Imputed Righteousness IS the Gospel!

Preached October 26, 2008, Grace Family Church of Americus

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17, ESV)

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Snippets from the sermon transcript:

We live in a day where there is much disparity between the understanding of salvation taught by the modern church and that which is clearly taught in the Scripture. It is a condition that sets the stage for reformation. It was the same situation in which a German monk named Martin Luther found himself in the year 1519. As Luther taught and studied the Scriptures, he saw an ever-widening gap between the teachings of the contemporary church of his day (Roman Catholic) and the teaching of the Scriptures. Two years earlier (October 31, 1517 – Reformation Day), Luther had nailed the famous "95 Theses" to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. This was the beginning of a lifetime of discoveries by Luther, and soon thereafter, by many thousands of others, of that which the modern church had, in fact, stolen from the people, by teaching things as theological truth that were not confirmed by the Scripture. The 95 Theses were primarily refuting the abuses of the Pope and the sale of "Indulgences", but as Luther began to free his mind of the teachings of men, and focus his learning of theology solely on the Scriptures, he was used by God to bring about what we now know, and celebrate with joy on Oct. 31, as the Protestant Reformation. May God raise up many more such men today, who will forsake the teachings of men, and faithfully and forcefully preach those truths about God and His Christ, as revealed in Scripture alone, which can bring about such a Reformation in our day!

What was it that so stunned Luther to motivate him to stand against the most powerful force in the world of his day? It was the verse upon which we rest this Lord's Day….Romans 1:17…..in fact, it was one word we find here…..For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (KJV)

From Luther's "Tower Experience":

"I meditated night and day on those words until at last, by the mercy of God, I paid attention to their context: "The justice of God is revealed in it, as it is written: 'The just person lives by faith.'" I began to understand that in this verse the justice of God is that by which the just person lives by a gift of God, that is by faith. I began to understand that this verse means that the justice of God is revealed through the Gospel, but it is a passive justice, i.e. that by which the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written: "The just person lives by faith." All at once I felt that I had been born again and entered into paradise itself through open gates. Immediately I saw the whole of Scripture in a different light. I ran through the Scriptures from memory and found that other terms had analogous meanings, e.g., the work of God, that is, what God works in us; the power of God, by which he makes us powerful; the wisdom of God, by which he makes us wise; the strength of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God.

"I exalted this sweetest word of mine, "the justice of God," with as much love as before I had hated it with hate. This phrase of Paul was for me the very gate of paradise."

So here we find a dilemma…..we need righteousness in order to be justified by God, but there is absolutely nothing we can do to attain it. Every possible avenue is blocked by Scripture. At every place where a man can poke his head around the corner or rush through a door to try to snatch the righteousness of God for himself, there at the East of Eden, stands great cherubim to guard the entrance with flaming swords in every direction (Gen. 3). Justifying righteousness is completely out of reach….therefore it must be of God, whereby God Himself reveals the righteousness required to satisfy the justice of this almighty God who is angry at the wicked every day. And this righteousness is revealed through the Gospel….for Christ is our righteousness. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:(1 Corinthians 1:30, KJV)

 

Therefore, if the righteousness is clearly not our own….it must be what I've heard Al Mohler refer to as an "alien righteousness"….a righteousness that has been transplanted to dwell in a place that is not it's natural home. We call this the righteousness that is imputed
to us…..granted to us on behalf of the merits of another. It is from faith to faith. From the faithfulness of God to men. Beginning and ending with faith. Faith and nothing between. Ever-increasing faith. The Faithful God grants unto men the capacity to believe….from faith for faith.

 

• Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin."(Romans 4:4-8, NKJV)
  
• Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.(Romans 4:9, NKJV)
  
• For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.(Romans 4:13, ESV)
  
• Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.(2 Corinthians 5:17-21, NKJV)
  

 

Salvation to All Who Believe

Preached October 19, 2008, Grace Family Church of Americus

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.   (Romans 1:16, ESV)

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(Sorry for the poor audio quality!)

Snippet from sermon transcript:

To all who believeth – this is an exclusive statement by definition.  It is salvation only to those who believe.  This is a spiritual group of people. 

John Calvin:

At the same time, as he [God] works not effectually in all, [as evidenced that not all come to believe] but only where the Spirit, the inward Teacher, illuminates the heart, he [adds to this], To every one who believeth. The gospel is indeed offered to all for their salvation, but the power of it appears not everywhere: and that it is the savor of death to the ungodly, does not proceed from what it is, but from their own wickedness. By setting forth but one Salvation he cuts off every other trust. When men withdraw themselves from this one salvation, they find in the gospel a sure proof of their own ruin. Since then the gospel invites all to partake of salvation without any difference, it is rightly called the doctrine of salvation: for Christ is there offered, whose peculiar office is to save that which was lost; and those who refuse to be saved by him, shall find him a Judge.

Calvin himself notes here that “the power of [the Gospel] appears not everywhere” .  Who then, is the Gospel for?  It is for all who believe.  How, then can we know if the Gospel is ours?  If we believe.  How then, can we know if we believe?  We can know if we believe when we recognize the power of God working in us, causing us to love the Word of God, causing us to love the people of God, causing us to love the Law of God and the God of the Word, to obey Him in all things. 

So if the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe, then to whom shall the Gospel be offered? 

To everyone!  Every person who has the breath of life within them!

Define everyone – Acts 2 – Peter commanded obedience to the Gospel to "EVERY ONE OF YOU!"  There were Jews and Greeks, a mixed crowd of people from all over the world....and Peter commanded them all to repent!  Therefore, the presentation of the Gospel is commanded upon every man.  There is not a small elite group to whom we are commanded to preach the Gospel.  The command is that of Peter in Acts 2….Repent and be baptized…..EVERY ONE OF YOU, in the Name of Jesus Christ.  EVERY ONE of you! 

The Gospel message is to be proclaimed universally, to every person.  It is to be offered to all, according to the Scriptures, Go and preach the Gospel to every creature.  

As we stood on the streets of Atlanta after the Deeper Conference, we did not find any who we thought unworthy to preach to.  We found none who did not need a Savior.  There were none whose eyes fell upon us, whose ear beheld the proclamation of the Gospel in the open air, who did not have an opportunity to respond.  Those who responded in believing, will be saved.  Those who die in their unbelief, will be damned.  We are simply commanded to preach it to all!

The Gospel is the Power of God

Preached October 12, 2008, Grace Family Church of Americus

For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, ^as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." (Romans 1:16-17, ESV)

Listen Now!

 

The Gospel is power of God….but let us ask ourselves the question……what is this the power of God to do? How is it made known? I mean, if such a powerful force is necessary to redeem a soul, then where is it in the world that we can go and look and see such a display of the majesty and the power of God?

When the nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, there was ample evidence that it had released its power. It burned shadows of man into concrete, incinerating the men and leaving their shadows on the wall. Everything in its path was utterly destroyed.

The tornado that ripped through our town last year left no doubt of its terrible power, destroying buildings and trees and tossing cars like matchboxes and snapping trees like toothpicks. Nobody woke up the next morning and went to work to a normal day. EVERYTHING was different, because of this awesome power.

Hurricanes hit the coast and devastation is not hard to find. But look into the pews and pulpits of the American congregation, and you will be hard pressed to find such a demonstration of this power which is infinitely greater than any atom bomb, tornado or hurricane can every be. My dear friends, if we glue our eyes to the TV to see the power of a hurricane or tonado or nuclear bomb, then HOW MUCH MORE should we glue our eyes and hearts to see such an immensely greater power at work in the human heart? And where is that evidence in the church today? More importantly, where is that evidence in your own life today????

So what is an illustration that I can give that can possibly communicate this truth of a power so great that it is known and realized that something radical has happened in the life of the one who has been gripped with it?

The power of a $3 extension cord.

Last night, as I was sitting at the desk, my two sons Logan and Levi were playing together in the floor. Now, all of the sudden, I hear Levi screaming in terror. Not knowing what he was screaming about, I jumped out of my chair and saw him sitting there, screaming. I thought maybe he had a bug or something biting him. He screamed "It's freezing me, it's freezing me!" Now, where this lamp is, there is no power outlet. So we have this $3 brown extension cord running to the lamp. Somehow, it apparently, unbeknownst to me, got under the rocking chair, which shattered the housing of the plug, exposing the wires. What was freezing my 3-year old son was the surge of electricity through his body. He had grabbed the exposed wires, and his body had become part of the circuit of electricity. Realizing this, as I stood over him for a split second, knew that he could not turn loose of it. It had him, and would not let him go, and he could not let it go. So instead of reaching down to grab him, as my first instinct was, I used my leg to kick him away from the wires. He was not hurt, only except for a couple of burns on his fingers.

This mighty power of electricity, when encountered by men, will not let the man go, and the man cannot let it go. He may will to do so, but he cannot. When a person is gripped in electrocution, his total thoughts are focused on that which has gripped him. The electricity, because of its nature, will not let go.

The power of the Gospel takes a similar form, although there can be no one to come by and kick you off of it. THIS IS THE POWER OF GOD…..You are gripped by it through a power that will not let you go, and by that same power, you cannot let it go.

For I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel…..

Preached September 28, 2008, Grace Family Church of Americus

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, ^as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." (Romans 1:16-17, ESV)

Listen Now!

Snippets from the sermon transcript:

Paul realizes more than any of us, that the message of the Gospel is not acceptable in the world. People hate this message. They hate it because of what it is….the righteousness of God, and when the true message is spoken, it brings the true glorious light of the righteousness of God against the backdrop of the blackness of man's sin, and sinful man hates that. He will not receive it, and is indeed an enemy of it, until God opens his eyes. The only way that God opens eyes is through this message….through the Gospel that is hated in the world….and He has given us the task of preaching it. So Paul, in these verses, exclaims that he is not ashamed….and gives us warning not to be so as well, but to expect shame to be heaped on us because of it…..

So how can we be not ashamed? Let us look at David in the Old Testament:

When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me. But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. (Psalm 69:10-13, ESV)

So how is it that the Scriptures teach us to not be ashamed? Here in Psalm 69, we see that a correct knowledge of God gives hope to the one who has been shamed….so that they are not ashamed. This person (David) here was doing things that were pleasing to God, but mockworthy to the world. Humbling himself….fasting….mourning for himself and his people….these are not acceptable to the world…..but David knows his God. He calls not just for God to deliver him….but he calls on God by His attributes….! What David called on in this time of weakness and shame was something that the modern church in America is ASHAMED OF, because it is not taught…..David used THEOLOGY to bring comfort to himself in this time of suffering! Theology is theos (God) logos (knowledge/study), or the study of God. God, not as we imagine Him to be, but as He is revealed in Scripture. And this knowledge of God will bring you great resolution in the day when you face shame. And you will face shame, if you are obedient to the Scriptures.

Our trust must be in God alone, through His Word alone. Our comfort must come from knowing Him, knowing that He promises us deliverance, if not in this life, certainly in the life to come. Though your enemies be many, and though there be much shame heaped upon you for being different, you CAN be not ashamed…..

Psalm 25:1-2 (Scottish Metrical Psalter)

To thee I lift my soul:

O Lord, I trust in thee:

My God, let me not be asham'd,

nor foes triumph o'er me.

 

Let none that wait on thee

be put to shame at all;

But those that without cause transgress,

let shame upon them fall.

 

Shew me thy ways, O Lord;

thy paths, O teach thou me:

And do thou lead me in thy truth,

therein my teacher be:

 

The way the Scripture teaches to alleviate shame is not to change it, not to conform to the standard of others, but to be taught by God, to be led by the truth of God, and to keep one's eyes on God, and to learn continually from God, for He alone is your salvation:

Again, From
Psalm 25:

Mine eyes upon the Lord

continually are set:

For he it is that shall bring forth

my feet out of the net.

 

Turn unto me thy face,

and to me mercy show;

Because that I am desolate,

and am brought very low.

 

O do thou keep my soul,

do thou deliver me:

And let me never be asham'd,

because I trust in thee.