In this section of
his letter to the church at Rome, Paul is almost done explaining the Gospel
that he preaches. There is one more thing that he wants to be clear about
before he writes about some of the implications of this Gospel. It’s actually a
large problem when it comes to understanding how people become acceptable to
God. This is because many Jews in Paul’s day misunderstood the role of the Law
of God. They thought that if you obeyed the Law, God would be pleased with you,
and everything would be fine. They were wrong.
Here, call to mind
Jesus’ parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ Luke 18:11-12
Here’s someone who
is quite sure that God is pleased with him because of the good things that he
does and the bad things that he avoids. Paul knew plenty of people just like
that. In fact, he had been just like that himself. So, he wants to be clear
that that is not how the Gospel works.
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. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. Romans 4.13-15
Let’s go through
this line by line.
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.
Paul is simply
making a statement here. He’ll prove it in a moment. But the statement is that
Abraham enjoyed this promise of God by faith, by believing God, and not by law
keeping.
For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
Paul here is saying
that when it comes to enjoying this promise of God it’s either by faith or by
law. If it’s by law then it can’t be by faith.
It’s the one or the other.
For the law brings wrath…
This is where Paul
explains and proves those two statements. But like other things that Paul has
written, he has packed a lot into a few words. So, we need to unpack it.
So, what’s Paul’s
point? Those who attempt to enjoy God’s promises based on their obedience to
the Law of God will fail to achieve that goal. And why? It’s because they - and
the rest of us - are unable to meet God’s standards for obedience. As far as God
is concerned, it’s perfect obedience, or it’s nothing. Adam and Eve could
perfectly obey before they took that bite. But not after that. And now, none of
us can. Bear in mind that failure to obey perfectly is the same as
disobedience. And disobedience requires justice, God’s justice - wrath.
So, since no one can
obey God’s Law, not according to His standards, then no one can depend on law
keeping to enjoy God’s promises. Even law keeping with some faith thrown in
won’t work. Faith doesn’t make up for what failed law keeping tried to do.
And that’s what Paul
was getting at when he wrote,
For the law brings wrath…
Now, all of that was
to set up the next thing that Paul wrote.
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace… Romans 4:16
Enjoying the promise
of God is, ultimately, a matter of the grace of God, something that can be
received only by faith all by itself.
It’s important to be
clear about what these words mean. So, quick review. Grace: God acting
favorably toward someone even though what he deserves is God’s just wrath.
Faith: hearing what God says and accepting it as true; that is, entrusting
yourself to God according to what He has said.
So, again: Enjoying
the promise of God is, ultimately, a matter of the grace of God, something that
can be received only by faith all by itself.
Now, in all of that
Paul was referring to Abraham and that promise God made to him. And Abraham did
enjoy that promise - but not by any law keeping. The promise was his because he
received it with faith as a gift of God’s grace.
Paul goes through
this as an illustration of how the Gospel works. A person enjoys God’s promise
of salvation in Jesus not by law keeping, but by receiving it by faith as a
gift of God’s grace. Or to use the fancy language, Paul is illustrating
justification by grace alone through faith alone.
Now, I doubt that
any of that was radically new to any of you. But I went through it all so that
I could ask a question. This question is what the sermon is really about.
So, a person enjoys
God’s promise of salvation in Jesus by receiving it by faith as a gift of God’s
grace and without any law keeping. That’s how someone becomes a Christian.
Here’s my question: Is that also how someone grows as a Christian?
Listen to this.
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1.6
What is that? It’s a
promise. It’s a promise about growing as a Christian until the transformation
is complete. How does that work? How do we enjoy, experience, that promise? How
do we grow?
We all know that the
Christian life is begun by grace through faith. That’s how someone is
converted. But what is he told after
that about growing as a Christian? All too often he is told that there are
certain things that he must do and other things that he must avoid. A list of
these dos and don’ts is usually provided. He’s told that he will grow as a
Christian if he keeps to that list.
Now, what shall we
call this? What would be a label that would do a good job describing it? How
about ‘law keeping’? It’s very much like that Pharisee in the parable that I
read to you earlier.
I’m guessing that
most of you were given some list of dos and don’ts. Let me give you an example
of one thing usually on that list, something that we are to do.
If you want to grow
as a Christian you must have a daily time for Bible reading and prayer. Must.
And there’s even a verse to prove it. It’s where Jesus said,
If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8.31-32
You need to abide in
Jesus’ word, daily Bible reading. That’s crucial to developing as a true
disciple. As a result of hearing this, many Christians have told themselves,
‘My growth as a Christian depends on my daily quiet time. Jesus even said so. I
had better be sure to do this every day.’
Is that right? No.
For one thing, abiding in Jesus’ word is not at all about reading your Bible. A
look at the context will prove that.
But on top of that,
what is this but law keeping? Didn’t we just see that there is no room for law
keeping when it comes to enjoying God’s promises?
And what is the
all-too-common result of living this way? There’s a certain pressure that you
feel. You have to be sure that you always have your daily devotions. After all,
your Christian maturity depends on it. But what happens if you miss a time?
Guilt feelings. And what if, after trying and trying, you fail to establish
this daily habit? Obviously, you are second-rate Christian. And that’s only one
item on the list.
We are all called to
develop as Christians, to put off more and more of our foul sins and to put on
Christian virtues like humility, kindness, patience, compassion. However, that
will never happen by law keeping. Never. But it will happen by the grace of God
received by faith alone.
Now, what might that
look like?
It starts with this
basic attitude. ‘The only way that I will grow is by God being gracious to me.
It’s all a matter of His favor granted to me, His favor that roots out my sin,
His favor that replaces it with virtue. It’s not about my efforts. It’s about
His efforts.’ That’s the foundation of it all. Grace.
What’s next? Faith.
Listen again to how I defined that. Faith is hearing what God says and
accepting it as true; that is, entrusting yourself to God according to what He
has said.
So, what does God
say to the unbeliever in the preaching of the Gospel? His message goes
something like this. ‘There’s sin in your life. If you continue to live that
way you will die. Jesus has come to rescue you from that death and to lead you
into life. He promises to do this if you will repent of your sin and entrust
yourself to Him.’ That’s the message. And faith in that message happens when
that unbeliever says, ‘I accept as true what God has said’. And so, he acts. He
comes to Jesus, repenting of his sin. And the promised life is his.
That’s how an
unbeliever becomes a Christian. He depends on the grace of God in the promise
of the Gospel received by faith alone. No law keeping. None.
Is it any different
when it comes to growing as a Christian?
What does God say to
the Christian in the preaching of the Gospel? He says the same thing. ‘There’s
sin in your life. If you continue to live that way you will die. Jesus has come
to rescue you from death and lead you into life. He promises to do this if you
will repent of your sin and entrust yourself to Him.’ And what does faith look
like in the Christian? ‘I accept as true what God has said’. And as a result,
he acts. He comes again to Jesus, repenting of whatever particular sin the
Spirit was pointing at. And he experiences the promised life to a greater
extent. And that’s how a Christian matures.
The unbeliever and
the Christian get the same message, the same Gospel. And both need to depend on
the same grace of God presented in that Gospel, grace that changes lives,
something that is received by faith alone. You live as a Christian in the same
way that you become a Christian, by grace through faith. No law keeping.
Now, why is this
important? Understanding these things will make clear where your efforts need
to be placed when it comes to growing as a believer.
Consider a common
scenario about dealing with some sin. Let’s pick something obvious like lying.
A Christian is convicted by the Spirit that he lies. Because of that, this
Christian wants to get rid of that sin. So, what does he do? He commits himself to dealing with this sin.
He heard about a book that describes various methods of changing sin habits
into Godly habits. He buys it and begins to do what it says. He enlists the aid
of other Christians, asking them to hold him accountable and to pray for him.
He’s committed to change and isn’t going to stop until that sinful habit is
gone. Good, right?
No, it’s not good.
There’s no Gospel there. It’s law keeping. He’s trying to save himself from
that sin. Sure, he prays for God’s help. But his hope is focused on his
efforts, like doing what that book described. It’s wrong.
But wait. There are
Christians who have done this sort of thing and the sinful habit they were
working on disappeared. It seems to work, no?
No, it doesn’t work.
Has he actually dealt with the sin, the whole sin? Remember from last week that
our sins are the things that we do, like lying, which are the result of how we
think about life, like needing to look good in people’s eyes, all of which is
based on the assumptions of the heart, like the most important thing is me
having a pleasant life. All of that is sin. So, he doesn’t lie any more. But
his desire to look good to others and that basic commitment to himself haven’t
been touched. They will just show in some other way, some other sin that will
make him look good in people’s eyes so that he can have a pleasant life.
Law keeping doesn’t
work. It can only result in superficial change, the kind of change that hides
the reality of our sins.
So, how should a
Christian deal with some sin, like lying? It’s by the grace of God received by
faith alone. The Spirit convicts this Christian of his lying. Now what? First,
there is prayer. He acknowledges his sin to God. Then, he comes again for forgiveness
and to be changed. His prayer goes something like this. ‘Father, help me deal
with this sin, the whole sin. I need to know its roots. Where is my thinking
wrong? What are the commitments of my heart that give rise to this evil? I want
to repent of these things, all of them. Teach me. Change me so that in my
heart, in my thinking and in my actions, I am more like Jesus.’
The Spirit will
respond to that. He will point out sins in the inner life of this Christian.
This is one place where it’s good to know your Bible. It gives the Spirit more
to work with. It’s also good to get some wisdom from mature Christians. The
Spirit uses them as well.
What the Spirit will
do is point out our wrong thinking about life. He will expose demands of our
hearts that are so very rebellious. And as He does that we repent. And we
repent specifically of the errant ideas and the sinful assumptions, asking that
they would be replaced with Godly ideas and holy assumptions. And we pray that
we would become more sensitive to times when we are tempted to give in to those
deeper sins. The goal is not just to get rid of lying. The goal is to live the
truth in the mind and in the heart which will show in the actions.
Understand that this
isn’t a process that you start and finish quickly. Dealing with specific sins,
dealing with them down deep, will take a while. But what we hold on to in the
meantime is the promise.
He who began a good work will complete it…
God has promised
that we will grow as Christians. He will get rid of our sins, our deep sins,
replacing them with holiness. He has promised. As we accept what He has said as
true - faith - He will, graciously, keep that promise. And little by little, as
the Spirit does His work deep in our souls, we will be saved from the many sins
that afflict us. And all of this happens by the grace of God received by faith
alone.
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