Righteous Faith.

Steve Gentry

[0:01] All right, go ahead and have a seat. [0:02] Welcome to Village Church. [0:04] If this is your first time here, my name is Steve. [0:06] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:08] And as always, I’m glad to see each and every one of you this morning. [0:12] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to Romans chapter 1 verse 17.

[0:17] And before we get to the Bible, I do want to make you aware of something that should [0:21] be in all of your handouts this morning. [0:23] It’s one of these book markers that kind of informs you that fairly soon we’re going [0:28] to be sending out our East Asia missions team for a trip there that’s going to last [0:33] about 10 days from the dates listed on the card. [0:36] And what this is, is this is for you to tuck in your Bible or somewhere else that’s going

[0:42] to be able to remind you every day from now until the end of their trip to pray for the [0:49] people listed on that card, the people that will be going out in faith on mission all [0:54] the way on the other side of the world to partner with missionaries that are already [1:00] on the ground to help them, disciple people that have already been led to Christ and [1:04] by his grace to reach people with the gospel of Jesus who have not yet heard the name of [1:11] Jesus.

[1:12] And the most important thing that we can do for them is pray for them. [1:18] Between now and then, I’m certain that there’s going to be a lot of nerves going on inside [1:24] of them and there’s going to be a lot of stress and there may even be some spiritual [1:27] warfare that goes on before they go out on this mission. [1:31] And we are going to help them greatly by praying for them by name every single day [1:36] while they’re here as well as while they’re there on mission.

[1:41] They’re going to be going and reinforcing a work that’s already taking place. [1:46] And when they reach people with the message of Jesus and by God’s grace people will come [1:52] to faith in him. [1:53] And they’re going to be able to leave them with people to continue their path on discipleship. [2:00] And so they greatly need our prayers to overcome any type of stress that’s in their mind right [2:06] now, any type of nervousness.

[2:08] I mean, it takes a lot of gumption to go to the other side of the world, especially if [2:13] you’ve never been over there. [2:15] And so they need us to be their support system. [2:18] And so I’m enlisting every one of you this morning to join me in being that support system. [2:23] You know, if you had told me five years ago, that five years into our journey, that we [2:28] would already have seen a few different occasions where we’ve seen people come to faith on the

[2:34] other side of the world through the work that we’re doing over there, I would have thought [2:38] you were crazy. [2:39] But we’ve seen that. [2:41] And we’re going to see it again. [2:43] And so it’s my prayer that we will reap a harvest in East Asia in October. [2:49] And so pray for them, please.

[2:51] Now, in the Book of Romans, we’ve started a series going through the entire book. [2:55] We’re going to be there for quite a while, especially if a lot of the sermons end up [2:59] like these past two weeks and we only get one verse out of the way. [3:02] But in the Book of Romans, we’ve seen so far the life of this man, Paul, who wrote this [3:09] book, who comes to faith in Jesus and his life is radically changed. [3:14] And he seeks to live the mission of Jesus through the rest of his life.

[3:17] And we’ve seen him begin to unpack what it is that the story of Christianity is all [3:24] about. [3:25] Last week, we saw him begin what we’re calling Paul’s thesis statement that’s going to [3:30] carry him through the rest of the 16 chapters of the Book of Romans, in which he unfolds [3:36] what it is that God has done in his life and what it is that God wants to do in every one [3:41] of our lives through faith in Jesus.

[3:43] The gospel both removes all shame that sin will give us in our lives, as well as gives [3:51] us a mission in which we go into the world that doesn’t believe the gospel, unashamed [3:58] of the message of the gospel that we have. [4:01] And the reason for that is because we believe the gospel is God’s power that saves to those [4:10] who believe. [4:11] And we believe that God wants to take this message all over the world and that he will

[4:16] not stop until it has reached every tongue, every tribe, every nation. [4:22] And that is the mission that Paul lays out for us. [4:27] And in verse 17, what he’s going to do is he’s going to unpack what it actually means [4:33] to believe in the power of God that saves. [4:37] Because he makes this interesting statement in verse 16 at the very end, he says the gospel [4:43] is what he’s prefaced it with, is the power of God that saves to those who believe.

[4:49] Now, an important question must come into our minds when we read a statement like that [4:53] is like, what does it mean to believe? [4:56] And we’re going to see in verse 17 that it is more than simply an intellectual nodding [5:01] of the head. [5:02] It’s more than just agreeing that factually these things happened. [5:07] And the term believe, what we’re going to see is vitally important in understanding

[5:11] salvation.

[5:15] We go past just believing that events happened, but frankly that is where it starts. [5:22] To believe is explained in verse 17 and then frankly the entire book of Romans is going [5:27] to hinge on that one word. [5:31] Belief is best understood through the term faith. [5:36] It is faith in Jesus that saves life and it is faith that changes life and continues [5:41] to change life until the moment that you meet Jesus face to face in heaven.

[5:49] The single requirement that God has placed on salvation is the requirement of faith. [5:56] But this faith must be in the work of God that is revealed in the righteousness of God. [6:02] So the question must be begged, how does believing faith save? [6:07] How is the righteousness of God revealed in saving people who don’t deserve it? [6:13] How is the righteousness of God revealed in people’s lives who are unrighteous?

[6:20] And the answer is found in verse 17. [6:23] So read the text with me. [6:26] It says in verse 17, for in it, and that term it is the gospel, for in the gospel the righteousness [6:33] of God is revealed from faith for faith as it is written, the righteous shall live by [6:42] faith. [6:44] And that always clears up what a word means when you use the same word to explain what

[6:48] it means. [6:49] It’s from faith, it’s for faith, and well you have it by faith. [6:55] Clear as mud? [6:56] Well let’s move on. [6:58] Paul begins to unpack what the life of faith is like by comparing it and using a word called [7:06] righteousness to explain what it means.

[7:10] So the gospel somehow reveals to us this work that Jesus has done, what righteousness means. [7:18] So we’ve got to start with that term righteousness, which is what we’ve got to have our faith [7:23] in and it is what our faith gives us. [7:25] You’ve got to understand, number one this morning, that the gospel reveals God’s righteousness, [7:30] not ours. [7:32] The gospel reveals God’s righteousness, not ours.

[7:37] You know the righteousness of God demands righteousness from us. [7:42] The scriptures are filled with terminology where God tells us to obey Him. [7:49] God actually says in the Old Testament, and Jesus repeats it where God says, be righteous [7:54] as I, God, am righteous. [7:56] Or He also says, be holy as I, God, am holy. [8:01] And then He gives us this list of commands that are going to have as kind of this presupposition,

[8:08] obey these. [8:09] And you’ll be okay with God. [8:12] And there’s one thing that history, and it’s another thing that my life, and if you’re [8:18] anything like me, your life, is going to show you over and over and over and over. [8:23] We fall far short of meeting God’s demands. [8:30] We fall far short of obeying God’s commands.

[8:35] When God says, be righteous as I am righteous, I am left completely bankrupt and hopeless [8:41] because I can’t do it. [8:44] More than that, I see in my life not just a disobedience that shows my unrighteousness, [8:49] but also a lack of satisfaction that reveals my unrighteousness as well. [8:55] The term righteousness simply means you are right. [9:00] And when I look at my life and I get something that I want, I say, man, that thing is going

[9:05] to give me satisfaction. [9:07] Everything is going to be right with the world once I have it. [9:10] When I get it, I find that there’s something else that I want as well. [9:14] It wasn’t enough. [9:15] I’ve got to keep getting. [9:18] I look in the mirror and I find things every single day that don’t seem quite right.

[9:24] I see receding hairlines. [9:25] I see bulging waistlines. [9:27] I begin to say, I am not satisfied with what I see. [9:33] Before you start pointing fingers at me and say, we see things that aren’t right as well, [9:37] well, you’ve got problems too. [9:38] I’ll give you a mirror.

[9:43] The reality that lays itself in front of us every single day is that we can’t find the [9:50] thing that will ultimately satisfy me. [9:53] And no matter how hard we try to get it, there’s always something else.

[10:01] There’s always something more. [10:02] There’s always another dollar.

[10:07] God doesn’t struggle with that. [10:10] God has never, in a moment in eternity, sat down and said, you know, if I could only [10:17] have more.

[10:20] God has never had a weight loss plan for Himself. [10:24] God has never made a New Year’s resolution.

[10:29] Because in all of those things is this just kind of understanding that I’m not fully right. [10:36] I’m not fully whole. [10:38] I’m not perfect. [10:40] I’m not righteous.

[10:44] But God is righteous. [10:49] The text actually tells us very something, something that’s very interesting. [10:53] It says that for in it, for in the gospel, verse 17 says the righteousness of God is [11:01] revealed. [11:02] The phrase is revealed is very important because it’s actually an imperfect phrase that has [11:06] this ongoing connotation.

[11:08] It basically means that through the gospel, the righteousness of God is being revealed. [11:15] Another way of saying it in the same language, it means that the gospel is uncovering the [11:22] righteousness of God. [11:24] And when it says that, what it’s saying is, is that without the gospel, you can’t see [11:30] the righteousness of God as clearly as you can see it through the gospel. [11:35] Paul in the book of Second Corinthians actually puts it this way to those who believe.

[11:39] He says, when you have faith in God, you are being transformed day by day in having the [11:46] gospel uncover God. [11:50] So when you trust in God, when you believe in God, when you have faith in God, every [11:55] day you’re falling more and more in love with who God is. [11:58] The more that you learn about Him, the more that the gospel allows you a peek into His [12:03] life, the more beautiful He becomes to you, the more enduring life in Him becomes to

[12:10] you, the more lovely He is, the more beautiful He is. [12:15] But for most of us, our salvation doesn’t continue to reveal anything. [12:18] It just stays a status quo, the same place. [12:21] Well, God just is that and He’ll always be that.

[12:27] The life of the gospel in your life is supposed to be something that reveals more and more [12:32] of the righteousness of God day by day. [12:35] What the God, excuse me, what God requires of us, the gospel gives into our lives. [12:42] The gospel reveals for our lives.

[12:46] So what is it that’s covered the righteousness of God?

[12:51] Sin.

[12:53] The thing that has covered the righteousness of God for us is the very thing that gives [12:57] us our lack of satisfaction, the very thing that gives us our understanding that I am [13:02] not quite right.

[13:05] It’s my disobedience to God, it’s my lack of ability to be righteous as He is righteous, [13:10] it’s my lack of ability to be holy as He is holy. [13:13] And in that life, there’s this barrier that is put up between me and God where I cannot [13:18] gaze at His perfection, I cannot be in awe of who He is. [13:22] I struggle to worship. [13:24] I struggle to understand why certain people have an awe of God.

[13:28] The answer to that is always the life of sin that is inside of me. [13:32] But then the scriptures actually say that when God brings sinners to Himself, redeems [13:39] them through Jesus, it actually reveals more of His righteousness.

[13:47] And when we understand that, it’s got to beg a question. [13:51] How in the world does bringing sinners into a righteous place reveal righteousness? [14:02] How does it not dirty His righteousness up to actually bring people without righteousness [14:08] into His presence? [14:11] And the answer that I think is found in Romans chapter 3, so I want to give us a sneak peek [14:16] what’s about two months away.

[14:19] I tried not to do this, but I couldn’t find anywhere else in the scripture that explains [14:22] it as well as Paul does it himself. [14:24] So in Romans chapter 3, starting in verse 21, it says, [14:27] But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the [14:34] law and the prophets bear witness to it. [14:38] Now, stop right there.

[14:41] Because what he’s saying here is something that’s very interesting to us. [14:44] It’s kind of like the reality that happens when someone comes to you and says, you will [14:48] not believe what happened. [14:52] Let me tell you about this thing that I just saw, this experience that I just had. [14:57] And they tell you the story. [14:59] And they’re just so excited.

[15:02] Emotions are in it. [15:03] I mean, this is the speech of the century. [15:05] And then your response to this life changing event to them is, well, that’s nice. [15:11] And they’re like, well, you don’t get it. [15:13] Like, no, it probably I guess you had to be there. [15:17] I guess you had to see it.

[15:19] And you’re getting the third party witness. [15:21] And it’s never quite as good as seeing it with your own eyes. [15:25] And what the scripture is saying is that the righteousness of God now, what used to just [15:31] be seen in the law, what used to just be seen in the prophets, even though, and he [15:37] gives this caveat, you can see it there.

[15:43] He says, you’ve been told about it, but you’ve never really experienced it.

[15:51] And he says, but now it’s been manifested apart from the law. [15:58] Where? [16:00] It is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

[16:10] It says you no longer only have a shadow of righteousness to look like. [16:16] You no longer only have a sort of understanding as to what righteousness is like, but really [16:21] difficulty understanding it because you can never see it because you’re so unfaithful, [16:26] you’re so disobedient that it’s kind of blinded from you. [16:31] It says now it’s been seen. [16:35] Now it’s been revealed.

[16:37] Now it’s been made perfectly clear to us what righteousness is because God himself [16:43] came down to earth for us to understand. [16:45] But then you could also kind of point out to me and say, Steve, I never saw him. [16:52] I still only have a third party perspective.

[16:59] But that’s what the life of faith changes.

[17:04] You see, many of us, we try to understand faith through our own will, through our own [17:10] logic, through our own understanding. [17:12] And so it never becomes more than just this kind of intellectual nodding of the head, [17:17] kind of an agreement. [17:18] OK, well, I’ll believe that that happened. [17:20] Jesus rose from the shore.

[17:22] But faith is something different. [17:24] Faith is something that’s supernatural. [17:26] Faith is something that Jesus said was going to be impossible for us to really have unless [17:30] the Holy Spirit of God actually came on us and gave us a supernatural understanding. [17:35] And that’s what faith actually makes happen inside of you, where the Holy Spirit comes [17:40] and he tells you so certainly that this is who righteousness is that it becomes as if

[17:46] you actually saw him face to face. [17:49] As if you were actually in the presence of Jesus. [17:52] And you say, that sounds unreal. [17:55] And I say, no, that sounds supernatural.

[18:00] That sounds like the type of faith that only God could give you where you are so certain [18:05] that it is true. [18:08] That it is as if you were actually there.

[18:17] And that is what Paul is giving us a glimpse into and why he looks at it. [18:24] And I think Paul’s writing this thesis statement. [18:26] He’s like, OK, I’m going to spend the next 16 chapters understanding it. [18:29] But his reasoning for using the type of language that he uses is not to irritate us. [18:34] But I understand if you’re irritated by Paul in this, when he says, oh, it is from faith. [18:39] And how can I explain being from faith for faith?

[18:44] OK.

[18:48] Paul is expressing something that is sometimes going to be inexpressible unless you’ve been [18:55] there, unless you’ve seen it, unless you’ve had the work of God actually happen in your [19:03] life, in your mind and in your heart. [19:08] And so you so many of us struggle with faith because we are depending on our own will. [19:15] We are depending on our own reasoning. [19:18] We are depending on our own volition, which God does use.

[19:22] But God goes past them to the life of faith that you cannot comprehend unless it comes [19:29] directly from God himself.

[19:34] So when he says from faith, in other words, it’s not from you.

[19:45] Everything the Bible tells us about God and tells us we need to be like in light of God [19:50] does show that he’s righteous.

[19:55] But then it begs the question, how is the gospel righteous if it involves sinners? [20:00] And I think the point here is that the gospel is righteous. [20:01] The point here that’s very important for us to grasp is the reality that we have a [20:06] really bad concept of forgiveness and grace.

[20:12] Our concept of forgiveness and grace only goes so far as to forget.

[20:18] It only goes so far as to pretend it never happened.

[20:24] Our concept of forgiveness and grace never actually deals with justice for the wrong [20:29] thing that’s been done. [20:31] It just simply attempts to have amnesia towards what someone’s done wrong towards us. [20:37] And that is simply cheap forgiveness. [20:41] That is quite simply cheap grace. [20:44] That would have nothing happen but injustice over and over and over again and never really

[20:50] deal with the pain that’s been caused to you and the pain that has been caused by you. [20:55] That never really deals with the disobedience done to you or the disobedience done by you. [21:01] It’s cheap. [21:02] And every picture of forgiveness and grace that the culture around us is going to feed [21:06] into our lives is nothing more than a denial that bad has happened. [21:11] But the gospel is righteous because it goes past those cheap notions and actually goes

[21:17] into finding justice for all of the wrong that has ever been done and all of the wrong [21:22] that will ever be done. [21:24] And that’s what Jesus does. [21:26] That’s what Jesus gives us. [21:29] When he comes down, God himself becoming a human being, living an absolutely sinless, [21:37] perfect life.

[21:38] And when people come face to face with Jesus, they’re completely awestruck. [21:42] And they say, I’ve never heard anyone teach this way. [21:45] He’s wise beyond his years. [21:47] It’s as if he teaches with an authority that we’ve never known before in our lives. [21:52] People would attempt to accuse him of breaking God’s law. [21:56] And then they would be found totally bankrupt and without evidence and reason when Jesus

[22:01] shows, I’ve never been disobedient to the law. [22:04] And the very thing they convict him and kill him of is when he’s as honest as he’s ever [22:09] been. [22:10] And he’s accused of blasphemy by saying that he’s the son of God. [22:13] Well, that’s pretty hard to deny when you’re the son of God.

[22:21] And so this man, unlike anyone, every report has always told us.

[22:30] Dies.

[22:33] Sinless.

[22:37] But then we understand through what he has said and then we understand through the reports [22:41] of his apostles like the one that we read right here. [22:44] He’s sinless so that he can be the substitute for those who’ve sinned. [22:53] And the moment on the cross, as we saw last week, Jesus takes all of the shame of all [22:59] sin of all time, despising that shame, not simply paying a physical punishment. [23:07] And yes, he does pay a physical price of real physical pain, but there’s also emotional

[23:13] pain. And we see that where he is so not wanting to go forward with what he’s doing, [23:18] that he’s just sweating drops of blood. [23:21] He’s in such mental and emotional anguish. [23:24] And then on the cross, he endures great spiritual pain when he looks to the father and he says, [23:30] why have you forsaken me? [23:32] And in that moment, he becomes the pain.

[23:35] He becomes the shame. [23:38] Second Corinthians five actually tells us he becomes sin in that moment and the pain of [23:45] it actually kills him as it stops his heart.

[23:51] And so when we look to the forgiveness and grace that God offers through Jesus Christ, [23:56] we see justice for sin being done by the very one who offered and needed to pay no penalty [24:06] whatsoever.

[24:09] That is not cheap grace. That is costly grace. [24:13] It is not mere forgiveness, but a full resolution for all sin. [24:20] The cross is where justice and grace meet as sin is dealt with judiciously by the judge [24:28] of the world, taking the penalty of execution for the crime that we committed. [24:34] There’s no greater love than this. [24:36] There’s no more expensive forgiveness than this.

[24:39] There’s no greater price to pave to give others grace in this world has ever seen. [24:45] And that is what we have in Jesus. [24:47] And that is what Paul is so in awe of in this moment when he says that it is the power [24:54] of God for salvation to all who believe. [24:58] And in that very event, we can see a righteousness from God that apart from it, [25:06] we would not be able to see it because sin is really dealt with.

[25:11] It is not just forgotten. It is not just denied. [25:16] It is not just swept under the rug to be brought back to my mind at another day when [25:21] God wants to make me feel guilty. [25:22] Instead, it is paid for fully.

[25:28] That is why we look to the cross. [25:30] We look to the very pain of the murder of the Son of God. [25:34] And we can say that is righteousness.

[25:39] Because that is the only way to have real forgiveness, real grace.

[25:47] And then he says something very interesting. [25:50] He says that it is a righteousness that you receive from faith.

[25:55] Number two this morning, righteousness is only received by faith.

[26:02] Righteousness is only received by faith. [26:05] Here is the way Jesus puts it in John 3.36. [26:08] He says, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. [26:12] Whoever does not obey the Son shall never see life. [26:17] But the wrath of God remains on him. [26:22] What we are tempted to do in that text is we are tempted to say,

[26:24] okay, so we have got to have two things. [26:26] We have got to believe him and then we have got to obey him. [26:29] But that is not what is actually happening in this text at all. [26:31] What is actually happening in this text is he says, [26:33] you have got to believe the Son and when you believe you have eternal life. [26:38] And if you do not obey his command to believe,

[26:44] you will feel his wrath.

[26:48] So when he says, whoever does not obey, what he is saying is, [26:52] your disobedience is shown because you did not believe.

[26:57] I mean, we have all been disobedient. [26:59] That is not news. [27:02] None of us have ever obeyed him fully. [27:05] And even when I did obey him, it was really to use him as a genie to get what I wanted. [27:10] So even my obedience is filthy.

[27:15] But note what he says at the end of that. [27:18] He says, if you do not believe, if you do not have faith, [27:22] then that wrath that Jesus endured, that pain that he took on the cross, [27:28] that condemnation that crushed him on the cross,

[27:35] that is yours forever.

[27:41] You will have to endure it yourself.

[27:47] And so there is a great stress here for us to understand that if we do not believe, [27:55] if we do not have faith, that we will deal with the justice for our sin alone.

[28:02] But if we do believe, if we do have faith,

[28:08] then we will never have to deal with the justice for our sin, [28:13] because justice has already been had.

[28:19] Believe in what God says you have done, [28:23] as well as how God deals with what you have done.

[28:29] See, that is when you begin to step over into the life of faith, [28:33] and not simply agreeing with a list of facts, [28:36] but instead looking at what God has said is required for me to come into his presence, [28:41] is required for me to come into his righteous fellowship, [28:44] and then in that moment saying, I have not been able to do any of that, [28:49] and saying and admitting, well, in light of that, I am hopeless.

[28:53] I need an intervention by God if I am ever to have any hope. [28:58] And then the gospel comes into my hearing. [29:01] The good news of Jesus is heard. [29:04] And I say, I am not now hopeless, because God has come and God has saved me. [29:09] That is where it goes past, just a nod of the head. [29:14] And it goes into your very life and becomes personal, and becomes faith,

[29:20] because you realize your own bankruptcy compared to Jesus’ full account. [29:26] And then you say, if I have to have any hope, I have to get some of what Jesus has gotten. [29:30] Jesus looks to me and says, oh, you can have all of it, because I did it for you.

[29:38] The gospel is the only message in this world where when you are told [29:45] that you can’t make yourself righteous, it is good news.

[29:53] I mean, think about this. [29:55] The gospel comes in, points directly at me, and says, hey, you are a sinner. [29:59] You have disobeyed God. [30:02] You cannot hope to ever be righteous enough to cancel out all of the wrong that you’ve ever done. [30:08] And in the gospel, I look and I say, well, that’s good news. [30:12] It doesn’t sound like good news.

[30:15] It sounds like you’re beating me up. [30:18] But why is it good news? [30:20] It’s good news because God says, I’m going to save you anyway.

[30:27] Not because of anything that you have done, but because of everything that Jesus has done. [30:31] It is good news that it is the power of God that saves, because we do not have the power to save ourselves. [30:38] Yet that is what most of us want to do and convince others we are doing or even capable of doing. [30:44] Real faith admits that you are helpless unless there is intervention by God. [30:49] It is a ruthless trust in God’s power and faithfulness to follow through with what he has promised in Jesus. [30:57] Real faith stops all attempts to get people to look at how good you are.

[31:06] Because real faith is an admittance that there is no good inside of me to begin with.

[31:13] But I feel that that is what most of us spend our lives pursuing.

[31:18] That’s what most of us spend our lives trying to do. [31:22] I’m good. I’m okay. [31:25] I’m obedient here. I’m righteous here. I’m religious here. [31:29] I’m doing the best that I can. I’m okay. [31:31] Look at me. Look at my example. Look at what I have done. Look at how good I am. [31:37] Hiding the fact and realization that you are absolutely spiritually bankrupt in every way.

[31:47] That is what the Gospel tells us.

[31:51] If there is any hope for your faith to be real, you must admit that you are not okay. [32:01] Stop this feeble attempt to make yourself look good in light of what God has said is good. [32:13] If your testimony begins and ends with you, then it is worthless.

[32:20] The only testimonies that have real salvation in them are the testimonies that end in it’s all about Jesus. [32:30] The only lifestyle that is going to be of any value to others in helping them come to faith [32:36] is the type of lifestyle that is spent in focused awe of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done [32:45] and in an attempt to point others towards that reality. [32:49] When you are pointing people towards yourself, you are not pointing them towards a savior. [32:55] You are pointing them towards a false savior.

[32:59] We must stop doing that.

[33:02] That is why the term from faith in chapter 1 verse 17 is so important. [33:09] It is not a righteousness that can be attained by behavior or even from your motivations. [33:15] It is a righteousness that is only possible by looking fully into the work of God and what He has done. [33:21] This is how Paul puts it in Philippians chapter 3.

[33:49] He says,

[33:51] Here is what Paul is unloading. [33:53] He is saying,

[33:59] And this is a guy that had built a religious reputation. [34:03] This is a guy that had built fame based on his adherence to a code of ethics that he thought would save him. [34:10] And when he comes to Christ, he doesn’t continue to look back and say, [34:14] Or go forward to say, [34:16] But look at how mission-focused my life is. [34:19] Look at how many people I have told about Christ.

[34:21] Look at all the great things that I have done. [34:23] Now he looks at himself. He looks at all the trinkets. [34:26] The money that life has given him. [34:28] He looks at the religious morality that he has had in his life. [34:31] And he is nothing but a worthless pile of dung in the original Greek. [34:36] That is what rubbish means.

[34:39] And who likes to find that on the living room floor?

[34:44] When you find it, you hope you have a dog. [34:47] Because it is like, what other explanation is there? [34:50] If you have small children, there may be another explanation. [34:53] But we are not going to talk about that. [34:55] What happens in raising children stays with raising children.

[35:01] But Paul looks at his life and he says, [35:03] I have nothing.

[35:08] Nor can I get anything. [35:10] Nor can I gain anything. [35:13] That even comes close to comparing to the greatness of who Jesus is.

[35:25] He said, I have lost all things so that I can gain Jesus. [35:31] But then note how he ends it. [35:33] He says, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law. [35:40] In other words, I did not obey my way to Jesus. [35:44] He says, it comes through faith in Christ. [35:48] The righteousness from God that depends on faith.

[35:52] From faith. [35:55] For faith.

[35:59] Faith does not just agree. [36:02] Faith puts ultimate value in God’s work and God’s plan. [36:07] It says, yes, that is what I need. [36:09] Yes, that is what I want. [36:11] Yes, that is what my passion is for. [36:13] Faith is about treasure.

[36:16] Faith is about what you value. [36:18] Faith is about what you want to pour your life into. [36:21] And the moment that you have real faith in Jesus, [36:24] is the moment that you see Him and do what Paul says He has done there. [36:28] He says, there is nothing more valuable. [36:31] There is no money that could ever compare.

[36:35] There is no extra dollar in my bank account that could ever be worth as much [36:40] as knowing Jesus, as having a relationship with the God of the universe [36:45] in which He says, I love you to the extent that even when you were a hopeless rebel [36:51] running away from Me, I paid the penalty so that you could come back to Me. [36:57] And Paul says, that is worth everything in this world. [37:00] You could trade everything. You could go through anything.

[37:06] This is where many of us begin to misdefine faith.

[37:13] The reality is, is that if it is something that righteousness depends on, [37:17] then it is something that brings a new everything and submits to anything that God asks.

[37:25] It says, if there is any real value in this world, [37:28] I put all of my valuation on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

[37:34] There is a temptation to believe that you earn something.

[37:41] There is a temptation to believe that your actions are adding something [37:45] and making you more valuable as you follow Jesus. [37:50] That is not faith. [37:54] There is also a temptation to believe that there is a power innate in your faith [37:59] and that you can will things to be through faith [38:02] and that you have a power because of your faith.

[38:05] And you are going to make your plan happen. [38:08] Because it is kind of like a quid pro quo with God. [38:10] I am faithful to you here, so you better be faithful to Me there. [38:14] There is nothing more than a feeble attempt to get God on your page [38:18] when the reality is, why would God move off of His page? He is God. [38:22] When you begin to see barriers to your hopes and dreams,

[38:25] what you are actually probably seeing is a barrier to the wrong hope, [38:29] a barrier to the wrong dream. [38:30] And God says, I want you on my path, not your path. [38:33] Because what you are seeking is a different destination, but the same path. [38:38] And what God says is, I don’t just come in and give you a different destination. [38:43] I give you a different path.

[38:45] Because it is the path that God is on. [38:47] It is the path that God has always been on. [38:49] It is the path that leads to righteousness. [38:52] We can misdefine faith to believe that there is some power from within us [38:56] that may even make faith powerful. [38:59] But it is not your faith that is the power.

[39:02] It is the object that your faith is in that is powerful.

[39:09] And when Jesus is the object of your faith, you look headlong into who Jesus is.

[39:15] And you trust His plan more than your plan.

[39:20] You trust His righteousness more than you trust your righteousness. [39:24] Because you know you don’t really have any.

[39:28] And through good times and even bad times, you look and you say, God, your will, not mine.

[39:35] You pray for healing.

[39:38] You pray for breakthroughs. [39:40] You pray for comfort. [39:42] You pray for help. [39:43] But every one of those prayers must be ended by, Lord, not my will, but yours. [39:49] Because faith has a true understanding and a true belief that God’s plan is always better than your plan. [39:55] Even if God’s plan says, I must die.

[40:00] Because it would be terrible to live past the moment that God wants me to die.

[40:06] That is real faith. [40:08] Real faith is submitting everything in your life over to Him and saying, I will live for you. [40:13] I will live by you and I will live through you no matter what. [40:17] Because your plan is right in every area that my plan will ultimately be shown as wrong.

[40:26] That’s what Paul says in Galatians 3, 11. [40:28] He says, it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law. [40:34] For the righteous shall live by faith. [40:36] We live by faith in God, not by faith in ourselves. [40:40] Your plan doesn’t build a life that in any way reassures God. [40:46] Submitting your life to God’s plan is what faith is built on.

[40:51] Thirdly, this morning, righteousness remains through faith.

[40:59] Note that he says it is from faith, but then he also says it is for faith. [41:05] He ends it by saying this in verse 17. [41:11] He says, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

[41:18] There is a lot of faith and not a lot of understanding.

[41:23] To understand that, we have to understand that what Paul is doing here is he is quoting an Old Testament prophet. [41:30] To understand what that prophet was saying, you have to know what he said. [41:32] Here is what happened in Habakkuk chapter 2.

[41:39] God says to the prophet, [41:41] For still the vision awaits its appointed time. [41:45] It hastens to the end. It will not lie. [41:49] If it seems slow, wait for it. [41:52] Don’t you hate that?

[41:55] It will surely come. [41:58] It will not delay. [42:00] Behold, his soul is puffed up. [42:03] It is not upright within him. [42:05] But the righteous shall live by faith.

[42:12] Habakkuk is a prophet of the Old Testament that lived in a pretty dark time in Israel’s history. [42:16] He lives in a time when Israel is really not close to God. [42:21] They are all just exhibiting unrighteousness all over the place. [42:24] They don’t care what the prophet has to say. [42:27] God comes to the prophet, Habakkuk, and he says, [42:29] I have some bad news.

[42:31] And Habakkuk’s reply was, certainly, that is all we have. [42:35] So I guess I will take that. [42:37] And God looks to Habakkuk and he says, [42:39] Everyone in Israel is unrighteous, so I am going to have to bring judgment. [42:42] And Habakkuk says, well, that is not new news. That is all I have seen. [42:46] But then God looks to Habakkuk and he says,

[42:48] The way I am going to judge you is that I am going to send an even more unrighteous nation into Israel. [42:55] And they are going to defeat you. [42:57] And then you are going to be the slaves of people even less righteous than you. [43:02] And that is where Habakkuk starts to argue. [43:05] He says, wait a second, so your way of dealing with unrighteousness is through another people that are even more unrighteous? [43:13] That doesn’t seem right.

[43:14] To which God says, so I am God. I will do whatever I want. [43:19] And Habakkuk starts this three chapter argument with God.

[43:27] And Habakkuk continuously goes back and says, God, that is not right. [43:30] I want it now. You fix it now. You deliver it now. You show me yourself now.

[43:38] And at one point in the story, Habakkuk actually grabs a tablet. [43:41] He goes up into a tower in Israel and he says, God, I am going to sit right here. [43:46] And I am going to wait for your response to my argument. [43:50] Don’t get in a debate with God. You are probably not going to win. [43:53] It is one of those simple things that you need to understand in life. [43:57] And yet God continues to communicate and love.

[44:00] So God comes to Habakkuk and this is what he says.

[44:06] He says, Habakkuk, even if you don’t understand, my vision is going to happen. [44:13] My righteousness will be revealed.

[44:17] It awaits. It is appointed time. When is that? [44:21] Whenever I say it is, Habakkuk, because I am God.

[44:27] He says, it is not going to be late, nor is it going to be too soon.

[44:35] And when you stop trusting in my timing, when you stop trusting in my way, [44:40] when you stop depending on what I say, understand that that is a pride that I find completely disgusting.

[44:48] That is what he means when he says his soul is puffed up. It is not upright. [44:52] You know what that term upright means? Righteous.

[44:57] He finishes it when he says, Habakkuk, the righteous shall live by faith. [45:06] The most interesting thing about this story to me is that Habakkuk never in his physical life saw God come through on that promise.

[45:20] Habakkuk didn’t see God come through on that promise until he was dead and already in heaven.

[45:27] Because the fulfillment of that promise that God made right there was Jesus Christ.

[45:35] Jesus came when he was supposed to come.

[45:40] He delivered everyone from their sin at the right moment.

[45:45] And then he looked to a world that was struggling in unrighteousness, struggling in sin, struggling with faithlessness before God. [45:54] And Jesus says, have faith and I will give you eternal life. [46:01] Have faith and I will deliver you from all pain. [46:05] Have faith and I will deliver you from every sin that has ever been a struggle, ever been a temptation for any person, anywhere, at any time. [46:14] It is about a patient, enduring trust that looks at what God has done in Jesus and waits. [46:21] He says, if God can do that, then God can surely work in my life.

[46:33] If God can do that, then surely he can deal with any of my issues. [46:42] If God is that wise, if God is that patient, if God is that good, [46:50] then I will trust him no matter what happens.

[46:59] Hebrews chapter 10 puts it this way.

[47:03] Verse 23, it says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.

[47:09] For he who promised is faithful.

[47:13] The word hold fast, it means that you grab a hold and you never let go. [47:17] It is faithful.

[47:20] Another term for it is fidelity. [47:23] What are you holding fast to there? [47:25] You are not holding fast to something that you have done. [47:27] You are not holding fast to something that you are going to do. [47:29] You are not holding fast to something that you are. [47:31] You are holding fast to the confession of what Jesus has done.

[47:37] Then in verse 38 of that same chapter, it says, but my righteous one, [47:45] here is that phrase again, shall live by faith.

[47:51] And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. [47:58] Friends, you either believe God or you don’t. [48:07] Your life will reveal the truth of what you believe.

[48:17] Faith in the gospel saves us.

[48:23] And faith in the gospel keeps us saved.

[48:29] It is not about what you have done.

[48:34] It is about understanding that you are completely dependent on the gospel of Jesus Christ. [48:41] And you will always be completely dependent on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[48:48] And then in every moment of your life, every success and every failure,

[48:58] the only righteousness that you will ever really have is the righteousness of looking to the cross [49:02] and looking at the resurrection and saying, I trust in Jesus.

[49:08] You will never stop needing to focus on the gospel. [49:15] It saves you and it keeps you saved.

[49:19] See, Paul had a desire to come to Rome at the very beginning of this book. [49:24] To preach the gospel to Christians as well as non-Christians. [49:30] Faith gives life over to God and allows God to define why you exist.

[49:36] Every day you will be tempted to believe that you exist for something else. [49:44] Every day you will be tempted to believe that you need more than the gospel has to offer. [49:49] Every day you will be tempted to believe because of a situation, a circumstance that you need more than Jesus.

[49:59] Every day you will be tempted to believe that you need less than Jesus.

[50:05] The life that endures to the end, the faith that takes you into the grave with joy, [50:12] is the faith that says, always, forever, Jesus.

[50:19] It’s my only righteousness.

[50:22] Because I don’t have any. [50:24] But thanks be to God. [50:26] He gave me all that He had to offer. [50:32] And He will give the same to you. [50:35] If you’ll trust in Him.

[50:40] As we finish this morning, as the band comes forward,

[50:46] I really only have one question for you.

[50:52] What does your life say that your faith is in?

[51:02] When you look at all of your actions, when you look at all of your effort, [51:07] when you look at all of your anxieties, your stresses, your worries, [51:12] your thoughts, your thoughts, your speech, your conversations, your relationships, [51:20] I’m talking about your life, I’m talking about everything. [51:23] What does your life say your faith is in?

[51:30] Is it in the everlasting beauty and worth of the Son of God, [51:38] who died for you and then rose again to give you new life?

[51:49] Or are you preaching a different message? [51:52] To yourself and to others.

[51:58] Every week we reflect on communion. [52:00] I love this moment because what this moment does is it forces us into a moment every week [52:08] where we’re face to face with that everlasting beauty of the cross and resurrection.

[52:14] The cup represents the shed blood of Jesus. [52:17] The bread represents His broken body.

[52:21] He bled, He was broken, and He died for me and for you.

[52:28] When we eat and drink, it’s really two things that it’s about. [52:32] First, it’s this proclamation to everyone around us, [52:36] I believe, I have faith in Jesus. [52:43] Secondly, it’s this picture when you eat and when you drink and you take it in. [52:49] It’s a picture that Jesus gave His life to give you life. [52:54] So that every day you can walk with a focus on faith in Jesus.

[52:59] Every day you can walk a life of meaning. [53:01] And every day you can point to the one who actually does have righteousness, Jesus.

[53:08] This morning, if you’re a believer in Jesus, [53:12] I’m going to invite you in a moment to come forward and proclaim the gospel.

[53:17] But if you’re in here and you don’t believe,

[53:21] you’re struggling right now and you’re saying, I don’t think my faith is in that. [53:27] I’d love to spend a minute talking to you over here. [53:30] There’s some in the foyer. [53:32] We’ll talk to you and pray with you. [53:35] For all of you, when you’re ready, come.