Abundant Grace, 21 October 2018

Abundant Grace: Justified by Faith
D6 Series—Romans: Faith’s Foundations
Romans 5

Series Overview: Romans is packed with the gospel and truths about our spiritual condition.

Big Idea: Because of God’s amazing grace, we can be justified by faith and have a right relationship with our Creator.

Clichés. We probably hear them every day. We probably say them every day. But do we understand them?

This past week Heather and I were blessed to be able to host a Japanese engineer in our home, a student at the University of Toledo’s American Language Institute. If you want to really confuse an English student, throw some clichés at them!

Cat got your tongue?
Read between the lines
He has his tail between his legs
Kiss and make up
Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed

They don’t translate well!

Today we’re continuing our series Faith’s Foundations, a run through Romans. Our text from chapter five is filled with phrases that can easily become clichés or Christianese. It’s essential we understand them…and apply them to our lives.

The Bible is filled with words which are uncommon in popular culture. Of course, the Bible was originally written in Hebrew and Greek—not English—so our Bibles contain translations of ancient languages. There are three words I want to define before we engage our text in Romans.

Grace is

- the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.
- the influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.
- a virtue or excellence of divine origin

We’ve sung a lot about grace today.

Faith is

- confidence or trust in a person or thing

-
belief that is not based on proof
- belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion


Justified
is

- to acquit, declare righteous, declare innocent or guiltless, absolve
- the opposite of condemn.


Justification by faith means God declares the believing sinner righteous by faith because of Christ’s finished work on the cross.

It is the righteousness of Jesus plus the subtraction of sins.

It is an act, not a process.
God does it, not us.
We are not made righteous, but declared righteous.

Under the law, righteous came by behaving.
Under the gospel, righteous comes by believing.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)

What’s the therefore there for? Chapter 4 talks about how Abraham was justified by faith.

The Chamula people of southern Mexico have no single word for faith in their language. Needless to say, this passage was difficult for translators. Their understanding of faith is “taking-seriously-what-God-has-0obligated-himself-to-do.” Romans 5:1 could then be paraphrased, “Therefore, since we have been justified through taking seriously what God has obligated himself to do, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s a mouthful, but what a brilliant reality!

They say the longest twelve inches is from the head to the heart, and I desperately want you to grasp how amazing God’s grace is, that God would send His precious son to die for us, for our sin, for our unrighteousness, for our junk.

Justified by faith
Peace through Christ
Access by faith into this grace

We have salvation, yes, but so much more.

By grace, we become children of God. Kids of the King! Joint heirs with Jesus!

Some translations of the Greek word for access,
prosagogein, are “brought into” or “been allowed to enter.” Through Jesus, we are ushered into the very presence of Almighty God. That’s incredible! The curtain of the temple that separated humans from God was torn from top to bottom while Jesus surrendered his life on the cross.

Karl Barth wrote,

“Into the depth of our predicament the word is spoken from on high: By grace you have been saved!  To be saved does not just mean to be a little encouraged, a little comforted, a little relieved.  It means to be pulled out like a log from a burning fire.  You have been saved!  We are not told: you may be saved sometimes, or a little bit.  No, you have been saved, totally for all times.  You?  Yes, we!  Not just any other people, more pious and better than we are, no we, each one of us.
This is so because Jesus Christ is our brother and, through his life and death, has become our Savior who has wrought our salvation.  He is the word of God for us.  And this word is: 
By grace you have been saved!"
We have peace with God! This is not merely the absence of conflict, but shalom: every kind of blessing and good.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Through Jesus, we are reconciled to our heavenly Father. We have peace with God…even in the midst of turmoil and sufferings.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4)

This is a remarkable sequence. I thought about spending the whole morning on these two verses, though next month our series “When Life Gets Hard” will revisit them. At first, it sounds crazy to glory in our sufferings, but Paul does not say we glory because of our sufferings. He doesn’t say rejoice because of our sufferings. He says rejoice or glory in our sufferings, explaining an important sequence.

The first question we ask in the midst of suffering is…why? I’m here to tell you it’s not meaningless. According to this text, it’s ultimately hope. Suffering produces hope? Usually hope is what we need when suffering. Let’s unpack this briefly.

Suffering produces perseverance. This might best be illustrated in exercise. Several years ago, our oldest daughter wanted to train me for the Ann Arbor Turkey Trot, a 5K race. I told her I had never ran more than a mile and thought more than 3 miles would be impossible. She insisted, saying if I worked up to it, I could eventually run 3.107 miles without walking or stopping. She was right. The suffering of those first days of training strengthened my muscles and allowed me to persevere through longer runs—or more accurately jogs! Suffering produces perseverance.

Perseverance produces character. This makes sense, right? As you develop the ability to endure through difficult circumstances, your character is strengthened. You learn to trust in God more fully. You may grow more patience and willing to surrender control. You become rooted in prayer, in dependency upon God. Perseverance produces character.

Character produces hope. As we lean into God, we realize His resources are never-ending. We recognize our efforts are nothing compared to His abilities. As we advance on our knees, praying without ceasing, our understanding of our awesome God reveals promises, increases confidences, and assures us of the reality of His presence and power. Nothing is impossible with God. His love never fails. Character produces hope.

Therefore, we can glory in our sufferings. We’re not supposed to like our sufferings—I don’t—but we can see them as growth opportunities, chances to draw closer to God, moments to live by faith, not sight. Although you might not have any idea why your life is the way that it is, someday you might look in the rear view mirror and praise God for the way this season has shaped you into the image.

Remember, as Thomas George often says, you were made by God, for God, and for God’s glory. It’s not all about you! It’s not all about me! It’s all about God and His glory! We can have hope of the glory of God. The purpose of our creation will be ultimately realized. As sinners, we fall short of the glory of God, but through Christ, we can boast in and experience the hope of the glory of God.

And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:5)

This is a fantastic verse! Paul has moved from faith to hope to love. The Holy Spirit is given to every believer at their new birth and his love for us continues to live in us. Faith, hope, and love.

The opposite of faith, hope and love is doubt, despair, and hatred. We’ve got enough of that in our world!

Now Paul elaborates on justification by faith and grace.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

I get so excited about this passage! Jesus didn’t die for us because we were so good, but because we were so bad. That’s grace. We don’t deserve it. We can’t earn it. We’re not good enough. We’re not smart enough. We’re not rich enough. We’re not powerful enough. We’re not beautiful enough. We’re not educated enough. We were just pathetic sinners. We brought nothing to the table, yet God sent Jesus. Jesus died for us. That’s amazing grace!

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:9-11)

We have received reconciliation through Jesus. I love that word, reconciliation. We have it with our Creator. We are invited into a relationship with Almighty God despite our sin because of Jesus.

Even in our sophisticated, 21
st century world, men, women and children around the globe are doing things to try to appease god, hoping their good works will produce karma or favor. Human efforts toward our Creator are pitiful! Picture 28-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps’ two year-old son challenging dad to a swim race. Imagine LeBron James’ 11 year-old son trying to go one-on-one with his dad. Ludicrous!

Now imagine those boys instead going with dad to lunch. Eating with a legend? Just dining with dad! We have been reconciled to our heavenly Dad. We don’t need to try harder or out do Him. We can’t impress Him or outlast Him. We can’t out think Him. We can’t do anything to earn His love or affection or approval. He just loves His kids!

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. (Romans 5:12-14)

Sin always leads to death—physical death, the death of relationships, spiritual death. Since Adam, we’ve all been sinners.

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! (Romans 5:15-17)

God’s grace is infinitely more good than Adam’s sin was evil.

Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19)

Are you getting the picture? Jesus reversed Adam. This does not mean everyone will be saved, unfortunately, but that salvation is available to everyone. Like any gift, the gift of God’s grace must be received. Have you received it?

The chapter concludes…

The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21)

The law just showed how sinful are sin was, making grace even more profound.

So What?

There are two groups of people here today.

Some of you have never received the gift of God’s grace. You’ve tried to be good and failed. You’ve tried to be in control and have gotten frustrated. I’ve got great news for you: grace!

I often say one of the great differences between Christianity and any other religion I’ve ever seen is grace. Unmerited favor. It’s the greatest gift ever, offered freely for you to receive. Let go and let God. If you’ve never done that, I urge you to simply say, “Jesus, I’m a sinner. I’ve made a mess of my life. I believe you died and rose from the dead to offer salvation and forgiveness and reconciliation with my Creator. I surrender all. Be the leader and LORD of my life.”

Some of you have received the gift of God’s grace. You’ve confessed your sins, repented of your selfish ways, and surrendered to Jesus Christ. You need to worship, praise God, life your voice, offer thanksgiving to God. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

Conclusion

To whom much is given, much is required. We have been showered with extravagant grace, unmerited favor from God. Now we go and extend grace to others. We forgive those who do not deserve to be forgiven. We are kind and generous to those who are not kind and generous. We bless those who curse us. We pray for our enemies. May we be a people of grace, conduits of faith, hope, and love.

You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.