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Imagine
that—you’re driving down the road, your windows are up, and
the radio is turned up…You look in your rear-view mirror, and
you see those red and blue lights right behind you, flashing
away… So you pull over to the side of the road… The
policeman tells you that you were doing 70 miles per hour in a 40 mph
zone.
“License, registration, and insurance, please,” he says to
you. Then, he proceeds to go back to his car, and sit inside
forever.
He comes back with a written declaration, officially declaring that you have broken the law.
Now, one way or the other, you MUST make amends for this
violation!
Either you’ll pay the fine, or you’ll go to jail—but one
way or the other, you WILL pay off this fine, whether you
believe it or not! But man’s not the only one that has a
judicial system— God has one, too.
Let’s go back to the Garden of Eden, and hear what the One True Judge has to say:
Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to
tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of
every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you
eat of it you shall surely die." (Gen 2:15)
Hear the Law of Almighty God— The day that you break MY LAW, and
do what I command NOT to do, you shall surely die!
Now you might not die that day, but God means that the day in which you
sin, and break My law, you and I (Adam and God) shall be eternally
separated.
The government of the United States has a law… And Almighty God has a law, as well.
If you break the government’s law, you must pay the price…
When you break God’s law, there is ALSO a price to pay, plain and
simple. “For the wages of sin is death…” (Rom 6:23)
Our main verse tonight is this: Romans 7:24— "O wretched man that
I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?"
Let me help share with you the symbolism of what Paul has just said.
In Paul’s day, when he lived in Tarsus, if you committed a crime
worthy of death, this was what they did…They would take the body
of a dead man, and they would strap the body of the dead man onto the
one who was condemned. And the condemned man would have to lug around
that body of the dead man, until the diseased corpse would infect the
one living, and eventually, he would die as well!
So Paul cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver
me from this body of death?" I ask the same question tonight, Who shall
deliver US, you and I, from this body of death? Have we broken
God’s laws? Listen to the word…Psalm 14:1-3 "The fool has
said in his heart, 'There is no God.' they are corrupt, they have done
abominable works, there is none who does good. The LORD looks down from
heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who
understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have
together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one."
The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if
there any who understand, to see if there are any who seek
God…My friends, you and I don’t have what it takes on our
own to seek God! Eph 2:1 declares, "And you He made alive, who were
dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to
the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the
air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom
also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, just as the others."
You and I were FACE DOWN, on the bottom of the pool!
We weren’t drowning when God rescued us, we were face down dead!
But, the question still stands, who will deliver us from this body of
death that is strapped to us, and killing us?
As we saw in the Old Testament, God’s penalty for breaking His
law was death—Uncle Sam has his law, and Almighty God has HIS
law! Adam and Eve were created to live forever, in fellowship with God.
We have inherited their trespass!
Even if we don’t commit the same sin that Adam or Eve did, but we
still have inherited both their sinfulness, and their curse.This is why
little children die, and all of creation is corrupt, and bursting at
the seams, and perishing as we speak…"Therefore, just as through
one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death
passed to all men, because all sinned— (For until the law sin was
in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin
according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type
of Him who was to come. (Rom 5:12-14)
Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those (children, and the
like) who did not sin according to the likeness of the transgression of
Adam.
Who shall deliver us from this curse, and this stinking body of death that is strapped to us?
Let’s see if we can find the answer—let’s turn to
Romans chapter 3, verse 21…“But now the righteousness of
God apart from the law has been revealed, being witnessed to by the Law
and the Prophets…”But now, the righteousness apart from
the law has been revealed…This is the key, right here in this
verse.
The English word translated "righteous" is taken out of a Greek courtroom.
This word, Dikaios, means to be justified, or declared upright, or my favorite, NOT GUILTY!
The righteousness of God means that the Judge has heard your case, and
He has made a declaration…And that is, NOT GUILTY!
But how? What can WE do to ever inspire the Judge to make that declaration? What kind of works can I do?
Romans 9:16 declares, “So then it is not of him that wills, nor
of him that runs, but of God who shows mercy." So, you can’t do
it. This righteousness can not come about by any righteous deed. Doing
good cannot get you into heaven—if it could, then God made a
mistake, and Jesus died in vain.
Back to this text in Romans 3…21 "But now the righteousness of
God apart from the law has been revealed, being witnessed to by the Law
and the Prophets."
The righteousness of God has been revealed, and the entire Old
Testament bears witness to it. That’s what Paul meant here,
“being witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets." Jesus declared:
‘Then He said to them, "O you foolish, and slow of heart to
believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to
have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" (Luke
24:25,26) And also: “For I say to you that this which has been
written must still be accomplished in Me—the saying, 'And He was
numbered with the transgressors.' For the things concerning Me have a
fulfillment." (Luke 22:37) Jesus Himself tells us that its
true—that the Law and Prophets spoke of Christ! Once again,
Romans 3:21
21 “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law has been
revealed, being witnessed to by the Law and the
Prophets…”Meaning, another way has been established, so
that a person can stand in that courtroom, and even have a chance.Verse
22…"even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus
Christ…”Even the righteousness of God…How? How does
one acquire the righteousness of God?
Through faith in Jesus Christ.
Now we’re seeing what it means to be Dikaios, righteous before
the Judge—verse 23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Here we have it! How can we unstrap that body from off of us? How can we come to the Judge?
What does it cost?
How much is the fine??? Here’s 2 points:
1. We are justified FREELY
2. We are justified (declared FREE and CLEAR!) by the grace of God!
“For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should
boast.” (Eph 2:8,9) Ephesians 2:8 and 9 prove this:
1. We are saved by the grace of God, and not by our own works.
2. It is the gift of God.
3. We are justified by our faith in Jesus Christ!
And like the Scriptures bear witness, and I said earlier, you and I
were face down on the bottom of the pool…6 For when we were
weak, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
If you are good, and perfect, and without sin, then this message is not
for you. But, if you are in need of a Savior—A Deliverer—If
you think that you might have a hard time standing before that
Judge—“For when we were weak, in due time Christ died for
the ungodly. For scarcely on behalf of a righteous man will anyone die;
yet on behalf of the good, perhaps someone might even dare to die. But
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom 5:6-8)
While we were still sinners, while we were dead in trespass and sin;
God sent His Son down to earth, to die in our place!
Look at this verse, 2 Cor 5:21—"For He made Him who knew no sin
to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him."
Jesus took that penalty upon Himself, so that we could be restored to God, and have everlasting life!
But so that you and I could stand in that courtroom, there was only one way, and one way alone!
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
We will ALL stand before the judgment seat of Christ—But what will that Judge say when He looks at
you?
Who will He see?
Will He see you (clothed in your own unrighteousness), with that dead
body strapped to you, cursed and decaying daily? (YOU, not the dead
body!)
Or will He see Jesus Christ, His Son?
That’s what it means when you hear it said, “Clothed in His
righteosness.” That’s when you stand before God, and He
doesn’t see you, but He sees Jesus, His Son…God looks
right through you, and slams that gavel down, and makes a proclamation!
Who will the Judge see when He looks at you?
What will the proclamation be?
My friends, is God calling out to you today?
Is God asking you if you want that dead body that is strapped to you, taken off, once and for all?
Listen to the Apostle Paul—“…If you confess with
your mouth the Lord Jesus and you believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." It's that simple. Now
here comes that word again, in the next verse, Romans 10:10—10
For with the heart one believes resulting in RIGHTEOUSNESS, and with
the mouth one confesses, resulting in SALVATION." Trust in Jesus Christ
today! Nothing else matters. Everything else PALES in comparison!
No other decision in your life will ever compare to this!
Be justified before the Judge!
Let Him take away the dead body that is strapped to you, and killing you!
11 ‘For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him shall not be put to
shame." God bless you all.
Post-script.
This sermon was written a few years ago now, and the message is more important now more than ever!
My friends, time is running out on this age. The Age and Day of the Grace of God is rapidly coming to a close.
Now is the day to believe.
I believe with all of my heart, with every speck of knowledge that I
have ever accumulated (for whatever that's worth), that once the Lord
comes back for His own, then all is lost!
Nowhere does the Bible say that, after the Lord comes back, that a
person gets a second chance. (Read Luke 13:24, and 2 Thess 2:10)
If you have any questions about salvation, and about how to obtain
peace, peace with God, and the assurance that your name is written in
the Book of Life, please contact me. I will help you find the way!
God is calling YOU today.
Will you listen today to His call?
Peace of Christ to you all,
Paul Esposito
paul@gospelstudy.net
March 2007
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