ROM-23-140713 - length: 67:49 - taught on Jul, 13 2014
Class Outline:
Welcome To
BARAH MINISTRIES
a Christian Church
Rory Clark
Pastor-Teacher
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.
My heart goes out to all the young adults who are making the transition into adulthood. This is a big and often frightening transition. It is a transition wrought with changes. Can you remember back to that time? Believe it or not, I can remember the days after I secured my first job. My life lay before me. My career lay before me. I stood daily and peered into the great unknown. I marveled at all the decisions I had to make which before this had been made for me. I expected to do well in life. I expected to do well in my career. But there was an overwhelming feeling inside that my success was all up to me. I felt alone. Walt Whitman’s words, in his work “Darest Thou Now O Soul,” described perfectly how I was feeling…
WALT WHITMAN
Darest Thou Now O Soul
Darest thou now O soul,
Walk out with me toward the unknown region,
Where neither ground is for the feet nor any path to follow?
No map there, nor guide,
Nor voice sounding, nor touch of human hand…
WALT WHITMAN
Darest Thou Now O Soul
Nor face with blooming flesh, nor lips, nor eyes, are in that land.
I know it not O soul,
Nor dost thou, all is a blank before us,
All waits undreamed of in that region, that inaccessible land.
Life is filled with transitions…the transition from college to the workforce…the transition from the single life to the married life…the transition from being childless to being parents…the transition from living under the care, protection and finances of parents to supporting yourself…the transition from being jobless to having a job. The transition to adulthood is a time that often grips the soul with fear, and at moments like these we often forget about God. For believers in Christ, it’s easy to forget that the Lord is on your side, and that He laid aside resources for you for this very transition.Isaiah, Chapter 41, Verse 10…the Lord says to you…
“‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’”
God’s promises to us are unconditional, and He will not be distracted from providing for us, even in the face of our unbelief during tough times. Isaiah, Chapter 41, Verse 13…
“For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’”
During the quiet of transition, when all is restless in your soul, the Lord is smoothing the transition and preparing the way. The Lord has not forgotten you. Matthew, Chapter 10, Verses 29 to 31…
“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”
We don’t plan to have periodsin our lives where we just rest. Activity is the great deceiver. We are lulled into thinking we are productive when we are busy. Transitions are the times the Lord gives us to rest, to have the chance to renew our faith in Him, because during these times, it is to Him we must turn. Psalm 37, Verse 7…
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him…
Jeremiah, Chapter 29, Verse 11…
‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’
Young adults, relax. The Lord has you covered.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION
Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
LORD I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH
We begin our worship service today by worshipping the Lord in song. Please stand and join June Murphy in singing the opening song…LORD I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH.
LORD I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH
Lord, I lift Your name on high
Lord, I love to sing Your praises
I’m so glad You're in my life
I’m so glad You came to save us
LORD I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH
You came from heaven to earth
To show the way
From the earth to the cross
My debt to pay
From the cross to the grave
From the grave to the sky
Lord, I lift Your name on high
LORD I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH
Lord, I lift Your name on high
Lord, I love to sing Your praises
I’m so glad You're in my life
I’m so glad You came to save us
LORD I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH
You came from heaven to earth
To show the way
From the earth to the cross
My debt to pay
From the cross to the grave
From the grave to the sky
Lord, I lift Your name on high
LORD I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH
You came from heaven to earth
To show the way
From the earth to the cross
My debt to pay
From the cross to the grave
From the grave to the sky
Lord, I lift Your name on high
LORD I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH
Lord, I lift Your Name…Your Name up high
Lord I lift Your Name…Up High
Lord, I lift Your name…Your Name up high
Lord I lift Your Name…Up High
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...
We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute
truth...the Word of God…
Strengthen us when we are weak, direct us when we are confused, speak to us when we are at rest, fill us when we are empty, encourage us when we lose heart, give us courage when we face the great unknown, carry us through the transitions…calm our fears…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name...
Amen.
TODAY’S STUDY
Romans 3 It’s Law or Righteousness, But Not a Mixture of the Two
To the resident and non-resident members of Barah Ministries, to our guests who join us from time to time, and to all believers in Christ…may you know that God’s grace is with you and may you know that God’s peace is with you.
We turn our attention from sin to righteousness in our study of the book of Romans.
THE BOOK OF ROMANS
Righteousness: Your Justification is ONLY by Faith
Romans 3:21 to Romans 4:25
Turn to Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 21…let’s read the first section of this new passage together, Romans, Chapter 3, Verses 21 to 31…
<READ ROMANS, CHAPTER 3, VERSES 21 TO 31>
No one is justified, not one is declared righteous, no one can earn righteousness, by observing the Mosaic Law…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…no one will stand before the Lord and boast of his own righteousness. It’s the sobering conclusion of our last passage of study in Romans. Then that glorious word to begin Verse 21…BUT…to begin this passage…just as our young people are going through a transition, so are we…the transition from thinking that justification is available through following the rules of the Mosaic Law to the realization that we believers in Christ are part of the Age of Grace. The apostle Paul put it this way in Ephesians, Chapter 3, Verses 8 to 10…
To me (Paul), the very least of all saints (believers in Christ), this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ…
…and to bring to light what is the dispensation of the mystery (The Church Age…the Age of Grace) which for ages has been hidden in the God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who created all things…
…so that the manifold wisdom of God the Father might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
BUT! Before God the Father even took the first step in allowing the creation of creatures, GRACE was part of His thinking toward creatures whom He knew would reject Him and His plan and His Person. Yet in unconditional love toward His creatures, God the Father extended His grace. “Unfathomable” is a great way to describe these riches and this grace.
We go from being helpless and hopeless and nakedly vulnerable because of sin, to the possibility of righteousness through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Romans Chapter 3, Verse 21 is the beginning of God’s statement that justification is not by the law, but by faith…
But now apart from the Mosaic Law the righteousness from God has been made known, being witnessed to by the Mosaic Law and by the Old Testament Prophets…
This verse highlights that the law and righteousness are separate. It’s Law or Righteousness, but not a mixture of the two.
THE LAW and RIGHTEOUSNESS ARE SEPARATE
“But now apart from the law”
“Apart from the law” what? Righteousness! The Lord is telling us that righteousness is divine…that it can be obtained ONLY as a gift…that righteousness cannot be worked for by keeping the Mosaic Law. What the Lord is telling us is that we need to stop doing one thing and start doing
another.
Have you ever tried to teach someone a new skill? Have you ever tried to teach someone a new thought? I have. My whole life has been filled with such teaching.
Recently I have been working to help a basketball player change the way he shoots. I’ve seen a remarkable change in form…a remarkable change in result…a smooth shot…a ball whistling through the nets…tickling the twine…on a consistent basis. Then comes the game. Under the pressure of being defended…in the pressure of competition…the player reverts back to the previous way of shooting with a predictable result. Bad results.
Last year I asked you as a congregation to reject the teachings of Systematic Theology. I asked you to stop thinking that way. I asked you to adopt the teachings of the bible. I asked you to reject a series of doctrines from Systematic Theology…not biblical doctrines…but Systematic Theology doctrines…reversionism (the thought that you can go backward in the plan of God)…privacy (the thought that unity could ever be achieved without us being involved with each other)…rebound (the thought that you sins are not forgiven until you confess them)…the idea that you can go into and out of fellowship with God based on your sinning…the idea that you can go in and out of the plan of God though sinning (which is a rejection of your union with Christ)…the idea that you can lose the filling of the Spirit. I called those doctrines heresy. I called the teachers who are teaching them false teachers.
In teaching you to reject these Systematic Theology doctrines, I indicted myself because I taught those same things with passion at one time. I was asked, “How can these things be wrong if you taught them at one time?” Only a non-teacher would ask such a question. What teachers know is that they are teaching what they know at the time. As more things are revealed through study, and as we learn that our previous partial understanding of a subject was inaccurate, we reject the previous thoughts to adopt new ones. Or…we have the option of continuing to teach what is false so that we don’t look bad. That never really works.
This has been my experience for fifty years as a Christian, and it should be your experience, too…the experience of constant learning. I experience it from week to week. The moment you fixate, you stop learning. The moment you think you know a subject, the moment you begin becoming a dinosaur.
We see this phenomenon with computers and technology right now. There are so many people who refuse to learn technology because they are content with their current knowledge base. They have “antiqued” themselves. They are hopelessly out of touch. Romans Chapter 3, Verse 21…
But now apart from the Mosaic Law the righteousness from God has been made known, being witnessed to by the Mosaic Law and by the Old Testament Prophets…
When God tells you there is no righteousness in keeping the law…do you abandon the law and move to faith? You know the answer to the question is no. Such was the challenge posed to Martin Luther, the German monk and Roman Catholic priest. Luther taught that salvation and subsequent eternity in heaven is not earned by good deeds, by keeping the law, but is received only as a free gift of God’s grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Redeemer from sin and eternity in Hell. His teaching challenged the authority of the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge from God, not the Pope.
All of religion is based on the thought that some of the law is good, and oh yeah, faith in Christ is important, too. A mixture. It’s Law or Righteousness, but not a mixture of the two. The Lord is telling us in Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 21 that the law and righteousness are mutually exclusive. Hebrews, Chapter 7, Verses 18 and 19 say it this way…
For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment (the Mosaic Law) because of its weakness and uselessness (in obtaining
righteousness, or in making us priests)…
…(for the Mosaic Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope (righteousness through faith…a priesthood), through which we draw near to God the Father.
Take a five-minute break.
BREAK
As the Deer
When I Think About Home
Welcome back…
The Mosaic Law served a purpose…Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 20…
The Law came in so that the transgression would increase…
The Lord allows us to find Him through religion. Then He teaches us that religion is inadequate, and He directs us to move to the truth. The Lord allows us to find Him through legalism. Then He teaches us that legalism is inadequate, and He directs us to move to the truth. We are reluctant to give up the old to embrace the new. Maybe, like our young adults, we fear the transition. We don’t want to venture into that unknown region, so we cling tenaciously to old thoughts even when we know them to be wrong. If we give up religion, were will we go? If we give up legalism, where will we go? If we give up the law, where will we go? John, Chapter 8, Verse 32 tells us where to go…
“…you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
The place to go is to the truth. Self-righteous law obedience or the gift of righteousness? You have a choice. Turn to First Timothy, Chapter 1, Verse 2…Paul exhorts his beloved and faithful student Timothy…
To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines…
There are strange doctrines, and there are biblical doctrines. Do you know the difference? Are they the same? If they aren’t the doctrines that are biblical, they are wrong. Look…every religion has doctrines! But are they the SAME as biblical doctrines? Mostly, no!
… that you may instruct certain men not to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the dispensation of God which is by faith.
We are in the dispensation of grace through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for eternal life.
But the goal of our instruction is unconditional love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
If you want to hear a description of SELFLESS love, you couldn’t hear a better one than First Timothy, Chapter 1, Verse 5.
For some men, straying from these things (unconditional love, a pure heart, a good conscience, sincere faith), have turned aside to fruitless discussion (arguments)…
…wanting to be teachers of the Mosaic Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.
We are never so sure of ourselves as the time when we are dead wrong.
But we know that the Mosaic Law is good, IF one uses it lawfully…
Of course we don’t keep the law…we aren't even able to…
…realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person (anon-
lawbreaker), but (the law is made) for those who are lawless and rebellious,
for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers…
Now if you reflect on that last verse…and you think about all we learned form Romans 1:18 to Romans 3:20, you know that the ungodly and sinners, the unholy and profane, is not a reference to believers in Christ…but to unbelievers…the description of unbelievers continues…
…and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
It’s Law or Righteousness, but not a mixture of the two. It’s time for us as Christians to shed the shackles of the Law and to come to righteousness. It is not only a challenge of today, but as we can see from Scripture, it has always been a challenge. God is calling you to freedom. Will you come?
The Promises of the Lord Jesus Christ
Trust in the Lord and do good…
Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord…and He will do it.
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him…
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in (union with) Christ Jesus.
CLOSING SONG
In the Beginning
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us pray...
THANKS
INTERCESSION
PETITION
And we pray that You continue to shape the messages from this pulpit that are a reflection of Your unconditional love, Your Magnificent Person, Your perfect thinking, Your impeccable work, and Your indescribable essence...we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit, in Christ’s name, Amen.
Thanks for coming!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for listening!
www.barahministries.com
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