January 10, 2016

Pastor Dan’s Message
Romans 5:1

Turning Point Wesleyan Church

As a review of last weeks message, for us to place our focus upon God, we need to follow these 6 steps.

1.     Seek Christ

2.    Grow in Love with God

3.    Follow Jesus in Prayer

4.    Act NOW and walk closely with Him

5.    Eliminate All Competition

6.    When we stray, Confess & then Repeat

Today’s Scripture is found in the Book of Romans Chapter 5. We are returning to this Book and picking up where we had left off.

Romans 5:1 (ESV)

5:1 – “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Isn’t Today’s Scripture Just Great News?

First and foremost, THE WAR IS OVER!

Hostilities have ceased!

NO LONGER ARE WE THE ENEMIES of God!

We now have “Peace with God!”

And NOW, We are accepted by Him!

We have been changed from BEING FOES to BEING FRIENDS AND FAMILY, by the Miracle of GRACE. And since we have been made righteous by God, we can now enjoy the permanent benefits of our favorable position with God. Now we are looking forward with great anticipation of what is yet to come. Our time when we can be in the presence of our Glorious God.

In Colossians 1:27 and 3:4, God explains this change.

“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Within Our Scripture for today, Romans 5:1, there are 4 words which sets off the Truth of the meaning of this entire passage.

The First word is the “THEREFORE”:

As we read the Bible, when we come across a “Therefore”, we need to recognize that it is a stronghold of the Truth within the Scripture. Just Like this one, it sets the stage for us to begin a new theme within the Book of Romans.

With this THEREFORE, Paul is summing up all of what he has already lead us through and has taught us so far. This raps up all what we have covered starting at the beginning of the Book and going all the way through Chapter 4.  

So far, We have learned that:

1.    We all need to be saved by God’s Grace.

2.    Salvation comes ONLY through Trusting in Jesus Christ, the Messiah’s Death and Resurrection.

3.    We cannot be saved by what we do. By Following the Law, it has only showed us our sin. But it is through this Faith in Jesus which we are restored.

4.    And God also shared something with us that really isn’t something new.  

God’s Plan is and has always been open to include all of us, not just the Jews or the Greek but all mankind.

Jesus wants us all, that is Everyone to be with Him in His Kingdom

By Paul using this Therefore here, found at the beginning of Chapter 5 he is saying that all of these things are summed up within these next few words.

It is in the Action of Trust!

It is in Our Action of Faith!

“Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul uses many “THERFORES” in the writing of the Book of Romans but there are a few which play a more important role than the rest of them.

The 1st major ‘Therefore’ can be found in Verse 3:20

“Therefore by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

We have gained Knowledge through the Law.

1.    The way to God is through the Law.

2.    No one can live a life without at least breaking one of these laws.

3.    And if someone even just breaks one of these laws then he belongs to sin.

The 2nd major ‘THEREFORE’ is found within our verse of today, 5:1.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We are JUSTIFIED BY FAITH and we have Peace with God.

Then the 3rd major ‘THEREFORE’ is found in verse 8:1:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And then the 4th one is found at the end of the Book. It is in Verse 12:1. Therefore, by the mercies of God, Present your bodies as living sacrifices.

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

The second word which helps us understand the Truth within our scripture today is saying is the word “PEACE”.

There are many different types of Peace:

1.    World Peace:

First of all, we have the thought of World Peace.

I remember as a youngster, young adults, usually sporting long hair, would wear tie-died  tee-shirts and they would sit around, usually blocking something in the name of a non-violent sit-ins to protest the war.

Since my experience in this in the early days of the Vietnam War, people still try to express themselves in some type of protest. It may be by simply by not purchasing someone’s products or that or by some other means.

But my friends, let me explain this. As long as there is Sin on this earth, there will also be no peace on this earth. Not until that day when our Lord comes from the East to settle all accounts with all.

2.    Tranquility of the Soul - Peace:

We also have what we call: Tranquility of the Soul – Peace.

In John 14:27, we hear Jesus’ words tell us of this peace –

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

I believe some of us here may have experienced this type of peace. This Peace comes to those who Rest and Commit their lives to Him and In Doing His Good Will. I know I have been graced with this type of peace from time to time but it seems that when we are under pressure or when we grow weary, this peace alludes us but it gives us Hope to know that it is always available to us if we search for it.

Then we have the Peace which Paul writes about in Philippians 4:7. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” And since Paul says that it surpasses all of our understanding, we really don’t know what type of peace which he is writing about.

But finally there is the type of peace which Paul writes about in Romans 5:1.

‘The Peace with God’. Paul makes it very clear that we have Peace. Peace with God through Jesus Christ. Now, this is the type of peace which comes to your soul when you trust in Jesus Christ as your savior and you know that God no longer has any charge against you. And you are no longer guilty and God, who was at one time against you is now for you. And you have a salvation which is both, permanent and eternal. That is the peace which comes because of sins being forgiven and everything is made right between you and God because of what? You will notice time and time again, Paul mentions that this Peace comes from and only is from the Blood of Christ’s Cross. That means that everything is now made right between your soul and God.

I always find it easier to understand something and to retain information from it if I can see the whole picture first. When Adam and Eve sinned, through that sin, it actually made them run away from God. And not only did they run away from God but because of sin, God was forced to turn around and place His Back towards mankind. Man continued to run from God and God could not look upon man until it was Jesus’ time. It wasn’t until Jesus’ death on that cross that things were able to change. Through Christ’s death and Resurrection, Jesus became the: go between, the bridge, the intercessor between man and God the Father. It was at that time when God was able to turn once again back and see mankind. Man and God were once again able see each other face to Face. What a wonderful wonder that is.

Once again, we can hear our Heavenly Father say Come, Come and be with Me.

Be my children once again. Come and find rest in Me. The Rest of Redemption.

The 3rd word we have in today’s scripture which is key to the Truth is the word “JUSTIFIED”.

We are justified as we believe. Justification is not a process. It means that God declares to be righteous whoever believes in Christ. The act of grace by which God pardons our sins and accepts us as righteous because of the Righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Jesus allows His Righteousness to be credited to us, to be given into the believer’s account.

This is the wonderful act which is known as JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH or BEING JUSTIFIED THROUGH FAITH.

Believers do not become righteous through their own faith. But rather, – we are declared righteous by God. This action, “freely by His Grace” cannot be overlooked.

We are justified “Without a cause”, Or “without a reason”  and for this Justification is truly a Gift.

It is Pure, And Abundant. It is Shocking and it’s Beyond ALL Understanding type of Grace!

Our Justification originates in and from the Loving Heart of our God the Father Himself.

This Justification is through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. It is an act of ransoming us away from sin and it carries with it the Truth of never again having to come into this type of bondage of sin again. The price of this Justification has been paid by Jesus in the outpouring of His Blood. He paid the price for you and me.

1 Peter 1:18-19 (ESV) explains this:

“Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

Yes, Jesus paid enough for the sins of the whole world so that faith and righteousness is secured forever.

And the 4th and last word which helps us understand the TRUTH clearer is the word “FAITH”.

Faith, or more accurately, YOUR FAITH is the ONLY Key Word which Relates to your actions Or of the ways of your thinking. Yet This Faith, Your FAITH is the key which STARTS and MAINTAINS your Salvation. So, I ask you. How is your Faith?

This is an important question.

Being that your Faith in God is what starts and maintains your salvation.

How Strong is your Faith? It can be very difficult for us to evaluate ourselves accurately.

When asked by others, we often focus upon and possibly even exaggerate our positives features. All the while we forget about all of our short comings. And we almost always use the bases of how we judging ourselves upon our opinion of how we feel others are doing.

For an example of this, we are using a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most.

And since I feel that Greg is most certainly a 5 or 6, and with me being at least 20 to 30% better than him, that would put me somewhere between a strong 7 to a possible 9 or so. Isn’t that how we measure things?

But God exposes the Truth for us. In Proverbs 30:12, He says

“There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth.”

And in Proverbs 20:6, He also says

“Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man - who can find?”

Some questions which may help us to put together a better understanding of ourselves may include:

·         How diligently do you seek and pursue a closer walk with God each day?

·         How much time and effort do you spend in His Word and in prayer each week?

·         Do you make an effort to remember and apply the Word of God after you hear it or do you usually walk away and forget it?

·         How quickly do you obey God when He tells you to do something?

·         When God reveals sin in your life, how quickly do you confess and repent of it?

·         If you knew that Jesus was coming in 3 days:

·         What sins would you confess,

·         Who would you forgive

·         And what changes would you put in your life?

So I believe the question is: how should one accurately judge how their FAITH is doing?

In James 1:22 God says “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

In Revelation 3:14-22, God tells us something even more special for us to take to our heart and to live by.

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19) Those whom I love, I reprove (like scold or accuse) and discipline (that is to make a modification or to make an adjustment to), so be zealous (be passionate, do with a rush) and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Here are some more reflective questions to use when judging your FAITH Level.

Do you always know when you are drifting away from God? How does your life slowly become lukewarm the further you drift from the Source of Living Water? What evidences of lukewarm living do you see in other believer’s lives today? What do you see within yours? According to Verse 19, what is Jesus telling you to do to come back to Him?

19) Those whom I love, I reprove  and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

My folks have a small farm and together, they raise many different types of birds of feathers. One of which are Top Hat chickens. These chickens have feathers which grow like wild hats and their feathers hang down and cover their eyes so that they cannot see where they are going. Last week, Tuesday, Dad observed one of these Roosters had made its way on the other side of the windbreak and he couldn’t find his way back. He continued to walk back and forth all the while yelling for help. Dad went over and easily caught him, brought him back over with the rest but before letting him go, he clipped his hat feathers. The next day, as my Dad was trying to get them all back into the pen for the night, a top hat rooster, I believe it was the same one, didn’t want to go in. He was the last one and dad made 4 to 5 attempts to get him to go in but each time when he got close, he ran the other direction. Them later that night, an owl swooped down and killed him.

See, Jesus says

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

But He goes on and says:

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Jesus is at your door knocking.

If you open, He will come in and eat with you.

He wants you to get to know Him.

But it is only to those who conquers, that He will grant them a seat by Him.

The Holy Spirit is with us all but it is up to us to listen.

Remember, your FAITH LEVEL is Yours and now one else’s.

It is Your Key to Your Salvation.

All the rest is already in place for you.

But it is up to you.

Do you accept and go in or do you run away?

The choice is yours to make.