Grace That Cuts The Heart; Glory That Goes To God

What if the thing that most offends people about faith isn’t Jesus, but our habit of pretending we’re better than we are? We walk through Romans 2–3 with Pastor Carl to face hypocrisy head-on, let the law do its exposing work, and then step into the relief of grace that actually changes us. The thread running through it all: outward religion can’t cure an inward problem, and the Spirit’s conviction cuts us only so God can heal what’s beneath the surface.

We start where many church stories go wrong—confident in rules, loose with hearts. Paul dismantles false confidence: condemning others while excusing ourselves, trusting badges and rituals, and missing that the law is a mirror, not a medicine. Then the turn: the righteousness of God is revealed apart from the law, given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, yet we are justified freely by grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus. God remains just and becomes our justifier at the cross, the great exchange where our sin is met with His righteousness.

From that foundation, we press into everyday implications. Boasting is excluded, so humility becomes our native language. Freedom is not a license to sin but power to love from a changed heart. We treat neighbors with patience, resist petty judgments, and seek to be willing to be wronged for others’ good. Faith doesn’t erase the law; it establishes it—because Jesus fulfilled what we could not and now forms His life within us. If you’re weary of polished appearances and hungry for honest, transforming grace, this conversation will give you clarity, courage, and a fresh vision of what the gospel produces in real life.

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Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

The Holy Spirit comes and convicts us of our sin. We are cut to the heart. And if we respond to that cutting of the heart, he wants to circumcise our hearts, then we're made alive in the Spirit. And we're made right with God because we've trusted in the work that He's done on the cross on our behalf. And when we get to that place, we don't get accolades, but God gets accolades because we recognize it's the work that God has done in us and not we ourselves.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Your salvation is not based on anything you've done. If you believe in Jesus and what Scripture teaches us about the salvation he imparts, you know that he alone saves. It's only his work on the cross that bridges the gap between God and us. Yet, as Pastor Carl points out in today's message, how often do we observe the sin in others and think to ourselves that there's no way they're saved? We know in our hearts that it's by grace alone, but we deem others as unworthy of that grace. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

You say, Do not commit adultery. Do you commit adultery? And of course, Jesus said, if you look upon a woman with lust, you've committed adultery in your heart. Even if it was for a split second, you're guilty. Are you recognizing that? Are you applying that to your life? Are you teaching yourself from what the word says? You who abhor idols, do you rob the temple? Money is so important to you that uh you know you're you're you're starving and and the and the offering plate comes around and you you grab a couple of dollars and say, Thank you, Lord, for for helping me. Instead of trusting in the Lord and asking for prayer, you take it into your own hands and and you make your need an idol, and and yet you say, It's so terrible how people idolize everything today. Do we allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and to show us these inconsistencies in our own lives? Or do we just point our fingers at other people and tell them how to live? You who make your boast in the law, do you just honor God through breaking the law? And the Pharisees were really good at that, weren't they? And this is where that term of hypocrisy comes in and why people don't want to come into the church. You say one thing and you do another. And Paul's just saying, he's just, as the term that we heard in Mississippi when we lived there, just saying. You say you trust God, but you live this way. What's going on? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written. Do you like that being said of yourself? People don't come to church because of how you say you follow the gospel and uh you live like the world. They don't want anything to do with it. That's heavy, Paul. Well, somebody needs to say it, right? And that's what Paul's trying to get through to us. But but but I'm I'm a Christian. I've been forgiven. Or the the the Jews in this particular situation. But we're of the chosen nation, and we've been saved by by Jesus on the cross, and and yet I do go and do these other things. For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law, but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Their symbol of being set apart for God does not make them right with God, but it's a symbol of them being separated from God. Now they need to walk with God. But if they're not walking with God, they did the outward, but the inward isn't the same. It's pointless, isn't it? We can do things on the outside to look like we're spiritual, to look like we're following God, and our hearts are far from him. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirement of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? If it were possible for someone just to, you know, I don't, the law is great and everything. I've not been given the law, I'm not part of the chosen people, but I honor God and I want to live for God. And if that is would be possible, because we know because of the first verse we looked at it's not possible. But if it were possible, it's not about the law, because you can't keep it. It's not about how you look on the outside, it's about what actually happens on the inside. And when he's pointing out, what happens on the inside is not pretty. Verse 27. And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you, who even with your written code and circumcision are a transgressor of the law? They're judging you. They're pointing out your sin. And you're supposed to be the chosen of God. What's going on here? Verse 28. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is done, which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of that heart, not in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. When we come to the Lord, when we recognize his sacrifice for us on the cross, and the Holy Spirit comes and convicts us of our sin, we are cut to the heart. And if we respond to that cutting of the heart, he wants to circumcise our hearts, then we're made alive in the Spirit. And we're made right with God because we've trusted in the work that He's done on the cross on our behalf. And when we get to that place, we don't get accolades, but God gets accolades because we recognize it's the work that God has done in us and not we ourselves. Because when we're pointing out other people's sin, we're really trying to exalt ourselves. I do so much better than the rest of these people. But how do you do in light of the perfection of God? How do you really do in the light of the perfection of the law? You fall short. But in Jesus, all the glory goes to God. Are you following? I hope so. We're going to get into chapter three now. Because I want some good news. This is heavy. You know, I know, Lord, I fall short. I know, I know, I know, and I know I point out other people, and I have people put the toilet paper on the wrong way, and it's just not right, and yet that's not where I should be, judging them in that way, right? What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? And he says, much in every way. Look, I'm not just writing off the law. I'm not writing off the fact that the Jews were set apart for a very special purpose. I'm just saying, what are you doing with it? And it was very important for them because chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. They were given the law. What a great responsibility. The law, which reflects the righteousness, holy requirement of God. And they take that and they're an example of it, and then they share it with the rest of the world. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have the law. For what if some did not believe? Okay, so they they had the law and they were given the law, and some, you know, say, I don't, I don't, I don't follow that. I I don't believe that, I don't want to go with that. Does that change who God is? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Even if you you had the opportunity to be stewards of the oracles of God and you misrepresented them, does that change the faithfulness of God? No, praise God. But it does cause a distraction, doesn't it? If we're representing Jesus and we don't live according to the gospel of grace, and people see it and say, I don't want anything to do with it, that's not a good thing, is it? We're called to draw people in, not push people away. But does that change the faithfulness of God? God is faithful. And he says, certainly not in verse 4. Indeed, let God be true and every man a liar. Going back to the verse that we started with. We have hearts that are deceitfully wicked. You know, you want to be kind, you want to trust people, but don't put all your confidence in people because we lie to each other, because we lie to ourselves. But God is true always. And that's what Paul is trying to get us to the place where it's like, I can't trust anybody. That's right, but you can trust Jesus. And in Jesus you can become trustworthy, that you might be justified in your words and may overcome when you are judged, as it is written. He's he's quoting uh from the Old Testament, and he's talking about the Lord here. God is true, but every man is a liar, that you, Jesus, might be justified in your words, in his words. The words that he said are true, they're consistent, they're not changed to fit the circumstances, they're always true, and that Jesus might overcome when he is judged. When was Jesus judged? When he took our place on the cross. He took our place because this was real sin that needed to be paid for, and he took it upon himself. He took it upon himself, he perished, he took our condemnation, and he rose again and overcame the grave, and when we believe and trust we can be we rise again with him, we have resurrected bodies, right? So in him we can overcome, in him we have victory, not in trying to fulfill the law or coming up with a law of our own that fits better who we are and makes us feel better about ourselves. 1 John 5, 4 and 5 says, For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. There has to be a change. We can't please God in our physical self. The Holy Spirit has to come and change us and cause us to be born again. And this is the victory that has overcome the world. Our faith. How do we become born again? Well, we believe in the gospel, as the Holy Spirit comes and reveals it to us and convicts us and shows us our need for the gospel. Who is he who overcomes the world? But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. It's not about our works, it's not about your neighbor's works, it's about the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And all of this should change our perspective on how we treat other people, how we walk with other people, how we perceive, how in the world could they do that? Well, their hearts are deceitful, but the answer is in Jesus. How in the world could I have done that? Boy, did I do a stupid thing the other day, you know? And yet, Christ died for that. And may the Lord give us a greater vision of what the gospel means to us, the freedom that it means to us, the forgiveness that it means to us, the grace that He gives to us that we can give with others, that we can give to others, that we can share with others. But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? I speak as a man. Now we start thinking as a human again. And we start thinking, wait a minute. So if I reject the law, God is still faithful. And in other letters that Paul writes, he says, Should we sin that grace should abound? Because grace is greater than all of our sin. And that's true. His grace is greater than all our sin. Is that a license to sin? No. But if you do, it's covered. And it's hard for us to get our head around all this, isn't it? May the Lord give us wisdom. And that's what Paul is trying to do. He's saying, wake up. Is God unjust when he inflicts wrath because his grace is greater and he shouldn't be given wrath? No, certainly not. For then how will God judge the world? The world needs to be judged, because the truth is sin separates us from God. And God doesn't want that. God wants us to be reconciled to him. For if the truth of God is increased through my lie to his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? Because you're still a sinner and you're not with the righteousness of God. You're not being holy as He is holy as He demanded you to be, and you're pointing fingers and you're thinking like the world. You need to think like the Lord. You need to think in light of the gospel. And why not say, let us do evil that good may come, as we are slanderously reported, as some affirm that we say, and their condemnation is just. People are accusing us of this. You know, I'm forgiven. I could do anything I want. That's not true, and that's not what we're saying. However, we have great freedom in the Lord to go and to do the work that He's called us to do. And sometimes it it uh it looks differently to the outside world because they don't fully understand what the gospel of grace is all about. And how can the world understand what the gospel of grace is about if we, as the body of Christ, don't fully understand what the grace of God is all about? Amen. Paul is challenging us to grow in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He's challenging us to let the Lord show us the evil that's in our hearts, that he can address it, that he can change it, that we can walk in freedom, and we can better represent him to the world. What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged that both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin, as it is written. There is none righteous, no not one. There is none who understands, none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside, they have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no not one. Okay, see, we try to look at our position, we try to live a life that is godly in the law, but we justify our sin, and we're missing the whole thing. None of us can do what God requires us to do. Are you following? Just in case you didn't realize that, here's some things in the Old Testament that describe what Paul is talking about. This is our hearts. Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shred to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. When as the Galatians, we recognize that I've been saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ, the shed blood of Jesus, and now I'm gonna go prove to God that it was a great job for Him to choose me to serve Him. And I'm gonna go do all these things for God in my flesh. I miss the whole thing, don't I? Because my works in my flesh are as filthy rags. The truth is, nothing within me is good enough for God. That's why God had to become one of us and take our place on the cross. Verse 19. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped, and the world might become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. Some of the verses that he was sharing at the beginning of the chapter seem to imply that maybe I could find, you know, uh forgiveness, I could find, you know, entrance into heaven by completing the law. But Paul was speaking, you know, if you're good enough, you'll make it, but you and I both know that you're not good enough. And just in case we didn't get it, he makes it clear here. Look, in case you didn't get it, no man is good enough. No matter how hard they try, no flesh will be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Why was the law given? To show us our sin. In case we didn't feel it inside, because he has given us a conscience that so we recognize that there's a God and I'm not, and I'm far from him, but we we we tend to suppress that truth in unrighteousness. We justify the sin that we go, and we go down this parade and we see what that what the results are in our world today when we just go on and and twist the truth. But he's given us the law. And if we're honest about it and we let the law teach us, the law shows us that we don't stack up, we're far from the righteousness of God. And you know what else the law does not do? It does not give us an answer, it just tells us that we're sinners. It's true, it shows the holiness of God, it shows this chasm that we have between God and man, but it doesn't give us an answer. You try to fulfill the law, you'll realize that you can't. And why do we expect others to fulfill the law around us? Because they can't. However, verse 21. This is why I wanted to do chapter 3 as well. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. Do you believe the gospel? Do you understand and receive the work that Jesus did for us on the cross? It's the great exchange where Jesus says, Give me your sin, and I will give you the righteousness of God. What a deal that is. That's how we're made right with God, through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And there's no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God sent forth as a propitiation, which means he came to pay our debt by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness through us, because in his forbearance God has passed over the sin that was previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Jesus was perfectly just to well, he would have been perfectly just just to send us all to hell. We would have deserved it. We do deserve it. And yet he was also perfectly just to come and take our place to represent us and To give us the righteousness of God to anyone who has faith in Jesus. That is the key, isn't it? So where's the boasting then? It is excluded. By the law? What law? Of works? No. But by the law of faith. Paul in another letter talks about he boasts of Jesus Christ, not himself. If we are able to fulfill the law and follow the law, then we can boast that I'm better than them. I've got my life together so much better than those folks. But that's not true, is it? We're believing the lie, our hearts are deceitfully wicked. The truth is the only way we're right with God is if God does the work in us. God changes us by our acceptance of the gospel, and we're made right with God. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith, apart from the deeds of the law. It doesn't matter all the good works that you do, nothing measures up. It's who you trust, who you believe in. Do you believe the finished work of Jesus Christ? Or is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not only the God, is he not also the God of the Gentiles? The Jews had a very important role in this. Through the Jews, the Messiah would come. The Jews had the law to show us our need for the Messiah that would be provided through their line. And yet God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life. Yes, of the Gentiles also. The whole world is made right in Christ, through Christ, when we believe. Since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith, do we then make void the law through the faith? Okay, Paul, you're talking about the law and how it doesn't really help us. It just shows us our sin and we can't do anything about it. We try to live that way, we justify ourselves, we point out sins in other people, and yada yada yada. But that's not the answer. The answer is Jesus. So what's the pro is it is it worth anything? And he says, certainly. On the contrary, we established the law. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not. On the contrary, we established the law. Jesus fulfilled the law on our behalf. He did what we could not do so that we could do what we could never do. He became sin so that we could become the righteousness of God. He overcame death so that we could have new life in him. So why do we condemn others because they do trivial things? Takes it back home, doesn't it? May the Lord give us wisdom and direction. May He give us hearts of grace. May He, as Paul says, give us the attitude of being willing to be wronged for the sake of others. I deserve to pound on that guy because they stole this from me. But the Lord has forgiven you for everything you've stolen, for everything that you've lied about, for all the deceptions that you've done in your life, and you justify it because you don't want to admit that that's what you've done. But going back to that first verse, we have hearts that are deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Praise God. The Lord knows our hearts. That's why we say, seek me, know me, search my heart, Lord, point out any sin that's within me. And ultimately that's be that's when we go to the to the Lord and say, Lord, at the cross, you took this sin that you've revealed to me. You've you've forgiven it, you've paid for it. Help me to walk in that freedom. And help me to show that grace to others as well, that they might come to know you and grow in you and be salt and light to a desperate world that needs to hear it. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

You've been listening to Pastor Carl here on Come On Up as he covered another interesting passage in Romans. The book of Romans has many meaningful verses that are good to keep in mind. For example, Romans 6.23 states, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Never forget that God's generous gift of salvation through faith allows you to be saved by grace. May you walk in that truth today. Come on Up comes to you from the Mountain Cross, a group of believers in Jesus who seek to grow in faith by simply teaching the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter. We meet Sundays at the Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville, North Carolina, beginning at 10 a.m. To learn more about us, visit our website, themountaincross.com. You can also make plans to join us for the next Faith Film Night. We show faith-based films on the first Monday of each month. Our February film is the 10th anniversary presentation of Risen, which follows a Roman soldier who was given the task of finding Jesus' body after the resurrection. Mark your calendar for Risen back on the big screen, Monday, February 2nd at 6.30 p.m. at the Smoky Mountain Cinema. To learn more, go to themountaincross.com. You can also search for Faith Film Night on Facebook. That's all we have for today. But come on up to the mountain with us again tomorrow as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come On Up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.