WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:00.880 Good morning, church. 00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:05.839 It is awesome to be with you this morning as we continue in the sermon series of the book of Acts. 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:08.080 We're going to be in Acts 15 this morning. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:11.279 And again, if I don't know you, as Pastor Justin said, my name is John. 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:17.519 I am a mission group leader here at SMC, and it is such a joy to be able to worship with you today. 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:25.280 In the early 16th century, there was a young monk by the name of Martin Luther. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:36.320 Luther was a brilliant scholar, he was a skilled professor, and he was deeply devoted to his religious convictions. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:41.520 Luther's life was one that was marked by absolute self-denial. 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.280 When Luther prayed, he prayed intensely. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:51.200 There's actually some records of other monks who were with him who could hear him shouting at the devil. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:56.479 When he studied the word, he studied it rigorously. 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:04.799 And one funny fact about Luther is that he grew up in the medieval Roman Catholic Church. 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:06.079 They go to confession. 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:13.760 He would spend hours at a time in confession to the point where he would annoy his priest. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:22.719 And he would inflict physical pain upon his body in order to subdue himself and to cast sin away. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:30.000 Luther was an extreme guy, but he was deeply devoted to his religion. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:32.959 But Luther had a problem. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:48.239 He says this. 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:12.240 Yes, I hated the righteous God who punished sinners. 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:16.800 I think that's one thing that we all love about Luther is what he was just honest. 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:19.360 He was raw about what he felt. 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:39.840 And here's the point all in all of his devotion, all of his sincerity, in all of the religious discipline that he practiced, Luther recognized one thing that his life was insufficient to satisfy a God who is perfectly holy and perfectly righteous. 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:43.439 And this fact tormented Luther. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:50.080 But beyond Luther, I think you and I still have that struggle today. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:53.520 I think we still feel that same tension in our own hearts. 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:59.439 It becomes more obvious for us in today's world, maybe when we're going through a crisis of faith. 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:04.159 Maybe if you're in a season of doubt, maybe a season of unbelief. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:06.879 Or maybe this is you this morning. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:18.319 Maybe you're someone who for the millionth time you've fallen back into the same exact sin that you promised God you were going to be done with. 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:29.360 And in these moments, I think what happens, what we're tempted to do, is that we're tempted to reach out and grasp onto anything that will make us feel righteous. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:34.960 And when we do that, we start to build a case for ourselves that we are righteous. 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:38.319 We can say things like this Well, I pray a lot. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:41.680 Maybe not as much as Luther, but I still do it. 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:43.439 I study the word. 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:46.080 I'm a good dad. 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:49.280 I fasted once for like six hours. 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:53.520 Certainly, all of this has to add up to something. 00:03:54.879 --> 00:04:05.120 But here's the problem is that when we start to build a case for our own righteousness, eventually all of the evidence is going to get admitted. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:09.520 Yeah, we do pray, but how often do we pray distracted? 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:14.879 We do study the word, but sometimes we still have doubts. 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:23.360 Yes, maybe you are a father, maybe you're a mother who provides really well for your family, but you're still impatient with them. 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:33.120 And maybe you're someone who is extremely generous with your time and your finances, but maybe you secretly like it when people notice it. 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:42.720 And suddenly these things that we start to reach out to for our own righteousness begin to condemn us. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:50.480 Because the moment that we start to look to ourselves as the source of righteousness, we're looking in the wrong place. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:55.040 And this is the controversy that we find in Acts chapter 15. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:58.399 This is 1,500 years before Luther. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:05.040 This is 2,000 years before us, and the church was facing the same question. 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:09.360 Where do the guilty find their hope? 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:15.199 And so we've moved into the first few verses, and we call this the dissension. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:26.720 And what we see, there's some men who are coming down from Judea into the church of Antioch, and others in the church of Jerusalem, and they're preaching a false gospel to the Gentile people. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:29.680 They're saying things like this in verse 1. 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:40.560 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:43.839 And later in verse 5, we read of the Pharisees. 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:44.800 They say this. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:06.560 And one thing that's sort of challenging to decipher in this passage is so some of these Jewish men, they're outright heretics, some are believers who are confused, and I'm not going to parse all that out right now. 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:13.439 But the main point is this is that there's two major issues that are facing the church right now. 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:15.040 The first one is this. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:24.000 In order to be saved, and we're going to talk about that word, saved, in order to be saved, you must be circumcised. 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:38.720 So any access to God, if you want entrance into the kingdom of God, you must first put your faith in Christ, but you have to add circumcision to it in keeping of the law. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:40.319 That's the first issue. 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:52.240 The second issue is this once you are saved, you should live under the Mosaic law and observe the traditions exactly as the Jewish people had observed them. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:07:05.680 And this is a bold thing to do for these men who are not connected to this local to these local churches to come in, and actually in verse 24, it says that they were not instructed by the elders of their churches. 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:07.920 They were working autonomously. 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:12.000 But they come in and they start to try to redefine the gospel. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:17.519 They try to create these new doctrines as if they had the authority to do so. 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:23.680 But there's a reason why these Jewish men are targeting the Gentiles with this false message. 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:31.040 There's a long-standing frustration over the pagan nations who are now flooding into local churches. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:34.000 And where does this frustration come from? 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:36.399 I would say it comes from this. 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:45.600 At the time in the first century, the time of Acts 15, Christianity was still largely seen as a sect of Judaism. 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:47.120 Why do they think that? 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:50.000 Because the earliest believers were Jewish. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:52.639 The apostles were Jewish. 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:56.079 The scriptures that they used were Jewish. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:59.279 The Messiah was Jewish. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:08.480 They had lived under all the ceremonies, all the commands, all the dietary restrictions, all the brutal sacrifices that they had to make. 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:13.839 And now they're coming into these churches and they see the Gentiles in the back of the church getting drunk on communion line. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:15.519 They were frustrated. 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:18.480 They're saying, This, this, it doesn't work this way. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:22.879 And the argument that they were making was persuasive. 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:25.279 They were saying things like this. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:27.680 Well, didn't Jesus keep the law? 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:30.000 Didn't Jesus keep the dietary restrictions? 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:33.200 Don't you want to be more like Jesus? 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:37.919 If you can remember a time back in the 90s, there was this phrase, it was called, What would Jesus do? 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:40.960 We're all still trying to recover from that. 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:44.639 But this was their version of what would Jesus do? 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:45.600 You're not acting like Jesus. 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:46.639 You don't look like Jesus. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:50.320 You don't look like us, and we are the representatives of the Jewish community. 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:53.120 The frustration was real. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:57.600 And now the gospel was rapidly advancing among the Gentile people. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:02.159 And the Gentiles, they didn't grow up keeping the Torah. 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:05.039 They didn't grow up observing dietary laws. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.799 They didn't carry the covenant sign of circumcision. 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:20.559 And many of them had spent their entire lives worshiping false gods, worshiping idols, and living lives of debauchery that was common in a pagan society in the first century. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:30.639 And now they hear the gospel, they believe, and all of a sudden they're granted entrance into the kingdom. 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:32.399 Nothing else? 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:37.840 All of the riches of heaven, all of the riches of Christ poured down on them. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:41.120 They didn't understand it. 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:44.879 Surely there had to be something else that these Gentiles had to do. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:58.399 And we know that this is false. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:05.840 In chapter 14, verse 27 of the book of Acts, it says this, the Lord gives us a really good illustration. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:10.799 He says that he opened a door of faith to the Gentile people. 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:20.080 But what these men are doing, these Judaizers, what they wanted to do is as God opened up the door of faith to the Gentiles, they wanted to add a screen door. 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:26.320 They wanted to add a qualifier before they can actually enter into the kingdom. 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:29.200 But Peter confronts this directly in verse 10. 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:40.240 He says, This, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:42.320 And think about what Peter's saying. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:49.679 He's saying, look, the reason why we're in this mess to begin with, with Rome, is because your fathers couldn't keep the law. 00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:54.960 They were the ones who were committing adultery with pagan nations. 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:58.000 They're the reason why we were dispersed across the world. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:00.960 They're the reason why we're in this situation today. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:03.039 They didn't keep the law. 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:05.360 You don't keep the law. 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:08.720 But now you're placing this yoke on the neck of others. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:12.240 Why would you do this? 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:24.480 Because at this point, what was clear is that the covenantal structure of the Mosaic law was passed. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:26.960 Christians were no longer bound by the law. 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:34.480 Because roughly a decade earlier, in Acts chapter 10, so between the events of Acts chapter 10 and Acts chapter 15, about 10 years had passed. 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:38.480 And God poured out the Spirit on Cornelius. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:44.720 God poured his spirit on the Gentiles, and he declared that they are no longer under the restrictions of the law. 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:55.600 And Peter took this information, he took it back to the churches, and that became the standard teaching of the church is that the Gentile people come to Christ by faith alone, not by keeping the law. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:11:59.919 And yet, years later, here we are. 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:09.679 Some people are still troubling the Gentile believers, still placing burdens on them, still insisting that they become more like them. 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:13.519 God said the door was open. 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:18.480 And the Jews said, yes, but first you need to be circumcised. 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:22.159 You need Moses, and you need to look exactly like me. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:26.639 And boy, I think we still have these same tendencies today. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:30.159 We see God doing amazing things in the life of the church. 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:31.840 We see the Spirit gifting people. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:35.200 We see the Spirit pouring Himself out on believers. 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:38.000 We see people maturing, coming to faith. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:43.200 And immediately, what our response is that we want to add the screen door. 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:46.799 We want to put our own qualifiers on believers. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:49.840 And this happens so often in church cultures. 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:59.200 Churches develop their own little cultures, and before long we start confusing church culture and equating it to Christian faithful living. 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:05.919 And then we want others to start assimilating to our own traditions in our own preferences. 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:08.159 What does this look like? 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:11.919 Well, maybe it comes in how we discipline our kids. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:17.039 We think that the way that we do it's right, and everyone else must assimilate to the way I raise my family. 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:21.679 Maybe we want others to dress like us, to have the same sense of humor as us. 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:24.799 Maybe it's this, this is a big one. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:29.200 Maybe it's the style of worship music that you listen to. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:32.559 That's always a big conversation in the life of the church. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:40.159 Because I know that when I was a kid growing up in churches, the churches I grew up in had a pretty simple philosophy when it came to worship music. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:46.320 The hymn either had to be 200 years old or written by Bill Gaither. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:49.120 That was it. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:51.600 I like Bill Gaither, by the way. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:52.720 I like some of his stuff. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.279 Homecomings go a little far for me. 00:13:55.519 --> 00:14:08.159 But the point is that we disciple others to look like us and we forget to shape them into the image of Christ. 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:16.399 We take our convictions and we turn them into laws and we become experts at building screen doors. 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:18.320 Why do we do this? 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:24.720 Why do we need so badly for Christians to look exactly like us? 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:28.720 Well, I think Paul says it really well in Galatians chapter 6. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:37.120 He says of the Judaizers, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:45.440 If I can convince you that the way that I discipline my kids is faithful, that the way I dress is the best way, and please don't dress like me. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:58.720 I dress like a dork, that the way I worship is the right way, that I want you to abstain the things that I abstain from, then I begin to look at myself as the standard of Christian faithfulness. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:03.519 Because everyone else around me, I'm able to convince to look like me. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:07.600 And then as a result, I can begin to boast. 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:13.519 But Peter clears this up for us. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:18.159 Moving into verse 6, we see the decision that the church makes. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:20.080 So we have this dissension. 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:24.240 Paul and Barnabas are disagreeing with the claims that the Judaizers are making. 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:30.159 They are in Antioch, they travel down to Jerusalem, and we have the first council to decide this matter. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:32.960 Where do the guilty find their hope? 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:36.159 And what does Christian living look like? 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:39.679 The church gathers to decide this matter. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:44.399 How is a man saved, and what keeps him saved? 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:54.559 Verse 7 says this but God made a choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:16:02.559 So Peter is saying that God chose him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles and that they would believe. 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:12.080 See, the inclusion of the Gentile people was always part of God's unfolding plan, part of his unfolding plan of redemption. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:15.919 Israel was never meant to hoard the blessings of Abraham. 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:22.000 They were never supposed to be close-fisted about it and keep the blessings within the confines of their own border. 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:24.799 The earth belongs to the Lord. 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:26.080 The earth is his. 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:30.960 And God called the Israelites to be a light to the nations. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:41.360 And in many ways, we can actually understand it like this Israel was one of God's missionaries to go and be a blessing to the nations. 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:44.799 So this is rooted in the Old Testament. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:46.240 And this is what James does. 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:53.759 In verse 17, he quotes the prophet Amos to show the Pharisees that no, this is not new. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:56.240 This isn't just because of what happened to Cornelius. 00:16:56.320 --> 00:16:57.440 We're not making this up. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:00.240 This comes from hundreds of years ago. 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:10.960 He says that God will rebuild the tents of David, and the remnant of mankind will seek the Lord, and the Gentiles will be called by my name. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:14.799 So James roots all of this in the prophets. 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:19.359 So this promise is unfolding right in front of them. 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:23.279 Peter reminds them that he was chosen to preach the gospel to them. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:29.440 Those Gentiles that heard the gospel, they believed, and God gave his affirmation on this. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:32.480 How did God give his affirmation? 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:36.240 By the pouring out of the Spirit on the Gentiles. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:44.079 Peter preached the gospel, and God affirmed this by the pouring out of the Spirit. 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:47.759 Just as he had done on the Jewish believers. 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:51.279 And then Peter goes on in verse 9. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:18:01.759 He says this, that God made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:05.680 So we know that there aren't two classes of Christians. 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:11.920 There's not rich Christians, there's not the poor, there's not the slave, there's not the free, there's not the Jew, there's not the Gentile. 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:20.319 Every person who is saved comes through the same way by faith in Christ alone. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:24.720 But this raises an important question. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:27.440 Faith in what? 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:33.440 But before we get into more, before we get into the faith aspect, I want to ask a different question. 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:37.599 And I think that this question is really going to clear up the entire argument. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:42.799 What does it mean to be saved? 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:44.960 You probably hear that word a lot. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:46.799 We see it quite a bit in the book of Acts. 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:48.240 People are getting saved. 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:50.640 You heard that in your churches probably growing up. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:51.920 You need to be saved. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:54.480 Brother so-and-so got saved last week. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:56.319 We're familiar with this language. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:02.079 But oftentimes when we hear those words over and over again, they can start to lose their meaning. 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:03.920 So let's think about for a second. 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:05.519 What does it mean to be saved? 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:10.319 And actually, let's ask this what are we being saved from? 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:16.000 Are we saved from a bad life? 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:19.359 Are we saved from sadness? 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:22.160 From purposelessness? 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:26.799 Are we saved from the consequences of our bad decision making? 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:31.680 I would say that Christ delivers us from all sorts of things. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:41.440 But fundamentally, the great danger that is facing humanity is this: it is the righteous judgment of a holy God. 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:46.160 What we are saved from is the wrath of God. 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:49.519 That's what Luther understood. 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:54.079 His problem wasn't that he needed greater self-esteem. 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:58.240 Luther didn't need to pick up a book and read about how to make his life better. 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:01.599 He didn't need to look in the mirror and tell himself that he was beautiful. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:03.839 He didn't need to forgive himself. 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:17.839 Luther understood that he was a sinner who was standing before a God who was perfectly righteous, and he knew that his life was not satisfactory to save him. 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:27.599 The good works of our lives, his life, could never make satisfaction for the wrath of God that is against us. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:31.759 How does the Bible describe the wrath of God? 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:34.400 It describes it as dreadful. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:42.880 It uses the Bible uses sharp language to demonstrate the terrifying nature of the wrath of God. 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:46.799 The prophet Nahum says this. 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:06.480 I also like how the Apostle John writes it in Revelation 6. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:30.799 He says, Then the kings of the earth and the great ones, and the generals, in the rich, and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:35.519 For the day of the wrath has come, and who could stand? 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:56.960 So, what this image that John is creating us is creating for us is this is that the unbelievers on the final day they see the wrath of God that is going to pour on their face, and they go run to the mountains and to the hills, and they say, I would rather be crushed by rocks than to face the wrath of a God who is angry with me. 00:21:58.880 --> 00:21:59.759 This is terrifying. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:05.599 And honestly, it should fill our hearts with dread. 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:09.279 And I don't think that we sit on this reality enough. 00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:18.400 I think there's a lot of churches, even churches that are faithful, that use wrath as a footnote of one of God's attributes. 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:24.000 But his wrath is real, and his wrath is terrifying. 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:30.319 So mankind's greatest need is rescue from God's wrath. 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:34.319 And when you think about this, I think this clears a lot of things up. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:35.680 Who could save us? 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:39.359 What can save us from the wrath of God? 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:42.319 It's not going to be circumcision. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:45.440 It's not going to be being a good enough parent. 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:47.039 It's not going to be praying enough. 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:49.039 It's not going to be studying enough. 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:52.880 It's not going to be through enough religious discipline. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:59.119 So if none of these things can save us, who can save us? 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.799 Well, Peter gives us the answer in verse 11. 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:06.799 He says, but we believe that we will be saved. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:07.839 Saved from what? 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:09.599 Saved from the wrath of God. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:13.519 Through the grace of our Lord Jesus. 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:14.960 Just as they will. 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:16.160 There it is. 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:20.480 Jesus Christ saves men from their sin. 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:22.000 And why Jesus? 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:24.079 And again, we're looking for clarity here. 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:28.480 Why is Jesus the exclusive way into the kingdom of God? 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:37.359 Because the weight of our guilt requires a Savior who is capable of bearing the judgment that we deserve. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:46.079 God, or Jesus on the cross took the entire weight of our sin, bore the entirety of God's wrath upon his shoulders. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:49.599 He died, and then he was able to raise up again. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:55.200 He was the eternal Son of God who took on flesh to stand in our place. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:24:00.160 And yes, Christ died for you, but he also died as you. 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:24.799 And that's why it's Christ alone. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:30.079 I can remember I was for one of my classes at the seminary. 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:36.319 I had to go to another faith group and just talk to them, you know, learn more about their culture. 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:40.000 So I went to that uh mosque off of I-75. 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:42.160 I was able to meet with their imam. 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:45.039 Uh, we talked for a while, we've talked for about two hours. 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:48.000 He called me to repent, I called him to repent. 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:50.400 Kind of like a weird Mexican standoff. 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:55.119 But one thing happened there that was fascinating when I was when I was talking to him. 00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:59.920 There was this lady, you know, she was dressed in what they wear. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:04.960 She knocks on the door, and you could tell that she was that something she was in a moment of crisis. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:09.920 And what I saw, I'll never forget, I saw this imam stand up. 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:11.839 He excused himself for a couple minutes. 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:21.519 He went out to the to the lobby, or he went out to the hallway, and I was kind of curious, so I got up, he didn't close the door, so I just kind of stood in the doorway, just kind of see what's going on. 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:23.680 You know what I saw the Imam do? 00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:26.079 He was consoling her. 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:30.160 He was generous with her, he was being kind to her. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:33.839 And I'm thinking to myself, this is a good man. 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:39.200 He seems to care, he seems to have all of this goodness flowing out of him. 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:41.839 Will that save him? 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:43.440 No. 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:44.799 Why? 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:48.400 Because he denies Jesus Christ. 00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:53.359 He doesn't have faith in the one man who could save him from his sin. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:58.640 You cannot be nice enough, kind enough to enter into the kingdom of God. 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:00.799 It is through Christ alone. 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:03.839 And that is Peter's answer to the entire controversy. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:06.559 The Judaizers point to circumcision. 00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:08.880 Peter points us to Jesus. 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:12.559 The Judaizers point to something that you have to add. 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:16.960 And Peter says, no, it's by the grace of God alone. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:23.359 And faith simply receives what Christ has accomplished on our behalf. 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:24.960 Nothing else is added. 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:28.880 And I think about the language of receiving. 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:30.640 How should we think about that? 00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:33.200 We receive eternal life. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:38.559 Because here's what a lot of people I think consider whenever or think whenever we consider grace. 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:41.519 We'll use the illustration of opening the door. 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:45.440 God opens the door, but then I have to walk through it. 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:49.039 God gives me the gift of faith. 00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:51.200 God gives me the gift of grace. 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:55.039 Didn't I have to reach out and take it though? 00:26:55.759 --> 00:27:04.079 And I think at times we are desperate to look for something that we can grab onto when our faith becomes volatile. 00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:05.680 We want some part in it. 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:09.920 So whenever things get bad, we can look and we can say, I made a decision. 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:11.519 I actually repented. 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:13.279 Those were things I did. 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:15.759 And did you do those things? 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:17.440 Absolutely, you did. 00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:19.039 You made those decisions. 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:24.079 And those decisions were real and they were meaningful and they gave you eternal life. 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:29.920 But here's the problem is that yes, God opens the door. 00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:32.400 Yes, God opens the door of faith. 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:33.599 And did you repent? 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:34.799 Yes, you did. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:36.640 But why did you repent? 00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:39.119 Romans 2 clears this up for us. 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:43.279 The kindness of God led you to repentance. 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:47.039 And let's even look at the language of the passage. 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:48.880 God made the choice. 00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:50.880 God gave them the Holy Spirit. 00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:52.720 God cleansed their hearts. 00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:58.400 And based on the work of God in the hearts of the Gentiles, they believed. 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:05.759 See, faith isn't the one work that we get to sort of sneak in to grace. 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:06.640 Why? 00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:09.839 Because faith receives grace. 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:14.000 Faith receives Christ with empty hands. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:19.680 And there is nothing that these hands can do to earn eternal life. 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:32.559 So if that's the case, if God begins the work, God sustains the work, and God finishes the work, what participation do we have with grace? 00:28:32.799 --> 00:28:36.000 Because we know we're living, we know that we're in this world. 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:40.000 We know that we have to make decisions each and every day. 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:44.319 So I would say, with grace specifically, what is our participation? 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:47.759 I would say that this is what we do with grace. 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:49.839 We get to enjoy it. 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:55.279 I can remember as a young boy, tell you a little bit about me. 00:28:55.440 --> 00:28:56.799 I love Christmas. 00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:02.000 So October 31st, after we're done trick-or-treating, Christmas music is cranked up at my house. 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:03.200 I love it, I love decorating. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:04.799 I'm like a girl when it comes to Christmas. 00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:07.119 I just, I love every bit of it. 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:12.400 And I can remember as a young boy, uh, we would go to my grandparents' house on Christmas Eve. 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:20.640 You know, we would um we had our candlelight service on Christmas Eve, and then we would drive, after that was over, we would drive right over to my grandparents' house. 00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:22.240 And I was always so excited. 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:23.039 I love this. 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:28.880 This is one of the happiest memories of my life being able to get out the door and you felt the freezing cold all over you. 00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:34.079 And I was the first one to run up the steps on their porch, and I would burst through the door. 00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:40.240 And the first thing that I felt when I was a kid was just the coldness dissipate. 00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:46.640 The heat from the room, they had a really small house, and the heat from the room would just punch you right in the face. 00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:49.519 And I can remember seeing all my cousins. 00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:52.559 I was the youngest of my entire family. 00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:55.279 So that probably explains why I'm the way I am. 00:29:56.559 --> 00:29:58.400 We everyone would be laughing. 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:00.720 My grandparents had the best decorations. 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:06.160 They had uh this little uh Santa Claus that sang jingle bell rock and it danced. 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:07.680 I thought it was really cool. 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:17.039 And I can remember there was so much food, so much cookies, and all these things, all the smells and sounds of Christmas. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:20.559 And you want to know what I did in those times? 00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:22.160 I ate the cookies. 00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:26.400 I ate the food, I played with the decorations, I opened presents. 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:31.279 And you want to know what I contributed to that night? 00:30:31.920 --> 00:30:33.680 Absolutely nothing. 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:36.720 I simply enjoyed it. 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:39.119 That is grace. 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:42.960 Grace is undeserved, grace is unmerited. 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:49.359 God who once saw you as his enemy, now looks at you as his son. 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:51.759 Why is that? 00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:54.720 Because you are united through faith to the true son. 00:30:55.039 --> 00:31:00.000 And there's actually in times in scripture where we'll hear that, you know, the people of God are the son of God. 00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:03.599 Even there's times where women are called the son because you're united to the true son. 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:06.640 There's times that scripture can be kind of awkward like that. 00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:10.720 Women are called sons, and men, what are we called sometimes? 00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:12.000 The bride. 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:14.400 It's kind of weird. 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:16.480 But we know what they're saying. 00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:18.000 We are united by faith. 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:21.519 We are united to God by faith in the true Son. 00:31:22.559 --> 00:31:34.720 And when the warmth of the gospel touches your soul, and when you begin to understand what Christ saved you from and what he has freely given to you, we enjoy it. 00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:39.599 We don't have to reach around for something that we contribute. 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:44.960 You don't have to find something in yourself that makes you worthy. 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:51.039 Christ has accomplished everything necessary to save you. 00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:54.240 And that grace doesn't leave us unchanged. 00:31:54.319 --> 00:31:55.839 So we go back to the illustrations before. 00:31:56.000 --> 00:32:01.440 Well, oftentimes we pray, we we fast, we study, we try to be a good enough person. 00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:04.960 We try to love others just to earn God's satisfaction. 00:32:05.119 --> 00:32:07.039 And now we see why do we do these things? 00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:08.880 What does grace do for us? 00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:10.319 It changes us. 00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:16.319 The grace that God freely pours down on our heads now pours out of us. 00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:18.640 And yes, we will love our neighbors. 00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:23.759 We will pray more, we will pray more, we will give more, we will love our families more. 00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:30.319 Not because we're earning grace, but because this is the work that God is doing in us. 00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:33.359 And that's the difference. 00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:38.799