But Now

Romans 3:19-21

Preached December 21, 2008, Grace Family Church of Americus

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Snippets from the sermon transcript:

"Here is a person for whom assurance comes at a premium…it seems distant and unreachable. Having lived a moral life, he finds no radical conversion story to tell. He can name no grievous sins to confess. He looks for the radical change in his outward behavior, but can find none. For it is not by the outward behavior…..not by works of the Law….that we are justified…but by being given a new nature…..a new heart and a new Spirit within us….And by the grace of our God, this dear man is learning to see the heights of the mount of Calvary. He is learning to see how much he has been redeemed….by having tread for the first time in his life, the valley of despair, helplessness…..from God mercifully showing himself in the mirror of His own holiness.

"This man is not alone in his experience. Many are in the same situation. Being raised in a religious home, lived a moral life, you have never been broken before this holy Law. Never having turned on this hinge of BUT NOW….and if you do not turn on this hinge, you will not be saved. What you need to know, if you have found yourself in this situation, is that there is a subtle attack of the enemy awaiting. He wants to keep you there in verse 19 and 20…..and keep you out of verse 21. He wants to keep you out of the "but now" theology.

"He wants you to see the blackness of your sins, and to think that you cannot be saved, and so despair that you turn away. To you who are there, although that be true about you….BUT NOW! You who have hit your face in despair, unworthy of redemption, you can hold up these words of truth….BUT NOW! You who have stood under the crushing weight of the Law, you who fear God, you who seek God, you who have turned to God, you whose mouths are stopped before God…..you can now say, "BUT NOW!!" For it is true, that if you have been brought to this place, it is done so only by the grace and mercy of God drawing you to Himself. For there is no place closer to the Father's side than here…..BUT NOW!!! Although I am unrighteous, BUT NOW,THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD is mine in Christ…..Although I be unworthy, BUT NOW there is One who is worthy who stands for me…..though I am a sinful man, BUT NOW there is One who has been made manifest who is without sin to stand in my place…..though I cannot live to God, BUT NOW there is One who lives within me to live through me…..though my sin burden weighs heavy on me, BUT NOW there is One whose yoke is easy and Whose burden is light…..though I am weak and tired from this body of death…..BUT NOW there is One who has redeemed me by His Own blood, Jesus Christ, the Righteous!"