Romans Series: Am I Right With God?

Amazing.

Well, if you are new today, I just want to say welcome.

If we haven't had the chance to meet, my name is Anthony, as I mentioned, and I serve as our executive pastor, and it's just been such a joy.

For the last couple of weeks, we've been actually diving into the book of Romans and really talking about this simple thing that the gospel, it changes everything.

And over the last couple of weeks, we have been exploring in the scripture about really this simple idea that everyone needs grace.

I mean, I need grace every single day, and all of us in this world today, we need grace.

And so we're going to be jumping into Romans chapter five.

And really what we're going to be seeing as we dive in today is because everyone needs grace, there is a solution, and that is Jesus.

And so Paul is going to lay this out for us and really clearly show us like what does it look like to have a life that has been justified by Christ?

And so I just want to ask a question as we start our time together by a raise of hands all across this room.

How many of you guys have ever been pulled over by a cop?

I mean, some of y'all just shot your hand up.

You're like, I got pulled over right now, coming to church.

I've been pulled over a little bit too much.

And I don't consider myself a reckless driver, but um I just I just say, man, I just I just have to look or something, or something's going on.

But I get pulled over and it's like, I don't, I don't even know what I did.

And most recently, matter of fact, a couple years ago, um, I got pulled over.

I was driving home from the gym, and and I mean, some of you guys that raise your hand, you know what it feels like.

I mean, you're pulled over to the side of the road and you're sweating.

I mean, you're like, man, what did I do?

Like, what what happened?

Like, was it was I speeding?

Was I on my phone?

Like, you start stressing yourself out, thinking, like, man, what was it?

What's gonna happen to me?

Um, and most recently I got pulled over and and a cop pulls me over and I'm sweating, man.

I'm like, man, this is gonna be an expensive accident.

Um, this is gonna be an expensive argument.

I'm at home.

My wife is not gonna be thrilled.

Um, and I'm already sweating, man.

And and I get pulled over, and he goes, You know why I pulled you over?

And I said, uh, no, I don't actually.

Um and he goes, Well, your your tail light is out.

And I'm like, I mean, like, just talk about relief, like in a moment where I'm just like, I didn't know if I was speeding, I don't know if it was my phone.

And he says, You're good.

Go ahead and go fix that, and and you're good to go.

And and by the grace of God, I was released.

No ticket, no harm, no nothing.

And I think if we're looking back at maybe some of the times that you have been pulled over, um, maybe some of you have ended up getting a ticket.

Maybe some of you have actually got arrested.

Maybe some of you have, just like me, been let go for something that's so small.

But I think about that when I think about what's happening in the book of Romans.

Because all throughout the text, Paul is talking to a people that really are divided.

They're talking, he's talking to a group of people that are the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers, the people who actually grew up with the Torah, with the written law of God, and the people who are brand new to Jesus and brand new to the faith, and he's talking to them today, and he's really trying to answer the question is, Am I right with God?

And so that's gonna be my title of my message today is Am I right with God?

See, I think if we're being honest today, maybe some of you walked into this room today asking that very question.

Maybe some of you you ask this daily, sometimes weekly, maybe even annually, am I right with God?

And what I love about the text is that Paul is going to illuminate something so beautiful to us that we can leave this room today having confidence that we can be made right with God.

Not because of what we can do, but because of what Jesus has already done for us.

And so go ahead and open your Bibles with me today.

We're gonna be in Romans chapter five, verse one, and it's on the screen for those of you that want to see it there.

And I'm just gonna go ahead and start reading the text.

And so, Romans chapter five, verse one, it starts off by saying, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith.

I wanna read that one more time.

Justified by faith.

It doesn't say justified by where we work, it doesn't say justified by our zip code or our home, it doesn't say justified by our marriage or our relationships or our influence, but we are justified by faith.

He goes on to say that just as we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And I want us to see that today because I think a lot of us, we have to understand that Paul is not just talking about a calmness in the mind or a calmness in the spirit.

He's actually talking about something so much more profound.

He's talking about this reality that we were once separated from God, but now through the work of the cross, through Jesus Christ, we have peace with him.

And that is good news because I think if we're being honest today, a lot of us we've walked into this space wondering, am I right with God?

Do I have peace with God?

And Paul goes on to say, it says, We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand.

And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

Now I want you to see this because as I think about this question, am I right with God?

Paul is giving us the solution here is that because you have been made right with God through the justification of Christ, you not only have peace with God, but you also have access to God.

And I think that's such good news today because I think of a lot of us today, we show up to Sunday services and we're hoping that through the worship experience, through the preaching of God's word, we're gonna have access to God finally for the very first time in our week.

But Paul is showing us that that is not the truth.

Matter of fact, when you go to work tomorrow, you have access to God.

When you're at your home, you have access to God.

When you're at the gym, you have access to God.

And this is the beauty of the gospel is that we don't have to travel miles and miles away to a temple to have access to him.

Because we have been justified by faith in Christ, we have access to him in every single part of our life.

And the picture that comes to my mind are my three kids.

I have three kids.

I have a six-year-old boy, I have a two-year-old daughter, and I have a baby boy.

Um, and so, you know, when I'm in this season of life, one of my favorite things throughout the day is actually going home.

I get I love going home after a long day, and I love just getting to hear my kids.

Like I can hear them as I come to the door.

Anyone else, like as a father or a mother, like you love coming home and you just love the sound of your kids running to the door.

Some of you are like, heck no, like I do not.

That is the worst sound for me.

But for me, man, that that's that's a joy.

Like I come home and we have one of those locks where you unlock it with a pin code, and and as soon as my kids can hear me pressing the buttons, I mean they're running.

I can already hear them like dad's home.

And my my six-year-old boy comes running and bulldozed me.

My daughter Ember comes and grabs me, and and they're just filled with so much joy.

And what I love so much about my kids is they show me about what this picture is that Paul is trying to give us of what it looks like to have access to God.

See, I want you to know something that whether my kids have just had the worst day, I mean, got in trouble, just didn't have a good day at school, man.

Let me tell you something.

They show up the very same way.

I mean, my kids will show up running out the door.

And even when they have their best day, they show up at the door the very same way.

And why is that?

Because they know they have peace with their father and they have access to me.

It doesn't change because of their performance.

It doesn't change because of what they've done.

And this is what Paul is trying to get us to understand today.

Because I think if we're being honest today, a lot of us have lived our lives plagued by the reality of trying to get acceptance from someone.

Maybe you've grown up trying to get acceptance from your father.

Maybe some of you have grown up trying to get acceptance from a parent or a sibling.

Maybe some of you are in marriages right now where you're trying to get acceptance from your spouse.

And maybe a lot of us today, if we're being honest, I think we live lives trying to get acceptance from God.

And Paul is trying to show us this truth is that because we have been justified by Christ, we don't have to question whether we have peace with God or access to God.

In matter of fact, we can actually live our lives not seeking acceptance from God, because we can live our lives not looking for acceptance, but living from acceptance.

We can rest assured in our lives that, man, no matter if I had the worst day or the best day, it's not about my performance, it's about resting in the finished work of God.

And that is the good news of the gospel.

But Paul goes on to say that this is the gospel, this is the grace in which we stand.

And I and I love that because I think about the reality is that a lot of times we can think of the grace of God as this thing that maybe you're traveling through.

Maybe you feel like, man, I've received the grace of God in my life.

I've I've declared my faith in Jesus, and I've received grace to enter into eternity.

But he's giving us this picture that grace isn't something that we just simply receive, but it's something that we stand in.

It's this picture that grace is something that we mature in, something that we grow in.

It's not necessarily something that we graduate from or even move away from, but it's something that we actually grow within.

And I love this picture because Paul goes on to say that because we have peace with God and we have access to God and we have this grace that we can stand in, that we can have hope for the future.

But what happens when we're standing in the grace of God, but we're walking through suffering?

What happens when you are standing in the finished work of God, but you receive that diagnosis?

What happens when you are standing in the grace of God, but you are walking through hardship in your life right now?

Paul actually helps us understand that.

He actually goes on to say in verse 3, it says, and not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions.

Because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.

And he goes on to say that this hope will not disappoint us because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

And Paul is talking to a people who are asking the question I know that I've been justified by Christ, I know that I've been made right with Christ, I know that I can stand on his grace, I know that I have access and peace with God, but why am I walking through this suffering?

See, I want you to see something that Paul says, these afflictions of life, what is an affliction?

Affliction is a pressure, it's an external pressure in your life.

See, the church that he was talking to, they had all sorts of pressures.

People that were being fired from their job for proclaiming their faith, people who were being ostracized from their families and kicked out of homes because of their faith.

There's people who were feeling the weight of following Jesus.

See, and I think Paul's showing us something so powerful today because I think a lot of us, when you got into faith, when you started following Jesus, maybe you were under the impression that pressure was gonna leave.

Maybe you were under the impression that the trials and tribulations in life would not come for you.

But Paul is showing us something so much greater than that.

See, as the world and us, we share one thing that we will all have affliction.

The beauty of the gospel is that we do not have to suffer the same because we know that God has been made available to us and we have peace with Him so we can suffer differently.

And so the best way that I can really articulate this today is through a visual.

And so I have really a couple things.

I want you to use your imagination for a sec.

This is an empty vase, and I want you to just imagine for a moment that this is your heart.

And so, right now, all of us, we have a heart.

We have something that needs to fill this heart.

But what ends up happening is you've had you have these external pressures, these external afflictions.

Maybe you have problems at your work right now because you are living boldly in faith.

Maybe you are raising your kids right and trying to raise them in the ways of God, but you're receiving pressure from loved ones, from family members, from schools, and you are feeling the pressure.

Maybe a lot of you guys are feeling the pressure right now in the economy with the finances and the gas prices going out the window, and you just feel the pressure.

And I want you to see what happens because Paul doesn't say that these things are gonna go away.

He actually is telling us that you can boast in these things.

What do you mean, Paul?

Boast in afflictions.

And so as these things begin to happen, as the diagnostics are coming, as I'm walking through suffering, as I'm having marital strife, as I'm getting rejected, as I'm facing hardship, as I'm facing trial, before you know it, I want you to see this.

The afflictions in our life begin to fill our life.

And a lot of us, we have understood that we have grace in which we stand in, but we walk through suffering, we walk through hardship, we walk through trial, we walk through this life with a heart that is filled with affliction.

And Paul is not saying that these things are gonna go away.

See, I think a lot of us, we read this text and we think that this is Paul being a motivational speaker or or your gym coach saying pain is gain.

We think he's Tony Robbins or David Goggins saying you can get through it.

Who's gonna carry the boats?

Some of the men in the room know what I'm talking about.

But that's not what Paul is saying.

He's actually showing you something so beautiful today.

Is that when these things come, because none of us, none of us are gonna avoid these afflictions in life.

But the reality is that a lot of us we allow the afflictions in this life to fill our life, and so our hearts are heavy, so our hearts are filled with trouble, so our hearts are filled with affliction, and we are carrying this stuff all around our world as followers of Jesus.

But Paul gives us this picture.

He says, as I want you to read this one more time in verse 5, it says, This hope will not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

I want you to see this right now.

Because imagine with me for a moment, this is the love of God.

And this is your life that is being filled with the afflictions of this world, the trials of this world, the troubles of this world, the hardships of this world, the frustrations of this world.

But it says in the scripture that as God's love is poured out into your heart, something else begins to take residence.

And so the afflictions that were once filling your life, they can no longer fill you because you have been filled with Christ.

See, I want you to get this in your spirit today because I'm convinced that in the church today, there are people that are allowing the afflictions of this world to shape your life.

There is people in this room that are allowing the afflictions of this world to bury your life.

But that could not be true because we are made more than conquerors through Christ Jesus, that we can live lives knowing that these things can only shape me, they can be a part of the thing that God uses to form me, but they cannot fill me because I've been filled with Christ.

And that is such good news for us today.

And I want to be honest today because I think maybe you're asking the question that the followers were asking is if I can stand in grace but walk through suffering, is God really with me when I walk through suffering?

And I've been there.

Couple years ago, my wife and I, we we've been there.

A couple years ago, we were really just living our lives and being married and enjoying ourselves.

And one day my wife just woke up and had major chronic pain.

I mean, so much so that she couldn't get out of bed.

I remember having to help her out of bed, and it didn't just happen one night, it happened for several nights.

And I remember we went to the doctor, we went to specialist after specialist, we went to go drive to see different doctors to see what is going on with her body.

And I remember as we look to God and really ask God, God, do you actually love us?

Because if you do, why would you allow this to happen?

That the very thing that is plaguing my wife's body that we have no answers for, why can't you take this away?

Do you actually love us?

Because if you did, why would you allow this to happen?

And I remember my wife looking at me one day after we had gone months, I mean months of seeing specialists and doctors and not having an answer.

And my wife looks at me and she says, I don't care if it's cancer, I don't care what kind of chronic disease it is, you can take all this world but give me Jesus.

You can take all this pain and suffering, just give me Jesus.

I don't care how I go out of this world, I just know I got Jesus.

And this is the hope that Paul is talking about.

See, because as we're talking about a people that are asking the question that, man, if I've got these sufferings and if I got these trials and if I got these afflictions, sure, Paul, I can I can boast because I know that God can use them to shape endurance and character and hope, but it doesn't really feel like God loves me right now.

These afflictions, these trials, it doesn't feel like God loves me.

And Paul he does something so beautiful.

He says, Lift your eyes.

The text goes on to say, for while, I want you to catch this, for while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

For rarely will someone die for a just person, though for a good person, perhaps someone might even dare to die.

But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

And I want you to see this because if you're wondering right now, if you are in a moment in a season of life where you are walking through hell in high water, you're walking through suffering, you're walking through questioning of God of why he's allowing these things and whether he's with you.

Paul reminds us of this: God came for us while we were helpless, while we were ungodly, while we were sinners, while we wanted nothing to do with him, he came after us.

And that is the good news of the gospel.

Man, we we did nothing to earn his love, yet he pursued us.

And so Paul's saying, What do you mean God doesn't love you?

What do you mean God doesn't see you?

What do you mean God isn't with you?

He was with you before you even wanted him, he he was pursuing after you.

I think a lot of times it's that that question of man, I just gotta hold on to God.

No, you don't.

You actually have to realize he's holding on to you.

He's holding on to you.

The moment you think that it's all about what you can do, you've missed the point.

You were never worthy for the first time.

He was always the one pursuing you.

And I think the trouble is that a lot of times in life, these afflictions, these circumstances, these things that we carry in this life, we look to them to settle what only God can.

And so we look at the pain, we look at the question, we look at the need for finance, we look at the need for affirmation, we look at the need for acceptance, we look at the need for more, for more, for more, for more, and we think these things are actually gonna settle only what the cross can.

And so Paul is showing us that God loves you so much, and even though you're walking through suffering, even though you're walking through affliction, even though you're walking through these things, the cross settles what my circumstances cannot.

See, because my circumstances are gonna change, my circumstances are gonna demand more out of me, my circumstances are gonna ask for me to perform, but the cross says, Come as you are, the cross says, Come, even when you were helpless, even when you were ungodly, even when you were a sinner, I still came and I died for you.

And that is the gospel.

And I love what Hebrews says.

I want to turn your attention to this in Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

Because if Romans is showing us what Christ did for us, Hebrews dives in to show us what Christ felt towards us.

See, I think a lot of us, if we're being honest today, we watch.

Into this place wondering, Am I right with God?

If I'm going through this suffering, if I'm going through this affliction, does God actually love me?

And I love what Hebrews says.

Because Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2, keeping our eyes on Jesus, for the joy lay before him, he endured the cross.

Hebrews 12:2

Despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

See, I want you to see this.

Jesus looks at the cross thousands of years ago.

In Hebrews says that he saw what was before him and he saw joy.

What do you mean?

What do you mean?

He he looked at a cross.

Now I want you to understand that a cross wasn't just a cute necklace.

A cross was a punishment, a humiliation device.

Where they would take a prisoner, they would take somebody who had wronged someone.

They would lash them until they were bleeding, till their back tissue was ripped out.

They would beat them, they would mock them, they would make them walk into the public square and humiliate them in front of everyone.

They would stretch their arms out high and wide.

They would pierce nails into their feet and pierce nails into their hands.

So I want you to see something because Jesus looks at that pain and he counts it joy.

What was the joy?

Was it more authority?

Did Jesus see the cross and think that that was the vehicle in which he was going to get more authority?

No, he had all authority.

He had all dominion.

Was it more wealth?

Did Jesus think that, man, if I die on this cross, I'm just going to inherit the riches of the kingdom?

No, it says that the world is God and God's and He owns everything.

Was it more glory?

Did He think, man, I got to go to the cross in order to be glorified?

No, Scripture says that.

As Jesus was coming out of the water before he did anything, God speaks and says, Behold, this is my son.

He was glorified even before the cross.

And so what was the joy that laid before him when he looked at the cross?

It wasn't more authority.

It wasn't more wealth.

It wasn't more fame.

It wasn't more glory.

It was you.

It was your life.

It was your life that when you were ungodly.

When we rebelled against God.

When we were sinners.

He counted it joy for you.

See, I want you to get this right now.

Because a lot of you are wondering whether God loves you.

Whether God could ever love you despite what you've done.

Man, Paul is reminding us this morning that the prerequisite for why God even came was because of your brokenness.

It was because of our sinfulness.

It was because we didn't have it all together and we needed a savior.

And so Christ, he looked at the cross and he saw joy because he saw you.

And he did it for you.

And he did it for me.

And that is the gospel today.

Is that when I wonder, am I right with God?

I can look to the cross.

When I wonder why God is allowing suffering, I can remember that he's with me in the suffering.

When I wonder if God still loves me, I look to the cross and realize he died for me when I rejected him, when I was a sinner, when I did nothing right, he came for me.

And lastly, maybe you're in this space today thinking, man, I've I've placed my faith in Christ, but I've got this real thing I'm headed up against.

I've got this real obstacle.

I just don't know.

I just don't know if I can trust God.

I don't know if I can actually put my life in his hands.

And Paul says this thing, he says, How much more?

How much more if while we were sinners Christ died for us?

So what he's trying to help us understand today is, man, if God came for you at your worst, what makes you think he's gonna abandon you now that you belong to him?

What makes you think that he's gonna forsake you?

What makes you think he's gonna abandon you?

What makes you think he's gonna leave you?

Man, he pursued you when you wanted nothing to do with him.

And Paul closes it out.

And he talks about the word boast, and I want you to see that.

Those of you taking notes, you can highlight this in your Bible.

In verse 2, 3 and 11, talks about boasting, boasting in God, boasting in our afflictions.

And up until this point in Romans, the church of Rome is trying to tell Paul what they can boast in.

So they're they're saying things like, Man, I can I can boast because I come from this family.

I can boast because I have this wealth, I can boast because I'm circumcised, I can boast because of all these different reasons, because I've obeyed the Torah, because I've done these things right, I can boast.

And Paul is saying, no.

This isn't about what you can do.

All you can do is simply receive his grace and stand in his grace.

And so, because of that, we don't boast in what we can do.

We boast in only what he can do.

We boast in what he's already done for us.

See, because if we try to make our circumstances settle what only the cross can do, we're gonna live a life disappointed.

We're gonna live a life filled with affliction and burden.

We're gonna live a life that is settling.

We're gonna settle, we're gonna think, man, when when I get that promotion, man, when I get that raise, man, when I get this marriage, when I get this house, when I get this outcome, then I'll be okay.

But Paul says that only the cross can settle that.

Only the cross can settle your relationship with God.

Only the cross can make you right with God today.

It's not about your performance, it's not about the fact that you were born into a Christian family, it's not about the fact that you've been giving to Zion Church, it's only through a public declaration of your faith in Christ.

That's the only way.

Don't let anyone ever tell you there's another way.

There's only one way.

And his name is Jesus.

And so today, because of that truth, when I wonder about my future, when I wonder if I could trust God, I can rest in the truth that I don't have to know what my future holds.

All I can do is trust in the one who holds my future.

Because if the one that holds my future is the man that went to a cross and counted it joy because he saw me, I can put my hope in that.

I can put my hope in a man that saw me in my brokenness, in my mess, in my rejection of him, and still pursued after me.

I can put my trust in a man named Jesus.

And so whether you're going through an uncertain moment right now in your life, maybe you're going through hardship, maybe you're going through questioning, maybe you're going through something right now and you're wondering can I put my life in the hands of this man named Jesus?

I'm here to tell you that, man, for me, I wasn't qualified.

I don't deserve to be here.

My life was marked by a story that many people would write off.

My mom had me when she was 13 years old.

Many people would arrive to an abortion clinic and end the life right there.

But God had a plan.

I've been in positions where I've made a mess of my life.

Where I've been kicked out of my home, I've been almost arrested.

But God had a plan.

See, because while I was still a sinner, while I rejected God, while I went as far away from him, he still saw me and he called me into his grace.

And that grace is still available for you right now.

This isn't something we graduate from.

The same grace that was made available for us thousands of years ago, it's available right now.

And just across the space, maybe that's you.