Ransomed, Righteous, And Reconciled

I'm going to talk to you this morning about being ransomed, righteous, and reconciled.

Good alliteration there, okay?

Ransomed, righteous, and reconciled.

We're going to start in 1 Samuel 21.

You can either, I can either read it to you or you can look it up yourself.

Either way, it's fine with me.

But we're going to start in 1 Samuel 21.

Again, ransomed, righteous, and reconciled.

So, 1 Samuel 21, this is after Jonathan and David got together.

And they had their little plan to figure out whether Saul was for David or not.

Finds out that David, or Saul, Jonathan just finds out actually Saul wants to kill David.

And Jonathan gives him the heads up and he gets his 1 Samuel 21.

1 Samuel 21, starting in verse 1, says,

Then David came to Nab, to Ahimelech the priest.

And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him,

Why are you alone and no one with you?

David said to Ahimelech the priest,

The king has charged me with a matter and said to me,

Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you and with which I have charged you.

I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place.

All right, time out.

Is that true?

Is that true?

No, that's not true.

He just lied to him.

The king did not send him.

The king's trying to kill him.

Right?

So, that's not true.

So, this is the beginning of David's...

What's that one book?

It's like David's very bad, no good, horrible day, whatever.

That would be this day for David.

Okay, this is the beginning of a really bad day.

Okay?

But what does it start with?

It starts with David telling a lie.

Okay?

Give me some of the bread.

Before he gets that, he's like, you know, what are you doing here?

He's like, oh, I have this, you know, king sent me.

I got this secret matter you can't tell anybody about.

No, he's lying.

That's not true.

That's not what happened.

Verse 3.

Now then, what do you have on hand?

Give me five loaves of bread or whatever is here.

And the priest answered David, I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread.

Yet the young men have kept themselves from women.

And David answered the priest, truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on expedition.

The vessels of the young men are holy, even when it is an ordinary journey.

How much more today would their vessels be holy?

So the priest gave him the holy bread.

There was no bread there but the bread of the presence, which is removed from before the Lord,

to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

Verse 7.

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord.

His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen.

Okay, so this is one of Saul's guys.

David said to Himalek,

Then have you not here a spear or sword at hand?

For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.

Again, he's lying.

This is not about the king's business.

This is about him actually running away from the king.

Okay?

The priest said,

Sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom he struck down in the valley of Elah,

behold, it is here, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod.

If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.

And David said,

There is none like that.

Give it to me.

David and David rose and fled that day from Saul.

Again, that gives you the real story here.

David rose and fled.

Not on some secret mission for Saul.

David rose and fled Saul on that day.

Okay?

Fast forward a little further to 1 Samuel 22, verse 6.

1 Samuel 22:6

Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him.

Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarass tree on the height with a spear in his hand,

and all his servants were standing about him.

Saul said to his servants who stood about him,

Hear now, people of Benjamin,

will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards?

Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds,

that all of you conspired against me?

No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse?

None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me

to lie in wait as at this day?

Verse 9.

Then answered Doeg the Edomite.

This is the guy who was there when he went to the priest.

Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul.

I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech, the son of Ahittab.

And he inquired of the Lord for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.

Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahittab,

and all his father's house, the priests who were at Nob.

And all of them came to the king.

And Saul said, Hear now, son of Ahittab.

And he answered, Here I am, my lord.

And Saul said to him, Why have you conspired against me,

you and the son of Jesse,

that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him,

so that he has risen against me to lie in wait as at this day?

Then Ahimelech answered the king,

And who among all your servants is so faithful as David?

Who is the king's son-in-law and captain over your bodyguard and honored in your house?

Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him?

No!

Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father,

for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.

And the king said, You shall surely die, Ahimelech,

you and all your father's house.

And the king said to the guard who stood about him,

Turn and kill the priests of the Lord,

because their hand also is with David.

And they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.

But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the Lord.

Then the king said to Doeg, You turn and strike the priests.

And again, this is the guy who saw him there.

It says,

How many?

He killed on that day 85 persons who wore the linen ephod.

And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword.

Both man and woman, child and infant,

ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.

Consequential lied, wouldn't you say?

But one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahithub, named Abiathar,

escaped and fled after David.

And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.

And David said to Abiathar,

I knew on that day when Doeg the Edomite was there,

that he would surely tell Saul,

I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house.

Stay with me.

Do not be afraid.

For he who seeks my life seeks your life.

With me you shall be in safe keeping.

Okay?

So David knows it.

He says, I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house.

He takes responsibility for it.

But that's a bad day.

Romans 3.23 says,

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

We all know sin.

We all have fallen short.

We've all sinned.

Okay?

So we can all relate to sinning.

But maybe we can't relate to this kind of consequence for sin.

And yet sometimes when we sin,

we feel this weight of responsibility as we should.

We feel condemnation sometimes.

We feel the consequences of our sins

because there is consequences to sins,

sometimes worse than others.

But this lie that David's told,

85 priests get killed,

men and the women,

children and the infants,

all the animals.

That's rough.

Imagine having that on your conscience.

Oh my gosh.

Look what just happened.

Right?

That's a weight that was on him.

And we don't have to wonder

whether or not he did actually take that on

because he said,

I have occasioned the death

of all the persons of your father's house.

So we can relate to the fact

that we've sinned and fallen short.

But you've probably never sinned

where 85 pastors were killed

because of what you did.

And then all their wives and kids as well.

You know,

this is a big thing.

The great thing about David

is when we read about David,

there's more about David in the Bible

than really any other person in the Bible.

And so there's all these Psalms that he wrote.

You can kind of find out what he was thinking

during particular times.

So if you look at Psalm 52,

on the top of Psalm 52,

and it kind of says when this was written

or what's,

they give you that little kind of insight there.

It says to the choir master,

a mascal of David,

when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul,

David has come to the house of Ahimelech.

Okay?

So this is basically the Psalm he wrote

after all this, right?

What does he say?

Let's get insight into what David was thinking.

Surely he's going to write this Psalm

about how horrible of a person he is

and how he just deserves to die himself

and probably beats himself up.

Surely you would think that's what he's going to write, right?

Well, let's take a look.

Why do you boast of evil, almighty man?

The steadfast love of God endures all the day.

Your tongue plots destruction like a sharp razor,

you worker of deceit.

You love evil more than good

and lying more than speaking what is right.

You love all the words that devour,

oh deceitful tongue.

But God will break you down forever.

He will snatch and tear you from your tent.

He will uproot you from the land of the living.

The righteous shall see in fear

and shall laugh at him,

saying, see the man who would not make God his refuge,

but trusted in the abundance of his riches

and sought refuge in his own destruction.

Okay, so stop there.

That's him talking about Doeg, right?

He has some strong feelings about Doeg, clearly, here,

and refers to him as an evil man

and just pronounces all these things.

But the question is, what about David?

What's David thinking about David after all this?

Well, verse 8 tells us what David thinks about David.

This is David's perspective on himself

right after this happened.

I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.

I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.

I will thank you forever because you have done it.

I will wait for your name for it is good

in the presence of the godly.

Isn't that an interesting take on it?

When you have just fallen into sin

and you think, wow, there's a lot of consequence to this.

I feel really bad about this.

I feel tempted to be condemned.

Do you usually say,

I'm an olive tree thriving in the house of God?

Is that usually what you say?

You usually say,

I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.

I'm thriving.

Thriving?

What do you mean you're thriving?

85 priests were killed.

A whole city was wiped out,

including children and infants.

And you're an olive tree thriving in the house of God?

Is this not the good news?

Did David not have an insight into something that was real,

that we were going to get way more insight

when people like Paul would write about it later

and when Jesus would come?

That our sins don't ultimately define us

when we trust in his steadfast love,

when we trust in the blood of Christ,

when we trust in God's redeeming power,

we can say,

I am an olive tree thriving in the house of God.

I would actually believe what you believe about God

right after you sin

is one of the most important things

you believe about God in all time.

Because if you don't believe,

like Seth talked about justification last week,

if you don't believe in justification

and being right with God,

if you only believe that when you do good things,

but when you do bad things,

you don't believe it,

is it really justification in Christ

that you believe in it?

Or is it justification by your good works?

And if it is justification by your good works,

I got news for you.

It ain't good enough.

Never has been, never will be.

Nobody can do enough good things to earn God's love.

And your attempt to do good things to earn God's love

is the biggest offense of them all.

It's an affront.

It's the most arrogant thing you can do

is to thank God.

I can do this without you.

I can do this on my own.

I am my own redeemer.

I am my own savior.

What is more arrogant than to say,

I am an olive tree thriving in the house of God

only when I do good things,

rather than to boast on the cross of Christ

and say, I'm an olive tree thriving in the house of God

because of what Jesus did,

not because of what I've done

or haven't done or whatever.

That's the challenge.

What do you believe after you've sinned?

Now, I'm not saying we don't take a,

we should have a sense of weight, remorse, urgency.

We should have a sense of godly grief that happens there.

But again, when we sin and sin will come,

what do we believe about God in that moment?

What do we believe about ourselves in Christ?

Now, those who are in Christ,

those who call yourselves Christians,

who are believers in Christ,

do you believe in Christ after you've sinned?

Or do you only believe in Christ

after three days of walking in penance?

You know, after feeling bad about myself for three days,

my form of paying for my sin

is to feel bad for a few days.

Few hours, few days, few weeks.

You pick.

Everyone's different.

At the end of the day,

your few hours, your few days, your few weeks,

none of them pay for your sin.

Only one thing is good enough to pay for your sin

because all have sinned and fallen short.

And that is the blood of Jesus.

That's the blood of Jesus.

So I want to look at three aspects of the gospel

that if we believe,

we could become like David in that,

the man after God's own heart,

and start to believe that I'm an olive tree

thriving in the house of God,

not because of my goodness,

but actually despite my badness,

because of God's goodness and righteousness

that's been imputed to me through Christ.

All right?

So we're going to look at these three things.

Ransomed,

ransomed, righteous, and reconciled.

Okay?

Let's look at the first one.

Ransomed.

Okay?

What does ransom mean?

Definition of ransom is to free from captivity

or punishment by paying a price.

To free from captivity or punishment

by paying a price.

Okay?

So there's a certain captivity to sin,

and there's a punishment of sin

that is justly upon every sinner

called the wrath of God.

It's just.

It's right.

And some people say,

well, isn't hell kind of an extreme thing?

You live this short little life,

and if you've fallen short of God's glory

in this little life,

you're supposed to,

it's a just punishment

to have eternal suffering and pain

forever and ever and ever?

Well, it depends how bad the crime is.

You might say,

well, surely the amount of sins

I could commit

in that amount of time

wouldn't equate

a just punishment

of eternal fire and pain.

Well, it's not the time frame

that you sinned in,

it's who you sinned against.

It's not the time frame

that you sinned in,

it's who you sinned against.

It's kind of like, you know,

if I walk up to Adam one day

and I just slapped him in the face,

you know,

he might get upset at me,

he slapped me back,

and maybe that'd be the worst thing.

Or, but I'm not, you know,

no one's going to arrest me

or anything, right?

If I walked up to a police officer

and slapped him in the face,

well, that might be

a little different, right?

The consequences will be different.

If Mayor Lucas, you know,

was walking downtown

and I saw him

and I walked up

and slapped him in the face,

consequences would be

even stronger.

And if Biden just happened

to be in town,

President Biden,

and I went up

and slapped him in the face,

you might not see me

for a while, okay?

Why?

Why is it different?

It's the same crime.

Slapping in the face.

Slapping Adam.

Slapping a cop.

Slapping Mayor Lucas.

Slapping President Biden.

Why the same crime

having different consequences?

Because it's all about

who you've sinned against.

You understand?

And so the reason

the just punishment

for our sin

is eternal punishment

in hell

where the fire

does not go out

is because it's a sin

against the Holy God.

It's a sin

against God himself.

And God isn't just

holy with limits.

God is holy,

perfect,

righteous,

demanding holiness

himself

from us

without limit.

Like there's no limit

to his holiness.

It's not like

if you dive into

God's holiness,

eventually you get to a point

where like,

I've exhausted it.

I've seen all God's holiness.

No, it never ends.

He's so other,

so much bigger,

so much greater,

so much pure.

Like to even,

it's infinite.

Therefore,

the sin against

an infinitely holy God

is infinitely wicked.

Therefore,

requiring of a punishment

that lasts forever.

That's the just punishment.

You could say

we are under punishment

and captivity

to our sin.

We need a ransom.

If someone doesn't pay

for our ransom,

it's still upon us.

The wrath of God

is still upon us.

And the truth is,

all who walk

the face of the earth

and have ever walked

the face of the earth,

all the people

who have ever been,

even if they haven't walked,

every single person

who's ever existed,

okay,

unless that ransom

is paid,

they are under

the wrath of God.

But,

Jesus came to pay

our ransom.

Mark 10, 45 says,

for even the Son of Man

came not to be served,

but to serve

and to give his life

as a ransom for many.

His life

was sacrificed

to pay

the penalty

to ransom us

from captivity.

1 Peter 1, 18-19

says,

you were ransomed

from the futile ways

inherited from your forefathers,

not with perishable things

such as silver or gold,

but with the precious

blood of Jesus.

Precious blood of Christ,

like that of a lamb

without blemish

or spot,

okay,

so there was a payment

that was paid

and with anyone

who's in captivity,

who's being,

who's held captive,

in order for them

to get out,

they need a ransom.

The ransom has to be paid.

Jesus paid our ransom

with himself,

with his own blood.

Revelation 5, 9 says,

you were slain,

speaking of Jesus,

and by your blood,

you ransomed people

for God

from every tribe

and language

and people

and nation.

Colossians 2 goes further

to say,

in verse 13 through 15,

and you were dead

in your trespasses

and the uncircumcision

of your flesh.

God made alive

together with him,

having forgiven us

all our trespasses

by canceling

the record of debt

that stood against us

with its legal demands.

This he set aside,

nailing it to the cross.

He disarmed the rulers

and authorities

and put them to open shame

by triumphing

over them in him.

So one of the worst parts

about sin is

once you sin,

you feel this demand

on you.

You feel like,

I have committed a crime

that must be paid for,

that must be atoned for.

And there's this,

the reason oftentimes

we feel bad

or we try to do

certain things

is because inherently

without even anybody

telling us,

we believe sin

needs to be paid for

or atoned for.

That a crime

has been committed

that now needs

to be paid for.

We feel that.

And the question is,

do you believe

that there is a ransom

for your sin?

And if you do believe that

and you are in Christ,

do you believe it

sometimes or all the time?

Do you believe

that the ransom

that was paid

was good enough

for all the sins

you have committed,

are committing,

and will commit?

Was the sacrifice sufficient?

Was Jesus' blood enough?

Or do you have to add to it

some kind of penance

and moral flagellation

and beating yourself up

and I must stay

under condemnation

for you days?

Essentially because

what I'm saying is,

you know what?

The blood of Jesus

just doesn't quite cut it.

I gotta make sure

I add to it

because the ransom

wasn't enough to pay.

I have to pay for it

myself as well.

It's disgusting.

That's a disgusting thought.

It's gross.

It's gross to tarnish

the perfect,

pure blood of Christ

that paid our ransom

and canceled the debt

that stood there.

Canceled the debt.

Nailed it to the cross.

Debt paid.

It is finished.

What did Jesus mean

when he said that?

He didn't say

it's almost done.

You know,

on Good Friday

we don't read

the Gospels

and say

Jesus cried out

it's almost done.

He said

it's finished.

He didn't say

it's almost done.

Now you finish it.

I went as far

as I could go

but I'm such a wimpy

little God

I couldn't do it.

You have the power

to do it

because you're so amazing.

No,

he didn't say that.

He said

it is finished.

He didn't say it

weekly.

He said it confidently

hanging on a cross

because he knew

that he just paid

the price

and the record

was cancelled

that was against us.

It's been nailed

to the cross

and died with him

and is no longer there.

Do you believe that?

Do you believe it

in the noonday sun

and the pouring rain?

Do you believe it

when it's good

and things are bad?

Do you believe it

when you've sinned

or when you haven't sinned?

You cannot be selective

in your belief.

That is not Christianity.

That's every other religion

that says you have

to be good enough.

You got to make sure

your good deeds

outweigh your bad deeds.

Do not tarnish

the gospel of Christ

by adding to your salvation.

The work of Christ

is sufficient.

The work of Christ

is enough.

The question is

do you believe it?

Do you believe it?

Do you believe

your ransom

was paid

with the blood of Christ?

And do you believe it

when you first come to him

but do you believe it

every day since?

Do you believe it

when you've sinned

and you're feeling

the weight

and you're feeling

this need for atonement

and do you believe it

in that moment

that no it's already

been atoned for?

The blood of Jesus

is cleansing power.

That's an important question.

It's a very important question.

This is mercy.

Not getting what you deserve.

We deserve to be punished

for our sin.

Ransom is mercy.

It's saying

I'm going to take away

the just punishment

for your sin

and I'm going to take it away.

I'm going to pay it

on your behalf.

This is mercy.

But you're not just right.

You're not just

you're not just ransomed.

He makes you

righteous.

So it's not just like

you know

sometimes people

pay for something

but there's still

this kind of memory

that you know

yeah you're paid

you're good

or you're out of jail now

you've served your time

but I mean

come on

you're a criminal.

You got a record now.

You're a bad person.

Yes

the sin is paid for

but you're not quite right.

You know

you're kind of

hey

you

you

you did what?

Do you know what I'm saying?

And I think sometimes

we as Christians

there's some people say

okay I get it Josh

yep

ransom thing

got it.

But

I mean

yeah it's paid for

but I

I mean I still did

all those things.

I'm not

I don't feel right.

I mean I

I get it.

I'm not going to get

like you took away

the punishment

but I still feel like

I'm not quite there.

Well

I got another word for you.

Romans 5

18 to 19

says

therefore as one trespass

led to condemnation

for all men

so one act

speaking of Adam

so one act

of righteousness

speaking of Christ

leads to justification

and life for all men

for by the one man's

disobedience

Adam

the many were made sinners

and by the one man's

obedience

Jesus

the many will be made

righteous.

Do you believe

that what Jesus did

not only

takes away the punishment

that's mercy

but gives you righteousness

that's grace.

Mercy is not getting

what you deserve

grace is being given

what you don't deserve.

Does that make sense?

So he takes away

the punishment

and gives you grace

and says

righteous.

It's not just

okay

your penalty

has been paid

but now you have

the scarlet letter

for the rest of your life.

You're on the

registered offenders list

you know

the registered

sin offenders list.

No.

What Jesus does

is says

I forgive you

I've paid your ransom

and now I declare

that you are righteous.

I declare

that you are righteous.

One man's obedience

the many

will be made righteous.

1 Corinthians 1

7 and 9

puts it this way

our Lord Jesus Christ

will sustain you

to the end.

Listen to this

guiltless

in the day

of our Lord Jesus Christ

God is faithful.

Guiltless

not tarnished

not like

okay

your penalty's gone

but you're still

damaged goods.

Guiltless

do you believe that?

Again

do you believe it

on the good days

and the bad days?

Do you believe it

when your lie

causes 85 priests

to get killed

and women

children

infants?

Do you believe it

in that moment

that you're guiltless

before God

because you are not

trusting

in your own righteousness

and you're

you're not qualified

by your righteousness

and you're not

disqualified

by your unrighteousness

your qualification

is the righteousness

of another

imputed to you

so that you can be

called righteous

for something

that you never did.

You're righteous

do you believe

you're righteous?

Have you notified

your face?

Do you carry yourself

like you're righteous?

Do you walk around

like I am righteous?

But it's not a

boastful righteousness

in the sense of

like a

self-confident

hubris

but it's

a humble righteousness

that says

I carry

and am clothed

in the righteousness

of another.

I'm confident in it

because I am righteousness

and I'm proud

of my God

for attaining

it for me

but I am righteous

I cling to

his righteousness

alone

faultless to stand

before the throne

right?

Our Lord Jesus Christ

will sustain you

to the end

guiltless in the day

of our Lord Jesus Christ

do you carry

do you walk around

as a Christian

carrying guilt

or are you guiltless?

Listen

you have to answer

that question

you can't play games

with that question

you can't flirt around

with saying

oh I'm not gonna

I'm not gonna believe that

this is the gospel

do you believe

that you are faultless?

If you're not faultless

then what do we have?

God has made you

righteous

righteous

Romans 5

1 to 2

since we have been

justified by faith

we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ

through him

we have also obtained

access by faith

into this grace

in which we stand

and we rejoice

in the hope of glory

of God

we stand in grace

those who are in Christ Jesus

you stand in grace

you stand in grace

which means

God's undeserved

forgiving love

so you might say

well I don't deserve this

so what?

you're standing in grace

well I don't deserve this

I've sinned

it's forgiven

you're standing in grace

well I feel tarnished

you're standing in grace

grace is grace

or grace is not grace

there's no such thing

as partial grace

God's undiluted

200 proof grace

is on you

and it either means it

or it doesn't

don't act like you have

some partial form of grace

that is like

it's not living in a matter

worthy of the gospel

it's to taint the word grace

in its meaning

grace is very

definition

is undeserved

you say I don't deserve it

so I can't stand in grace

that is the whole point of grace

well I can't stand in it

because I don't deserve it

that's the only people

grace is for

if you deserved it

you wouldn't need grace

that's called merit

well you can't get merit

you get undeserved merit

that's called grace

it was given to you

and it makes you righteous

do you believe you're righteous

do you believe you're not just ransom

but you're righteous

this is the truth

in Christ Jesus

to all who put their hope in him

this grace in which we stand

are you standing in grace

today are you standing in grace

after you sin

where do you go stand

do you go pout in the corner

exalting your ability

to screw things up

or do you go stand in grace

exalting God's ability

to make you clean

who gets the glory

your sin

your own ineptitude

your weakness

or the greatness and grandeur

of the gospel of Jesus Christ

magnifying the grace of God

what are you going to exalt

do you think you're actually

doing God a favor

by wallowing your sin

and making it seem to be so great

and having this little pity party

that's not God glorifying

what's God glorifying

is to accept

with full acceptance

that you are made righteous

in Christ

through his grace

that

my friends

is God glorifying

dare to believe that

dare to risk

this audacious

scandalous thought of grace

if grace is not scandalous

it's not grace

it's a scandal

to be given

the status of righteous

when you don't deserve it

that is grace

how could I do this

I didn't deserve it

grace

you stand

in grace

you stand

in grace

where are you standing

you're standing in grace

that's what it says

1 Peter

Peter puts it another way

chapter 113

he says

prepare your minds

for action

being sober minded

set

your hope

fully

on what

on the grace

that will be brought to you

at the revelation

of Jesus Christ

set your hope fully

so if you sin

you don't think

oh no

what am I going to do

you say

my hope

is fully set

on that day

I'm going to stand

before the judge

at the great white throne

all my sins

will be laid bare

everything I've ever done

will be laid bare

I am not putting my hope

in some belief

that maybe I did

more good than bad

or maybe when I did bad

I made sure I felt

really bad about it

or I wallowed in it

that's my hope

to stand before him

on that day

no your hope

should be set fully

on the future grace

that's going to be

given to you on that day

when he declares you

not guilty

because of the blood

of Christ

when all the books

are open

and you say

oh no

I'm damned

like this is

this is

this is bad

nope

not for those in Christ

he will declare

not guilty

not guilty

these are my

righteous ones

made righteous

in the blood

of the lamb

you might say

okay

I get that

Josh

I understand

the mercy

and grace

you know

okay

old stuff

ransom

paid for

I understand

like okay

you're made

righteous

you don't have

to wear this

scarlet letter

and the shame

I get that

but

what about

like now with God

you know

I mean

I get that

I don't have to

carry that around

I don't have to

walk in shame

but I don't know

if I can come to God

I feel like I can't

come to him

I feel like there's

still something

in between us

well the Bible's

got another word

for you

you've been

reconciled

the rift that

was there

has been

taken away

the enmity

that stood

between you

has been

removed

okay

all that was

hindering you

and God

in this

relationship

you've not

just been

brought into

right standing

being made

righteous

you've also

been brought

into right

relationship

with God

this is called

being reconciled

this is an

amazing truth

okay

it's not just

that he took

away

he paid

your penalty

it's not just

that he declared

you righteous

he also said

hey

you and me

we're restoring

this thing

we're making

this right

okay

I'm making

this right

Colossians 1

21 to 23

and you who

once were

alienated

and hostile

in mind

doing evil

deeds

he has now

reconciled

okay

so you were

alienated

there was this

alienation

this distance

between you

and God

and this is

what some

people feel

like

okay

yeah

I believe

those things

but I still

feel like

there's this

distance

between me

and God

I'm grateful

for what he's

given to me

but I can't

I feel like

I'm not

fully reinstated

to him

we're not

we're not

close

there's still

this alienation

he said

you were once

alienated

and hostile

in mind

doing evil

deeds

but he has

now reconciled

in his body

of flesh

by his death

in order to

present you

holy

and blameless

and above

reproach

before him

the word

that's used

there to

stay above

reproach

is the same

word that was

used in that

verse that I read

before that says

guiltless

okay

so

the reconciliation

that happens

presents you to

him as

holy

blameless

above reproach

or guiltless

between you

and God

if indeed

you continue

in faith

in the faith

stable and

steadfast

not shifting

from the hope

of the gospel

that you heard

which has been

proclaimed in all

creation under

heaven

and of which I

call become a

minister

notice he doesn't

say if indeed

you continue to

never spin

do you notice

the absence of

that phrase

that's a really

important absence

right there

he doesn't say

hey listen

you will be

presented holy

blameless

above reproach

faultless

as long as you

don't sin

or as long as you

sin less

or make sure

you pay penance

and feel bad

about things

for the right

amount of time

or as long as

your good deeds

outweigh your bad

deeds

then

we're all good

no no no

that's not what

he says

he says if indeed

you continue in the

faith stable

and steadfast

not shifting

from what

the hope

of the gospel

hope that you

have

there is something

that has given

you that has

nothing to do

with any work

you can do

it's the work

of another

and your hope

is in that work

your hope

is in what

Christ did

made me

so that I

can be reconciled

to God

our relationship

is restored

to what it

was always

meant to be

and that nothing

stands between

us now

do you believe

that

do you believe

that today

do you believe

that after

you've sinned

do you believe

that you can

repent

turn to God

and that

you

that reconciliation

that happened

is still there

it hasn't gone

anywhere

how do I know

that

well let's look

at how it came

in the first

place

that'll help

us understand

how it stays

there after

that

Romans 5

chapter

chapter 5

6 to 11

while we were

still weak

at the right

time

Christ died

for who

the ungodly

wait a second

he died for

the ungodly

he didn't die

for the godly

he didn't die

for the good

people

no he died

for the ungodly

he died

for the ungodly

for one will

scarcely die

for a righteous

person

though perhaps

for a good

person

one would

dare even

to die

but god

shows his

love for us

and that

while we were

still sinners

Christ died

for us

if he died

for you

in your sin

and reconciled

you in your

sin

why do you

believe that

after you've

sinned

you've lost

your reconciliation

do you realize

how foolish

that sounds

if he

reconciled

you in

your sin

how in the

world would

your sin

disqualify you

from the very

thing that came

while you were

in sin

do you see

how foolish

that is

while we were

sinners

Christ died

for us

since therefore

now we have

been justified

by him

by his blood

much more

shall we be

saved by him

from the wrath

of God

for if while

we were enemies

he's making the

point I just made

if while we were

enemies we were

reconciled to God

by the death

of his son

much more

now that we

are reconciled

shall we be

saved by his

life

more than

that we

also rejoice

in God

through our

Lord Jesus

Christ

through whom

we have now

received

reconciliation

we've received

reconciliation

okay

but we

we feel like

oh no but

I've sinned

I'm not

we must not

be reconciled

anymore

something stands

in between me

like my

relationship to

God is all

ruined

hold on

your relationship

to God was

reconciled

without you

doing anything

it was done

by him

he reconciled

you while

you were

an enemy

so how

in the world

can you

sinning now

disqualify you

from the thing

that came

while you

were an enemy

in the first

place

okay

well does this

mean that you

just go on

sinning then

who cares

it's just sin

if God

just reconciles

no

this is grace

there's nothing

more compelling

to not sin

than grace

but you

don't

you don't

not sin

so that you

you don't

get good

so you can

get God

you get God

so you can

be good

it's the

getting of God

first

it's him

loving you

while you

didn't deserve

it

loving you

in the midst

of your

sin

loving you

while you

were a sinner

reconciling you

while you

were enemies

if while we

were enemies

we were

reconciled to

God

by the death

of his son

much more

now

that we

are reconciled

shall we

be saved

by his life

some of us

need to

meditate on

the fact

that God

reconciled us

while we

were enemies

because subtle

things come in

and say

oh the reason

he reconciled

to me

me is

because

I you know

I was starting

to get my act

together

he reconciled

me because

I started

really seeking

him

he reconciled

me because

I started

being a good

person

he reconciled

me because

I started

reading my

Bible

listen

you were

reconciled

while you

were an

enemy

don't

muddle

that up

that's

what it

says

and the

reason

you can't

muddle that

up is it

takes away

the potency

of grace

and when the

potency of

grace is

taken away

your passion

and impetus

to love God

is taken away

because you

feel like

God giving

you grace

is just

a paycheck

you deserved

it which

isn't grace

you start

thinking it's

your own

merits

you will

never be

over the top

loving to

someone who

gives you

a paycheck

this is the

reason you

don't jump

up and down

and hug

your boss

when he

pays you

you're glad

to get paid

but you're

not excited

about it

because you

earned that

and if he

didn't give

you that

it would be

unjust

the thing is

if God

doesn't give

us something

that wouldn't

be unjust

he chose

to give it

to us

in his

mercy

and his

grace

and it's

way over

the top

we didn't

earn it

it would

be like

the difference

between

getting a

paycheck

or if your

boss

all of a sudden

you found

on this

week's

paycheck

they gave

you a

hundred thousand

dollar bonus

now you

might give

him a

hug

right

now you

might jump

around a

little bit

like wait

what

there's a

hundred thousand

dollar bonus

I didn't

earn that

therefore

now I really

want to do a

good job

for you

you're giving

out a hundred

thousand dollar

bonuses

that's amazing

well Jesus

gave way better

than a hundred

thousand dollar

bonus he gives

eternal life

he gives

redemption

he gives

righteousness

reconciliation

it can't

call it

cannot

disqualify

you if it

never

qualified

you in

the first

place

does that

make sense

you have

to think

about that

2 Corinthians

5 17

to 20

said

therefore

if anyone

is in

Christ

he's a

new

creation

the old

has passed

away

behold

the new

has come

all this

is from

God

who

through

Christ

reconciled

us

to

himself

and gave

us the

ministry

of

reconciliation

that is

in Christ

God

was

reconciling

the world

to himself

not counting

their

trespasses

against

them

the very

definition

of

reconciliation

is to

not count

your

trespasses

against

you

that's

what

reconciliation

means

there's

no longer

beef

there's

no longer

any

friction

here

what was

standing

against

you

I'm

not

counting

against

you

it

no

longer

counts

we're

good

now

we're

reconciled

to

count

the

sins

you

commit

against

yourself

is

the

spit

in

the

face

of

reconciliation

do

you

understand

that

do

you

understand

that

you're

not

doing

God

favors

by

counting

your

sins

against

yourself