The Old, Old Story: Part 3

Based on selected Scripture
Adapted from a sermon preached September 5, 2010
Click here for Part 1
Click here for Part 2

Thus far we’ve seen that the old, old story is a lot older than we usually think. But what is that old story about? What is the Gospel – the Good News – of Jesus Christ?

Well, the shortest and easiest answer is given to us by the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:16…

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Beloved, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God for salvation. It’s God’s answer – his response – to our sin and sinfulness, our fallenness, our brokenness, our rebellion, our foolishness, our hurts, our pain, our suffering, our lostness.

You see, God doesn’t sit in heaven detached from his creation. Even though he created us in his image and declared that his creation was good – very good in fact – we along with (and because of) our first parents Adam and Eve – have gone our own way. We’ve rebelled against God. We’ve declared ourselves in charge and have resisted him.

And even though God in his perfect holiness and righteousness would’ve been justified in pouring out his wrath upon us, in his grace he poured out his love upon us instead.

As the Scriptures that we’ve already read tell us, God sent his deeply beloved, one and only Son… to live, to die, and to be raised for us. Here’s how Paul describes the Gospel…

Romans 3:21-26 – But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. [22] This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, [23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24] and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. [25] God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished– [26] he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

So, you see, our sinfulness, and our rebellion, and our foolishness, and our willfulness, were paid for (atoned for) on the Cross by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scripture says that Jesus who knew no sin became sin for us.

And so, because of that great expression of love, we can know God. We can enter into a personal, deep, and abiding relationship with God. We can actually start becoming more and more like Christ in our daily lives. We can be made whole. We can receive both abundant and everlasting life. But it’s not automatic.

This is where we have to choose to enter into the story. You see… we must respond. We can’t just hear the old, old story of God’s good news and simply smile and say, “Well, that’s a nice story.” There’s no place for indifference to this story. We must BELIEVE the story.

We must place our faith – our trust – in Christ: in who he is (the very Son of God – Son, Savior, Lord).

We must trust in his Work on our behalf – his death upon the Cross for our sin and in his resurrection from the dead for our salvation.

We must repent – which means to turn away from our sinfulness, our own way, our selfishness, our rebellion, and we must turn toward God in love and faithfulness. Now, turning away from sin and turning toward God doesn’t earn us our salvation. Our salvation is a gift from God, just as Jesus is a gift to us. But it’s a gift we must open, so to speak. We must respond to it. We must receive it.

And when we do, not only are we declared righteous before a holy God, but our lives will begin to bear fruit. We’ll show that we really love and trust God and his Son Jesus Christ by seeking to live for him, desiring him, obeying him, and by loving our neighbors.

Faith and Repentance aren’t two separate things. They are two aspects of the same thing. They are, if you will, two sides of the same coin.

That’s why Jesus says in Mark 1:15, …”Repent and believe the good news!”

Beloved, this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and there is no other.

Next time we’ll conclude by showing how the old, old story of the Gospel and Holy Communion connect.

Grace and Truth,
Dale

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Grace That Saves (Justifying Grace): Part 4

Well, secondly, and finally, we’re called to place our trust or faith in God as he’s revealed himself through his Son Jesus Christ.

Even though the Pharisee practiced all the rules of morality and lived a very religious life, he wasn’t right with God. All of his acts were just that – acts. They were external things. They looked good from the outside, but there was no concern about a proper inward attitude and motivation of the heart. His good works weren’t done out of a sense of gratitude or obedience to God and for God’s glory, but for other motives. It was almost as though he practiced all of his good deeds so that he could brag about how good he was. But it was in the midst of his boasting that he revealed his sins of pride, arrogance and self-reliance. He didn’t realize that God not only looks at the outward things, but also at the heart – the inward things. God cares about why you do what you do.

But, you see, the tax collector acknowledged his total dependence upon God’s mercy. He knew he couldn’t do it himself. There’s only one person who ever lived a perfect and sinless life, and that’s Jesus Christ.

Faith means that you have to trust in his life of perfect obedience to God’s will. It means that you have to trust in Christ’s death on the cross for the cleansing of your sins. That’s why saving faith – what it means to be a true Christian – isn’t based on anything we’ve done or could ever do. It’s about trusting God and the saving work of Jesus Christ.

Picture a man who’s just fallen off a cliff. And as he falls to his certain death, he reaches out in desperation – and grabs a small limb. Now, he knows the limb won’t hold him very long. But he’s hanging on for dear life. And as he looks up he sees how steep the cliff is – and he knows he could never climb up. And as he looks down, he sees the jagged peaks just waiting for the inevitable. So he begins to panic.

And suddenly he sees an angelic figure floating above him. And so he screams– “SAVE ME, SAVE ME!”

“Do you believe I can save you?” the Angel asks. The man sees the powerful wings, the mighty arms, so he says: “Yes, I believe you can save me.” “Do you believe I will save you?” the angels asks. The man sees the compassionate, merciful face of the angel, and so he cries out, “Yes, yes, I believe!”

“Well then,” the angels says: “Let go!” Still hanging on for dear life, the man yells back: “Is there anybody else up there?!” (Ken Boa, I’m Glad You Asked)

Beloved, there’s no use having the right information, or even believing that it’s true, if you don’t put your personal trust in what you know.

This past week Suzanne and Grant (who’s two years old) have been going to swim lessons at the YMCA. Usually Suzanne gets in the water first and then calls to Grant to jump to her. Now, Grant can see Suzanne standing there right in front of him. He knows Suzanne can catch him. More than that, even at two years of age, Grant knows that Suzanne loves him and will catch him. But if Grant never jumps to her, that would show that he wasn’t really committed to that knowledge. In other words, he would show that he didn’t really trust her. He had to jump. (and he did, by the way – OFTEN!!)

The tax collector turned his back on his sin and turned his face toward God as he sought forgiveness. He placed his trust in God.

The Pharisee spent his time giving God his spiritual resume – telling God how wonderful and religious he was. He trusted himself.

So I ask you: Which one are you? The Pharisee or the tax collector?

Sola Gratia,
Dale

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Grace That Saves (Justifying Grace): Part 3

First of all, there’s the need to repent. But, as you’ve probably discovered in your own life, you have to recognize that you’ve sinned before you can ask for forgiveness. It’s sort of like needing to know we’re sick before we go to the doctor to get better. If you don’t know you’re sick, you probably won’t go see the doctor.

That’s why Scripture doesn’t beat around the bush letting us know that we’re fallen and broken individuals. Scripture clearly tells us that we as sinners owe an impossible debt. But as I said, not everyone recognizes this debt. Not everyone realizes that they are lost in sin. Certainly the Pharisee didn’t realize it. He was too caught up in how good he thought he was. Sadly, there are a lot of people who are like my dog Max was a few years ago when he got lost.

Now, let me just say that Max was a great dog. I got Max while I was serving my first church 17 years ago. We pretty much saved each other. I found him as a puppy at the Humane Society, and saved him from an uncertain future. And he saved me from extreme loneliness. (I had not yet fallen madly in love with Suzanne.)

Well, right after the “Storm of the Century,” in 1993, Max and I made our way to Orange Park to visit my mom and dad. Max loved to run around their back yard. And since it was fenced in, I’d just let him stay out there. On this particular day, my folks and I decided to go off for a little while… and so I just left Max in the back yard to run around and play. About two-and-a-half hours later we got back home, only to find that Max was missing. Part of the fence had blown over because of the storm, but we didn’t know it.

I called and called for Max, but there was no response. I looked all around the neighborhood, but there was just no sign of Max anywhere. He was lost. And so I began to panic. It was a Friday afternoon at rush hour, and my parents live near Blanding Blvd., which on a good day is, well, demon-possessed. Blanding is bad enough, even when you know your way around. Well Max didn’t know his way around at all. And so I got really worried.

I decided I needed to get into my truck and drive around some of the neighborhoods that were near my parents’ house. Well, I finally got to the neighborhood that was directly behind the woods that were right behind my parents’ house. I drove up and down the streets of the neighborhood very slowly, calling out for Max. But no luck. Suddenly, as I pulled down the last street of the neighborhood I saw something that caught my eye.

There were some kids down the street throwing a stick to a dog. And as I got closer and closer, I recognized who it was; it was Max. I had been scared to death about his being lost, and the kids told me he had been there for about 30 minutes… playing catch with them. He was having a great time! I was searching high and low for my lost dog – and he was playing around. He didn’t even know he was lost – and yet he was.

Well, Scripture teaches us that in our fallen condition, we’re a lot like Max. We’re lost in sin, and yet we don’t even know it.

That’s why we need that prevenient grace that we looked at last week – that grace which awakens us to our need for Christ and draws us to God. Jesus tells us that the good news is that when we humbly recognize and admit our sinfulness and indebtedness to God, like the tax collector, we’ll be forgiven. And this is able to happen through justifying or converting or saving grace.

It’s the grace of God that enables us to say “YES” to what God has done for us in Christ. It enables us to remove our trust in ourselves and place it in Christ alone. In a manner of speaking, this is what happened to the tax collector.

You see, he wasn’t puffed up with a false sense of accomplishment. He knew very well what his place was before a perfect and holy God. And that’s why he threw himself on the mercy of God.

Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the second component to our justification.

Blessings,
Dale

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Grace That Saves (Justifying Grace): Part 2

Now, it’s my guess that Jesus must’ve lost some brownie points with the Pharisees when he told this parable. Why? Well, because the Pharisees made it their life’s mission to live exemplary moral and religious lives. In fact, they were so concerned about how they lived, that they wouldn’t even walk by someone they considered a sinner. They would literally cross to the other side of the road to avoid being near them.

And so along comes Jesus. And Jesus speaks directly to those “who were confident of their own righteousness” and those “who looked down on everybody else…”(v.9)

Jesus said:

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” (verse 10)

This was an extreme contrast. The Pharisees were regarded as holy men. These were men, as I said, who worked really hard at being righteous. Then there was the tax collector. Hardly anyone was regarded lower than the tax collector. The tax collector was a despised person in that day by the Jews because he was seen as a Jewish traitor to the Roman government.

And so, with that as a backdrop, Jesus said:

“The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers– or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’” (verses 11-12)

Do you see what’s going on? Here’s this Pharisee talking about how wonderful he is. He’s showing off his spiritual resume. He’s listing for God, just in case God was too busy to notice, all of his marvelous accomplishments. He seems to be saying, “Just look here Lord: I tithe, I go to church, I fast. What a good boy am I.”

But then Jesus shows us the tax collector. Jesus says:

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God have mercy on me, a sinner.’” (verse 13)

There he was, a tax collector, in all of his misery. He had come to a place in his life where he realized that only God could save him. And so he asked God for his mercy, and sought forgiveness for being a sinner. This was true faith and repentance.

Then, in verse 14, Jesus concludes with these words:

“I tell you the truth, this man (the tax collector), went down to his house “justified” rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.” (verse 14)

Jesus tells us that at that moment of faith and repentance, the tax collector went to his house a justified man. But what does it mean to be justified? Well, simply put, justification answers the question:

How can a sinful person be made right (or brought into a right relationship) with a perfect and holy God?

According to the poll I just told you about, 57% of Americans would answer the way the Pharisee did; by pointing out all of their good works… by showing how good they are; by drawing attention to their goodness and worthiness.

But in contrast to that sort of mindset, Jesus plainly shows us that it’s only through the same humility of the tax collector, that we can be right with God. This is how we apply or receive that free offer of grace that I was talking about last week. By humbling himself before God in faith and repentance, the tax collector was “immediately” justified… Jesus tells us. His justification (or being declared righteous) was immediate. There were no good works that he needed to do first.

Therefore, to be right with God, or to be justified – to be saved – however you want to put it – involves two things.

Tomorrow we’ll take a look at what is involved in our justification.

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Grace That Saves (Justifying Grace): Part 1

Grace That Saves
Luke 18:9-14
From a sermon preached on July 19, 2009 by Dale Tedder

Last week we began looking at the subject of God’s GRACE by trying to understand what grace is and why it’s so important – vital. Then we took a brief look at Prevenient Grace – that grace that goes before us… drawing us to God before we’re even aware of God or aware of our need for him.

Well, this morning we’re going to study a second understanding of GRACE, called Justifying or Converting or Saving Grace. One thing to remember this morning, as I said last week: These are not three different kinds of grace starting and stopping at distinct points in our lives. Remember the quote I shared with you: “Grace is Grace.” These fancy words that we’re using just help us to get a handle on how God works his grace in our lives.

[Read Luke 18:9-14]

Back in the early 1960′s, the U.S. Bureau of the Census came out with what they called the “Index of Leading Economic Indicators.” They chose 11 indicators of the American economy and used them to interpret current business developments and to predict future economic trends.

In 1993, William Bennett came out with what he called the “Index of Leading Cultural Indicators.” His goal was to examine the moral, social and behavioral conditions of modern America. It showed, for example, that in 1960 there were 288,000 violent crimes committed. And in 1991, there were 1,900,000 violent crimes committed. He showed that the average SAT score in 1960 was 975, and in 1992, the average score was 899. Those are just a couple of things he looked at.

Well, back in 1996, another index came out. This one was done by George Barna, who is the “Gallop Poll” of religious statistics. His little book was called: “The Index of Leading Spiritual Indicators.” In fact, he still puts out an email once or twice a month that helps to give us an idea of where America is spiritually.

Here were some of Barna’s findings 13 years ago:

• Only 31 percent of Americans read their Bibles regularly.
• 84 Percent of Americans don’t know the meaning of the Great Commission.
• Only 37 percent know the meaning of the Gospel.
• And 44 percent of Americans actually believe that Jesus sinned.

But perhaps one of the most disturbing statistics was this: Barna said,

“that most Americans believe that …salvation is an outcome to be earned through their good character or behavior. …Six out of ten people (57%) believe that ‘if a person is generally good, or does enough good things for others during their lives, they will earn a place in heaven.’”

He then said that, “this perspective has remained constant throughout the 90′s.” His present research is telling us that this statistic hasn’t changed much. This statistic means that at least 57% of Americans are relying on “themselves” for their eternal life. And yet, as staggering as that figure is, it’s really not new. It really isn’t all that different from what Jesus experienced in his day. In fact, it was because of this kind of mindset that Jesus told the parable in our Scripture lesson for today.

Tomorrow we’ll dig into the text and discover what Jesus taught about this.

Blessings,
Dale

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