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Romans 3:19-26 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Father God, I praise you for making a wretch such as I, your treasure.
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And I thank you, Father, that you accomplish this through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
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!
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And so I pray, God, that you come, that you work deep works in our souls this morning.
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We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
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First, I want to say, I apologize for the very fragmented way I've taken you through chapter 3
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as I've been here and then not been here and then had things laid on my heart that were different.
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And I promise, at least Lord willing, that next week we'll finish chapter 3
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and let Chris get started on chapter 4.
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But I'm really blessed to come to this text today.
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It's what I will call the crux of the Bible.
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And in case you don't know what a crux is, I've got to tell you a little bit of my background.
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In my younger days, not too long ago, I did quite a bit of rock climbing.
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It was actually kind of a consuming passion for me.
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And in rock climbing, you're setting always new challenges for yourself.
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It's a fairly independent sport.
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And you're always wanting to climb new routes, new routes.
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And in every route, you have a guidebook and you look at it and you know the rating.
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You know, this is a little harder than what I've done before.
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This has particular moves on it that will be a challenge to me.
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And you get what's called beta.
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You ask other people who have climbed it, what are the challenges of this climb?
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What do I need to be doing to prepare myself to accomplish this task?
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I had a climbing wall, a little climbing wall in my room.
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And I would actually set up the moves that I knew I was going to have to do and practice them over and over and over again to be able to accomplish this climb.
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But every climb always had a crux.
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The most difficult part.
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The part that if you could get it down, if you could do that part, you could do the rest of the climb.
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And every part of the climb, everything leading up to that spot was about getting to that spot.
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Being able to conserve your energy, have the strength you needed left to pull off those couple of very difficult moves.
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And then beyond that, everything was just a celebration of accomplishing the most difficult part of the climb.
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That was the crux.
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This text, this is the crux of the Bible.
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Martin Luther called this the central passage of all of Scripture.
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So we've been ascending.
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We've been climbing throughout our Scriptures.
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We've seen God create the world and original sin.
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We've seen Him destroy the world except a remnant of people and animals through the flood.
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We've seen the Tower of Babel.
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We've seen the captivity in Egypt of the Israelites, the exodus, all the plagues, the exodus.
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We've seen 40 years in the desert, the giving of the Mosaic Law, the temple being built.
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We've seen God's people scattered and regathered.
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The times of the judges, the prophets.
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And then we see in our New Testament, the culmination of redemptive history in Christ coming and dying for the sins of His people.
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This text speaks of that.
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Paul so far in Romans has left us guilty.
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He starts out laying out a very careful case that all men are guilt.
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We're all under just condemnation, both Gentile and Jew.
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He begins kind of his thesis statement in chapter 1, verse 16.
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He says,
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The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
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And he goes on to show us how everyone needs to place their faith in Christ
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because everyone is justly condemned, those without the law and those with the law.
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The last passage in chapter 3, he fires off a bunch of Old Testament quotations for us.
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None is righteous.
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No, not one.
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No one understands.
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No one seeks after God.
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He's not leaving us any room to think that anyone is going to escape the judgment of God.
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And I think if you look around at the world, you'll find that the world knows.
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We all know that we're guilty.
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We all carry within us this sense that we haven't lived rightly,
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that we deserve some kind of condemnation for the way that we live.
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And I think we know that that doesn't just extend horizontally, but it also extends vertically.
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We know that it's not just that we sin against our fellow man and we should be judged by our fellow man,
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but that we've transgressed some kind of greater law and we deserve the wrath and judgment of God.
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If you look in verse 19 and 20, I just want you to see two phrases there,
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that we'll be held accountable to God and that no human being will be justified in His sight.
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And that's the great tragedy of sin, that we've offended God.
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That's the primary problem with sin.
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Are there other problems with sin?
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Sure.
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Social issues as we sin against our fellow man?
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Absolutely.
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But the primary issue, the number one issue, is that we've sinned against God Himself.
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Psalm 51.4, which is David's psalm of repentance after he has taken Bathsheba,
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had her husband killed, had a baby by her that died.
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He says in 51.4,
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Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.
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He says to God, against you and you only have I sinned.
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That kind of seems like an audacious claim, doesn't it?
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It seems that He reduces everything that He's done.
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He's really sinned against the entire nation of Israel as their king.
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He's reduced all of that to say, against you only have I sinned.
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But what David understood was that this vertical access of his sin,
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this issue that he has with God, is greater than those things.
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That sin trumped all the other sin that he had done.
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So we all carry this guilt around with us.
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In our daily living, and I think we know that someday we'll be judged.
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There's coming this final judgment.
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And we do some things to cope with that.
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Look at the world around you.
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I'm going to give you some evidences of this.
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Everybody knows the guilt that they carry with them.
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I'm going to tell you quickly about three coping mechanisms.
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You can see the world carrying out.
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We tend to cope intellectually, physically, and religiously.
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We cope intellectually by trying to justify our actions,
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turning vices into virtues,
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such as greed and intimidation and self-exaltation.
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Our culture is about that, about justifying sinful acts,
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about justifying transgression of God's law.
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We cope physically with the abuse of alcohol and drugs,
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both legal and illegal,
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things just to kind of numb the pain of living.
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We wrap ourselves up in things like TV,
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social activities, and sports,
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to occupy our minds with other things than the guilt,
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just so that we won't let in that deafening sound of silence,
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as Simon and Garfunkel talked about.
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We're afraid that if we stop for just a moment,
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we might hear the condemnation that's upon us.
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And most divisive among all of them,
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we cope with things with religion.
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Religiously, we cope.
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And you see the world about this action.
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Because of explaining away our guilt or distracting us from it,
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religion tells us that we shouldn't be guilty.
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That if we do certain things,
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if we face a certain way and pray a certain number of times a day,
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if we're really careful about stepping on grasshoppers,
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if we follow a man's written code,
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that we're okay.
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We're going to be all right.
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We're going to achieve a higher level of understanding,
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or we're not going to be judged for our actions.
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But none of these coping mechanisms,
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none of these things actually get rid of the guilt, do they?
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None of them actually free us from the condemnation of God.
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Thankfully, the text goes on, right?
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Chris asked me before we started,
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we were singing the sheet song,
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and he said,
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are you going to preach after this?
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And I said, thankfully no,
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but this is a really happy text,
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so it wouldn't be a terrible mood setting for such a text.
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So we all have this guilt.
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We know that.
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We have a guilt bearing down upon us prior to being saved,
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but thankfully we have salvation in Christ.
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And that's where Paul begins to turn,
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and why this is the crux.
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If we can get this right, everybody,
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if we can understand the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ,
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how it is that that exchange happens,
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we're going to get the rest of it.
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It's all going to turn out okay.
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We're going to understand the rest of the book of Romans
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if we can get this one clear point.
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So let's get after it.
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Verses 21 through 23.
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But now, and he doesn't mean now in my argument,
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he means now in this present age,
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but now the righteousness of God
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has been manifested apart from the law.
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What is he talking about?
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The righteousness of God,
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the right living,
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the perfect, holy, right living of God.
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Can people do good things?
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Absolutely.
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I'm not going to negate that.
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People can do good philanthropic things.
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We saw Mother Teresa live a very sacrificial life.
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But if Mother Teresa didn't place her faith in Jesus Christ
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for his righteousness,
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her righteousness,
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the things she did,
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will not be enough before God.
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So we can do good things apart from Christ.
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We can go about the activity
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of what the Bible tells us to do.
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I can share with others.
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I can love people.
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I can share the gospel with people
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and not be justified in his sight.
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So the righteousness of God,
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Christ himself,
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has been manifested apart from the law,
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although the law and the prophets
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bear witness to it.
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And I want to point out to you
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that he has been talking repetitively
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about the law lowercase in my ESV,
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but then here,
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the last part of 21,
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he says law uppercase and the prophets.
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And what he's essentially saying is
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the scriptures that we have up to now.
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So all that ascending I was talking about,
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all those stories that I mentioned,
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all of those things,
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the law and the prophets,
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have been speaking of the righteousness of God
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that we find in Christ,
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have led us to this point.
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Verse 22,
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the righteousness of God
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through faith in Jesus Christ
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for all who believe.
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Now I'm going to get there.
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I'm going to go beyond what I'm about to say,
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but I want you to see
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that there is an action required on our part
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to have the righteousness of God.
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We have responsibility
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in this equation.
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Okay?
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And what is that responsibility?
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It is belief.
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That we believe that Jesus
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is the Son of God
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and the only way
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back to God
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to restore our relationship
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with Him.
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We're all under condemnation.
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We all carry this guilt of sin.
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The only way back
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is Jesus Christ.
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And faith requires our belief
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in Him.
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Our salvation is dependent
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on that very thing.
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Last part of 22,
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for there is no distinction.
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Verse 23,
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for all have sinned
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and fall short
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of the glory of God.
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Right?
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This fits.
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This fits where He's been
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and where He's going.
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Okay?
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He's been talking about
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the Jew and the Gentile
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all under condemnation.
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all must then
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place their faith in Christ
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for their salvation.
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Right?
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There is no distinction
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between the two.
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All must place their faith
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because all of us
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have sinned
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and we fall short
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of the glory of God.
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All right,
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man,
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I just lost my thought.
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Verse 24 and 25.
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And are justified
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by His grace
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as a gift
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through the redemption
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that is in Christ Jesus,
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whom God put forward
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as a propitiation
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by His blood
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to be received
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by faith.
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All right,
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let me stop there.
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So we see
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that what is required of us
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is a belief of faith
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in Jesus Christ
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and what happens
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in that equation.
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And Paul gives us
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some pretty big words here.
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We have three
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rather churchy words
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that I think are very
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important for us
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to define.
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Many people take
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words like
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redemption,
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I'm redeemed,
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I'm forgiven,
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I'm justified.
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Those terms,
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we take them
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and we simply make them
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synonyms to say.
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And in one sense,
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they are.
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But they're different lenses
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by which to look
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at our salvation.
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There are different ways
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to understand
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this great exchange,
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as Martin Luther called it,
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where we got
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the righteousness of God
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and he took our sin
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and bore the wrath of God.
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Different lenses
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by which to look at it.
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So he starts out
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by talking about
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being justified.
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So what does it mean
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to be justified?
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And it's fairly simple,
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it's kind of a court term.
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It means simply to be
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declared not guilty.
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It's a declaration.
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So you stand before the judge
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with your traffic ticket
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and you say,
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Judge, I actually
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was not speeding.
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This was a false ticket.
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Cops crazy.
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He says he radared me,
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but he didn't.
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And the judge says,
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I believe you.
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You did not do the thing
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that you did.
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And you're justified
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in that thing.
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You've been forgiven
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of the possibility
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that you even had
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anything to do
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with the wrongdoing
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that you've been
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blamed for.
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That's justification.
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So we're in a right standing
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if we have our faith in Christ.
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We're in a right standing
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before God.
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We've been justified,
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but how is it
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that we've been justified?
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We've been justified
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by his grace
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as a gift,
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a free gift
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given to us
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through redemption
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in Christ
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who was our propitiation.
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So these are terms
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we need to understand.
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Redemption
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and propitiation.
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Now Paul was not
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trying to be
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super booky
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and smart
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and blow everybody
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in the Church of Rome's
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minds
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when the letter was read.
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His intention was not
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that somebody stood up
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in front of the church
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and read this letter
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and they all said,
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that Paul is amazing.
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He uses big words
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that we don't even understand.
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Paul spoke very plain language
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so that people totally got
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what he was saying.
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We just don't live
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in that culture.
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We don't really use
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the word redeemed.
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in our culture.
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Or certainly
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we don't use the term
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propitiation
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in our culture.
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So we have to kind of
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look at what was going on.
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What is the culture?
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What is this
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Greco-Roman world
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that they lived in?
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And redemption
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was a big deal.
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It was a term
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that they really
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would have taken hold of.
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I've explained to you
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before that
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the redemption
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process in war
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looked a little like
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this.
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If I were to conquer
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another king,
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I would capture
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that king
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or take him back
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to my city
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and I would put
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a price on his head.
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So I would say
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your people,
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in order for your king
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to be redeemed,
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I need this much
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in gold.
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And if you paid
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that price,
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your king was said
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to be redeemed
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and I would return
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him to you.
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So it's a picture
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of redemption.
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A price
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that the captor
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cannot pay
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is paid by somebody else
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and the captor
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is set free.
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But it gets
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a little neater
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than that.
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A little deeper
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to the common man
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that lived in this time.
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Today,
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we file bankruptcy
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if we have to default
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on our loans.
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We just say,
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I cannot pay my loans
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and we have a little
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loophole
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that gets us out of that.
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But there wasn't
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a loophole like that
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in this day.
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And the way
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they got out of debt
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was they either
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sold themselves
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to somebody
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into slavery
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and used the money
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to pay their debtor
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or they became slaves
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of that person
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that they owed money to.
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That was the way it worked.
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That was your way out.
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So if I borrowed
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a great sum of money
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to start a business
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and my business failed,
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I would become a slave.
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Unable to pay the debt,
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I'd have no possessions
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left at this point.
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Me and my family
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as slaves.
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Now let's say
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I'm in slavery,
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I'm sold into slavery
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and I have a cousin
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who lives in another city
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who's well-to-do
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and hears
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that I have this problem.
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The way that cousin
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would go about
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buying my redemption
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is they would go
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to the local pagan temple.
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This is so cool.
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They would go
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to the local pagan temple
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and they would pay
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the amount that I owed,
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my debt,
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they would pay my debt
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plus a fee
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to the priest
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at the pagan temple.
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The priest then
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at the pagan temple
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would take the money
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owed to my slaveholder
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and I would be
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set free
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from that slaveholder
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but I would become
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the slave
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of the pagan god.
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That way,
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culturally,
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I still had the shame
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of being a person
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who defaulted on my loans
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but because pagan gods
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had no real rules,
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I could go about
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my business.
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Isn't that fascinating?
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As Paul talks
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all throughout
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the Old Testament
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about us being set free
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but being slaves.
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You understand that?
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If we lived in that culture,
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we would have really understood
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what was going on.
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We've been set free
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from the captivity of sin,
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from the dominion
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of the devil,
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but we're now slaves
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of a new god,
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the god,
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who causes us
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to live
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in a different way.
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And that's the picture
18:33
of redemption.
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Isn't that an amazing way
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to look
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at your salvation?
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Every time I think
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of redemption,
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I think I'm getting
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a little broken record-ish
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about this,
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but I think of
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the prophet Hosea
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who was told by God
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to marry a woman
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who he knew
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would be unfaithful to him.
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Her name was Gomer.
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And the picture,
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this real-life charade
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that God carried out
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in Hosea's life
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was the picture
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of Israel and God.
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Israel was a harlot,
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not faithful to God.
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So you see this process
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in the first three chapters
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of her continual betrayal
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of Hosea.
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And she gets herself
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to the position
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where she's living
19:18
with another man
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and finds herself
19:20
in such a hard financial time
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that she is sold
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into slavery.
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And then God tells Hosea
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to go to the slave market
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and to purchase her back.
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And the amount
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he purchases for
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is a huge amount,
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a huge amount of money.
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He goes back
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and he purchases
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his bride
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who had betrayed him.
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It's a picture
19:42
of redemption.
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We ought to hear
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the word redeemed
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sing these songs
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and it ought
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to blow our minds.
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Totally without
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any worth
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of our own.
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Isn't that what
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Paul has been saying?
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None of us are righteous.
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I don't care
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if you were born
19:56
in Georgia.
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I don't care
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if your parents
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took you
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to the Southern Baptist Church.
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It doesn't matter.
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You could have worn
20:04
a tie from the time
20:05
you were six months old.
20:08
No righteousness
20:09
of your own.
20:10
It doesn't matter
20:11
how many mission trips
20:12
you've been on
20:12
at all.
20:14
None of that
20:15
matters
20:16
if you don't
20:17
place your faith
20:18
in Christ
20:19
for your salvation.
20:21
You are a
20:22
poor,
20:23
wretched slave.
20:26
Nothing
20:27
of your own.
20:29
Pitiful.
20:30
The slave market,
20:31
slaves were put
20:31
on display
20:32
without any clothes on
20:33
so people could see
20:34
what they were buying.
20:36
That's you.
20:37
You have nothing
20:38
of your own
20:39
to offer
20:40
to God.
20:42
But yet
20:42
he's
20:43
purchased us.
20:45
And how has he purchased us?
20:46
Through
20:46
a propitiation.
20:49
Christ himself
20:50
is our
20:51
propitiation.
20:52
Now here's another term
20:53
that we have to understand.
20:54
In this Greco-Roman world
20:55
there were many
20:56
gods.
20:58
And if you wanted
20:59
a god to favor you,
21:01
to be
21:01
proprietous
21:02
towards you,
21:04
you offered
21:05
a sacrifice
21:05
to that god.
21:07
So if I were
21:08
to sail
21:08
someplace
21:09
and I wanted
21:09
to offer
21:10
a sacrifice
21:11
to the god
21:11
of Neptune,
21:12
I wanted
21:12
the god
21:13
of Neptune
21:13
to shine
21:13
on me
21:14
to make sure
21:14
that I wasn't
21:15
in a terrible
21:16
wreck
21:17
as I was
21:17
sailing,
21:18
I would
21:19
offer
21:19
a
21:19
propitiation
21:21
to turn
21:23
God's anger
21:24
to
21:25
propietousness,
21:27
towards favor
21:27
toward me.
21:29
See,
21:30
the Greco-gods
21:30
were seen
21:31
as kind of
21:32
fickle.
21:33
I mean,
21:33
you've never read
21:33
any of the
21:34
Greek literature?
21:36
Very fickle gods,
21:38
easily angered,
21:40
bickering amongst
21:40
each other.
21:42
And so these people
21:42
understood
21:43
Jesus Christ
21:44
is a propitiation.
21:45
We are enemies
21:46
of God.
21:48
Now our God
21:48
is not fickle.
21:49
Our God
21:49
is full of wrath,
21:51
full of indignation.
21:53
The law and the
21:54
prophets have spoken
21:55
of that all
21:56
throughout the Old
21:57
Testament.
21:57
We've seen God's
21:58
wrath and His love
21:58
combined.
22:01
And then we see
22:01
Christ as the
22:02
propitiation,
22:03
this sacrifice
22:05
to turn God's
22:06
favor back to
22:08
us.
22:09
It's a beautiful,
22:10
beautiful picture.
22:12
So,
22:13
in the Old
22:13
Testament we see
22:14
the picture of
22:16
the Passover,
22:18
the final plague
22:19
that God brought
22:20
amongst Egypt
22:21
to bring about
22:23
the Exodus.
22:24
And what happens
22:25
in the Passover?
22:27
The firstborn
22:27
of all the
22:29
Egyptians is killed.
22:31
The angel of
22:31
death comes
22:32
through.
22:33
But those who
22:34
have killed a
22:34
spotless lamb and
22:35
spread the blood
22:36
on the doorpost
22:37
of their house,
22:39
the angel of
22:40
death passed
22:40
over.
22:41
Right?
22:42
What is that a
22:42
picture of?
22:43
That's a picture
22:45
of the wrath
22:45
of God
22:46
against sinful
22:47
man.
22:49
And those of
22:50
us who are
22:50
found in
22:51
Christ,
22:52
the perfect
22:53
Passover lamb
22:54
being passed
22:54
over.
22:57
Living as a
22:58
result of
22:59
such a thing.
23:01
Christ is the
23:02
bull slaughtered
23:03
on the day of
23:03
atonement.
23:04
I've spoken to
23:05
you about this
23:06
before.
23:06
In the temple,
23:08
the Holy of
23:08
Holies, there was a
23:09
day, one day a
23:10
year, the day of
23:11
atonement.
23:12
And I won't get
23:12
into all the
23:13
particulars of it,
23:14
but there was a
23:14
blood sacrifice
23:15
required one time
23:16
a year as part
23:17
of the Mosaic
23:18
Law to make an
23:19
atonement for all
23:21
the sins of
23:22
Israel.
23:23
There was a
23:24
constant sacrifice
23:25
happening amongst
23:26
individuals, but
23:26
this was the big
23:27
sacrifice, the big
23:30
laying of blood
23:31
on the altar to
23:33
atone for those
23:34
sins.
23:36
And as I
23:37
mentioned, Christ
23:39
is the price.
23:39
He's the price
23:40
that Gomer paid.
23:41
Hosea paid to
23:42
purchase Gomer
23:43
out of slavery.
23:47
Last part of
23:48
verse 25,
23:49
verse 26.
23:53
So all this,
23:54
all this activity,
23:56
this was to
23:57
show God's
23:58
righteousness
23:59
because in
24:00
his divine
24:01
forbearance,
24:02
he had passed
24:03
over former
24:04
sins.
24:06
Stop there for
24:06
a second.
24:07
This was to
24:07
show God's
24:09
righteousness.
24:09
righteousness.
24:10
This process of
24:12
placing our
24:12
faith in Christ,
24:13
the perfect
24:14
sacrifice,
24:15
came in order
24:16
to show us,
24:18
to show us
24:19
God's righteousness
24:20
because in the
24:20
past, he had
24:22
passed over sin,
24:23
hadn't he?
24:24
He had given a
24:25
way out.
24:26
The way was
24:27
always Christ,
24:27
but it was
24:28
faith that God
24:29
would deliver his
24:30
people.
24:32
Does that make
24:33
sense?
24:33
faith in
24:35
the Old Testament.
24:37
The New Testament
24:38
has not nullified
24:38
the Old Testament.
24:39
It was always
24:40
the same.
24:41
It was faith
24:42
in Christ.
24:44
They didn't
24:44
know that.
24:45
They didn't
24:45
know it was
24:45
Christ, but it
24:46
was in the
24:46
promises of
24:47
God that he
24:47
would deliver
24:48
them that
24:49
justified them
24:50
in his sight.
24:52
Because he had
24:53
passed over
24:53
those former
24:54
sins.
24:54
So you see
24:54
both his
24:55
wrath and his
24:55
love, even
24:56
in the Old
24:56
Testament.
24:57
Verse 26.
24:58
It was to
24:59
show his
24:59
righteousness at
25:00
the present
25:01
time.
25:01
So in the
25:02
past his
25:02
righteousness,
25:03
now in the
25:03
present time,
25:05
so that he
25:05
might be just
25:06
and the
25:07
justifier of
25:08
the one who
25:09
has faith in
25:10
Jesus.
25:11
These are some
25:12
interesting words
25:12
here, doesn't
25:13
he?
25:13
Some nice
25:14
choice of
25:15
words, so
25:15
that he
25:16
might be
25:16
just.
25:18
In order for
25:19
God to be
25:20
just, he
25:20
must condemn
25:21
sin.
25:23
We've all
25:24
transgressed
25:24
the law.
25:26
And no
25:27
righteous judge,
25:28
no earthly
25:29
righteous judge,
25:30
ever forgives
25:31
a lawbreaker,
25:34
they justly
25:36
deliver the
25:37
sentence due
25:37
to the
25:38
person, right?
25:39
You have
25:39
done this
25:39
thing, here's
25:40
the consequence,
25:41
there you
25:41
go.
25:42
That is a
25:42
just judge.
25:45
God is
25:46
perfect justice,
25:49
completely
25:50
holy.
25:51
He's just.
25:53
So how is
25:53
it, what's
25:55
the loophole
25:55
that we've
25:56
survived in
25:56
if we're
25:57
Christians?
25:58
How is
25:58
it that we're
25:59
not given
26:00
the condemnation
26:01
due us?
26:03
Because Christ
26:03
bore it for
26:04
us.
26:05
See that?
26:06
God had to
26:07
punish the
26:07
sin.
26:08
Every single
26:09
sin you
26:10
commit in
26:11
your lifetime
26:12
was punished
26:13
in Christ.
26:16
You see that
26:17
picture?
26:18
He had to
26:19
punish sin.
26:22
I've done this
26:22
also before for
26:23
you.
26:23
I heard this
26:24
somewhere, I
26:24
don't remember
26:25
who, but I
26:26
just want you
26:26
to know this
26:26
is not original
26:27
to me.
26:30
We all as
26:31
individuals have
26:32
at some point
26:33
in our life
26:34
stood at the
26:36
bottom of a
26:36
dam 10,000
26:38
miles tall and
26:39
10,000 miles
26:40
wide.
26:41
And what that
26:41
dam is holding
26:42
back is the
26:43
wrath of God
26:44
against all of
26:45
our sin.
26:47
Can you picture
26:48
that, standing
26:48
at the bottom
26:48
of this dam?
26:50
And that dam
26:51
splits open and
26:53
that water comes
26:54
rushing forward.
26:55
none of us
26:57
would survive
26:57
such a thing.
26:58
That amount
26:59
of water,
27:01
wrath in this
27:01
case.
27:03
And because of
27:04
what Christ has
27:04
done, if you
27:06
place your faith
27:07
in Him, a
27:09
gaping hole
27:10
opens up just
27:10
before you.
27:11
And all of
27:12
that water goes
27:13
rushing in to
27:14
that gaping hole.
27:15
You're standing
27:15
at the edge of
27:16
this hole and
27:16
that wrath that
27:17
should be yours,
27:18
that's billowing
27:19
towards you, gets
27:20
swallowed up into
27:22
a hole.
27:22
You remember
27:25
that Jesus, before
27:25
He was crucified,
27:26
prayed, Father, if
27:28
there's any way for
27:29
this cup to pass
27:30
from me, if there's
27:31
any way we can do
27:32
this some other
27:32
way, can we
27:34
please?
27:35
It wasn't the
27:36
Father's will.
27:37
So what did He do?
27:38
He drank that cup.
27:40
And what was that
27:40
cup?
27:40
It was the wrath
27:41
of God.
27:44
He drank every
27:45
last bit of it,
27:46
He turned it over,
27:46
He slammed it
27:47
down, and He
27:47
said, it is
27:48
finished.
27:49
What a great
27:52
Savior we have.
27:54
Just condemnation.
27:56
We deserve it.
27:58
I deserve to be
27:59
smashed by that
28:00
wall of water,
28:01
because my offense
28:02
is vertical.
28:04
Right?
28:04
I've sinned
28:05
against you guys,
28:06
certainly.
28:08
Should I make
28:08
reparations there?
28:09
Absolutely.
28:11
But more than
28:11
that, I've sinned
28:12
against the Holy
28:13
God.
28:14
I've begotted
28:15
God.
28:16
I've made myself
28:17
Him.
28:17
That is a great
28:19
offense, and I
28:20
deserve death.
28:24
But thankfully,
28:25
there's a way.
28:25
There is a hole
28:27
that can open
28:28
if I place my
28:29
faith in Christ.
28:31
There's a
28:32
responsibility on
28:33
my part to do
28:34
so.
28:35
If I ever want
28:36
to see the
28:37
gates of glory,
28:38
if I don't want
28:40
to be destroyed
28:40
because of my
28:41
sinfulness, I
28:42
must place my
28:43
faith in Christ.
28:44
I must believe
28:45
that He is the
28:46
only way to
28:48
salvation.
28:49
But I want you
28:50
to remember in
28:51
the text,
28:52
verse 24,
28:54
that this grace
28:54
is a gift to
28:56
us.
28:57
We'll deserve
28:58
it.
28:58
We'll get into
28:59
this next week.
29:00
I don't deserve
29:00
the grace of God
29:02
because I believe,
29:04
but it's given
29:04
to me as a gift,
29:06
my faith.
29:07
So we see both
29:07
the sovereignty of
29:08
God and the
29:08
responsibility of
29:10
man working
29:11
together.
29:12
I worked a
29:13
homeschool conference
29:14
for Truett McConnell,
29:14
and I've built
29:16
some new displays
29:16
and one display
29:18
says from the
29:19
very first verse
29:20
and the other
29:20
display says to
29:21
the very last
29:22
tribe.
29:22
It's a wonderful
29:24
slogan that our
29:25
school is using
29:25
now.
29:26
And I had a
29:27
homeschool mom
29:28
walk by me and
29:29
she said,
29:30
to the very last
29:30
tribe, don't you
29:32
think that's a
29:32
little offensive?
29:34
And I said,
29:34
how so?
29:35
She said,
29:36
because it
29:36
presumes that
29:37
everybody needs
29:37
Jesus.
29:39
And I said,
29:41
yes, that's very
29:41
offensive because
29:42
it's the gospel.
29:43
And she went.
29:45
I walked away.
29:47
But that is the
29:48
gospel.
29:50
What she wants me
29:51
to do is to say
29:53
there are many
29:53
ways to heaven.
29:56
There's all kinds
29:57
of things we can
29:57
do to deal with
29:58
our guilt.
30:00
We all know
30:01
we're guilty.
30:01
There's all kinds
30:02
of stuff you can
30:02
do.
30:03
There's varying
30:03
forms of religion
30:04
and activity.
30:05
For a lot of
30:06
years, my religion
30:07
was spending time
30:08
outside.
30:08
not a chance
30:12
I'm going to
30:12
stand at the
30:13
feet of the
30:14
white throne
30:15
with a bunch
30:15
of climbing gear
30:16
and go,
30:17
but look what
30:17
I've been doing.
30:20
Right?
30:21
Only
30:22
will it be
30:24
justified
30:24
through the
30:25
redemption of
30:26
Jesus Christ
30:27
because he is
30:28
our propitiation.
30:30
Let's pray
30:31
together.
30:31
Amen.
30:31
Amen.
30:33
Amen.
30:35
Amen.