Romans 119: Romans 3 - Righteousness Means God Always Knows and Does the Perfect ThingWelcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.
We study the bible study to become mature Christians. Hebrews, Chapter 6, beginning at Verse 1 says…
HEB 6:1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us believers in Christ press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and a foundation of faith toward God...
In other words, let’s not attempt the impossible. For the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ…we know about repentance…we responded to the gospel message…we changed our minds about Christ and we are born again to a living hope…once that happens, we are not to revisit the issue of repentance. It is settled once and for all. Let’s not try to recreate a salvation we already possess.
HEB 6:2 …(instead, let us believers in Christ press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation) of instruction (in elementary truths) about washings (baptisms) and (about) laying on of hands, and (about) the resurrection of the dead and (about) eternal judgment.
If there were really a thing called “backsliding” … if there were really a thing called “reversionism” … the idea of moving backward in the Plan of God…and of course there isn’t…those are lies from the pit of hell, and a direct attack on the character of God the Holy Spirit and the entire Godhead…what “backsliding” and “reversionism” would really be is the constant return to, the constant rehashing of, the elementary things, like sin and the law. This is what most Christians settle for as the Christian Way of life. God wants us to mature. Hebrews, Chapter 6, Verse 3…
HEB 6:3 And this (advance to maturity) we will do, if God permits, and of course He does.
Pastors know that your growth comes from God the Holy Spirit and neither from our teaching nor our exhortation. We count on God, both for your spiritual growth and for our own spiritual growth. First Corinthians, Chapter 3, Verse 7 says…
1CO 3:7 So then neither the one who plants (Paul) nor the one who waters (Apollos) is anything, but it is God the Father who is something because it is He who causes the growth.
Back to Hebrews, Chapter 6, at Verse 4…
HEB 6:4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift (of salvation) and have been made partakers of God the Holy Spirit (through the baptism of the Spirit which places believers in union with Christ)…
HEB 6:5 …and have tasted the good Word of God and the enabling powers of the age to come…
HEB 6:6 …and then have fallen away (back into sin and into the law), it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
Falling away is a retreat into the slavery of the law, after having once tasted freedom! Once we are in union with Christ, we are always in union with Christ. We believers in Christ put the Lord to shame when we affirm, especially publicly, that there is something more we must do to gain God’s approval after we are saved. God saved us. God loves us. God accepts us.
Meaningless rituals are not the Christian Way of Life. Maturity does not come from chasing our tails. Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 14… ROM 6:14 For the sin nature shall not have sovereignty over you believers in Christ, for you are not under the sphere of the law but you are under the sphere of grace.
The Christian Way of Life is not lived on the surface. Rituals are lifeless. Rituals are a shadow. Rituals are the law. Righteousness is the real thing. We come together today to celebrate the gift of righteousness.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
YOU ARE MY KING
We begin our worship service today by worshipping the Lord in song. Please stand and join June Murphy in singing the opening song…YOU ARE MY KING.
YOU ARE MY KING
I’m forgiven, because you were forsaken I’m accepted, You were condemned I’m alive and well, your spirit is within me Because you died and rose again.
YOU ARE MY KING
I’m forgiven, because you were forsaken I’m accepted, You were condemned I’m alive and well, your spirit is within me Because you died and rose again.
YOU ARE MY KING
Amazing love, how can it be? That you my King would die for me. Amazing love, I know it’s true! It’s my joy to honor you. In all I do, I honor you.
YOU ARE MY KING
I’m forgiven, because you were forsaken I’m accepted, You were condemned I’m alive and well, your spirit is within me Because you died and rose again.
YOU ARE MY KING
Amazing love, how can it be? That you my King would die for me. Amazing love, I know it’s true! It’s my joy to honor you. In all I do, I honor you.
YOU ARE MY KING
You are my King You are my King Jesus, you are my King Jesus, you are my King.
YOU ARE MY KING
Amazing love, how can it be? That you my King would die for me. Amazing love, I know it’s true! It’s my joy to honor you. In all I do, I honor you.
YOU ARE MY KING
Amazing love, how can it be? That you my King would die for me. Amazing love, I know it’s true! It’s my joy to honor you. In all I do, I honor you.
YOU ARE MY KING
In all I do, I honor you In all I do, I honor you In all I do, I honor you
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...
We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute truth...the Word of God…
Help us to know in the depths of our hearts that You love us unconditionally…help us to enjoy it that we have Your righteousness…free us from the slavery of thoughts that separate us from You…
More than anything, when we sin, Father we want to know that you accept us…that we are not disappointing You…that You will not turn Your back on us…You have given us Your very own righteousness as a pledge that the matter of how You see us and how you feel about us is settled once and for all time…
May all who hear Your message today abandon their confidence in self and place their total confidence in You and Your Word…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name... Amen.
TODAY’S STUDY Romans 3 Righteousness Means God Always Knows and Does the Perfect Thing
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 in your hearts that God’s grace is with you and may you know hearts that God’s peace is with you. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, God has nothing against you. You have His peace. THE BOOK OF ROMANS Righteousness: Your Justification is ONLY by Faith
Romans 3:21 to Romans 4:25
We have turned our attention from works and self-righteousness to grace and God’s divine righteousness. Turn to Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 21…let’s read this passage together, Romans, Chapter 3, Verses 21 to 31…
<READ ROMANS, CHAPTER 3, VERSES 21 TO 31>
We are looking into the depths of righteousness…
ROM 3:21 But now apart from the Mosaic Law THE RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM GOD has been made clearly visible…
If you wanted to describe “the righteousness from God” in a few words, this would do it…God IS righteousness…in His very person! That means God always knows the absolutely perfect thing to do…and God always does the absolutely perfect thing. Why? Because God is absolutely perfect!
It was an absolutely perfect decision for the righteousness of God to release you from responsibility for the law and from responsibility for your sins. Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 21…
2CO 5:21 God the Father made the Lord Jesus Christ, who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might BECOME the righteousness of God in union with Him.
It was an absolutely perfect decision for the righteousness of God to ask you to trust Him for everything. Why? Because God, who created you, always knows exactly what is perfect for you, and God always does what is absolutely perfect for you. Do you trust God for everything? John, Chapter 19, Verse 30 says…
JOH 19:30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine on the Cross, He said, “It is finished!” And Jesus bowed His head and gave up His spirit into the hands of God the Father.
“It is finished” is as much a commentary on the law as it is on our salvation. The law is finished. It was finished from eternity past and it is finished forever. Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 21…
ROM 3:21 But now…apart from the law…
Our salvation was finished from eternity past and it is finished forever. God took care of everything… Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 31 and 32…
ROM 8:31 What then shall we say (face) to (face with) these things (God the Father works together for our good…foreknowledge, predestination, conformity to His Son, being called, being justified, and being glorified)? If God the Father is for us, and He is, who is effective against us?
ROM 8:32 God the Father, who did not spare His own Son, but instead delivered Him over for us all, how will the Father not also with our union with the Son freely give us all things?
As believers in Christ, we are ONE with the Lord Jesus Christ. The two of us have become one flesh since the moment of salvation. We are inseparable from Him. We have an unbreakable relationship with Him, sponsored by God the Father. John, Chapter 3, Verse 16 says…
JOH 3:16 For God the Father so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Do you know what that really means? Can you feel what that really means? Can you comprehend what God the Father has done for you? John, Chapter 3, Verse 16 said another way…
JOH 3:16 For God the Father loved all of His creatures unconditionally…in fact He loved them so much, that this perfect Father, who always knows and does the perfect thing, gave His perfect and uniquely born Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, a Person the Father is completely satisfied with, that whoever believes in the Him through faith alone, shall not perish in the Lake of Fire, but instead will be the instant possessor of eternal life.
God the Father’s righteousness is perfectly satisfied by His perfect Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Father is ONLY satisfied by the Son’s perfectly satisfactory payment on our behalf…because Christ is the ONLY payment for sin that has ever mattered, and He has paid for sin once and for all time…your actions on your own behalf concerning sin are irrelevant and insulting to God…an attack on His perfect work on your behalf… Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 21…
ROM 3:21 But now apart from the Mosaic Law the righteousness from God has been made clearly visible, being witnessed to by the Mosaic Law in sacrificial offerings and being witnessed to by the Old Testament Prophets in direct statements…
The righteousness that is from God is not just apart from the Mosaic Law…it’s apart from ALL law…God has law, but law is hardly the point of the Christian life…there is THE LIFE beyond right and wrong with God…the “apart from the law” life. Christ IS the life. John, Chapter 14, Verse 6…
JOH 14:6 Jesus said to Thomas, “I am the way, and the truth, and THE LIFE; no one comes to the Father but through believing in Me.”
ROM 3:21 But now apart from the Mosaic Law the righteousness from God has been made clearly visible, being witnessed to by the Mosaic Law in sacrificial offerings and being witnessed to by the Old Testament Prophets in direct statements…
ROM 3:22 …a righteousness that comes as a gift from God the Father through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for all those who believe (for whosoever); for there is no distinction…
Take a five-minute break and we’ll delve into the core of the righteousness that we have from God.
BREAK Yes we all Agree Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Welcome back!
Righteousness means God always knows and does the perfect thing! The Lord Jesus Christ IS your righteousness. You are given Christ at the moment of salvation, and as a result of being in union with Him, He becomes your righteousness. Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 21…
2CO 5:21 God the Father made the Lord Jesus Christ, who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might BECOME the righteousness of God in union with Him.
You have BECOME. So you can BE. God always thinks and acts in righteousness. God always thinks and act in perfection. He knew just exactly what to do on your behalf.
Putting the past in the past is perhaps the hardest thing in the world for Christians to do. We’d rather dragging the past with us into the future. When we drag the past into the future, it’s called baggage. We carry things with us that have no use to us now.
Righteousness means God always knows and does the perfect thing!
As a habit, I have always looked back to the past. Obsessively, I rehash the past in my mind. I watch its movie over and over and I am always hoping for a different outcome to the movie. I have always wondered what I could do to change everything I don’t like about my past. I think about situations and relationship, and I obsess over how I could have handled them differently. Am I alone in this? If I am not alone in this, say Amen!
For example, I was thinking about Barah Ministries.
If all the people who have been part of Barah Ministries for the last seven years, both resident and non-resident, were here right now, right this minute, our new church would be quite full. If only they hadn’t been so disappointed that the Pastor is a jerk. I see their faces in a parade in my mind. I care for them. I wonder where they are. I mutter to myself…<I want to tell you my secret now…I see dead people…I see them all the time…they’re everywhere.>
When I look over my shoulder to the past, I miss what is right in front of me right now, and I stifle my future. God doesn’t want me to do this, and He doesn’t want you to do this either.
God is perfect. You are His creature. As a believer in Christ, He has a perfect plan for your life. Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verse 10…
EPH 2:10 For we believers in Christ are His workmanship, created in union with Christ Jesus for divine good works, which God the Father prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Change is a part of God’s plan for your life. Endings. Transitions. Beginnings. Yet when God comes along and says enough is enough to something in our lives, and removes a relationship or a situation from our lives, we go into a conniption fit. There’s a great book on the subject of change called “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson. It’s a quick read, and next to the bible, probably one of the most purchased books in human history.
“Who Moved My Cheese?” is an introspective tale written in the style of a parable. It describes change, and four typical reactions to change by two mice (Sniff and Scurry) and two little people (Hem And Haw) during their hunt for cheese.
One day Sniff and Scurry arrive at Cheese Station C to find no cheese left, but they are not surprised. Noticing the cheese supply dwindling for some time, they had mentally prepared beforehand for the arduous but inevitable task of finding more cheese. Leaving Cheese Station C behind, they begin their hunt for new cheese together.
Later that day, Hem and Haw arrive at Cheese Station C only to find the same thing, no cheese. Angered and annoyed, Hem whines, “Who moved my cheese?” The humans have counted on the cheese supply to be constant, and so are unprepared for the eventuality of running out of cheese. After deciding that the cheese is indeed gone, they get angry at the unfairness of the situation and both go home starved. Returning the next day, Hem and Haw find the same cheeseless Cheese Station. Starting to realize the situation at hand, Haw begins the search for new cheese. But Hem is dead set in his victimized mindset and dismisses Haw’s proposal to join him. He wants someone to put his cheese back. The Lord says we are much like Hem…in Luke, Chapter 5, Verse 37…
LUK 5:37 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.”
LUK 5:38 “But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.”
LUK 5:39 “And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”
We love our old situations, even when they don’t work for us.
We want our selfish and knuckleheaded children to value us again. We want old abusive relationships to be repaired. To hell with the real world, we want to stay in college. We want our old jobs back after we’re fired. We want our old friends who have moved on, to come back into our lives, even though we really never liked them or trusted them. We want to cling to old teachings. We settle for our old bodies. No matter how many times we see a situation isn’t working us, a few months later we’ll go back into the same situation, thinking that somehow things will be different this time. But things aren’t different. We refuse to see things as they are…the cheese has moved…and it’s not coming back…no one is going to put the cheese back. We love consorting with the old dead self, and we stay as far away from the new self, the new creature as we can. Luke, Chapter 5, Verse 39…
LUK 5:39 “And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”
I am officially on strike against the past. Please join me on the picket line. God bids us to think this way…
PHI 3:13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead…
PHI 3:14 …I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
If a perfect God, who always does a perfect thing, removes a person from our lives, removes a situation from our lives, isn’t it a good idea to enjoy the perfection? Revelation, Chapter 3, Verse 10…
REV 3:10 ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.’
It’s important not to distort this verse, and to get the depth of its meaning. When you are sabotaging your own life with your own decisions and running a way from responsibilities and relationships, you can hardly call that an open door. When God has plans for you in other places, He will initiate the open door…you will clearly see it…and you do well to follow without looking back. Such is the situation of Barah Ministries. Such is your situation as a Christian. When God gave you believers in Christ His own righteousness, it was an open door. It means something. Do you know what it means? Are you living it?
The Promises of the Lord Jesus Christ
PSA 37:3 Trust in the Lord and do good…
PSA 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.
PSA 37:5 Commit your way to the Lord…and He will do it.
PSA 37:7 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him…
PHI 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in (union with) Christ Jesus.
CLOSING SONG It is Well with My Soul
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!
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