn't in him. Imagine how this truth reverberates through North Denver. How many people claim the name of Christ and then want nothing to do?
• 36:13
  with his commands right he says now this is a mark of saving faith ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10 we are his workmanship created in christ jesus for good works the marks of saving faith are love for god hatred of sin genuine humility a desire to be in his presence spiritual growth and obedient living and our text this morning answers an all-important question church how can we be made right with god and the answer is simple jesus is the goat
• 36:41
  His is the blood which is sprinkled on the mercy seat and it pays the penalty that the law demands. And because he is the goat, he is also therefore the goat. He is the greatest of all time because as we saw last week, no one but he could accomplish the forgiveness of man. And we're going to close by singing the Lord is my salvation. It's a song that we've introduced the last several weeks and I would encourage us to pay particular attention to one line.
• 37:09
  which says, who is like the Lord our God? Strong to save, faithful in love. And beloved church, the answer to that question is no one. No one is like him. No other God is like him because Jesus really is the goat. And God, thank you for this eternal truth. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for sacrificing yourself, for giving us your blood to be sprinkled upon the mercy seat.
• 37:39
  to shield us from the Father's law and yet to become recipients of the Father's love. You are just and the justifier. And we're so thankful for that truth. And God, as we sing now, I pray that we would exalt your name. You are the greatest of all time and no one is like you. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.