1 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:05,520 Amen. This is. 2 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:07,240 Truly. All my. 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:09,400 Hope for tuning in we learn from. 4 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:11,760 Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Amen. 5 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:14,120 And pray that is. Life. 6 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:16,960 You are trusting and anything else. 7 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,960 Please visit us at Key Life. Saveyou.com. 8 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:23,320 To. Forgive you to perhaps grant to 9 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:27,360 you eternal life that you understand that none of those 10 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:33,000 things will save you, that it is only through Christ that a 11 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,640 person, a Sinner is truly saved. You have your Bibles, if you 12 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:40,600 would. It turned to Romans chapter 4. 13 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:44,560 I told the man a moment ago when we met for prayer, and I know 14 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,000 that we met a little bit later than normal and that's OK. 15 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,960 How many of you got stuck in a traffic jam and then they're 16 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,920 cool to get stuck in a traffic? Jam on the way to church because 17 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,760 it's interesting that we'll go to the rodeo, we'll go to 18 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:00,400 stadiums, we'll go to football games, basketball games, 19 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:02,480 baseball games, and we know we're going to get in traffic 20 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,640 jams. But it's a good thing to see a 21 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:09,440 traffic jam at church. It's an exciting thing. 22 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:11,760 I'll just know this. We're working on that. 23 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:14,920 Hopefully we'll have extended parking soon. 24 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,800 Pray for Montgomery County that they would do whatever they need 25 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:20,760 to do to get our plans approved right. 26 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:24,200 But today we're looking at Romans chapter 4. 27 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,400 I know this is a break from what we've been looking at as we've 28 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:30,120 been in First Timothy, looking at the pastoral epistles. 29 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:33,640 And I think this is an appropriate break. 30 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:35,440 I think this is a very important break. 31 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,280 And I want you and I want you to understand what I'm about to 32 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:39,800 tell you because there are many people who say things like this 33 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:43,000 and, and they don't really mean them what I'm about to say. 34 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,280 I really mean this and I want you to pay close attention to 35 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:49,200 it. This might be the most important 36 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:53,200 sermon that. You've ever heard, and when I 37 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,440 tell you that I'm not just throwing words around lightly, 38 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,400 if you know me, I don't just throw words around lightly. 39 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:01,400 This may be the most important sermon that you have ever heard. 40 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:04,960 In fact, this sermon today could be the difference for you 41 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:06,720 between eternal life and eternal death. 42 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:08,919 That's a pretty big deal. Do you all agree? 43 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,520 It's not because we're going to be talking about that, that 44 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:15,960 difference between eternal life and eternal death. 45 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,360 I would say that this is the most important sermon that 46 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:22,080 you've ever heard. If you're not sure where you 47 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,080 land in either one of those categories. 48 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:26,360 And we know. This as many are joining us 49 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:28,760 worldwide, right? It is what we officially know as 50 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:30,760 Easter Sunday. It is the the day where 51 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,440 unfortunately, many people set aside only this day to celebrate 52 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:36,520 the resurrection of Christ. We don't do that here at Key 53 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:38,400 Life Fellowship. If you're visiting with us next 54 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:40,640 week, we're going to have Resurrection Sunday again. 55 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,200 And the following week, Lord willing, if we're graced with 56 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:45,680 another week, we're going to resurrect. 57 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:48,200 I mean, we're going to celebrate the resurrection of Christ 58 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:49,080 again. We're actually not going to 59 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:50,360 resurrect them. We're going to celebrate it. 60 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,000 But I'm afraid. In this time, as many are 61 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:03,240 joining us and remembering the fact that Christ rose from the 62 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:11,720 great, I'm afraid that unfortunately many are only 63 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:16,160 acknowledging their knowledge of Christ. 64 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:22,120 Resurrecting from the great. They're not actually believing. 65 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,400 And when I say believing, I'm not talking about believing in 66 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,080 your head. I'm talking about a true heart 67 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,920 changing belief. I'm talking about true 68 00:03:28,920 --> 00:03:31,680 justifying faith. They're not actually exercising 69 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:33,760 saving faith in Christ. And. 70 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,040 When you know there's a distinct difference, and unfortunately in 71 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,640 modern church culture, they don't make that distinct 72 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:42,320 difference. I'll make that distinct 73 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,840 difference. You knowing about the facts that 74 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,360 Jesus died, he was buried and rose again will not save you. 75 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:55,320 Because there is a difference between saving or justifying 76 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,160 faith and just basic acknowledgement of the 77 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,520 historical and even biblical facts, even though they'd be 78 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,560 true. We can acknowledge the truth but 79 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:09,760 yet not be in the truth. And so today what I want to do 80 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:14,960 is I want us to. Understand the difference 81 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:20,000 between acknowledgement of Jesus versus true justifying faith. 82 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:23,360 Here in Romans chapter 4, we're going to see what true 83 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,160 justifying faith really is. But before we do that, I want to 84 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,360 just kind of walk through history, some figures in 85 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:34,680 Christianity throughout time, and the statements that they've 86 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,360 made about this, the fact that people really get caught up 87 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,280 sometimes in being deceived into thinking that just simply 88 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:42,200 acknowledging Christ will save them, right? 89 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:44,960 To just say, yeah, I know that he died and I know that he died 90 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:46,600 on the cross. And yeah, I know that he was 91 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:48,760 buried in the grave. And yeah, I know that he rose on 92 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:50,120 the third day. Because some of you, you're here 93 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,880 today just to celebrate that factual information. 94 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,120 And let me just tell you this. It's factual information. 95 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,240 I've been to the tomb. I've walked inside. 96 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,040 It's empty. Therefore, it is factual 97 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:02,520 information. It is historical information. 98 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:04,480 In fact, every time you look at your calendar, they change the 99 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:06,360 way they measure time because of this Jesus. 100 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,120 But knowing those things will not save you. 101 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:15,640 The Bible's going to show us that today. 102 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:18,200 John Owen, a Puritan, he said this. 103 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:21,240 There is a faith whereby men believe the truth of the Gospel, 104 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,480 but it is not that faith whereby we are justified. 105 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:27,400 He's saying there are people who believe the truth of the Gospel, 106 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:28,960 but yet they are not truly justified. 107 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:30,800 They haven't been declared as righteous before. 108 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,560 Holy God. Thomas Goodwin, another period, 109 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,280 he said there's a common faith which is but a neck of assent to 110 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:38,600 the truth. But justifying faith is a 111 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:40,760 receiving of Christ. He says there's a difference. 112 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:42,840 There's a difference between assenting to the truth. 113 00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:46,560 Yes, obviously there was a Jesus and obviously there was a 114 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,120 crucifixion and obviously there was a resurrection. 115 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,120 But just acknowledging those things will not save you. 116 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:59,040 Thomas Watson, he said a man may have knowledge in the brain, Oh, 117 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,200 please pay attention to this and yet perish. 118 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:10,160 Hell will be full of people who intellectually grasped the 119 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:12,360 historical facts surrounding Jesus Christ. 120 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:18,800 He says, and yet perish. He may know. 121 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:23,560 Christ and yet not trust in Him. Oh, what a sad thing to know 122 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,400 Christ and to know all about Him and to know the historical and 123 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:29,560 the biblical facts, but never to trust in Him, never to leave 124 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,560 your life of sin and to cling to Christ and Christ alone. 125 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:40,960 What a tragedy. Richard Sibbs he says it is not. 126 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:43,320 Sufficient to have a general knowledge of Christ, but there 127 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:45,080 must be a closing with him. What? 128 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:47,880 Does he mean by that there must be this intimate closing? 129 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:52,200 Must be this relationship. It's not enough just to know. 130 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:59,600 About him, Charles Spurgeon said there's a faith which is nothing 131 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:04,000 but a mere belief of doctrine. And he goes on to say this faith 132 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:08,080 saves nobody. Did you know this? 133 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:15,920 There will be good, sound, educated theologians who spend 134 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:21,280 an eternity in the depths of hell knowing all of the answers 135 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:26,480 theologically, never having true faith in Christ. 136 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:28,400 That kind of knowledge doesn't save anyone. 137 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:32,160 He said, well, who are all these? 138 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,120 Guys, are they important to us? Maybe they're not important to 139 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:37,640 you. What about James, the half 140 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:39,520 brother of Jesus who wrote the epistle of James? 141 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:42,200 Here's what he says. James chapter 2 verse 19. 142 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:43,920 He says you believe that there is one God. 143 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:48,240 Good. He says even the demons believe 144 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,360 that and shudder. What is James saying? 145 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,920 That many people have settled for the faith of demons. 146 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:56,360 You have acknowledged that there is a Jesus. 147 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:58,360 Did you know this? There's no doubt in a demon's 148 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:03,120 mind that there is a Jesus. There is no doubt in their mind 149 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,400 that he died on the cross. There is no doubt in their mind 150 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:08,760 that he rose from the grave. They know this to be fat. 151 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,720 There is no doubt to the demon that there is a God. 152 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:21,360 They know who created them. But yet they don't believe as 153 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:23,720 God calls us to believe. So in a. 154 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:29,080 Church culture that is rather confused in a country. 155 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:32,480 That is rather confused. A group of people that are 156 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,360 rather confused, they think that it's OK and just acknowledging 157 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,000 Jesus, right? Some of you came today and I'm 158 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,480 thankful that you're here. You came to acknowledge Jesus, 159 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:43,840 and rightfully so. He's worthy of. 160 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:48,880 Acknowledgement. However, you're acknowledging 161 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,640 Jesus on this resurrection Sunday will not save you. 162 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:56,760 Don't leave here and think that because you came to church today 163 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:00,920 and you acknowledge the resurrection of Christ that that 164 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,120 is going to be credited to your account as righteousness. 165 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:08,240 It will not be so. And So what I want to do today 166 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:10,120 is I want to tell you things that other people are afraid to 167 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:14,320 tell you. I want to tell you the truth 168 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:17,840 because there was a time that I acknowledged Jesus. 169 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:21,880 I believed in him factually, but I did not know him personally. 170 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:25,320 And I don't want you to fall into that same trap. 171 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:27,920 And Paul obviously did not want the believers in Rome to fall 172 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,600 into that same trap as he's going to address them about this 173 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:34,160 matter here in verses 13 of chapter 4, all the way to where 174 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,440 we'll be looking today, chapter 5, verse 2. 175 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:40,880 And I wish I had time to go through chapter 3 all the way to 176 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:42,800 chapter 8, but you'll be thankful that I didn't. 177 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:44,200 I already caused one traffic jam. 178 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:45,360 I don't want to cause another one. 179 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,360 Let's read this together as we open the Word of God in Romans 180 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:54,760 chapter 4, verse 13. Let's see what the apostles 181 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:58,520 saying to the church and why he's saying this to the church 182 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:00,920 and why it's important that we distinguish between 183 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,200 acknowledgement of Jesus and true justifying or saving faith. 184 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:09,880 Why is this important? I believe it's very important 185 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:16,480 because I believe some people, many people, even people sitting 186 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:18,560 under the sound of my voice in this room this morning, have 187 00:10:18,560 --> 00:10:20,960 simply acknowledged Christ. But they're still lost. 188 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:23,520 Their life is still full of hate. 189 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:26,680 Their life is still full of sin. Their life is still full of 190 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:31,280 blasphemy, immorality. They've not truly yet been 191 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:34,360 saved. I pray today that by hearing the 192 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:36,960 truth that God would be gracious to you, that He would show you 193 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:40,680 mercy, that He would save you in spite of you, even this very 194 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:43,280 day. Paul says this to the church at 195 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:47,720 Rome after covering in chapter 3 the faithfulness of God, 196 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:50,240 covering the fact that there are no faithful men, there's none 197 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:54,240 righteous, no, not one. In chapter 3 he goes on and 198 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:56,480 talks about a righteousness that is through faith and not of the 199 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:59,400 law, meaning that we can't work our way into right standing with 200 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:02,520 God. Try as we may, our righteousness 201 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:04,840 is that of filthy rags before a holy God. 202 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:09,240 And then now here he is. He's begins in chapter 4 talking 203 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:10,960 about Abraham. And I'm not going to give you 204 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:12,600 all of this, so we'll get to a lot of it. 205 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:16,600 He's going to use Abraham as an example for us. 206 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:20,280 And we pick up in verse 13 and he says it was not through the 207 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:23,280 law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise 208 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:26,320 that he would be heir of the world, but through the 209 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:27,760 righteousness that comes by faith. 210 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:30,640 He's saying that Abraham was prior to the law, so it wasn't 211 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:33,920 the law that established Abraham's righteousness. 212 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:38,800 For if those who live by by law or heirs, faith has no value and 213 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:42,080 the promise is worthless because law brings wrath. 214 00:11:42,560 --> 00:11:45,000 And where there is no law, there is no transgression. 215 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,280 What is he saying there? He's saying the law did this 216 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:48,200 right. When you read the 10 217 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:49,960 commandments, what do the 10 commandments tell you? 218 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,240 They tell you that you're incapable of righteousness in 219 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:55,480 and of yourself, right? Let's just go through the 10 in 220 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:57,240 your mind right now. Have you ever broken one of 221 00:11:57,240 --> 00:11:57,960 them? Yes, you have. 222 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:01,440 And the word says that if you've broken one of them, you've 223 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:04,000 broken all of them. And so it puts us all in the 224 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:05,440 same category. There's none righteous. 225 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:09,040 No, not one. We are all transgressors, and 226 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:12,680 the law was designed by God to. Do this to show us the fact that 227 00:12:12,680 --> 00:12:15,600 we are unrighteous and that we need a greater righteousness 228 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:19,280 that cannot come from ourselves, but a righteousness that comes 229 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:26,360 only from God himself. So he's making the point that 230 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:30,040 Abraham was not justified by doing the right things, living 231 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:33,760 in the law, because the law was designed to bring forth wrath, 232 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:35,200 right? When you realize I'm a breaker 233 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:37,120 of the 10 commandments, I deserve the wrath of God. 234 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,760 Is that not true? Anyone here who's never broken a 235 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,200 command of God? All right, how many of you here 236 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:44,760 have ever broken one of his commands? 237 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,560 Looking around, we're all in the same boat, deserving of the 238 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:49,560 wrath of God. Why? 239 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:52,720 Because when the law came forth, we know sin came forth. 240 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:55,040 Where sin came forth, death came forth, right? 241 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:57,480 The wrath of God upon sinful man. 242 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:02,160 He goes on, and he says this verse 16. 243 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,440 Therefore the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by 244 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:10,400 grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring, not 245 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,520 only to those who are of the law, but also those who are of 246 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,840 the faith of Abraham. He says not only to the Jews who 247 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:19,600 were born under the law, but also the Gentiles who have 248 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:23,440 received grace from God and have believed on Christ, and it's 249 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:25,080 been credited to them as righteousness. 250 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:29,360 They are and grafted into the promise of Abraham, says he is 251 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,120 the father of us all. As it is written, I have made 252 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,240 you a father of many nations. He is our father in the sight of 253 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:38,760 God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead 254 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:43,240 and calls things that are not as though they were against all 255 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:44,120 hope. He's going to give you some 256 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,640 backdrop and some background on Abraham in his faith. 257 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:50,240 He says against all hope. Abraham in hope believed and so 258 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:52,160 became the father of many nations. 259 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:57,160 Just as it as it had been said to him, so shall your offspring 260 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:00,840 be without weakening. In his faith, he faced the fact 261 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:04,360 that his body was as good as dead since he was about 100 262 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:06,040 years old. Now, now, bear with me here. 263 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:08,120 He's 100 years old. He hasn't had a child yet. 264 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:11,840 And that Sarah's wound, that's his wife, was also dead. 265 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:14,320 She was probably in her 80s with a dead wound. 266 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,400 Baron. Yet He did not waver through 267 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,000 unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in 268 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:25,360 his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God 269 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:27,840 had power to do what He had promised this. 270 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:31,200 Is why it was credited to him as righteousness. 271 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:35,720 The words it was credited to him credited to him were written not 272 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:38,040 for him alone. Pay attention to this he's been 273 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:40,080 looking at Abraham. He's going to shift gears to you 274 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:44,080 and to me and to those believers in Rome, but also for us to whom 275 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:47,840 God will credit righteousness for us who believe in him who 276 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:49,600 raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 277 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,360 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to 278 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:59,160 life for our justification. Verse chapter 5 verse one. 279 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:03,320 It says therefore. Since we have been justified 280 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:07,080 through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus 281 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:11,520 Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this 282 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:17,320 grace in which we now stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the 283 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:21,000 glory of God. Pray with me, Lord, we thank you 284 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,120 so much for your Word. We thank You for the truths that 285 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:27,440 we have already seen fly off the pages, Lord. 286 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,560 May they not only enter our ears, enter our eyes, enter our 287 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:35,160 minds, but may You cause a transaction to occur in hearts. 288 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:41,520 May the truth of Your Word be absorbed like never before. 289 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:45,400 And those who do not know. Christ, may you open their eyes 290 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:49,360 to see the truth, to see that unfortunately they have accepted 291 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:52,640 just an acknowledgement of Jesus Christ without true justifying 292 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,000 faith. May you use your word to make 293 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:56,800 that? Clear to them. 294 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:01,480 May you save them this day. Say cry out to you for the 295 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:03,320 believer here today. I pray that you would encourage 296 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,920 them by the truths that have already been seen will continue 297 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:11,840 to be seen during this message that you transform us all for 298 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:17,080 your glory and we pray all these things in Christ's name, Amen. 299 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:21,920 So we begin in this text with something very interesting. 300 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:25,440 Paul begins with the observation of Abraham's faith. 301 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:27,720 And why do you think he began with the observation of 302 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,400 Abraham's faith? Because there was no one. 303 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,120 There was no one who he was addressing there at Rome. 304 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,120 Not the believers who had come out of Judaism, not the 305 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:37,720 believers who had come out of paganism. 306 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:42,680 There was no one there who would ever question the authenticity 307 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:46,080 of the faith of Abraham. They would not question whether 308 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:48,600 Abraham's faith was true, justifying faith. 309 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:52,840 He was the example that God had given of a man who, who was 310 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:57,440 raised up by the grace of God, counted as righteous, declared 311 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:02,560 as justified, so that he could bring a people upon this earth 312 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:08,200 for his name's sake. No one would doubt the example 313 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:10,800 of Abraham. And so Paul is going to use that 314 00:17:10,839 --> 00:17:14,839 analogy so that we can better understand what justifying faith 315 00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:17,599 really is, right? Because we don't want to accept 316 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,040 just mere knowledge or mere acknowledgement of. 317 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:25,400 Christ because God requires justifying faith. 318 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:31,200 And so he goes to Abraham rather quickly here so that examining 319 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:32,840 their lives. And I pray that you would do the 320 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:37,280 same this morning. You would lay your so-called or 321 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,160 fought faith or your so-called or fought profession next to the 322 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:44,280 faith of Abraham and see if that's the kind of faith that 323 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:46,200 you have in your life. Because if you have any other 324 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:47,760 kind of faith, it's not saving faith. 325 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,720 It's a wish. It's a hope, it's an acquired 326 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,440 knowledge. It's information that's gone 327 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:56,120 into your mind and you've stored it there. 328 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,320 But it is not justifying and saving faith. 329 00:17:58,560 --> 00:17:59,920 I know what people are saying, Kirk. 330 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:01,760 This bothers me. This may cause me to doubt. 331 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,760 Yes, it may. But in the same breath, it can 332 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:09,240 give you great assurance, in the same breath it can give you 333 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:11,480 great assurance that you do have this true justifying faith when 334 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:13,320 you make this comparison. And I would challenge you to do 335 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:14,280 that. I'm thankful that someone 336 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:18,200 challenged me to do that long ago when I have settled for just 337 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:24,280 an acknowledgement of the facts instead of trusting Jesus Christ 338 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:26,680 as my only hope and my only righteousness. 339 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:29,960 You see the observation of Abraham's faith. 340 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:33,640 Let's look at it quickly, verses 13 through 17, we see very 341 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:37,000 clearly that this was a received faith. 342 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:40,040 This faith that Abraham has is not something that Abraham went 343 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:43,040 out looking for. In fact, Abraham wasn't looking 344 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:44,560 for. In fact, Abraham was looking 345 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:47,840 toward Pagan idols and he was worshipping false gods. 346 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,400 False deities. God met Abraham right where he. 347 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:56,040 Was with His grace. This has received faith. 348 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:58,360 This is a supernatural gift from God. 349 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:01,440 Let me tell you something. If you have believed and have 350 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,600 been saved, you believe and you have been saved because God has 351 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,040 graced you with that kind of faith. 352 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,680 We know that the man is born into this world with the 353 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:14,400 capability to acknowledge facts, but you were not in born into 354 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:17,200 this world with the capability of truly seeking God. 355 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:21,280 There is none righteous, no, not one, no one seeks after him. 356 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:23,840 Romans 3 tells us that very plainly. 357 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:28,040 And so when we get that knowledge of the facts, we can 358 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,920 come to a conclusion that true justifying or saving faith, just 359 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:37,080 as it was in the life of Abraham who became Abraham, must be a 360 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:42,680 gift that is received from God. Abraham's faith, obviously in 361 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:45,520 those verses 13 through 17. I need not read it to you again. 362 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:49,360 You've read it with me already. But obviously we see this. 363 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:51,040 It was not based on his own works. 364 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:53,480 It was not based on his own good deeds. 365 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,160 It was not based on him keeping the 10 commandments or the six 366 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:00,880 hundred 613 other commandments of the law that was. 367 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,160 Based solely upon the fact that God had graced him with the 368 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:08,160 faith that God requires for a person to have in order to be 369 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:13,480 saved. Justifying faith is 370 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:20,920 supernatural, therefore must be given by a supernatural God. 371 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:26,200 It is a gift of his grace. Did you notice I met an atheist 372 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,880 not too long ago who understood this. 373 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,760 Sadly, many in the church don't understand this and they think 374 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:35,480 that that faith is just an obligation, right? 375 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:40,400 That that God is obligated to give us enough faith to believe 376 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,480 He's not saving. Faith is a gift. 377 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:48,800 And this atheist that I met not too long ago, even he understood 378 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:50,440 this. I talked to him for a long time. 379 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:53,760 We had a great conversation. We talked about his life, we 380 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,160 talked about Christ, We talked about many things and it was 381 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:01,880 very kind and it was very cordial, but it's also very. 382 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:03,880 Sad. You know what he said? 383 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:05,160 He said. I was raised in a Christian 384 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:06,680 home. I went to Christian School. 385 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:08,640 I used to attend church as a young man. 386 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:13,200 And I see all the people around me who have such great faith and 387 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:18,920 I really admire that. I thought to myself, how sad. 388 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:26,480 And he acknowledges other people who have true faith, yet he 389 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:30,600 can't believe. So I asked him before we 390 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:31,840 departed. I said, hey, do you mind if I 391 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:33,400 pray for you? Is there anything I can pray 392 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:35,400 specifically about? I find it interesting that an 393 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,680 atheist said, yeah, pray for me. Who do I pray to? 394 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:46,200 But even an atheist has to actively deny the truth and the 395 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,160 reality of God that he knows is in his heart. 396 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:51,160 I said, you mind if I pray for? And it's interesting. 397 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:52,480 I've talked to lots of atheists, and you know what? 398 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:54,120 I've never had one of them turn me down for prayer. 399 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:00,360 I said, what can I pray for? Here's what he said Pray that 400 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,840 God would gift me with the faith if he wants me to have it that 401 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,960 other people have. Even this atheist understood 402 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:11,840 that true justifying and saving faith is a gift. 403 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:15,040 That is received from God and from God alone. 404 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:18,680 He actually asked me that if it was God's will that he would 405 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:20,600 give me this faith. May it be so. 406 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:24,880 I prayed exactly that. Or grant this man the faith to 407 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:25,920 believe. You know how Why? 408 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,920 I know that's important because had God not given me true 409 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,480 justifying, saving faith, I would have never believed. 410 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:38,360 I would have only acknowledged. So he knows more of this atheist 411 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:41,600 than many Christians about how faith is a gift from God. 412 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,640 I want to make clear that basic head knowledge of any historical 413 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:55,040 account, even of an account of Jesus, recognition of that and 414 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:59,520 acknowledgement of that, doesn't have the power to save you. 415 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:07,160 There must be a God wrought, God-given faith in order for a 416 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:11,440 man to be justified, to be deemed righteous before a holy 417 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:13,000 God. That's what Paul says in 418 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:14,680 Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8. You know what? 419 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:16,440 You know what? Well for it is by grace you have 420 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:20,680 been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves. 421 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,000 People ask ask me this all of the time. 422 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:25,600 What is he talking about there? Is he talking about grace being 423 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,200 a gift or is he talking about faith being a gift gift? 424 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:33,720 My answer to you is yes, it is by grace that you've been saved 425 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,480 through faith and this is not from yourself. 426 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:39,120 It is the gift of God. What is the is the gift of God 427 00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:41,320 grace through faith that he would. 428 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:46,440 Grace you with the faith to trust in Him, truly believe, and 429 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:52,040 to truly be saved, He says not by works so that no one can 430 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:54,840 boast. If Abraham could have somehow 431 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,040 worked his way to God, what would Abraham have done? 432 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:01,520 He would have bragged about it. If Kirk Hall could have somehow 433 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:05,200 and still could somehow work his way to God by all the good 434 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:10,560 things that I do, I know what Kirk Hall's pride would do. 435 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,040 It would well up inside of me and I would say to myself and 436 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:15,320 probably to everyone else, look what Kirk has done. 437 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:18,920 But can I tell you that's not true justifying faith? 438 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,360 True justifying faith can't say look what anyone has done and 439 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:23,520 has to say. Look what God has done. 440 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:27,120 It is received. It's a gift, just as it was in 441 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:29,760 the life of Abraham. It is in the life of those of 442 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:34,880 you who truly believe. Secondly, we see Abraham's faith 443 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:39,120 as we observe this example. Not only has received faith 444 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:43,480 being from the grace of God, it is relentless faith, relentless. 445 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:47,200 Look at verse 18 of that text and see how relentless this 446 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,040 faith is. And true, justifying faith is 447 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:51,760 relentless. It says against all hope, 448 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:55,320 Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many 449 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:58,040 nations. Just as it had been said to him, 450 00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:05,080 so shall your offspring be. Here we see Abraham's relentless 451 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:07,520 faith. True, justifying, saving faith 452 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:09,560 will be relentless. Why? 453 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,640 Because God is not going to back down. 454 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:14,320 And He is the giver of this faith. 455 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:17,440 He is the one who has ordained it, and He has instituted it in 456 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:21,080 you. Therefore it will be relentless. 457 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:25,520 Says against all hope Abraham in hope believe. 458 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:27,240 You say that doesn't even make human sense. 459 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:31,880 You're right, it doesn't against all hope, right? 460 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:34,080 I'm 100 years old. My wife's 80 something years 461 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,080 old. Her wound is dried up, barren. 462 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,960 But he was relentless. He was relentless. 463 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:48,200 And his faith in God, he trusted in God's unseen hand, God's 464 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:52,160 ability over anything and everything that he could see. 465 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:54,680 Right, Because Abraham looked at his life and he said, you know 466 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:56,560 what, I'm getting old. I looked at his life. 467 00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:58,200 He didn't. Tell her this, I promise. 468 00:25:58,280 --> 00:25:59,440 But he thought she's getting old. 469 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:05,160 But I'm still going to trust in God. 470 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:11,360 I'm going to trust in God when everything seems hopeless 471 00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:18,880 against hope. Abraham in hope believed that 472 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,440 word believe is pistuo. In the Greek it means this. 473 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:26,160 It means that he put all of his trust in God, that that there 474 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:28,640 was no other option. He was trusting in not himself, 475 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,160 not in his wife Sarah, not in the timetable of their lives. 476 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:38,600 He was trusting in. God relentlessly true justifying 477 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:45,880 true saving faith will relentlessly trust in God It'll 478 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:50,600 trust in God when everyone mocks you It'll trust in God when 479 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,160 everyone laughs at you when you become persecuted when you 480 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:56,680 become the butt of every single joke that is told. 481 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:04,200 True believer will relentlessly trust in God against all hope. 482 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:09,440 Abraham in hope believed. So we see that his faith, as we 483 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:12,360 observe it, is received and graced by God, A gift, 484 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:18,640 relentless, completely trusting in God's promises over even what 485 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:23,160 he sees. And it good to have that kind of 486 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,560 faith where you can trust in the promises of God instead of the 487 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:27,560 reality that your eyes claims to see. 488 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:34,520 We see, thirdly, that Abraham's faith was resolute. 489 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:41,480 Verse 19 makes it so clear. Without weakening in his faith, 490 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:46,160 he never backed down. Without weakening in his faith, 491 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,400 he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead since he was 492 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:51,360 about 100 years old, and that Sarah. 493 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:55,800 'S womb was also dead, yet he did not waver through unbelief 494 00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:58,680 regarding the promises of promise of God, but was 495 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:05,000 strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully 496 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:09,440 persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. 497 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:13,520 Oh, like Paul, he said, I know whom I have believed, and I am 498 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,760 persuaded that he is able to keep that which he has delivered 499 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:25,520 me until that day. Knew this Abraham, resolute 500 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:30,440 without weakening or wavering in his face, Faith steadfast, 501 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:34,880 persevering through every obstacle, every thought 502 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:38,440 roadblock he had. True justifying faith. 503 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,960 You know this true justifying faith will continue to believe 504 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:48,840 no matter what, confident in exactly what God promised Paul. 505 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:53,160 Alludes to this reminding us of the promise that God made to 506 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:55,760 Abram. He took him outside in Genesis 507 00:28:55,760 --> 00:29:00,440 chapter 15, Genesis 15, verse 5. If you want to turn there, you 508 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:03,160 can. But he took Abram outside and he 509 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:06,400 said look up at the heavens and count the stars. 510 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:08,800 He gave Abram an impossible task. 511 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,480 He said count the stars if indeed you can count them. 512 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:14,600 The interesting thing about that is God knew exactly how many. 513 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:18,720 Stars were in the sky. Abram didn't have the ability to 514 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:21,840 do that, he says, if indeed you can count them. 515 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:29,800 And he said to him. So shall your offspring be, he 516 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:31,080 said. Abram, you see all these stars, 517 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:33,160 You can try to count them, but you won't. 518 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:40,400 And I'm going to bless you through the faith that I have 519 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:47,240 given you. I'm going to bless you with 520 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:51,240 descendants that outnumber these stars. 521 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:55,920 Now, Abraham could have constantly focused on everything 522 00:29:55,920 --> 00:30:00,720 that he was seeing that we in our life would call reality. 523 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:07,280 However, true justifying faith does not live in the world's 524 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:11,040 reality. True justifying faith lives in 525 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:14,840 the promises of God. He knew what God had told him. 526 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,080 He knew God, said Abram. Look, look up at the stars. 527 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:20,760 I know you can't count them, but I know exactly how many are up 528 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:21,840 there. You don't. 529 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:25,320 That's OK. Just know this that your 530 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:26,920 descendants just like I promised. 531 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:31,000 You will be like these stars. And what did Abraham do? 532 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:34,120 Well, true justifying faith always does this. 533 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:37,800 He remained resolved. His faith was resolute. 534 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:41,760 He knew what God had promised him, and he trusted in what God 535 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:46,480 had promised him over what he saw, what other people might 536 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:47,600 think. Because, you know, there were 537 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,360 the skeptics. Can you imagine the people 538 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:52,200 making fun of Abraham? They're like the people who make 539 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,320 fun of us, who believe that Christ is going to return as 540 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:55,120 he's promised. And. 541 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,880 With him, he's going to bring the Saints who have gone before, 542 00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:02,240 and there will be justice and there will be judgement for the 543 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:04,720 wicked. Oh yeah, we still preach that 544 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:06,240 here because it's still in the Bible. 545 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:10,360 We still believe it. Why? 546 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:12,440 Because God has promised it. Abraham resolute in that 547 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:15,600 believing what God had promised, and the next thing that we see 548 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:20,240 about his faith received relentless resolute. 549 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:23,720 His faith. Faith was redeeming. 550 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,600 It is only this kind of faith that actually saves a person. 551 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:29,160 This is all. There's only this kind of faith 552 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,640 that actually is credited as righteousness. 553 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:36,680 Verse 22 of that. Romans chapter 4 text. 554 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:39,000 It said This is why it was credited to him as 555 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,440 righteousness. It was credited to him because 556 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:49,680 he continued to believe relentless, resolute in his 557 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:54,720 faith, and because of that, that gift that he had received from 558 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:59,600 God by His grace. God granted that Abram was 559 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,360 justified by this faith. What does that mean? 560 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:06,120 To be justified means to be declared righteous. 561 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:15,280 Abraham was declared righteous not based on any good thing that 562 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:18,520 he had done. He was not declared righteous 563 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:20,800 because he never sinned, because he had sinned. 564 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,040 In fact, I told you he was a Pagan idolater. 565 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:28,440 He was declared righteous. Because of the faith that God 566 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:31,000 had given him that he received, that relentless faith, that 567 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,760 resolute faith, and that redeeming faith that only God 568 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:38,960 can work. He was justified because of this 569 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:42,400 faith. Abraham was redeemed by grace 570 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:46,320 alone through faith alone in God alone. 571 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:50,640 Genesis 15-6, it says this Abraham believes the Lord and he 572 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:54,920 credited credited it to him as righteousness. 573 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:57,800 Abraham walked out that night. The Lord let him out, said look 574 00:32:57,800 --> 00:32:59,720 at all the stars. Can you count them? 575 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:02,000 No, I really can't count them. I know how many there are. 576 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:04,240 Your offspring. You're going to be this many. 577 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:08,960 And you know what? Abraham, in his own strength, 578 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:16,120 could not have believed. Such a crazy thing, but yet 579 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:22,360 Abraham with the faith that God gave him, Genesis 15-6 says that 580 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:29,800 he believed the Lord, and that the Lord credited it to him as 581 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:35,360 righteousness. Abraham, now justified by faith, 582 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:39,760 credited as righteous not because he was righteous, but 583 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:42,600 because his faith was in a righteous God. 584 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:50,600 And Abraham's faith procured for him and proved to us that his 585 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:55,320 justification and his redemption was legitimate, that this truly 586 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:58,120 was true. Justifying faith. 587 00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:01,280 Romans 4 If you read above where we are right now, what does 588 00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:03,320 Scripture say? Abraham believed God and was 589 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:04,880 credited to him as righteousness. 590 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:07,680 Now to the one who works, wages are not. 591 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:09,600 Credited as a gift, but as an obligation. 592 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:13,800 He's saying God was not obligated to save Abraham 593 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:16,719 because of his works. Watch what he says next. 594 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:18,920 However, to the one who does not work but trust God, who 595 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:22,239 justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as 596 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:26,719 righteousness. Abraham, the ungodly, trusting 597 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:30,679 in God by faith. That's why Paul uses this 598 00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:32,239 example. He says, I want you to observe 599 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:34,920 the faith of Abraham so that you don't get caught up in just 600 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:37,120 thinking that you can acknowledge God, or that you can 601 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:39,400 acknowledge the crucifixion of Christ, or that you can 602 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:41,960 acknowledge the resurrection of Christ as we're doing today. 603 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:45,560 But I want you to understand that there's so much more to it 604 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:50,080 than that. I want you to see Abraham's 605 00:34:50,080 --> 00:34:54,840 faith for what it really is. Received relentless, resolute 606 00:34:55,159 --> 00:34:57,640 and redeeming. And so the observation of 607 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:00,840 Abraham's faith that he starts with gives us an idea of what 608 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:04,640 true justifying faith really is. Now what I want you to do is I 609 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:07,000 want you to look at your life compared to the faith of 610 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:09,920 Abraham. Why would I want you to do 611 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:11,480 something that crazy? Because that's what the 612 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:14,280 scripture calls for. That's what this whole passage 613 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:15,920 is all about. Watch what happens next. 614 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:19,320 Watch the transition. Paul now moves from the 615 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:22,720 observation of Abraham's faith, and he's going to actually move 616 00:35:22,720 --> 00:35:25,640 to the believers there at Rome. And in moving to the believers 617 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:28,880 there at Rome, here we are 2000 years later receiving the same 618 00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:31,000 lesson he's moving into. Our lives. 619 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:37,160 So you know what he's doing. He's saying, Curt, you examine 620 00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:42,880 yourself alongside of Abraham. Ivan, you examine yourself 621 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:44,960 alongside of Abraham. Jacob, you examine yourself 622 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,200 alongside of Abraham. Brandy, examine yourself 623 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:50,280 alongside of Abraham. Make sure that you're not going 624 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:53,000 to fall into this trap as so many fall into that. 625 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:56,200 They just simply have settled for acknowledging the facts 626 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:58,840 about God. Scripture's clear. 627 00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:01,520 A fool has said in his heart that there is no God. 628 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:06,280 You have to be an absolute fool to deny the Creator. 629 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:09,200 Look around you. All of you will walk into a 630 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,120 Walmart at some point in time, and you don't have to know the 631 00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:14,680 contractor, but you know there was a builder. 632 00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:19,000 Yeah, you'll look around at this magnificent world that God had 633 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:22,920 created by his spoken word, and you deny that there was a 634 00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:26,000 creator. Something is dreadfully wrong 635 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:28,480 with you. You are a fool. 636 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:34,400 And that doesn't come from me. That comes from a holy God who 637 00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:37,560 says that a fool has said in his heart that there is no God. 638 00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:42,920 He's denying the obvious. He's refusing to acknowledge the 639 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:46,800 basics. But then he doesn't want us just 640 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:48,960 to stop there. He wants us to understand that 641 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:53,160 simply acknowledging the basics will not save you. 642 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:57,200 So he turns this to the believers. 643 00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:00,640 After using Abraham's faith as an example, Paul now makes this 644 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:04,200 personal to all those professing believers there in Rome. 645 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:06,720 Now, he didn't make the mistake that we often make in the 646 00:37:06,720 --> 00:37:08,440 American church. The American church makes this 647 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:10,520 mistake. You make the mistake of thinking 648 00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:12,520 that just because someone professes Christ that they're 649 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:14,200 saved. That's an incorrect assumption. 650 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:17,680 You know, the apostles never made that assumption. 651 00:37:19,240 --> 00:37:21,960 They addressed all of them as if they were to examine themselves, 652 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:23,920 to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. 653 00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:26,680 I would encourage you to do the same. 654 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:28,680 Why? Because your heart is 655 00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:30,720 deceitfully wicked. You have. 656 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:34,120 You might have been deceived for a long time into thinking that 657 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:36,360 just because you have acknowledged Christ 658 00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:42,840 historically, biblically, factually, somehow you're saved. 659 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:45,640 And again, I remind you, that won't save you. 660 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:47,520 And Paul's going to do a very good job of helping us 661 00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:50,200 understand that. After using this example of 662 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:54,120 Abraham's true justifying faith, he wants the believers there in 663 00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:55,520 Rome to lay their lives next to it. 664 00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:59,920 To do an examination, the first thing that you need to do is you 665 00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:02,280 need to examine the object of justifying faith. 666 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:05,440 What is the object of justifying faith? 667 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,760 Well, the object of all real justifying faith is this. 668 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:14,920 There's only one answer to God. Faith that He is Creator, He is 669 00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:18,760 Sustainer, He is Redeemer, He is Savior, He is Lord. 670 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:23,000 And so justifying faith must be faith that is directed toward 671 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:27,640 God, and no one or nowhere else. Don't direct your faith toward 672 00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:29,240 the church. Don't direct your faith toward a 673 00:38:29,240 --> 00:38:31,480 ritual in the church. Don't direct your faith toward 674 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:33,280 an individual in the church. Especially not me. 675 00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:35,840 I can't save you. Oh, if I could save you, I 676 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:38,760 would, but I can't. I couldn't even save myself. 677 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:44,120 The object of real justifying faith is God himself. 678 00:38:44,560 --> 00:38:51,480 So justifying faith must be directed and must be rooted in 679 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:55,440 God and in nothing else. This example that Abraham sets 680 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:57,840 for us. That's an example that we need 681 00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:02,320 to see here today. When we talk about the object of 682 00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:06,200 justifying faith, it is faith in a few things, one of them being 683 00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:10,160 God's promises Abraham has commended because he trusted in 684 00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:11,360 God's. Promise. 685 00:39:13,120 --> 00:39:14,600 Are you trusting in God's promises? 686 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:17,960 Trusting that which God has spoken in His Word? 687 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:20,000 What has He spoken in His Word concerning you? 688 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:22,080 That whoever believes in him will not perish, but have 689 00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:25,200 everlasting life? Have you trusted Him for that? 690 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:27,920 Have you trusted Him in His Word? 691 00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:30,680 When He tells us that we must repent, we must believe? 692 00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:31,720 Have you? Have you trusted that? 693 00:39:31,720 --> 00:39:35,320 That's factual information. You trusted that. 694 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:37,800 That's biblical truth that is straight from the Word of God, 695 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:41,280 what He has promised. And if we don't believe that, 696 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:43,800 we'll perish and we'll be judged for every sin and every sinful 697 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,240 deed and word that we've ever spoken or thought. 698 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:53,760 The object of justice justifying faith begins with trusting in 699 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:59,280 God's promises. Please make note of this, your 700 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:03,960 eternal salvation. I told you this is the most 701 00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:05,480 important sermon that you have ever heard. 702 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:10,600 Your eternal salvation rests in the reliability of God's Word, 703 00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:13,800 His promises. Do you trust in them? 704 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:19,840 Do you truly trust in Jesus death, burial and resurrection? 705 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:22,240 You know the essence of the gospel. 706 00:40:22,240 --> 00:40:25,480 That's what Paul says in First Corinthians chapter 15 verse 3 707 00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:28,560 says for what I received, I passed on to you as a first 708 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:31,840 importance or utmost importance, that Christ died for our sins 709 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:34,520 according to the Scriptures, that he was buried and that he 710 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:37,520 was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. 711 00:40:37,720 --> 00:40:42,360 Have you trusted in the gospel of Jesus Christ that the only 712 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:45,680 hope that you a Sinner has is the death, the burial, and the 713 00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:49,760 resurrection of Jesus Christ? Have you laid everything down at 714 00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:52,960 his feet? Resting only in Him who 715 00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:59,240 justified have you? Or do you do the American thing 716 00:40:59,240 --> 00:41:00,600 where you just acknowledge the facts? 717 00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:02,560 Yeah, he died, He was buried, and he rose again. 718 00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:04,080 Yeehaw. Let's have an Easter egg hunt. 719 00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:17,560 The sad fact is many Americans will spend an eternity in hell 720 00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:20,240 because they did not cling to the promises of God found in His 721 00:41:20,240 --> 00:41:26,640 Word. True justifying faith will have 722 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:29,240 for the object of their faith God, and God's promises 723 00:41:29,240 --> 00:41:31,600 everything that He said. They will believe that it is 724 00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:37,160 true that He is able to do all that He has eternally promised. 725 00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:40,400 What has He eternally promised? As I've already said, John 316. 726 00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:42,560 What does he make so clear here that we need to know? 727 00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:45,000 For God so love the world that he gave his one and only Son, 728 00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:47,480 that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have 729 00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:50,400 eternal life. He goes on in 17 and 18 to tell 730 00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:53,360 you that if you don't believe, you are condemned already. 731 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:58,120 And some of you entered into this room condemned already. 732 00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:01,080 You came in condemned, yet you acknowledge the resurrected 733 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:07,120 Savior because it is Easter. But you've never placed your 734 00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:11,920 faith in his promise. You've never believed again, 735 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:16,000 that word believe means to no longer trust in you or anything 736 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:21,200 else, but to put full complete trust, abandoning everything 737 00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:25,720 else and trusting in God and his promises alone concerning your 738 00:42:25,720 --> 00:42:27,720 salvation. You trust in those things. 739 00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:31,760 You trust that Jesus is who he says that he is, who he said 740 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:34,160 that he was in John Chapter 11 there when he's talking to 741 00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:38,040 Lazarus sister. And he tells her a very 742 00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:40,720 interesting thing Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and 743 00:42:40,720 --> 00:42:43,240 the life. The one who believes in me will 744 00:42:43,240 --> 00:42:46,920 live even though as they die, and whoever lives by believing 745 00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:49,400 in me will never die. And he asked her this question, 746 00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:52,120 Do you believe this? Not? 747 00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:56,440 Do you acknowledge this, Not do you in your mind receive this? 748 00:42:56,480 --> 00:43:00,320 He said, do you believe this? Do you believe this more than 749 00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:04,160 anything else in all the world? That's true. 750 00:43:04,160 --> 00:43:09,160 Justifying faith. That's true, justifying faith as 751 00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:12,760 prescribed by Jesus himself. And so the object of justifying 752 00:43:12,760 --> 00:43:15,440 faith being God, God's promises, but also God's power. 753 00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:19,720 Abraham here believing in in God who is powerful. 754 00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:22,440 Isn't it interesting that in today's time many of us don't 755 00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:24,640 believe in the power of God who claimed to be Christians? 756 00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:30,400 Paul uses the example of Abraham because he believed in the power 757 00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:31,760 of God. He's telling these people here 758 00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:33,120 wrong. Believe in the power of God. 759 00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:39,800 It's important that you do because it's that power that God 760 00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:42,120 has that raised Jesus from the dead. 761 00:43:43,320 --> 00:43:46,680 Ephesians one tells us that Ephesians 1 Paul says in verse 762 00:43:46,680 --> 00:43:50,280 19 and his incomparable great power for us who believe that 763 00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:53,480 power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he 764 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:56,960 raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in 765 00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:00,160 the heavenly realms. The same power that raised Jesus 766 00:44:00,160 --> 00:44:04,480 from the dead is the same power that raises you from the dead 767 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:07,600 spiritually and one day will raise you from the dead 768 00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:10,840 physically and you will be glorified through that power in 769 00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:13,120 His presence for all eternity. How do I know this? 770 00:44:13,120 --> 00:44:17,400 Because God's Word promises it, and God's power will complete 771 00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:22,160 it. And do you trust in that more 772 00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:23,600 than you trust in your next paycheck? 773 00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:26,080 More than you trust in your career path? 774 00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:29,440 More than you trust in CNN or Fox News. 775 00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:30,920 Or whatever it is that you watch. 776 00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:38,440 You trust in his power, true saving faith, trust in God's 777 00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:44,640 ability to raise the dead. Do you trust that? 778 00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:49,280 You trust not just in the factual information that, yeah, 779 00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:51,640 Jesus rose from the grave, but do you believe that that was a 780 00:44:51,640 --> 00:44:55,320 display of the power of God and it was a display of the power of 781 00:44:55,320 --> 00:44:59,320 God so that you can believe and trust in that same power? 782 00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:04,240 It is that power that raises us. So the object of justifying 783 00:45:04,240 --> 00:45:07,600 faith is God. We we exercise that in trusting 784 00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:15,200 God's promises, God's power, but also trusting God's propitiation 785 00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:18,320 unless a theological word that in many of you you don't care 786 00:45:18,320 --> 00:45:19,800 anything to know about, but you should. 787 00:45:21,680 --> 00:45:25,520 A propitiation is that atonement that Jesus Christ made on our 788 00:45:25,520 --> 00:45:30,840 behalf at the. Cross Paul here in instructing 789 00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:34,000 the believers there in Rome. He says the words it was 790 00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:36,200 credited to him were not written for him alone. 791 00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:39,960 He turns it to them. It's for you, 2 but also for us 792 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:42,960 to whom God will credit righteousness, for us who 793 00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:47,080 believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 794 00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:50,520 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to 795 00:45:50,520 --> 00:45:53,480 life for our justification. You see there trusting in God's 796 00:45:53,480 --> 00:45:56,640 promises, trusting in God's power to deliver us from death, 797 00:45:59,080 --> 00:46:01,320 but also trusting in God's propitiation, the atoning work 798 00:46:01,320 --> 00:46:08,520 of Jesus Christ, just as we sang it a moment ago, singing, 799 00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:11,480 proclaiming about the blood, the precious atoning work of Jesus 800 00:46:11,480 --> 00:46:13,000 Christ. Do you sing those songs just 801 00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:14,280 because you've always sung those songs? 802 00:46:14,280 --> 00:46:16,200 Do you acknowledge the lyrics to those songs just because you're 803 00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:18,880 familiar with them? Or do you really believe that? 804 00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:22,760 Because there's a huge difference, isn't there? 805 00:46:23,640 --> 00:46:26,680 Trusting in the propitiation of Jesus Christ is atoning work and 806 00:46:26,680 --> 00:46:28,840 actually just only acknowledging it? 807 00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:34,040 And again I've met. Many many, many people who will 808 00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:42,440 acknowledge Jesus crucifixion, they haven't truly trusted in 809 00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:46,240 him. They know that Christ went to 810 00:46:46,240 --> 00:46:50,320 the cross. Yeah, they have still not gone 811 00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:55,800 to Christ and how sad that is. Are you trusting in God's 812 00:46:55,800 --> 00:47:01,360 propitiation that true saving, justifying faith that depends 813 00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:06,720 wholly on the atoning work of God through Christ at Calvary? 814 00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:11,480 Romans chapter 3 verse 25. You back up a little more in 815 00:47:11,480 --> 00:47:13,280 Romans. I told you we could read 3 816 00:47:13,280 --> 00:47:14,680 through 8, but it says this in 25. 817 00:47:14,680 --> 00:47:16,920 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through 818 00:47:16,920 --> 00:47:19,840 the shedding of His blood to be received by faith. 819 00:47:20,400 --> 00:47:22,440 And He did this to demonstrate His righteousness, because in 820 00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:24,680 His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand 821 00:47:24,680 --> 00:47:26,920 unpunished. He did it to demonstrate his 822 00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:29,640 righteousness at the present time so as to be just. 823 00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:32,800 And the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus, who's 824 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:35,800 going to be justified? Only those who have faith in 825 00:47:35,800 --> 00:47:39,000 Jesus who's going to face the justice of God, because he is 826 00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:41,520 going to be just and the justifier, who's going to face 827 00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:43,280 the justice? Of God, the wrath of God in 828 00:47:43,280 --> 00:47:46,880 hell. Those who do not truly believe 829 00:47:46,880 --> 00:47:50,520 in Christ with this justifying saving faith, they just 830 00:47:50,520 --> 00:47:53,280 acknowledge the information about Christ. 831 00:47:55,000 --> 00:48:00,440 And is it the American church plagued with this, the 832 00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:07,600 acknowledgement of Christ without surrendering to the 833 00:48:07,600 --> 00:48:13,880 lordship of Christ, the object of justifying faith being God, 834 00:48:13,880 --> 00:48:16,920 God's promises, His power, His propitiation? 835 00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:21,480 Do you trust only in the atoning work of Jesus Christ to save a 836 00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:22,920 wretched? Sinner, I can tell you this, 837 00:48:22,920 --> 00:48:24,360 that's the only hope that I have. 838 00:48:25,120 --> 00:48:27,280 I'm not going to get to God on my good works. 839 00:48:27,280 --> 00:48:28,800 Why? Because my good works are flawed 840 00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:32,240 by this guy. The only way that I'm going to 841 00:48:32,240 --> 00:48:35,000 be in right standing with God is through the atoning work of 842 00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:38,480 Jesus Christ and trusting in that and that alone and in that 843 00:48:38,480 --> 00:48:42,040 a person is then justified by their faith in the atoning work 844 00:48:42,040 --> 00:48:45,360 of Christ, not just simply their acknowledgement that Christ went 845 00:48:45,360 --> 00:48:49,480 to a cross. Some of you have told the story. 846 00:48:49,480 --> 00:48:51,320 It is that time of year, right? You told it to your children. 847 00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:53,520 Jesus died. He was buried. 848 00:48:54,440 --> 00:48:56,240 And today we celebrate the fact that heroes. 849 00:48:57,000 --> 00:48:58,920 But in telling that story, all you're doing is giving your 850 00:48:58,920 --> 00:49:01,280 children facts or history lesson. 851 00:49:03,000 --> 00:49:04,800 You're not telling them about anything that you have 852 00:49:04,800 --> 00:49:07,200 personally experienced in your life. 853 00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:11,800 What a sad testimony to the American church who never, ever 854 00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:16,280 challenges anyone to look beyond just mere acknowledgement of 855 00:49:16,280 --> 00:49:19,160 Christ and looking to see what true, justifying or saving faith 856 00:49:19,160 --> 00:49:21,320 really is. Are you? 857 00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:24,960 Trusting in his propitiation, his sacrifice, his 858 00:49:24,960 --> 00:49:27,400 substitutionary atonement. Do you, do you believe that 859 00:49:27,400 --> 00:49:30,080 Jesus really died in your place so that you can live, you can 860 00:49:30,080 --> 00:49:32,280 live a full life here and you can live an eternal life? 861 00:49:32,400 --> 00:49:36,120 Do you really trust in that? Do you just hope maybe that 862 00:49:36,120 --> 00:49:38,680 it'll happen? It's interesting. 863 00:49:38,680 --> 00:49:40,280 I talk. To people about Christ. 864 00:49:42,840 --> 00:49:45,480 Now ask people about their relationship to Christ. 865 00:49:45,480 --> 00:49:46,920 They'll profess Christ. Yeah, I know, Jesus. 866 00:49:47,880 --> 00:49:49,840 Oh yeah, so. So why do you? 867 00:49:49,840 --> 00:49:52,200 Think that Jesus is going to allow you to have eternal life? 868 00:49:52,200 --> 00:49:54,280 And you know what they say? Because I've been pretty good. 869 00:49:59,940 --> 00:50:01,620 That's a lie. Hatched straight from hell. 870 00:50:04,340 --> 00:50:07,780 You haven't been pretty good. In fact, the word of God is very 871 00:50:07,780 --> 00:50:08,940 clear that you're a transgressor. 872 00:50:08,940 --> 00:50:10,700 I'm a transgressor. There's nothing righteous. 873 00:50:10,700 --> 00:50:14,100 No, not one. We must trust in something 874 00:50:14,100 --> 00:50:16,720 greater than us. We must trust, we must trust in 875 00:50:16,720 --> 00:50:19,600 something greater than us by the faith that God has given us to 876 00:50:19,600 --> 00:50:23,200 trust in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, His propitiation. 877 00:50:23,280 --> 00:50:27,520 In doing so, we put our faith in the one true God as our 878 00:50:27,640 --> 00:50:32,880 Redeemer, as our salvation. Jesus covers this in John 879 00:50:32,880 --> 00:50:35,080 chapter 3 verse 14. He says just as Moses lifted up 880 00:50:35,080 --> 00:50:37,480 the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up 881 00:50:37,880 --> 00:50:42,200 that everyone who believes may have eternal lives in him. 882 00:50:43,040 --> 00:50:46,080 Son of Man lifted up on that cross as the atoning sacrifice 883 00:50:46,080 --> 00:50:48,920 for all who would believe in him and all who do truly believe in 884 00:50:48,920 --> 00:50:50,760 him. They are saved. 885 00:50:51,840 --> 00:50:53,600 The object of justifying faith, God. 886 00:50:53,600 --> 00:50:56,000 God's promises, God's power, God's propitiation. 887 00:50:56,440 --> 00:50:59,680 But also God's pronouncement. Where would we be without God's 888 00:50:59,680 --> 00:51:01,480 pronouncement? What do you mean by 889 00:51:01,480 --> 00:51:03,360 pronouncement? He has made a decree. 890 00:51:03,360 --> 00:51:07,640 He has made a declaration concerning those who truly have 891 00:51:07,800 --> 00:51:10,960 justifying faith. Verse 25. 892 00:51:11,240 --> 00:51:13,880 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to 893 00:51:13,880 --> 00:51:18,240 live for our justification. Well, let's make the 894 00:51:18,240 --> 00:51:20,360 resurrection to death, the burial, the resurrection of 895 00:51:20,440 --> 00:51:24,200 Jesus Christ personal here. He did that for the 896 00:51:24,200 --> 00:51:27,960 justification of all who will truly believe in him. 897 00:51:30,760 --> 00:51:34,120 We say God's pronouncement here. What is it that he has decreed 898 00:51:34,120 --> 00:51:36,440 those who have true justifying faith in Christ? 899 00:51:36,560 --> 00:51:42,320 He has decreed that you are righteous and truth be told, He 900 00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:45,240 decreed that you were righteous and that is why He gave you the 901 00:51:45,240 --> 00:51:48,200 faith to believe so that His grace can be on display. 902 00:51:53,520 --> 00:51:57,560 Pronounces those who are in Christ as justified. 903 00:51:57,560 --> 00:51:59,160 You know what justified means, Church? 904 00:51:59,960 --> 00:52:03,680 It means that God looks at you and declares that you are 905 00:52:03,680 --> 00:52:07,160 righteous. He declares that you're 906 00:52:07,160 --> 00:52:09,600 righteous and I know what you're going to say, but I'm not. 907 00:52:09,600 --> 00:52:12,640 You're not. But if you're in Christ, you 908 00:52:12,640 --> 00:52:16,240 are. And that's then causes us to ask 909 00:52:16,240 --> 00:52:18,400 the next question. Well, just how righteous am I? 910 00:52:18,400 --> 00:52:20,360 Well, there's not anything called kind of righteous. 911 00:52:22,520 --> 00:52:26,680 You are declared as righteous as the Lord Jesus Christ. 912 00:52:26,680 --> 00:52:32,760 When God declares you righteous, you stand in His presence, you 913 00:52:32,760 --> 00:52:37,760 stand in His Kingdom, clothed in the full righteousness of Jesus 914 00:52:37,760 --> 00:52:39,600 Christ. Imputation. 915 00:52:39,760 --> 00:52:42,040 He atone for you. That's expiation. 916 00:52:42,240 --> 00:52:46,880 And because of that expiation, He is now imputed to you, His 917 00:52:46,880 --> 00:52:49,800 righteousness. If you trust in that and that 918 00:52:49,800 --> 00:52:54,240 alone to save you straight from the word of God. 919 00:52:56,680 --> 00:53:01,080 God decrees and he declares, and those who truly have faith in 920 00:53:01,120 --> 00:53:08,840 Jesus Christ are 100% righteous. I know if you're like me, you 921 00:53:08,840 --> 00:53:10,240 say, well, I don't feel righteous. 922 00:53:10,240 --> 00:53:13,520 No, you won't. In this life open, in the life 923 00:53:13,520 --> 00:53:17,160 to come, you will be made whole and you will be made complete. 924 00:53:18,800 --> 00:53:22,000 You will dwell forever clothed in the white garments of the 925 00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:24,360 righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. 926 00:53:25,720 --> 00:53:28,120 Romans 3. Paul says this in verse 2828. 927 00:53:28,120 --> 00:53:30,960 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from 928 00:53:30,960 --> 00:53:32,760 the works of the law. You can't get there by doing 929 00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:35,920 good things, can't get there by doing right things. 930 00:53:37,000 --> 00:53:38,560 You have to be justified apart from the law. 931 00:53:38,560 --> 00:53:39,920 And who is the one who justifies? 932 00:53:39,920 --> 00:53:42,640 It's God Himself. As we put faith in Him, we put 933 00:53:42,640 --> 00:53:44,840 faith in His atoning work there at the cross. 934 00:53:44,880 --> 00:53:47,720 We believe and we trust in that and that alone He. 935 00:53:50,040 --> 00:53:53,680 Says Those are those who have been declared righteous. 936 00:53:54,880 --> 00:53:57,640 These are those who the object of their justifying faith is 937 00:53:57,640 --> 00:53:59,040 God. God's pronouncement. 938 00:54:00,240 --> 00:54:04,600 Nothing in my hands I cling, simply nothing in my hands I 939 00:54:04,600 --> 00:54:06,520 bring, excuse me simply to the cross. 940 00:54:06,640 --> 00:54:12,880 I cling naked. Come to thee for dress helpless 941 00:54:12,880 --> 00:54:18,520 Look to thee for grace foul I to your fountain fly. 942 00:54:18,520 --> 00:54:25,200 Wash me, Savior, or I die. True justifying faith. 943 00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:28,920 Let's trust in God's pronouncement that God has 944 00:54:28,920 --> 00:54:33,720 deemed us righteous apart from any work that we can do based 945 00:54:33,720 --> 00:54:38,720 solely on faith in Jesus Christ. His death is burial, His 946 00:54:38,720 --> 00:54:42,320 resurrection. Galatians 216 reminds us know 947 00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:44,520 that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by 948 00:54:44,520 --> 00:54:47,680 faith in Jesus Christ. So we too have power. 949 00:54:48,440 --> 00:54:51,080 Or excuse me, we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, that we 950 00:54:51,080 --> 00:54:54,360 may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of 951 00:54:54,360 --> 00:54:57,320 the law, because by the works of the law no one will be 952 00:54:57,320 --> 00:54:58,720 justified. That's for all you people who 953 00:54:58,720 --> 00:55:01,240 think that you can acknowledge Jesus Christ one day of the year 954 00:55:05,360 --> 00:55:07,560 and then try to do enough good the rest of the year that 955 00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:10,520 hopefully when you pass from this lives, you'll be declared 956 00:55:10,600 --> 00:55:14,960 righteous. And it's simply and biblically 957 00:55:14,960 --> 00:55:20,840 just does not work like that. Now I know there are people at 958 00:55:20,840 --> 00:55:25,240 other places whose they don't mind making you comfortable as 959 00:55:25,240 --> 00:55:30,000 you're on your way to hell, but I'm not one of those. 960 00:55:33,120 --> 00:55:35,240 I want you to hear the truth. Why? 961 00:55:35,240 --> 00:55:37,320 Because I'm concerned for your soul and I don't want you to 962 00:55:37,320 --> 00:55:38,680 eternally perish. I know this. 963 00:55:38,680 --> 00:55:40,240 Everyone in this room, myself included. 964 00:55:40,240 --> 00:55:43,560 One day you were going to meet death or disappointed unto man 965 00:55:43,560 --> 00:55:45,640 wants to die, and after this the judgement. 966 00:55:46,960 --> 00:55:51,400 The question is, how will you stand before God after that day? 967 00:55:52,760 --> 00:55:57,520 Will you stand before God with this acknowledgement of facts? 968 00:55:58,600 --> 00:56:01,440 I acknowledge that you died and that you buried, and that you 969 00:56:01,440 --> 00:56:07,880 arose again. Sadly, that won't save you or 970 00:56:07,880 --> 00:56:10,200 you stand there clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ 971 00:56:10,200 --> 00:56:14,880 because God has declared you justified, because you have 972 00:56:14,880 --> 00:56:17,440 truly trusted in Jesus Christ and Christ alone. 973 00:56:18,040 --> 00:56:20,240 See the object of justifying faith, God himself. 974 00:56:20,360 --> 00:56:23,800 And that's why it's so important that we understand good theology 975 00:56:23,800 --> 00:56:28,880 that Christ is the God man, that He was truly and fully God. 976 00:56:28,880 --> 00:56:32,000 He was truly and fully man. And we don't compromise on the 977 00:56:32,000 --> 00:56:35,280 deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was God with us, Emmanuel, 978 00:56:35,280 --> 00:56:38,200 just as Scripture said. And so when I put my faith and 979 00:56:38,200 --> 00:56:40,920 my trust in Christ, I'm putting my faith and my trust in God, 980 00:56:41,080 --> 00:56:44,440 just as Abraham, that example that we saw earlier did. 981 00:56:46,160 --> 00:56:49,160 And then that is where we find justification. 982 00:56:51,360 --> 00:56:57,320 Third Point that I want us to look at today is the outcome of 983 00:56:57,320 --> 00:57:02,360 justifying faith. And I want you to look deep into 984 00:57:02,360 --> 00:57:06,400 your life. You see this in your life. 985 00:57:07,480 --> 00:57:10,960 The outcome of justifying faith is simply this chapter 5 verses 986 00:57:10,960 --> 00:57:14,560 one and two. Therefore, therefore, he's given 987 00:57:14,560 --> 00:57:16,160 us the example of Abraham's faith. 988 00:57:16,960 --> 00:57:20,200 He's. Encouraged us as believers to 989 00:57:20,200 --> 00:57:22,680 make sure that the object of our faith is where it needs to be, 990 00:57:22,680 --> 00:57:24,960 in the promises of God, the power of God, the propitiation 991 00:57:24,960 --> 00:57:26,880 of God, the pronouncement of God, that we're depending on God 992 00:57:26,880 --> 00:57:29,680 and God alone. If you're depending on anything 993 00:57:29,680 --> 00:57:31,560 else for eternal life, for forgiveness of sin, you've 994 00:57:31,560 --> 00:57:37,480 missed it. But this produces an outcome. 995 00:57:39,320 --> 00:57:41,880 He says therefore in verse 1 of chapter 5, since we have been 996 00:57:41,880 --> 00:57:44,400 justified through faith, since this has happened. 997 00:57:45,400 --> 00:57:47,640 He's assuming here that you have true saving faith, since you 998 00:57:47,640 --> 00:57:50,560 have been justified. Through faith we have peace with 999 00:57:50,560 --> 00:57:52,200 God. Through our Lord of Jesus 1000 00:57:52,200 --> 00:57:56,280 Christ, you have that peace through. 1001 00:57:56,280 --> 00:57:58,960 Whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which 1002 00:57:58,960 --> 00:58:01,840 we now stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 1003 00:58:02,560 --> 00:58:03,360 What? He begins with this 1004 00:58:03,360 --> 00:58:06,160 justification by God. I don't need to repeat that 1005 00:58:06,160 --> 00:58:07,960 again. It is God who justifies the 1006 00:58:07,960 --> 00:58:11,600 Sinner. Romans 4-5 However, to the one 1007 00:58:11,600 --> 00:58:15,120 who does not work but trust God, who justifies the ungodly, their 1008 00:58:15,120 --> 00:58:16,400 faith is credited as righteousness. 1009 00:58:16,400 --> 00:58:19,360 It is the ungodly trusting in the holy God to justify them. 1010 00:58:19,360 --> 00:58:20,600 That is the only hope that you have. 1011 00:58:22,640 --> 00:58:25,480 Romans 833 I told you I would read 3 through 8 if I had time. 1012 00:58:25,480 --> 00:58:28,680 If anyone wants to beg me, I'll stop and we'll go back and start 1013 00:58:28,680 --> 00:58:31,400 at 3 verse one. No, no beggars. 1014 00:58:33,240 --> 00:58:36,160 Romans 833 says this. Who will bring any charge 1015 00:58:36,160 --> 00:58:37,520 against those whom God has chosen? 1016 00:58:38,040 --> 00:58:41,640 It is God who justifies. It is God who is the justifier. 1017 00:58:42,080 --> 00:58:44,960 Paul again saying that is the outcome of true justifying 1018 00:58:44,960 --> 00:58:48,480 faith. You will be justified before a 1019 00:58:48,480 --> 00:58:52,800 holy God. God declares you righteous. 1020 00:58:54,320 --> 00:58:55,600 Now that seems crazy, doesn't it? 1021 00:58:57,360 --> 00:58:59,400 It seems crazy to me when I think about it. 1022 00:58:59,400 --> 00:59:02,600 It seems crazy because I know what I deserve. 1023 00:59:04,680 --> 00:59:07,120 And I think if we really got down to today, all of you know 1024 00:59:07,120 --> 00:59:14,640 exactly what you deserve. We all deserve death and we all 1025 00:59:14,640 --> 00:59:16,720 deserve hell. We all deserve judgment because 1026 00:59:16,720 --> 00:59:19,840 we all have sinned against a holy God. 1027 00:59:20,720 --> 00:59:22,840 That doesn't make God bad. That makes us sinners. 1028 00:59:26,520 --> 00:59:28,760 I want you to see today that there's a God who justifies the 1029 00:59:28,760 --> 00:59:33,680 Sinner that you're standing with. 1030 00:59:33,680 --> 00:59:40,600 God doesn't have to be a bad standing that you're standing 1031 00:59:40,600 --> 00:59:42,600 with. God can be this, that He has 1032 00:59:42,600 --> 00:59:46,560 declared you and made you righteous through faith in Jesus 1033 00:59:46,560 --> 00:59:49,080 Christ. Therefore, since we have been 1034 00:59:49,080 --> 00:59:52,000 justified through faith, how are you justified today? 1035 00:59:52,000 --> 00:59:54,920 How how does your standing change true faith in Christ? 1036 00:59:56,240 --> 00:59:57,840 It's the only way a Sinner is justified. 1037 00:59:59,240 --> 01:00:03,560 Your standing with God is based on His decree, not on your 1038 01:00:03,560 --> 01:00:09,000 deeds. And all who truly believe have 1039 01:00:09,000 --> 01:00:13,840 been deemed justified, and all who have been deemed justified 1040 01:00:13,840 --> 01:00:15,440 have. Truly believed I don't care 1041 01:00:15,440 --> 01:00:16,600 which way you want to work that and. 1042 01:00:20,840 --> 01:00:24,640 What he decrees can't be undone. Oh, this is the outcome of 1043 01:00:24,640 --> 01:00:28,040 justifying faith. It cannot be undone. 1044 01:00:28,280 --> 01:00:31,400 Isaiah 46 verse 10. Isaiah testifies to this fact. 1045 01:00:31,400 --> 01:00:34,680 Speaking for the Lord here, He says My purpose will stand. 1046 01:00:34,720 --> 01:00:36,560 Whatever God purposes will stand. 1047 01:00:36,720 --> 01:00:39,880 And God His purpose to raise up for Himself a people of 1048 01:00:39,880 --> 01:00:41,920 righteousness through the seed of Abraham. 1049 01:00:42,040 --> 01:00:44,560 Be those people from the Jews, be those people from the 1050 01:00:44,560 --> 01:00:48,000 Gentiles. They will be that number that He 1051 01:00:48,000 --> 01:00:50,560 showed Abram in the sky that night. 1052 01:00:50,960 --> 01:00:53,640 And how will they become that number? 1053 01:00:53,760 --> 01:00:56,040 They will be justified by a holy God. 1054 01:00:56,360 --> 01:01:02,080 Believing in Him and Him alone. He has decreed this. 1055 01:01:03,600 --> 01:01:08,160 And once you are declared justified by faith in God 1056 01:01:08,160 --> 01:01:13,680 through the Lord Jesus Christ, there's nothing you or anyone 1057 01:01:13,680 --> 01:01:18,920 else can do to undo that. I am in my standing now. 1058 01:01:18,920 --> 01:01:21,040 I know in my state I am not yet there. 1059 01:01:21,040 --> 01:01:25,080 I'm being sanctified. I'm being made more like Christ 1060 01:01:25,080 --> 01:01:26,680 every day. The Spirit reminds me of that 1061 01:01:26,680 --> 01:01:28,520 constantly. Hey Kirk, that thing in your 1062 01:01:28,520 --> 01:01:31,120 life that doesn't look like Jesus, Jesus at all at all. 1063 01:01:31,240 --> 01:01:34,000 Trust me with that. Repent of it, confess it, get 1064 01:01:34,000 --> 01:01:37,560 rid of it. That's my state. 1065 01:01:38,960 --> 01:01:45,640 But in my standing, I am 100% righteous. 1066 01:01:46,640 --> 01:01:51,120 In the presence of God, because my faith is in the righteousness 1067 01:01:51,120 --> 01:01:56,360 of Jesus Christ and that alone. My faith is in a God who 1068 01:01:56,360 --> 01:02:03,120 justifies wicked sinners by his own decree, and He has decreed 1069 01:02:03,120 --> 01:02:05,600 that in my life. How do I know that? 1070 01:02:05,600 --> 01:02:08,840 Because I believe I believe in Christ. 1071 01:02:09,320 --> 01:02:13,560 He is my only hope. The outcome of justifying faith? 1072 01:02:13,560 --> 01:02:19,600 Is that simply justification? By God with God means He's 1073 01:02:19,600 --> 01:02:23,120 declared you as righteous, and once He has declared that, He 1074 01:02:23,120 --> 01:02:25,080 will never declare you as anything else again. 1075 01:02:25,880 --> 01:02:27,000 Have you ever thought that right? 1076 01:02:27,000 --> 01:02:28,560 Because people don't teach you right in the church. 1077 01:02:28,720 --> 01:02:30,480 Ohio. I really blew it last weekend. 1078 01:02:30,680 --> 01:02:33,240 I'm probably not righteous in God's eyes anymore. 1079 01:02:33,360 --> 01:02:35,040 Well, if your faith is in you, you're not. 1080 01:02:35,280 --> 01:02:39,920 You never were. But if your faith is in Christ, 1081 01:02:39,920 --> 01:02:42,040 you're just as righteous as you were before you blew it. 1082 01:02:43,440 --> 01:02:45,960 And you're as righteous as you always will be, and you are 100% 1083 01:02:45,960 --> 01:02:48,560 righteous in your standing because of what Jesus Christ has 1084 01:02:48,560 --> 01:02:50,520 done for you and did for you there at the cross. 1085 01:02:51,320 --> 01:02:54,280 And he proved that it was valid by his resurrection. 1086 01:02:54,280 --> 01:02:58,760 That's why we celebrate today of justification by God. 1087 01:02:58,760 --> 01:03:01,360 The second outcome of justifying faith is this peace with God. 1088 01:03:01,360 --> 01:03:06,000 Oh, what a statement. In a world longing for peace, 1089 01:03:06,200 --> 01:03:09,200 peace in any form, shouldn't we want peace with our Creator? 1090 01:03:09,200 --> 01:03:11,680 Since all we have in our sinful nature's hostility toward our 1091 01:03:11,680 --> 01:03:15,760 Creator, since we're unacceptable in our natural 1092 01:03:15,760 --> 01:03:19,320 selves, should we want to be reconciled to a position of 1093 01:03:19,320 --> 01:03:22,680 peace with God? Isn't it true that all of us at 1094 01:03:22,680 --> 01:03:25,880 one time were once alienated by our sin? 1095 01:03:27,960 --> 01:03:30,560 Romans 510 makes that very clear. 1096 01:03:31,680 --> 01:03:36,120 We were once enemies of God. But when we were God's enemies, 1097 01:03:36,120 --> 01:03:38,120 we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son. 1098 01:03:38,120 --> 01:03:40,640 How much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved 1099 01:03:40,640 --> 01:03:47,040 through his life, alienated enemies now reconciled at peace 1100 01:03:47,120 --> 01:03:49,360 with God? Right, because the sinful mind 1101 01:03:49,360 --> 01:03:53,120 is what hostile to God. And because we've been rescued 1102 01:03:53,120 --> 01:03:54,520 from that, there's no more hostility. 1103 01:03:54,520 --> 01:04:00,120 The wall of hostility has been torn down by Christ, cautions 1104 01:04:00,120 --> 01:04:01,960 121. Once you were alienated from 1105 01:04:01,960 --> 01:04:05,240 God, and we're enemies in your minds because of your evil 1106 01:04:05,240 --> 01:04:06,920 behavior. That's for all the the liberal 1107 01:04:06,920 --> 01:04:08,200 thinkers. You think we're all just 1108 01:04:08,200 --> 01:04:09,680 children of God? No, you're not. 1109 01:04:11,200 --> 01:04:14,120 Apart from true justifying faith in the work of Jesus Christ, 1110 01:04:15,760 --> 01:04:17,840 you're alienated from God. You're an enemy. 1111 01:04:17,840 --> 01:04:21,560 Of God because of your. Own sinful minds and your evil 1112 01:04:21,560 --> 01:04:23,880 behavior. Watch what he says next in verse 1113 01:04:23,880 --> 01:04:26,560 22. But now He has reconciled you by 1114 01:04:26,560 --> 01:04:30,120 Christ's physical body through death, to present you wholly in 1115 01:04:30,120 --> 01:04:32,720 a sight without blemish and free from. 1116 01:04:32,720 --> 01:04:35,800 Accusation. How did he do this? 1117 01:04:36,720 --> 01:04:40,520 Well, he went to the cross, and he who knew no sin became sin, 1118 01:04:40,640 --> 01:04:44,400 so that you might become the righteousness of God. 1119 01:04:45,280 --> 01:04:49,240 What an exchange. Christ bore our sin. 1120 01:04:49,600 --> 01:04:52,480 He bore the wrath of God upon his back. 1121 01:04:52,480 --> 01:04:58,280 That we deserve because we are sinners, and then we receive 1122 01:04:58,280 --> 01:05:00,080 righteousness and peace with God. 1123 01:05:01,200 --> 01:05:04,240 What a gracious God. Why would you not run to a God 1124 01:05:04,240 --> 01:05:06,720 like this and put all of your faith in all of your trust in 1125 01:05:06,720 --> 01:05:09,960 him? What a gracious God who would 1126 01:05:09,960 --> 01:05:13,840 take a bullet for me. When I deserved the bullet, He 1127 01:05:13,840 --> 01:05:16,720 went to the cross. When I deserved the suffering he 1128 01:05:16,720 --> 01:05:19,360 bore. When I deserved to die, he died 1129 01:05:19,360 --> 01:05:26,560 in my. Place and he gives me peace, 1130 01:05:26,560 --> 01:05:32,240 peace with God. Then I'm reconciled that there's 1131 01:05:32,240 --> 01:05:36,360 no longer any hostility. Well, Kirk, that must be because 1132 01:05:36,360 --> 01:05:38,640 you're a pretty good dude. No, that's because I'm an awful 1133 01:05:38,640 --> 01:05:41,960 scoundrel who God loved, and he displayed his love and the fact 1134 01:05:41,960 --> 01:05:44,640 that while I was still a Sinner, Christ died for me. 1135 01:05:48,360 --> 01:05:50,880 Oh, don't think for a second that Kirk Hall cleaned his life 1136 01:05:50,880 --> 01:05:54,960 up. God rescued me from the mud and 1137 01:05:54,960 --> 01:05:57,000 the mire, and he set my feet on the solid rock. 1138 01:05:57,000 --> 01:06:01,000 It is he who has done this work. It is he who has made me at 1139 01:06:01,000 --> 01:06:04,000 peace with him, not the other way around. 1140 01:06:05,400 --> 01:06:08,840 What assurance that we have when we understand this peace with 1141 01:06:08,840 --> 01:06:10,560 God. And then he goes on and he says, 1142 01:06:10,560 --> 01:06:12,800 therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have 1143 01:06:12,800 --> 01:06:14,720 peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1144 01:06:14,720 --> 01:06:19,560 Thank you, Lord, through whom we have now gained access by faith 1145 01:06:19,560 --> 01:06:22,160 into this grace in which we now stand. 1146 01:06:24,400 --> 01:06:27,600 Well, the outcome of justifying faith, the justification by God, 1147 01:06:27,600 --> 01:06:30,920 peace with God. And then he tags this on their 1148 01:06:30,920 --> 01:06:34,880 grace from God into this grace in which we now stand. 1149 01:06:36,080 --> 01:06:37,680 I know many of. You think that grace is just a 1150 01:06:37,680 --> 01:06:40,200 salvific thing, right? We receive grace at salvation. 1151 01:06:42,360 --> 01:06:45,560 No, you received grace before you were ever in this world. 1152 01:06:49,280 --> 01:06:53,320 You continue to receive grace upon grace upon grace upon grace 1153 01:06:53,320 --> 01:06:56,520 if you're in Christ. Grace from God into this grace 1154 01:06:56,520 --> 01:06:57,960 in which we now stand. What is he talking about? 1155 01:06:57,960 --> 01:07:00,120 Of course he's talking about the gracious salvation that we have 1156 01:07:00,120 --> 01:07:05,080 in Christ. Fact that Romans 623 is 1157 01:07:05,920 --> 01:07:08,280 explicitly clear when it says for the wages of sin is death, 1158 01:07:08,320 --> 01:07:11,240 but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1159 01:07:11,240 --> 01:07:14,320 He says you have salvation when you deserve death. 1160 01:07:14,680 --> 01:07:19,480 How gracious is that? It's more than that. 1161 01:07:20,680 --> 01:07:22,440 How about this? How about communion, Constant 1162 01:07:22,440 --> 01:07:24,520 communion and fellowship with the Father, with the Son, with 1163 01:07:24,520 --> 01:07:28,320 the Holy Spirit, all according to his will and his plan that he 1164 01:07:28,320 --> 01:07:32,200 worked out in Christ Jesus. And he graces us with that, 1165 01:07:35,200 --> 01:07:36,880 'cause I can promise you this, I don't deserve that. 1166 01:07:39,400 --> 01:07:42,320 I deserve to be exiled from the presence of God for all 1167 01:07:42,320 --> 01:07:45,760 eternity. And had Christ not intervened, 1168 01:07:45,760 --> 01:07:47,240 that's exactly what I would have received. 1169 01:07:48,440 --> 01:07:49,880 I know what. Modern thinking is, oh, Kirk, 1170 01:07:49,880 --> 01:07:52,000 don't beat yourself up so bad. No, it's the truth. 1171 01:07:53,600 --> 01:07:55,840 And isn't it interesting that we live in a culture who they might 1172 01:07:55,840 --> 01:07:57,920 say that they want truth, but they don't really want truth. 1173 01:07:58,040 --> 01:08:03,880 That's the truth. I deserve damnation and He gives 1174 01:08:03,880 --> 01:08:06,360 me life and righteousness and grace and communion with 1175 01:08:06,360 --> 01:08:10,720 himself. That's why heaven is going to be 1176 01:08:10,720 --> 01:08:14,440 so grand. Oh, don't be so shallow in your 1177 01:08:14,440 --> 01:08:16,000 thinking of heaven. Many people say I want to go to 1178 01:08:16,000 --> 01:08:18,200 heaven so I can see this and see that and see this and see that 1179 01:08:18,200 --> 01:08:22,399 I. Want to go to heaven so that I 1180 01:08:22,399 --> 01:08:24,840 can find commune with my savior face to face? 1181 01:08:29,279 --> 01:08:33,359 The one who rescued the scoundrel who deserved the 1182 01:08:33,359 --> 01:08:40,279 hottest depths of hell. Yet He saved me by His grace, 1183 01:08:40,840 --> 01:08:43,359 allowing me to commune with Him not only in this life, but for 1184 01:08:43,359 --> 01:08:46,720 all eternity. I don't think we long for that 1185 01:08:46,720 --> 01:08:54,479 enough. Oh, that day when He, he wipes 1186 01:08:54,479 --> 01:09:00,920 every tear from our eyes, Oh, how long in eternity will that 1187 01:09:00,960 --> 01:09:04,319 take for Jesus to walk up to every single believer who has 1188 01:09:04,319 --> 01:09:08,439 ever truly been justified and personally wiped the tears from 1189 01:09:08,439 --> 01:09:14,720 their face as they worship Him, knowing that without him and his 1190 01:09:14,720 --> 01:09:17,560 grace, they would have never had salvation. 1191 01:09:17,560 --> 01:09:19,399 They would have never had communion with God. 1192 01:09:20,240 --> 01:09:23,000 What about the eternal assurance that He gives us by his grace 1193 01:09:23,000 --> 01:09:24,920 right? What Jesus describes in John 1194 01:09:24,920 --> 01:09:29,800 chapter 10, our eternal. Assurance and I don't make any 1195 01:09:29,800 --> 01:09:32,560 apologies for believing that nor thinking that because I read 1196 01:09:32,560 --> 01:09:35,479 Jesus words plainly. I give them eternal life and 1197 01:09:35,479 --> 01:09:38,920 they shall never perish. Anyone who he gives eternal life 1198 01:09:39,080 --> 01:09:43,000 will never perish. He says no one will snatch them 1199 01:09:43,000 --> 01:09:44,920 out of my hand. My Father who has given them to 1200 01:09:44,920 --> 01:09:47,840 me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of my 1201 01:09:47,840 --> 01:09:49,720 Father's hand. You know what grace I have? 1202 01:09:49,720 --> 01:09:51,720 Every night I lay my head on a pillow. 1203 01:09:52,960 --> 01:09:55,080 You can ask my wife, it doesn't take me 3. 1204 01:09:55,080 --> 01:09:59,000 Seconds to fall asleep. Why is that so? 1205 01:10:00,960 --> 01:10:03,520 I'm justified by God. I have peace with God. 1206 01:10:04,680 --> 01:10:09,120 I walk in the grace of God. I have that eternal assurance 1207 01:10:09,320 --> 01:10:10,920 right as everybody else is freaking out. 1208 01:10:10,920 --> 01:10:12,400 Oh. Man, are we going to get naked 1209 01:10:12,400 --> 01:10:14,280 by the Iranians? Are we going to get nuked by the 1210 01:10:14,280 --> 01:10:15,800 Chinese? Are we going to get nuked by the 1211 01:10:15,800 --> 01:10:17,600 Russians? Listen, I hope it hits my house 1212 01:10:17,600 --> 01:10:23,280 first. Why? 1213 01:10:24,560 --> 01:10:29,840 I'm confident in Christ. I'm confident of the eternal 1214 01:10:29,840 --> 01:10:35,600 life that He died so that I could have it. 1215 01:10:37,400 --> 01:10:41,200 Eternal life that He paid for on the cross. 1216 01:10:41,200 --> 01:10:45,080 I am confident of that. I have that assurance that His 1217 01:10:45,080 --> 01:10:50,240 sacrifice is enough. Oh, what grace that we have an 1218 01:10:50,240 --> 01:10:52,440 eternal assurance? I feel for the people who think 1219 01:10:52,440 --> 01:10:54,720 that they can somehow lose eternal life once they've had 1220 01:10:54,720 --> 01:10:56,440 it. It wasn't very eternal, was it? 1221 01:10:59,120 --> 01:11:01,000 No, what God says is eternal is eternal. 1222 01:11:02,800 --> 01:11:04,800 You can rest in that. You can have full assurance. 1223 01:11:06,360 --> 01:11:07,760 No one will pluck you from his hand. 1224 01:11:08,800 --> 01:11:10,240 What about more grace like this promise? 1225 01:11:10,240 --> 01:11:11,920 Preservation. Did you know that God promises 1226 01:11:11,920 --> 01:11:15,720 to preserve all of us who have truly been justified by grace 1227 01:11:15,720 --> 01:11:17,240 alone, through faith alone and Christ alone? 1228 01:11:17,840 --> 01:11:20,360 He promises. Promises to preserve us until 1229 01:11:20,360 --> 01:11:22,160 the end. We're not going to mess this 1230 01:11:22,160 --> 01:11:23,760 thing up. That's good news for me, a guy 1231 01:11:23,760 --> 01:11:28,520 who messes lots of things up. But haven't you heard some 1232 01:11:28,520 --> 01:11:31,120 incorrect thinking and some incorrect teaching that made you 1233 01:11:31,120 --> 01:11:31,800 think that? Oh, you. 1234 01:11:31,800 --> 01:11:34,640 Can mess it up, blow it one final time and it's all gone. 1235 01:11:37,080 --> 01:11:38,240 Not according to the word of God. 1236 01:11:38,240 --> 01:11:39,840 You can if you're in Christ. Here's what he says. 1237 01:11:39,840 --> 01:11:41,440 First Peter chapter one, verse 3. 1238 01:11:42,520 --> 01:11:45,680 Praise to God for a living hope. Why is that hope alive? 1239 01:11:45,680 --> 01:11:47,360 Because that hope rose from the grave. 1240 01:11:47,960 --> 01:11:49,720 Ascended into heaven where he's seated at the right hand of the 1241 01:11:49,720 --> 01:11:51,280 throne of God. He says praise be to the God and 1242 01:11:51,280 --> 01:11:54,080 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and his great mercy has given us 1243 01:11:54,080 --> 01:11:57,080 new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of 1244 01:11:57,080 --> 01:12:00,120 Jesus Christ from the dead and into pay attention to this, an 1245 01:12:00,120 --> 01:12:04,960 inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. 1246 01:12:05,120 --> 01:12:10,960 This inheritance is kept in heaven for you who you who 1247 01:12:10,960 --> 01:12:14,640 through faith are shielded by God's power, just as Abraham was 1248 01:12:15,480 --> 01:12:18,480 until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be 1249 01:12:18,480 --> 01:12:21,720 revealed in the last time. He says you are secure until 1250 01:12:21,840 --> 01:12:24,600 Jesus comes back and then you will be doubly secure. 1251 01:12:26,040 --> 01:12:29,320 There's nothing that can take that away from you that promised 1252 01:12:29,320 --> 01:12:33,040 preservation that God keeps for us. 1253 01:12:33,520 --> 01:12:38,160 Philippians 16 Paul says being confident of this that he who 1254 01:12:38,160 --> 01:12:40,600 began a good. Work in you will carry it on to 1255 01:12:40,600 --> 01:12:43,880 completion until the day of Jesus Christ. 1256 01:12:44,600 --> 01:12:46,400 You have that confidence. That confidence is a grace. 1257 01:12:46,400 --> 01:12:48,640 That confidence is the outcome of true justifying faith. 1258 01:12:48,840 --> 01:12:51,840 I know that the work that God started in me, he'll finish. 1259 01:12:51,840 --> 01:12:52,960 Why? Because he said so. 1260 01:12:53,240 --> 01:12:55,280 And I also know that this is not a work of Kirk. 1261 01:12:55,280 --> 01:12:58,640 It is a work of God and that that work of God will be 1262 01:12:58,640 --> 01:13:02,000 complete according to the will and plan of God, period. 1263 01:13:02,000 --> 01:13:05,840 I rest in that. Oh, the grace from God that we 1264 01:13:05,840 --> 01:13:12,840 have received in this grace in which we now stand, gracious 1265 01:13:12,840 --> 01:13:15,600 salvation, communion and fellowship with the Father, the 1266 01:13:15,600 --> 01:13:20,320 Son, the Holy Spirit, eternal assurance, promise, 1267 01:13:20,320 --> 01:13:23,280 preservation. What about this, the constant 1268 01:13:23,280 --> 01:13:25,320 and abiding power of the Holy Spirit in your life? 1269 01:13:28,600 --> 01:13:33,600 Contrary to what some false teachers claim, if you're a 1270 01:13:33,600 --> 01:13:36,840 believer, the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you. 1271 01:13:36,880 --> 01:13:38,120 He is the indwelling Holy Spirit. 1272 01:13:38,120 --> 01:13:40,400 In fact, if He does not dwell inside of you, you've not yet 1273 01:13:40,400 --> 01:13:42,120 been saved according to Romans chapter 8. 1274 01:13:42,120 --> 01:13:48,800 You just go back and read it. So we rejoice at the grace of 1275 01:13:48,800 --> 01:13:51,480 the Holy Spirit living in US, convicting us, leading us, 1276 01:13:51,480 --> 01:13:54,480 guiding us into the righteousness that Christ died 1277 01:13:54,480 --> 01:13:58,680 for us to have. Where would the believer be 1278 01:13:58,680 --> 01:14:00,120 without the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit? 1279 01:14:00,120 --> 01:14:03,960 What a grace from God, the outcome of justifying faith. 1280 01:14:03,960 --> 01:14:07,160 God Himself came to live inside of me, the third person of the 1281 01:14:07,160 --> 01:14:12,480 Triune Godhead, living in this once deemed scoundrel wicked 1282 01:14:12,480 --> 01:14:15,640 center, who has been cleansed by the power of the atoning work of 1283 01:14:15,680 --> 01:14:18,960 Jesus Christ. And now I am the Temple of the 1284 01:14:18,960 --> 01:14:22,280 Holy Spirit, a dwelling place of God. 1285 01:14:23,880 --> 01:14:28,160 Wow. What an exchange is made here? 1286 01:14:29,480 --> 01:14:33,800 From God to the rich, the outcome of justifying faith, 1287 01:14:35,080 --> 01:14:37,800 grace from God, peace with God, justification by God, and 1288 01:14:37,800 --> 01:14:41,640 lastly, hope in God. It says through whom we have 1289 01:14:41,720 --> 01:14:44,520 gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand and 1290 01:14:44,520 --> 01:14:46,960 we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 1291 01:14:46,960 --> 01:14:49,960 This is hoping in God, not just in this life, but for all 1292 01:14:49,960 --> 01:14:51,800 eternity. Are you hoping in God for all 1293 01:14:51,800 --> 01:14:56,040 eternity? Are you trusting in that hope, 1294 01:14:56,640 --> 01:14:58,400 the hope of future glory and eternal life? 1295 01:14:58,400 --> 01:14:59,920 Did you know that's what Jesus promised? 1296 01:15:01,560 --> 01:15:03,560 He promised you eternal life. He promised you future 1297 01:15:03,560 --> 01:15:06,160 glorification. Are you hoping in that? 1298 01:15:06,160 --> 01:15:08,080 Are you longing for that? Are you longing? 1299 01:15:08,080 --> 01:15:09,840 For the return of Christ, so that you can see these things 1300 01:15:09,840 --> 01:15:13,320 come to pass. True justifying faith will be 1301 01:15:13,320 --> 01:15:14,600 longing for that. Paul said this. 1302 01:15:14,600 --> 01:15:16,760 There's a crown of righteousness that awaits me, but not just me, 1303 01:15:17,600 --> 01:15:20,240 but for also. All of those who long for his 1304 01:15:20,240 --> 01:15:22,080 appearing, why are we long for the appearing of Jesus Christ? 1305 01:15:22,160 --> 01:15:23,680 Because we're groaning for redemption. 1306 01:15:23,760 --> 01:15:25,120 We're groaning for glorification. 1307 01:15:25,200 --> 01:15:28,040 Just as creation groans, we too groan. 1308 01:15:29,360 --> 01:15:36,000 Even so, come. Lord Jesus come changes your 1309 01:15:36,000 --> 01:15:38,200 only hope of future glory and eternal life. 1310 01:15:39,800 --> 01:15:42,240 Colossians 3/4 When Christ you as your life appears, then you 1311 01:15:42,240 --> 01:15:45,480 also will will appear with Him in glory. 1312 01:15:46,120 --> 01:15:49,280 Oh to think about that, to experience the glory of God with 1313 01:15:49,280 --> 01:15:53,240 Christ, that Christ would share in His glory with us. 1314 01:15:54,440 --> 01:15:57,240 To know that all the sufferings of this life will one day be 1315 01:15:57,240 --> 01:16:03,800 worth it in that first second of sharing in the glory of Christ. 1316 01:16:05,360 --> 01:16:07,640 2nd Corinthians 417 testifies to that. 1317 01:16:07,640 --> 01:16:10,040 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an 1318 01:16:10,040 --> 01:16:12,600 eternal glory that far outweighs them. 1319 01:16:12,600 --> 01:16:15,280 All the struggles, all the pains, all the sickness, all the 1320 01:16:15,280 --> 01:16:19,280 death, all the things we face in this life, we'll shrink in 1321 01:16:19,280 --> 01:16:21,680 comparison to the future glory that we have been promised in 1322 01:16:21,680 --> 01:16:24,240 Christ. But what hope we have in God of 1323 01:16:24,240 --> 01:16:25,880 that future glory? Why? 1324 01:16:25,880 --> 01:16:29,120 Because we've been justified, we count on the promises. 1325 01:16:29,320 --> 01:16:32,440 We count on the fact that because he has justified us in 1326 01:16:32,440 --> 01:16:35,480 Christ, He will also glorify us in Christ. 1327 01:16:35,480 --> 01:16:38,440 Romans chapter 8 verse 30 says, and those he predestined He also 1328 01:16:38,440 --> 01:16:40,040 called. And those he called he also 1329 01:16:40,040 --> 01:16:42,480 justified, right? True, justifying faith. 1330 01:16:43,160 --> 01:16:45,760 Those he justified, he also glorified. 1331 01:16:45,760 --> 01:16:47,920 Notice that he's talking in the past tense here. 1332 01:16:48,760 --> 01:16:50,080 He also glorified. Look around you. 1333 01:16:50,080 --> 01:16:51,400 Are any of you here glorified yet? 1334 01:16:51,400 --> 01:16:57,520 Let me help you. No, you're not, but you will be. 1335 01:16:59,360 --> 01:17:02,400 You will be. So what can we say in response 1336 01:17:02,400 --> 01:17:03,880 to this? As Paul goes on in Romans 1337 01:17:03,880 --> 01:17:09,040 chapter 8, God is for us. Who can be against us? 1338 01:17:10,440 --> 01:17:12,680 Our hope is in God. We've been justified through 1339 01:17:12,680 --> 01:17:14,880 Him. We can count on His promise of 1340 01:17:14,880 --> 01:17:17,080 eternal hope and eternal glorification. 1341 01:17:17,520 --> 01:17:21,400 Those He called He justified. Those He justified, He did also 1342 01:17:21,520 --> 01:17:25,720 glorify. We are as good as perfected if 1343 01:17:25,720 --> 01:17:31,320 we have true justifying faith. Remember, that's not just a head 1344 01:17:31,320 --> 01:17:32,920 knowledge or an acknowledgement of Christ. 1345 01:17:35,320 --> 01:17:39,000 There's a full out trust in Christ and Christ alone. 1346 01:17:40,440 --> 01:17:44,160 Those who trust in Christ have the promise of sharing in His 1347 01:17:44,160 --> 01:17:48,240 glory. Romans 817 speaks is this, Now 1348 01:17:48,240 --> 01:17:51,360 we are children. If we are children, then we are 1349 01:17:51,360 --> 01:17:54,640 heirs, heirs of God and Co heirs with Christ, if indeed we share 1350 01:17:54,640 --> 01:17:57,600 in his sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. 1351 01:17:57,600 --> 01:17:59,360 And I want you to stop and I want you to ponder that for a 1352 01:17:59,360 --> 01:18:06,830 second. Those who have true justifying 1353 01:18:06,830 --> 01:18:08,790 faith have been forgiven of all of their sins. 1354 01:18:09,070 --> 01:18:11,790 They have been declared as righteous before Holy God. 1355 01:18:12,720 --> 01:18:15,440 They will inherit eternal life in heaven as promised by the 1356 01:18:15,440 --> 01:18:17,400 Word of God. They are completely washed and 1357 01:18:17,400 --> 01:18:19,560 cleansed and covered through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus 1358 01:18:19,560 --> 01:18:23,360 Christ and then for all eternity. 1359 01:18:23,360 --> 01:18:28,480 They will share in the glory of Christ. 1360 01:18:29,800 --> 01:18:32,440 What does that even mean? What does that even mean to 1361 01:18:32,440 --> 01:18:35,960 share in His glory? I can't even begin to fathom the 1362 01:18:35,960 --> 01:18:38,960 glory of Christ in heaven at this moment. 1363 01:18:42,280 --> 01:18:46,320 What does it mean that I get to share in that first John? 1364 01:18:46,320 --> 01:18:47,560 John says it like this, dear friends. 1365 01:18:47,560 --> 01:18:51,280 Now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been 1366 01:18:51,280 --> 01:18:54,080 made known. But we know that when Christ 1367 01:18:54,080 --> 01:18:57,800 appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as He is. 1368 01:19:02,440 --> 01:19:06,960 Oh, what hope that we have in God, the promise that we will 1369 01:19:06,960 --> 01:19:15,120 one day be like Christ, sharing in His glory for all eternity. 1370 01:19:15,560 --> 01:19:18,160 I noticed some of you. That doesn't excite you, that 1371 01:19:18,160 --> 01:19:19,080 doesn't thrill you. Why? 1372 01:19:19,080 --> 01:19:25,360 Because you simply accepted just acknowledging Christ and you're 1373 01:19:25,360 --> 01:19:29,600 not engulfed in Christ. My prayer for you today. 1374 01:19:33,880 --> 01:19:37,880 So you would trust in Christ as the only hope that you have. 1375 01:19:40,360 --> 01:19:43,480 Hey, you would no longer just let him be a historical fact 1376 01:19:45,280 --> 01:19:52,040 Bible story, but today He truly would be your justifying Savior 1377 01:19:53,280 --> 01:20:02,760 who justifies sinners only through faith in Him of the 1378 01:20:02,760 --> 01:20:06,520 thought. That Christ bore my sin and my 1379 01:20:06,520 --> 01:20:10,360 shame, taking it upon himself, bearing the very wrath of God in 1380 01:20:10,360 --> 01:20:17,040 my place, what I deserved, so that I would be able to share in 1381 01:20:17,040 --> 01:20:23,400 His glory for all eternity. What hope He gives to those who 1382 01:20:23,400 --> 01:20:26,240 believe. Have you believed? 1383 01:20:27,800 --> 01:20:33,080 Have you believed and, and by this have you experienced the 1384 01:20:33,080 --> 01:20:34,920 outcome of true justifying faith? 1385 01:20:35,800 --> 01:20:37,760 Paul's giving us here the evidence of those who are truly 1386 01:20:37,760 --> 01:20:39,200 justified. Do you have that evidence in 1387 01:20:39,200 --> 01:20:43,880 your life? Do you, are you confident in 1388 01:20:43,880 --> 01:20:45,920 your justification by God and before God? 1389 01:20:45,920 --> 01:20:48,640 Are you confident in do you walk in the peace that you have with 1390 01:20:48,640 --> 01:20:52,800 God? Those who are in Christ, are you 1391 01:20:52,800 --> 01:20:54,880 experiencing his grace time and time again? 1392 01:20:54,920 --> 01:20:57,400 Overwhelmed by it? Remember when grace used to be 1393 01:20:57,400 --> 01:20:59,280 amazing in the church? They used to sing about it. 1394 01:21:02,240 --> 01:21:03,960 Now it's almost like entitled grace. 1395 01:21:04,640 --> 01:21:09,280 How sweet the sound. So we think we're entitled to 1396 01:21:09,280 --> 01:21:13,720 everything. Is your hope resting in God and 1397 01:21:13,720 --> 01:21:16,880 God alone? Oh, that's a great indicator for 1398 01:21:16,880 --> 01:21:18,240 you. If you have true justifying 1399 01:21:18,240 --> 01:21:21,080 faith today, do you have no hope in anything else? 1400 01:21:23,160 --> 01:21:24,760 It's a true believer, hopes and nothing else. 1401 01:21:26,080 --> 01:21:30,280 So what do we do with all this? Well, we've taken an in depth 1402 01:21:30,280 --> 01:21:33,000 look at true justifying faith today on purpose. 1403 01:21:33,560 --> 01:21:35,000 Hope I didn't cramp your schedule. 1404 01:21:36,480 --> 01:21:40,200 Why we done this? I can tell you why I've done it 1405 01:21:40,200 --> 01:21:44,480 because I care about your soul. I'm thankful that someone cared 1406 01:21:44,480 --> 01:21:47,520 about my soul enough to take the time to explain to me the 1407 01:21:47,520 --> 01:21:50,400 difference between just acknowledging the facts about 1408 01:21:50,440 --> 01:21:53,280 Jesus Christ and true justifying faith in Christ. 1409 01:21:55,960 --> 01:22:00,200 Now you know the difference, I hope, if I've done my job, 1410 01:22:02,600 --> 01:22:04,840 because it's only the kind of faith that Abraham had, the 1411 01:22:04,840 --> 01:22:07,400 only, only the kind of faith that Paul describes that will 1412 01:22:07,400 --> 01:22:11,280 save a Sinner. Do you have that kind of faith? 1413 01:22:12,800 --> 01:22:17,760 Because unfortunately, and I know this is not popular in our 1414 01:22:17,760 --> 01:22:22,840 time, but unfortunately, many people will spend an eternity in 1415 01:22:22,840 --> 01:22:27,840 hell having acknowledged Jesus without truly being saved by 1416 01:22:27,880 --> 01:22:31,520 Jesus. Because to simply acknowledge 1417 01:22:31,520 --> 01:22:33,760 him and his work, even his work of resurrection that we 1418 01:22:33,760 --> 01:22:41,400 celebrate today, it's not true justifying faith, But you come 1419 01:22:41,400 --> 01:22:46,080 to Christ today, but you come to him as your only hope and your 1420 01:22:46,080 --> 01:22:48,160 only plea for eternal life and forgiveness of sin. 1421 01:22:48,160 --> 01:22:53,080 Will you repent of your unbelief and repent of your sin, and 1422 01:22:53,080 --> 01:22:54,640 trust in Christ and Christ alone? 1423 01:22:56,640 --> 01:22:57,720 Father, we thank you for your word. 1424 01:22:58,960 --> 01:23:02,440 It has gone forth, and it will accomplish that which you have 1425 01:23:02,440 --> 01:23:06,320 set out for it to accomplish. May it Pierce the hearts of the 1426 01:23:06,320 --> 01:23:10,640 wicked, may it draw them unto yourself, and may they be 1427 01:23:10,640 --> 01:23:14,520 declared righteous by Your holy Word. 1428 01:23:16,120 --> 01:23:19,840 May they trust in Christ. May they receive all that you've 1429 01:23:19,840 --> 01:23:22,280 promised those in Christ and will give you all the glory and 1430 01:23:22,280 --> 01:23:25,360 honor and praise for it in Jesus name, Amen. 1431 01:23:27,200 --> 01:23:30,200 You've been listening to Key Life Fellowships Pulpit Ministry 1432 01:23:30,200 --> 01:23:33,000 podcast. Join us each week for more 1433 01:23:33,000 --> 01:23:34,640 teaching from God's Word.