Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRO:

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SLIDE 3

Romans

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INTRO:

Paul, in writing to a church which had the Gospel that saves, but yet understood the Gospel that maintains…

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Makes it abundantly clear in the first three chapters… That humans need Jesus.... NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE… WHAT THEY HAVE DONE… WHAT FAMILY THEY HAVE BEEN BORN INTO… WHAT RELIGIOUS PRACTICES THEY CAN CITE… None of that accounts for anything.

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By any effort of the flesh… by any birthright… by any performance - RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NOT GAINED NOR IS IT EARNED.

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People are broken and messed up… and even if they think their religious efforts in the flesh might account for something… they don’t.

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There is only one way that righteousness is gained.

And Paul covered this in the second half of chapter 3..

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RIGHTEOUSNESS IS ONLY GAINED… AS A GIFT… freely given, w/o cause, to the one: who has faith.

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This is God’s formula… this is God’s economy… If you believe… if you have faith… then you can receive a gift… a status… a standing before God… of righteousness.

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NOW, KNOWING THAT THIS SIMPLE TRUTH WOULD BE A STUMBLING BLOCK TO HIS JEWISH READERS… Paul then starts chapter 4 with the example of Abraham.

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To the Jewish people… Abraham, along with Moses… were the most revered of their patriarchs.

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If Paul could support the implications of the Gospel, with Abraham… it would lend great credibility to those in the Roman church, who were still working through their Jewish history.

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And please understand: Paul is not taking Abraham out of context to add support to his current argument.

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No, in fact… Paul is actually bringing a context to Abraham, in light of the Gospel, that many of these Jewish believers had never seen before.

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Jesus made this abundantly clear to some of his critics in .

He had just healed a man on the Sabbath… so they came against Him, and in their offense, desired even to have Jesus killed.

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Jesus went on to tell them… that they were completely clueless…

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SLIDE 4

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Remember when Jesus walked with the two men who were going to Emmaus on the day of His resurrection… They were 7 miles away from the empty tomb… they were amongst those who had heard the reports of the women who found the tomb empty… but unlike Peter and John, who ran to the tomb… these guys left town, broken hearted, and went the other direction. .

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I love how Jesus sought these two guys out specifically.

They believed Jesus to be dead, and they were not convinced by the empty tomb.

They were brokenhearted.

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But Jesus found these two guys… 7 miles out of town… and walked with them… and, as it says in

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SLIDE 5

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Jesus reminds the religious opponent… and the faithless and disappointed believer … That the scriptures… the law… the prophets… - ALL POINT TO, SPEAK OF, AND DECLARE HIM.

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You see: Paul doesn’t have to force the story of Abraham into his narrative.

The story of Abraham is… like all of the OT… the story of the Gospel.. -Without the Gospel… without the work of Jesus… who fulfilled the Law on behalf of humanity…

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…the Law would continue to be a bleak message of hopelessness to those who are striving to attain righteousness through it..

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THE WORK OF JESUS… is like an encryption key to the riddle of the Law… Without Jesus, the law outlines man’s only means by which he can gain, IN HIS OWN EFFORTS, righteousness… a means which, btw… is impossible.

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But: Through the work of the cross.. we now see the law as a message which looked forward, with hope, to an amazing work of God on behalf of all humanity.

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Paul tells his readers… JUSTIFICATION IS GIVEN FREELY, AS A GIFT, TO THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH…

Some readers would respond: NO, THE LAW DEMAND OBEDIENCE AS A MEANS OF JUSTIFICATION…

To which Paul responds: Before the law… with Abraham… Justification was given.... BY FAITH.

-God’s methods are the same now… as they were then… -

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SLIDE 6

It’s Simply A Matter Of Faith!

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So Paul begins chapter 4 - “SO.... WHAT DID ABRAHAM GAIN THROUGH THE WORKS OF HIS FLESH?”

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The Jewish readers might have a lot to say as a rebuttal to this rhetorical question… As they were ticking off some answers in their head… PAUL SAID THIS:

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SLIDE 7

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Abraham had a lot of great qualities and a lot of great accomplishments… BUT: they did not earn him a thing before God.

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THIS ISN’T WHAT CAUSED GOD TO PICK ABRAHAM OUT.... it wasn’t his success.

It wasn’t his morality.

It wasn’t his religious devotion.

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It was one thing, and one thing only: GOD GAVE ABRAHAM A PROMISE THAT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO BELIEVE… And Abraham believed it.

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The story is recorded in ...

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SLIDE 8

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SLIDE 9

Genesis 15:4-

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Verse 6 is Paul’s proof text here… This is exactly what Paul quotes in verse 3.

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ABRAHAM MAY HAVE HAD THINGS TO BOAST ABOUT.... but not to God.

God was impressed with one thing much, much bigger than Abraham’s works: - God was impressed with His faith.

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This is a very important lesson for the church.

Many Christians think about their efforts to please God… and, right away… their thoughts go towards issues of behavior, morality, and generosity.

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Which- are all noble endeavors which can and should bring Glory to God.

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BUT: these are not the primary things that God is looking for from us.

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God has given you His Scriptures… and they are full of promises, instructions, and prophecies which boggle the minds of logic and science.

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God has promised, as a gift of grace… to freely forgive you of every offense that separates you from God… -This boggles the minds of everyone..

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God has promised a spiritual life, which is eternal and in His presence.. -Who could possible fathom such a thing?

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GOD TOLD ABRAHAM THAT HE AND HIS WIFE… -THEY WERE OLD - WOULD HAVE CHILDREN: AND THAT THEIR CHILDREN: would be as the stars in the sky.

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Abraham believed that promise.

And God accounted it to him as righteousness.

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God wants you and I to believe His promises… God wants you and I to have faith… to believe, by faith, what Jesus has accomplished on our behalf… to BELIEVE THE PROMISES WHICH ARE IN HIS WORD.. -even if they boggle our minds..

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This is what God wants.

This act of belief… this act of faith… is the means by which God look upon people, and grant them… not only forgiveness, but also, righteousness.

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ISN’T IT CRAZY TO THINK: that many churches have abandoned the one thing that God considers most important?

Many people who call themselves Christians… have abandoned the one thing that God wants most out of us.. - Many have abandoned belief.

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They still gather in their buildings every week and sing songs and talk about things that might reference scripture… but so many have abandoned belief in the supernatural.

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SLIDE 10

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They will wander away from the thing that God wants most… - faith.

belief… trust…

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LET’S READ ON:

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SLIDE 11

Romans 4:4-

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Consider what verse 4 is saying: -There are many in this life… to whom you can declare: “I have earned this!

This is my wage!”

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But… these are not things which you can say to God.

This is not how His economy works.

Our frustrations are misplaced when we don’t receive the heavenly promotion because of our earthy obedience.

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Our frustrations are misplaced when we look for special treatment… or comfort… or reward… simply because we gave God our service and our obedience.

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THIS IS NOT GOD’S ECONOMY.

-God gives the best thing that we could ever receive freely, because it’s far greater than anything we could ever earn.

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You’re not going to demand righteousness because of your works… but notice verse 5.... even if you don’t work… but you believe in HIm who justifies the ungodly.. - then, your faith is counted as righteousness..

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Verse 4 and 5 are giving us a contrast of merit.

The person in verse 4 has merit.. the person in verse 5 doesn’t … But which one is justified?

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Consider the parable of the tax-collector in Luke 18… Jesus said he went home ‘justified’ rather than the Pharisee.

One declared his own righteousness and his own devotion… the other cried out in desperate repentance for his sins.

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The tax collector did not have greater merit than the Pharisee.

- But here’s what he did have… - he realized the futility of self-reliance… he cast himself entirely upon God’s grace.

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In vss 7-8, Paul quotes … These words from David show us: that the one who is forgiven… the one whose sins are covered… the one whose sins are not accounted against them… IS BLESSED.

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David is saying… in these verses… that this blessed person… is lawless and that they are deserving of having their sins accounted against them.

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why are they blessed?

why are they forgiven?

OBVIOUSLY, IN CONTEXT TO THIS ARGUMENT… because they believe!!!

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let’s read on:

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SLIDE 12

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SLIDE 13

Romans 4:9-