We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church.
This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church.
Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org.
This is a reading from Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 3, verses 28-30, and chapter 4, verses 1-8, and 16-25.
For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
Or is God the God of Jews only?
Is he not the God of Gentiles too?
Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter?
If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.
What does Scripture say?
Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
Now, to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation.
However, to the one who does not work, but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.
Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring,
not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham.
He is the father of us all.
As it is written,
Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead.
Since he was about a hundred years old, and that Sarah's womb was also dead.
Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God,
but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
This is why it was credited to him as righteousness.
The words,
It was credited to him, were written not for him alone, but also for us,
to whom God will credit righteousness.
For us who believe in him, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
he was delivered over to death for our sins, and was raised to life for our justification.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Andrew, and I'm one of the pastors here.
All right, so last week, Jonathan, he got a little bit theological, right?
He explained three important terms that Paul uses in his letter here throughout the church to Rome.
And one of those three terms is a very important concept, probably the most important concept in this letter.
It's central to Paul's message, and it is the word justification.
Like, if you get anything out of this sermon series, please, please, please make sure you understand the central aspect of the gospel.
You have to understand the concept of justification.
Even for those of us in the room who aren't Christians and don't know if we ever will be Christians,
none of us can avoid the universal relevance of this concept of justification.
Because, see, no matter what God you believe in, or whether or not you believe in God at all,
I don't care what you tell me, we are all seeking to be justified.
Yeah, sure, maybe in various different courts of opinion, but in some way or another, we are all seeking to be justified,
to be seen and declared as good and worthy and accepted by whatever court of judgment we most highly esteem.
Whether you're seeking to be accepted by some divine being,
or whether we're seeking to be declared as worthy by our parents, our families, our bosses, our peers, or this or that institution,
or maybe we're just seeking justification in our own eyes.
We all have some court of judgment, maybe multiple judges from whom we are seeking validation,
and that satisfying stamp of approval confirming to us that we are enough.
We all live under that gaze, right?
The gaze of someone or something.
We're all seeking justification, a positive verdict upon our lives and our identities.
And so two important questions for us to consider this morning are,
who or what are we ultimately seeking to be justified by?
And then how will we be justified in their sight?
You know, how we answer these questions, I believe, will change our lives.
Because see, ultimately, whoever it is that you are most ultimately seeking justification from,
whoever it is whose opinion and judgment you deem as carrying the highest value, the greatest weight,
well, functionally, that is your Lord.
Functionally, that is your God.
That is your Master.
We're all seeking to be justified.
And then whatever Lord you do serve, however you seek to be justified by that Lord,
will ultimately determine how you live,
and how you relate to this Lord and to others,
and how you understand what it means to be righteous and upright and noble and worthy and honorable.
Our understanding of justification, particularly who justifies us and how we are justified,
these are absolutely foundational matters for all of our lives.
Are we seeking to be justified by our parents, our colleagues, our religious community,
our own inner voices, or are we seeking to be justified by God?
And whichever of these it is, how will we be justified in their sight?
You know, get good grades, get a good job,
achieve the American dream to be justified in the eyes of my immigrant parents,
or my boss, or my self-determined standards of success?
Live a moral or upright, unselfish life,
sacrificing for others in order to be deemed as righteous in my, you know,
holy religious community, or in the eyes of God himself.
What Paul has been arguing throughout this whole letter
is that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
He is the ultimate standard of justice and righteousness,
the only one whose voice and verdict is true and truly matters,
and He alone is worthy and able to justify us.
Even when we've exchanged the truth about God for a lie,
even when we've worshipped and served created things,
even when we've sought ultimate justification from other lords,
from mere creatures like ourselves,
Paul's good news to us,
His good news for us is that in Jesus Christ,
God has revealed not just His mercy,
not just His love,
not just His grace,
but His righteousness.
A way to be justified in His holy sight,
accepted and honored in His own divine eyes,
the only eyes that really matter, right?
He has made a way for us to be justified,
and not by the works of the law,
but simply by faith.
And so that brings us to our text today,
starting at the end of chapter 3, verse 28.
Paul says,
Just like he said at the beginning, right?
The righteous will live by faith,
not by diligent obedience to the Torah,
not by cultural assimilation into the Orthodox culture,
circumcised Jewish community.
No, the righteous will live,
the righteous will be justified by faith,
apart from works of the law.
And so what we have in chapter 4
is Paul's defense of justification by faith.
And he starts his defense,
as every good Christian defense should,
appealing to the Scriptures.
And in particular,
starting in chapter 4, verse 1,
he points his readers all the way back
to the great patriarch of the Jewish faith,
Abraham himself.
He basically says,
What might our forefather Abraham
have to say on this matter
of justification by faith?
Now remember,
even in Jesus and John the Baptist's day,
Abraham was the OG,
all right?
He was the OG,
the very ancestor, right?
So many religious people have claimed
as their spiritual forefather,
the original person
that God made his covenant promise with
to bless his offspring
and to make him into a great nation
and to bless all the nations
through his family.
And this gave many Jewish people,
particularly reading this letter
to the church in Rome,
a lot of security
about their status before God.
They thought that
because they descended from Abraham,
they were automatically justified.
They're automatically good,
included into the covenant community of God.
You can read about that
in the Gospels,
in Matthew chapter 3,
in John chapter 8.
The Pharisees and the religious leaders
are constantly rejecting
the words of Jesus
and the words of John the Baptist.
Why?
Because they think they're good.
They think they're fine
because Abraham is their father.
And yet,
what does John the Baptist say
to the Pharisees?
Do not presume,
he says,
do not presume to say to yourselves,
we have Abraham as our father.
For I tell you,
God is able from these stones
to raise up children for Abraham.
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance,
he tells them.
So what Paul does here
in Romans chapter 4
is he actually shows his readers
that Abraham himself,
their great forefather,
was justified not by the works of the law,
not by being Jewish or circumcised,
but by faith.
Paul quotes here in verse 3
from the Torah,
Genesis chapter 3,
Genesis chapter 15, verse 6.
What does Scripture say?
Abraham believed God
and it was credited to him
as righteousness.
The Hebrew Scriptures
didn't say that Abraham
was justified by being obedient
or hardworking
or sacrificial
or pious.
No, Abraham believed God.
He trusted what God said.
He held on to what God promised
and God justified him.
His faith was credited to him
as righteousness,
righteousness in the eyes of God.
So Paul demonstrates here
to his readers
that the very Hebrew Scriptures
have taught justification
by faith all along.
You know,
what I especially love
about Paul's argument here
is that he doesn't just
point to the Scriptures
and say,
I've got truth on my side.
I'm theologically correct.
You've got it wrong
because just look what it says
right here in the Holy Book.
Now at the very same time
as he points to the truth
and the logic of justification
by faith
and the authoritative
biblical witness
on his side,
he also points them
to the beauty,
the beauty of justification
by faith.
And so what I want to do
with the remainder
of this sermon
is for us to observe
this argument
that Paul makes
about the truth
and logic of justification
by faith
but also the beauty
of justification
by faith.
And to sum that up,
let me put it like this.
Justification by faith
transforms our gloating
into gratitude,
our guesses
into guarantees,
and our foes
into family.
I'll say that again.
Justification by faith
transforms our gloating
into gratitude,
our guesses
into guarantees,
and our foes
into family.
Alright, so let's get to
how does justification
by faith
transform our gloating
into gratitude?
Look with me
at chapter 4,
verse 2.
Paul writes,
if in fact Abraham
was justified
by works,
well then he
has something
to boast about
but not before God.
And what Paul
is arguing here
from verse 2
to all the way
to 16
is that if justification
is not by faith,
if justification
is by works,
by diligent effort
to obey,
and by cultural
assimilation
into Jewishness,
then those who
are justified
would have every reason
to boast
and to gloat
about their justification.
Like even before God,
they could boast
that they basically
justified themselves
in God's sight
by doing the right
things themselves.
But, you know,
as Harvard Law
professor Michael Sandel
points out in his book
The Tyranny of Merit,
the more we think
of ourselves
as self-made
and self-sufficient,
the harder it actually
is to learn gratitude
and humility.
Because,
think about it,
if people are justified
by the works
they do,
they could view God
as owing them
justification.
Look at verse 4.
Now, to the one
who works,
wages are not credited
as a gift
but as an obligation.
See, if justification
is not by faith
but by the works
of the law,
then creatures like us
could point our fingers
into the heavens, right,
and say,
O Creator,
hello, right,
you're obligated
to justify us
because of the works
we've accomplished.
You ought to reward us,
you ought to congratulate us,
you ought to,
you owe us
justification,
you're obligated
because look at
what we have done.
But now,
does that sound
like an appropriate posture
toward our maker,
toward the one
who holds the world together
and sustains the breath
in our lungs?
Does it make sense
that creatures,
particularly sinful creatures,
might be able to gloat
before God
and obligate Him
to do anything?
No.
That's why verse 2 says,
but not before God.
For creatures,
the gloat before their Creator
is madness.
It's nonsense.
As the psalmist says,
it is He who has made us
and not we ourselves.
If justification
is not by faith
but by works,
then we would be relating
to God
not as grateful children
before our benevolent
and gracious Father,
but as gloating employees
before our dutiful,
divine boss.
And that's what verse 4
is getting at.
To the one who works,
wages are not credited
as a gift
but as an obligation,
a mere business transaction.
If justification
is by works,
it is earned
and not something
to be grateful for.
Like really,
who here,
when they receive
their paycheck,
writes a nice thank you note
to their employer?
Anyone do that here?
Every single time?
Anyone?
Heck no, right?
No.
That wasn't a gift.
You earned it.
Your paycheck,
your wages
were due to you,
owed to you
because of your work.
And also,
think about how this
affects your relationships,
right?
Your relationship
with your employer.
Your relationship
is not based on benevolence
and gifts of grace
and mercy
but on merit
and transactional exchanges
for the sake
of mutual benefit,
right?
Your relationship
isn't primarily
one of gratitude
and humility
but of consumeristic
and capitalistic exchange.
Now,
I don't want to be
overly critical
of this kind of relationship
but I do want us
to consider,
is this the kind
of relationship
we want and long for
with God?
A primarily
transactional relationship
based on merit
and performance.
In verses 5 to 8,
Paul shows us
how justification
by faith
before God
is so much better.
It's so much better
than justification
by the works
of the law.
Verse 5,
However,
to the one
who does not work
but trusts God
who justifies
even the ungodly,
their faith
is credited
as righteousness.
Paul shows
not only from Genesis
in the Torah
but also from the Psalms
that the great king David
just like Abraham
also understood
that justification
has to be
by faith.
Verse 6,
David says the same thing
when he speaks
of the blessedness
of the one
to whom God
credits righteousness
apart from works.
And notice that word
blessedness right there.
That word blessedness.
Again,
when you get your paycheck,
sure you might say
that God blessed me
with a job
in the first place
but you don't say
my employer blessed me
with a paycheck
this week.
Right?
That's what your employer
contractually agreed
to pay you
contingent upon your work,
contingent upon your performance.
But see,
if justification
is by faith,
we can truly call
justification
a blessing.
Like it's something
to actually be
thankful for,
grateful for,
not a commission
that's owed to us
that we might gloat about.
Like,
check out my commission
this month.
No.
Here the psalmist
says in verse 7,
blessed are those
whose transgressions
are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Verse 8,
blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord
will never account
against them.
See,
in justification by faith
apart from works,
our debts are forgiven
at someone else's expense.
Right?
Our sins are covered
by someone else's blood.
Our sin is not counted
against us
because the Lord
has laid on his Son
the iniquity
of us all.
Right?
Put it to death
on the cross.
That's what he's done
for us
in our place.
Verse 16,
therefore,
the promise comes
by faith
so that it may be
by grace.
You see,
justification by faith
is ultimately
justification
by grace.
And if we are justified
not by our performance
but by grace,
the costly grace
of Christ crucified
for our sins
when he had no sins
of his own,
then all boasting,
all gloating
is excluded.
Right?
All of our gloating
is transformed
by justification
by faith
into gratitude.
For those who are
justified by faith
in Christ,
crucified for their sins,
for our sins,
our only boast
could possibly be
the cross
of Christ.
And do you know
what this does
when we internalize
justification
by faith
and realize
that our only boast
could possibly be
the cross?
Tim Keller
said something like this.
He said,
if you build your life
on being justified
by anything
or anyone
other than God,
such as your colleagues,
the crowds,
or a romantic partner,
it will distort you,
it will puff you up.
If you get it,
it will create conflicts
in this world,
it will make you
a slave to it.
And if you ever lose it,
you'll kill yourself
or you'll hate yourself.
There is only one
kind of justification
that doesn't puff up,
that you cannot lose,
that heals you
instead of rots your soul,
and that is the
justification of God.
The minute you begin
to understand
that in Christ
you have God's applause,
God's praise,
God's thunderous affirmation,
adoration,
honor,
and acclamation
by grace
through what Christ
has done,
not on the basis
of your performance,
on the one hand,
that destroys
your inferiority
complex forever,
and on the other hand,
it humbles you
and drowns your pride
deeper and deeper
and deeper.
That's the dynamic
of justification
by faith.
It inspires humility
and confidence
at the same time
like nothing else.
Zero reason to gloat,
every reason to be grateful,
that's what justification
by faith does.
And get this,
not only does justification
by faith transform
our gloating
into gratitude,
but also our guesses
into guarantees.
Look with me
at verse 16 again.
See,
the promise
comes by faith
so that it may be
by grace
and may be guaranteed.
Guaranteed.
See,
if justification
is not by faith,
then this not only
excludes the possibility
of grace
and gratitude,
but if justification
wasn't by grace
through faith,
it also couldn't be
guaranteed to us.
See,
the beauty of justification
apart from the works
of the law
is that the initiative
doesn't rest on me
in my fallibility
and in my finitude,
but in the strong,
mighty,
and more than capable
hands of our mighty God.
Like,
what is a surer thing?
Justifying myself
through my diligent works
or being justified
by God
by His grace
through faith?
Think about that
for a second.
You know,
throughout this series,
we've been referring
to Jesus' parable
of the two sons, right?
About that one
who ran away
and wasted his
inheritance
and the older son
who worked so hard,
right,
for so long
living obediently
to his father.
And maybe you remember
this line
that the older son
angrily shouts
to his prodigal father
who had just slaughtered
the fattened calf
for his wayward son
who just returned home.
The older brother says
to his father,
look,
these many years
I have served you
and I never disobeyed
your command,
yet you never gave me
a young goat
that I might celebrate
with my friends.
And I want us
to sympathize
with this older brother
here for a second.
Imagine him, right?
Toiling faithfully
every day.
He never disobeyed.
Never, it says.
That's amazing.
It's amazing, right?
And yet he's toiling
and he's toiling
and yet also
never knowing
if he's obeyed
enough,
if he's performed
at a high enough level.
And therefore,
every day,
he's been guessing,
guessing whether or not
this might be the day
that his father
might just give him
a young goat.
But it's always
ever a guess, right?
Never a guarantee
and he's forever waiting
because of how he understands
that he will be justified
in the eyes of his father.
See, the older brother
seeking to be justified
by his works of obedience,
he's unable to appreciate
justification by grace
through faith.
Because of his understanding
of how he will be justified
in the eyes of his father
through his works,
he had to live his whole life
guessing whether he even
was justified.
Even justified enough
to merit a young goat.
He was never sure,
always guessing.
You know, I wonder
if maybe that's how
some of us here
feel today.
Always guessing
about our status
with God
or whatever is
functionally our Lord
and God, right?
And I was counseling
someone this week,
probably the brightest
Cal student that I've met
in my time here
and she described herself
as having religious OCD.
Never, you know,
sure,
never sure of her status
with God.
Incredibly bright.
She's read tons
of religious literature
seeking confirmation,
always questioning
whether she was right
and worthy in God's eyes,
whether he loved her
and was truly willing
to be her personal God,
like whether she could
call him her own
and whether he actually
called her his own.
And as your pastor,
I know that many of you
here can relate
to this religious OCD
because it is true
none of us
has clean hands.
And this eats at our
consciences daily,
doesn't it?
But the beauty
of the gospel
is that our justification
in the eyes of God
does not depend
on our own
self-exertion
but simply
upon the firm
promise of God.
We can be justified,
we can be right
and accepted
with God
simply by faith.
simply by trusting
what God says.
We don't have to live
guessing about
our performance,
we can live by faith
in God's gracious
guarantee,
already paid for
by Christ,
our perfect older brother.
Our perfect older brother.
Now we must not miss
how justification
by faith also affects
not just our vertical
relationship with God,
but our horizontal
relationship
with one another.
Rightly understood,
justification by faith
also transforms
our foes
into family.
Verse 16 again.
The promise comes
by faith
so that it may be
by grace
and may be guaranteed
to all
Abraham's offspring.
Listen,
not only to those
who are of the law
or, you know,
like circumcised,
but also to those
who have the faith
of Abraham.
He is the father
of us all.
You see,
if justification
is not by faith,
but by works
of the law,
or really like
by functionally
becoming Jewish,
right,
that's what it means
to engage in the
works of the law,
then basically
every nation,
tribe,
people,
would pretty much
have to become Jewish
in order to be right
with God.
They would need
to eat culture,
all the men
would need to be
circumcised,
and on and on
according to the Torah,
right?
And thus the Jewish
people could rightly
assert and gloat
about their cultural
supremacy,
for their national
and cultural identity
would be their
righteousness,
even giving them
reason to mistreat
and villainize
and demonize
all other cultures
as inferior.
Justification by works
gives us reason
to gloat,
reason to dominate
and oppress,
right,
with violence.
But Paul argues
Abraham and his people
were never actually
justified,
never made right
with God
because of who
they were,
because of the things
they did,
but only ever
by faith.
It's always been
by faith.
Now you might have
noticed we skipped
over verses 9
through 15
for the sake of time,
but if I could just
sum that up
briefly,
what Paul argues
there is that
if you read the book
of Genesis
about the life
of Abraham,
right here you'll see
that Genesis 15
is quoted by Paul
in verse 3.
He quotes
Genesis chapter 15
where God justifies
Abraham by faith.
Abraham's justification
comes in chapter 15
and it comes
before his circumcision
which happens
in chapter 17.
And it also happens
like hundreds of years
before Moses
and the law.
And so Paul
is making an argument
just like Jesus,
just like John the Baptist
that the true children
of Abraham,
the true children
of the covenant
and of God's promises,
the true heirs
of God
are not those
who share Abraham's
faith.
You know,
as a kindergartner
in church,
I remember the first time
I heard the song,
Father Abraham
had many sons
and I am one of them
and so are you
and I had no idea
what that song was about.
It made no sense to me.
No, my dad is Dennis Ong,
all right?
But it was because
I hadn't read
and understood
the Apostle Paul.
Verse 17,
as it is written,
I have made you
a father of many nations
He is our father
in the sight of God
in whom he believed.
You see,
justification by faith
is what God
always had in mind
when he promised Abraham
that he would make him
a great nation
and a blessing
to all the nations.
God did not have
cultural supremacy
or imperialism in mind
but a gift of grace.
Justification not by being Jewish
but by faith
in the God of Abraham.
And this is the basis
for Christianity
really being the most
diverse movement
in all of history.
I recently met someone
here at Christ Church
who is not a Christian
but fairly interested
in Christianity.
His family comes from Iran
and he actually sent me
a YouTube video recently
about how Christianity
is booming in Iran
and how a lot of people
don't know about it.
And one thing
that this guy alluded to
that was mentioned
in this video
was how Iran is unique.
It's unique because
it is a Muslim country
but it also has
its own distinct culture.
Like most Muslim countries
are Arab cultures
but Iran is distinct
because it's a Muslim country
that has a distinctly
Persian culture.
Like that region of Iran
was Persian
long before it was Muslim.
But now if you know
anything about Islam
basically to become Muslim
you pretty much have to
become Arab
in some way.
Like according to Islam
if you've read
even the Quran
in another language
other than Arabic
you haven't actually
read it.
And so how that's
played out in Iran
or I should say
in the Islamic Republic
of Iran
is that Islam
and the Arabic culture
with it have been imposed
on these Persian people.
And so many Iranians
like increasingly more
each year
have found Christianity
to be a faith
that doesn't
imperialistically oppress
or culturally impose itself
but rather refreshingly
liberates
and affirms
them as Persians
in a way that
Shia Islam
their official state religion
never could do.
Many Iranians
are realizing
that with Christianity
they can be justified
and in right relationship
with God
not by becoming Arab
or becoming Jewish
but they can be justified
by faith
as Persians
just like the Chinese
just like the Nigerians
and just like the Germans.
And see my point here
is that justification
by faith
and not by adherence
to Moses' Torah
it's not just
a powerful
personal spiritual truth
about you
and some high God
in the heavens
but it has amazing potential
to bring the nations together
without destroying
their differences either.
Justification
by the one
and same faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ
unlike anything else
can transform
has transformed
foes into family
even people from nations
at war
with each other
for centuries.
The horizontal good news
of justification
by faith
is that this God
can be your God
and your super different
neighbor's God
at the same time
even if the only thing
you have in common
is your faith
in Christ
this Christ
who in his own body
took down
the dividing wall
of hostility
and bore our sins
the sins of the nations
against each other
and nailed them
to the cross
and this is the beauty
of justification
by faith.
It transforms
our gloating
into gratitude
our guesses
into guarantees
and our foes
into family.
Now maybe
hopefully
you've been convinced
of the beauty
of justification
by faith
apart from the works
of the law
and maybe you even
want to believe it
but I also recognize
that for many of us
both those of us
who identify as Christians
and those of us
who don't
for all of us
really justification
by faith
might sound beautiful
but I think for a lot of us
it also might sound
actually harder to believe
than justification
by works.
Maybe even
too good to be true.
And if that's you
this morning
I just want to close
by begging you
to consider
what if justification
by faith
isn't too good
to be true?
What if justification
by faith
might actually be
too good
to not be true?
Like I get it
faith is hard.
Faith is hard.
I've been walking
with some of you
for a couple years now
and you're wanting
to be there
but you're not there.
that the faith
you realize
it really
very much
is a gift
from God
and you can't
just muster it up
in yourselves.
And for those of us
in the room
who are Christians
we have trouble
believing the promises
of God
don't we?
That we are right
and righteous
in the eyes of God.
I get it
faith is hard.
Maybe even harder
to believe
than just trying
to obey
some code
of law.
But don't you
at least want
to believe
in this God
of Abraham?
This God
that he believed in
who justifies
by grace
through faith?
This God
as it says
in verse 17
who gives life
to the dead
and calls into being
the things
that we're not.
Maybe you're here
today and you feel
like having faith
is impossible
for you.
Like faith
is that thing
that will never be.
Like your skepticism
about God
and what he says
is too strong
to ever be overcome.
But may I just
point out to you
that this is precisely
the context
in which we are
invited to reach out
to God in faith.
Opening our hands
to receive
from this God
who does the impossible,
who gives life
to the dead
and calls into being
things that we're not.
Like might it be
that all our doubts
are merely
an occasion
for God
to break through
and to show us
that he is greater
than our doubts.
He is greater
than our doubts.
To those of us
who find it impossible
to trust God
and his promises,
Paul reminds us,
verse 18,
that against all hope,
Abraham in hope
believed
and so became
the father
of many nations
just as it
had been said to him,
so shall your offspring
be.
This guy was
a hundred years old
and without an offspring,
with his probably
post-menopausal wife,
they had no reason
to believe
what God said
other than
that God said it.
and yet he trusted
that God
could do the impossible.
Verse 19,
without weakening
in his faith,
he faced the fact
that his body
was as good as dead
since he was about
a hundred years old
and that Sarah's womb
was also dead,
yet he did not waver
through unbelief
regarding the promise
of God,
but was strengthened
in his faith
and gave glory to God
by trusting him,
being fully persuaded
that God had power
to do what he
had promised.
And so I just want
to close by asking,
what is your
impossible thing today?
What is your
impossible thing today
and what if your
impossible thing
is merely an opportunity
to bring glory
to God
by simply trusting him
by faith?
Maybe for you
your impossible thing
is that God
would accept
and justify you
after all the messed up
things that you've done.
But yo,
look at Abraham,
alright?
He was a coward.
He jeopardized
the promise of God.
He let his wife
be taken by Pharaoh.
Then he let his wife
be taken again
by another king,
King Abimelech.
And then he was
so impatient
with the promise
of God,
he slept with his
maidservant
to help God
get his heir.
Then look at
King David,
right?
He had a man killed
after sleeping
with that man's wife.
But what do
the Scriptures say?
These two foolish
and dishonorable men
were justified
not by their works
but by faith,
credited as righteous
in God's eyes.
And as it says
in verse 23,
the words
that was credited
to him
were written
not for him alone
but also for us.
To whom God
will credit righteousness
for us who believe
in him
who raised Jesus
our Lord
from the dead.
But again,
maybe that's precisely
your impossible thing,
right?
Just having faith
at all.
You just don't think
it's possible
for you to have
this kind of faith
and trust in God
and in what he says.
Well, God's word
to you today
is that it,
is that though
it was unthinkable,
it was unthinkable
that the Son of God
would die in the place
of sinners.
And though it was
unthinkable
for such sinners
to be justified
and clothed
in the righteousness
of God.
and though everyone
has always known
that it is impossible
to raise someone
from the dead,
God's word to you
is that nothing
is impossible
for God.
Not even the impossibility
of your faith
in the face
of all your doubts
because as it says
in verse 25,
Jesus,
the Son of God,
was delivered over
to death
for our sins
and raised to life
for our justification.
And this is the gospel.
that nothing
is impossible.
Neither your justification
as righteous
in the eyes
of your maker
nor the faith
by which you can receive
that justification.
Nothing is impossible
even today
if you believe,
if you'll trust
in Christ.
This is God's
gracious gift,
a gracious gift
from a loving Lord
who gave everything
to call us our own.
And that's the beauty
of justification
by faith
from the word of God.
Will you pray with me?
Lord, we
cannot
muster up faith
on our own.
Some of us
want to believe
but we need help
in our unbelief.
God, would you
send forth your spirit
to grant us
the gift of faith?
Would you give us
eyes to see
the beauty
of justification
by faith?
This precious gift.
We claim the promise
of your son
who said,
ask and you will receive,
seek and you will find,
knock and the door
will be opened.
Give us that kind
of a faith
and make us
this kind of
humble and confident
people marked
by grace.
The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ
poured out upon us
by his
sacrificial cross.
Make us a community,
oh God,
that is marked
by justification,
by faith.
And use us
for the good
of this city,
for the good
of this world,
we pray in the name
of Jesus.
Amen.