00:20 The Consistency of God's Salvation

01:13 Abraham's Justification by Faith

02:35 Faith vs. Works: Understanding Righteousness

13:08 The Gift of Forgiveness: Lessons from David

17:49 Immediate Forgiveness Through Faith

18:25 Ineffective Ways to Deal with Sin

21:09 The Joy of Forgiveness

27:03 Faith vs. Signs of Faith

35:29 Closing Prayer and Reflection

Romans four is where we're going.

2

So this passage is, is really, really.

3

Interesting.

4

'cause it, it talks about Abraham and

for a lot of us we're like, why in the

5

world is God talking about Abraham?

6

Right?

7

Abraham lived so long ago, I'm not Jewish.

8

What does it have to do with Abraham?

9

Why does he have to do with my life?

10

Why does all that matter?

11

Well, the, the whole point that this

passage is gonna make is that God

12

has always saved people the same way.

13

God has always saved people

the exact same way from.

14

The time Adam sinned until you

sitting in your seat right now.

15

God has always saved

people the exact same way.

16

That's our main point tonight.

17

God has always and only

justified people by faith.

18

Every single person in the whole Old

Testament, every single person in

19

the history of the world is only made

right with God is only good enough to

20

go to heaven if they trust God to give

them the righteousness that they need.

21

Every single person is made

right with God the same way.

22

Every single person throughout all

of history who's ever gone to heaven

23

has gotten there the exact same way.

24

There's only one way to do it, and that

is the way we're gonna talk about that

25

way that we've been talking about tonight.

26

Okay.

27

And so the, the whole reason we're

talking about Abraham here is that

28

the, the Jews, the people that Paul's

been talking with for a lot of this

29

letter, they thought that because

they were related to Abraham, right?

30

If you, you know the song

Father Abraham had many sons.

31

And that in the Old Testament was

talking about the people of Israel,

32

the, the ethnic people of Israel.

33

Those were Abraham's

descendants, Abraham's children.

34

And you see this a lot in the gospels.

35

You'll see in your small group questions,

we'll read a couple passages like that

36

where people are arguing with Jesus

and they're saying, Jesus, we don't,

37

we don't need what you're offering

because we're children of Abraham.

38

We're good.

39

We're righteous.

40

We're gonna go to heaven.

41

We're part of God's people

because we're related to Abraham.

42

That's the objection that Paul

is trying to overcome here.

43

That's why we're talking about Abraham.

44

The Jews thought that their association

with Abraham is what made them righteous.

45

And today there's a lot of other things.

46

Maybe you're not saying, well, I'm, you

know, 2% Jewish, so I must be righteous.

47

But there's other associations that

maybe you think you have that make you

48

righteous or things that you do that you

think, that's why I'm gonna go to heaven.

49

Or things that you know, or things

that you believe or people you're

50

related to and you think that's why.

51

God accepts me.

52

That's why I'm a Christian.

53

But in fact, there's only one thing that

gets anyone into heaven, and that is being

54

made righteous through faith in Jesus.

55

So open up if you're not there

already, to Romans chapter four.

56

We're gonna start in verse one.

57

So last week we talked about

how faith kills pride, right?

58

We talked about how faith removes

any ground we have for boasting

59

in ourselves because faith is the

admission that I'm not good enough.

60

God, you have to make me good enough.

61

So, verse one, what then shall

we say was gained by Abraham, our

62

forefather, according to the flesh.

63

So Paul's saying, Paul's Jewish, right?

64

He's saying, look, what about Abraham?

65

Right?

66

Abraham is, is supposedly

this, this awesome person.

67

He's, he's this person that God bless.

68

So what about him?

69

He says, well, verse two, if Abraham

was justified by works, he has

70

something to boast about, right?

71

If Abraham was made righteous with God,

if Abraham was accepted by God because of

72

all the great things he did to follow God.

73

Then he could boast, right?

74

He could say, well, look at me.

75

I deserve it.

76

I earned this.

77

I earned this status with God.

78

But he says that's not the case.

79

He has something to boast

now, but not before God.

80

Verse three, for what

does the scripture say?

81

Abraham believed God and it was

counted to him as righteousness.

82

So what Paul is saying is that

actually the Old Testament says

83

the same thing that I'm saying.

84

The Old Testament says that Abraham was

made righteous, not because he was such

85

a great guy, not because all the things

he did for God, but because he believed

86

God, because he had faith, because he

trusted God to give him righteousness.

87

That's what that word counted means.

88

It means that you're seen as righteous.

89

Not.

90

You actually are righteous.

91

It's credited to you as righteousness.

92

He had faith, he trusted God, and

that counted as righteousness.

93

Even though he didn't actually

have his own righteousness, that he

94

could say, God, look at my works.

95

He couldn't do that, so he had

to have faith, and that was

96

counted him as righteousness.

97

And then we keep reading.

98

Now, verse four to the one who works.

99

His wages are not counted as

a gift, but as his due, right?

100

If you work for something.

101

You get paid for it, you

earn it, you deserve it.

102

It's due right, but the one who

doesn't work but believes in him,

103

who justifies the ungodly, his

faith is counted as righteousness.

104

So you don't work for it, but you get

counted, considered as righteous instead.

105

Remember we talked about a few weeks

ago that this was a big problem.

106

God justifies ungodly people, right?

107

That God lets sinners into heaven.

108

God lets people who murder

other people into heaven.

109

God lets people who cheat

on their spouse into heaven.

110

God lets people who cut you

off in traffic into heaven.

111

God lets liars into heaven.

112

Why?

113

Why?

114

Why can he do that?

115

Because he can make them righteous.

116

He can treat them as righteous.

117

If they have faith, they get counted

as righteous, even though they're not.

118

And that's how any of us

can get to heaven too.

119

'cause we're in that same category.

120

We're in this category, we're all

in the ungodly category, right?

121

That's what we've been

talking about through Romans.

122

But the whole point of, of this first

paragraph that we're looking at is

123

that if you worked for it, you would

earn it, but you can't work for it.

124

It's faith, it's a gift,

so you can't earn it.

125

And so if you're out here trying to,

trying to deserve something from God.

126

Then you're going about your

relationship with God the wrong way.

127

If your relationship with God is based

on you doing things for God and getting

128

things back from him, you're going

about living for God the wrong way.

129

You can't earn anything from God

'cause then God would owe you something

130

and you can't put God in your debt.

131

Right.

132

You can't say, I worked for you,

God, and now you owe me this.

133

Instead, you can only

receive gifts from God.

134

That's what we're getting at.

135

That's our first point.

136

Don't try to earn righteousness.

137

Don't try to earn righteousness, right?

138

You can't work for God and get

paid back by being, oh yeah,

139

you did all these great things.

140

Great.

141

You deserve to go to heaven.

142

That's not how you can get into heaven.

143

You don't read your Bible enough or

stop sinning enough or do enough good

144

things, or go to church enough or

read enough Christian books or share

145

the gospel enough times, none of that

earns you righteousness from God.

146

You can never do anything that

would deserve God to, to pay

147

you for your righteousness.

148

Remember we talked about

the wages of sin is death.

149

The payment that that we deserve

isn't good things for righteousness.

150

It's actually punishment for

our sin 'cause we're guilty.

151

The idea of like trying to get God

to owe you something, you've probably

152

never thought about that, right?

153

You've probably never been like, you

know what, I'm gonna do these good

154

things so that way God can be in my

debt and he can owe me something.

155

But if you wanna think about it

in a kind of funny way, trying

156

to get God to owe you something.

157

It's kind of like buying an

Amazon gift card for this guy,

158

right?

159

Imagine that Christmas season's coming up.

160

You're trying to figure out what to

get someone for for Christmas, right?

161

Imagine if for whatever reason,

you know you've got your rich Uncle

162

Jeff, and you're like, what do I get?

163

What do I get?

164

Uncle Jeff for Christmas.

165

No idea, right?

166

He owns everything.

167

Oh, maybe I'll get him.

168

I don't know if to get him.

169

I'm not sure what he likes.

170

Default, right?

171

If it's a girl, it's a Target gift card.

172

If it's a guy, it's

Amazon gift card, right?

173

That's just like the default gift.

174

I don't know you that well.

175

Here's what I'm gonna get you, right?

176

If you got an Amazon gift card for

Jeff Bezos, he's probably gonna be

177

like, like, I appreciate it, but

I don't really need this, right?

178

This, you're not really

getting me something.

179

I kind of own this whole company, right?

180

Like you're not really

getting me anything.

181

It's kinda like that with God if you're

trying to, to do something for God so

182

that he can like pay you back for it.

183

Does God need you to do anything for him?

184

No.

185

Can you like put God in debt?

186

The fact that, oh, God would have to

like now should give you something.

187

No.

188

Right.

189

You, God doesn't, God doesn't

become in your service, right?

190

Because think about it.

191

When someone owes you

something, you, you're, you're

192

in position over them, right?

193

You're saying that, oh, they,

they need to give me this.

194

Right?

195

They're, they're in my debt.

196

When like, like you work

for your, your job, right?

197

And you, they need to

give you your paycheck.

198

I remember one of you was telling me you

had to try to get your paychecks from

199

your job 'cause they wouldn't pay you.

200

I was hearing about this a few weeks ago.

201

That company is in your debt.

202

They owe you money.

203

That's not how your

relationship with God works.

204

You don't say, Hey, God, look, I

read my Bible every day this week.

205

Now you owe me this.

206

That's not how your relationship with God

works, if that's how you're going about

207

your relationship with God, Paul says,

you're living by works, not by faith.

208

You're trying to earn things from God, and

that's not the way God's economy works.

209

We talked about last week,

but faith is receiving, right?

210

Faith is not working or earning.

211

Faith isn't a transaction with God.

212

It's not.

213

I do faith.

214

He gives me righteousness.

215

Faith is the helpless posture

of I don't have righteousness.

216

I'm not good enough.

217

I can't be good enough.

218

God, you have to do everything.

219

And so I'm just trusting you and

begging you to do this for me.

220

There's no leverage going on.

221

It's not God.

222

I had faith, so you better come through.

223

You don't have any leverage

in this transaction.

224

Faith is a complete

dependence on God, right?

225

You don't go into to a negotiation

with God and say, well, God,

226

look, I'm putting my faith in

you, so you better do this for me.

227

Faith isn't a work.

228

Faith is a posture of dependence.

229

It's saying, God, I need you, not,

I'm trying to get something from you.

230

Right.

231

We don't, the reason this is

hard is because we don't want

232

to, to need righteousness.

233

We don't like the idea that

I'm not good enough and I need

234

someone else to help me, right?

235

Because we're prideful.

236

And so I think even as a Christian, I

know one I was having a conversation

237

with with someone even a couple of

years ago, and I was talking with him

238

about the fact that I resented the

fact that I needed God to forgive me.

239

I hated being forgiven.

240

I hated sending, 'cause

I hated being forgiven.

241

It wasn't so much about personally

offending God, it was actually about me.

242

I didn't like the fact that

God had to forgive me and that

243

God had to make me righteous.

244

Right?

245

That's a really prideful way to approach

your life 'cause that's really about

246

you and it's not about God, right?

247

You're, you're trying to get God to

make you feel better about yourself.

248

That's what I was doing.

249

So maybe that's you.

250

You don't want to need righteousness, and

so that's why faith is so hard for you.

251

Or maybe it's hard 'cause

you want to deserve it.

252

You want to earn it, you want

to say, oh yeah, I, I made

253

it, I did that, I got that.

254

That's me.

255

Like, that's mine.

256

I worked for that and I earned

it because it feels good.

257

It feels good to say,

oh yeah, I earned it.

258

And that's the problem is

that faith is the opposite.

259

Faith is, I didn't earn this.

260

It's, it's a gift.

261

It's grace it.

262

God gave this to me.

263

I didn't do anything

special to make God do this.

264

That's how faith works, and

that's why faith is hard is

265

because we're naturally prideful.

266

We naturally want to earn things

and we naturally don't want to

267

admit that we're not good enough.

268

And so even though the gospel is

very simple, it's very hard, right?

269

Because righteousness is free, but it's

hard to get because it requires humility.

270

You can't have faith without

humbling yourself before God.

271

You need someone else to do it.

272

That's what faith says.

273

Faith says, you have

to do it, God, not me.

274

Right?

275

Faith says, I don't deserve

this, but I need this.

276

I don't need, right.

277

I don't, I, I don't deserve

righteousness, but I need you, God,

278

to treat me like I'm righteous.

279

And that's why it's so hard,

even though it's so simple.

280

It's, it's a free gift of righteousness,

but it's so hard to receive.

281

We're naturally wired as prideful

people to say, I want to earn it.

282

I don't wanna be gifted.

283

Or even after you become a

Christian, maybe now you're trying

284

to feel like you've earned it.

285

So faith and earning are

opposed to each other, right?

286

Faith and deserving are opposed to

each other, and that's why, like

287

we talked about last week, faith

and pride are opposed to each

288

other 'cause they, they can't mix.

289

But in this whole paragraph,

it wasn't just Abraham who's

290

kind of righteous by faith.

291

Paul also talks about David,

and so we'll pick up again in

292

verse five and we'll keep going.

293

So verse five again.

294

So the one who does not work but believes

in him, who justifies the ungodly,

295

his faith is counted as righteousness.

296

And what Paul's gonna do is gonna say

that idea of being counted as righteous.

297

It's not just something that I made

up as a New Testament person, but

298

it's actually an Old Testament idea,

and he goes and he talks about David.

299

David talks about the blessing

of the one to whom God counts

300

righteousness apart from works.

301

So this idea that God makes people

righteous even though they don't

302

deserve it, not a New Testament

idea, it's an Old Testament idea.

303

And so he quotes Psalm 32.

304

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds

are forgiven and whose sins are covered.

305

Blessed is the man against whom the

Lord will not count his sin, right?

306

You see that?

307

The idea of being counted as

righteous, even though you're

308

sinner, you're a sinner.

309

David wrote this psalm after he

sinned with Bathsheba, right?

310

You know this story.

311

David did all these

horrible things, right?

312

He killed someone.

313

He lied about it, he tried to cover

it up, all these things, and he

314

didn't really get punished for it.

315

He kind of did, but not really.

316

Right.

317

There's a, there's a meme, you

know, the meme up, the guy standing,

318

like, it's the guy with glasses.

319

He's saying there

looking angry at someone.

320

I don't, I don't have a picture of it,

but there's a, there's a meme that's

321

like when you, when Uriah sees David in

heaven, he's gonna be like, for real.

322

Like seriously, you did that, right.

323

If you were Uriah, you would

be like, man, I don't know if

324

God should forgive that guy.

325

You, but David gets forgiven.

326

He, he doesn't get

treated like he's guilty.

327

David gets to go to heaven.

328

His deeds, his lawless deeds are forgiven.

329

His sins are covered.

330

He's treated like he's

not sinful when he stands.

331

When David stood before God,

after he died and was judged, he

332

was judged as righteous because.

333

He had faith in Jesus, not

because of anything he did.

334

David didn't work for

his righteousness either.

335

That's what Paul's point is.

336

Abraham didn't work for his righteousness.

337

David didn't work for his righteousness.

338

It was given to them by God.

339

So there's two things I want you

to see here about forgiveness.

340

I want you to see that it's a gift and I

want you to see that it makes you happy.

341

That's what blessed means.

342

Okay?

343

So point to find happiness

in the gift of forgiveness.

344

So, two things I want you

to see about forgiveness.

345

It's a gift, right?

346

You, you can't deserve it.

347

You can't earn it, you can't work

for it, and it makes you happy.

348

So let's focus on the, the

gift part first, right?

349

Gift related to faith, right?

350

Faith receives things.

351

Faith doesn't earn things.

352

You get forgiveness through faith.

353

That's how you get God

to take away your sin.

354

You trust him and he covers your sin.

355

He treats you like it didn't happen.

356

One of the Psalms says that he

puts it behind his back and he

357

doesn't remember it anymore.

358

God treats you like you never did any

of the things that you've done wrong.

359

That's what forgiveness is, and it's

not because of something you did.

360

It's because it's a gift, and faith

is that posture of receiving that

361

gift, and that's the only way that

you can get your sin taken away.

362

The only way you can get your sin to

really actually go away is forgiveness.

363

Right.

364

You can't sometimes.

365

Right.

366

We rely on time to take away our sin.

367

Right.

368

Well, maybe if I just forget

about it, maybe if I just wait.

369

Sometimes even Christians

can do this, right?

370

We can say, oh yeah, I know I sinned.

371

I don't feel like I can come to God

about and talk to him about it right now.

372

And I feel guilty.

373

I feel too far from him, so I'm not

gonna, I'm not gonna come to come to God.

374

I'm gonna wait a little bit.

375

And we kind of wait a few days

and then we don't feel as bad, and

376

now we feel like, oh, I sinned.

377

It's kind of gone away now

that a, according to God, your

378

sin has not gone away, right?

379

God doesn't forget about your

sin until he forgives you.

380

That's the only way to

get rid of it, right?

381

You can wait weeks, months, years.

382

That's not going to really

deal with your sin, right?

383

Time doesn't really get rid of your sin.

384

Only going to God and

asking for forgiveness will.

385

So even as a Christian, if you,

if you sinned, go to God, right?

386

If, if you are really made righteous

by Jesus, waiting two days is not gonna

387

change your acceptance before God.

388

You don't feel as bad about it.

389

Sure, but that's, that's on you.

390

That's that's not because your sin got

any better or worse, go to God right away

391

with your sin because your righteousness

doesn't change if it's in Jesus.

392

So don't rely on time

to take away your sin.

393

There's other things that you

maybe use to take away your sin.

394

Maybe you try to hide it.

395

You try to cover it up.

396

Oh, no one else knows about it.

397

It's okay.

398

It's not a big deal.

399

Maybe you think about you just

distract yourself, you hear a

400

convicting sermon, and you just

try to move on with your life.

401

Play your video games, scroll

on your phone, forget about it.

402

Or maybe you compare.

403

We talked about this in our small group

last night or last week, about how, um,

404

we make our sin feel not as bad when we

look at other people who are worse, right?

405

We say, oh, well, they're

not as bad as that person.

406

So, and we use that to,

to get rid of our sin.

407

That doesn't really get

rid of your sin, right?

408

It just makes you feel better about it.

409

But when you stand before God,

your sins still gonna be there.

410

The only way you can get your

sin taken away is forgiveness.

411

God has to forgive you.

412

The only way you can do

that is by faith, right?

413

It's really hard to get rid of your sin.

414

The only way you can get rid of

your sin is God has to forgive you.

415

Any other way you use is

not gonna work, right?

416

It's kind of like trying to get rid of.

417

Skunk spray.

418

Right.

419

Have you ever been sprayed by

a skunk or someone you know, or

420

your dog got sprayed by a skunk?

421

I served at Women's Retreat.

422

Um, I was doing tech.

423

I wasn't like at Women's Retreat.

424

I was just to be clear, um, no, I was,

I was helping with the tech team and,

425

um, my partner in crime showed up on

Saturday morning to help with tech and

426

that morning his dog got sprayed by Skunk.

427

He walks into the room and

everyone is like, is there a skunk?

428

And he thought, oh, my dog got sprayed.

429

Not me.

430

It's okay.

431

Not, not the case, right?

432

So literally I felt so bad for him.

433

Like everyone, as soon as they walk

in the room, oh, it smells weird.

434

Is there a skunk in here?

435

What?

436

Like for like probably the first

hour of the day everyone's wondering

437

where the skunk is and it was.

438

My friend next to me, um, and I got

to sat next to him the whole day.

439

Um, so it was fun.

440

But people will always tell you, you know,

especially at Women's Retreat, right?

441

There's all these really helpful

ladies who will tell you how to

442

get rid of the skunk smell, right?

443

All these really helpful people

will come up to you and be like,

444

oh, well have you tried this?

445

Or, oh, well, when my dog got

sprayed by a young, we did this.

446

And they give you all of these

different options, right?

447

And, you know, you hear about

tomato soup or whatever and how

448

that takes away skunk smell.

449

I have no idea if that's

actually true or not.

450

Um.

451

The whole point is that like

you could shower, probably

452

still not gonna go away, right?

453

You there, there's people will come up

to you with all these different options.

454

How do I get rid of this smell?

455

How do I get rid of this smell?

456

What do I do?

457

It's really hard to get off right?

458

And if there was one like magic D

skunk smell, that would be awesome.

459

But with sin, there is a sure

way to deal with your sin.

460

Maybe you're out there and

you feel so guilty, right?

461

You, you hate coming to true North

because you always feel convicted.

462

There's that sin that you either

just keep going back to you.

463

Maybe you, maybe you're a Christian.

464

You, you keep on doing the same sin.

465

You hate it, you're so guilty about,

and you don't wanna tell anyone.

466

You can get rid of your sin.

467

You have to come to the light.

468

You have to confess it and humble

yourself and say, God, I'm a sinner.

469

I'm not gonna hide my sin.

470

I'm gonna come to the light with my sin,

and I'm gonna ask you God to take it away.

471

I can't get rid of it on my own.

472

I can't cover it up.

473

I can't hide it.

474

I can't distract myself from it.

475

The only way for you to get rid of

your sin is to bring it to God and

476

have him deal with it on the cross.

477

One of the reasons we don't like

that is because it's a gift, right?

478

Self-righteousness is the enemy of

receiving forgiveness because to

479

get forgiven, you have to admit that

you need it, and that's why we don't

480

like it, because to get forgiven,

we have to say that I messed up.

481

I'm a sinner, and you have to,

to put it all in black and white.

482

You can't sugarcoat it.

483

You can't minimize it.

484

You have to call it like it is.

485

I'm a sinner.

486

I deserve God's wrath.

487

I need forgiveness.

488

Maybe you just resent the fact

that you need forgiveness.

489

Maybe you were like me a few years ago

and you, you don't, you just hate the

490

fact that you need to be forgiven so much.

491

That's the sign of a self-righteous

heart because you don't like God's grace.

492

You don't like needing God's grace.

493

You don't like needing God's forgiveness.

494

One person.

495

That I was reading this week.

496

He said, this is a really good quote,

so I thought I'd share it with you.

497

You'll never celebrate grace as much

as you should when you think you're

498

more righteous than you actually are.

499

You'll never celebrate grace as much as

you should when you think you're more

500

righteous than you actually are, as

long as you have an inflated view of how

501

righteous you are, you'll never enjoy

God's forgiveness as much as you should

502

because you're always gonna deep down

not like the fact that you need grace.

503

That you need forgiveness.

504

If you have an inflated view

of how righteous you are,

505

your sense of self-righteousness

is actually gonna keep you

506

from enjoying forgiveness

507

and enjoying forgiveness is,

is where I want you to be.

508

I don't want you to enjoy sending,

I want you to enjoy forgiveness.

509

Forgiveness makes you happy.

510

Did you see that in our, in our verses,

this word blessed, blessed, it comes up

511

a lot and that just, that means happy.

512

It means you're.

513

Joyful.

514

And the reason forgiveness makes you

happy is not just because you're forgiven.

515

The reason forgiveness makes you

happy is because you get God, right?

516

If you think about this, let's

say, um, you and your best

517

friend get in an argument, right?

518

And then you guys hate each other for

like a day, and you can't say each other.

519

You don't wanna be around each other.

520

Like, why am I friends with the person?

521

This person's the worst.

522

You hate each other,

you can't do it right.

523

But it stinks, doesn't it?

524

You lost your friend there.

525

You got in an argument.

526

You've, you're, there's

a barrier now, right?

527

There's this, there's this wall.

528

You can't talk to them.

529

You're going through it.

530

You need to get them back.

531

You want your friend back.

532

And so you go to them and you

say, Hey, I'm sorry, messed up.

533

I was a terrible friend.

534

Please forgive me.

535

And hopefully, right, they're gracious.

536

They forgive you.

537

Guess what?

538

You have your friend back.

539

That's the point of forgiveness.

540

It's not, oh, yeah, now I'm forgiven.

541

The point is, I got this person back.

542

The point of forgiveness is you get God.

543

Forgiveness makes you happy

because God makes you happy.

544

God gives you the most amount of

joy for the longest amount of time.

545

That's what Psalm 16, eight says,

at your right hand are pleasures

546

for evermore, God gives you the most

happiness for the longest amount of time.

547

That's why forgiveness is so awesome.

548

It's not because now you

don't have to go to hell.

549

It's because you get to, you get Jesus.

550

And Jesus is where your

joy, the most joy is.

551

Jesus will make you happier

than anything else, and that's

552

why forgiveness is so good.

553

The unforgiveness.

554

Sin is a happiness killer because

it keeps you from God, right?

555

Even as a Christian, the reason

that that we as Christians want to

556

grow in holiness is because then

we get closer fellowship with God.

557

You get a closer relationship with

God, there's less sin in the way,

558

so you get to enjoy more of God.

559

That's why forgiveness for

Christians, it's such a big deal.

560

That's why if you're holding onto

sin or you're slow to bring your

561

sin to God, as a Christian, you're

actually making yourself less happy.

562

You're making your life worse

by not bringing your sin to God.

563

So don't hide.

564

Don't wait.

565

Don't try to clean yourself up first.

566

I'm like, well, maybe I've

sinned, but once I start

567

doing better for a little bit.

568

Then I can come to God.

569

That's you relying on yourself.

570

Come to come to Jesus.

571

He wants to forgive.

572

He's ready to forgive.

573

His death is more than enough to pay

for your sin, so don't shy away because

574

you feel like you're not good enough.

575

Feeling like you're not good enough is

the qualification to coming to Jesus.

576

If you don't feel like you're good enough

to come, that's right where you should

577

be because that's when you should come.

578

If you feel like, oh, I deserve this, then

you're not ready to come to Jesus yet.

579

But once you feel like, oh, I don't

deserve this, that's when you're ready.

580

So Paul has been establishing that God

has always made people righteous by faith.

581

Right?

582

We talked about Abraham.

583

We talked about David, but one

objection that might come up in the Old

584

Testament is if you were going to follow

Yahweh, you needed to join his people.

585

Right?

586

In the Old Testament, you think of,

um, their conquering the Promised Lamb.

587

There's Rahab, the Spy, right?

588

She's from the, um, people in, she's

from the, you know, all the, its right.

589

The Canaanites and the Moabites

and the Ammonites and all those,

590

all the, its, she's one of the,

its, she's not an Israelite, right?

591

She's the other.

592

Its, and so she has to

become part of God's people.

593

Now.

594

She can't just, it's like, oh

yeah, I follow Yahweh, but I'm

595

gonna go do my own thing over here.

596

She has to become part of God's people.

597

That's what you did in the Old

Testament, and the only way to do

598

that was to become an Israelite and

then start obeying the laws, right?

599

And do all the.

600

The don't eat this kind of seafood

and, and don't eat this animal

601

with a split hoof and whatever.

602

You know, all that stuff, right?

603

That's what you had to do to follow God.

604

That's what it looked

like in the Old Testament.

605

You had to become part of God's people.

606

And one of those things, one

of those marks of being part of

607

God's people was circumcision.

608

And that's why it was such a big deal in

the Old Testament and the New Testament.

609

That's why it comes up so much.

610

You're like, what's the

big deal about this thing?

611

The whole reason is it was like

the marker of God's people.

612

Kinda like how baptism in the New

Testament is the marker of a Christian.

613

That's, that's how you know someone's

a Christian, is they got baptized.

614

That's their public announcement.

615

I'm a Christian.

616

That marker in the Old

Testament was circumcision.

617

So that's why Paul is talking about

circumcision here in verse nine.

618

It's this sign that said,

I'm part of God's people.

619

Okay, so that's to set all this up.

620

So verse nine is this blessing, right?

621

Forgiveness.

622

Is that only for the circumcised,

or is it also for the uncircumcised?

623

Is it only for the people who

are visibly associated with God's

624

people, or is it also for anyone?

625

Well, faith was counted to Abraham

as righteousness, but what someone

626

might say is, well, that's because

Abraham had this promise from God.

627

He was part of God's people.

628

And Abraham, that's, that's

the first time that, that this

629

marker was given was to Abraham.

630

Verse 10.

631

How then was it count him?

632

Was it before or after he was circumcised?

633

It was not after.

634

So faith Abraham was made righteous

by faith before he was visibly

635

part of God's people, right?

636

It's kind of like today you trust

Jesus and then you get baptized, right?

637

We ize people who are

already part of God's people.

638

By faith, we don't baptize

you, and then you can become

639

part of God's people, right?

640

You get baptized and then.

641

That's after you've already

become part of God's people.

642

So verse 11, Abraham received the sign as

a seal of the righteousness that he had

643

by faith while he was still uncircumcised.

644

So the big picture here is

that Abraham had faith before

645

the signs of faith showed up.

646

Abraham had internal trust in God

before the external things happened.

647

And what a lot of these Jews are

doing in this that Paul's talking

648

to is they're saying, well, I have

the outward signs, so that must mean

649

that inwardly I'm right with God.

650

It'd be like, today you talk to maybe

someone and they'll say, well, I was

651

baptized, so I know I'm a Christian.

652

That's backward, right?

653

You become a Christian,

then you get baptized.

654

The baptism, the sign

doesn't make you a Christian.

655

What makes you a Christian

is the internal faith.

656

Then the signs come after.

657

And so this confusion is what

I want you guys to avoid too.

658

Okay.

659

So point number three.

660

Don't confuse faith with signs of faith.

661

Don't confuse faith with signs of faith.

662

So the people that Paul's writing

to, they thought that because they

663

had the outward signs of being in a

relationship with God, that meant that

664

they definitely were in on the inside.

665

They were going backward.

666

They were going outside

in, not inside out.

667

So they confused the outward signs

of being part of God's people with

668

what actually makes someone part

of God's people, which is faith.

669

They'd be like saying, well, I go to

church, so it must mean I'm a Christian,

670

or I read the Bible so it must mean

I'm a Christian, or I know that I know

671

who Jesus is, so I must be a Christian.

672

Right.

673

Those are all.

674

Good signs, but they don't

actually necessarily mean that you

675

definitely are a Christian, because

if you don't have faith, you can

676

still do all those things, right?

677

There's people who don't

have faith that go to church.

678

There's people that don't

have faith that get baptized.

679

There's people that don't have

faith that read their Bible, right?

680

So don't confuse faith

with signs of faith.

681

The signs of faith aren't

682

the cause of justification.

683

Faith is, it's kind of like when you have.

684

You know, when you're sick and you

Google the symptoms, figure out what

685

you have, and it's always cancer.

686

Like every single time you're like,

oh, I have, you know, a fever and I

687

have a swollen like thing on my neck.

688

Cancer, right.

689

Definitely cancer.

690

Or you go, you know, every

time you're sick you Google

691

like three different symptoms.

692

You go like WebMD, oh, it could be cancer.

693

Thanks.

694

So just because you have

the symptoms of that thing.

695

It doesn't mean you

have that thing, right?

696

Just because you have the symptoms of

cancer doesn't mean you have cancer.

697

Just 'cause you Google your symptoms

and you have these three symptoms,

698

oh, those are symptoms of this

super rare disease that only 0.0%,

699

zero 1% of the world has.

700

Well, you have those three

symptoms, so that's you, right?

701

Just because you have the symptoms

doesn't mean you have the disease.

702

And I think especially

in, in a church like this.

703

There's a lot of people who have

symptoms of Christianity without real

704

Christianity because you grew up doing

the things or your friends do the things.

705

So what I want you to to make sure is

just because you see people with symptoms

706

doesn't mean they have the disease, right?

707

Just because you have the symptoms

of Christianity doesn't mean

708

you have the disease of faith.

709

I don't want you to be

confused about that.

710

Just because you're associated with

Christian parents, just because you come

711

from a Christian family, just because

you read the Bible, just because you know

712

the gospel, just because you like church,

just because your friends are Christian,

713

just because you don't say bad words.

714

Those are all things that are symptoms of,

of faith, but they aren't faith itself.

715

Maybe you even know you're a Christian.

716

Does that mean you're a Christian?

717

Not necessarily right?

718

Maybe you have emotions about

being a Christian, right?

719

You, you had an experience at at

camp or you, um, get really sad

720

about your sin doesn't necessarily

mean that you're a Christian, right?

721

The symptoms are different than the

actual disease, so don't put your

722

faith in the signs of your faith.

723

Don't put your faith in the

symptoms of Christianity.

724

Put your faith in Jesus.

725

Jesus is who the one

who takes your sin away.

726

Jesus is the one who

gives you righteousness.

727

So don't put your faith in

your signs of Christianity.

728

Put your faith in the

Christ of Christianity.

729

It's easy to, when you share

your testimony, when you

730

think, why am I Christian?

731

You're doubting your salvation.

732

You turn immediately to, well,

look at all the things I've done.

733

Look at my spiritual resume.

734

That thing that your spiritual resume is,

is not where you wanna put your trust.

735

You wanna put your trust in Jesus.

736

'cause his righteousness never changes.

737

Yours goes up and down, right?

738

Sometimes throughout the day.

739

Maybe you wake up at 8:00 AM and you just

read your Bible and you feel great, and

740

then by the time it's 2:00 PM and you've

been around all these people at school who

741

make all these bad jokes and say all these

bad words, your own righteousness, even

742

in in a day can go up and down, right?

743

But Jesus righteousness never changes.

744

And also don't put your

faith in your faith.

745

Your faith isn't your, the,

your faith is only as good as

746

what you put your faith in.

747

So don't put your faith in your faith.

748

Put your faith in Jesus, right?

749

The, the point of of faith is who you're

trusting in, not how much faith you have.

750

So don't put your faith in your faith.

751

Put your faith in Jesus.

752

Let's pray and we'll go to small groups.

753

God, we are so thankful that

you make it so simple for us.

754

We come to you in faith.

755

We admit that we don't measure up.

756

We need you.

757

We're helpless without you,

758

and we trust you, and you

give us righteousness.

759

You give us forgiveness.

760

You give us yourself.

761

And so we're grateful that we don't

have to do all these crazy things

762

to to be in a relationship with you.

763

We don't have to be super smart.

764

We don't have to know the Bible perfectly.

765

We don't have to live perfectly, but

we can be confident that we have a

766

relationship with you if we trust Jesus.

767

So I pray that you help all

of us to trust Jesus more.

768

Just like that song we sang on

Sunday, it's so good to trust you.

769

Life is so much better when we trust you.

770

So I pray that you give all

of us greater faith in you.

771

And I pray specifically for people who are

relying on themselves, that you would show

772

them that they're unreliable, that they

are, um, not a, a good place to put their

773

faith, but rather that you are a rock, a

fortress, you are strong and trustworthy.

774

We pray all this in Jesus' name.

775

Amen.