1 00:00:00,049 --> 00:00:01,490 Romans four is where we're going. 2 00:00:01,490 --> 00:00:04,790 So this passage is, is really, really. 3 00:00:05,105 --> 00:00:05,675 Interesting. 4 00:00:05,675 --> 00:00:09,814 'cause it, it talks about Abraham and for a lot of us we're like, why in the 5 00:00:09,814 --> 00:00:12,035 world is God talking about Abraham? 6 00:00:12,035 --> 00:00:12,395 Right? 7 00:00:12,545 --> 00:00:15,665 Abraham lived so long ago, I'm not Jewish. 8 00:00:15,665 --> 00:00:17,135 What does it have to do with Abraham? 9 00:00:17,135 --> 00:00:19,474 Why does he have to do with my life? 10 00:00:19,474 --> 00:00:20,525 Why does all that matter? 11 00:00:20,795 --> 00:00:24,754 Well, the, the whole point that this passage is gonna make is that God 12 00:00:24,754 --> 00:00:27,724 has always saved people the same way. 13 00:00:28,325 --> 00:00:31,115 God has always saved people the exact same way from. 14 00:00:31,849 --> 00:00:35,720 The time Adam sinned until you sitting in your seat right now. 15 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,390 God has always saved people the exact same way. 16 00:00:38,420 --> 00:00:39,319 That's our main point tonight. 17 00:00:39,319 --> 00:00:43,670 God has always and only justified people by faith. 18 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,120 Every single person in the whole Old Testament, every single person in 19 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:51,860 the history of the world is only made right with God is only good enough to 20 00:00:51,860 --> 00:00:56,780 go to heaven if they trust God to give them the righteousness that they need. 21 00:00:57,725 --> 00:01:00,665 Every single person is made right with God the same way. 22 00:01:00,845 --> 00:01:04,175 Every single person throughout all of history who's ever gone to heaven 23 00:01:04,265 --> 00:01:05,915 has gotten there the exact same way. 24 00:01:06,125 --> 00:01:10,055 There's only one way to do it, and that is the way we're gonna talk about that 25 00:01:10,055 --> 00:01:13,414 way that we've been talking about tonight. 26 00:01:13,475 --> 00:01:13,775 Okay. 27 00:01:13,775 --> 00:01:16,805 And so the, the whole reason we're talking about Abraham here is that 28 00:01:16,805 --> 00:01:19,775 the, the Jews, the people that Paul's been talking with for a lot of this 29 00:01:19,775 --> 00:01:23,345 letter, they thought that because they were related to Abraham, right? 30 00:01:23,345 --> 00:01:25,595 If you, you know the song Father Abraham had many sons. 31 00:01:25,955 --> 00:01:29,585 And that in the Old Testament was talking about the people of Israel, 32 00:01:29,914 --> 00:01:31,414 the, the ethnic people of Israel. 33 00:01:31,414 --> 00:01:33,965 Those were Abraham's descendants, Abraham's children. 34 00:01:34,324 --> 00:01:35,764 And you see this a lot in the gospels. 35 00:01:35,764 --> 00:01:38,345 You'll see in your small group questions, we'll read a couple passages like that 36 00:01:38,555 --> 00:01:42,275 where people are arguing with Jesus and they're saying, Jesus, we don't, 37 00:01:42,305 --> 00:01:45,845 we don't need what you're offering because we're children of Abraham. 38 00:01:45,905 --> 00:01:46,445 We're good. 39 00:01:47,134 --> 00:01:47,794 We're righteous. 40 00:01:47,794 --> 00:01:48,574 We're gonna go to heaven. 41 00:01:48,574 --> 00:01:51,005 We're part of God's people because we're related to Abraham. 42 00:01:51,574 --> 00:01:55,655 That's the objection that Paul is trying to overcome here. 43 00:01:55,655 --> 00:01:57,035 That's why we're talking about Abraham. 44 00:01:57,035 --> 00:02:00,634 The Jews thought that their association with Abraham is what made them righteous. 45 00:02:00,845 --> 00:02:03,035 And today there's a lot of other things. 46 00:02:03,035 --> 00:02:07,324 Maybe you're not saying, well, I'm, you know, 2% Jewish, so I must be righteous. 47 00:02:07,324 --> 00:02:10,715 But there's other associations that maybe you think you have that make you 48 00:02:10,715 --> 00:02:14,345 righteous or things that you do that you think, that's why I'm gonna go to heaven. 49 00:02:14,495 --> 00:02:16,864 Or things that you know, or things that you believe or people you're 50 00:02:16,864 --> 00:02:18,545 related to and you think that's why. 51 00:02:19,054 --> 00:02:20,075 God accepts me. 52 00:02:20,225 --> 00:02:21,424 That's why I'm a Christian. 53 00:02:21,935 --> 00:02:27,065 But in fact, there's only one thing that gets anyone into heaven, and that is being 54 00:02:27,065 --> 00:02:29,945 made righteous through faith in Jesus. 55 00:02:29,945 --> 00:02:33,035 So open up if you're not there already, to Romans chapter four. 56 00:02:33,035 --> 00:02:34,924 We're gonna start in verse one. 57 00:02:35,704 --> 00:02:38,405 So last week we talked about how faith kills pride, right? 58 00:02:38,405 --> 00:02:41,825 We talked about how faith removes any ground we have for boasting 59 00:02:42,125 --> 00:02:44,554 in ourselves because faith is the admission that I'm not good enough. 60 00:02:45,095 --> 00:02:46,655 God, you have to make me good enough. 61 00:02:46,954 --> 00:02:51,365 So, verse one, what then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our 62 00:02:51,365 --> 00:02:52,954 forefather, according to the flesh. 63 00:02:52,954 --> 00:02:54,515 So Paul's saying, Paul's Jewish, right? 64 00:02:54,515 --> 00:02:56,375 He's saying, look, what about Abraham? 65 00:02:56,585 --> 00:02:56,855 Right? 66 00:02:56,855 --> 00:02:59,735 Abraham is, is supposedly this, this awesome person. 67 00:02:59,735 --> 00:03:01,265 He's, he's this person that God bless. 68 00:03:01,265 --> 00:03:02,015 So what about him? 69 00:03:02,645 --> 00:03:06,485 He says, well, verse two, if Abraham was justified by works, he has 70 00:03:06,485 --> 00:03:07,655 something to boast about, right? 71 00:03:07,655 --> 00:03:12,275 If Abraham was made righteous with God, if Abraham was accepted by God because of 72 00:03:12,335 --> 00:03:14,345 all the great things he did to follow God. 73 00:03:14,690 --> 00:03:15,770 Then he could boast, right? 74 00:03:15,770 --> 00:03:16,760 He could say, well, look at me. 75 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:17,480 I deserve it. 76 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:18,560 I earned this. 77 00:03:18,620 --> 00:03:20,570 I earned this status with God. 78 00:03:21,770 --> 00:03:23,300 But he says that's not the case. 79 00:03:23,300 --> 00:03:25,760 He has something to boast now, but not before God. 80 00:03:26,060 --> 00:03:28,430 Verse three, for what does the scripture say? 81 00:03:28,940 --> 00:03:34,250 Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. 82 00:03:34,430 --> 00:03:38,690 So what Paul is saying is that actually the Old Testament says 83 00:03:38,690 --> 00:03:39,890 the same thing that I'm saying. 84 00:03:40,430 --> 00:03:44,150 The Old Testament says that Abraham was made righteous, not because he was such 85 00:03:44,150 --> 00:03:48,590 a great guy, not because all the things he did for God, but because he believed 86 00:03:48,590 --> 00:03:52,520 God, because he had faith, because he trusted God to give him righteousness. 87 00:03:52,550 --> 00:03:53,780 That's what that word counted means. 88 00:03:54,290 --> 00:03:57,590 It means that you're seen as righteous. 89 00:03:58,699 --> 00:03:59,059 Not. 90 00:03:59,210 --> 00:04:00,889 You actually are righteous. 91 00:04:01,100 --> 00:04:03,319 It's credited to you as righteousness. 92 00:04:03,319 --> 00:04:06,619 He had faith, he trusted God, and that counted as righteousness. 93 00:04:06,679 --> 00:04:10,069 Even though he didn't actually have his own righteousness, that he 94 00:04:10,069 --> 00:04:11,689 could say, God, look at my works. 95 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,929 He couldn't do that, so he had to have faith, and that was 96 00:04:14,929 --> 00:04:16,760 counted him as righteousness. 97 00:04:17,269 --> 00:04:17,990 And then we keep reading. 98 00:04:18,289 --> 00:04:20,480 Now, verse four to the one who works. 99 00:04:20,569 --> 00:04:24,799 His wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due, right? 100 00:04:24,799 --> 00:04:25,755 If you work for something. 101 00:04:26,569 --> 00:04:29,780 You get paid for it, you earn it, you deserve it. 102 00:04:30,199 --> 00:04:35,390 It's due right, but the one who doesn't work but believes in him, 103 00:04:35,390 --> 00:04:38,630 who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. 104 00:04:39,079 --> 00:04:44,299 So you don't work for it, but you get counted, considered as righteous instead. 105 00:04:45,319 --> 00:04:48,635 Remember we talked about a few weeks ago that this was a big problem. 106 00:04:49,505 --> 00:04:51,365 God justifies ungodly people, right? 107 00:04:51,485 --> 00:04:53,044 That God lets sinners into heaven. 108 00:04:53,284 --> 00:04:55,985 God lets people who murder other people into heaven. 109 00:04:56,195 --> 00:04:58,865 God lets people who cheat on their spouse into heaven. 110 00:04:59,075 --> 00:05:01,505 God lets people who cut you off in traffic into heaven. 111 00:05:01,685 --> 00:05:04,054 God lets liars into heaven. 112 00:05:04,085 --> 00:05:04,595 Why? 113 00:05:04,775 --> 00:05:05,105 Why? 114 00:05:05,135 --> 00:05:06,065 Why can he do that? 115 00:05:06,845 --> 00:05:09,664 Because he can make them righteous. 116 00:05:10,355 --> 00:05:11,525 He can treat them as righteous. 117 00:05:11,525 --> 00:05:15,705 If they have faith, they get counted as righteous, even though they're not. 118 00:05:16,730 --> 00:05:18,440 And that's how any of us can get to heaven too. 119 00:05:18,470 --> 00:05:19,730 'cause we're in that same category. 120 00:05:19,730 --> 00:05:23,300 We're in this category, we're all in the ungodly category, right? 121 00:05:23,300 --> 00:05:25,669 That's what we've been talking about through Romans. 122 00:05:25,669 --> 00:05:29,270 But the whole point of, of this first paragraph that we're looking at is 123 00:05:29,270 --> 00:05:33,289 that if you worked for it, you would earn it, but you can't work for it. 124 00:05:33,590 --> 00:05:37,070 It's faith, it's a gift, so you can't earn it. 125 00:05:37,610 --> 00:05:41,510 And so if you're out here trying to, trying to deserve something from God. 126 00:05:42,830 --> 00:05:45,890 Then you're going about your relationship with God the wrong way. 127 00:05:46,220 --> 00:05:49,490 If your relationship with God is based on you doing things for God and getting 128 00:05:49,490 --> 00:05:54,560 things back from him, you're going about living for God the wrong way. 129 00:05:54,650 --> 00:05:58,820 You can't earn anything from God 'cause then God would owe you something 130 00:05:59,570 --> 00:06:01,340 and you can't put God in your debt. 131 00:06:01,460 --> 00:06:01,580 Right. 132 00:06:03,169 --> 00:06:06,770 You can't say, I worked for you, God, and now you owe me this. 133 00:06:06,950 --> 00:06:10,640 Instead, you can only receive gifts from God. 134 00:06:10,850 --> 00:06:11,630 That's what we're getting at. 135 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:12,470 That's our first point. 136 00:06:12,470 --> 00:06:14,990 Don't try to earn righteousness. 137 00:06:16,010 --> 00:06:20,569 Don't try to earn righteousness, right? 138 00:06:20,569 --> 00:06:24,799 You can't work for God and get paid back by being, oh yeah, 139 00:06:24,860 --> 00:06:25,909 you did all these great things. 140 00:06:25,909 --> 00:06:26,240 Great. 141 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:27,169 You deserve to go to heaven. 142 00:06:28,850 --> 00:06:31,280 That's not how you can get into heaven. 143 00:06:32,465 --> 00:06:36,515 You don't read your Bible enough or stop sinning enough or do enough good 144 00:06:36,515 --> 00:06:41,495 things, or go to church enough or read enough Christian books or share 145 00:06:41,495 --> 00:06:45,905 the gospel enough times, none of that earns you righteousness from God. 146 00:06:49,655 --> 00:06:54,275 You can never do anything that would deserve God to, to pay 147 00:06:54,275 --> 00:06:56,135 you for your righteousness. 148 00:06:56,255 --> 00:06:58,985 Remember we talked about the wages of sin is death. 149 00:07:00,260 --> 00:07:04,610 The payment that that we deserve isn't good things for righteousness. 150 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:08,000 It's actually punishment for our sin 'cause we're guilty. 151 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:12,710 The idea of like trying to get God to owe you something, you've probably 152 00:07:12,710 --> 00:07:13,669 never thought about that, right? 153 00:07:13,669 --> 00:07:15,590 You've probably never been like, you know what, I'm gonna do these good 154 00:07:15,590 --> 00:07:18,350 things so that way God can be in my debt and he can owe me something. 155 00:07:18,350 --> 00:07:22,640 But if you wanna think about it in a kind of funny way, trying 156 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:24,725 to get God to owe you something. 157 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:29,210 It's kind of like buying an Amazon gift card for this guy, 158 00:07:31,490 --> 00:07:31,760 right? 159 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:33,500 Imagine that Christmas season's coming up. 160 00:07:33,500 --> 00:07:35,659 You're trying to figure out what to get someone for for Christmas, right? 161 00:07:35,659 --> 00:07:38,480 Imagine if for whatever reason, you know you've got your rich Uncle 162 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:40,010 Jeff, and you're like, what do I get? 163 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:40,580 What do I get? 164 00:07:40,580 --> 00:07:41,194 Uncle Jeff for Christmas. 165 00:07:41,914 --> 00:07:43,114 No idea, right? 166 00:07:43,114 --> 00:07:44,554 He owns everything. 167 00:07:44,974 --> 00:07:45,724 Oh, maybe I'll get him. 168 00:07:45,724 --> 00:07:46,324 I don't know if to get him. 169 00:07:46,324 --> 00:07:47,164 I'm not sure what he likes. 170 00:07:47,375 --> 00:07:48,245 Default, right? 171 00:07:48,245 --> 00:07:49,474 If it's a girl, it's a Target gift card. 172 00:07:49,474 --> 00:07:50,854 If it's a guy, it's Amazon gift card, right? 173 00:07:50,854 --> 00:07:52,564 That's just like the default gift. 174 00:07:52,564 --> 00:07:53,525 I don't know you that well. 175 00:07:53,854 --> 00:07:55,084 Here's what I'm gonna get you, right? 176 00:07:55,924 --> 00:08:00,334 If you got an Amazon gift card for Jeff Bezos, he's probably gonna be 177 00:08:00,364 --> 00:08:05,344 like, like, I appreciate it, but I don't really need this, right? 178 00:08:05,344 --> 00:08:07,265 This, you're not really getting me something. 179 00:08:08,150 --> 00:08:10,339 I kind of own this whole company, right? 180 00:08:10,370 --> 00:08:11,990 Like you're not really getting me anything. 181 00:08:12,709 --> 00:08:16,699 It's kinda like that with God if you're trying to, to do something for God so 182 00:08:16,699 --> 00:08:18,380 that he can like pay you back for it. 183 00:08:20,179 --> 00:08:21,949 Does God need you to do anything for him? 184 00:08:23,270 --> 00:08:23,599 No. 185 00:08:24,709 --> 00:08:27,949 Can you like put God in debt? 186 00:08:27,979 --> 00:08:31,760 The fact that, oh, God would have to like now should give you something. 187 00:08:32,688 --> 00:08:33,049 No. 188 00:08:33,470 --> 00:08:33,860 Right. 189 00:08:34,130 --> 00:08:39,440 You, God doesn't, God doesn't become in your service, right? 190 00:08:39,830 --> 00:08:40,340 Because think about it. 191 00:08:40,340 --> 00:08:43,909 When someone owes you something, you, you're, you're 192 00:08:43,909 --> 00:08:45,470 in position over them, right? 193 00:08:45,470 --> 00:08:48,620 You're saying that, oh, they, they need to give me this. 194 00:08:48,620 --> 00:08:48,830 Right? 195 00:08:48,830 --> 00:08:49,970 They're, they're in my debt. 196 00:08:50,300 --> 00:08:52,820 When like, like you work for your, your job, right? 197 00:08:53,090 --> 00:08:54,980 And you, they need to give you your paycheck. 198 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,940 I remember one of you was telling me you had to try to get your paychecks from 199 00:08:58,940 --> 00:09:00,050 your job 'cause they wouldn't pay you. 200 00:09:01,114 --> 00:09:02,675 I was hearing about this a few weeks ago. 201 00:09:02,944 --> 00:09:04,295 That company is in your debt. 202 00:09:04,324 --> 00:09:05,375 They owe you money. 203 00:09:07,265 --> 00:09:09,035 That's not how your relationship with God works. 204 00:09:09,275 --> 00:09:12,875 You don't say, Hey, God, look, I read my Bible every day this week. 205 00:09:12,875 --> 00:09:14,645 Now you owe me this. 206 00:09:15,875 --> 00:09:19,204 That's not how your relationship with God works, if that's how you're going about 207 00:09:19,204 --> 00:09:24,064 your relationship with God, Paul says, you're living by works, not by faith. 208 00:09:24,785 --> 00:09:29,464 You're trying to earn things from God, and that's not the way God's economy works. 209 00:09:30,995 --> 00:09:34,805 We talked about last week, but faith is receiving, right? 210 00:09:34,805 --> 00:09:36,965 Faith is not working or earning. 211 00:09:37,055 --> 00:09:38,855 Faith isn't a transaction with God. 212 00:09:39,665 --> 00:09:40,145 It's not. 213 00:09:40,145 --> 00:09:40,985 I do faith. 214 00:09:41,045 --> 00:09:42,665 He gives me righteousness. 215 00:09:44,015 --> 00:09:47,765 Faith is the helpless posture of I don't have righteousness. 216 00:09:47,795 --> 00:09:48,665 I'm not good enough. 217 00:09:48,845 --> 00:09:49,925 I can't be good enough. 218 00:09:50,525 --> 00:09:51,905 God, you have to do everything. 219 00:09:52,115 --> 00:09:55,745 And so I'm just trusting you and begging you to do this for me. 220 00:09:56,315 --> 00:09:57,635 There's no leverage going on. 221 00:09:57,635 --> 00:09:58,265 It's not God. 222 00:09:58,265 --> 00:10:00,215 I had faith, so you better come through. 223 00:10:00,965 --> 00:10:02,945 You don't have any leverage in this transaction. 224 00:10:02,945 --> 00:10:05,975 Faith is a complete dependence on God, right? 225 00:10:05,975 --> 00:10:09,065 You don't go into to a negotiation with God and say, well, God, 226 00:10:09,065 --> 00:10:12,005 look, I'm putting my faith in you, so you better do this for me. 227 00:10:12,005 --> 00:10:12,935 Faith isn't a work. 228 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,685 Faith is a posture of dependence. 229 00:10:16,865 --> 00:10:21,875 It's saying, God, I need you, not, I'm trying to get something from you. 230 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:25,369 Right. 231 00:10:25,369 --> 00:10:30,290 We don't, the reason this is hard is because we don't want 232 00:10:30,290 --> 00:10:32,420 to, to need righteousness. 233 00:10:32,900 --> 00:10:35,479 We don't like the idea that I'm not good enough and I need 234 00:10:35,479 --> 00:10:37,310 someone else to help me, right? 235 00:10:37,310 --> 00:10:38,060 Because we're prideful. 236 00:10:38,900 --> 00:10:42,680 And so I think even as a Christian, I know one I was having a conversation 237 00:10:42,680 --> 00:10:46,310 with with someone even a couple of years ago, and I was talking with him 238 00:10:46,310 --> 00:10:50,719 about the fact that I resented the fact that I needed God to forgive me. 239 00:10:51,500 --> 00:10:52,700 I hated being forgiven. 240 00:10:52,700 --> 00:10:54,530 I hated sending, 'cause I hated being forgiven. 241 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:59,600 It wasn't so much about personally offending God, it was actually about me. 242 00:10:59,930 --> 00:11:02,390 I didn't like the fact that God had to forgive me and that 243 00:11:02,390 --> 00:11:03,590 God had to make me righteous. 244 00:11:04,370 --> 00:11:04,610 Right? 245 00:11:04,610 --> 00:11:08,390 That's a really prideful way to approach your life 'cause that's really about 246 00:11:08,390 --> 00:11:10,190 you and it's not about God, right? 247 00:11:10,190 --> 00:11:13,130 You're, you're trying to get God to make you feel better about yourself. 248 00:11:13,940 --> 00:11:14,780 That's what I was doing. 249 00:11:15,620 --> 00:11:16,340 So maybe that's you. 250 00:11:16,340 --> 00:11:19,460 You don't want to need righteousness, and so that's why faith is so hard for you. 251 00:11:20,825 --> 00:11:22,805 Or maybe it's hard 'cause you want to deserve it. 252 00:11:22,925 --> 00:11:25,895 You want to earn it, you want to say, oh yeah, I, I made 253 00:11:25,895 --> 00:11:27,215 it, I did that, I got that. 254 00:11:27,215 --> 00:11:27,605 That's me. 255 00:11:27,665 --> 00:11:28,295 Like, that's mine. 256 00:11:28,385 --> 00:11:30,395 I worked for that and I earned it because it feels good. 257 00:11:30,785 --> 00:11:32,225 It feels good to say, oh yeah, I earned it. 258 00:11:32,915 --> 00:11:34,655 And that's the problem is that faith is the opposite. 259 00:11:34,655 --> 00:11:35,615 Faith is, I didn't earn this. 260 00:11:36,185 --> 00:11:36,995 It's, it's a gift. 261 00:11:36,995 --> 00:11:38,405 It's grace it. 262 00:11:38,405 --> 00:11:39,545 God gave this to me. 263 00:11:40,835 --> 00:11:44,195 I didn't do anything special to make God do this. 264 00:11:45,515 --> 00:11:49,175 That's how faith works, and that's why faith is hard is 265 00:11:49,175 --> 00:11:50,645 because we're naturally prideful. 266 00:11:50,645 --> 00:11:54,395 We naturally want to earn things and we naturally don't want to 267 00:11:54,395 --> 00:11:56,314 admit that we're not good enough. 268 00:11:57,485 --> 00:12:04,175 And so even though the gospel is very simple, it's very hard, right? 269 00:12:04,175 --> 00:12:09,694 Because righteousness is free, but it's hard to get because it requires humility. 270 00:12:10,535 --> 00:12:14,165 You can't have faith without humbling yourself before God. 271 00:12:14,795 --> 00:12:16,175 You need someone else to do it. 272 00:12:16,205 --> 00:12:17,015 That's what faith says. 273 00:12:17,045 --> 00:12:19,445 Faith says, you have to do it, God, not me. 274 00:12:20,165 --> 00:12:20,375 Right? 275 00:12:20,375 --> 00:12:22,535 Faith says, I don't deserve this, but I need this. 276 00:12:22,595 --> 00:12:23,225 I don't need, right. 277 00:12:23,285 --> 00:12:27,935 I don't, I, I don't deserve righteousness, but I need you, God, 278 00:12:27,935 --> 00:12:29,225 to treat me like I'm righteous. 279 00:12:30,095 --> 00:12:32,195 And that's why it's so hard, even though it's so simple. 280 00:12:33,575 --> 00:12:37,130 It's, it's a free gift of righteousness, but it's so hard to receive. 281 00:12:38,390 --> 00:12:43,040 We're naturally wired as prideful people to say, I want to earn it. 282 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:44,180 I don't wanna be gifted. 283 00:12:45,140 --> 00:12:47,300 Or even after you become a Christian, maybe now you're trying 284 00:12:47,300 --> 00:12:48,380 to feel like you've earned it. 285 00:12:50,300 --> 00:12:56,060 So faith and earning are opposed to each other, right? 286 00:12:56,060 --> 00:12:59,990 Faith and deserving are opposed to each other, and that's why, like 287 00:12:59,990 --> 00:13:03,560 we talked about last week, faith and pride are opposed to each 288 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:06,320 other 'cause they, they can't mix. 289 00:13:08,075 --> 00:13:12,485 But in this whole paragraph, it wasn't just Abraham who's 290 00:13:12,485 --> 00:13:13,385 kind of righteous by faith. 291 00:13:13,385 --> 00:13:16,775 Paul also talks about David, and so we'll pick up again in 292 00:13:16,775 --> 00:13:17,825 verse five and we'll keep going. 293 00:13:18,185 --> 00:13:19,535 So verse five again. 294 00:13:19,535 --> 00:13:24,725 So the one who does not work but believes in him, who justifies the ungodly, 295 00:13:24,845 --> 00:13:26,580 his faith is counted as righteousness. 296 00:13:26,675 --> 00:13:29,825 And what Paul's gonna do is gonna say that idea of being counted as righteous. 297 00:13:30,530 --> 00:13:33,709 It's not just something that I made up as a New Testament person, but 298 00:13:33,709 --> 00:13:37,879 it's actually an Old Testament idea, and he goes and he talks about David. 299 00:13:38,180 --> 00:13:42,560 David talks about the blessing of the one to whom God counts 300 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:43,969 righteousness apart from works. 301 00:13:44,150 --> 00:13:47,119 So this idea that God makes people righteous even though they don't 302 00:13:47,119 --> 00:13:50,329 deserve it, not a New Testament idea, it's an Old Testament idea. 303 00:13:50,390 --> 00:13:52,729 And so he quotes Psalm 32. 304 00:13:53,869 --> 00:13:58,969 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. 305 00:14:00,064 --> 00:14:04,235 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin, right? 306 00:14:04,235 --> 00:14:04,715 You see that? 307 00:14:05,165 --> 00:14:08,824 The idea of being counted as righteous, even though you're 308 00:14:08,824 --> 00:14:09,905 sinner, you're a sinner. 309 00:14:10,895 --> 00:14:14,405 David wrote this psalm after he sinned with Bathsheba, right? 310 00:14:14,405 --> 00:14:15,064 You know this story. 311 00:14:15,515 --> 00:14:18,155 David did all these horrible things, right? 312 00:14:18,155 --> 00:14:19,475 He killed someone. 313 00:14:19,745 --> 00:14:25,535 He lied about it, he tried to cover it up, all these things, and he 314 00:14:25,535 --> 00:14:28,444 didn't really get punished for it. 315 00:14:29,855 --> 00:14:31,775 He kind of did, but not really. 316 00:14:32,645 --> 00:14:32,824 Right. 317 00:14:32,824 --> 00:14:34,865 There's a, there's a meme, you know, the meme up, the guy standing, 318 00:14:34,865 --> 00:14:35,915 like, it's the guy with glasses. 319 00:14:35,915 --> 00:14:37,295 He's saying there looking angry at someone. 320 00:14:37,925 --> 00:14:41,314 I don't, I don't have a picture of it, but there's a, there's a meme that's 321 00:14:41,314 --> 00:14:46,295 like when you, when Uriah sees David in heaven, he's gonna be like, for real. 322 00:14:46,385 --> 00:14:49,235 Like seriously, you did that, right. 323 00:14:51,064 --> 00:14:55,444 If you were Uriah, you would be like, man, I don't know if 324 00:14:55,444 --> 00:14:56,175 God should forgive that guy. 325 00:14:57,890 --> 00:15:00,650 You, but David gets forgiven. 326 00:15:01,790 --> 00:15:05,330 He, he doesn't get treated like he's guilty. 327 00:15:06,230 --> 00:15:08,090 David gets to go to heaven. 328 00:15:09,650 --> 00:15:12,230 His deeds, his lawless deeds are forgiven. 329 00:15:12,380 --> 00:15:13,340 His sins are covered. 330 00:15:13,340 --> 00:15:16,310 He's treated like he's not sinful when he stands. 331 00:15:16,310 --> 00:15:20,300 When David stood before God, after he died and was judged, he 332 00:15:20,300 --> 00:15:23,450 was judged as righteous because. 333 00:15:23,825 --> 00:15:28,805 He had faith in Jesus, not because of anything he did. 334 00:15:29,825 --> 00:15:31,715 David didn't work for his righteousness either. 335 00:15:31,745 --> 00:15:33,095 That's what Paul's point is. 336 00:15:33,605 --> 00:15:34,925 Abraham didn't work for his righteousness. 337 00:15:35,015 --> 00:15:36,365 David didn't work for his righteousness. 338 00:15:36,545 --> 00:15:39,365 It was given to them by God. 339 00:15:40,715 --> 00:15:43,415 So there's two things I want you to see here about forgiveness. 340 00:15:43,745 --> 00:15:47,255 I want you to see that it's a gift and I want you to see that it makes you happy. 341 00:15:47,465 --> 00:15:48,245 That's what blessed means. 342 00:15:48,245 --> 00:15:48,515 Okay? 343 00:15:48,605 --> 00:15:53,165 So point to find happiness in the gift of forgiveness. 344 00:15:57,650 --> 00:15:59,869 So, two things I want you to see about forgiveness. 345 00:15:59,869 --> 00:16:00,889 It's a gift, right? 346 00:16:00,889 --> 00:16:02,119 You, you can't deserve it. 347 00:16:02,540 --> 00:16:07,550 You can't earn it, you can't work for it, and it makes you happy. 348 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,800 So let's focus on the, the gift part first, right? 349 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:14,540 Gift related to faith, right? 350 00:16:14,540 --> 00:16:16,909 Faith receives things. 351 00:16:16,939 --> 00:16:18,260 Faith doesn't earn things. 352 00:16:19,970 --> 00:16:22,640 You get forgiveness through faith. 353 00:16:22,700 --> 00:16:24,560 That's how you get God to take away your sin. 354 00:16:24,710 --> 00:16:27,350 You trust him and he covers your sin. 355 00:16:27,620 --> 00:16:28,850 He treats you like it didn't happen. 356 00:16:29,690 --> 00:16:32,990 One of the Psalms says that he puts it behind his back and he 357 00:16:32,990 --> 00:16:33,950 doesn't remember it anymore. 358 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,630 God treats you like you never did any of the things that you've done wrong. 359 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:44,425 That's what forgiveness is, and it's not because of something you did. 360 00:16:45,169 --> 00:16:49,669 It's because it's a gift, and faith is that posture of receiving that 361 00:16:49,669 --> 00:16:54,439 gift, and that's the only way that you can get your sin taken away. 362 00:16:55,189 --> 00:17:00,829 The only way you can get your sin to really actually go away is forgiveness. 363 00:17:01,010 --> 00:17:01,189 Right. 364 00:17:01,189 --> 00:17:02,419 You can't sometimes. 365 00:17:02,419 --> 00:17:02,569 Right. 366 00:17:02,569 --> 00:17:05,030 We rely on time to take away our sin. 367 00:17:05,510 --> 00:17:05,719 Right. 368 00:17:05,719 --> 00:17:08,510 Well, maybe if I just forget about it, maybe if I just wait. 369 00:17:09,650 --> 00:17:11,569 Sometimes even Christians can do this, right? 370 00:17:12,020 --> 00:17:13,700 We can say, oh yeah, I know I sinned. 371 00:17:13,700 --> 00:17:16,819 I don't feel like I can come to God about and talk to him about it right now. 372 00:17:17,450 --> 00:17:18,230 And I feel guilty. 373 00:17:18,230 --> 00:17:21,859 I feel too far from him, so I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna come to come to God. 374 00:17:21,859 --> 00:17:22,880 I'm gonna wait a little bit. 375 00:17:23,660 --> 00:17:26,450 And we kind of wait a few days and then we don't feel as bad, and 376 00:17:26,450 --> 00:17:27,680 now we feel like, oh, I sinned. 377 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:32,150 It's kind of gone away now that a, according to God, your 378 00:17:32,150 --> 00:17:33,650 sin has not gone away, right? 379 00:17:33,650 --> 00:17:36,680 God doesn't forget about your sin until he forgives you. 380 00:17:37,655 --> 00:17:39,514 That's the only way to get rid of it, right? 381 00:17:39,514 --> 00:17:42,185 You can wait weeks, months, years. 382 00:17:42,665 --> 00:17:45,844 That's not going to really deal with your sin, right? 383 00:17:45,844 --> 00:17:48,995 Time doesn't really get rid of your sin. 384 00:17:49,625 --> 00:17:52,564 Only going to God and asking for forgiveness will. 385 00:17:54,125 --> 00:17:59,675 So even as a Christian, if you, if you sinned, go to God, right? 386 00:17:59,675 --> 00:18:03,905 If, if you are really made righteous by Jesus, waiting two days is not gonna 387 00:18:03,905 --> 00:18:05,284 change your acceptance before God. 388 00:18:07,070 --> 00:18:08,210 You don't feel as bad about it. 389 00:18:08,210 --> 00:18:11,149 Sure, but that's, that's on you. 390 00:18:11,270 --> 00:18:16,580 That's that's not because your sin got any better or worse, go to God right away 391 00:18:16,580 --> 00:18:20,360 with your sin because your righteousness doesn't change if it's in Jesus. 392 00:18:21,860 --> 00:18:24,800 So don't rely on time to take away your sin. 393 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:28,040 There's other things that you maybe use to take away your sin. 394 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:28,879 Maybe you try to hide it. 395 00:18:28,879 --> 00:18:29,689 You try to cover it up. 396 00:18:30,020 --> 00:18:31,010 Oh, no one else knows about it. 397 00:18:31,010 --> 00:18:31,399 It's okay. 398 00:18:31,399 --> 00:18:31,909 It's not a big deal. 399 00:18:32,945 --> 00:18:35,945 Maybe you think about you just distract yourself, you hear a 400 00:18:35,945 --> 00:18:38,405 convicting sermon, and you just try to move on with your life. 401 00:18:39,185 --> 00:18:41,795 Play your video games, scroll on your phone, forget about it. 402 00:18:43,685 --> 00:18:44,795 Or maybe you compare. 403 00:18:45,485 --> 00:18:49,025 We talked about this in our small group last night or last week, about how, um, 404 00:18:50,345 --> 00:18:54,785 we make our sin feel not as bad when we look at other people who are worse, right? 405 00:18:54,785 --> 00:18:56,345 We say, oh, well, they're not as bad as that person. 406 00:18:56,345 --> 00:18:58,535 So, and we use that to, to get rid of our sin. 407 00:18:59,435 --> 00:19:00,875 That doesn't really get rid of your sin, right? 408 00:19:00,875 --> 00:19:01,985 It just makes you feel better about it. 409 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:05,629 But when you stand before God, your sins still gonna be there. 410 00:19:06,230 --> 00:19:08,540 The only way you can get your sin taken away is forgiveness. 411 00:19:08,540 --> 00:19:09,620 God has to forgive you. 412 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:14,510 The only way you can do that is by faith, right? 413 00:19:14,570 --> 00:19:16,940 It's really hard to get rid of your sin. 414 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:20,360 The only way you can get rid of your sin is God has to forgive you. 415 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:25,160 Any other way you use is not gonna work, right? 416 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,649 It's kind of like trying to get rid of. 417 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:29,240 Skunk spray. 418 00:19:29,450 --> 00:19:29,780 Right. 419 00:19:30,380 --> 00:19:33,350 Have you ever been sprayed by a skunk or someone you know, or 420 00:19:33,350 --> 00:19:34,700 your dog got sprayed by a skunk? 421 00:19:34,700 --> 00:19:36,020 I served at Women's Retreat. 422 00:19:36,530 --> 00:19:37,640 Um, I was doing tech. 423 00:19:37,820 --> 00:19:39,320 I wasn't like at Women's Retreat. 424 00:19:39,650 --> 00:19:43,250 I was just to be clear, um, no, I was, I was helping with the tech team and, 425 00:19:43,250 --> 00:19:50,810 um, my partner in crime showed up on Saturday morning to help with tech and 426 00:19:50,810 --> 00:19:52,790 that morning his dog got sprayed by Skunk. 427 00:19:53,719 --> 00:19:58,219 He walks into the room and everyone is like, is there a skunk? 428 00:19:59,959 --> 00:20:02,120 And he thought, oh, my dog got sprayed. 429 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:02,749 Not me. 430 00:20:02,780 --> 00:20:03,409 It's okay. 431 00:20:04,399 --> 00:20:05,989 Not, not the case, right? 432 00:20:06,229 --> 00:20:08,179 So literally I felt so bad for him. 433 00:20:08,449 --> 00:20:11,570 Like everyone, as soon as they walk in the room, oh, it smells weird. 434 00:20:11,570 --> 00:20:12,409 Is there a skunk in here? 435 00:20:12,439 --> 00:20:12,679 What? 436 00:20:13,070 --> 00:20:16,699 Like for like probably the first hour of the day everyone's wondering 437 00:20:16,699 --> 00:20:18,469 where the skunk is and it was. 438 00:20:18,860 --> 00:20:22,220 My friend next to me, um, and I got to sat next to him the whole day. 439 00:20:22,370 --> 00:20:23,510 Um, so it was fun. 440 00:20:23,870 --> 00:20:26,990 But people will always tell you, you know, especially at Women's Retreat, right? 441 00:20:26,990 --> 00:20:29,750 There's all these really helpful ladies who will tell you how to 442 00:20:29,750 --> 00:20:31,220 get rid of the skunk smell, right? 443 00:20:31,220 --> 00:20:32,899 All these really helpful people will come up to you and be like, 444 00:20:32,930 --> 00:20:34,430 oh, well have you tried this? 445 00:20:34,430 --> 00:20:37,370 Or, oh, well, when my dog got sprayed by a young, we did this. 446 00:20:37,370 --> 00:20:39,800 And they give you all of these different options, right? 447 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,620 And, you know, you hear about tomato soup or whatever and how 448 00:20:42,620 --> 00:20:44,090 that takes away skunk smell. 449 00:20:44,300 --> 00:20:45,770 I have no idea if that's actually true or not. 450 00:20:46,220 --> 00:20:46,580 Um. 451 00:20:47,495 --> 00:20:53,495 The whole point is that like you could shower, probably 452 00:20:53,495 --> 00:20:54,485 still not gonna go away, right? 453 00:20:54,485 --> 00:20:57,695 You there, there's people will come up to you with all these different options. 454 00:20:57,695 --> 00:20:58,685 How do I get rid of this smell? 455 00:20:58,685 --> 00:20:59,585 How do I get rid of this smell? 456 00:20:59,765 --> 00:21:00,485 What do I do? 457 00:21:02,525 --> 00:21:04,535 It's really hard to get off right? 458 00:21:04,535 --> 00:21:07,835 And if there was one like magic D skunk smell, that would be awesome. 459 00:21:09,035 --> 00:21:14,745 But with sin, there is a sure way to deal with your sin. 460 00:21:15,890 --> 00:21:19,460 Maybe you're out there and you feel so guilty, right? 461 00:21:19,460 --> 00:21:22,340 You, you hate coming to true North because you always feel convicted. 462 00:21:23,090 --> 00:21:27,170 There's that sin that you either just keep going back to you. 463 00:21:27,230 --> 00:21:28,430 Maybe you, maybe you're a Christian. 464 00:21:28,430 --> 00:21:30,290 You, you keep on doing the same sin. 465 00:21:30,290 --> 00:21:32,810 You hate it, you're so guilty about, and you don't wanna tell anyone. 466 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:35,240 You can get rid of your sin. 467 00:21:36,590 --> 00:21:38,150 You have to come to the light. 468 00:21:38,210 --> 00:21:42,830 You have to confess it and humble yourself and say, God, I'm a sinner. 469 00:21:43,399 --> 00:21:45,320 I'm not gonna hide my sin. 470 00:21:45,499 --> 00:21:50,989 I'm gonna come to the light with my sin, and I'm gonna ask you God to take it away. 471 00:21:51,469 --> 00:21:53,509 I can't get rid of it on my own. 472 00:21:53,959 --> 00:21:54,979 I can't cover it up. 473 00:21:55,129 --> 00:21:55,939 I can't hide it. 474 00:21:56,030 --> 00:21:57,350 I can't distract myself from it. 475 00:21:58,129 --> 00:22:01,040 The only way for you to get rid of your sin is to bring it to God and 476 00:22:01,370 --> 00:22:03,080 have him deal with it on the cross. 477 00:22:09,199 --> 00:22:12,379 One of the reasons we don't like that is because it's a gift, right? 478 00:22:15,230 --> 00:22:19,520 Self-righteousness is the enemy of receiving forgiveness because to 479 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:22,399 get forgiven, you have to admit that you need it, and that's why we don't 480 00:22:22,399 --> 00:22:26,360 like it, because to get forgiven, we have to say that I messed up. 481 00:22:26,510 --> 00:22:29,810 I'm a sinner, and you have to, to put it all in black and white. 482 00:22:30,139 --> 00:22:31,220 You can't sugarcoat it. 483 00:22:31,580 --> 00:22:33,649 You can't minimize it. 484 00:22:33,679 --> 00:22:35,000 You have to call it like it is. 485 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:35,870 I'm a sinner. 486 00:22:35,899 --> 00:22:37,010 I deserve God's wrath. 487 00:22:37,159 --> 00:22:38,600 I need forgiveness. 488 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,340 Maybe you just resent the fact that you need forgiveness. 489 00:22:43,340 --> 00:22:46,820 Maybe you were like me a few years ago and you, you don't, you just hate the 490 00:22:46,820 --> 00:22:48,679 fact that you need to be forgiven so much. 491 00:22:50,270 --> 00:22:55,189 That's the sign of a self-righteous heart because you don't like God's grace. 492 00:22:55,550 --> 00:22:57,050 You don't like needing God's grace. 493 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:58,790 You don't like needing God's forgiveness. 494 00:23:00,679 --> 00:23:01,250 One person. 495 00:23:01,895 --> 00:23:03,035 That I was reading this week. 496 00:23:03,215 --> 00:23:05,555 He said, this is a really good quote, so I thought I'd share it with you. 497 00:23:05,825 --> 00:23:10,715 You'll never celebrate grace as much as you should when you think you're 498 00:23:10,715 --> 00:23:12,635 more righteous than you actually are. 499 00:23:13,865 --> 00:23:18,605 You'll never celebrate grace as much as you should when you think you're more 500 00:23:18,605 --> 00:23:22,505 righteous than you actually are, as long as you have an inflated view of how 501 00:23:22,505 --> 00:23:27,095 righteous you are, you'll never enjoy God's forgiveness as much as you should 502 00:23:27,965 --> 00:23:31,085 because you're always gonna deep down not like the fact that you need grace. 503 00:23:31,625 --> 00:23:32,795 That you need forgiveness. 504 00:23:32,945 --> 00:23:35,135 If you have an inflated view of how righteous you are, 505 00:23:37,505 --> 00:23:40,775 your sense of self-righteousness is actually gonna keep you 506 00:23:40,865 --> 00:23:42,245 from enjoying forgiveness 507 00:23:44,675 --> 00:23:48,215 and enjoying forgiveness is, is where I want you to be. 508 00:23:48,215 --> 00:23:51,605 I don't want you to enjoy sending, I want you to enjoy forgiveness. 509 00:23:52,085 --> 00:23:53,675 Forgiveness makes you happy. 510 00:23:53,705 --> 00:23:57,695 Did you see that in our, in our verses, this word blessed, blessed, it comes up 511 00:23:58,025 --> 00:23:59,705 a lot and that just, that means happy. 512 00:23:59,735 --> 00:24:00,095 It means you're. 513 00:24:00,635 --> 00:24:01,175 Joyful. 514 00:24:02,915 --> 00:24:08,495 And the reason forgiveness makes you happy is not just because you're forgiven. 515 00:24:09,005 --> 00:24:13,025 The reason forgiveness makes you happy is because you get God, right? 516 00:24:13,025 --> 00:24:16,775 If you think about this, let's say, um, you and your best 517 00:24:16,775 --> 00:24:18,095 friend get in an argument, right? 518 00:24:18,605 --> 00:24:23,195 And then you guys hate each other for like a day, and you can't say each other. 519 00:24:23,195 --> 00:24:23,885 You don't wanna be around each other. 520 00:24:23,885 --> 00:24:24,755 Like, why am I friends with the person? 521 00:24:24,755 --> 00:24:25,445 This person's the worst. 522 00:24:25,445 --> 00:24:27,245 You hate each other, you can't do it right. 523 00:24:28,790 --> 00:24:30,080 But it stinks, doesn't it? 524 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:31,550 You lost your friend there. 525 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:32,810 You got in an argument. 526 00:24:32,810 --> 00:24:35,000 You've, you're, there's a barrier now, right? 527 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:36,950 There's this, there's this wall. 528 00:24:37,460 --> 00:24:38,570 You can't talk to them. 529 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:40,190 You're going through it. 530 00:24:41,510 --> 00:24:42,770 You need to get them back. 531 00:24:43,610 --> 00:24:44,720 You want your friend back. 532 00:24:45,380 --> 00:24:49,280 And so you go to them and you say, Hey, I'm sorry, messed up. 533 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:50,780 I was a terrible friend. 534 00:24:51,140 --> 00:24:51,950 Please forgive me. 535 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:53,870 And hopefully, right, they're gracious. 536 00:24:53,870 --> 00:24:54,530 They forgive you. 537 00:24:54,530 --> 00:24:54,980 Guess what? 538 00:24:54,980 --> 00:24:55,620 You have your friend back. 539 00:24:57,245 --> 00:24:58,775 That's the point of forgiveness. 540 00:24:59,735 --> 00:25:01,175 It's not, oh, yeah, now I'm forgiven. 541 00:25:01,385 --> 00:25:03,485 The point is, I got this person back. 542 00:25:04,775 --> 00:25:06,425 The point of forgiveness is you get God. 543 00:25:07,685 --> 00:25:10,264 Forgiveness makes you happy because God makes you happy. 544 00:25:11,165 --> 00:25:14,195 God gives you the most amount of joy for the longest amount of time. 545 00:25:14,465 --> 00:25:16,895 That's what Psalm 16, eight says, at your right hand are pleasures 546 00:25:16,895 --> 00:25:21,065 for evermore, God gives you the most happiness for the longest amount of time. 547 00:25:21,365 --> 00:25:22,895 That's why forgiveness is so awesome. 548 00:25:23,195 --> 00:25:24,915 It's not because now you don't have to go to hell. 549 00:25:25,594 --> 00:25:27,905 It's because you get to, you get Jesus. 550 00:25:28,054 --> 00:25:32,885 And Jesus is where your joy, the most joy is. 551 00:25:34,475 --> 00:25:37,385 Jesus will make you happier than anything else, and that's 552 00:25:37,385 --> 00:25:41,405 why forgiveness is so good. 553 00:25:42,155 --> 00:25:43,084 The unforgiveness. 554 00:25:43,084 --> 00:25:46,054 Sin is a happiness killer because it keeps you from God, right? 555 00:25:46,054 --> 00:25:50,135 Even as a Christian, the reason that that we as Christians want to 556 00:25:50,135 --> 00:25:53,254 grow in holiness is because then we get closer fellowship with God. 557 00:25:53,645 --> 00:25:56,675 You get a closer relationship with God, there's less sin in the way, 558 00:25:57,485 --> 00:25:59,945 so you get to enjoy more of God. 559 00:26:01,415 --> 00:26:03,455 That's why forgiveness for Christians, it's such a big deal. 560 00:26:03,455 --> 00:26:06,455 That's why if you're holding onto sin or you're slow to bring your 561 00:26:06,455 --> 00:26:09,905 sin to God, as a Christian, you're actually making yourself less happy. 562 00:26:10,505 --> 00:26:13,595 You're making your life worse by not bringing your sin to God. 563 00:26:16,085 --> 00:26:16,925 So don't hide. 564 00:26:17,165 --> 00:26:17,795 Don't wait. 565 00:26:17,795 --> 00:26:19,355 Don't try to clean yourself up first. 566 00:26:19,355 --> 00:26:21,575 I'm like, well, maybe I've sinned, but once I start 567 00:26:21,575 --> 00:26:22,685 doing better for a little bit. 568 00:26:23,554 --> 00:26:24,544 Then I can come to God. 569 00:26:25,774 --> 00:26:27,125 That's you relying on yourself. 570 00:26:28,355 --> 00:26:29,705 Come to come to Jesus. 571 00:26:29,794 --> 00:26:31,745 He wants to forgive. 572 00:26:31,774 --> 00:26:32,855 He's ready to forgive. 573 00:26:33,905 --> 00:26:40,895 His death is more than enough to pay for your sin, so don't shy away because 574 00:26:40,895 --> 00:26:42,665 you feel like you're not good enough. 575 00:26:42,905 --> 00:26:46,324 Feeling like you're not good enough is the qualification to coming to Jesus. 576 00:26:47,495 --> 00:26:49,774 If you don't feel like you're good enough to come, that's right where you should 577 00:26:49,774 --> 00:26:51,909 be because that's when you should come. 578 00:26:53,150 --> 00:26:57,260 If you feel like, oh, I deserve this, then you're not ready to come to Jesus yet. 579 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:00,770 But once you feel like, oh, I don't deserve this, that's when you're ready. 580 00:27:03,230 --> 00:27:08,570 So Paul has been establishing that God has always made people righteous by faith. 581 00:27:08,570 --> 00:27:08,720 Right? 582 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:09,410 We talked about Abraham. 583 00:27:09,590 --> 00:27:14,090 We talked about David, but one objection that might come up in the Old 584 00:27:14,090 --> 00:27:17,480 Testament is if you were going to follow Yahweh, you needed to join his people. 585 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:17,660 Right? 586 00:27:17,660 --> 00:27:21,230 In the Old Testament, you think of, um, their conquering the Promised Lamb. 587 00:27:22,130 --> 00:27:23,840 There's Rahab, the Spy, right? 588 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:28,430 She's from the, um, people in, she's from the, you know, all the, its right. 589 00:27:28,430 --> 00:27:30,920 The Canaanites and the Moabites and the Ammonites and all those, 590 00:27:30,980 --> 00:27:33,650 all the, its, she's one of the, its, she's not an Israelite, right? 591 00:27:33,650 --> 00:27:34,220 She's the other. 592 00:27:34,220 --> 00:27:37,760 Its, and so she has to become part of God's people. 593 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:38,030 Now. 594 00:27:38,390 --> 00:27:40,520 She can't just, it's like, oh yeah, I follow Yahweh, but I'm 595 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:41,930 gonna go do my own thing over here. 596 00:27:42,290 --> 00:27:43,970 She has to become part of God's people. 597 00:27:43,970 --> 00:27:47,150 That's what you did in the Old Testament, and the only way to do 598 00:27:47,150 --> 00:27:50,000 that was to become an Israelite and then start obeying the laws, right? 599 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:50,450 And do all the. 600 00:27:51,139 --> 00:27:54,439 The don't eat this kind of seafood and, and don't eat this animal 601 00:27:54,439 --> 00:27:55,730 with a split hoof and whatever. 602 00:27:55,730 --> 00:27:56,570 You know, all that stuff, right? 603 00:27:56,750 --> 00:27:58,010 That's what you had to do to follow God. 604 00:27:58,010 --> 00:27:59,629 That's what it looked like in the Old Testament. 605 00:27:59,629 --> 00:28:01,250 You had to become part of God's people. 606 00:28:01,399 --> 00:28:03,950 And one of those things, one of those marks of being part of 607 00:28:03,950 --> 00:28:06,110 God's people was circumcision. 608 00:28:06,110 --> 00:28:08,929 And that's why it was such a big deal in the Old Testament and the New Testament. 609 00:28:09,350 --> 00:28:10,939 That's why it comes up so much. 610 00:28:10,939 --> 00:28:12,230 You're like, what's the big deal about this thing? 611 00:28:12,679 --> 00:28:15,050 The whole reason is it was like the marker of God's people. 612 00:28:15,050 --> 00:28:18,294 Kinda like how baptism in the New Testament is the marker of a Christian. 613 00:28:18,905 --> 00:28:21,995 That's, that's how you know someone's a Christian, is they got baptized. 614 00:28:21,995 --> 00:28:23,225 That's their public announcement. 615 00:28:23,555 --> 00:28:24,065 I'm a Christian. 616 00:28:25,295 --> 00:28:27,785 That marker in the Old Testament was circumcision. 617 00:28:27,785 --> 00:28:31,865 So that's why Paul is talking about circumcision here in verse nine. 618 00:28:31,865 --> 00:28:34,685 It's this sign that said, I'm part of God's people. 619 00:28:34,775 --> 00:28:38,465 Okay, so that's to set all this up. 620 00:28:38,465 --> 00:28:40,805 So verse nine is this blessing, right? 621 00:28:40,805 --> 00:28:41,285 Forgiveness. 622 00:28:41,689 --> 00:28:45,379 Is that only for the circumcised, or is it also for the uncircumcised? 623 00:28:45,620 --> 00:28:49,070 Is it only for the people who are visibly associated with God's 624 00:28:49,070 --> 00:28:51,439 people, or is it also for anyone? 625 00:28:52,820 --> 00:28:57,530 Well, faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness, but what someone 626 00:28:57,530 --> 00:29:00,470 might say is, well, that's because Abraham had this promise from God. 627 00:29:00,470 --> 00:29:01,550 He was part of God's people. 628 00:29:01,730 --> 00:29:04,730 And Abraham, that's, that's the first time that, that this 629 00:29:04,730 --> 00:29:06,500 marker was given was to Abraham. 630 00:29:07,834 --> 00:29:08,314 Verse 10. 631 00:29:08,465 --> 00:29:09,455 How then was it count him? 632 00:29:09,455 --> 00:29:11,675 Was it before or after he was circumcised? 633 00:29:11,885 --> 00:29:13,264 It was not after. 634 00:29:14,135 --> 00:29:19,655 So faith Abraham was made righteous by faith before he was visibly 635 00:29:19,655 --> 00:29:21,935 part of God's people, right? 636 00:29:21,935 --> 00:29:26,584 It's kind of like today you trust Jesus and then you get baptized, right? 637 00:29:26,584 --> 00:29:28,955 We ize people who are already part of God's people. 638 00:29:28,955 --> 00:29:31,955 By faith, we don't baptize you, and then you can become 639 00:29:31,955 --> 00:29:33,695 part of God's people, right? 640 00:29:33,695 --> 00:29:35,014 You get baptized and then. 641 00:29:36,095 --> 00:29:39,155 That's after you've already become part of God's people. 642 00:29:40,895 --> 00:29:46,145 So verse 11, Abraham received the sign as a seal of the righteousness that he had 643 00:29:46,145 --> 00:29:48,575 by faith while he was still uncircumcised. 644 00:29:48,995 --> 00:29:53,825 So the big picture here is that Abraham had faith before 645 00:29:53,915 --> 00:29:55,445 the signs of faith showed up. 646 00:29:56,885 --> 00:30:01,925 Abraham had internal trust in God before the external things happened. 647 00:30:02,810 --> 00:30:05,720 And what a lot of these Jews are doing in this that Paul's talking 648 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:09,440 to is they're saying, well, I have the outward signs, so that must mean 649 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:10,850 that inwardly I'm right with God. 650 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:16,430 It'd be like, today you talk to maybe someone and they'll say, well, I was 651 00:30:16,430 --> 00:30:18,050 baptized, so I know I'm a Christian. 652 00:30:20,150 --> 00:30:21,380 That's backward, right? 653 00:30:21,410 --> 00:30:23,210 You become a Christian, then you get baptized. 654 00:30:24,020 --> 00:30:27,260 The baptism, the sign doesn't make you a Christian. 655 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,620 What makes you a Christian is the internal faith. 656 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:32,600 Then the signs come after. 657 00:30:32,660 --> 00:30:35,630 And so this confusion is what I want you guys to avoid too. 658 00:30:35,660 --> 00:30:35,840 Okay. 659 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:36,560 So point number three. 660 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,680 Don't confuse faith with signs of faith. 661 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:45,380 Don't confuse faith with signs of faith. 662 00:30:47,390 --> 00:30:51,320 So the people that Paul's writing to, they thought that because they 663 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:56,060 had the outward signs of being in a relationship with God, that meant that 664 00:30:56,090 --> 00:30:58,790 they definitely were in on the inside. 665 00:30:59,915 --> 00:31:00,815 They were going backward. 666 00:31:01,115 --> 00:31:04,295 They were going outside in, not inside out. 667 00:31:06,905 --> 00:31:10,715 So they confused the outward signs of being part of God's people with 668 00:31:10,715 --> 00:31:14,675 what actually makes someone part of God's people, which is faith. 669 00:31:16,205 --> 00:31:19,835 They'd be like saying, well, I go to church, so it must mean I'm a Christian, 670 00:31:20,615 --> 00:31:25,355 or I read the Bible so it must mean I'm a Christian, or I know that I know 671 00:31:25,355 --> 00:31:27,005 who Jesus is, so I must be a Christian. 672 00:31:27,005 --> 00:31:27,185 Right. 673 00:31:27,185 --> 00:31:28,175 Those are all. 674 00:31:28,730 --> 00:31:32,750 Good signs, but they don't actually necessarily mean that you 675 00:31:32,750 --> 00:31:35,720 definitely are a Christian, because if you don't have faith, you can 676 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:36,620 still do all those things, right? 677 00:31:36,620 --> 00:31:38,960 There's people who don't have faith that go to church. 678 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:40,640 There's people that don't have faith that get baptized. 679 00:31:40,910 --> 00:31:43,610 There's people that don't have faith that read their Bible, right? 680 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:47,660 So don't confuse faith with signs of faith. 681 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:51,290 The signs of faith aren't 682 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:54,860 the cause of justification. 683 00:31:55,370 --> 00:31:57,680 Faith is, it's kind of like when you have. 684 00:31:58,024 --> 00:32:00,365 You know, when you're sick and you Google the symptoms, figure out what 685 00:32:00,365 --> 00:32:01,715 you have, and it's always cancer. 686 00:32:01,865 --> 00:32:07,415 Like every single time you're like, oh, I have, you know, a fever and I 687 00:32:07,415 --> 00:32:09,574 have a swollen like thing on my neck. 688 00:32:10,115 --> 00:32:10,895 Cancer, right. 689 00:32:10,895 --> 00:32:11,615 Definitely cancer. 690 00:32:11,855 --> 00:32:13,804 Or you go, you know, every time you're sick you Google 691 00:32:13,804 --> 00:32:14,885 like three different symptoms. 692 00:32:15,665 --> 00:32:18,034 You go like WebMD, oh, it could be cancer. 693 00:32:18,304 --> 00:32:18,754 Thanks. 694 00:32:19,054 --> 00:32:22,955 So just because you have the symptoms of that thing. 695 00:32:23,284 --> 00:32:24,784 It doesn't mean you have that thing, right? 696 00:32:24,784 --> 00:32:27,695 Just because you have the symptoms of cancer doesn't mean you have cancer. 697 00:32:27,695 --> 00:32:30,844 Just 'cause you Google your symptoms and you have these three symptoms, 698 00:32:31,445 --> 00:32:35,824 oh, those are symptoms of this super rare disease that only 0.0%, 699 00:32:36,124 --> 00:32:37,715 zero 1% of the world has. 700 00:32:38,104 --> 00:32:40,415 Well, you have those three symptoms, so that's you, right? 701 00:32:42,245 --> 00:32:45,665 Just because you have the symptoms doesn't mean you have the disease. 702 00:32:45,754 --> 00:32:48,574 And I think especially in, in a church like this. 703 00:32:49,175 --> 00:32:52,895 There's a lot of people who have symptoms of Christianity without real 704 00:32:52,895 --> 00:32:59,254 Christianity because you grew up doing the things or your friends do the things. 705 00:33:00,605 --> 00:33:05,285 So what I want you to to make sure is just because you see people with symptoms 706 00:33:06,035 --> 00:33:08,045 doesn't mean they have the disease, right? 707 00:33:08,045 --> 00:33:10,835 Just because you have the symptoms of Christianity doesn't mean 708 00:33:10,835 --> 00:33:12,695 you have the disease of faith. 709 00:33:14,435 --> 00:33:15,720 I don't want you to be confused about that. 710 00:33:17,105 --> 00:33:20,254 Just because you're associated with Christian parents, just because you come 711 00:33:20,254 --> 00:33:24,215 from a Christian family, just because you read the Bible, just because you know 712 00:33:24,215 --> 00:33:29,705 the gospel, just because you like church, just because your friends are Christian, 713 00:33:29,705 --> 00:33:31,175 just because you don't say bad words. 714 00:33:32,495 --> 00:33:37,055 Those are all things that are symptoms of, of faith, but they aren't faith itself. 715 00:33:38,465 --> 00:33:42,004 Maybe you even know you're a Christian. 716 00:33:44,195 --> 00:33:45,274 Does that mean you're a Christian? 717 00:33:45,304 --> 00:33:46,595 Not necessarily right? 718 00:33:47,135 --> 00:33:51,244 Maybe you have emotions about being a Christian, right? 719 00:33:51,244 --> 00:33:56,825 You, you had an experience at at camp or you, um, get really sad 720 00:33:56,825 --> 00:34:00,965 about your sin doesn't necessarily mean that you're a Christian, right? 721 00:34:00,965 --> 00:34:06,244 The symptoms are different than the actual disease, so don't put your 722 00:34:06,244 --> 00:34:08,165 faith in the signs of your faith. 723 00:34:09,199 --> 00:34:11,449 Don't put your faith in the symptoms of Christianity. 724 00:34:11,449 --> 00:34:12,650 Put your faith in Jesus. 725 00:34:13,699 --> 00:34:16,310 Jesus is who the one who takes your sin away. 726 00:34:16,489 --> 00:34:18,770 Jesus is the one who gives you righteousness. 727 00:34:19,070 --> 00:34:22,760 So don't put your faith in your signs of Christianity. 728 00:34:22,790 --> 00:34:26,360 Put your faith in the Christ of Christianity. 729 00:34:27,739 --> 00:34:29,870 It's easy to, when you share your testimony, when you 730 00:34:29,870 --> 00:34:30,739 think, why am I Christian? 731 00:34:30,739 --> 00:34:31,520 You're doubting your salvation. 732 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:34,040 You turn immediately to, well, look at all the things I've done. 733 00:34:34,070 --> 00:34:35,420 Look at my spiritual resume. 734 00:34:37,114 --> 00:34:41,284 That thing that your spiritual resume is, is not where you wanna put your trust. 735 00:34:42,275 --> 00:34:43,565 You wanna put your trust in Jesus. 736 00:34:43,594 --> 00:34:45,485 'cause his righteousness never changes. 737 00:34:45,815 --> 00:34:47,824 Yours goes up and down, right? 738 00:34:47,824 --> 00:34:48,784 Sometimes throughout the day. 739 00:34:49,054 --> 00:34:52,264 Maybe you wake up at 8:00 AM and you just read your Bible and you feel great, and 740 00:34:52,264 --> 00:34:54,949 then by the time it's 2:00 PM and you've been around all these people at school who 741 00:34:54,949 --> 00:34:59,885 make all these bad jokes and say all these bad words, your own righteousness, even 742 00:34:59,890 --> 00:35:01,805 in in a day can go up and down, right? 743 00:35:01,955 --> 00:35:03,245 But Jesus righteousness never changes. 744 00:35:05,300 --> 00:35:06,980 And also don't put your faith in your faith. 745 00:35:08,570 --> 00:35:12,620 Your faith isn't your, the, your faith is only as good as 746 00:35:12,620 --> 00:35:13,580 what you put your faith in. 747 00:35:14,540 --> 00:35:16,190 So don't put your faith in your faith. 748 00:35:16,340 --> 00:35:19,010 Put your faith in Jesus, right? 749 00:35:19,010 --> 00:35:24,170 The, the point of of faith is who you're trusting in, not how much faith you have. 750 00:35:24,860 --> 00:35:26,180 So don't put your faith in your faith. 751 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:28,610 Put your faith in Jesus. 752 00:35:29,210 --> 00:35:31,100 Let's pray and we'll go to small groups. 753 00:35:33,230 --> 00:35:40,250 God, we are so thankful that you make it so simple for us. 754 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:42,500 We come to you in faith. 755 00:35:43,340 --> 00:35:45,650 We admit that we don't measure up. 756 00:35:45,830 --> 00:35:46,520 We need you. 757 00:35:46,820 --> 00:35:47,810 We're helpless without you, 758 00:35:49,910 --> 00:35:52,070 and we trust you, and you give us righteousness. 759 00:35:52,070 --> 00:35:53,240 You give us forgiveness. 760 00:35:53,510 --> 00:35:54,530 You give us yourself. 761 00:35:55,310 --> 00:35:58,670 And so we're grateful that we don't have to do all these crazy things 762 00:35:58,670 --> 00:36:01,130 to to be in a relationship with you. 763 00:36:01,490 --> 00:36:04,280 We don't have to be super smart. 764 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:06,920 We don't have to know the Bible perfectly. 765 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:13,040 We don't have to live perfectly, but we can be confident that we have a 766 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:15,830 relationship with you if we trust Jesus. 767 00:36:15,830 --> 00:36:19,160 So I pray that you help all of us to trust Jesus more. 768 00:36:19,370 --> 00:36:23,150 Just like that song we sang on Sunday, it's so good to trust you. 769 00:36:23,900 --> 00:36:25,370 Life is so much better when we trust you. 770 00:36:25,940 --> 00:36:28,430 So I pray that you give all of us greater faith in you. 771 00:36:29,315 --> 00:36:33,425 And I pray specifically for people who are relying on themselves, that you would show 772 00:36:33,425 --> 00:36:41,645 them that they're unreliable, that they are, um, not a, a good place to put their 773 00:36:41,645 --> 00:36:47,045 faith, but rather that you are a rock, a fortress, you are strong and trustworthy. 774 00:36:47,315 --> 00:36:48,395 We pray all this in Jesus' name. 775 00:36:48,815 --> 00:36:49,115 Amen.