The Gift of God

with the Lord's table, we want to take time to reflect on what Jesus has done for us.

And so we're turning to the letter that Paul wrote to the church at Rome this morning to do that.

Now, this letter of Paul's is a challenging letter.

It's much easier to just read through the narratives of the Gospels,

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, than it is to read through this letter.

This letter is packed.

In fact, Paul is known for making the most of every word and not wasting any breath.

He's got some of the longest sentences in the Bible.

And here, in this letter, he's making a case for some very important truths.

And all of these important truths have to do with the Gospel, the good news of Jesus.

And he takes almost the entire letter to logically build his argument,

and he touches these various truths and themes together throughout as he builds his argument

to bring forth what he wants to say about the Gospel of Jesus.

So it's hard to just dip into this book for a little bit this morning,

but we can't just leave it off to the side and avoid it.

So we're going to go into Romans this morning and do some work to try to dig into this

and see something for ourselves here this morning.

Romans is all about the Gospel.

It's all about the Gospel.

And that's kind of an old word.

Maybe some of you are like, what's the Gospel, you know?

It comes from an older English word, God spell,

which literally, broken apart, means good news or message or word.

And this is what Paul wanted to tell the Roman Church about,

the good news of Jesus.

And not just the church at Rome.

This good news that Paul is so eager to share,

he's been preaching this all over the Mediterranean world,

from city to city to city.

Now, what is the Gospel, this good news of Jesus?

If you're a member, this is a question that we asked you last year during membership review,

to put it into your own words.

What is the Gospel?

And some of you gave the more typical Sunday school answer,

that Jesus came, died on the cross for our sins,

to atone for them, so that we could be forgiven,

and so that we could receive eternal life.

And that is the heart of the good news.

But some of you others pointed to other things

that are part of the larger story of the Gospel.

Because the good news of Jesus is big.

It's not just a few little things that Jesus has done for us.

It's a big, deep, rich, full package deal of blessing,

and grace, and favor that comes to us through Jesus.

Let's listen to what Paul has to say about this back in the beginning of his letter.

You can stay in chapter 3, it'll be on the screen here.

Back in chapter 1, verse 14, he says,

I'm obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks,

both to the wise and the foolish.

That's why I'm so eager to preach the Gospel also to you who are in Rome.

For I'm not ashamed of the Gospel,

because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes,

first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Proclaiming and sharing the good news about Jesus is Paul's calling,

it's his mission, it's his passion.

You can just hear it in his words.

But now after telling us this, we expect Paul to go on to share the good news,

to tell us what is the Gospel about Jesus.

And we half expect Paul to just maybe tell us the story,

much like Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John did.

Paul, what's the Gospel?

What's the good news of Jesus?

Well, amazingly, this entire letter of Romans is Paul's answer to that question.

And he has a very different way of explaining and saying it than Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.

Why?

Because the good news of Jesus, as I said before,

it's more than just a few things that Jesus did for us.

It's a rich and deep, wonderful multitude of things

that God has been planning from long ago

and has now brought to pass through his son Jesus

for the benefit of those who believe in him.

So this is how Paul introduces the good news of Jesus here in Romans.

He says,

I'm not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God

that brings salvation to everyone who believes,

first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

He goes on,

For in the Gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed.

A righteousness that is by faith from first to last.

Now that's probably not the words that most of us would choose

to describe the Gospel.

Somebody asked you,

What's the Gospel?

Probably most of us would not be thinking in our minds,

Let me tell you,

It's the story of the righteousness of God.

But that's exactly how Paul answers the question.

And then he begins to explain what he means by that.

He goes on to explain in these first few chapters

the big story of our world.

How mankind has rejected and rebelled against God.

How man has been living unrighteously.

And because of this,

He says,

All humanity stands guilty before God.

God's justice hangs over us.

It's been revealed that we deserve God's righteous wrath,

says Paul.

His just punishment for the sins that we have committed.

This is chapters 1, 2, and the first part of chapter 3.

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

And in the midst of this, Paul also says,

Just in case there are any of you who are thinking,

Well, that doesn't apply to me.

Like, I'm a good person.

I haven't been doing a bunch of wicked things and sinning.

I'm not guilty of that.

I've been keeping God's commands.

I've been living a good, a righteous life.

Just in case anybody's thinking this,

Paul says,

For them,

No.

You too are guilty before God.

Because nobody has kept God's holy law

well enough to be righteous in His sight.

I'm paraphrasing.

I'm summing it up here.

Some of you, says Paul,

are hypocritical,

self-righteous,

proud.

You think you are good.

You think you're righteous.

But it's all an external show that you put on

while in your hearts

wickedness.

You're far from God.

You don't love Him.

You don't fear Him.

No.

Everybody, says Paul,

is guilty before God.

Listen to how Paul says it here now

in chapter 3,

verse 9.

We have already made the charge

that Jews and Gentiles alike

are all under the power of sin.

As it is written,

there is no one righteous.

Not even one.

There is no one who understands.

There is no one who seeks God.

All have turned away.

They have together become worthless.

There is no one who does good.

Not even one.

Their throats are open graves.

Their tongues practice deceit.

The poison of vipers is on their lips.

Their mouths are full of cursing

and bitterness.

Their feet are swift to shed blood.

Ruin and misery mark their ways.

And the way of peace they do not know.

There is no fear of God

before their eyes.

This is how it looks here on earth

from God's point of view.

Of course, we don't see it that way many times.

We often think that we're pretty good.

We do our best to try to minimize our sins.

But according to God's evaluation,

as we just heard,

not a single one of us is righteous

before God in God's sight.

Not a single one of us is good

like He is.

Maybe you remember the time

that a rich man came up to Jesus

and asked Him a question.

Mark chapter 10 verse 17.

Mark 10:17

He said,

Good teacher,

what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Jesus answered him and said,

Why do you call me good?

No one is good

except God alone.

Jesus Himself,

speaking the words of the Father,

proclaimed this same truth

that there is no one righteous,

not even one.

We are all guilty before God.

As we just heard,

Paul goes on here in Romans

to tell us

how human beings have managed to sin

with almost every part of their bodies.

I won't read it again.

Their throats,

their tongues,

their lips,

their mouths,

their feet,

their eyes.

Do you hear this?

No one,

not a single person

is righteous.

Paul goes on,

verse 19.

He says,

We know that whatever the law says,

it says to those who are under the law,

so that every mouth may be silenced

and the whole world held accountable to God.

In other words,

what was spoken at Mount Sinai

was spoken to the Jews who were there.

But it wasn't just for the Jews who were there.

It was for the whole world

that God said all that He said at Mount Sinai.

It was so that all of us would know and understand

what God's just and righteous standard is.

What true goodness is.

Verse 20.

Therefore,

Paul says,

no one will be declared righteous in God's sight

by the works of the law.

Rather,

through the law,

we become conscious

of sin.

Do you hear this?

No one,

not a single person

will be declared

good or righteous

by keeping commandments,

by observing the law.

Why?

Because none of us is able to

keep it.

We all fall short of that.

We can't.

So Paul says,

rather,

through the law,

we become conscious

of sin.

What does the law do?

One of the purposes of the law

that God gave,

this is the first books of the Bible.

Genesis,

Exodus,

Leviticus,

Numbers,

Deuteronomy.

One of the purposes of the law

is to show us

that we are indeed

sinners.

That we fall short.

that we are guilty

before this holy God

who created the world.

And this is probably

one reason

why we tend not to like

the Old Testament

and prefer

the New Testament

because

it's true.

Parts of the Old Testament

are like that.

They're like a mirror

that God is holding up to us

saying,

see,

this is

what you are.

You are guilty.

You are sinful.

You are deserving

of justice.

Let me encourage you

at this point.

Don't neglect

the Old Testament.

The books of the law,

those scathing words

of the prophets,

we need them.

We need them

to become conscious

of sin.

To become aware

of where we truly

stand before God.

God.

It's only

there,

looking in the mirror

of the law,

the righteous law

of God,

that we see

our true need

for the remedy

that God has provided.

Let's hear about

that remedy now.

I'll go back

and read this.

Therefore,

no one will be

declared righteous

in God's sight

by the works

of the law.

Rather,

through the law,

we become conscious

of our sin.

But now,

says Paul,

apart from the law,

the righteousness

of God

has been revealed

to which the law

and the prophets

testify.

This righteousness

is given

through faith

in Jesus Christ

to all who believe.

There's no difference

between Jew and Gentile

for all have sinned

and all fall short

of the glory of God.

And all are justified

freely by His grace

through the redemption

that came

by Christ Jesus.

These are some

of the most wonderful words

in the whole Bible.

Do you hear what Paul

is saying here?

He's saying,

I've just told you now

the bad news.

That we are all guilty

before God.

Deserving of God's wrath.

No matter how hard you try,

you can never keep

God's law and commandments

well enough

to be righteous

in His sight.

But now,

listen,

God has done something new

through Jesus Christ.

There's good news.

God has revealed

His righteousness.

a way to get

a right standing

with God.

And we don't get it

through keeping the law,

he says.

It's apart from the law.

We don't get it

by trying to obey

all of His commands

better.

No,

this righteousness,

this right standing

with God

is given

by God

to all who believe

through faith

in Jesus Christ,

says Paul.

This is the good news

that I've been longing

to tell all of you

in Rome.

God has sent Jesus

and by believing in Him,

by faith in Him,

you can have

a right standing

with God.

You can be considered

righteous

in His sight.

And it doesn't matter

one bit

whether you're a Jew

or a Gentile,

says Paul.

Either way,

you're a guilty sinner

who falls short

of God's glory

and either way,

you are justified.

You are made

right

in God's sight

by faith

in Jesus Christ

as a gift

of His grace.

These are sweet words.

Do you hear

what Paul is saying?

Do you hear

what God is speaking

through this apostle here?

Even though you,

like everyone else,

are guilty

and deserve

God's punishment,

even though you

are not righteous,

you can be

declared righteous.

And it's the gift

of God

to all who believe

in Jesus,

the Christ.

I love the language

of grace

in Paul's words here.

This is not a right

standing with God

that we get

by doing good,

by keeping commands,

by earning it.

In fact,

all of chapter 4,

which we won't go to today,

is dedicated

to making that

crystal clear.

You can't earn it.

It comes as a free gift,

unearned.

But to make this clear

in this verse

that we're looking at

right here,

Paul gives us

a few different words

that tell us

of the gift,

of the freeness

of this gift.

Notice the language

he uses here

in verse 24.

He says,

all are justified

freely

by his grace.

First,

there's the word

justified.

The word used here

means to pronounce

or to declare

someone righteous.

Not guilty.

It means,

with regard to justice,

to give us

that favorable

verdict that we

long for

in the courts

of God.

Not guilty.

But of course,

as we've just heard,

that's not the verdict

that we deserve.

And so it doesn't

come to us

because we've earned it.

It comes to us

apart from

what we've done

for ourselves.

This points us

in the direction

of gift.

But then Paul

adds to this word.

He says,

we are justified,

we are made

righteous

freely.

This adverb

in the original language

is actually

the noun

for gift.

And then

the ending

is changed

to just kind of

make it into

an adverb.

Quite literally,

it would be

something like,

all are justified

giftly.

But we don't have

that word in English,

so it's translated

freely

as a gift.

No strings attached.

It's something given.

Not because it's been

earned

or deserved

or worked for.

Think about a gift.

It's something

that you just

hand to someone.

You give it to them.

Maybe you see

that they're in need

of something

and you have

that something

and they can't

get that something.

They can't afford it

maybe.

But you have it

and so you give it

to them.

You just hand it

over to them.

Finally,

there's the third

phrase that Paul

uses

to make this clear

that it's free,

that it's a gift.

We are all

justified freely

by His grace.

By His grace.

I love that word.

What is God's grace?

God's grace

is His goodwill.

It's His kindness.

It's His benevolence.

It's that

favorable disposition

that He has

towards us.

The desire

to meet our needs,

to bless us,

to treat us kindly,

to do good

to us.

God's grace

has to do

with His

generous,

giving nature.

In fact,

the word grace

in the language

of the New Testament

is derived

from a word

that just means

gift again

or favor.

So you bring

all of these together

and there's just

no mistaking it here.

Even though we are

all guilty,

even though we all

fall short

of God's glory,

says Paul,

unrighteous,

all of us

can be made

righteous

in God's sight

and we can have

this

as a free gift

from God

because of His

goodness,

His generous,

kind,

loving nature.

No works

required,

no law-keeping

required,

no strings

attached.

And what do we

have to do

to receive

this gift?

Well,

Paul tells us

all throughout

this passage.

This right standing

comes to us

through faith

in Jesus Christ

to all

who believe.

That's it.

Believe.

It's not what

we must do

as in

earning it.

We couldn't

earn it.

Instead,

it's who we

must trust.

It's who we

must believe.

This is an

attitude of the

heart.

And we

find out

that it's

not so much

about what

we can do

to get this.

It's about

what God,

what Jesus

has done

for us

and us

believing that

by which

we are

brought into

this right

standing with

God.

Notice

the emphasis

of Paul.

This

righteousness,

this gift

of God

to be

not guilty

in his

sight.

It comes

through

Jesus

Christ.

Here in

verse 24,

it came,

the redemption

comes by

Jesus Christ,

Christ Jesus.

He says it

again and

again all

through this

gospel.

There is

only one

way to

get a

right standing

with God

and it's

through

Jesus

Christ

and what

he has

done

for us.

let's

talk for

a moment

about what

Jesus

did

to

redeem

us.

This

is all

driving

to this

central

point,

this

central

moment.

How do

we get

a not

guilty

verdict

with

God

through

Jesus

Christ?

Paul

finally

tells us

what it

is that

Jesus

has done

in

verse

25.

He

says

God

presented

Christ

as a

sacrifice

of

atonement

through

the

shedding

of

his

blood.

We'll

unpack

this a

little

bit

quickly

here.

Through

the

shedding

of

his

blood,

this

right

standing

with

God

that

we

can

have,

it

came

by

the

death

of

Jesus.

This

is

Paul's

way

of

referring

to

the

suffering

and

death

of

Jesus

on

the

cross.

What

happened

when

Jesus

died

on

the

cross?

It

was

much

more

than

just

some

political

rebel

being

executed,

which is

what the

world

saw.

Paul

tells us

what

happened

in that

moment.

A

sacrifice

of

atonement

was

being

made.

This

points us

back to

the Old

Testament

and the

language

of

atonement.

The

sacrifices

that were

offered at

the

tabernacle

and later

at the

temple

to atone

for the

sins

of the

people.

But

notice

here in

verse 25

who

brings

the

sacrifice.

It's

not

us,

the

guilty,

but

God,

the

gracious.

God

presented

Christ

as an

atoning

sacrifice,

as a

wrath

removing

sacrifice

for our

sins.

and the

benefits

of this

we

receive

by faith,

by

believing.

There it

is again.

I'll

finish off

the verse

here.

He did

this to

demonstrate

his

righteousness

because

in his

forbearance

he had

left the

sins

committed

beforehand

unpunished.

He did

it to

demonstrate

his

righteousness

at the

present

time

so as

to be

just

and the

one who

justifies.

those who

have

faith

in

Jesus.

There's

lots

here but

basically

it amounts

to this.

God

is in

the

business

of

leaving

sins

unpunished.

He

has been

doing it

since the

Garden of

Eden,

since the

days of

Abraham,

Isaac,

and Jacob,

through the

days of

Israel.

None

of them

and none

of us

are

righteous,

not even

one.

We've

all sinned.

We all

fall short

of God's

glory.

God

has been

leaving

sins

unpunished,

but God's

justice

demands that

all sins

be punished.

And so

Christ came

to take the

punishment that

they deserved

long ago

and the

punishment that

we deserve

here today

so we

could be

justified,

given that

right standing

with God

despite what

we deserve.

God's

death on

Jesus'

death on

the cross

was all

about,

says Paul.

As Jesus

hung there,

he was

offering a

wrath-removing

sacrifice for

you and

for me so

that our

verdict of

guilty could

be changed

to not

guilty and

yet justice

still be

done.

And this is

what we want

to celebrate

today as we

come again

to the

Lord's

table.

Jesus'

body,

represented by

the bread,

was broken.

He was

killed.

He died.

His blood

that was

shed

represents

his life

given

and poured

out for

us.

The

greatest of

all gifts

was offered

here at

the cross

to all

who will

believe,

whether Jew

or Gentile,

a free

gift,

no strings

attached,

nothing

needing to

be done

to earn

it,

to deserve

it.

You and

me can

have a

right standing

with God

and be

declared

righteous

forever.

Our verdict

changed

and it

comes

through

faith in

Jesus the

King

and his

suffering

in our

place

and death

at the

cross.

Maybe you're

here this

morning and

you're wondering

why would

he do

that

for a

wretched

sinner like

me?

Well,

Paul's answer

here is because

of his grace.

He is that

kind of a

God.

He is

kind,

good,

gracious,

there's

real love

in the

heart of

God

for you

and for

me.

Do you

believe it?

The cross

proves it.

We're

going to

go to

worship now.

We're

going to

sing.

We'll have

a chance

through the

songs to

reflect on

this and

then we'll

serve and

partake of

the table

and we'll

sing some

more after

that.

We're

going to

partake now

of the

Lord's

table and

if you

believe in

Jesus that

he is that

sacrifice of

atonement for

your sins,

then this

table is

open to

you and

I invite

you to

partake,

to eat of

the bread and

drink of the

cup when it

comes around.

I'll invite

Dave and

Charles to

come forward

and to

serve the

elements and

we'll wait

until everybody

who wishes to

partake has

been served

and then we'll

eat and drink

together all in

unison.

wedding for

But

you

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you so much for this gift that you have given to us.

Lord Jesus, we thank you for being willing to suffer like you did.

We don't deserve it.

But we are so grateful.

We look forward to the eternity to heaven that you have purchased for us.

Life forever with you because of what you did for us.

Thank you.

We eat and drink in remembrance of you.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

do

do

do