Latest / The Daily Word / May 22 – The Law of Faith
Transcript
- Robert Rosales: Good morning, Lakeshore family. Welcome to the Daily Word podcast. I'm Robert Rosales and alongside my wife Yolanda, we have the honor of serving as campus pastors at our Gastonia location. This podcast is a simple space we share each day to slow down, open God's Word, and pay attention to what he's saying. As a church family, we're committed to meeting with God daily, not out of religious routine. but out of a relationship through scripture, through prayer, and by capturing what the Holy Spirit is stirring in our hearts and how it connects to our everyday lives. We're walking together through the Life Journal reading plan, and today we'll be focusing on the New Testament portion from that plan. Now, just as a reminder, when I invest time with the Lord, I try to keep things really uncluttered and simple. Just my Bible, my journal. something to write with and I love to use a highlighter to mark what stands out in my Bible. At times I'll also lean on a couple of trusted study tools to help me go a little deeper and stay grounded in the text. Not to replace God's Word, but to help me study deeply and listen more closely. We also follow the SOAP method, Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer. You know, if you use it, it's a simple and practical tool to not just read the word, but to respond to God through his word. Now, before we jump into today's passage, let's take a moment to prepare our hearts. Would you just agree with me? Lord, as we open your word, we ask that you would open us. By your spirit, make your truth come alive in us. Give us ears to hear, hearts to receive, and courage to respond. Speak to us, Lord, we are listening. In Jesus' name, amen. Today's passage for May 22nd is Romans chapter three. And I journaled from verse 27. The new King James reads this way, where is boasting then? It is excluded by what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Catch that last part. No, but by the law of faith. Let me read this starting at verse 25 through verse 28 out of the NLT to give us a little more context. This is how it reads. For 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. For 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 makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Can 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. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. I love to give my journal entries a title. And here's the title for this one. The Law of Faith. Come on, say it with me. The law of faith. Now, lean in with me. I promise you'll catch something fresh from this lesson. Here's my observation. First, I want to clearly identify and understand two words in this text. Notice the word law. It comes from the Greek word nomas, N-O-M as in Mary, O-S, nomas, law. It means a rule, principle, standard. or established order that governs behavior or reality. So it can refer to the written law, like the Mosaic Law, moral or social regulations, a governing principle or operating system for how something works. In this context, Paul is using it as a controlling principle or rule that governs how God's righteousness is received. So it's not a written law. It's a divine principle of operation. How about the word faith? In the Greek, it's the word pistis, P-I-S as in Sam, T-I-S as in Sam, pistis. And that means trust, belief, confidence, or reliance, especially ⁓ settled confidence in someone's reliability. At its core, it's not just mental agreement, but personal reliance. In this context, Paul is highlighting that it's not merely intellectual agreement, like, believe God exists, but personal dependence on Jesus Christ for righteousness, salvation, and life. Taken together, what I see here is so powerful. Paul is not talking about a written code. He's contrasting two governing principles, the law of works and the law of faith. The law of works equates to us earning or performing for our salvation. The law of faith, on the other hand, equates our receiving, trusting, and relying. It's our personal reliance on Christ. The law of faith is the unchanging principle that God's righteousness is received only through trusting dependence on Jesus Christ and His finished work. Come on, someone say amen. Friends, Paul says this and it destroys boasting because it produces humble dependence on Jesus. We can't earn salvation. It comes by the law of faith. Now, here's where this gets really good and really practical. The law of faith doesn't only work for our initial salvation, it's meant to govern our whole life in God. We enter the law of faith and we stand by the law of faith. What I meant to say was we enter a relationship with God by the law of faith. and we stand by the law of faith. In other words, it governs our growth, it governs our obedience, our reception of all the promises of God, and even how we engage our spiritual battles. The law of faith is God's governing principle that all of salvation, justification, spiritual growth, and perseverance is received and lived through trusting dependence on Christ, not through human performance. Let me give you an illustration. Think about walking into a room and seeing a sturdy chair. You can say, I believe that chair can hold me. You can even study it, test it, agree with its design, and be convinced it's strong, it's sturdy. But faith, or the law of faith, isn't just agreeing with the chair. Faith is when you stop standing next to it and you sit down in it. At that moment, you're not working to prove the chair will hold you. You're resting your full weight on the chair. That's exactly what Paul means by the law of faith in the letter to the Church of Rome. In Romans 3.27, the law of work says you stand on your own strength. The law of faith says you rest your full weight on Christ. And just like that chair, the moment you sit, there's no room for boasting, pride, or bragging. You didn't hold yourself up. The chair did. Come on, somebody say amen. How does this apply to our life? As I think about these powerful truths about the law of faith, I'm deeply encouraged. I will live within the boundaries of the law of faith, not trying to earn anything from God by leaning on what I can do, but by leaning on what Christ has done, not only for my salvation, but for my whole walk with God. The law of faith means I don't earn what God gives, I trust what God has done, and I live my whole life from that trust and receive what He's given me by grace. Come on, would you pray with me? Father God, thank you for speaking to me today. I make a conscious decision to stir myself up and remember that you're faithful to your promises. You've called me, you've given me gifts, you've made everything available to me through my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because this is true, I will live the law of faith. I will put all of my weight on Jesus and what he's done for me. I won't try to earn my salvation or anything else. Thank you for helping me to do that. In Jesus' name, amen. Lakeshore family, as you go about your day, my prayer is that you'll develop a hunger for God and His word like you've never had before. As you do, God will open your eyes to the riches of His word, giving you revelation and life-changing insight that will help you become everything God's called you to be, fulfilling your mission, purpose. and plan for our great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for joining me today on the Daily Word Podcast. I hope this encourages you to stay faithful in the Word and sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading. God bless you and we'll catch you again tomorrow.