Romans 3:21-31

Please join me if you would in your copy of God's Word in Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

Our text for today's study will be Romans chapter 3 verses 21 through 31.

Romans 3:21–31

We have spent quite a bit of time in our study of the book of Romans considering the guilt of all mankind.

Paul begins making this case in chapter 1 and verse 18 where he states,

For the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.

And he concludes his case at verse 20 of last week's text in chapter 3.

He wants to be so clear that anyone, whether Jewish, of Jewish descent or otherwise, lives under the curse of sin.

He says in Romans chapter 2 and verse 12,

Romans 2 · chapter mention

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law.

And all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

I stated last week that he is doing all of this because this is the reasonable starting point from which to prove his thesis,

which we will look at thoroughly and repeatedly throughout the entirety of this letter,

in which he states in chapter 1 verse 16 and 17,

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,

to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,

as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

He is going to unpack that across all these chapters of the book of Romans.

If you have been hearing anything that Paul is saying in these first three chapters,

then you will understand that the unfortunate state of your soul,

apart from the intervening work of Jesus Christ,

is a desperate state because the wrath of God awaits you.

And this is a frightful thing.

And this is the due penalty for our sin.

It's good and proper that God would punish rebellious people.

All of mankind has a huge problem that only finds its remedy in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

But praise be to God that we have reached the point in Paul's writing

where he begins to unpack the good news of his thesis,

now having spent such time on the bad news.

But we must know the bad news for the good news to be as good as it truly is.

Martin Luther said of Romans chapter 3, verse 21 through 31,

Romans 3:21–31

that it is the chief point and the very central place of the epistle and of the whole Bible.

I do hope that you will engage with the text this morning to either,

number one, believe for the first time in the gospel of Jesus Christ

and find the remedy for your sinful state,

or, number two, to be encouraged by the gospel of Jesus Christ

and pressed into grateful service.

So let's read the text together.

If you'll follow along with me before I read it,

let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us.

It was written for his glory and our good,

so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises

and to obey its commands.

Paul says,

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law,

although the law and the prophets bear witness to it.

The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

For there is no distinction.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

This was to show God's righteousness,

because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

It was to show his righteousness at the present time

so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Then what becomes of our boasting?

It is excluded.

By what kind of law?

By a law of works?

No, but by the law of faith.

For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

Or is God the God of Jews only?

Is he not the God of Gentiles also?

Yes, of Gentiles also,

since God is one,

who will justify the circumcised by faith

and the uncircumcised through faith.

Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?

By no means.

On the contrary,

we uphold the law.

Now, this is a lot of text.

And this morning I will divide the text into two halves,

each with some additional divisions.

We have quite a bit of ground to cover,

so I'll move fairly quickly.

In fact, these 11 verses,

I think could have warranted three sermons.

It's kind of where my mind was settling in on it.

But I'm going to take a sabbatical starting tomorrow

and we'll be gone for a month.

And I really want to finish chapter 3.

I really want to talk about the entirety of the text.

And it would be really disjointed, I think,

to only do a bit of it

and wait a whole month to pick back up on the rest of it.

And so I'm telling you all of this

so that you'll buckle in and get ready

because we're going to move fairly quickly through the text.

So the two kind of simple divisions for the text,

number one is doctrine.

This is a good old puritanical division here.

Number one, doctrine, we find in verses 21 through 26.

And number two, application,

which we find in verses 27 through the end of the chapter.

So let's look first at the doctrine in the text.

We see this phrase at the beginning of verse 21,

the righteousness of God,

which if you've been sitting in our teaching of Romans

should sound familiar to you.

This exact phrasing, the righteousness of God.

I hope that it sends off signals in your mind.

Where have we heard it?

Even just this morning, did we not hear it?

In Romans chapter 1 and verse 17.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

Verse 16, Paul says he's not ashamed of the gospel

or he's proud of the gospel

because it's the power of God for salvation.

For, verse 17,

in it the righteousness of God is revealed

from faith for faith, right?

So he's come back to this idea, right?

He's continuing to explain what he means

by the righteousness of God.

Paul has been laboring to tell us

why we cannot accomplish the righteousness required by God

so that we will seek to understand

that we need the righteousness of God.

If that word for you is new,

think right living.

Perfect right living would be a way perhaps to say it.

I will tell you this week

that my hands got pretty good

at typing out the word righteousness.

I got as many times as I had to correct it.

It's a more complicated word

than perhaps it needs to be,

but it's a biblical word

so we need to understand it.

So think perfect right living.

We can't do this on our own.

We need a righteousness

that comes from outside ourselves.

A righteousness that Luther called

an alien righteousness,

a foreign righteousness.

But not just any.

If we are to stand in the day of judgment,

we will need a particular righteousness,

the righteousness of God.

If we are to survive God's perfect judgment,

then we must be perfect.

And we will not accomplish this of our own effort.

And, praise be to God,

we don't have to.

For we have and would utterly fail to do so.

This consideration of the righteousness of God

is salve to a weary soul.

We all know that apart from the righteousness of God,

we are all guilty before God.

Look up just a couple of verses from today's text,

verse 19 and 20.

There Paul says,

Now we know 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 works of the law,

no human being will be justified in his sight

since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

We have littles sitting in our hearing right now,

and perhaps many of them

aren't really aware of their sinfulness.

But if you are not a little,

if you understand the things

that are coming out of my mouth right now,

you are fully aware

that you have done things that are wrong.

You have been told that they are wrong,

and you agree that they were wrong.

This is the way that the law serves us,

to help us to know that we are sinners,

to make evident our guilt,

and to point us somewhere else,

to take us outside of ourselves,

to look elsewhere for righteousness.

It points us to the righteousness of God,

or we hope and pray that it does.

In the first six verses of today's text,

Paul tells us seven things

about the righteousness of God.

So, those of you who are more familiar

with my outlines,

here we actually go.

Number one,

and these will be brief.

Number one,

the righteousness of God

is not found in the law.

First half of verse 21.

Paul has repeated this quite a bit

throughout the end of chapter 2,

and now he's saying it again.

Now, the righteousness of God

has been manifested apart from the law.

So, we have seen the righteousness of God,

but it didn't come from the law.

It came apart from the law.

Now, this has been largely established

over the past weeks

and previous texts of Romans.

We cannot be made righteous by the law

because we cannot keep the law.

It's not possible

that we might have the righteousness of God

because we inherited a nature.

We are inclined to sin.

And as I've said,

we all have.

Romans 3 and verse 10,

there Paul says,

none is righteous,

no, not one.

So, this righteousness of God

is not found in keeping God's law.

Second thing Paul tells us

about the righteousness of God

is that it is spoken of

in the Old Testament.

And there's an inclination in me

to spend an entire week

on the last half of verse 21,

but I won't.

I'm reigning it in for you.

But there he says,

although the law and the prophets

bear witness,

to it.

And if you're looking at an ESV,

copy of God's Word,

you will see law and prophets

capitalized in the last half of verse 21,

but law in lowercase

in the first half.

Why might the translators

have made this decision?

The Greek certainly

wasn't capitalized or not.

They did so because

Paul here is referring to

the law as God's moral law

in the first part of verse 21,

but in the last part,

he's talking about the Scripture

in total.

It's a very common phrase

to refer to the Bible of Paul's day

as the law and the prophets.

So the law doesn't serve

our righteousness

by keeping it,

but it does,

the law,

the Bible itself,

bears witness to it,

to the righteousness

of God.

Specifically,

it bears witness

to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ,

this righteousness

that's been manifested

apart from the law.

The God-man,

Jesus Christ,

who lived the life

that's required of us,

that we might have

his righteousness.

This is who the law

and prophets

bear witness to.

Jesus is the snake crusher

of Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

He is the Passover lamb

of Exodus 12.

He is the defeater

of our enemy

in 1 Samuel 17.

He is the price paid

for Gomer

in Hosea chapter 3.

Hosea 3 · chapter mention

He is the greater Moses

and the greater David.

The whole of the Bible,

I want to give you

a thousand more examples,

is meant to press our minds

to the coming,

now arrived,

and soon coming again

King Jesus.

of great value.

And the Jews

of Paul's day

loved the Scripture.

They tried to orient

their lives by it.

They thought that

in the Bible itself

they might become righteous.

And Paul's unraveling

that for them.

And I think in our day,

a people

who have much

of the Bible

access to it

in many ways

and forms.

It's just incredible

the way you can access

the Scripture.

in our day.

That we would think

that in them

we have righteousness

when they are pointing us

to Christ.

Jesus said to the Pharisees

in John chapter 5

John 5 · chapter mention

and verse 39,

you search the Scriptures

because you think

that in them

you have

eternal life.

And he's not condemning

the search of the Scriptures.

What a wonderful thing to do,

to spend our lives

in this text.

But they thought

the text itself

was providing

eternal life for them

and their feeble attempts

to obey it.

And he goes on to say,

and it is they

that bear witness

about me.

The law and the prophets

bear witness,

notice the phrasing

is the same,

to Christ

himself,

the righteousness

of God.

The third thing

that Paul says

about the righteousness

of God

is that it is granted

through faith.

You see this

in the first part

of verse 22.

The righteousness

of God

through faith

in Jesus Christ

for all

who believe.

I have stated

and will state

repeatedly

that the theme

of this letter

is that we are justified

by grace alone

through faith alone

in Jesus Christ

alone.

It is by believing

in the person

and the work

of Jesus.

Both

who he is

and the things

that he accomplish

that we have

the record

of our sins

expunged

and are granted

the righteousness

of God.

Our guilt

record

taken away,

Jesus paid the penalty

for that sin

and he has given

to us

his perfect

law keeping.

This is that

alien righteousness

that we need

to stand before God

in the day of judgment.

You cannot merely

believe whatever

you may want

despite what our

pluralistic society

may tell you.

If you are to be

saved from God's wrath

and reconcile to him,

you must do so

on his terms.

Jesus says in John

John 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14

and verse 6,

I am the way

and the truth

and the life.

No one

comes to the Father

except

through

me.

What's he talking

about there?

Except by believing

in who I am

and what I have

accomplished

on behalf

of all those

who will

believe.

So the righteousness

of God

is granted

through

faith.

Fourthly,

the righteousness

of God

is not

partial.

You see this

in verse 22,

the last part,

and into

verse 23.

There Paul says,

for there is

no

distinction.

For all have

sinned

and fall short

of the glory

of God.

So regardless

of your

ethnic identity

or nationality,

no matter

your background,

you are a son

or daughter

of Adam

and therefore

guilty of the

sin of Adam

and your own

sin on top

of that.

But,

regardless

of your ethnic

identity

or nationality,

no matter

your background,

you can be

called a son

or daughter

of God

by faith

in a faithful

older brother.

There's no

distinction made

by the free

offer of the

gospel of

Jesus Christ.

It does not

matter from

where you

came.

God created

you and he

calls you to

himself to

believe in the

gospel of

Jesus.

Fifthly,

we see that

the righteousness

of God is

acquired by

grace.

grace.

It is

acquired by

grace.

The first

part of

verse 24.

We are

justified.

There's that

word I

explained a

moment ago.

By his

grace as

a gift.

And the

word grace

means this

free gifting

of something

for our

favor.

But Paul

wants to be

sure that we

understand that

it is a

gift.

We're

justified by

his grace

as a

gift.

Justified by

grace alone,

through faith

alone,

in Christ

alone.

This is not a

thing that we

muster up on

our own.

Belief in the

gospel of

Jesus Christ

is a gift

that is

granted to

us.

Oh, that

God would

grant it to

us all.

Paul tells

elsewhere,

Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

and verse

8, for

by grace

you have

been saved

through faith.

And this,

he's referring

there to the

faith, is

not your

own doing,

it is the

gift of

God.

The gracious

gift of

God is the

faith itself

that we

would believe

in the

gospel of

Jesus Christ.

The sixth

thing that we

learn from

Paul about

the righteousness

of God is

that it is

bought with

a price.

The last

part of

verse 24

says,

through the

redemption

that is in

Christ Jesus.

Now, the

word for

redemption was

often used

of paying a

price to

free a

captive from

his captors

or to

free a

slave from

his master.

Often, the

person who

carried that

price was

called a

redeemer.

You may have

heard of

Jesus being

called the

redeemer, and

he is both

the redeemer

and he is

the redemption

price itself.

We who

once, or

this morning

perhaps are

enslaved to

sin, held

captive by the

ruler of this

world, Jesus

has paid the

penalty, paid

the price that

we might be

redeemed.

Paul writes

in Colossians

Colossians 1:13

chapter 1

verse 13

and following,

Jesus has

delivered us

from the

domain of

darkness, the

ruling of

darkness, and

transferred us

to the kingdom

of his beloved

son, in whom

we have

redemption,

the forgiveness

righteousness, of

sins.

Jesus paid the

penalty for our

sin with his

own life, bearing

on our behalf

all of the

wrath that was

due to our

sin.

The seventh

thing that we

learn, the

righteousness of

God is purchased

by an atoning

sacrifice.

sacrifice.

And we see

this in verse

25 and 26.

Here Paul says

that through the

redemption that

is in Christ

Jesus, whom

God put forward

as a

propitiation by

his blood to

be received

by faith.

Propitiation, not

an easy word to

say and not

often used, but

I hope it's a

word that will

be loved by

you.

A

propitiation.

The word

propitiation carries

with it the

idea of

appeasement or

satisfaction of

wrath.

Wrath that was

due us.

Wrath that all

those who die

and stand before

the judgment of

God, apart from

Christ, will

suffer eternal

wrath for the

appeasement of

God.

God is

just and he

is right to

punish sin.

The Bible

speaks much of

this judgment and

of the wrath of

God.

We see it in

Revelation chapter

Revelation 14:17

14 verse 17

and following.

John's vision, he

says, then another

angel came out of

the temple in

heaven and he

too had a sharp

sickle.

And another

angel came out

from the altar,

the angel who

has authority over

the fire, and he

called with a loud

voice to the one

who had the sharp

sickle.

Put in your

sickle and gather

the clusters from

the vine of the

earth, for its

grapes are ripe.

So the angel

swung his sickle

across the earth

and gathered the

great harvest of

the earth and

threw it into the

great winepress of

the wrath of God.

God, I think that

should make all of

us shudder.

The idea of us as

grapes being placed

in a winepress.

Grapes do not

stand up to the

pressure of a

winepress.

No grape has

ever willed itself

out of a winepress

or pressed back

against the

smooshing of the

grape.

And then verse 20

says, and the

winepress was

trodden outside

the city and

blood flowed from

the winepress.

John's vision

turns off the

metaphor to be

very clear about

what is meant

by this judgment.

Those who are

not saved in

Christ will be

destroyed and

will be destroyed

forever,

forever,

continually,

forever,

to appease the

wrath of God.

But rather,

in Christ,

we have Christ

as a

propitiation,

a satisfier of

God's wrath

for us.

So that when we

stand in the

judgment,

and we declare

not a righteousness

of our own,

but a righteousness

that is Christ

that's granted

to us,

God doesn't

punish our

sin in

us,

because he

already punished

it in

Christ.

See,

Paul goes on

to say,

this,

this putting

forth of

Christ as the

propitiation,

was to show

God's righteousness,

his right

living,

right keeping,

because in

his divine

forbearance,

he had

passed over

former sins.

What Paul is

referring there

is to people

who were

saved in

Christ because

they placed

hope that

somehow

the sacrificial

system,

the slaying of

lambs and

bulls and

goats,

somehow was

covering their

sin.

They believed

in future

promise.

Also,

it was to show

his righteousness

at the present

time,

so that

he might

be just,

that he

might rightly

punish sin,

and the

justifier,

the one who

declares

righteous,

of the one

who has

faith in

Jesus.

And this is

such an

important thing

to understand,

that God

does not

merely dismiss

our sin,

right?

He doesn't

just overlook

it and say,

well,

it's okay,

because it's

not okay.

if God

is to be a

just judge,

he must

punish

our sin.

If we

are to not

be punished

forever for

our sin,

somehow God

has to punish

our sin.

How does

he do it?

By putting

forth Jesus

Christ as a

propitiation.

The God

man,

Jesus Christ,

bearing the

wrath of God

on our behalf

on the cross.

All of

God's wrath

poured out

on him

that we

might have

our sins

expunged

and his

righteousness

given to

us.

I once

heard this

great analogy.

If you've

been here

long,

you've heard

it before.

I hope it

won't bother

you much

to hear it

again.

Of

imagining

God's

wrath,

his eternal

wrath that

is due

our sin,

by imagining

that you're

standing in

a dry river

bed at the

bottom of

a massive

dam.

And this

dam is

holding back

immense amounts

of water.

The dam is

so tall that

you can't

see the

height of

it,

and it's

so wide

to either

direction that

you can't

see the

end of it,

and you

know it

holds back

a crushing

weight.

And as you

stand there

and you

peer up at

this and

you consider

the weight

of the

water behind

this dam,

it begins

to crack

and suddenly

it bursts

forth.

And all

of that

water comes

bearing down

on you.

You're not

going to

outrun this

water.

There's

nothing that

you're going

to be able

to do

to escape

from the

crushing

weight of

this water.

And just

as it's

about to

crush you,

you close

your eyes,

you're ready

to take it

on,

a hole

opens up

in front

of you,

and all

of that

water goes

rushing to

your amazement

into this

massive hole

in front

of you.

It rushes

in,

it rushes

in,

it rushes

in.

And this

is what

Jesus did

on the

cross for

you if

you believe

by faith

that he

did.

He drinks

to the

very last

drop the

wrath of

God that

was due

you,

and when

he was

finished,

he turned

the cup

over,

he slammed

it down

and declared

it is

finished.

He

accomplished

that for

you if

you would

just

believe

in

him.

William

Reese

wrote

a wonderful

hymn,

maybe we'll

sing it here

someday,

called

Here is

Love

in 1876,

and this

is the

second verse

of that

song.

He writes,

on the

mount of

crucifixion

fountains

opened deep

and wide.

Through the

floodgates of

your mercy

flowed a

vast and

gracious tide.

Here is

love,

like mighty

rivers poured

unceasing

from above,

heaven's

peace and

perfect justice

kissed a

guilty world

in love.

The

righteousness

of God

is a thing

that each

of us

desperately

needs and

does not

deserve,

and yet

God has

loved his

creation enough

to make

a way that

we might

have it.

So there's

the doctrine.

Second big

point.

I just did

three.

Second big

point.

Application.

It must be

time for a

sabbatical if

I hold up

three fingers

and say

secondly.

Application.

So a few

things to

pull out of

the rest of

the text.

So beginning

in verse

27,

the righteousness

of God

excludes

boasting

in ourselves.

Paul says

that very

frankly here

in verse

27,

then what

becomes of

our boasting?

It's

excluded.

It cannot

exist.

By what

kind of

law?

By a

law of

works?

One that

we couldn't

keep?

No.

By a

law of

faith.

We have

believed that

someone else

did the work

for us,

and this

excludes

our

boasting.

Beloved,

we ought to

be the most

humble people

on the

planet.

Really

understanding

who we

once were

and what

has been

accomplished

for us

should make

us incredibly

humble.

For we

hold that

one is

justified by

faith apart

from works

of the

law.

We did

not accomplish

it.

We could

not accomplish

it.

We never

would have.

If Christ

wasn't holding

me fast

now, I

would certainly

leave.

I read

previously

Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

and verse

8, which

says,

for by grace

you have

been saved

through faith,

and this

is not

your own

doing, it

is the

gift of

God.

Paul goes

on in

verse 9

to say,

not a

result of

works, so

that no

one may

boast.

Our

salvation is

monergistic.

God does

it, and

he does it

because he

deserves all

the glory

for doing

it.

I don't

get a shred

of the glory.

God made

the way

possible, and

he did all

the things, and

then I got

on board.

I get none

of it.

God says in

Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 48 · chapter mention

48, my

glory I will

not give

to another.

Paul says

in Galatians

Galatians 6:14

6 verse

14, far

be it for

me to

boast, except

in the

cross of

our Lord

Jesus Christ.

There he

says, there's

a thing to

boast in, what

God has

done on

our behalf.

So we

ought to be

humble, and

I'm not saying

that we don't

stand for the

truth, but we

stand on it

because it is

God's truth, not

because it is

ours.

Secondly, the

righteousness of

God promotes

ethnic harmony

and missions to

the ends of

the earth.

I know some

of you would

like to be

way deep

into this

one today, and

I'm not

going to.

Here Paul

says, is

God the

God of

Jews only?

Is he

not the

God of

Gentiles

also?

Yes, of

Gentiles

also.

Categorically

dividing people

into two

ethnic groups,

Jews and

everyone else.

And he's

saying that

God doesn't

show favor

in granting

righteousness

just to one

ethnic group,

but to all

ethnic groups.

Because God

is one, verse

30, and he

will justify

the circumcised

by faith and

the uncircumcised

through faith.

If you're to

come to God,

you will come

by faith.

There's one

way that it

will be

accomplished.

This is why

Christians

should be

eager to

share the

gospel with

all peoples

everywhere, that

we would not

shy away from

such a thing

because our

God is a

God who

saves.

Matthew 28,

Matthew 28:19

verse 19,

just says,

go therefore

and make

disciples of

all nations.

All ethnos,

and there's a

lot of

disagreement about

what that

means exactly,

but we know

it can mean

that we're

going to

share the

gospel with

people who

aren't just

like us.

We're going

to go,

and we're

going to

share.

This is a

beautiful vision

of heaven,

again from

John,

Revelation

Revelation 7:9

chapter 7,

verse 9 and

10, where

he says,

I looked

and behold

a great

multitude that

no one

could number

from every

nation,

from all

tribes and

peoples and

languages,

standing before

the throne

and before

the Lamb,

clothed in

white robes,

with palm

branches in

their hands,

and crying

out with a

loud voice,

salvation

belongs to

our God

who sits

on the

throne,

and to

the Lamb.

That'll be the

great desire of

every Christian,

that God

will be praised

amongst all

peoples everywhere.

This is why

Paul says,

right,

1 and

verse 16,

I am not

ashamed of

the gospel.

I've been

saying to you

in the positive,

I am proud of

the gospel for

it is the power

of God for

salvation to

everyone who

believes,

to the Jew

first,

and also to

everyone else.

We, like

Paul, should be

proud of the

gospel because

it is the

power of God

for salvation.

And third

application,

the righteousness

of God

changes our

hearts.

So, to be

clear, we

are not

justified,

made righteous

by the law.

We cannot

be.

It is not

sufficient for

the task.

We need an

alien righteousness.

We need the

righteousness of

Christ granted

to us.

But if we

have it,

if we have

it, then our

hearts have

been changed.

And this is

going to work

itself out in

our lives.

Look at

verse 31.

Paul says,

do we then

overthrow the

law by this

faith?

He's saying,

do we disregard

it altogether?

The moral

commands of

God, do we

just toss

them aside?

And he

says, by

no means.

Me genoito.

It's very,

very strong.

It's an

expletive

Greek phrase.

It's a

strong phrase.

Absolutely

not.

On the

contrary,

we

uphold.

Have

been made

righteous in

Christ, we

uphold

the law.

In Ezekiel

Ezekiel 11:19

chapter 11,

verse 19,

their God

says, I

will give

them one

heart and

a new

spirit I

will put

within them.

I

remove the

heart of

stone from

their flesh

and give

them a

heart of

flesh that

they may

walk in

my statutes

and keep

my rules

and obey

them.

And they

shall be

my people

and I

will be

their God.

And later

in Ezekiel

36,

in verse

27,

he says,

I will put

my spirit

within you

and cause

you to

walk in

my statutes

and be

careful to

obey my

rules.

God

rules over

us by

his word

and it's

a good

word.

These are

not burdensome

commandments,

they're good

commandments

that we

ought to

keep.

By faith

in his

son,

we're given

the spirit

that we

would both

know and

desire and

be empowered

to keep

his commands.

Jesus

says in

John 14

and verse

15,

if you

love me,

if your

passion has

been turned

toward me

and away

from this

world,

you will

keep

my

commandments.

It becomes

the outflow

of grateful

hearts,

changed

lives.

we

were

oriented

in a

different

direction

that we

might be

a people

for the

praise

of our

God.

The

righteousness

of God

changes

our

hearts.

So may

we be a

people

who believe

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ

so that we

will possess

the righteousness

of God

and stand

in the

judgment

so that we

will be

humble

and boast

only in the

cross of

Christ.

So we

will be

a people

who are

not ashamed

of the

gospel

and carry

this good

news across

ethnic

boundaries

and oceans

and so that

we will be

a people

of changed

heart

who desire

to walk

in God's

good

commands.

Let's pray

together.

Thank you.