The Heart of Romans Chapter 7

To stop the Mongolian raiders from the north, a Wall was built during the Ming Dynasty. It was called the Great Wall of China.  By its height, width and impenetrable structure, it kept China safe from invasion for years. The only weak spots were the passage-ways where travel was permitted through gates. What made those gates weak spots was not the construction, but the guards who could be bribed to allow invaders to pass through. The security of China rested on the integrity of the gate-keepers.

President-elect Trump will now find his life controlled by Gatekeepers. Their job is to limit access and protect him from sources that will try to influence him.

There is a gate-keeper in our lives as well. Nestled somewhere within our minds is our control center. We call it our will. Our will controls the gate through which

every decision, suggestion, impulse, action or reaction comes in or goes out.

Our wills are as unique to us as we are to each other.

Some of us have strong wills – stubborn, inflexible, determined, iron-clad

Some of us have weak wills – impulsive, indecisive, impressionable, pliable

Most of us have some combination of both.

Our wills operate within a context of influence:

·         Outside influences from the world that stimulate, fascinate and captivate us. The advertising world is built on being able to influence our choices.

·         Inside influences we receive as suggestions from our flesh and spirit.

From Romans 6 we learned that our wills before salvation were enslaved to the rebellious and hostile, self-determined nature of rejecting God’s best and seeking our own pleasures and desires. Though we could make good choices those choices were measured by our definition of good and not God’s. Those choices were driven by our body of flesh.

           

Salvation broke the controlling power of our old self—Sin—and set us free from that old nature driving our lives.

Hey, I still have those things going on.

·         I want things I shouldn’t want.

·         I do things I shouldn’t do.

·         I say things I shouldn’t say.

·         I feel things I shouldn’t feel.

So what got set free? Our will. It no longer is obligated to surrender to the influence and input from our old self. It can override those desires and make a different choice.

A slave no longer has to serve its former master. He has been set free.

Still, even in a redeemed life, there is a weak link. Our old self will constantly try to bribe the gatekeeper to invade our life with its impulses and desires. But a free will can now choose whether it will give in to that influence or not.

I have a sugar addiction. The leftover Halloween candy is in a bag by my chair. Why not put it away? If I get tempted, I don’t want to have to get up and go all the way to the pantry. I sat watching Thursday night football and I kept thinking about the tootsie pops beside me. I kept saying no all the way up until the very moment I was unwrapping the tootsie pop and putting it in my mouth. 

Can the old self control us again? You bet. Whenever the will gives in to the bombardment of self-centered desires, it will climb back on that dead horse and ride. The old nature has had control for so long, it doesn’t realize there is another influence.

That other influence is the spirit. It contains our conscience. Every person has a conscience. It’s that positive force to move our lives toward good. But it has limited influence.

·         A conscience can become seared—hardened by life.

·         It can become insensitive by neglect or lack of use.

·         It can be wounded by hardship, trauma or rejection.

·         It can be overridden by stronger desires.

Our conscience can’t be counted on because it can be molded by society, reprogrammed by education or misled by deceit. A conscience can be reshaped. It’s not dependable.

So the redeemed life needs something else: a connection to the mind and intentions of God.

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. For we have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor 2:11-16)

What does the mind of Christ give us? Insight, wisdom, understanding, purpose.

It’s getting direct answers from the one who designed my life.  Like the Owner’s Manual.

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. (Jn 14:16-17)

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. (Jn 16:13-14)

H.S. is the power to resist our old self and submit to God.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, (Eph 3:20)

Because the Spirit of God lives within me, I’m getting input from the very heart and mind of God to direct my will.

            I can know what God wants me to know.

            I can choose what God wants me to choose.

            I can live like God wants me to live.

How does this work? My will—the gatekeeper of my life—blocks the impulses of my old life and opens up to me the input of the Spirit of God.

So, because the Spirit of God lives in my life I won’t sin anymore?

Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with [lose its control], so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. (Rom 6:6-7)

Freed from Sin but not sinning. Biggest shock to my young spiritual life was I still wanted to sin, I still felt ungodly urges, I still had evil desires, I still was self-focused.

Romans 7:15-24

For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

What’s going on? The battle of influence. The gatekeeper, our will, is fighting the battle of which it will respond to. The body (my old self, my flesh) is wanting its control back. My spirit is aligning me with God’s best. My will must decide which to follow.

So if the battle is in my mind how do I fight it? By reinforcing the will.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, (2 Cor 10:3-5)

Little kid: what’s your name – No, no Charlie. Tell yourself no and give it to God.

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. (Rom 13:14)

Don’t make it easy to fall into temptation.

·         Set up road blocks – Quit looking at inappropriate material: movie, TV, magazine, internet – If you’re struggling with your diet don’t sit around reading cook books or watching the food network.

·         Quit making excuses – This is just the way God made me, I’m just really passionate, it’s the way I was brought up. (No man can succeed if he is willing to make excuses for his failures.)

·         Don’t go there. Avoid the fantasy world between what is and what could be.

·         Move the tootsie pop bag from beside your chair.

Don’t think this is just our effort to be good. It is a battle for what controls our lives. Consider it a spiritual war and pray for the power to resist the urge to give in.

When we try to live without relying on the power of God, we end up caught in the trap of our own making.

Catching monkeys by using their own tendencies. Yelling, complaining, hollering but trapped until they are finally captured.

I cannot allow my old self and its tendencies to control my life.

The ultimate answer: Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

When temptation knocks on your door, let Jesus answer.

            Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

TAKEAWAYS:

1.       Every soldier knows that freedom isn’t free.

2.      The moment we stop fighting for it, captivity creeps back in.

3.      Jesus broke the power of what enslaved us and controlled our lives.

4.      If we do not live within that freedom we will become entangled again in that from which we were set free.

The Heart of Romans Chapter 6

Have you ever gone out to get in your car, turn the key and nothing? Your heart sinks. Your agenda is crushed. Your plans ruined. What do you do? Sit there and hope it will start the next time you turn the key? Bang on the steering wheel? Plead with it to come back to life? If you’re like most families, you change cars. Or call for assistance. But you don’t just spend the day sitting in a dead car.

This lesson was first learned in the days of the old West. You’re riding into town and suddenly your horse drops dead underneath you. What do you do?

1.  Buy a stronger whip.

2.  Sharpen your spurs to hopefully get his attention.

3.  Say to the people looking at you, “This is the way I’ve always ridden this horse.”

4.  Lower your standards of getting anywhere so that riding a dead horse is really okay.

5.  Hang out with other dead horse riders to get tips on how they ride their dead horses.

6.  Get a rump sticker that says, “This horse isn’t as dead as he looks!”

7.  Criticize all the other horses as being too high maintenance.

8.  Read books or watch videos that might help improve your riding ability.

9.  Convince yourself it’s just easier to sit on a dead horse that goes nowhere than try to

            ride one you can’t control.

10. Or, from the tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, when you discover that you are

            riding a dead horse, the best thing to do is dismount.

Paul describes our spiritual condition prior to salvation as being dead. Insensitive to the things of God, unresponsive to His desires, we couldn’t feel His presence, His activity, His love. We were so dead we were not even aware He was there. We looked at a sunset and only saw the sunset. We looked at a mountain range and only saw the mountains. We looked at the stars and only saw stars. God’s fingerprints were all over everything but we never noticed.

All the while, like the walking dead, we were staggering toward the edge of a cliff, heading toward the pit of His wrath because this spiritual condition was hostile against God. We were enslaved by this dead life, held captive to its deadness, stuck riding a dead horse.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive… (Eph 2:4-5)

We were dead. We are now alive. But all we knew was the old, dead life. How do we now live in this new life? The Heart of Romans – The Heart of God.

Paul writes Romans 6:2 – How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (Rom 6:2)

Death separates. The most painful part of losing a loved one is the separation. Prior to salvation, we were spiritually dead: separated from God.

To die to something is to separate ourselves from it. No longer under its control. No longer identified by its power over us.

In the days of slavery, a person often was born a slave, lived a slave and died a slave. After the Emancipation Proclamation, a person might have been born a slave but now he would live as a free man. He was no longer who he had been. He was given a new life.

Mr. George Johnson was slave freed by the Emancipation Proclamation: I got my name from President Jeff Davis. He was president of the Southern Confederacy. He owned my grandfather and my father. Brought them from Richmond, Virginia. And he owned me.

George’s story began with him born as a slave but ended with him a free man. How do you stop being a slave: you recognize your freedom and separate yourself from that old life. You die to that old life.

What we have died to can no longer control us. An old master might call and order a former slave to work. Freedom means he doesn’t have to anymore. The old master might try to force him back into slavery. Freedom means he can simply refuse and walk away. Why, that old life no longer owns him.

Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; (Rom 6:6)

Paul draws a line to show the before and after of salvation and the way you live on each side of the line is different because the power of each life is different.

The power of the old life is called Sin. (with a capital S)

There is a difference in Sin and sins.

Sin is the hostile nature within us, the power of rebellion that Adam gave in to and passed on to us. It is the desire to rule our own lives without regard for who God is or what He wants. It drives us to commit sins.

Sins are the activity of Sin. Sin is the motivation, sins are the actions.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. (Rom 1:28-32)

When God demonstrated His love for us, in that while we were sinners, Jesus died for us, God forgave us, removing the barrier for relationship with Him. He was not just forgiving the activity of sinning, but breaking the control of the power of rebellion that had reigned in our lives since birth and held us in its grip.

How did we know Sin was there ruling in our hearts—look at the activity.

Jesus paid our debt which translated into a change of ownership. We are no longer bound by the desires and impulses of that power, dominated by Sin’s activity. Sin doesn’t own us anymore. The slave has been set free.

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (Rom 6:4)

By His death He broke the power of Sin over us. When we accept His death as our death we separate ourselves from that old life and are raised to a whole new life.

We were changed - Transformed: Metamorphosis—caterpillar becoming a butterfly

I was a droopy, leaf-eating caterpillar crawling wherever I could to satisfy my hunger. But God placed a greater desire in me. A desire so great I would die to the old caterpillar life and live a new life as a butterfly.

[The caterpillar I was has] I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh [as a butterfly] I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Gal 2:20)

Never look at the cross without seeing yourself there. Why? It took death to break the old mastery of Sin over you. His to establish it and yours to benefit from it.

Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin [the power of rebellion that wants us to rule our own lives without regard for who God is or what He wants] might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. (Rom 6:6-7)

Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:21-23)

On November 18, 2014, Ricky Jackson walked out of prison a free man, 39 years after a conviction based on the story of a twelve-year-old boy was overturned. According to this young witness, Jackson and two other men killed a money-order collector at a Cleveland grocery store. The only problem was that wasn’t the truth. Eddie Vernon, who helped build the case against Jackson in 1975, had lied. When Vernon, now 51, admitted his lie, Jackson was brought before Judge Richard McMonagle. The County prosecutor told the judge that the case against Jackson had fallen apart – based on the recantation of Eddie Vernon - and moved the judge dismiss the case. "The state concedes the obvious," the prosecutor said. Jackson broke into loud sobs, his face buried in his handcuffed hands. "I can't believe this is over,'' Jackson cried. He thanked his attorneys and supporters. Then someone called Jackson's family and handed him the phone. His eyes, though soaked from tears, beamed. "It's over,'' Jackson yelled into the phone, "I'm coming home. I'm coming home. Be here to get me Friday, please. Let everybody know.''

We too were condemned by a lie. “Eat the fruit. You won’t die.” “You don’t need God.” “The wages of sin isn’t death.”

We too were set free by the truth.

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Rom 8:1-2)

“The gift of God is eternal life.”

TAKEAWAYS:

1.       As a Believer, Sin no longer owns you.

2.      That old horse has died so get off of him.

3.      By embracing Jesus’ death as payment for your Sin debt God gave you a new life.

4.      So live like a person set free: a slave who’s been emancipated or a man released from death row who’s heading home.

The Heart of Romans Chapter 5

Every trial comes down to the moment of the final argument. It’s called the summation. It is when the attorneys summarize the important points and end with a therefore. Therefore is the call to the decision based upon all the evidence.

In one of the most historic trials in modern history, after all the evidence had been presented, Johnnie Cochran, in behalf of O.J. Simpson, told the jury, “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” That therefore was a pivotal point in the trial.

We are familiar with therefores. That after going through steps, therefore we reach a result, that after working through a process, therefore we come to a conclusion, that after putting all these ingredients in the pan and baking them in the oven, therefore we have cake. The result follows the therefore. Back up all the dots that are to be connected and this is what you end up with.

Romans 5 begins with therefore.

Therefore – in light of all the dots that have been connected, understanding we are made right with God by His grace and not our efforts, that in believing and giving ourselves to that belief He has declared us right with Himself, and now we stand before Him approved, accepted and justified forever. These details lead us to the next truth.

Rom 4:22-25 – Abraham was the prototype of how a person is made right with God. So, we, by following his example may know we are right with God as well.

Vs. 1 – With that established…having been justified, we now can eat our cake—have peace with God. 

Why not Heaven? Isn’t that the goal of salvation? Salvation isn’t to get us into Heaven but to get Heaven into us. What was the gift? Eternal life. When?

The result of having Heaven in us is Peace. I didn’t know He was ever upset with me.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them…so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Rom 1:18-21)

Paul is describing someone who will not honor Him as God in their life. Therefore those people live underneath the wrath of God.

But: When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Col 2:13-14)

He paid the debt we owed.

Hostility was the effect of God’s wrath against ungodliness. We carried that hostility like a sentence awaiting execution. Like a backpack filled with rocks.

But, therefore, after God declared us right with Himself, that hostility was removed. Instead of carrying the weight of God’s wrath, we now experience peace with God.

Paul called it being justified – just as if I’d…never sinned. Justified is the condition of being restored back to what Adam lost in the garden.

Vs. 2 - Exult: to boast – difference between boasting and bragging.  Boasting is declaring importance. We don’t boast of unimportant things.

Grandparents boast of their grandkids as their highest joy. When does that turn into bragging, when they try to tell me their grandkids are smarter, cuter, funnier, more talented than mine.

Bragging is an over-inflated opinion brought on by prejudice.

            Look at me, look what I did, what I can do, what I have. Bragging inflates me.

What is your boast? Your boast is what you declare as your highest honor, privilege, experience, joy. Boasting inflates the cause, influence, effect, the person through whom you found your delight. Crediting sources and abilities beyond yourself.

Paul’s point: We boast in our highest privilege – in the hope of God’s faithfulness coming through in all things. Look at what God has done in my life.

Me bragging about my ability, talents, skills does you no good. But my boasting in what the Lord has done can bless you because He can do the same and even more so in your life as well.

HE WHO BOASTS IS TO BOAST IN THE LORD. (2 Cor 10:17)

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matt 5:16)

If you see God in my life, you will see hope for your own life.

We exult in hope of the glory of God. We boast in the hope we have in God accomplishing His purposes in our lives.

Vs. 3-5 – Also, we boast in our tribulations. Not brag about what we’re going through or have gone through or how adequate we are to suffer, but that our tribulations demonstrate God’s faithfulness in all things.

Paul heard God say: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (2 Cor 12:9)

All we go through brings us back to the essentials of faith: trusting in the adequacy of God. Counting on Him working all things to our good, accomplishing what concerns us, blessing us with all spiritual blessings.

Vs. 6-8 – Recall – remember – remind – don’t forget the dots that led to our therefore – OT said: tie these reminders on your hand or place them on your foreheads.

Each time we remember what God did, we know that same God is at work accomplishing things this very moment and will continue doing so into the future.

Vs. 1 Having been justified – we have peace with God.

Vs. 9-11 Having been justified, much more then…we shall be saved – God’s on-going work in our lives.

Vs. 17 – what used to reign over us, control us, has been overtaken

Jesus’ death broke sin’s power over us and now there’s a new King on the throne of our life. By the power of His overcoming life, we can overcome in life.

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 Jn 5:1, 4-5)

How do we overcome in life? By trusting in Him: Who He is and what He can do. Bringing Him into every moment of our lives.

Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, (2 Cor 3:4-6)

I am not adequate but He is!

Greatest hindrance to overcoming? Questioning whether there is another way available.

Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. (Matt 11:2-5)

John, stop looking away from Me and look at Me. Look at who I am. Look at what I am doing. Haven’t you read the Book? Don’t you know what I am capable of?

I believe in God, not because my parents told me, not because the church told me, but because I’ve seen His goodness and mercy myself—in my darkness, I’ve seen His light, in my despair, I’ve felt His hand, in my pain, I’ve known His comfort. And in whatever I’ve yet to experience, I’ve already read of His faithfulness in His Word.

Therefore: I’m already in Heaven because Heaven is already in me.

TAKEAWAYS:

1.       The result of sin is death; the gift of God is life – choose life!

2.      That life is full of benefits and blessings that can carry us through any situation.

3.      Because Jesus overcame, we can overcome the powers, influences, and obstructions that would hinder the success of that life.

4.      Therefore, boast of the goodness of God in your life.

The Heart of Romans Chapter 4

Finance has never been my strong suit. I always thought if you still had checks you still had money. I learned in life two important words: credit and debit. Credit is what I have. Debit is what I owe. If I owe more than I have, I’m in trouble. How much I think I have doesn’t matter because there is coming a day of reckoning, when a balance sheet is provided and I have to reconcile my account with what the bank says I have or don’t have.

What we’ve learned in the introduction to the Heart of Romans study is God also has a ledger sheet. It shows what we owe and what we have to pay the debt. When it comes to being right with Him, we owe more than we can pay. In fact, we bring nothing to the table. God brings everything.

Rom 4:1-2 – discovered in God’s response to his declaration of faith.

Serendipity – something found on the way to something else.

Post-it notes - In 1968, a scientist at 3M in the United States, Dr. Spencer Silver, was attempting to develop a super-strong adhesive. Instead he accidentally created a "low-tack", reusable, pressure-sensitive adhesive. In 1974 a colleague who had attended one of his seminars, Art Fry, came up with the idea of using the adhesive to anchor his bookmark in his hymnbook.

And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." Then he believed in the LORD, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. (Gen 15:5-6)

Life principle: If I believe what God said is true and apply that to my life, something happens.

Vs. 3 – Credited means righteousness was moved to the plus side of his account.

Before that moment, on the side of the ledger that recorded what in his life granted relationship with God, there was nothing. Neither is there on our ledger though we think it’s full.

            Isn’t there an “E” in there for effort? I’ve tried to be good enough.

My membership in the church. Doesn’t my church guarantee me that

relationship? The church doesn’t have that power.

            Check the giving totals. I’ve given a lot of money to the church. There’s no pay to

play policy here.

            Look at the things I’ve done. Lord, didn’t we…and we list our religious and social

achievements.

God has one criteria—If we believe in His Son, Jesus, have we applied what He did into our lives? If so, God has already credited our side with the word – ENOUGH! You now live in My approval.

If you’ve ever applied for a loan, approval was based on three criteria:

1.       Cash – can you pay back this loan

2.      Collateral – what can the bank hold in case you fail to pay it back

3.      Character – do you do what you promise

If you meet the bank’s criteria, you are declared approved. You didn’t earn that approval, you gained it by providing what was asked for.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. (Heb 11:1-2)

The approval gained wasn’t the reward of some effort, it was granted because they provided what was asked for—FAITH.

Vs. 4-5

Favor – God’s method for granting life. Grace—the repository of God’s provisions.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8-9)

Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; (Rom 3:24)

So that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Tit 3:7)

Vs. 9 – Why? What did Abraham have faith in? GOD SAID!

I will trust that what God said is true. I will hold to the promises that what God has said will happen.

Abraham believed what God offered him to believe and God gave him the standing of being right with Him.

It cannot be a list of information I’m agreeing to, but a foundational truth that becomes the center of my life. What God says is TRUE!

What did God say? Abraham, I have a plan for your life and if you will agree to that plan, give your life to that plan, I will bless you forever.

Vs. 16 – God’s faithfulness to keep His promise is our guarantee.

There’s nothing else to do to get in and nothing that can be done to lose what has been gained because it’s based on God’s promises not ours.

Charles Kettering was the research head of General Motors from 1920-1947. When he wanted a problem solved, he'd place a table outside the meeting room with a sign: Leave slide rules here. If he didn't do that, he'd find one of his engineers reaching for his slide rule. Then that guy would be on his feet saying, "Boss, you can't do it."  

Our lack of faith says: God, you can’t do that…

George Muller. Faith does not operate in the realm of man’s ability to consider what’s possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends. And he stands there with nothing but GOD SAID.  

Vs. 18 – Hope against hope – contrary to, yet resting upon. How can that be, yet I’m counting on it to be so.

Vs. 19-21 – Abraham committed his life to the faithfulness of God to keep His promise. That’s all we’ve got to hang onto.

Bottom line: Do I believe what GOD SAID?

Belief is the acknowledgment of something being true.

Faith is acting out what I believe.

It is God’s faithfulness that guarantees the results.

Is the load heavy? – Is God Faithful? Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. (Matt 11:29)

Are you afraid? – Is God Faithful? "Cast all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you." (1 Pet 5:7)

Are you tired? ‑ Is God Faithful? "Come unto Me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I'll give you rest." (Matt 11:28)

Have you lost your strength? ‑ Is God Faithful? "The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth...gives strength to the weary and to him who lacks might He increases power." (Isa 40:28-29)

Do you need comfort? ‑ Is God Faithful? "God...comforts us in all our afflictions." (2 Cor 1:4)

Have you lost hope? – Is God Faithful? "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."  (Ps 40:1)     

Do you doubt salvation is secure? – Is God Faithful? “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.  (Jn 10:27-28)

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Heb 7:25)

Inability to trust what GOD SAID reflects on us not Him. It stops the process of our growth as a Believer, our understanding of Scripture and our experiencing the blessings God has stored up for us.

The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see, and with faith we are freed from the flimsy enclosures of life by which fear entrap us.

Vs. 23-24 – so we can know God’s plan and give our lives to it as well.

We cannot expect to live the life we do not have. But if we do have it all the promises of God are opened up to us.

So, to borrow from Capitol One: what’s in your ledger?

TAKEAWAYS

1.       Salvation isn’t to get us into Heaven but to get Heaven into us.

2.      Before we can live the life of salvation, we must be certain we have salvation.

3.      If we trust in anything other than what GOD SAID, we insult His Grace and grieve His heart.

4.      Once God declared us righteous, nothing can ever take that standing away.