New Righteousness Experienced · 2017. 11. 26. · Righteousness Experienced . We are back in our series from Romans that we are calling . Living by Faith; picking up where we last

Righteousness Experienced We are back in our series from Romans that we are calling Living by Faith; picking up where we last left off, we are in chapter 5.

Speaking of picking up where we left off…

I put these messages together with the hope that they stand alone… that they make sense without having the benefit of hearing previous messages in the series. But I think there is a benefit to consider the series together. That is one of the reasons why we put these messages (video, audio, and notes) up on the Web. We try to make this as easy as possible, generally putting the most recent message up on the on our homepage at www.cpNorthshore.com. You can get to past messages by going to the sermons page, including past series. You can subscribe to video at YouTube and Vimeo, and you can subscribe to an audio podcast of the sermons on iTunes.

Speaking of past series, you might notice that we were in a Romans series almost two years ago; we’re revisiting Romans because there is so much here that it is worth a second pass within a relatively short amount of time. So, for example, if you think I miss something important in chapter 5 today, you might checkout the sermon from the last time we were in chapter 5; these sermons each have a different focus.

In addition to the archives on the Web, I often live tweet the messages on Twitter using the hashtag #nsSunday… and I invite you second-screeners to join the conversation with that hashtag (and if you don’t know or don’t care what a hashtag is… don’t worry about it).

So… like I said, we’ll pick up where we left off, and a few Sunday’s ago we left off at the end of Romans 4. Abraham, the Father of the Faith, was held up as an example for us all.

Starting with Romans 4:20, here’s how Abraham’s faith is summarized:

he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.1

I want to know how to be like that. These ideas of not wavering, being strengthened in faith, and being fully persuaded sound great. But how do we do that? Wouldn’t you like to know how to do that… to be like that… to have that kind of experience?

Welcome to chapter 5. We are going to find some answers that will lead us into strong, unwavering, powerful faith here in chapter 5.

Let’s start with a verse-by-verse approach at the beginning of chapter 5.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,2

If I sound like I’m repeating myself, it is because Romans relentlessly repeats this Gospel theme; it must be because God knows us… knowing that the Gospel does not come easily or naturally to us.

we have been justified through faith3

1 The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 4:20–21). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 2 The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 5:1). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 3 The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 5:1). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The root word of justified is justice; it is a legal term. Through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we have legal standing before our Holy God. It is through faith, not religious observance, special credential, or even diligent work. Only faith in Jesus justifies us; only faith in Jesus meets God’s Holy standard. When we believe we are entirely justified.

Here’s what come’s with that justification: peace, access, and hope.

• we have peace with God4 • we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand5 • we boast in the hope of the glory of God6

Peace with God takes care of the past; He will no longer hold our sins against us.

Access to God takes care of the present; we can come to Him at any time for the help we need.

Hope of the glory of God takes care of the future; one day we shall share in His glory!

We are enjoying Christmas decorations here for the first time this season (thanks to the great crew that swarmed the place yesterday morning). Next Sunday will be the first Sunday of Advent, the first of four Sundays when we will celebrate the traditional themes of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. We see those themes in this passage. Being justified by faith in Jesus, we have all of God’s hope, all of God’s peace, all of God’s joy, and all of God’s love… past, present, and future. This is the right, legal perspective.

And there is a practical perspective. We have this righteousness as a legal matter for all eternity, but our day-to-day circumstances are not always so redeemed. We possess God’s righteousness, but we don’t always act like it… and our surroundings are not yet so righteous; this is not yet the promised Kingdom of God that will endure throughout eternity. Last week, in Deuteronomy, we described it as pursuing the humane within the inhumane.

4 The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 5:1). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 5 The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 5:2). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 6 The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 5:2). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

So, until then, we pursue God day by day… not to earn God’s favor, but in response to God’s favor. We worship by working out this righteousness; we see that in the following verses:

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.7

We glory in our sufferings? Yes… our sufferings.

This is one of the distinguishing marks of the Gospel. Most religions promise that if we get it right, we won’t have to suffer; we’ll only prosper. Even misshapen versions of Christianity make such claims. These are the coin operated, formulaic, transactional, manmade religions that are so common.

But the Gospel was bought with the suffering of our Savior, and it acknowledges our suffering. The Gospel dignifies suffering, giving meaning to suffering. God does not waste pain.

Allow me to illustrate a bit with a story from Jesus. In most Bible’s it is labeled The Parable of the Sower; it is recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Before we get to the text, checkout this video I came across. I’ve been accused of using too many big words from time to time; this animation attempts to tell the story with no words at all. See if you can catch the meaning.

7 The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 5:3–4). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.8

That is what we saw played out in the animation. But what do these words of Jesus mean? This is one of the parables that Jesus interpreted for His Disciples; they asked what it meant, and He told them:

This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.9

You might be wondering, “What does this have to do with suffering?” Stick with me; I’m getting there.

I mentioned before that this story that Jesus told is often labeled The Parable of the Sower. When Jesus told parables, they implied a call to make a conclusion. When we hear His parables, we out to be ready to change something, do something, think differently, or act better. If that is the case here, what is the focus for change? Is it the sower?

Is the “so what?” of this parable that the farmer ought to do a better job of planting seeds? That would make sense, I suppose… the farmer seems to be pretty sloppy with the seeds. But of course this isn’t directed at the farmer.

8 The New International Version. (2011). (Lk 8:5–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 9 The New International Version. (2011). (Lk 8:11–15). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Jesus explained that the seed is the word of God… so the farmer must be God Himself. And what of the “word of God” here… what might that be? Is it merely the Bible? What if the word of God isn’t merely a what, but a Who? The Gospel of John starts like this:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 10

The Gospel of John begins with the proclamation that Jesus is the Word of God… the Word of God, the Life of God, and the Light of God.

I think that is closer to what is meant as the Word of God in the parable; this is the Gospel, and God’s gift of faith that comes with it. So the focus of change is not on the farmer, and it is not on the seed either. The focus of change and action is on the soil. This really ought to be labeled The Parable of the Soils.

When reading a parable from Jesus, it is generally a good idea to ask: “Who am I in this story?” We are the soil.

Salvation is in the seed, the Word of God, the Gospel, God’s gift for all. All the soil can do is receive the seed; the soil doesn’t contain the gift, the life, the salvation… it can only receive that from the farmer.

we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ11

Justification is all in the seed (the Gospel of Jesus). Again, we are not earning it; we can only receive it.

When we think we can earn our salvation, of course we think that we can unearn it too.

10 The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 1:1–5). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 11 The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 5:1). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Our highest goal should be to be good soil… to receive the Gospel in such a way that it takes root, thrives, and is fruitful.

I’m a city boy. I know very little about soil. But I think I know a few things… and those things can be understood as suffering.

It seems that good, fertile soil is routinely beat up, stirred, crushed and overturned. Good soil is tilled. Hard soil doesn’t receive a seed very well. It is that rocky soil or the hard path; the place where the devil steels the seed or the seed fails to thrive. Hard soil needs to be tilled, whether it is with some sort of mechanical tiller or with just hard work with tools like shovels, hoes, and picks.

If this is a metaphor for our lives and the way we receive God, have you ever been tilled? Are you being tilled? Can you relate to this idea of the soil of our lives being cracked open and overturned? Are hard shells being cracked to expose the soft fertile soil beneath? Are rocks and such being exposed, dislodged, and thrown aside so that the seed can take root and thrive?

You know what else makes good soil? Dead stuff. Decomposing, dying stuff, sometimes the stuff that once thrived on top of the soil, now stirred into the soil, makes for rich fertile soil. The dead and dying stuff provides the nutrients that nourishes new growth. Can we see how the death of stuff in our lives can be what fertilizes the best stuff that God has for us? It is no fun when stuff dies, sometimes our favorite stuff, sometimes even the death of a vision… but God resurrects new life out of the rich soil of our lives, the soil of our lives nourished by suffering.

we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope12

This image of the way a seed eventually becomes a fruitful plant is a powerful image of perseverance. It takes time… a lot of time, sometimes years or even decades before a seed transforms into a fruit-bearing tree. But we often lack the patience that perseverance requires.

12 The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 5:3–4). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Are you like me? Do you receive a seed from God, a promise, or even take a step of faith with God… but then are so impatient that we dig it up mere days later to see what is happening? The only thing such an impatient routine delivers is a dirty seed.

Elisabeth Elliot puts it like this: “Don't dig up in doubt what you planted in faith.”

God is calling us to perseverance.

we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.13

Character… that might be a good description of the soil of our lives. Character that the Gospel easily takes hold in. Lives of integrity that look the same in private as they do in public, on Mondays as they do on Sundays. Character that is tuned to receive God’s gifts of faith and direction, and even conviction and correction.

We can’t earn favor with God, but we can work to develop our character in such a way that we truly enjoy God’s favor.

All leading to hope… the confidence that we are God’s and He is ours. That His promises are true and trustworthy. That He has our futures in His hand, our tomorrows and next years and decades… as well as our eternity.

God loves us; God loves you and me. His Word says so:

God’s love has been poured out into our hearts14

And we are not alone; God is not merely caring for us from some far off Heaven. Nor is He only caring for us from His ancient perspective (Jesus walking among us 2,000 years ago). God is present, working in us and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 15

13 The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 5:3–4). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 14 The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 5:5). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 15 The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 5:5). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

This is righteousness experienced… not merely gutting it out on our own to somehow earn a reward from God… but rather the Holy Spirit working in us and through us, redeeming our suffering, wasting no pain, creating in us the character (the rich, fertile soil) in which faith continues to rise and glorify God.

This is a day to believe… to bring the soil of our lives again to God. To receive His Gospel, possibly even for the first time. But for all of us, allowing God to use us, in feast and famine, in high times and low times, through victory and even through suffering. It is a time to say yes to God and make room for gifts of faith from Him.

Maybe you’ve determined that you can’t get it together enough to please God… you’re right; me either. That isn’t what God requires. God calls us to bring Him our lives, doing what we can to tend the soil. Allow the Farmer to do His good work, fortifying the soil through gifts that build our faith, and planting seeds of the Gospel deep in our hearts.