Bible Study Romans Part 28-One Way

Welcome to the program Study in the Chapel.

God's Word is supreme at Chapel Ministries.

We consider it absolutely essential to a proper relationship with God.

We study it, we love it, we rely on it every minute of every day.

The following program is an edited recording of the regular Bible studies we hold.

And we decided to share these with you in the hope that you too will be able to find inspiration, encouragement, and ultimately salvation through discovering Christ in Scripture.

Our intention is to travel all the way through the Bible.

It will be a challenging journey, but one that will undoubtedly bring you to a decision.

Through this study, you will be faced with either believing or rejecting what God has said to us.

It is our intention to provide you with enough knowledge to make an informed decision about God and his word.

We strongly encourage you to listen intently and diligently, because though at the moment you may not realize it, these things are truly a matter of life and death.

In fact, these are matters of eternal life and eternal death.

Never treat what God has said lightly.

There's truly nothing more important to you.

Now join us as we seek God's will through his inspired word.

We are in the middle of a conversation about repentance.

So far, we've learned that the word actually means to change one's mind.

John the Baptist preached repentance to the Jews of his day.

Over the centuries, they had become convinced that by simple virtue of the fact that they were God's chosen people, that they were already saved.

They thought salvation would come through their Jewishness, their chosen people-ness.

John told them to change that mindset, think differently, because that is not the way of salvation.

Repent, my Jewish brothers and sisters, was his message.

In fact, he said, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.

The Messiah has arrived and he's about to do what he had been planning, what God had been planning since the day that partially eaten forbidden fruit hit the ground.

The Messiah had come to redeem us, my fellow Israelites.

Remember that?

Remember the Messiah was coming?

Remember that was his real purpose?

Wait, I thought we were talking about Romans.

Don't we talk about Genesis on Wednesdays?

Yes, that's true.

We still are talking about the letter to the Romans.

The message has not changed.

The only thing that's different is that now the Messiah has been identified and his name is Jesus.

We are supposed to get the message that we are to repent.

We are to repent and know that Jesus is our redeemer and he is at hand.

Jesus is your redeemer, not you.

You are not your own redeemer.

You can't be.

You're the one that's saddled with the unresolvable debt burden.

Jesus is your only hope.

Only He has done for you what needs to be done.

He paid the ultimate and proper price for your salvation.

He died so that you didn't have to.

One of you was going to have to die for your sins, and so he stood in for you.

Well, I don't, I don't like that.

That doesn't seem fair.

Why should he have to do that?

And listen, I think that a lot of people who reject the atoning work of Christ, meaning what he did to atone for our sins, many who reject the fact that Jesus sacrificed his perfect life for us do so, reject that fact because they can't see how that's fair to Jesus.

And I mean that.

But listen, that doesn't necessarily mean that they're all that worried about justice for Jesus.

Most of the time, they're merely concerned about what they think is fair, what they think is right or wrong.

They want to be able to set the tone, set the pace.

You see, the problem is with their thinking.

Here we go again.

They think that if you do the deed, then you need to pay the price.

Well, right, that's true.

But what they don't understand is that we can't pay the price.

We're all guilty, that's for sure.

But there's no way we can come up with the compensation that God requires for our failures, no matter what you do.

It's one of the hardest lessons to preach.

People want to be able to pay for their own sins, but what they don't understand is they can't.

And God knows that.

Forgive my anthropomorphic outburst.

God probably doesn't feel pain, but he's rather unpleasantly aware of our lack of the necessary resources.

He warned us way back in the garden not to mess with right and wrong, but we didn't listen.

Eve saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise.

She took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

We talked about this recently.

The word saw there in the original is Ra'a.

And Ra'a means she advised herself.

She used her own thinking, and it led to our destruction.

Now, if mankind could have done anything to change what had been done, tell me, why didn't God demand that action right then and there?

Adam was the best human being that had ever existed, other than Jesus, of course.

Everything that humans can do was at its peak in Adam.

He was the only pure human being.

In him, every human ability, every human skill, trait, power was at its most complete state.

Everyone after Adam was a little less pure and a little less pure and a little less pure, right down to this lump of uselessness looking into that camera.

If humans had what it took to save themselves, then what would have that would have been the perfect time for that to come out?

If what went wrong could have been resolved and paradise preserved, there wouldn't have been a better time than right then.

Nothing would have been lost.

Sin would not have been passed on.

Mankind would have remained pure and uncorrupted.

There would have been no need to take the step of cursing the earth and condemning mankind to a lifetime of toil just to feed himself.

No need for that whole seed of the woman crushing the head of the serpent, in turn resulting in the bruising of the seed's heel thing.

You know who had the right attitude about our ability to cover sins?

Adam.

Oh, sure, that was there was that half-second, half-hearted attempt with the fig leaf thing, but he knew it wasn't enough.

Because if he hadn't, he would not have run and hid in the wilderness, would he?

If Adam thought that he really could accomplish the eradication of his sin with that leaf apron, he would have kept his appointment with God for that stroll in the cool of the evening, strutted out there all leafed up and proud.

I mean, that's what we do.

We parade ourselves around as if we think whatever nonsense we've come up with is working.

See, God, I'm all leathered up with holy water, so let me in those pearly gates.

Hey, God, here's the receipt for that one million dollar donation to the Moody Institute.

I'm ready for my express train to heaven.

That's how we act.

But not Adam.

He ran and hid and almost lied about his sin.

At least it felt like it to me.

Genesis 3:9, and the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou?

Genesis 3:9

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and because I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?

Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Adam didn't need to change his mind.

Adam didn't need repentance.

He never thought he could undo his own sin.

Yes, he tried it, but immediately abandoned the attempt.

You and I, we try it, fail, try again, fail again, try a third time, fail a third time.

And you know why?

Unlike Adam, our perceptions are wrong.

We think that somehow we can pull it off.

We think we can save ourselves.

Or we don't think we even need saving.

After all, I'm not that bad.

Most of us think we're more not sinner than sinner.

We think that should be enough.

That in the end the balance will tilt in our favor, and that's all it's going to take to let us squeak right in there.

Bad deeds outweighed with good.

Wrong thinking.

Now, is it entirely our fault?

Probably not.

The church has misled us for 1,500 years, but it doesn't matter whether it's 5%, 10%, or 0% our fault.

It's wrong thinking and it must be changed.

Come on, John, what's the big deal?

Why do I have to change my mind?

Isn't Christ only but one way to heaven?

I mean, there's Buddha and the Quran, and there's Confucianism and even transcendental meditation, whatever that is.

Say you get a call from a lawyer who says you've inherited an island off Martha's vineyard.

It's worth millions.

Word on the street is that the Obamas are looking to expand their real estate empire in the area and they're ready to deal.

Great, you say.

What do I need to do?

Well, just come to the property and sign the deed making it yours.

Sounds easy enough.

How do I get there?

Well, there's really only one road to the island.

Once you're in town, just cross over the causeway and the house is right there.

What if I swim?

What?

What if I swim?

You'll die.

Can I go by helicopter?

There's nowhere to land.

How about I call in?

No, you have to be there to sign the documents.

There's only one way to get there.

And if you want this prize, you have to take it.

What good would it do you if you refuse to take that one way?

It would do you no good, and you would never get what's waiting for you.

Swimming over or flying in or calling in may sound like a good idea.

They may even look like good alternatives, but in the end, you'll be no better off than you are today.

Jesus once famously said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man cometh unto the Father but by me.

No way but me.

Doesn't it sound like to Jesus there's only one path to salvation, one path to the Father?

If you think in any way different than He does, His command to you is to repent.

Change the way you're thinking to the way He's thinking.

You see, this is why, in order to talk about salvation, we have to refer to those two R words, repentance and redemption.

Jesus paid the price, He provided the means of redemption, and we have to align our thinking with that.

We have to repent.

We have to change our minds to whatever is in conflict with the redemption part.

The redemption will do you no good until you grab it.

Barack and Michelle will never write that check if you refuse to cross that causeway.

They have the money, it's in the bank, but that's where it will remain forever if you don't come to the mindset that you can only get there one way.

Listen to me.

We have to talk about this stuff before we get any further in this letter to the Romans.

You have to be convinced that there is but one way to salvation.

Otherwise, all talk about salvation, particularly the talk that Paul gives us, is meaningless.

If you think that's but one way or one alternative, you'll never feel the force of the letter to the Romans.

There are lots of preliminaries to cover before we can move ahead effectively.

And this is one of them.

These are basic Christian truths.

And without them, this, I'll say it again, this letter will mean nothing.

Indeed, the entire Bible will mean nothing.

That's why people find the Bible confusing, because they think it's talking about something else, or it's talking about a set of things we can decide upon.

When the Bible is telling us but one way to God, one way to the Father, one way to salvation, one way to redemption, and that's Christ.

Once you get that through your head, once you study the Bible intensely enough, you'll see that's the only message it is sharing with you.

Romans 1:16 again, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Romans 1:16

Listen, the trouble we're in is so terrible that it requires the power of God.

I want that to sink in.

You know, I don't mix with people much anymore, and I'm sure more than a few of you are gonna judge me for that.

You're gonna tell me, well, you know, you need to go out there and mingle with the worldlings more often so you can better understand them.

That is literally a philosophy many have in the church.

A British preacher of a bygone era once remarked that the seminary students and young preachers of his day were encouraged to go work in those giant sprawling factories of the English cities in order to get to know the plight of that sort of person so that they can better relate to them and thereby craft sermons that suit their needs.

And as you can imagine, there are those who take it a step further.

They'll argue, you know, the best way to understand a sinner is to become one.

I mean, isn't that how Jesus did it?

So every Friday night they'll head to the bar or to the strip club, you know, just looking for an opportunity to find lost sheep.

That's all I'm doing.

No matter how long it takes or how many dollar bills I need to distribute.

First, let me say, be very careful trying to mimic the behavior of our savior.

You are not equipped to endure the way he endured.

And secondly, listen to me, regardless of how it manifests itself, we all have the same need.

And I don't need the frequent happy hour to figure that out.

Which brings me back to the point I was trying to make.

I was saying that I don't get out there all that much anymore, but when I do, it almost always strikes me how ignorant of sin most people actually are.

John, come on with this sin talk.

Can we get over this?

Is that all you have to say?

What about God's love?

What about God's grace?

Can we talk about those things?

Nothing demonstrates the depth of love that God feels for us, like coming to grips with the deplorable state of our soul.

Nothing shows you how much God loves us than knowing how unlovable we are.

You want to know how much God loves you?

Count your sins.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should have eternal life.

The word so isn't meant to convey quantity or extremity.

It was meant to illustrate method.

This isn't God so loved the world that he gave his son.

This is in this way God showed his love for the world that he gave his son.

This is how God loves us by giving us his son.

Your salvation from sin is how God loves you, at least one of the ways he loves you.

Certainly the most important way.

And you know, that doesn't register with most people.

They think the way God should love us is to give us the things we want: a new job, a pretty wife, a fast car.

For some, it's a little less worldly, but no less self-centered, a cancer-free body, a way to make my bills.

And they'll ask the question if God so loved the world, then why are there so many unhappy people and so much war and so much suffering and not enough equity?

And they ask those questions because they don't take sin seriously.

I'll say it again.

The blame isn't entirely their own.

They're victims of weak, ignorant, self-propreservation motivated preaching.

They know no one likes to hear about sin or blood or sacrifice or any of those things.

So they use smoke and mirror and focus on the fact that God so loved the world without emphasizing why and how he loved it.

They sort of preach in a way that lets the congregation fill in the blanks.

Listen, let me say it again.

You can't talk about the love of God without highlighting the depth, intensity, and propensity of sin.

What is it do you think we need to be saved from?

Why do we need a savior?

And why does he have to be the Son of God?

The only answer to those questions is that there must be something really wrong with us.

Not that there must be something really right with us that just Needs to be brought out, needs to be nourished or cultivated.

Without Christ, there's nothing but corruption and death and darkness inside you.

There is nothing to be brought out, nothing to nourish except more sin.

There is nothing to cultivate.

That's why you must become a new creature.

I once saw a quote on Facebook that said, you know, these schmaltzy memes.

This one said, stop looking for a miracle and realize you are a miracle.

What a bunch of nonsense.

And it's these sorts of things that send people into deep, persistent depression because they keep hearing from this type of charlatan that everyone has some sort of built-in dignity, and that everyone has this overarching value to the world, and yet they're incredibly unhappy and incredibly unlonely, or completely lonely, and they feel overlooked and they feel out of control.

So they figure they must be the one person who wasn't born special.

And that pain doesn't go away no matter how many cutesy, clever, sappy sayings you throw at them.

You can't keep looking inside for some sense of self-worth because there isn't any.

And if you could just accept what the Bible says, which is that no one has any value, then you wouldn't feel so isolated, lonely, and unusual.

That is why we need saving.

That is why we need redeeming.

That is why we all need a rescue.

A rescue from a situation that is so menacing and so dangerous and so above all the abilities of human intellect and will and strength to extradite ourselves from, that only the power of God could pull it off.

That's the thinking we must change to.

I have no tolerance for people who make scripture say what they want it to say while belittling those who say what it means.

Well, maybe we should stop here.

We're not finished yet.

We're still not even close.

There's so much more we need to talk about, but let's leave it there for now and we'll pick it up at that point next time.

See you then.

We hope this study has blessed you.

God's word is a great treasure, and it's our belief that a thorough, purposeful study of it will bring all of God's children to an understanding of his eternal plan of redemption.

It is our prayer that this will be so for all of our listeners.

Please join us again soon.

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