WWW Be Right (19)

In one paragraph

This message worked through Romans 3 and 4, tracing the argument that no one can earn a right standing before God, and that the only way to be made right is through faith in what Christ has done. The preacher drew on Isaiah, Martin Luther, Abraham, and a John Piper analogy to show how justification works and what it means for how we live afterward. Isaiah chapter six was the starting point. When...

Read together

1. Isaiah 6 Isaiah sees the Lord on his throne and says 'woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips'
2. Romans 1:21 did not glorify God or give Him thanks and their foolish heart was darkened
3. Romans 3:24-26 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, God both just and justifier
4. Psalm 7:11 God is a righteous judge and a God who has indignation every day
5. Revelation 16:5 the angel declaring God righteous because He judged
6. John 3:36 he who does not obey the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides in him
7. Isaiah 53:4-6 He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, the Lord caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him
8. Romans 5:8 while we were sinners, Christ died for us
9. Romans 3:27-29 boasting is excluded, a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law, God of Jews and Gentiles alike
10. Ephesians 2:8-10 saved by grace through faith, not of works so no one may boast, created in Christ Jesus for good works
11. Romans 3:31 do we nullify the law through faith, may it never be, we establish the law
12. 1 Peter 2:24 He bore our sins on the cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness
13. Romans 4:1-5 Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, not by works
14. Romans 4:8 blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account, quoting David
15. Romans 4:9-12 faith credited to Abraham as righteousness while uncircumcised, circumcision a sign and seal of faith
16. Romans 4:15 the law brings about wrath, where there is no law there is no violation
17. Romans 4:16 it is by faith in accordance with grace so the promise is guaranteed to all descendants
18. Romans 4:17 God gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist
19. Romans 4:19-25 Abraham did not waver, grew strong in faith giving glory to God, credited as righteousness for our sake also
20. Romans 6:23 the wages of sin is death

Talk about it

1. Isaiah saw the Lord on his throne and said 'woe is me, for I am ruined.' What do you think it means that even the prophet calling others to repentance felt completely undone before God's holiness?
2. The preacher described Martin Luther as so consumed by his own guilt that people wondered if he was crazy, while most of us have defense mechanisms that help us think 'I'm pretty good.' What defense mechanisms do you find yourself reaching for when guilt shows up?
3. The sermon said God is both just and justifier at the same time through Christ's death. How does holding those two things together change the way you think about what happened on the cross?
4. John Piper's roller coaster picture shows the law as rails you cannot climb on your own, and faith as trusting someone else to lift you to the top, after which the momentum of the ride carries you back up those same rails. What does that picture open up for you about the relationship between faith and actually living differently?
5. Abraham's body was as good as dead, yet he 'grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,' fully assured that what God promised He was able to perform. Where in your own life is it hardest right now to stay confident that God can do what He has said?