1 00:00:00,049 --> 00:00:05,744 Speaker: All right, we're finishing Romans three, Romans 3 27 to 31. 2 00:00:07,235 --> 00:00:10,595 Romans 3 27 to 31. 3 00:00:10,805 --> 00:00:19,355 So, um, one of the things that I didn't like about math in high school was 4 00:00:19,355 --> 00:00:25,235 that math, um, you think you're like done with a math class, but really 5 00:00:25,235 --> 00:00:26,885 you're not done with that math class. 6 00:00:26,945 --> 00:00:27,605 You know what I mean? 7 00:00:28,025 --> 00:00:31,535 Because the next year you're gonna be using everything you learned from that 8 00:00:31,535 --> 00:00:33,545 math class in the next math class, right? 9 00:00:33,545 --> 00:00:35,855 You like, oh, geometry was the worst. 10 00:00:36,215 --> 00:00:40,804 Then you're like, oh, wait, now I'm doing, you know, trigonometry or Algebra two or 11 00:00:40,804 --> 00:00:44,795 Pre-Calc, and you're like, this is all the stuff from geometry, just harder. 12 00:00:45,215 --> 00:00:47,435 Or then you do algebra two and you're like, I thought I was done with algebra. 13 00:00:47,435 --> 00:00:48,994 I took Algebra one, I was algebra two. 14 00:00:49,144 --> 00:00:51,605 And then you learn about all these different functions and all this stuff. 15 00:00:51,605 --> 00:00:53,915 And then, and then you do more and you're like, oh wait, 16 00:00:54,005 --> 00:00:55,475 this is actually preparing me. 17 00:00:55,715 --> 00:00:59,459 And then if you're, if you're lucky, you get to calculus and you're like, oh man. 18 00:01:00,500 --> 00:01:05,030 This is just everything I've ever learned in math, but on steroids and way harder, 19 00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:06,650 and it all builds on itself, right? 20 00:01:06,650 --> 00:01:12,020 And if you're thinking, oh, once I just passed this unit test, right, once I just 21 00:01:12,020 --> 00:01:16,580 passed the the sign, co-sign, tangent test, or once I just passed the test 22 00:01:16,580 --> 00:01:22,190 on Hyperbola, or once I just passed the test on on the Y axis, then I'll be 23 00:01:22,190 --> 00:01:23,420 done with it and I can just put it away. 24 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,050 You unfortunately are sorely mistaken, right? 25 00:01:27,050 --> 00:01:29,600 If you think you can just take your math knowledge, put it in a 26 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,330 box and forget about it for the rest of your school career, I'm 27 00:01:32,330 --> 00:01:34,789 sorry, that's not the case, right? 28 00:01:34,789 --> 00:01:37,759 You don't just get to pass the test and then forget about it. 29 00:01:37,759 --> 00:01:41,240 You have to use it for the rest of your school career, right? 30 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:43,310 The rest of your math, and you probably didn't wanna hear a sermon 31 00:01:43,550 --> 00:01:45,740 starting with a math illustration. 32 00:01:46,070 --> 00:01:49,670 But the point is that you can't just put your math knowledge 33 00:01:50,900 --> 00:01:52,490 into a box and forget about it. 34 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:53,660 And I think sometimes. 35 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:54,950 Christianity. 36 00:01:54,950 --> 00:01:56,330 We think that's how faith works. 37 00:01:56,660 --> 00:02:00,320 We think faith, well, I use it to become a Christian and I trust Jesus and I get 38 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:04,280 saved and then I put it in a box and I, and I move on, and I just go and, and then 39 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,000 I do the rest of my Christian life by, you know, reading the Bible and praying 40 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,699 and obeying God, and, and listening to sermons and doing these things. 41 00:02:11,060 --> 00:02:15,560 And we, we kind of think we can just put, do our, pass our faith test to 42 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:16,970 get saved and then forget about it. 43 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,390 And that's actually not the case with the Christian life. 44 00:02:20,420 --> 00:02:21,980 Faith isn't just something you do once. 45 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:23,000 To get saved. 46 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:29,060 Faith is the ongoing lifestyle of the Christian life, and so in our 47 00:02:29,060 --> 00:02:31,880 passage tonight, we're gonna see that faith makes both salvation 48 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,079 and obedience about God, not us. 49 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:42,050 Faith is the ongoing posture of the Christian for the rest of the Christian 50 00:02:42,050 --> 00:02:44,540 life, not just to get you justified. 51 00:02:44,750 --> 00:02:44,900 Right? 52 00:02:44,900 --> 00:02:46,730 We talked a lot about justification by faith. 53 00:02:47,645 --> 00:02:51,815 Right, that we're made right with God by trusting Jesus' work on the 54 00:02:51,815 --> 00:02:55,265 cross to take away our sin, to give us righteousness, and that he rose from the 55 00:02:55,265 --> 00:02:57,155 dead to give us hope for life forever. 56 00:02:57,515 --> 00:03:04,145 That's what we trust in to be justified, but also we keep on exercising that faith. 57 00:03:04,145 --> 00:03:09,455 We keep on trusting God as a Christian for the rest of your Christian life. 58 00:03:11,195 --> 00:03:11,435 So. 59 00:03:12,605 --> 00:03:13,655 There's two things here, right? 60 00:03:13,655 --> 00:03:16,535 You see, faith makes both salvation and obedience about God, not us. 61 00:03:16,535 --> 00:03:18,215 So art sermon is, it's gonna be really simple. 62 00:03:18,454 --> 00:03:21,245 The first thing is gonna be how does faith make salvation about God? 63 00:03:21,425 --> 00:03:24,215 And then the second thing is, how does faith make obedience about God? 64 00:03:24,275 --> 00:03:25,265 So super simple. 65 00:03:25,415 --> 00:03:28,565 So our first, for our first point, how does S, how does 66 00:03:28,565 --> 00:03:30,575 faith make salvation about God? 67 00:03:30,575 --> 00:03:35,585 Well, simple, simply put, faith completely relies on Jesus to make us right with God. 68 00:03:35,765 --> 00:03:37,505 And hopefully you got that last week right? 69 00:03:37,655 --> 00:03:39,275 Faith completely relies on Jesus. 70 00:03:39,605 --> 00:03:41,885 To make us right with God, not anything else We've talked about 71 00:03:41,885 --> 00:03:43,385 throughout the book of Romans, right? 72 00:03:43,505 --> 00:03:46,745 There's, there's nothing else that we can rely on to make us right with God. 73 00:03:47,225 --> 00:03:50,915 We, when we saw in the, in the context, we talked about how the Jews would 74 00:03:50,915 --> 00:03:54,245 rely on their Jewishness or their outward religious signs to make them 75 00:03:54,245 --> 00:03:56,885 right with God, and we said that, that that's not gonna work, right? 76 00:03:56,885 --> 00:04:01,085 Just like going to church or being baptized or doing the church things or 77 00:04:01,085 --> 00:04:04,865 having Christian parents, that doesn't make us right with God in the same way. 78 00:04:04,865 --> 00:04:06,635 We, that's not what we rely on. 79 00:04:07,535 --> 00:04:08,465 So faith. 80 00:04:09,274 --> 00:04:11,615 We have to rely on Jesus to do that. 81 00:04:11,885 --> 00:04:15,935 So for our first point tonight, make salvation all about Jesus. 82 00:04:16,685 --> 00:04:19,204 Make salvation all about Jesus. 83 00:04:21,995 --> 00:04:25,775 And once you've got that down, look with me at verse 27. 84 00:04:25,895 --> 00:04:29,284 We're gonna get into our passage and see how it makes salvation 85 00:04:29,284 --> 00:04:31,474 all about Jesus and not about us. 86 00:04:31,474 --> 00:04:31,805 Okay? 87 00:04:35,765 --> 00:04:36,125 Alright. 88 00:04:36,530 --> 00:04:37,670 Verse 27. 89 00:04:37,700 --> 00:04:41,030 So we just talked about how God makes us righteous through Jesus. 90 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,090 God uses Jesus to make us righteous, not us. 91 00:04:44,270 --> 00:04:49,190 So then verse 27, Paul asks the question, what becomes of our boasting? 92 00:04:49,370 --> 00:04:49,970 Now that's weird. 93 00:04:49,970 --> 00:04:50,810 Why is he talking about boasting? 94 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:51,380 Well, let's see. 95 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:53,090 He says it's excluded. 96 00:04:53,210 --> 00:04:54,110 It's shut out. 97 00:04:54,710 --> 00:04:58,280 That's that what that word means by what kind of law or what kind 98 00:04:58,280 --> 00:04:59,510 of like, how does that work? 99 00:04:59,570 --> 00:05:01,160 How does faith shut out? 100 00:05:02,015 --> 00:05:02,465 Boasting. 101 00:05:02,495 --> 00:05:03,995 Is it by the law of works? 102 00:05:03,995 --> 00:05:04,385 No. 103 00:05:04,385 --> 00:05:10,295 It's by the law of faith for we hold that someone is justified by 104 00:05:10,295 --> 00:05:11,945 faith apart from works of the law. 105 00:05:12,695 --> 00:05:16,595 So what Paul's saying here is, well then if, if we're justified by faith, 106 00:05:17,045 --> 00:05:19,025 can we take credit for anything? 107 00:05:19,145 --> 00:05:19,355 Right? 108 00:05:19,355 --> 00:05:21,485 When you're boasting about something, you're, you're, what you're doing 109 00:05:21,485 --> 00:05:22,385 is you're saying, look at me. 110 00:05:23,765 --> 00:05:26,285 Do we have any right to draw attention to ourselves? 111 00:05:26,435 --> 00:05:27,485 If we're justified by faith? 112 00:05:28,220 --> 00:05:29,060 No, not at all. 113 00:05:29,090 --> 00:05:29,780 It's shut out. 114 00:05:29,780 --> 00:05:32,420 It's like we, we took all of the credit that you think you deserve 115 00:05:32,510 --> 00:05:33,740 and we locked it outta the room. 116 00:05:33,740 --> 00:05:37,550 When we talked about justification by faith, and it's 117 00:05:37,790 --> 00:05:38,900 not because of works, right? 118 00:05:38,900 --> 00:05:39,920 It's because of faith. 119 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,260 Faith is what excludes. 120 00:05:42,260 --> 00:05:44,210 Boasting not works, right? 121 00:05:44,210 --> 00:05:46,790 Because if, if you worked for just salvation, you could say, 122 00:05:46,790 --> 00:05:48,260 yeah, I deserve credit for it. 123 00:05:48,770 --> 00:05:48,950 Right? 124 00:05:48,950 --> 00:05:52,610 If you contributed even 5% of your, your salvation, you 125 00:05:52,610 --> 00:05:54,530 deserve 5% of the credit, right? 126 00:05:55,070 --> 00:05:59,000 If you, right, if you're, let's say you have a friend who's, who's an LDS, right? 127 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,710 A Mormon and, and their salvation, how they think it works is 128 00:06:04,130 --> 00:06:07,820 you do your part and then God makes up the difference, right? 129 00:06:07,820 --> 00:06:11,000 You do your best and God takes care of the rest, so they get credit 130 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,610 for what they did, and then God makes up the difference, right? 131 00:06:13,610 --> 00:06:17,360 If the, if they got 60% of the way there, then God makes 132 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:19,700 up the 40% and that's great. 133 00:06:20,630 --> 00:06:22,580 That's not what the Bible teaches. 134 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:27,170 The Bible teaches that you did 0% of the work, so you get 0% of the credit. 135 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,200 That's because of faith, right? 136 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:31,910 If it was by works, you could boast. 137 00:06:32,330 --> 00:06:33,650 You could say, well, look what I did. 138 00:06:33,980 --> 00:06:35,420 Look what I contributed to this. 139 00:06:35,810 --> 00:06:38,240 Maybe I didn't do all of it, but I did some of it. 140 00:06:39,230 --> 00:06:41,480 So faith is what eliminates boasting. 141 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,210 Faith is the opposite of boasting. 142 00:06:45,230 --> 00:06:47,599 That's what these verses are telling us because. 143 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,489 Faith is depending on someone else, right? 144 00:06:53,389 --> 00:06:56,779 Faith is the admission of inadequacy. 145 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,320 To have faith in Jesus to depend on Jesus. 146 00:07:01,099 --> 00:07:06,769 You can't say, well, I helped by trusting Jesus. 147 00:07:06,769 --> 00:07:08,479 You're, you're admitting that I'm not good enough. 148 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:13,399 The act of trusting Jesus is admitting that you don't measure up. 149 00:07:14,690 --> 00:07:15,349 And so. 150 00:07:16,670 --> 00:07:22,010 When you think about even where faith has to come from, right? 151 00:07:22,010 --> 00:07:25,400 It has to come from the fact that, oh, I don't deserve salvation and I 152 00:07:25,490 --> 00:07:27,650 can't do anything about it, right? 153 00:07:27,650 --> 00:07:29,750 It's the, it's the admission of helplessness. 154 00:07:30,260 --> 00:07:32,990 Even think about the way that the Bible talks about Christians 155 00:07:33,470 --> 00:07:34,940 before they became Christians. 156 00:07:35,210 --> 00:07:36,409 What are some of the words, right? 157 00:07:36,409 --> 00:07:39,590 You think, uh, we were dead in our sin, right? 158 00:07:39,590 --> 00:07:41,659 That's a very helpless person, right? 159 00:07:41,659 --> 00:07:45,005 Dead people can't do anything to make themselves alive, or you think about. 160 00:07:45,710 --> 00:07:47,690 We're blind, right? 161 00:07:48,230 --> 00:07:51,290 We're, we're unable to see there's inability there. 162 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:55,670 Or you think about being slaves to sin, right? 163 00:07:55,670 --> 00:07:58,460 That's, we, you can't do anything about it, right? 164 00:07:58,460 --> 00:08:00,560 A slave couldn't free themselves. 165 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:06,110 Or you think about the idea of having a, a heart of stone and needing it 166 00:08:06,110 --> 00:08:07,610 to be changed to a heart of flesh. 167 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:10,130 That's something that the, the heart can't do to itself. 168 00:08:10,550 --> 00:08:13,580 So all of these pictures of what it's like to to be. 169 00:08:14,195 --> 00:08:15,425 Apart from Jesus. 170 00:08:16,505 --> 00:08:16,775 Ha. 171 00:08:16,835 --> 00:08:21,095 You, you start with the admission that I can't do anything about my sin. 172 00:08:22,175 --> 00:08:22,805 I'm stuck. 173 00:08:24,515 --> 00:08:27,365 And that's what has to happen for faith. 174 00:08:28,595 --> 00:08:32,015 Faith is the admission that I, I can't do anything I'm unable. 175 00:08:32,135 --> 00:08:37,309 And even what he talked about a couple weeks ago, unwilling, we said 176 00:08:37,355 --> 00:08:39,275 that no one seeks after God, right? 177 00:08:39,725 --> 00:08:42,630 It's not just that you couldn't, it's that even if you could, you wouldn't want to. 178 00:08:45,124 --> 00:08:46,744 So that's where faith starts. 179 00:08:47,254 --> 00:08:54,124 But then also, um, faith draws attention to Jesus, not to us. 180 00:08:54,364 --> 00:08:54,574 Right? 181 00:08:54,574 --> 00:08:57,785 The whole, the whole point of faith is once you say, okay, I can't do anything 182 00:08:57,785 --> 00:09:03,274 about this, someone else can, and that's who I'm gonna rely on, right? 183 00:09:04,894 --> 00:09:09,484 If you don't bring anything to the table, you don't get any credit for it, right? 184 00:09:09,994 --> 00:09:10,805 It's kind of like. 185 00:09:12,260 --> 00:09:13,489 How Right. 186 00:09:13,489 --> 00:09:14,089 Imagine. 187 00:09:14,479 --> 00:09:14,839 Right. 188 00:09:15,739 --> 00:09:18,109 Revival Black team, we won. 189 00:09:18,260 --> 00:09:18,709 Right? 190 00:09:19,339 --> 00:09:20,209 We definitely did. 191 00:09:20,660 --> 00:09:22,040 Did I play any of the games? 192 00:09:23,030 --> 00:09:23,390 No. 193 00:09:23,510 --> 00:09:23,839 Right. 194 00:09:23,839 --> 00:09:25,910 I was not participating in any of the games. 195 00:09:26,180 --> 00:09:30,140 Actually, Morgan was at Revival for like less than half the time I was, and he 196 00:09:30,170 --> 00:09:32,510 participated more in the games that I did. 197 00:09:33,290 --> 00:09:36,050 If I started bragging about how I won Revival. 198 00:09:36,904 --> 00:09:37,594 Not a good look. 199 00:09:37,744 --> 00:09:38,224 Right. 200 00:09:38,374 --> 00:09:39,305 Not a, not a good look. 201 00:09:39,305 --> 00:09:40,444 If I'm like, oh yeah, look what I did. 202 00:09:40,444 --> 00:09:42,334 I did all this stuff, I did nothing. 203 00:09:42,545 --> 00:09:42,754 Right. 204 00:09:42,754 --> 00:09:45,124 I just maybe yelled at Pastor Evan to stop cheating. 205 00:09:45,425 --> 00:09:45,724 Right. 206 00:09:45,724 --> 00:09:47,524 That's pretty much all I contributed to my team. 207 00:09:48,334 --> 00:09:49,624 All I have to say is. 208 00:09:51,470 --> 00:09:55,579 I would have no right to draw any attention to my, like imagine if after we 209 00:09:55,579 --> 00:10:01,130 played Steal the Bacon and after or after we played, um, that, what was that game 210 00:10:01,130 --> 00:10:03,650 on the tarp with the big beach ball thing? 211 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:06,230 Kenneth's favorite game? 212 00:10:06,530 --> 00:10:06,680 Kenneth. 213 00:10:06,770 --> 00:10:10,459 Uh, imagine like after, you know how, like imagine after Naya like 214 00:10:10,459 --> 00:10:11,810 totally dominated that round. 215 00:10:11,959 --> 00:10:15,380 If I went out there and was like, look at me guys. 216 00:10:15,380 --> 00:10:16,430 I did so good. 217 00:10:16,430 --> 00:10:16,819 Right? 218 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:17,660 That would be terrible. 219 00:10:17,689 --> 00:10:18,589 That would be awful. 220 00:10:18,620 --> 00:10:20,360 There's, I had have no right to do that. 221 00:10:21,604 --> 00:10:26,344 That's what it looks like if we try to take credit for God's work to save us. 222 00:10:26,854 --> 00:10:27,035 Right? 223 00:10:27,035 --> 00:10:30,214 If we try to, to, to draw attention to, oh, well look 224 00:10:30,214 --> 00:10:33,604 at, look at me in my salvation. 225 00:10:33,604 --> 00:10:35,374 Look at all the stuff that, that I do. 226 00:10:35,374 --> 00:10:37,384 Imagine if, if we had baptisms right. 227 00:10:37,384 --> 00:10:37,894 Not too long ago. 228 00:10:37,894 --> 00:10:40,444 Imagine if, if you're hearing someone share their testimony 229 00:10:40,444 --> 00:10:42,964 from the tank and they're just talking about how, oh, well, like. 230 00:10:43,550 --> 00:10:46,849 I did all this stuff and I started going to church, and I started reading 231 00:10:46,849 --> 00:10:50,239 the Bible, and I really am, I was really smart so I could understand 232 00:10:50,239 --> 00:10:54,109 the gospel, and I was, I was just a really, you know, wise person. 233 00:10:54,109 --> 00:10:56,239 So I made these really good choices and put myself in this great 234 00:10:56,239 --> 00:11:00,410 position, and then I realized that I should stop sinning. 235 00:11:00,410 --> 00:11:04,069 And so I tried really hard and I studied a lot, and I stopped sinning. 236 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:07,010 And then I, you would be like, what are you doing? 237 00:11:07,069 --> 00:11:09,020 Like you, you're talking about yourself. 238 00:11:09,319 --> 00:11:10,400 You should be talking about God. 239 00:11:10,430 --> 00:11:12,890 This is, this is God's work in you, not your work. 240 00:11:16,430 --> 00:11:19,579 So when you talk about if, if you're professing Christian and you're 241 00:11:19,579 --> 00:11:20,839 talking about salvation, right? 242 00:11:20,839 --> 00:11:21,739 You're sharing your testimony. 243 00:11:22,069 --> 00:11:24,229 You, if someone asks you, Hey, how did you become a Christian? 244 00:11:25,879 --> 00:11:30,050 I, I hope that the star of your testimony is Jesus. 245 00:11:30,859 --> 00:11:33,439 I hope the star of your testimony is what God did to you. 246 00:11:34,069 --> 00:11:37,489 All the things that God did to draw you in to show you your sin. 247 00:11:38,180 --> 00:11:40,909 I hope your, your testimony is not well, I. 248 00:11:42,020 --> 00:11:42,710 Fill in the blank. 249 00:11:42,710 --> 00:11:43,640 Did this, right? 250 00:11:43,670 --> 00:11:45,560 I started doing this. 251 00:11:45,770 --> 00:11:46,280 Look at me. 252 00:11:46,340 --> 00:11:46,790 Look at me. 253 00:11:46,790 --> 00:11:47,210 Look at me. 254 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:49,340 I hope your testimony is, look at God. 255 00:11:49,579 --> 00:11:50,210 Look what he did. 256 00:11:50,390 --> 00:11:51,800 Look how patient he was with me. 257 00:11:51,949 --> 00:11:54,470 Look how merciful he was to forgive all of my sin. 258 00:11:55,579 --> 00:12:00,380 That's why when we become a Christian, that's why we don't shy away from 259 00:12:00,380 --> 00:12:02,210 saying, yeah, I, I was a sinner. 260 00:12:03,500 --> 00:12:03,650 Right? 261 00:12:03,650 --> 00:12:06,530 We don't want to necessarily, if you think about, um, when we did, 262 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:07,939 when we studied Matthew, right? 263 00:12:08,540 --> 00:12:11,150 Matthew always calls himself Matthew, the tax collective. 264 00:12:11,974 --> 00:12:12,844 Why do you think he does that? 265 00:12:14,375 --> 00:12:14,915 He does that. 266 00:12:14,915 --> 00:12:16,415 'cause he wants you to know, Hey, guess what? 267 00:12:16,415 --> 00:12:18,334 God saved a tax collector like me. 268 00:12:18,545 --> 00:12:24,454 God saved a corrupt, selfish, unjust person like Matthew, and he wants 269 00:12:24,454 --> 00:12:25,564 you to know that that's who I was. 270 00:12:25,714 --> 00:12:27,485 'cause he wants you to see, look what God did. 271 00:12:27,574 --> 00:12:28,505 Look what God did to me. 272 00:12:28,985 --> 00:12:29,194 Right? 273 00:12:29,194 --> 00:12:30,125 Paul talks about this all the time. 274 00:12:30,125 --> 00:12:31,324 You see this in a lot of Paul's letters. 275 00:12:32,255 --> 00:12:33,875 First Timothy, first Timothy chapter one. 276 00:12:33,875 --> 00:12:35,120 He says, I was the worst sinner. 277 00:12:36,484 --> 00:12:39,334 The reason that he wants to tell people that he was the worst sinner 278 00:12:39,484 --> 00:12:42,275 is 'cause he wants you to see how patient God is and how good God is. 279 00:12:42,694 --> 00:12:44,765 So I hope when you talk about your salvation, if you're a Christian, 280 00:12:44,944 --> 00:12:47,614 that you're not talking about you and you're talking about God, right? 281 00:12:47,614 --> 00:12:50,464 It's, it's, it's your testimony about God's work. 282 00:12:50,555 --> 00:12:54,395 It's not your testimony about how awesome you are for having all this 283 00:12:54,395 --> 00:12:56,494 cool stuff happen to you, right? 284 00:12:59,194 --> 00:13:01,805 Faith is inherently other focused. 285 00:13:03,484 --> 00:13:04,954 Faith is inherently Jesus focused. 286 00:13:06,334 --> 00:13:07,594 That's who you're depending on. 287 00:13:07,594 --> 00:13:08,375 That's who you're trusting in. 288 00:13:09,785 --> 00:13:11,224 It's not you focused. 289 00:13:14,555 --> 00:13:20,675 And then we also see that in the rest of these verses, if you keep reading 290 00:13:20,675 --> 00:13:25,865 29 and 30, so Paul keeps going or is God the God of the Jews only? 291 00:13:27,214 --> 00:13:28,775 Is he not the God of Gentiles? 292 00:13:28,775 --> 00:13:28,954 Also. 293 00:13:29,585 --> 00:13:34,625 Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one who will justify the circumcised by 294 00:13:34,625 --> 00:13:36,635 faith and the uncircumcised by faith. 295 00:13:36,845 --> 00:13:40,625 So what Paul is saying here is that every single person, right, because 296 00:13:40,655 --> 00:13:43,745 the Jews he, he's been talking with, he's going back and forth with the 297 00:13:43,745 --> 00:13:47,555 Jews, this whole letter so far, and he said how the Jews, they were, they 298 00:13:47,555 --> 00:13:52,895 were relying on their outward signs to show that we have God's favor, right? 299 00:13:52,895 --> 00:13:53,885 We're special to God. 300 00:13:54,185 --> 00:13:56,180 We have an advantage with God because. 301 00:13:56,870 --> 00:14:03,890 Of the the law or the things that we do or the signs of the covenant, right? 302 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:05,719 They're saying that we have an advantage with God. 303 00:14:05,719 --> 00:14:07,699 We've got like extra credit before God. 304 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,050 We don't need as much of God's grace because we have all this stuff, or 305 00:14:12,260 --> 00:14:16,430 we even are already accepted by God because of all this stuff that we have. 306 00:14:17,599 --> 00:14:18,890 What Paul is saying is that's not true. 307 00:14:20,030 --> 00:14:24,199 There's only one way that people get saved through faith. 308 00:14:25,100 --> 00:14:29,390 There's one way of salvation and that eliminates boasting, right? 309 00:14:29,390 --> 00:14:32,090 The whole point of this paragraph so far has been that faith 310 00:14:32,930 --> 00:14:34,580 gets rid of boasting, right? 311 00:14:34,580 --> 00:14:39,410 If, if you believe that God saves people by faith, you have zero reason 312 00:14:39,410 --> 00:14:43,730 to boast because there's nothing about you that makes you more or 313 00:14:43,730 --> 00:14:45,920 less eligible for God's grace. 314 00:14:47,074 --> 00:14:50,224 There's nothing about you that makes a difference in 315 00:14:50,224 --> 00:14:51,574 whether God saves you or not. 316 00:14:51,875 --> 00:14:54,544 God doesn't save you because you have the right parents or because 317 00:14:54,544 --> 00:14:59,105 you're from the right area or because you know the right things. 318 00:15:00,185 --> 00:15:01,744 God saves you because he wants to. 319 00:15:03,665 --> 00:15:06,425 God saves you because he's kind and because he's generous 320 00:15:06,425 --> 00:15:07,984 and because he's merciful, 321 00:15:10,234 --> 00:15:15,784 you aren't more or less likely to be saved because you didn't do. 322 00:15:16,219 --> 00:15:21,109 X, Y, and Z when you were a kid, or because you learned, you know these Bible 323 00:15:21,109 --> 00:15:26,780 verses growing up, that doesn't make you more or less deserving of God's grace. 324 00:15:26,780 --> 00:15:27,889 'cause otherwise it wouldn't be grace, right? 325 00:15:27,889 --> 00:15:33,439 If you deserved it, it's not grace, because grace inherently is unwinnable. 326 00:15:34,729 --> 00:15:35,810 It has to be free. 327 00:15:36,859 --> 00:15:38,719 'cause if you worked for it, then God owed it to you, right? 328 00:15:38,719 --> 00:15:41,599 If you did something to deserve it, then you should get it, and that then 329 00:15:41,599 --> 00:15:43,490 it wouldn't be grace anymore, then it would be something you earned. 330 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:50,510 So I think it's, it's easy sometimes even right as a Christian to look 331 00:15:50,510 --> 00:15:53,930 back and, and think, oh yeah, and now it makes sense that God 332 00:15:53,930 --> 00:15:56,089 saved me because well, look at me. 333 00:15:56,599 --> 00:15:59,720 I started growing, I started serving, you know, all this stuff happened to me. 334 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:01,940 I now, I'm doing all these great things for God. 335 00:16:02,839 --> 00:16:05,750 And it's easy to look back and be like, oh yeah, I could see why God saved me. 336 00:16:05,780 --> 00:16:07,155 'cause look at all this stuff I brought to the table. 337 00:16:08,270 --> 00:16:09,260 Or think about Paul. 338 00:16:09,290 --> 00:16:09,500 Right? 339 00:16:09,530 --> 00:16:09,830 Okay. 340 00:16:09,830 --> 00:16:10,220 Yeah. 341 00:16:10,340 --> 00:16:11,630 I think I know why God saved me. 342 00:16:11,660 --> 00:16:14,240 'cause I, I wrote these books to the Bible and he's gonna do all these 343 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:18,410 great things through me and preach the gospel to all these places, right? 344 00:16:18,410 --> 00:16:24,140 That, that didn't make Paul more deserving of salvation just because God 345 00:16:24,140 --> 00:16:25,790 used him for bigger things down the road 346 00:16:27,875 --> 00:16:28,940 even, right? 347 00:16:28,940 --> 00:16:32,630 You don't wanna look down on other people who aren't saved and say, well, 348 00:16:32,630 --> 00:16:35,960 there must have been something about me that makes me different than them. 349 00:16:37,670 --> 00:16:41,839 I don't want you to look at the, the people at school who maybe don't, 350 00:16:43,250 --> 00:16:45,859 you know, they, they don't listen to their parents the way you do, or they 351 00:16:45,859 --> 00:16:47,180 don't know the Bible the way you do. 352 00:16:47,660 --> 00:16:50,180 Or they say those things that you know you're not supposed to 353 00:16:50,180 --> 00:16:52,069 say or they watch those things. 354 00:16:52,069 --> 00:16:54,829 You're, you know, you're not supposed to watch or they talk about those things 355 00:16:54,829 --> 00:16:56,780 you, you know, you're not supposed to talk about or they go to the places 356 00:16:56,780 --> 00:16:57,710 you know you're not supposed to go. 357 00:16:58,069 --> 00:16:59,359 I don't want you to look down on them. 358 00:16:59,839 --> 00:17:02,599 'cause the only difference between you and them is God's grace. 359 00:17:04,098 --> 00:17:05,420 I remember one time, um. 360 00:17:05,659 --> 00:17:11,300 I went on a mission trip to Utah, um, and we met these Mormons and I realized 361 00:17:11,749 --> 00:17:16,790 the only difference between me and these people who believe this false religion is 362 00:17:16,790 --> 00:17:21,290 that God put me in a place where I would hear the gospel and respond to the gospel. 363 00:17:21,979 --> 00:17:23,898 'cause I didn't pick where I was born and they didn't pick where they were born. 364 00:17:25,009 --> 00:17:29,179 But God loved me and put me in the way of the gospel. 365 00:17:30,679 --> 00:17:33,350 And that isn't because of me, isn't 'cause anything I did. 366 00:17:33,350 --> 00:17:36,290 It isn't because of anything that I would go on to do. 367 00:17:36,949 --> 00:17:38,870 It's, it's all of his grace. 368 00:17:39,409 --> 00:17:40,669 It's not because I deserved it more. 369 00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:46,159 So salvation is all about Jesus. 370 00:17:46,159 --> 00:17:47,899 And that's what faith has to acknowledge. 371 00:17:48,169 --> 00:17:51,620 Faith has to acknowledge that that salvation is 100% 372 00:17:51,679 --> 00:17:56,149 God and 0%, 0% us, right? 373 00:17:56,689 --> 00:17:59,120 Um, God does all the work in salvation. 374 00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:01,100 You think about it, God. 375 00:18:01,625 --> 00:18:03,845 Plan to save you before you even existed. 376 00:18:05,105 --> 00:18:08,495 God put you in a place where you would hear the gospel 377 00:18:09,034 --> 00:18:10,294 and be able to respond to it. 378 00:18:11,675 --> 00:18:14,524 God gave you the desire to respond to the gospel. 379 00:18:15,155 --> 00:18:17,165 You don't even want to be saved, right? 380 00:18:17,165 --> 00:18:19,534 You probably have friends, maybe even in this room who don't want to be saved. 381 00:18:19,655 --> 00:18:20,435 They don't want God. 382 00:18:21,034 --> 00:18:22,504 They'd rather have everything else but God. 383 00:18:24,215 --> 00:18:26,975 The only reason that you don't feel the way they do is because 384 00:18:27,034 --> 00:18:27,835 God did something to your heart. 385 00:18:32,165 --> 00:18:35,585 God does all this stuff in salvation, right? 386 00:18:35,585 --> 00:18:38,615 Even your trust in God comes from God. 387 00:18:39,635 --> 00:18:41,915 'cause you wouldn't be able to trust God if God didn't give 388 00:18:41,915 --> 00:18:42,965 you the desire to trust him. 389 00:18:43,715 --> 00:18:45,575 So God does everything in salvation. 390 00:18:45,575 --> 00:18:46,955 That's why he gets all the credit. 391 00:18:47,225 --> 00:18:48,995 So when you talk about salvation, if you're a Christian, when you 392 00:18:48,995 --> 00:18:52,625 talk about salvation, I hope that, that you make it all about Jesus. 393 00:18:52,985 --> 00:18:55,025 I hope that you don't try to add yourself in there. 394 00:18:56,060 --> 00:18:57,139 Take any credit for it. 395 00:18:57,379 --> 00:19:00,169 And if you're not a Christian, I hope that you realize that it 396 00:19:00,169 --> 00:19:05,750 doesn't matter how much you know, it doesn't matter who your parents are. 397 00:19:05,750 --> 00:19:07,550 It doesn't matter what you've done. 398 00:19:07,850 --> 00:19:11,659 It doesn't matter what you've thought, how you felt God can save 399 00:19:11,659 --> 00:19:16,970 you because it doesn't, your sin isn't too big for God to overcome, right? 400 00:19:16,970 --> 00:19:20,270 Or your lack of interest in God isn't too big for God to overcome. 401 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:22,669 Or maybe there's that person, you know, you're like, oh, there's 402 00:19:22,669 --> 00:19:23,720 no way they'd become a Christian. 403 00:19:25,010 --> 00:19:28,130 The only difference between you and them is God's grace. 404 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:30,230 So God can definitely save them too. 405 00:19:32,390 --> 00:19:34,280 But when you think about this, when you think about salvation being, 406 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:40,340 being completely God's work, it's easy for us to maybe ask that question. 407 00:19:40,340 --> 00:19:44,180 Well, if the way I live doesn't really matter, then can't 408 00:19:44,180 --> 00:19:45,230 I just do whatever I want? 409 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:45,530 Right? 410 00:19:45,530 --> 00:19:49,460 If Jesus paid for my sin and you know, God's grace is, is enough to 411 00:19:49,460 --> 00:19:52,280 save me and cover me, then I can just do whatever I want, right? 412 00:19:53,060 --> 00:19:56,030 Well, I'm glad you asked because Paul asked the exact same question, 413 00:19:56,030 --> 00:19:57,650 the last verse of our paragraph. 414 00:19:57,680 --> 00:19:59,960 Do we then overthrow the law? 415 00:19:59,990 --> 00:20:04,100 Do we just say, okay, well let's get rid of all of God's commands because we can 416 00:20:04,100 --> 00:20:07,280 trust in Jesus to forgive us by no means. 417 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:08,240 That's the strongest way. 418 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:09,860 Paul can say no in his language. 419 00:20:09,860 --> 00:20:13,490 That's like definitely not, not gonna happen. 420 00:20:14,300 --> 00:20:15,680 On the contrary, right, the opposite. 421 00:20:15,890 --> 00:20:19,850 We uphold the law, we support it, we, we affirm it. 422 00:20:20,810 --> 00:20:23,510 We still care about God's commands. 423 00:20:25,999 --> 00:20:29,570 What Paul is getting at here is if you think about the question of like, okay, 424 00:20:29,810 --> 00:20:33,709 well if it doesn't matter if I'm a Jew or a Gentile, then what's the point of 425 00:20:33,709 --> 00:20:35,270 all of all of the Old Testament, right? 426 00:20:35,270 --> 00:20:35,780 What's the what? 427 00:20:35,810 --> 00:20:38,149 What about the 600 commands that God gave the Jews? 428 00:20:38,330 --> 00:20:39,979 Why do, what's the point of all that stuff? 429 00:20:40,310 --> 00:20:42,949 What's the point of, of all the commands in the Bible if, if it 430 00:20:42,949 --> 00:20:44,149 doesn't really matter how I live? 431 00:20:44,629 --> 00:20:46,790 Well, here's what. 432 00:20:47,135 --> 00:20:49,655 Paul is saying, and he doesn't really explain it as much 433 00:20:49,655 --> 00:20:52,145 here, but he explains it later. 434 00:20:52,145 --> 00:20:54,275 And so I'm just gonna kind of pull some stuff into this. 435 00:20:54,635 --> 00:21:02,855 But, um, what Paul is getting at is that faith-filled obedience is 436 00:21:02,915 --> 00:21:05,705 the only type of real obedience. 437 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:09,545 If your obedience to God doesn't have faith in it, 438 00:21:11,375 --> 00:21:12,695 you're not really obeying God. 439 00:21:13,115 --> 00:21:14,795 You're not really keeping the law. 440 00:21:15,830 --> 00:21:21,260 Unless you're doing it from a heart that trusts God, a heart that doesn't 441 00:21:21,260 --> 00:21:23,179 trust God isn't really obeying God. 442 00:21:23,449 --> 00:21:23,659 Right? 443 00:21:23,659 --> 00:21:26,330 The, the whole point of all of those commands, all the stuff in the Old 444 00:21:26,330 --> 00:21:29,330 Testament was to show you here's what it looks like to live for God. 445 00:21:30,290 --> 00:21:33,139 It was like building a car with no engine. 446 00:21:33,860 --> 00:21:34,639 Faith is the engine. 447 00:21:34,730 --> 00:21:38,540 Faith makes it all work, but we, we showed you the car, just so you know, okay, 448 00:21:38,540 --> 00:21:40,970 this is what it looks like, the, the law. 449 00:21:41,300 --> 00:21:42,530 You're like, okay, well I'm not that. 450 00:21:43,580 --> 00:21:44,300 I can't do that. 451 00:21:44,330 --> 00:21:45,199 I can't live up to that. 452 00:21:45,409 --> 00:21:46,820 I can't do what God asked me to do. 453 00:21:46,820 --> 00:21:48,080 I can't live up to God's standard. 454 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:51,229 And so for all of us, we don't have the ability to do that. 455 00:21:51,229 --> 00:21:52,159 We can't keep up. 456 00:21:52,610 --> 00:21:54,350 And so we see, okay, I'm not good enough. 457 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:55,189 I'm a sinner. 458 00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:59,750 That's what the law does for people who aren't saved, but for people 459 00:21:59,750 --> 00:22:02,449 who are saved, the law shows us, here's how I'm supposed to live now. 460 00:22:03,199 --> 00:22:08,600 Here's what it looks like now for me to trust Jesus actively and obey him. 461 00:22:09,380 --> 00:22:11,390 So how does faith make obedience about God? 462 00:22:11,570 --> 00:22:16,190 Well, faith gives all the credit to God for empowering us to live for him. 463 00:22:17,450 --> 00:22:22,160 Faith gives God all the credit for our obedience because he gets all the 464 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:28,550 credit for not just our salvation, but our continued life following Jesus. 465 00:22:28,610 --> 00:22:32,390 So point to make obedience all about Jesus. 466 00:22:37,159 --> 00:22:39,590 So we wanna make our salvation all about Jesus, and we wanna 467 00:22:39,590 --> 00:22:42,350 make obedience all about Jesus. 468 00:22:47,029 --> 00:22:52,279 So just like how faith in salvation takes all the attention away from 469 00:22:53,419 --> 00:22:57,139 us and puts it on God, we do the same thing with our obedience, 470 00:22:57,139 --> 00:23:00,019 because our obedience is just as. 471 00:23:00,725 --> 00:23:01,685 Up to God. 472 00:23:01,805 --> 00:23:04,595 God empowers our obedience 100%. 473 00:23:04,895 --> 00:23:09,514 It's all dependent on him because it all has to do with faith. 474 00:23:09,905 --> 00:23:11,585 Faith is not just the key for salvation. 475 00:23:11,735 --> 00:23:13,445 It's the key for continued life. 476 00:23:13,925 --> 00:23:19,475 As a Christian, all real obedience to God as a Christian 477 00:23:19,504 --> 00:23:20,975 has to come from faith in God. 478 00:23:21,545 --> 00:23:28,025 So to put it simply, this is what Paul says later in Romans, whatever 479 00:23:28,025 --> 00:23:29,705 doesn't come from faith is sin. 480 00:23:32,050 --> 00:23:32,600 It's pretty simple. 481 00:23:32,690 --> 00:23:38,420 If you're not trusting God, if it's not an act of trust in God, you're sinning. 482 00:23:39,290 --> 00:23:40,100 That's pretty crazy. 483 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:40,580 Right? 484 00:23:40,790 --> 00:23:44,750 That's maybe a different definition of sin than, than you would've probably written 485 00:23:44,750 --> 00:23:47,390 out if someone asked you What's sin? 486 00:23:48,260 --> 00:23:51,020 Well, Paul would say it's doing something without trusting God. 487 00:23:53,690 --> 00:23:54,470 That's really interesting. 488 00:23:58,385 --> 00:24:02,195 What faith does is it transforms our obedience. 489 00:24:02,195 --> 00:24:03,695 It doesn't make our obedience useless. 490 00:24:03,815 --> 00:24:06,395 It changes our obedience into what it's always supposed to be. 491 00:24:07,925 --> 00:24:11,765 It's all of our obedience is an expression of trust in Jesus. 492 00:24:13,145 --> 00:24:18,545 All of our obedience is saying, God, you're smarter than I am. 493 00:24:18,935 --> 00:24:19,775 You're better than I am. 494 00:24:20,495 --> 00:24:22,775 You are more loving than I am you. 495 00:24:23,885 --> 00:24:24,995 Matter more than I do. 496 00:24:25,115 --> 00:24:26,015 That's faith, right? 497 00:24:26,015 --> 00:24:30,335 Faith is is telling God you're better, and that's what obedience is. 498 00:24:30,635 --> 00:24:33,425 All obedience is telling God, I trust you. 499 00:24:34,295 --> 00:24:35,945 The reason you obey God is because you trust him. 500 00:24:36,215 --> 00:24:37,445 You trust that his plan is better. 501 00:24:37,475 --> 00:24:40,805 You trust that his way of living is better than anything you could come up with. 502 00:24:41,285 --> 00:24:43,955 You trust that what he values is better than what you value. 503 00:24:44,375 --> 00:24:49,265 That's where all obedience comes from and that's how you live as a 504 00:24:49,265 --> 00:24:51,755 Christian The rest of your life is. 505 00:24:52,325 --> 00:24:53,435 Powered by faith. 506 00:24:53,435 --> 00:24:55,475 That's what Paul started off this letter with, right? 507 00:24:55,745 --> 00:24:58,865 Remember he said that the righteous person, the person who's who's made 508 00:24:58,865 --> 00:25:01,415 righteous by God, lives by faith. 509 00:25:02,105 --> 00:25:03,485 They don't just get saved by faith. 510 00:25:03,485 --> 00:25:06,125 They keep on living by faith. 511 00:25:06,695 --> 00:25:07,505 Same thing here. 512 00:25:07,805 --> 00:25:10,175 I realize I shouldn't have highlighted this in blue, but that's okay. 513 00:25:10,415 --> 00:25:13,595 The life I now live, I live in, I left. 514 00:25:13,595 --> 00:25:14,435 I now live in the flesh. 515 00:25:14,435 --> 00:25:18,845 I live by faith, not by effort, not by knowing the Bible better. 516 00:25:19,429 --> 00:25:20,090 Trusting God. 517 00:25:20,209 --> 00:25:22,669 That's the key to living for God. 518 00:25:24,530 --> 00:25:27,800 I think a good example, we see it in Hebrews, right by Faith. 519 00:25:28,129 --> 00:25:30,320 Abraham obeyed when he was called to go. 520 00:25:30,469 --> 00:25:35,540 So God appeared to Abraham and said, Hey Abraham, you're gonna have to move all 521 00:25:35,540 --> 00:25:41,929 the way across the desert, um, because I'm making a promise to you that you're gonna 522 00:25:41,929 --> 00:25:45,169 be the father of many nations and one day. 523 00:25:45,530 --> 00:25:47,510 I'm gonna basically save the world through you, right? 524 00:25:47,510 --> 00:25:49,490 I'm gonna give you all this land and all these descendants and whatever. 525 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:54,710 God made a promise to Abraham and Abraham's obedience was 526 00:25:54,710 --> 00:25:56,120 the result of him trusting God. 527 00:25:58,220 --> 00:25:59,690 The same thing is true for you. 528 00:26:00,590 --> 00:26:03,740 Anytime you obey God, it comes down to do you trust God? 529 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:10,400 Think about when you decide not to, right? 530 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:11,660 To tell the truth instead of lying. 531 00:26:13,190 --> 00:26:14,600 That's an act of trust in God. 532 00:26:15,635 --> 00:26:17,405 Because if you don't trust God, you're gonna try to 533 00:26:17,405 --> 00:26:18,575 figure out your way out of it. 534 00:26:19,115 --> 00:26:21,004 And so you're gonna try to, maybe you'll try to lie, you'll 535 00:26:21,004 --> 00:26:23,225 try to make up something, you'll try to avoid the situation. 536 00:26:23,225 --> 00:26:24,965 You'll try to only tell part of the truth, right? 537 00:26:25,985 --> 00:26:27,785 But if you trust God, you can say, you know what? 538 00:26:28,175 --> 00:26:32,435 I know that telling the truth honors God, and that's better than maybe 539 00:26:32,435 --> 00:26:34,535 something bad that might happen to me if I do tell the truth. 540 00:26:34,750 --> 00:26:39,575 So I'd rather honor God and tell the truth, and maybe have some 541 00:26:39,575 --> 00:26:43,775 consequences that go with that than try to escape the consequences and lie. 542 00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:47,659 And you trust God and you say, God, I'm gonna honor you, even though 543 00:26:47,659 --> 00:26:48,680 this might put me in a bad spot. 544 00:26:49,639 --> 00:26:51,530 That's an act of faith that's trusting God. 545 00:26:52,100 --> 00:26:55,609 Or when you choose to use your time in a way that honors God, right? 546 00:26:55,759 --> 00:26:58,549 When you choose to wake up and read your Bible instead of snoozing eight 547 00:26:58,549 --> 00:27:02,120 times, that's you trusting God. 548 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:05,299 You're saying God, your word is what it, you say it's you. 549 00:27:05,299 --> 00:27:07,190 Say your word is sweeter than honey. 550 00:27:07,190 --> 00:27:10,009 You say your word is more precious than gold, right? 551 00:27:10,009 --> 00:27:11,960 We talked about your word is better than in and out, right? 552 00:27:12,139 --> 00:27:12,645 We talked about that. 553 00:27:13,940 --> 00:27:14,690 I believe that. 554 00:27:14,750 --> 00:27:16,100 And so I'm gonna get up and I'm gonna read it. 555 00:27:16,850 --> 00:27:20,000 Even if I don't understand all the words, even if it doesn't always make sense, even 556 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:24,379 if it's not my favorite book right now, I'm gonna trust you that your word is what 557 00:27:24,379 --> 00:27:26,120 you say it is and I'm going to read it. 558 00:27:27,949 --> 00:27:30,440 That's trust, that's faith in God. 559 00:27:31,489 --> 00:27:35,330 And see, that's why obedience has to be with faith. 560 00:27:35,330 --> 00:27:37,489 So we talk about the law a lot in Romans. 561 00:27:37,909 --> 00:27:42,649 The law is a burden without faith, the law doesn't. 562 00:27:43,249 --> 00:27:45,679 Help you without faith, it just weighs you down. 563 00:27:47,959 --> 00:27:55,969 It's kind of like, have you ever tried to ride one of these without the power on? 564 00:27:57,649 --> 00:28:03,049 They had light work because these, these, right, these e-bikes, they go really 565 00:28:03,049 --> 00:28:05,839 fast when they're actually like electric. 566 00:28:06,649 --> 00:28:09,379 But if you're just trying to ride it like a regular bike, especially 567 00:28:09,379 --> 00:28:11,120 like uphill, it's heavier. 568 00:28:11,435 --> 00:28:14,074 It's harder, there's more resistance, right? 569 00:28:14,194 --> 00:28:16,205 If you have one of those pedal assist bikes, right? 570 00:28:17,674 --> 00:28:22,565 It's actually harder to ride it, even though it's more powerful, right? 571 00:28:22,864 --> 00:28:23,795 Because it's heavier. 572 00:28:23,795 --> 00:28:25,504 It weighs you down, it tires you out. 573 00:28:27,274 --> 00:28:30,214 That's like trying to obey God without faith, right? 574 00:28:30,214 --> 00:28:32,824 Imagine, imagine like riding up a hill with one of these without 575 00:28:32,824 --> 00:28:36,125 the electricity on, without the, without the power on, right? 576 00:28:37,024 --> 00:28:37,324 It's. 577 00:28:37,864 --> 00:28:41,045 It's gonna wear you down and it's gonna help you realize 578 00:28:41,045 --> 00:28:43,264 like, oh, I'm not gonna make it. 579 00:28:44,225 --> 00:28:47,045 I'm not gonna make it up this hill on my own strength. 580 00:28:47,645 --> 00:28:51,455 That's what God's law does for you before you're, you're saved. 581 00:28:51,634 --> 00:28:53,674 And some of you, that's what all these sermons and Romans have 582 00:28:53,674 --> 00:28:56,255 hopefully been doing for you, showing you I'm not good enough. 583 00:28:58,415 --> 00:29:00,335 I don't measure up to God snare, I'm guilty. 584 00:29:00,514 --> 00:29:05,014 I stand before God condemned, guilty deserving of his wrath. 585 00:29:06,514 --> 00:29:09,395 You're trying to get up the hill and you're not good enough, 586 00:29:09,665 --> 00:29:10,864 you're, you can't make it. 587 00:29:13,085 --> 00:29:16,475 But then you know, if by God's grace you become a Christian, 588 00:29:16,475 --> 00:29:17,375 you say, I'm not good enough. 589 00:29:17,375 --> 00:29:18,755 You admit, I can't make it. 590 00:29:19,565 --> 00:29:22,324 I don't measure up to your standard God, I need Jesus righteousness. 591 00:29:22,444 --> 00:29:25,594 I need him to take away my sin, and you trust Jesus to do that. 592 00:29:26,705 --> 00:29:31,565 Then instead of the law, God's commands being a burden for you 593 00:29:32,045 --> 00:29:33,485 and weighing you down instead. 594 00:29:34,730 --> 00:29:40,699 You live by faith and, and faith empowers you to obey those commands. 595 00:29:41,569 --> 00:29:45,469 And so then instead of weighing you down, you see that God's commands are good. 596 00:29:46,190 --> 00:29:49,100 You see that God's commands help you truly live. 597 00:29:49,100 --> 00:29:52,850 They help you find real joy, that God's commands are the path to life. 598 00:29:53,150 --> 00:29:54,889 They're not annoying, they're not frustrating. 599 00:29:55,909 --> 00:29:58,339 Instead, they're the best way to live. 600 00:30:00,830 --> 00:30:01,159 So. 601 00:30:01,955 --> 00:30:03,904 You're using it the way it's supposed to be used. 602 00:30:04,415 --> 00:30:07,054 When you use it the way it's not supposed to be used, it weighs you down. 603 00:30:07,565 --> 00:30:11,495 When you use it the way it's supposed to be used, it, it actually works the way 604 00:30:11,495 --> 00:30:12,784 it's supposed to and it's way better. 605 00:30:13,295 --> 00:30:17,495 And it's, that's, that's what God's commands are for therefore your joy. 606 00:30:18,424 --> 00:30:22,504 But the problem is, is we don't like the right things. 607 00:30:22,534 --> 00:30:25,145 We like things that make us sad, right? 608 00:30:25,145 --> 00:30:29,540 We like things that hurt us, that kill us, we're addicted to to sin. 609 00:30:30,709 --> 00:30:33,379 And we don't trust God that his way is better. 610 00:30:33,529 --> 00:30:38,810 And so we choose the wrong things, and that's where God's, that's where faith has 611 00:30:38,810 --> 00:30:41,659 to, is the key to empowering obedience. 612 00:30:44,870 --> 00:30:50,000 So obedience is meant to be powered by trusting God. 613 00:30:50,989 --> 00:30:53,600 Um, so obedience, right? 614 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:55,759 If you're obeying without faith. 615 00:30:57,569 --> 00:30:59,120 It's usually about you, right? 616 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:00,949 Because you're, it's almost like you're trying to, you're 617 00:31:00,949 --> 00:31:02,089 trying to get something from God. 618 00:31:02,719 --> 00:31:04,250 You're trying to, to be good enough. 619 00:31:04,250 --> 00:31:05,810 You're trying to feel good about yourself. 620 00:31:07,219 --> 00:31:11,029 Whereas when you have faith, your obedience is not to get something 621 00:31:11,029 --> 00:31:14,270 from God, but it's because you trust God, because you love him. 622 00:31:15,529 --> 00:31:18,350 It's not about getting something from God or measuring up to something. 623 00:31:18,379 --> 00:31:18,949 You're free. 624 00:31:19,129 --> 00:31:20,299 You're, you're free from that. 625 00:31:20,719 --> 00:31:22,100 You don't have to worry about that anymore. 626 00:31:22,100 --> 00:31:23,239 You're already accepted. 627 00:31:24,049 --> 00:31:26,060 So you don't have to do that anymore. 628 00:31:27,139 --> 00:31:29,839 And it's also not just outward focused, right? 629 00:31:29,839 --> 00:31:34,460 It's inward focused because obedience from faith is really, cares more 630 00:31:34,460 --> 00:31:35,960 about what's happening in here, right? 631 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:39,980 It's, it's cares more about, okay, what am I thinking about God? 632 00:31:40,100 --> 00:31:41,750 What am I saying about God with this action? 633 00:31:41,810 --> 00:31:43,969 Not, well do I have to just do the right things and check 634 00:31:43,969 --> 00:31:45,710 the boxes and, and measure up. 635 00:31:46,279 --> 00:31:49,670 But it's more about, okay, do I, am I loving God? 636 00:31:50,719 --> 00:31:51,740 What does God want from me? 637 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:52,760 How am I. 638 00:31:53,569 --> 00:31:54,620 Worshiping God right now. 639 00:31:54,620 --> 00:31:55,370 How am I loving God? 640 00:31:55,370 --> 00:31:55,969 How am I serving him? 641 00:31:55,969 --> 00:31:56,270 How am I? 642 00:31:56,299 --> 00:31:57,469 How am I making him look good? 643 00:31:58,670 --> 00:32:00,620 And that's the whole point of the law anyway, right? 644 00:32:00,620 --> 00:32:03,199 The whole point of the law, as Jesus said, is to love the Lord your God 645 00:32:03,199 --> 00:32:05,480 with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength 646 00:32:05,779 --> 00:32:06,920 and love your neighbor as yourself. 647 00:32:06,980 --> 00:32:10,159 The whole point of the law is for you to love the way God wants you to love. 648 00:32:11,239 --> 00:32:12,830 It's about internal things, not external. 649 00:32:14,690 --> 00:32:19,009 So justification by faith doesn't make God's commands pointless. 650 00:32:19,460 --> 00:32:19,670 It actually. 651 00:32:20,659 --> 00:32:24,380 Makes all of the things in God's law about Jesus. 652 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:25,699 We don't measure up to God's law. 653 00:32:25,730 --> 00:32:26,840 We need him to do it for us. 654 00:32:27,799 --> 00:32:31,040 And then when we do live for God, it shows us that the way 655 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:32,270 we live for God is by faith. 656 00:32:32,299 --> 00:32:36,889 It's not by our own effort and it's not trying to work for God 657 00:32:36,889 --> 00:32:37,880 and earn something from him. 658 00:32:38,540 --> 00:32:42,679 It's us living for God because we trust him and because we love him. 659 00:32:43,489 --> 00:32:45,710 So let's pray and we'll head to small groups. 660 00:32:48,139 --> 00:32:49,279 God thank you for. 661 00:32:50,180 --> 00:32:50,720 Your word. 662 00:32:51,260 --> 00:32:55,160 Um, your word says that your commands are not burdensome. 663 00:32:56,060 --> 00:32:58,130 And so I pray for all of us in this room. 664 00:32:58,310 --> 00:33:02,000 Um, I know there's times where all of us, I just wanna confess that we 665 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:03,530 feel like your commands are a burden. 666 00:33:03,980 --> 00:33:05,810 Your commands feel like they're weighing us down. 667 00:33:05,930 --> 00:33:09,230 Your commands sometimes feel like that they're we're just 668 00:33:09,230 --> 00:33:11,300 putting rocks in a backpack. 669 00:33:11,810 --> 00:33:16,160 Um, but I pray that we would believe what you say and that we would trust 670 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:18,470 who you are, that you are a loving. 671 00:33:18,965 --> 00:33:24,545 Father, a good shepherd, a gentle king, and that your 672 00:33:24,545 --> 00:33:26,435 commands for us are for our good. 673 00:33:26,735 --> 00:33:27,635 You're smarter than us. 674 00:33:27,695 --> 00:33:28,985 You know more than us. 675 00:33:29,195 --> 00:33:33,755 You love us, you care about us, um, and you want to help us obey you. 676 00:33:33,815 --> 00:33:38,975 So I pray for the Christians in the room that we would obey you because 677 00:33:38,975 --> 00:33:40,805 we love you and because we trust you. 678 00:33:41,075 --> 00:33:42,215 So help us to trust you more. 679 00:33:42,695 --> 00:33:44,585 Help us to see how good it is to trust you. 680 00:33:44,585 --> 00:33:46,175 Help us to strengthen our trust in you. 681 00:33:47,074 --> 00:33:49,264 I pray for the people in this room who aren't safe. 682 00:33:49,324 --> 00:33:50,525 I pray God that you would help them. 683 00:33:50,525 --> 00:33:51,335 See, they don't measure up. 684 00:33:51,335 --> 00:33:52,054 They're not good enough. 685 00:33:52,625 --> 00:33:57,815 Um, and the only way for them to be free of the burden of trying to measure up 686 00:33:57,875 --> 00:34:01,715 is to trust you to do that for them. 687 00:34:02,495 --> 00:34:03,514 Pray this in Jesus' name. 688 00:34:03,965 --> 00:34:04,324 Amen