Please join me if you would in your copy of God's Word in Romans chapter 3.
Our text for today's study will be Romans chapter 3 verses 21 through 31.
We have spent quite a bit of time in our study of the book of Romans considering the guilt of all mankind.
Paul begins making this case in chapter 1 and verse 18 where he states,
For the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
And he concludes his case at verse 20 of last week's text in chapter 3.
He wants to be so clear that anyone, whether Jewish, of Jewish descent or otherwise, lives under the curse of sin.
He says in Romans chapter 2 and verse 12,
For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law.
And all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
I stated last week that he is doing all of this because this is the reasonable starting point from which to prove his thesis,
which we will look at thoroughly and repeatedly throughout the entirety of this letter,
in which he states in chapter 1 verse 16 and 17,
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.
He is going to unpack that across all these chapters of the book of Romans.
If you have been hearing anything that Paul is saying in these first three chapters,
then you will understand that the unfortunate state of your soul,
apart from the intervening work of Jesus Christ,
is a desperate state because the wrath of God awaits you.
And this is a frightful thing.
And this is the due penalty for our sin.
It's good and proper that God would punish rebellious people.
All of mankind has a huge problem that only finds its remedy in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
But praise be to God that we have reached the point in Paul's writing
where he begins to unpack the good news of his thesis,
now having spent such time on the bad news.
But we must know the bad news for the good news to be as good as it truly is.
Martin Luther said of Romans chapter 3, verse 21 through 31,
that it is the chief point and the very central place of the epistle and of the whole Bible.
I do hope that you will engage with the text this morning to either,
number one, believe for the first time in the gospel of Jesus Christ
and find the remedy for your sinful state,
or, number two, to be encouraged by the gospel of Jesus Christ
and pressed into grateful service.
So let's read the text together.
If you'll follow along with me before I read it,
let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us.
It was written for his glory and our good,
so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises
and to obey its commands.
Paul says,
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law,
although the law and the prophets bear witness to it.
The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
For there is no distinction.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.
This was to show God's righteousness,
because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
It was to show his righteousness at the present time
so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Then what becomes of our boasting?
It is excluded.
By what kind of law?
By a law of works?
No, but by the law of faith.
For we hold that one 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 also?
Yes, of Gentiles also,
since God is one,
who will justify the circumcised by faith
and the uncircumcised through faith.
Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?
By no means.
On the contrary,
we uphold the law.
Now, this is a lot of text.
And this morning I will divide the text into two halves,
each with some additional divisions.
We have quite a bit of ground to cover,
so I'll move fairly quickly.
In fact, these 11 verses,
I think could have warranted three sermons.
It's kind of where my mind was settling in on it.
But I'm going to take a sabbatical starting tomorrow
and we'll be gone for a month.
And I really want to finish chapter 3.
I really want to talk about the entirety of the text.
And it would be really disjointed, I think,
to only do a bit of it
and wait a whole month to pick back up on the rest of it.
And so I'm telling you all of this
so that you'll buckle in and get ready
because we're going to move fairly quickly through the text.
So the two kind of simple divisions for the text,
number one is doctrine.
This is a good old puritanical division here.
Number one, doctrine, we find in verses 21 through 26.
And number two, application,
which we find in verses 27 through the end of the chapter.
So let's look first at the doctrine in the text.
We see this phrase at the beginning of verse 21,
the righteousness of God,
which if you've been sitting in our teaching of Romans
should sound familiar to you.
This exact phrasing, the righteousness of God.
I hope that it sends off signals in your mind.
Where have we heard it?
Even just this morning, did we not hear it?
In Romans chapter 1 and verse 17.
Verse 16, Paul says he's not ashamed of the gospel
or he's proud of the gospel
because it's the power of God for salvation.
For, verse 17,
in it the righteousness of God is revealed
from faith for faith, right?
So he's come back to this idea, right?
He's continuing to explain what he means
by the righteousness of God.
Paul has been laboring to tell us
why we cannot accomplish the righteousness required by God
so that we will seek to understand
that we need the righteousness of God.
If that word for you is new,
think right living.
Perfect right living would be a way perhaps to say it.
I will tell you this week
that my hands got pretty good
at typing out the word righteousness.
I got as many times as I had to correct it.
It's a more complicated word
than perhaps it needs to be,
but it's a biblical word
so we need to understand it.
So think perfect right living.
We can't do this on our own.
We need a righteousness
that comes from outside ourselves.
A righteousness that Luther called
an alien righteousness,
a foreign righteousness.
But not just any.
If we are to stand in the day of judgment,
we will need a particular righteousness,
the righteousness of God.
If we are to survive God's perfect judgment,
then we must be perfect.
And we will not accomplish this of our own effort.
And, praise be to God,
we don't have to.
For we have and would utterly fail to do so.
This consideration of the righteousness of God
is salve to a weary soul.
We all know that apart from the righteousness of God,
we are all guilty before God.
Look up just a couple of verses from today's text,
verse 19 and 20.
There Paul says,
Now we know that whatever the law says,
it speaks to those who are under the law
so that every mouth may be stopped
and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
For by works of the law,
no human being will be justified in his sight
since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
We have littles sitting in our hearing right now,
and perhaps many of them
aren't really aware of their sinfulness.
But if you are not a little,
if you understand the things
that are coming out of my mouth right now,
you are fully aware
that you have done things that are wrong.
You have been told that they are wrong,
and you agree that they were wrong.
This is the way that the law serves us,
to help us to know that we are sinners,
to make evident our guilt,
and to point us somewhere else,
to take us outside of ourselves,
to look elsewhere for righteousness.
It points us to the righteousness of God,
or we hope and pray that it does.
In the first six verses of today's text,
Paul tells us seven things
about the righteousness of God.
So, those of you who are more familiar
with my outlines,
here we actually go.
Number one,
and these will be brief.
Number one,
the righteousness of God
is not found in the law.
First half of verse 21.
Paul has repeated this quite a bit
throughout the end of chapter 2,
and now he's saying it again.
Now, the righteousness of God
has been manifested apart from the law.
So, we have seen the righteousness of God,
but it didn't come from the law.
It came apart from the law.
Now, this has been largely established
over the past weeks
and previous texts of Romans.
We cannot be made righteous by the law
because we cannot keep the law.
It's not possible
that we might have the righteousness of God
because we inherited a nature.
We are inclined to sin.
And as I've said,
we all have.
Romans 3 and verse 10,
there Paul says,
none is righteous,
no, not one.
So, this righteousness of God
is not found in keeping God's law.
Second thing Paul tells us
about the righteousness of God
is that it is spoken of
in the Old Testament.
And there's an inclination in me
to spend an entire week
on the last half of verse 21,
but I won't.
I'm reigning it in for you.
But there he says,
although the law and the prophets
bear witness,
to it.
And if you're looking at an ESV,
copy of God's Word,
you will see law and prophets
capitalized in the last half of verse 21,
but law in lowercase
in the first half.
Why might the translators
have made this decision?
The Greek certainly
wasn't capitalized or not.
They did so because
Paul here is referring to
the law as God's moral law
in the first part of verse 21,
but in the last part,
he's talking about the Scripture
in total.
It's a very common phrase
to refer to the Bible of Paul's day
as the law and the prophets.
So the law doesn't serve
our righteousness
by keeping it,
but it does,
the law,
the Bible itself,
bears witness to it,
to the righteousness
of God.
Specifically,
it bears witness
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ,
this righteousness
that's been manifested
apart from the law.
The God-man,
Jesus Christ,
who lived the life
that's required of us,
that we might have
his righteousness.
This is who the law
and prophets
bear witness to.
Jesus is the snake crusher
of Genesis chapter 3.
He is the Passover lamb
of Exodus 12.
He is the defeater
of our enemy
in 1 Samuel 17.
He is the price paid
for Gomer
in Hosea chapter 3.
He is the greater Moses
and the greater David.
The whole of the Bible,
I want to give you
a thousand more examples,
is meant to press our minds
to the coming,
now arrived,
and soon coming again
King Jesus.
of great value.
And the Jews
of Paul's day
loved the Scripture.
They tried to orient
their lives by it.
They thought that
in the Bible itself
they might become righteous.
And Paul's unraveling
that for them.
And I think in our day,
a people
who have much
of the Bible
access to it
in many ways
and forms.
It's just incredible
the way you can access
the Scripture.
in our day.
That we would think
that in them
we have righteousness
when they are pointing us
to Christ.
Jesus said to the Pharisees
in John chapter 5
and verse 39,
you search the Scriptures
because you think
that in them
you have
eternal life.
And he's not condemning
the search of the Scriptures.
What a wonderful thing to do,
to spend our lives
in this text.
But they thought
the text itself
was providing
eternal life for them
and their feeble attempts
to obey it.
And he goes on to say,
and it is they
that bear witness
about me.
The law and the prophets
bear witness,
notice the phrasing
is the same,
to Christ
himself,
the righteousness
of God.
The third thing
that Paul says
about the righteousness
of God
is that it is granted
through faith.
You see this
in the first part
of verse 22.
The righteousness
of God
through faith
in Jesus Christ
for all
who believe.
I have stated
and will state
repeatedly
that the theme
of this letter
is that we are justified
by grace alone
through faith alone
in Jesus Christ
alone.
It is by believing
in the person
and the work
of Jesus.
Both
who he is
and the things
that he accomplish
that we have
the record
of our sins
expunged
and are granted
the righteousness
of God.
Our guilt
record
taken away,
Jesus paid the penalty
for that sin
and he has given
to us
his perfect
law keeping.
This is that
alien righteousness
that we need
to stand before God
in the day of judgment.
You cannot merely
believe whatever
you may want
despite what our
pluralistic society
may tell you.
If you are to be
saved from God's wrath
and reconcile to him,
you must do so
on his terms.
Jesus says in John
chapter 14
and verse 6,
I am the way
and the truth
and the life.
No one
comes to the Father
except
through
me.
What's he talking
about there?
Except by believing
in who I am
and what I have
accomplished
on behalf
of all those
who will
believe.
So the righteousness
of God
is granted
through
faith.
Fourthly,
the righteousness
of God
is not
partial.
You see this
in verse 22,
the last part,
and into
verse 23.
There Paul says,
for there is
no
distinction.
For all have
sinned
and fall short
of the glory
of God.
So regardless
of your
ethnic identity
or nationality,
no matter
your background,
you are a son
or daughter
of Adam
and therefore
guilty of the
sin of Adam
and your own
sin on top
of that.
But,
regardless
of your ethnic
identity
or nationality,
no matter
your background,
you can be
called a son
or daughter
of God
by faith
in a faithful
older brother.
There's no
distinction made
by the free
offer of the
gospel of
Jesus Christ.
It does not
matter from
where you
came.
God created
you and he
calls you to
himself to
believe in the
gospel of
Jesus.
Fifthly,
we see that
the righteousness
of God is
acquired by
grace.
It is
acquired by
grace.
The first
part of
verse 24.
We are
justified.
There's that
word I
explained a
moment ago.
By his
grace as
a gift.
And the
word grace
means this
free gifting
of something
for our
favor.
But Paul
wants to be
sure that we
understand that
it is a
gift.
We're
justified by
his grace
as a
gift.
Justified by
grace alone,
through faith
alone,
in Christ
alone.
This is not a
thing that we
muster up on
our own.
Belief in the
gospel of
Jesus Christ
is a gift
that is
granted to
us.
Oh, that
God would
grant it to
us all.
Paul tells
elsewhere,
Ephesians
chapter 2
and verse
8, for
by grace
you have
been saved
through faith.
And this,
he's referring
there to the
faith, is
not your
own doing,
it is the
gift of
God.
The gracious
gift of
God is the
faith itself
that we
would believe
in the
gospel of
Jesus Christ.
The sixth
thing that we
learn from
Paul about
the righteousness
of God is
that it is
bought with
a price.
The last
part of
verse 24
says,
through the
redemption
that is in
Christ Jesus.
Now, the
word for
redemption was
often used
of paying a
price to
free a
captive from
his captors
or to
free a
slave from
his master.
Often, the
person who
carried that
price was
called a
redeemer.
You may have
heard of
Jesus being
called the
redeemer, and
he is both
the redeemer
and he is
the redemption
price itself.
We who
once, or
this morning
perhaps are
enslaved to
sin, held
captive by the
ruler of this
world, Jesus
has paid the
penalty, paid
the price that
we might be
redeemed.
Paul writes
in Colossians
chapter 1
verse 13
and following,
Jesus has
delivered us
from the
domain of
darkness, the
ruling of
darkness, and
transferred us
to the kingdom
of his beloved
son, in whom
we have
redemption,
the forgiveness
righteousness, of
sins.
Jesus paid the
penalty for our
sin with his
own life, bearing
on our behalf
all of the
wrath that was
due to our
sin.
The seventh
thing that we
learn, the
righteousness of
God is purchased
by an atoning
sacrifice.
And we see
this in verse
25 and 26.
Here Paul says
that through the
redemption that
is in Christ
Jesus, whom
God put forward
as a
propitiation by
his blood to
be received
by faith.
Propitiation, not
an easy word to
say and not
often used, but
I hope it's a
word that will
be loved by
you.
A
propitiation.
The word
propitiation carries
with it the
idea of
appeasement or
satisfaction of
wrath.
Wrath that was
due us.
Wrath that all
those who die
and stand before
the judgment of
God, apart from
Christ, will
suffer eternal
wrath for the
appeasement of
God.
God is
just and he
is right to
punish sin.
The Bible
speaks much of
this judgment and
of the wrath of
God.
We see it in
Revelation chapter
14 verse 17
and following.
John's vision, he
says, then another
angel came out of
the temple in
heaven and he
too had a sharp
sickle.
And another
angel came out
from the altar,
the angel who
has authority over
the fire, and he
called with a loud
voice to the one
who had the sharp
sickle.
Put in your
sickle and gather
the clusters from
the vine of the
earth, for its
grapes are ripe.
So the angel
swung his sickle
across the earth
and gathered the
great harvest of
the earth and
threw it into the
great winepress of
the wrath of God.
God, I think that
should make all of
us shudder.
The idea of us as
grapes being placed
in a winepress.
Grapes do not
stand up to the
pressure of a
winepress.
No grape has
ever willed itself
out of a winepress
or pressed back
against the
smooshing of the
grape.
And then verse 20
says, and the
winepress was
trodden outside
the city and
blood flowed from
the winepress.
John's vision
turns off the
metaphor to be
very clear about
what is meant
by this judgment.
Those who are
not saved in
Christ will be
destroyed and
will be destroyed
forever,
continually,
forever,
to appease the
wrath of God.
But rather,
in Christ,
we have Christ
as a
propitiation,
a satisfier of
God's wrath
for us.
So that when we
stand in the
judgment,
and we declare
not a righteousness
of our own,
but a righteousness
that is Christ
that's granted
to us,
God doesn't
punish our
sin in
us,
because he
already punished
it in
Christ.
See,
Paul goes on
to say,
this,
this putting
forth of
Christ as the
propitiation,
was to show
God's righteousness,
his right
living,
right keeping,
because in
his divine
forbearance,
he had
passed over
former sins.
What Paul is
referring there
is to people
who were
saved in
Christ because
they placed
hope that
somehow
the sacrificial
system,
the slaying of
lambs and
bulls and
goats,
somehow was
covering their
sin.
They believed
in future
promise.
Also,
it was to show
his righteousness
at the present
time,
so that
he might
be just,
that he
might rightly
punish sin,
and the
justifier,
the one who
declares
righteous,
of the one
who has
faith in
Jesus.
And this is
such an
important thing
to understand,
that God
does not
merely dismiss
our sin,
right?
He doesn't
just overlook
it and say,
well,
it's okay,
because it's
not okay.
if God
is to be a
just judge,
he must
punish
our sin.
If we
are to not
be punished
forever for
our sin,
somehow God
has to punish
our sin.
How does
he do it?
By putting
forth Jesus
Christ as a
propitiation.
The God
man,
Jesus Christ,
bearing the
wrath of God
on our behalf
on the cross.
All of
God's wrath
poured out
on him
that we
might have
our sins
expunged
and his
righteousness
given to
us.
I once
heard this
great analogy.
If you've
been here
long,
you've heard
it before.
I hope it
won't bother
you much
to hear it
again.
Of
imagining
God's
wrath,
his eternal
wrath that
is due
our sin,
by imagining
that you're
standing in
a dry river
bed at the
bottom of
a massive
dam.
And this
dam is
holding back
immense amounts
of water.
The dam is
so tall that
you can't
see the
height of
it,
and it's
so wide
to either
direction that
you can't
see the
end of it,
and you
know it
holds back
a crushing
weight.
And as you
stand there
and you
peer up at
this and
you consider
the weight
of the
water behind
this dam,
it begins
to crack
and suddenly
it bursts
forth.
And all
of that
water comes
bearing down
on you.
You're not
going to
outrun this
water.
There's
nothing that
you're going
to be able
to do
to escape
from the
crushing
weight of
this water.
And just
as it's
about to
crush you,
you close
your eyes,
you're ready
to take it
on,
a hole
opens up
in front
of you,
and all
of that
water goes
rushing to
your amazement
into this
massive hole
in front
of you.
It rushes
in,
it rushes
in,
it rushes
in.
And this
is what
Jesus did
on the
cross for
you if
you believe
by faith
that he
did.
He drinks
to the
very last
drop the
wrath of
God that
was due
you,
and when
he was
finished,
he turned
the cup
over,
he slammed
it down
and declared
it is
finished.
He
accomplished
that for
you if
you would
just
believe
in
him.
William
Reese
wrote
a wonderful
hymn,
maybe we'll
sing it here
someday,
called
Here is
Love
in 1876,
and this
is the
second verse
of that
song.
He writes,
on the
mount of
crucifixion
fountains
opened deep
and wide.
Through the
floodgates of
your mercy
flowed a
vast and
gracious tide.
Here is
love,
like mighty
rivers poured
unceasing
from above,
heaven's
peace and
perfect justice
kissed a
guilty world
in love.
The
righteousness
of God
is a thing
that each
of us
desperately
needs and
does not
deserve,
and yet
God has
loved his
creation enough
to make
a way that
we might
have it.
So there's
the doctrine.
Second big
point.
I just did
three.
Second big
point.
Application.
It must be
time for a
sabbatical if
I hold up
three fingers
and say
secondly.
Application.
So a few
things to
pull out of
the rest of
the text.
So beginning
in verse
27,
the righteousness
of God
excludes
boasting
in ourselves.
Paul says
that very
frankly here
in verse
27,
then what
becomes of
our boasting?
It's
excluded.
It cannot
exist.
By what
kind of
law?
By a
law of
works?
One that
we couldn't
keep?
No.
By a
law of
faith.
We have
believed that
someone else
did the work
for us,
and this
excludes
our
boasting.
Beloved,
we ought to
be the most
humble people
on the
planet.
Really
understanding
who we
once were
and what
has been
accomplished
for us
should make
us incredibly
humble.
For we
hold that
one is
justified by
faith apart
from works
of the
law.
We did
not accomplish
it.
We could
not accomplish
it.
We never
would have.
If Christ
wasn't holding
me fast
now, I
would certainly
leave.
I read
previously
Ephesians
chapter 2
and verse
8, which
says,
for by grace
you have
been saved
through faith,
and this
is not
your own
doing, it
is the
gift of
God.
Paul goes
on in
verse 9
to say,
not a
result of
works, so
that no
one may
boast.
Our
salvation is
monergistic.
God does
it, and
he does it
because he
deserves all
the glory
for doing
it.
I don't
get a shred
of the glory.
God made
the way
possible, and
he did all
the things, and
then I got
on board.
I get none
of it.
God says in
Isaiah chapter
48, my
glory I will
not give
to another.
Paul says
in Galatians
6 verse
14, far
be it for
me to
boast, except
in the
cross of
our Lord
Jesus Christ.
There he
says, there's
a thing to
boast in, what
God has
done on
our behalf.
So we
ought to be
humble, and
I'm not saying
that we don't
stand for the
truth, but we
stand on it
because it is
God's truth, not
because it is
ours.
Secondly, the
righteousness of
God promotes
ethnic harmony
and missions to
the ends of
the earth.
I know some
of you would
like to be
way deep
into this
one today, and
I'm not
going to.
Here Paul
says, is
God the
God of
Jews only?
Is he
not the
God of
Gentiles
also?
Yes, of
Gentiles
also.
Categorically
dividing people
into two
ethnic groups,
Jews and
everyone else.
And he's
saying that
God doesn't
show favor
in granting
righteousness
just to one
ethnic group,
but to all
ethnic groups.
Because God
is one, verse
30, and he
will justify
the circumcised
by faith and
the uncircumcised
through faith.
If you're to
come to God,
you will come
by faith.
There's one
way that it
will be
accomplished.
This is why
Christians
should be
eager to
share the
gospel with
all peoples
everywhere, that
we would not
shy away from
such a thing
because our
God is a
God who
saves.
Matthew 28,
verse 19,
just says,
go therefore
and make
disciples of
all nations.
All ethnos,
and there's a
lot of
disagreement about
what that
means exactly,
but we know
it can mean
that we're
going to
share the
gospel with
people who
aren't just
like us.
We're going
to go,
and we're
going to
share.
This is a
beautiful vision
of heaven,
again from
John,
Revelation
chapter 7,
verse 9 and
10, where
he says,
I looked
and behold
a great
multitude that
no one
could number
from every
nation,
from all
tribes and
peoples and
languages,
standing before
the throne
and before
the Lamb,
clothed in
white robes,
with palm
branches in
their hands,
and crying
out with a
loud voice,
salvation
belongs to
our God
who sits
on the
throne,
and to
the Lamb.
That'll be the
great desire of
every Christian,
that God
will be praised
amongst all
peoples everywhere.
This is why
Paul says,
right,
1 and
verse 16,
I am not
ashamed of
the gospel.
I've been
saying to you
in the positive,
I am proud of
the gospel for
it is the power
of God for
salvation to
everyone who
believes,
to the Jew
first,
and also to
everyone else.
We, like
Paul, should be
proud of the
gospel because
it is the
power of God
for salvation.
And third
application,
the righteousness
of God
changes our
hearts.
So, to be
clear, we
are not
justified,
made righteous
by the law.
We cannot
be.
It is not
sufficient for
the task.
We need an
alien righteousness.
We need the
righteousness of
Christ granted
to us.
But if we
have it,
if we have
it, then our
hearts have
been changed.
And this is
going to work
itself out in
our lives.
Look at
verse 31.
Paul says,
do we then
overthrow the
law by this
faith?
He's saying,
do we disregard
it altogether?
The moral
commands of
God, do we
just toss
them aside?
And he
says, by
no means.
Me genoito.
It's very,
very strong.
It's an
expletive
Greek phrase.
It's a
strong phrase.
Absolutely
not.
On the
contrary,
we
uphold.
Have
been made
righteous in
Christ, we
uphold
the law.
In Ezekiel
chapter 11,
verse 19,
their God
says, I
will give
them one
heart and
a new
spirit I
will put
within them.
I
remove the
heart of
stone from
their flesh
and give
them a
heart of
flesh that
they may
walk in
my statutes
and keep
my rules
and obey
them.
And they
shall be
my people
and I
will be
their God.
And later
in Ezekiel
36,
in verse
27,
he says,
I will put
my spirit
within you
and cause
you to
walk in
my statutes
and be
careful to
obey my
rules.
God
rules over
us by
his word
and it's
a good
word.
These are
not burdensome
commandments,
they're good
commandments
that we
ought to
keep.
By faith
in his
son,
we're given
the spirit
that we
would both
know and
desire and
be empowered
to keep
his commands.
Jesus
says in
John 14
and verse
15,
if you
love me,
if your
passion has
been turned
toward me
and away
from this
world,
you will
keep
my
commandments.
It becomes
the outflow
of grateful
hearts,
changed
lives.
we
were
oriented
in a
different
direction
that we
might be
a people
for the
praise
of our
God.
The
righteousness
of God
changes
our
hearts.
So may
we be a
people
who believe
the gospel
of Jesus
Christ
so that we
will possess
the righteousness
of God
and stand
in the
judgment
so that we
will be
humble
and boast
only in the
cross of
Christ.
So we
will be
a people
who are
not ashamed
of the
gospel
and carry
this good
news across
ethnic
boundaries
and oceans
and so that
we will be
a people
of changed
heart
who desire
to walk
in God's
good
commands.
Let's pray
together.
Thank you.