Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

Briefly, before we jump into today’s text, let me remind you what the book of Romans is all about.

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Paul is writing to a group of people who had received the life saving message of Jesus.

Believers had traveled to Rome, they had declared Jesus to the unbelievers there… AND, THROUGH THE WORK OF THE HS, MANY PEOPLE CAME TO FAITH… AND A CHURCH WAS FORMED.

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Unlike the other churches to whom Paul wrote… he did not play a part in starting this work in Rome.

God worked, in spite of any apostles participation…

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Unlike the other churches to whom Paul wrote, this is not a letter of correction.

Paul is not prompted to sit down with pen and paper and write a letter, because news of troublesome behavior had gotten back to him.

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PAUL WROTE TO THE ROMAN CHURCH, BECAUSE THEY HAD RECEIVED SALVATION IN AND THROUGH THE GOOD NEWS… THE GOSPEL OF JESUS… -but that’s all they really knew.

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They had received the Gospel that saved them… But had yet to understand the Gospel that maintained them.

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THERE WAS SO MUCH MORE TO LEARN ABOUT THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST… there were many other aspects of Jesus’ work, that needed application in their lives…

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SALVATION IS GREAT… But without an understanding of Jesus’ all encompassing work in the life of the believer… A saved person is just as prone to create, establish and enforce wrong doctrine, and wrong ideas.... as anyone else.

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THE UNKNOWING WORLD LOOKS ON IN JUDGMENT AT THE CHURCH AND CRITICIZES OUR DIVISION… Sometimes, it’s the church itself that criticizes the division…

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And the critics are right… we are divided.

But, even as they propose that everyone lay down their differences and come together as one… it can’t happen… the beliefs that divide us, are too strong.

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Every since the first church formed in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost… people have been getting saved… and those same people have been forming their own ideas.

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The church in Rome was isolated from a source of apostolic instruction.

They were saved… they had some stories… they had some testimonies…

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SLIDE 3

They had the Gospel that saves, but not the Gospel that maintains

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They were at risk of forming their own ideas for the Christian life… So… to help prevent that.... TO PREVENT THEM FROM COMING UP WITH:

DOCTRINES THAT WOULD LEAD THEM INTO SINFUL BONDAGE…

DOCTRINES THAT WOULD ROB THEM OF THE FREEDOM THAT JESUS OFFERS TO THE BELIEVER...

DOCTRINES THAT WOULD LEAD THEM AWAY FROM HOLINESS AND INTO MORAL COMPROMISE...

DOCTRINES THAT WERE ADOPTED FROM THE RELIGIOUS LIVES THAT JESUS SAVED THEM FROM...

DOCTRINES THAT WOULD BLIND THEM TO THE REALITIES OF GRACE THAT JESUS OFFERED THEM…

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Paul wrote to them, and delivered the ultimate commentary on the Gospel.

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The church I got saved in, was a good church to get saved in, because salvation was the ONLY thing they ever talked about.

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I actually took my step of faith at a summer camp that this church sent me to… But only after witnessing and hearing the salvation message time and time again.

I’m pretty sure I even responded to that message a few times out of guilt.

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It was a good church to get saved in… but it was not a good church to learn anything else about the Gospel in.

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They knew the book of Romans… but it was only taught in the context of the Roman Road… which is a short list of verses which outline a person’s need for Jesus… and how that person can become saved.

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They taught the Gospel that saved… but not the Gospel that maintained.

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AS WE MOVE ON INTO CHAPTER 3, STARTING AT VERSE 21, PAUL BEGINS TO BUILD HIS GREAT LESSON… NOT ONLY ON THE MESSAGE THAT SAVES… but also, the message that maintains..

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Chapter 1:1-17 were words of personal introductions and personal testimonies… But, beginning at verse 18, Paul delivered a message that didn’t end till verse 20 of chapter 3..

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That message was crystal clear… It doesn’t matter who you are… or what you have done… or what religion you have followed… or what family you have been born into… - NONE OF THAT MATTERS…

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you are… completely hopeless and in utter despair.

There is no hope for salvation in your works… in your birthright… in your religion… - in you whatsoever.

THERE IS NO HOPE FOR SALVATION, IN ANY WORK THAT YOU CAN PERFORM.

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THE ULTIMATE MESSAGE THAT PAUL HAS DELIVERED TO EVERY ASPECT OF HUMANITY:

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SLIDE 4

We need Jesus!

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You might ask… why did Paul have to say so much, just to say… “we need Jesus”?

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Well, because he’s writing to humans… and humans will always look for a way to exempt themselves.. OH, THAT’S THOSE PEOPLES’ PROBLEM… OH, I’M NOT LIKE THAT… OH, I’VE ALWAYS BEEN A GOOD PERSON...

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So, to every group that would make an exception for itself, Paul wrote: - NOPE, YOUR ATTEMPTS AT EXEMPTING YOURSELF, DO NOT WORK.

IN YOUR OWN EFFORTS… THERE IS NO HOPE.

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bu the works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight…

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So, here we are, at a place of despair.. all is lost… and Paul introduces a glorious transition:

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SLIDE 5

BUT NOW...

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He just told them in the previous verse… that the works of the law will not justify any human being.

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But now… NOW!!!! NOW!!! the righteousness has been manifested apart from the law.

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WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

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It means, that God has done something for all of us… WHICH IS… different… separate… set apart from - what we can do in our own efforts… or in our own strength… which.. btw… is how the law is obeyed… in our own effort… and in our own strength.

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It is not by the works of the law that we gain righteousness… but rather, as we learned in the previous verse..

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IT’S BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW… THAT WE LEARN… basically… WHAT UNRIGHTEOUSNESS IS… OR.. we learn: WHAT IMPERFECTION, IMPURITY, DISOBEDIENCE, AND INCAPABILITY IS.

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through the law comes knowledge of sin.

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God has shown us what a righteous, pure, holy, and obedient life looks like… and from the moment Moses revealed the ten commandments, to this very moment, today, right now…

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nobody has achieved righteousness through the law.

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SOME PEOPLE NATURALLY STILL THINK IN TERMS OF THE LAW… they can’t help it… it just seem logical... and it’s easy for our fallen NATURE to make sense of.

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so… for many people… the law is a LIST OF RULES… As long as I follow this list of rules, God will be happy with me… - But Paul has made it clear… anything that is less than perfect in our flesh… is not good enough.

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Some think of the law like a check list… as long as you go through these certain motions, and follow these certain steps, and fill every little box in with a gold star… then God will be happy.

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SOME PEOPLE THINK OF THE LAW AS THEIR MEANS OF PROMOTION… If they can do more things in the law than another person, then they can lord it over them… they can be the boss.. they can be looked upon as a great spiritual leader.. THEIR ROBES WILL BE FANCY, THEIR HATS WILL BE TALL… THEY’LL HOLD SCEPTERS… THEY’LL HAVE THRONES… and people will have to submit themselves to their greatness.

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PEOPLE HAVE BEEN STRIVING TO GAIN RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW… and Paul tells them.... THAT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD WAS MADE MANIFEST APART FROM THE PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW..

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And it should come as no surprise to a student of the Law and of the Prophets… For they bear witness to this…

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SLIDE 5

Romans

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through faith… not ‘by’ faith… and there is a difference.

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We can see the distinction clearly in .

SLIDE 6

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By grace… this is how God accomplishes our salvation… by His work of grace…

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But how do we experience the work of grace that God has done?

Through faith.

Faith provides the avenue through which God can deliver His miraculous gift into our lives.

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-If we were to saY, that we were saved, by faith, RATHER THAN ‘THROUGH FAITH’… then we are turning faith into a work.

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SOME DO THAT.

SOME TURN FAITH INTO A WORK.

- IF YOU DO FAITH GOOD… IF YOU DO FAITH RIGHT… THEN GOD IS OBLIGATED TO RESPOND TO YOUR WORK OF SUPER POSITIVE THINKING AND SUPER POSITIVE CONFESSING..

And because of your work of faith… God will heal you.. God will enrich you… God will promote you…

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AND THEN: When all those promises that they gave on Christian TV fail you…-the TV preacher climbs in his jet plane and flies home to his mansion while you continue to struggle…

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well.. the blame falls squarely on you… you didn’t receive.. you were not healed.. you are not free of debt… BECAUSE: you must’ve had a doubt.

- So instead of being set free by Jesus… you are instead… left in a place of despair… and bondage.

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There are entire doctrines that turn faith into law.

Jesus wants to bless your lives by grace through faith… and the church is coming up with crazy doctrines that take God’s work of grace out of the equation, replacing it, with a work of faith…

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Faith, for us… is simply a matter of trusting what jesus has done on the cross.

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You are trusting that your chairs will hold you up today… through faith… you relinquish your weight onto that chair…

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but it was the engineer and the welder, and the fabricator… who actually did the work which enables you to rest your bodies… nearly 2 feet above the ground.

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The church at Ephesus was told this with clarity… this is not your doing… - it is the gift of God… this is not a result of works… you may not boast in your acquisition of salvation.

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At the end of vs. 22, back here in Romans 3, Paul continues to remind his Jewish readers, that they are on equal footing, before God… with the Gentiles… and he reminds the Gentiles… that they are on equal footing with the Jews.

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God’s work of grace, is delivered through faith… and it doesn’t matter who you are… it only matters that you have faith.

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There is no distinction…

SLIDE 7

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THE BEST AND THE WORST PERSON… THEY ARE ALL SAVED THE SAME WAY… BECAUSE: they have all fallen short of the glory of God.

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God’s glory… His Wonder… His might… His signature upon creation… the beauty that amazes us a we look at a DNA strand… or at a mountain range… or at the far off galaxies…

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His glory… can only be defined as ‘amazing’.

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It’s hard to know what it means, practically, to fall short of His glory.. - does it means that we fall short in giving Him glory… because: what we are able to give, is so insufficient compared to Him?

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MAYBE WE FALL SHORT IN BEING A REFLECTION OF HIS GLORY… Adam was created in perfection… Before the fall, Adam and Eve were perfect reflections of God’s glory… - But then, that perfection broke… and humanity became the mess we recently studied in chapter one… WE can no longer reflect the glory that existed in our original creation.

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Maybe it simply means.... we can never be as amazing as God is… or, we can never satisfy the amazing standards of an amazing God.

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IM NOT CLEAR, EXACTLY, ON WHAT WE ARE FALLING SHORT OF… but I am clear on the fact that we all, are missing the mark.

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All have sinned.