Sermon 3 — September 26, 2010
Last week we talked about the two states of man according to God and the Bible. We are either in Adam or we are in Christ. If any man is in Christ he is a new creation. God has through the work of Christ on the cross made it possible for individuals to be reconciled to Him, set again in fellowship with holy God. This was made possible by His work of reconciling (God reconciling man to Himself), satisfying the breach between man and God. It is from this work of God satisfying the wages of sin that we get the term justification, which means God paying the price of our sin, not overlooking sin, but dealing with it on the cross. The Christian can enter again into right relationship with God, draw near holy God, able to have fellowship with God. Let’s look at a couple of passages from the New Testament that discuss this issue. Let’s turn first to 2 Cor 5:17-19. Paul writes,
17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away;(sin and the old man, who we were in Adam) behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, (this work is from first to last the work of God, His plan, His provision) who reconciled us to Himself (placed us in proper relationship with Himself) through Christ (through the finished work of God on the cross) and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 2 Cor 5:17-19 (the ministry of reconciliation — God reconciling the world to Himself, not counting sin against us since we are now alive in Christ, new creatures.)
Our faith as Christians is in the finished work of Christ, his substitutionary death which He suffered for you (1 Peter 2:21). We must consider and believe and stake our lives on this great truth, that God has truly made provision for our renewed relationship with Him. Paul ends 2 Corinthians with this verse, He (God) made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor 5:21
Our job, as Christians then, is to put our trust in this finished work. As people we trust in many things; we trust that the garbage man is going to come by once a week, we trust our chairs to hold us and that our cars are going to get us to where we are going. As Christians we are to trust that what the Bible says about our relationship with God being restored by the work of God in Christ has indeed taken place.
15But the free gift (Christ’s death for sin) is not like the transgression (Adam’s sin in the garden). For if by the transgression of the one (Adam’s sin) the many died (the whole race of man), much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. 17For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
18So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 19For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. 20The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom 5:15-21.
We enter into this relationship with God as a gift from God by grace alone, by faith in the finished work of Christ. We believe in the adequacy of Christ, God’s perfect sacrifice to redeem us. Paul says in Titus 3:4 that God saves us, not by works of righteousness that we do but by His mercy. We are saved, justified in the sight of God, freed from life in Adam (the sin and death life we are born into, a life of separation from God) by Christ our Savior. As Paul states,
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, (in other words, not by our own efforts) but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration (in biology, the ability to recreate lost or damaged tissues. How much this illustrates the new life of the believer!) and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that being justified by His grace (having been justified: for the believer this is a finished work) we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-6
Hopefully we understand this concept, that we are justified by grace alone, not in anyway by our own goodness. Paul’s words in Galatians make this clear, 16nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, (How then are we justified?) even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. Gal 2:16
This had special meaning to the Jewish Christians to which Paul was addressing this letter. Many of them had spent their lives being good people by obeying the Law. Here Paul states that no man is justified by the Law but by faith in Christ. How does this relate to us as believers? Why does Paul spend so much time emphasizing this truth? From my own experience and from observing other Christians there is a tendency to understand being saved by grace and faith in Christ but, after that point, to attempt the working out of our salvation, the living of our faith by the law, by rules and regulations that we put on ourselves. The problem is that if we leave the Spirit out of the finishing of our faith we will lack the ability to live in newness of life. Paul said we are to be, renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior Titus 3:5,6 It is the Spirit’s work in us that makes us new, that gives us the ability to live godly. We begin our life by the working of the Holy Spirit and we continue by walking in the Spirit, by the enabling of the Spirit of God. So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Gal 5:16 NIV The Spirit of God wants to work the character of God into the fabric of our mortal lives. So we are to be born of the Spirit and now we must walk in the Spirit in newness of life.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Gal 5:23-25
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