1. Studies in Romans Presentation 08

2. Summary of Contents OPENING REMARKS: 1:1-17 BAD NEWS: Universality of sin and its condemnation 1:18 - 3:20 GOOD NEWS : A gospel that changes our relationship to God 3:21- 5:21 HOW TO GROW AS A CHRISTIAN : 6:1- 8-39 Sanctification 6:1-23 The Place of the Law 7:1-25 Life in the Spirit 8:1-39 A SHORT DETOUR : Questions concerning Israel 9:1-11:36 HOW A CHRISTIAN OUGHT TO LIVE : 12:1-15:13 In our various relationships 12:1-13:14 Dealing with the ‘weak’ and the ‘strong’ 14:1-15:13 PAUL’S GENTILE MINISTRY, POLICY AND PLANS : 15:14-33 GREETINGS AND CLOSING DOXOLOGY : 16:1-27 Presentation 08

3. Studies in Romans A Gospel that Changes our Relationship to God Chap. 3v21- 5v21 Presentation 08

4. Studies in Romans The Righteousness of God Part 2 Chap. 3v21- 31 Presentation 08

5. This justification becomes ours by faith. But what is saving faith? Imagine someone placing the key - the means of your escape from captivity - frustratingly a few inches beyond your reach. That is a frustration that many share. They agree they are sinners, and marvel at what God has done for sinners in Christ. But the key of redemption seems beyond their grasp. They do not know how to make it their own. But faith does not lie beyond us. What is it? A Gospel that Changes … 3:21ff The Righteousness of God 3:21-31 7. Faith stretches out for God’s provision. Presentation 08

6. But what is saving faith like? Some people give up on their quest for faith because they conclude faith must be something that you are born with. They say, ‘Some people are born with musical ability, others are born with green fingers, they are good at helping plants grow. While still others are born with faith and sadly I am not one of them’. But faith is not something we inherit at birth! A Gospel that Changes … 3:21ff The Righteousness of God 3:21-31 7. Faith stretches out for God’s provision. Presentation 08

7. Others think that faith is something that requires a certain level of intellect. ‘You have to be pretty smart to understand theology’. And so it is thought that people with a poor education or low I.Q. could never understand what is necessary to exercise faith. But Jesus said faith was something that little children could exercise and so a poor intellect does not disqualify us. A Gospel that Changes … 3:21ff The Righteousness of God 3:21-31 7. Faith stretches out for God’s provision. Presentation 08

8. Soren Kierkegaard the famous Danish Philosopher described faith as ‘a leap into the dark’. A kind of ‘hope and see what happens’ attitude. Clearly, this view associates faith with uncertainty. In contrast, Biblical faith is propositional, it is based on certain facts about God which he has disclosed about himself. A Gospel that Changes … 3:21ff The Righteousness of God 3:21-31 7. Faith stretches out for God’s provision. Presentation 08

9. Faith is a gift given by God cf. Eph. 2.8 ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God’. That said, it is a gift to be used and therefore must be seen as an active and not a passive thing. It is a stretching out towards God to receive and make our own what he offers. A Gospel that Changes … 3:21ff The Righteousness of God 3:21-31 7. Faith stretches out for God’s provision. Presentation 08

10. God doesn’t view our sins and say, ‘Let’s pretend they didn't happen’. He brings them into the open. He lays them upon his Son, who bears their penalty. Because of this, God can remain just, v26, and ‘justify,’ or declare as righteous all, who place their faith in him. Jesus’ sacrifice operates retrospectively for all the O.T. saints and prospectively for those yet to believe. The cross becomes an exhibition God’s righteousness. God’s justice is satisfied for Jesus has ‘paid in full’ the price of our sin. A Gospel that Changes … 3:21ff The Righteousness of God: Conclusions 1. God’s provision does not contradict his justice. v26 Presentation 08

11. The exercise of faith is necessary because the justification that Jesus’ death procured is not automatically given to all men. We not like bottles in a bottling plant with the ‘label of justification’ being stuck on one after another. God will not drag men and women in to his kingdom against their wills. A Gospel that Changes … 3:21ff The Righteousness of God: Conclusions 2. It is not automatically and universally applied. Presentation 08

12. 3. It is a great leveller in humanity There is no room for elitism. Why? Because the only thing we bring to our justification is the sin that has made it necessary. We have no room to boast. We are no better than anyone else. God’s righteousness is not a reward given to the deserving but a gift to those who have recognised that their best efforts are not good enough for God. A Gospel that Changes … 3:21ff The Righteousness of God: Conclusions 3. It is a great leveller in humanity Presentation 08

13. God's solution works hand in hand with the law. The law reveals God's standard. It convinces man that he has fallen short of that standard. It creates a consciousness of sin that drives him to find a solution outside his own failed attempts at law keeping. Once God's solution, is found his obligation to the law remains but his relationship to it is different. The law no longer condemns him as a sinner estranged from God. It now encourages him to an obedience that will bring delight to his heavenly Father. A Gospel that Changes … 3:21ff The Righteousness of God: Conclusions 4. It upholds the law changing man’s relationship to it. Presentation 08

14. “The law sends us to the gospel that we might be justified, and the gospel sends us to the law again to ask, what is our duty, being justified?” Samuel Bolton A Gospel that Changes … 3:21ff The Righteousness of God: Conclusions Presentation 08