The Gravity of Grace (Romans 3)

Show Notes for "The Gravity of Grace (Romans 3)"

• Introduction:
  • Discussion on the nature of anger and its moral implications.
  • A whole person's response to perceived evil, not just an emotional reaction .
• The Problem of Sin and God's Wrath:
  • Exploration of human sinfulness and God's righteous anger towards sin.
  • Quotes from the Old Testament depicting God's wrath .
• The Dilemmas We Face:
  • The righteousness of God and our enslavement to sin.
  • The inevitability of standing before God and being accountable for our actions .
• The Solution – The Salvation Triangle:
  • Introduction to the Salvation Triangle and its significance.
  • A breakdown of the three key components: Propitiation, Redemption, and Justification .
• Propitiation:
  • Understanding Jesus as the atoning sacrifice who satisfied God's wrath .
• Redemption:
  • The liberating power of Christ's blood, offering freedom at a great cost .
• Justification:
  • The act of being declared righteous by faith in Jesus Christ .
• Conclusion:
  • A call to humility and faith in response to the message of the cross.
  • Encouragement to trust in Jesus and recognize the gravity of God's grace .
• Prayer:
  • Closing prayer reflecting on the themes of the message and seeking God's continued guidance .
• Resources:
  • Mention of "Uprooting Anger" by Robert Jones as a helpful book on understanding and dealing with anger.
  • Reference to theologian James Montgomery Boyce's work on the Salvation Triangle.
• Invitation:
  • An invitation to listeners to deepen their understanding of the message and to apply it to their lives.
  • Encouragement to share insights and personal reflections with the community.

For a complete transcript of "The Gravity of Grace (Romans 3)," access the full document here.

ABOUT JAMES AND LESSONS FOR LIFE

Are you longing to find answers to the deeper issues of life? Join Dr. James Long, Jr., a pastor, counselor, and university professor with over 30 years of experience. Hear James as he tackles some of life’s biggest questions and helps us find God’s solutions to life’s struggles. Learn the power of living by God’s grace and for His glory. Experience the joy of forgiveness and freedom found in Jesus Christ alone. If you are in search of freedom, you will love being part of this conversation. Subscribe, and enjoy the show!

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:26

You ever struggle with anger. There are probably some of us in this room that struggle with anger immensely and we know it. We may be known for our anger. There's some of us in this room that are probably known for our anger, but we don't realize it. I take it when you think of anger you'd probably think of fury or hostility or rage or hatred. But anger could also be bitterness, it could also be exasperation, it can be frustration, irritation. But anger is interesting. I have this book that's called Uprooting Anger and in the book the pastor, robert Jones, defines anger this way he defines anger as a whole person, active response of a negative moral judgment against perceived evil. So if you think about the aspects of each of those lines, it's whole person.

Speaker 1: 1:24

Most of us tend to think of anger as a feeling, but anger is not just a feeling. It's about beliefs, it's about values, it's about your desires, it's deep down, it's anger. So it's whole person. It's not just your feelings, it's all of you, it's a whole person, active response. Now, most of us, when we think of anger, we tend to think of anger as something that comes upon us. That you made me angry. It's something that we have or it's something that comes upon us. But what we find in scripture is that anger is not something that comes upon us. It's actually something that we do. It's an act of response. There is some provocation that happens, something that provokes us. Somebody pushes your button and you get frustrated or you get angry. So it's a whole person, it's not just your emotions, it's all of who you are. It's an active response. It's something that you do, but it is a negative moral judgment, because every time you get angry, you have made a judgment about someone or something, something that you view as right or wrong, and you say that that's not right, that's unjust, and so you make a judgment. So it's a negative moral judgment, and whatever you are judging you perceive to be evil. Now, the problem with human anger is this Because of the issue of sin in our lives, a lot of times our human anger is sinful, but not all the time. Some of the times we make a negative moral judgment and it's accurate and our perception is accurate, but very infrequently.

Speaker 1: 3:07

And to have godly anger, you need to not only have the right standard, you have to have the right motive and then you have to display it in godly ways. Now, that's not true with God. I was going to ask you but I already tipped my hand who's the angriest person in the Bible? So now, when you think about it, most people will immediately say you know some evil person in the Bible. So now, when you think about it, most people will immediately say you know some evil person in the Bible, or they would say Satan. You know they want to get spiritual. It'll be Satan.

Speaker 1: 3:41

But it's interesting that the Bible talks constantly about the anger of God, about the anger of God, the wrath of God. Even as we were talking about it, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. That sin leads to God's anger and God's wrath because it's his whole person, it's not just his feelings, it's about his character. His character is interesting because most of us tend to think when we think of God, we think of love, love, love. God is just loving and gracious and we almost elevate the characteristic of his love above every other characteristic in Scripture. There's only one characteristic of God ever in Scripture that's ever raised to the third degree. It's not love, love, love. It's not patience, patience, third degree, it's not love, love, love, it's not patience, patience, patience, it's not goodness, goodness, goodness. And all of those are true, and God is all of those.

Speaker 1: 4:56

In fact, when people encountered the holiness of God, they trembled because his whole person, if you want to call it that, his active response he's provoked by our sin, day after day, negative moral judgment. His judgment is always accurate because he is all-knowing, ever-present. He knows every thought you've had. He knows every word you've spoken. He knows every aspect of your life. All-knowing, he's ever-present. You cannot go from the heights. He's there. You can't go to the depths. He's there. You can't run away from him. He knows everything about you. And this holy, holy, holy. God hates sin. He hates it. And we've got a problem Because his perception is always accurate. My perception is not always accurate, but his perception is always accurate. And when he looks at sin, he hates sin because sin is not conformity to him.

Speaker 1: 6:02

Here's the definition of sin Sin is any failure to conform to God's moral law in act, attitude or even nature. What it means is this that all of us that I look at in this room were born with a nature of sin. So we were already born broken. But most of us, when we tend to think of sin, we tend to think of sin as just the actions that you do. But it's not just the actions that you do, it's even the attitude of your heart. We're in a section in the Sermon on the Mount that's talking about that Pastor Tim preached a couple of weeks ago. You think you haven't murdered somebody, but if in your heart you've hated them, you've committed murder. Last week I had an opportunity to preach on. You think you haven't committed adultery, but if you lust in your heart see, what he's saying is this Sin is not just the actions that you do, but it's even the very attitude of your heart. So we've got a problem Because you and I we like to sin. You and I think we find satisfaction in sin, and it's the very thing that this holy, holy, holy God hates. In Romans, chapter three, if you can turn there with me as you're turning there, you'll see that this we've got a major problem.

Speaker 1: 7:33

Let me read a couple of verses from the Old Testament as you're turning to Romans 3, about God's anger. It says in Deuteronomy 32,. It says this is God talking. If I sharpened my flashing sword and my hands take hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and I will repay those who hate me In Psalm 2,. It says this in verse 4, which is interesting because we think we've got it all together and God says this about himself. He who sits in heaven laughs. The Lord holds in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury.

Speaker 1: 8:16

Psalm 7, verse 11, says this God is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation. Every day We've got a problem because this holy, holy, holy God hates sin and we like to sin. So that's why Paul wrote in Romans as he's writing in Romans. He's writing this great gospel and he's sharing with you good news and he's saying you've got some really bad news. In fact, the first three chapters he spends time talking about the bad news.

Speaker 1: 8:54

In first chapter he says that those who are irreligious are under the wrath of God. In chapter two, he says if you're a moralist, you're under the wrath of God. Then he gets into the first part of Romans 3, and he says Jew and Gentile, all of us are under the wrath of God. But then he gives you a great answer. Let me just read the problem that we have and then I want to talk to you briefly about the answer.

Speaker 1: 9:25

In Romans, chapter 3, look at verse 9. It says this what then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all, for we all are charged that all, both Jew and Greek, that's Gentiles, non-jews are under sin. And then what he does is he talks about an indictment about every human being. He says as it is written, quoting a number of passages from the Old Testament. He begins by saying no one is righteous, no, not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside together. They have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. What he begins with is that you and I have a corrupt character. We're broken.

Speaker 1: 10:14

I think when people think about standing before God, they have two extremes that I want you to consider. Maybe you are in one of these extremes. The first extreme is that, well, I was at Good Friday service. So God says why should I let you into my kingdom? And they say well, I was at Good Friday service. I think I made Easter service last year. You know I gave some money in the offering box out there. I helped Pastor Tim at youth group on Wednesday, in fact the platform that James is preaching on, I helped to build that.

Speaker 1: 10:50

And so what they do is they go down their resume and they think that, because of their righteousness, that God is going to take them to heaven. But they're standing before a holy, holy, holy God. And when they stand before them in their corrupting character, distorted image, defective thinking, they are deficient in their will, they are broken and they don't see it. Now there is another extreme of a person that sits here today and they actually do see their sin. They actually see it a lot. That's all they see and they're just condemning themselves. They just constantly are reminding themselves of their sin, and their sin seems so great and it seems so all overcoming that they don't ever believe that anybody could ever love them or forgive them. And so they're living in self-condemnation. The other person living in self-righteousness and scripture says we're all broken.

Speaker 1: 11:51

In verse 13, he moves from a corrupt character to a corrupt conversation. He says their throat is an open grave. They use their tongues to deceive. The venom of ass poison is under their lips. Their mouths are full of curses and bitterness. I hear how some of you guys talk. Okay, I'm kidding, I haven't heard it, but your family members have probably heard how you talk. And if your family members haven't heard, god clearly has. It's a corrupt character. A corrupt conversation leads to a corrupt conduct. It says in verse 15, their feet are swift to shed blood and their path a ruin and misery, the way of peace they have not known. It starts with their character. It comes out in their conversations. Now it's coming out in their conduct. That's you and that's me. And then he gives the cause, the corrupt cause. There is no fear of holy, holy, holy god before their eyes.

Speaker 1: 12:57

You ever wonder why jesus christ came here to die? See, if jesus came here to die and this self-righteous person could get to heaven, then jesus had the right to say to his dad father, why would you want me to die on a cross if this guy could earn his way to heaven? Makes no sense. If one person could earn their way to heaven without Christ, then Christ died in vain. But this way it's not true, because the Bible is very clear. I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Or this person over here who's living in such self-condemnation that they minimize the cross of Christ. They can't even see that Christ can forgive them and set them free, and both are minimizing Christ. This one is minimizing Christ because I don't need you. This one is minimizing Christ because he can't help me, and they're lying to themselves. And this devastated ability leads to our hopelessness and our helplessness. And it actually says in verse 19 that our mouths will be shut when we stand before God. I can't have anything to say, except there is three beautiful words that you could share with him.

Speaker 1: 14:22

I want you to think about this. We've got three dilemmas. First, we have an angry God who's righteous. We have an angry God who's righteous. Second, we're enslaved in bondage. And then, third, every single one in this room will stand before God and have to give an account. Three dilemmas God is angry, righteously, so You're enslaved outside of Christ and you all will stand before God and have to give an account. But then God gives you a beautiful thing.

Speaker 1: 14:59

I'm going to show a diagram to you. It's going to pop up on the screen. It's this wonderful diagram. It's called the salvation triangle, and what Paul does in the last part here of Romans 3 is he gives you the answer to why Christ died and why you need him Now. I told you three dilemmas. What were the three dilemmas? God is righteously angry. Number one you are enslaved. Number two, and you will all stand before God. Number three so let me tell you why Jesus came here for you. I love the Salvation Triangle. It was crafted by one of my favorite theologians he passed away 20 years plus ago, james Montgomery Boyce, and he talked about three things that Jesus did for you. Now, what you're going to have up top is you'll see God the Father's up top. He's on the apex. He's the one that planned your salvation Before all of eternity. God the Father planned your salvation, jesus Christ. Number two, down on the bottom left, is who is the provider of your salvation? See, all the glory goes to God the Father, and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, not to you, because you're the recipient of all of it. So let me read the section. Let's talk about each of the lines here.

Speaker 1: 16:22

In Romans, chapter three, let's jump to verse 25. Let me just read the whole rest of it and then I'll get to verse 25. Now we know verse 19, that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by the works of the law, that's, by your human effort, no human being will be justified in God's sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now, oh, love this, the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. Love this, the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets that means Old Testament bear witness to it. The righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe For there is no distinction for all have sinned and for short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace, justified through redemption, that is, in Jesus Christ, whom God put forward as our propitiation. Those three words. So let me just briefly tell you about those three words Propitiation we see Jesus Christ there and we see an arrow going from Jesus Christ to the father.

Speaker 1: 17:33

Propitiation is interesting because propitiation in your version, if you have New International version, it means it says the satisfaction of atonement or sacrifice of atonement. It means that the holy response of a holy God against sin is anger and wrath. But what Jesus Christ did for you, if you trust in him, is he took God's anger and wrath for your sin. He appeased God's anger. He appeased God's wrath. It means that Christ's sacrifice on the cross satisfied and turned aside. God's anger for your sin was turned aside. The father set forth the son as the atoning sacrifice for your sins. It was God who provided the means of salvation, not you. God, the father provided it, he planned it and he provided his son to satisfy his justice and to appease his wrath for your sin. It was a divine action. It was deeply rooted in God's love and God's sovereignty. The father planned your salvation before all of eternity. Jesus Christ becomes the propitiation, the one who's going to bear the wrath of God for your sin. It was moved aside from you.

Speaker 1: 18:58

The blood of Jesus Christ is so precious you aren't purchased with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the Bible talks often about the blood of Christ, the New Testament. It talks about the fact that it cleanses your conscience. For those of you that are living in self-condemnation, the Bible tells you that the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse your conscience, it can purify your soul, it can grant you access to this holy, holy, holy God, because his blood covers your sin. So in the moment of spiritual conviction, when the weight of your sin is pressing upon you, you must not look to your sin. You must look to Christ, look to his cross, look to his blood. All your remorse and all your penance and all those things is not going to change anything except for looking to Christ, his precious blood shed on Calvary, which we, as even believers, must appropriate time after time after time, because we sin daily. We need to be running to the cross daily Now.

Speaker 1: 20:07

Jesus Christ died only once for sin, but the benefit of his death is for eternity after eternity, after eternity. So, propitiation. When you see that word, I want you to remind yourself of the fact that Jesus Christ bore all of your wrath, all the wrath that God had for your sin. It was old him, nothing but the blood of Jesus, right, and it encapsulates propitiation. It was Jesus's blood that if you can embrace this continually, god can do amazing things in your life. Second word redemption. The lower line Now, if you notice, the arrow goes from Jesus to the Christian. Once again, you don't see any arrows going from us to God. It is God doing the work for us.

Speaker 1: 20:57

Redemption, liberation One verse back it says this in Romans 3.24. It says that redemption comes through Jesus Christ, his blood. Now, redemption is a loaded term and it's got a lot of meaning to it. It speaks of deliverance, but it doesn't merely speak of an escape. It speaks of the fact that you are liberated, you're set free at a great price. Charles Hodge talked about it this way that redemption refers to the deliverance achieved through a payment of a ransom. It's hinting at a transaction, but it transcends more than mere commerce. It points to a relational and legal reality where the offended justice of God has been satisfied propitiation and you have been set free through redemption. That's amazing. The death of Jesus is the crux of our redemption. Jesus Christ satisfied God's anger.

Speaker 1: 21:57

Some of you are old enough to remember President Nixon. Remember President Nixon? President Nixon got impeached. A number of the people around him went to jail. And do you remember what happened with Gerald Ford? Gerald Ford, president Ford, did what. He pardoned Nixon. A lot of people said that's not fair. He pardoned him. We want justice.

Speaker 1: 22:25

And when Jesus Christ redeemed you, it wasn't just pardoning you and pushing your sin aside. He actually paid for your sin. So justice has been fulfilled. And then he set you free. So justice has been fulfilled, and then he sets you free. God's anger has been propitiated. You enslaved to sin, satan and death have been set free. So when we sing that song, we are forgiven and set free. I want you to remind yourself of what Christ did for you. Third thing propitiation God's anger has been appeased. Redemption you have been bought with a precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1: 23:08

Justification Now, if you notice, the arrow goes from the Father down to you. Justification is viewed as the greatest doctrine by some theologians. In fact, it's the foundation of church. If you do not have justification, you do not have a real church. Justification is the act where this righteous God declares you righteous, not because of your character or conduct, but because of the character and conduct of Christ, that he looks upon you as though you lived Christ's life. What Jesus did, amazingly, was this when he hung on a cross, god treated him as though he was treating you. And what he does when you are saved, he treats you as though he should have treated Christ. This great exchange.

Speaker 1: 23:56

Humanity grapples with moral corruption and guilt and condemnation and alienation from God. We have this inherited sin and then we sin day after day and the weight of that estrangement separates us from God. But what God does for you in Christ, he says that moral bankruptcy I can pay for that, your desperate need. You need a new nature. I'll give you that. You need forgiveness. I'll give you that. You need acceptance. You're in my family. I will reconcile you. You are no longer a slave. You're a family member. You're a child.

Speaker 1: 24:35

You've been brought near in Christ, God's solution, the beauty of the gospel, his gracious response to you, the gracious response to our predicament. I am a sinner and I'm in need of a savior. I am away from you. I need your mercy. And God looks at you day after day. God looks at you day after day In that way. Christ fully satisfied the justice of God. He stood in our stead. He absorbed the wrath of God that we deserve. He fulfilled all righteousness. And when God looks at you, he says not guilty. This angry God says His anger has been absorbed, the sin that separates you from God. You've been redeemed and brought near. And when he looks at you, he looks at you as though you lived the life of Christ. So you ever wonder why it is that Christ came here. He came here to appease his father's anger. To deal with that. He propitiated it. He came here to set free broken people the redemption. He did that. And he came here to deal with people so that they won't have to live lives of condemnation In justification. He did that.

Speaker 1: 26:11

I pray very honestly. We're going to sing a song here and then we're going to leave. I pray that a person that is sitting here, that has sat here time after time, heard the message and turned aside. I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your heart. I pray that you would show the humility that God desperately wants you to show, that I need you, god, I need you Jesus. I pray that you would bend your knee to him, because I can guarantee you that God is an angry God. If you are outside of Christ, you are in bondage to sin, but you can be set free and every single one of us will stand before that holy, holy, holy God. You can stand in complete confidence because of the propitiatory work of Christ, the redemptive work of Christ and the fact that you could be justified because of him. Would you pray with me, father?

Speaker 1: 27:31

Sometimes we hear the story and we hear it over and over again and it becomes like I don't know.

Speaker 1: 27:39

Blasé, yeah, jesus died on the cross. Yep, they nailed him. Yes, those are the words he said. But then we just go through our day and we don't really find ourselves overwhelmed with the fact that outside of Christ, we stand before an angry God. I thank you that in Christ, your anger could be absorbed and removed from us. What he did 2000 years ago could be applied to us right now, at this moment. Amazingly, lord, for some of us we don't even realize that we like sin too much, that we have now become mastered by sin, enslaved to sin, in bondage to sin. But Christ can set us free. And, father, many of us don't even think about the fact that we will take our last breath one day and we will stand before you. And when we do stand before you, we have this opportunity to be able to say praise, jesus, bless him. I'm only here because of him. I pray that some here tonight will trust in him and, for the many of us that do know him, help us to magnify him. In Jesus' name, we pray amen.