What has Abraham Found?

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Today is a very sad day in one sense as today is the day that we will be saying goodbye to the Starkweather family at least as a whole because Byron and Stephen will be moving to Knoxville.
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Amy and Daniel will be staying here for a little while longer but we want to certainly be praying for them as they are going to be divided for a few weeks and I know that's going to be difficult for them.
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But as today is Byron's last Sunday as not only a member of the church but also one of our elders and leaders and has been so for many years we want to have the opportunity to hear him yet again.
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He has spoken to us many times.
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He's been a very faithful Sunday school teacher as well as a preacher of the word here at Sovereign Grace.
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His sermons are going to continue to stand in our sermon audio file and continue to be reached and heard by people all around the world.
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So we are thankful for the ministry that he's done and for the ministry he's going to continue to do as he moves to work at a Christian school in Knoxville.
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So on that I don't want to waste any more of his time because I know he wants to come and preach and I look forward to hearing him so I invite Brother Byron to come and bring the word for us.
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Good morning.
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I don't have the loud voice that Keith does but I'll try to speak loud enough for you all to hear me.
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We're going to be in the book of Romans this morning.
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If you would find Romans the fourth chapter.
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Let's go ahead if you would please and stand and we'll read the text together and pray.
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Romans the fourth chapter beginning in verse 1.
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What then shall we say that Abraham our forefather according to the flesh has found? For if Abraham was justified by works he has something to boast about but not before God.
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For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.
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Now to the one who works his wage is not credited as a favor but as what is due.
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But to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly his faith is credited as righteousness.
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Let's pray.
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Father we thank you once again for the opportunity to gather in this place to share with one another and to encourage one another in the faith.
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We thank you for the opportunity to open your word to hear it read, to hear it proclaimed, to sing songs of praise to you, to lift our voices in prayer, to share in a time of communion, to share in a time of offering all of this with the intent of honoring you.
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And father I pray that as we open your word that you would give us eyes to see, give us ears to hear, and I pray father that what I would say this morning would be truth only.
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And that if there's anything that is said that is not true that you would cause those who are here to not remember it but to remember that and that alone which is consistent with your word.
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In Jesus name we pray.
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Amen.
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You may be seated.
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By the grace of the Lord we are able to worship without the fear of our government prosecuting us.
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We're able to read God's Word without fear of being prosecuted.
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We are blessed to live in a nation where these and many other freedoms are ours.
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Yet there can be no doubt that the political landscape of today is different than that of even ten years ago.
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The political rhetoric in our nation is quite heated and has been for quite some time.
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It is so heated that some are using the word tyranny now to describe the political situation in which we find ourselves today.
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An article published in December of 2013, the writer says the following, has tyranny come to the United States then? There is it seems a strong case to be made that we are at least creeping ever closer.
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For if the rule of law is undermined political rule will then be by definition tyrannical.
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Earlier this month the columnist wrote following the Supreme Court's decision redefining marriage.
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Today we have a new tyranny.
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A tyranny of political correctness that prevents us from speaking out.
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We dare not disagree, use certain words, display certain symbols, or openly express our religious beliefs lest someone be offended.
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And the list of offensive words and symbols grows by the day.
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In May of this year a columnist wrote the following about political correctness.
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Forcing men to pay taxes for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is indeed sinful and tyrannical enough.
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But to compel a man to actively participate in ideas he disbelieves and abhors is even more so.
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And that my friends is exactly what modern political correctness forces us to do.
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Or at least tries to force us to do.
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Political correctness attempts to strip us of our own sense of right and wrong.
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It is not only tyranny of conduct and behavior, it is tyranny of the mind and heart.
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These certainly are strong words.
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Is there some validity to their claims? Are they correct in their assessment of our nation's situation? To answer this we need to know the meaning of the word tyranny.
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An online dictionary defines it as follows.
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Number one, an arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power, despotic abuse of authority.
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Number two, the government or rule of a tyrant or absolute ruler.
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Third, a state ruled by a tyrant or absolute ruler.
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Fourth, oppressively or unjustly severe government on the part of any ruler.
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Fifth, undue severity or harshness.
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Sixth, a cruel or harsh act or proceeding, an arbitrary oppressive or tyrannical action.
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In a couple of these definitions the word arbitrary shows up.
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So I went and looked it up.
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Here's what the word arbitrary means.
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Subject to individual will or judgment without restriction.
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Contingent solely upon one's discretion, like an arbitrary decision.
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Number two, decided by a judge or arbiter rather than by a law or statute.
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Third, having unlimited power, uncontrolled or unrestricted by law, despotic, tyrannical, and arbitrary government.
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And then fourth, capricious, unreasonable, and unsupported.
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Given these definitions it is easy to see why people are beginning to think we live in a tyrannical society if we use the definition that tyranny is an arbitrary exercise of power.
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Consider the state of Colorado legalizing recreational marijuana use or recent legalization nationwide by the Supreme Court for calling the union of two homosexuals a marriage.
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Or the recent revelation that an organization well known for advocating for abortions allegedly has engaged in the sale of fetal organs.
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Or the recent decision in Oregon fighting bakers for refusing to make a cake for two homosexuals.
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We live under a government that condones ungodly behavior as appropriate.
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We live under a government that chooses to enforce some laws and not others, for example immigration laws, thus exhibiting an arbitrariness toward law enforcement.
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Do these examples indicate that we have, as a nation, been replacing the rule of law with the discretion of a handful of people? Do some of the recent court decisions seem arbitrary or unreasonable or unsupported? Does it seem like the meanings of words are being changed to fit what some people want the definition to be rather than what the definition actually is? Do some of these penalties for disagreeing with these decisions seem harsh and unjust? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then according to the definition of tyranny mentioned earlier, one could claim that we are seeing signs of living under a tyrannical system, which certainly is a system our founders sought to avoid.
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As I mentioned before though, our situation is so much better than others around the world.
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We do not have to gather secretly.
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We do not have to hide our Bibles.
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We do not have to sing softly.
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In other words, what we live under in no way rivals the awful tyrants throughout human history, not even close.
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For how long this will continue to be the case, we don't know, but we certainly are in a better situation than many of our Christian brothers and sisters in other countries.
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Our nation has a responsibility to stand up to other nations that practice tyranny where and when we can, and our nation has done so numerous times in its history.
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Standing up to tyranny on a national scale is an important topic and one I think the Scriptures address, but one that will have to wait for another time.
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What I want us to focus on now though is examining our own lives using the definition of tyranny that we discussed earlier.
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It is easy to see these principles in others.
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It is easy to find fault in others, but if we apply the definitions of tyranny and arbitrary to ourselves as individuals, are we as individuals guilty in at least some way of acting as a tyrant? You might be wondering, why should we try to apply these definitions to ourselves? Well here are some examples.
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Do we not try to justify our own ungodly behavior? Do we not try to explain away our sin? Do we sometimes make arbitrary decisions about what is right or wrong so that we will not view ourselves as being in the wrong? Do we not try to tell God what he should or should not do? Do we try to tell him what we will or will not do? Do we not try to assert authority over him that we do not have? Do you see now why we need to apply these definitions to ourselves and do some self-examination? Have you ever given thought to how tyranny thrives? Yes, there is the famous quote by Edmund Burke that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing, and he is right that evil will thrive if people do not stand up to it, and yes, we should expect sinful men to commit sinful acts, yet how does it become embedded in the culture? How does it sneak in on us, causing us to realize too late that it permeates throughout our lives? I had not thought about this until a few months ago while I was reading about some of our founders.
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I was reading a book about John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, the authors of the Federalist Papers, and while reading that book I came across the name Samuel Adams as being an important person in the years leading up to, during, and after the American Revolution.
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All I had ever heard about Samuel Adams had come from beer commercials.
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Honest truth, I didn't know anything about the man.
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So I went to the library and found a book about his life, and while reading that book I learned Samuel Adams was a believer, and the author of that book included a quote by him that is relevant to our discussion this morning about tyranny.
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Now this quote is from 1772 and so it predates the Declaration of Independence by four years, and he of course is addressing the tyranny the British government was imposing upon the American colonies.
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So keep in mind what the context is, but there's an important observation that he makes, and it's that observation that I want us to key in on this morning.
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He says, is it not high time for the people of this country explicitly to declare whether they will be free men or slaves? It is an important question which ought to be decided.
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It concerns us more than anything in this life.
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The salvation of our souls is interested in this event, for wherever tyranny is established, immorality of every kind comes in like a torrent.
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It is in the interest of tyrants to reduce the people to ignorance and vice, for they cannot live in a country where virtue and knowledge prevail.
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The religion and public liberty of a people are intimately connected, their interests are interwoven, they cannot subsist separately, and therefore they rise and fall together.
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For this reason it is always observable that those who are combined to destroy the people's liberties practice every art to poison their morals.
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How greatly then does it concern us at all events to put a stop to the progress of tyranny? Quite a statement.
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Notice that he says tyrants reduce people to ignorance and vice.
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It seems today that people hungry for power are more interested in controlling what is taught rather than raising the skill level of our students.
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For example, if you want evidence of this, go read articles on how the content of textbooks is selected or what topics are even included in the course curriculum.
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Second, we do not see many people either in government or society in general standing up to inspire us to forsake vice or to forsake sin and seek excellence.
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Rather, what it appears like is that we see people making certain that materials that promote vice are readily obtainable and condoned by society.
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These same people therefore are calling vice good rather than evil and they ridicule those who strive to inspire others to seek excellence.
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In short, Samuel Adams contends that tyrants use vice to keep people under control.
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Vice is opposed to God's law and therefore sin.
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So protect vice we do not use the rule of law but rather our own arbitrary discretion.
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Yet since vice is opposed to God's law and is protected by an arbitrary discretion, it is therefore in some form tyrannical.
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So how do we as Christians weaken the power of tyranny in our own lives? I think the scripture gives us an answer to this question.
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This morning we're going to look at a passage in the book of Romans.
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The early chapters of the letter conclude that all of humanity is under sin and then as chapter 4 begins, Paul contrasts the condition of humanity with Abraham and he asked this question, what has Abraham found? And that is the question we're going to address this morning.
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So first let's consider Abraham's background.
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He was from the area of Mesopotamia, the land of Ur of the Chaldees.
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Abraham was a religious man, though he did not yet know the true God.
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We read in Joshua chapter 24 in verse 2, Joshua said to all the people, thus says the Lord the God of Israel, from ancient times your fathers lived beyond the river, namely Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, they served other gods.
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This text tells us that Abraham was an idolater because he worshipped something other than the true God.
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This text also tells us that Abraham was a polytheist because the text says they serve other gods, plural.
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So here we see some arbitrariness.
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How did they know they were serving a god or gods? How did they know they were serving these gods correctly? What standards did Abraham and his family have for examining their worship? In Genesis chapter 12 verses 1 through 3, which we read earlier this morning, we read about God calling Abraham and he made Abraham three promises.
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Abraham would have descendants, his descendants would have a land to call their own, and third, all the nations of the world would be blessed through him.
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The text says, now the Lord said to Abram, go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I will show you and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great and so you shall be a blessing and I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.
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Of all the people in the world God chose Abraham, a man who practiced idolatry.
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God called Abraham long before the law was given to Moses, before circumcision was given as a sign of the covenant, and before Abraham moved to Canaan.
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In short, Abraham had no means of proving his righteousness to God.
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He did not know God.
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There was no tabernacle yet, there was no temple yet where sacrifices were offered.
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In fact, there were no traits or beliefs of his that would cause him to be considered Jewish by the standards in Moses or even in Jesus's day.
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Regardless of Abraham's qualifications or the lack thereof, God purposed to bless Abraham.
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Some might consider God's choice of Abraham to be arbitrary and we'll address this later.
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Abraham had done nothing to deserve God's blessing and this is Paul's point when we come to our text this morning.
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To get the context, Paul's letter to the Romans is a detailed description of the need for the gospel, the gospel itself, and the result of being transformed by the gospel.
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The opening chapters of Romans establish the fact that all of humanity, all of the descendants of Adam are sinful.
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And in chapter 1 he writes that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation and then declares that even the Gentiles are without excuse.
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Why? He says in chapter 1 in verse 20, for since the creation of the world his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature, had been clearly seen and being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse.
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Even the Gentiles who did not have the law of Moses are without excuse for the creation demonstrates that God exists.
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Note how the Gentiles were arbitrary in their determination of right and wrong in verse 18 of chapter 1.
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Paul says they suppress the truth and unrighteousness.
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Therefore they wanted to redefine what truth is.
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Chapter 1 in verse 21, Paul writes, for even though they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks.
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So they wanted to decide whether or not they should honor the God of the heavens and the earth.
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In chapter 1 and verse 23, Paul writes, they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
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They wanted to decide who should receive glory.
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The Gentiles clearly had no legal basis for these decisions and actions wherein God's law was concerned.
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These decisions and actions were therefore arbitrary and in some sense tyrannical, if we are consistent with the definition we stated earlier.
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In chapter 2, Paul demonstrates that the Jews are just as sinful as the Gentiles and the Jews had the law of Moses.
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They knew the divinely inspired law and yet did not obey.
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They, just as the Gentiles, made decisions and committed acts that had no legal basis.
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Consider Paul's words in chapter 2 verses 21 through 23.
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You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, through your breaking of the law, do you dishonor God? I think these questions are somewhat rhetorical, meaning Paul already knew what the answer was when he asked the question.
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Consider, as an example of this, the words of our Lord in Matthew chapter 15, beginning in verse 1.
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Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.
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And he answered and said to them, Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, Honor your father and mother, and he who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.
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But you say, Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God.
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He is not to honor his father or his mother, and by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
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You see, when Jesus asks, Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? He already knows the answer.
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He does not wait for them to answer.
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Rather, the Lord demonstrates that their tradition of using this action to deny assistance to their parents has no legal standing and is therefore arbitrary.
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By definition, this act is an example of tyranny to at least some degree.
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Jesus asked the question knowing that they were trying to change the law to suit their own wants.
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And this I think is how Paul is using these questions in Romans 2.
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He is asking the questions because he thinks they are guilty of disobeying God's law and are therefore guilty of sin.
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If the Gentiles and the Jews are both guilty of trying to change God's law, making decisions and committing acts with no legal basis that are contrary to God's law, then they are guilty of sin.
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And this sin is a form of tyranny, again, if we're consistent with our definitions.
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He then concludes in chapter 3 that all the descendants of Adam, both Jew and Gentile, are under sin and therefore are under tyranny.
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And he summarizes this in Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
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You might find this conclusion regarding tyranny to be harsh or even far-fetched.
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That all of us are under tyranny and that all of us are tyrants in some sense of the word does seem extreme.
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However, remember that the definition of tyranny is an arbitrary exercise of power.
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Arbitrary means being decided outside of the law or statute.
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Is that not what we do to God when we sin? Are we not being arbitrary in how we apply God's law? Do we not try to exercise power in an arbitrary manner? Do we not try to justify disobeying His law? Do we not try to change His laws or change His commandments in order to justify our sin? In a way, then, is not every human being in some sense a tyrant.
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In our own lives, remembering the quote from Samuel Adams, do not our vice and tyranny go together.
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Then Paul begins chapter 4 by asking the question, what has Abraham found? What a question! Abraham the idolater had not earned his righteousness.
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Abraham had not the law to demonstrate his righteousness.
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Abraham did not even have the knowledge of God's law.
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Yet Paul asks the question, what has Abraham found? In verse 1 of chapter 4, we read, what then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? This is the logical question for Paul to ask.
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Gentiles are guilty of breaking God's law.
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Jews are guilty of breaking God's law.
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And when God called Abraham, Abraham was an idolater and a polytheist.
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Yet he was the one God called to begin making a nation for himself.
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And even then, not every descendant of Abraham became part of God's chosen people.
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From Abraham's offspring, God chose Isaac and not Ishmael.
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From Isaac's offspring, God chose Jacob and not Esau.
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And it is of Benjamin, the last of Jacob's sons, from whom Paul was descended.
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Abraham, therefore, is Paul's forefather according to the flesh.
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Yet Paul has demonstrated that Jews and Gentiles alike are under sin.
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What has Abraham found? Paul writes then in verse 2, for if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
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Abraham did not find justification before God by his works.
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God did not declare Abraham to be righteous because of his works.
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Again, Abraham was an idolater and a polytheist who did not know God prior to God calling him.
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How possibly could Abraham offer up his works to God as evidence of righteousness? Perhaps before other men he could boast of his works, he had wealth, he had status.
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Yet to use wealth and status as evidence of righteousness certainly is arbitrary, for I have no doubt that each of us could name people we respect for their integrity who have not spent their lives seeking wealth or status.
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So Abraham could not claim righteousness on the basis of his religion, for he did not know God, nor could he use his wealth and status as evidence of righteousness, for these, in reality, are not evidence of obedience to God's law.
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How then did God declare Abraham righteous? What did Abraham find? This is a crucial question because we need to know what the means are through which people can be declared righteous.
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It cannot be an arbitrary standard, but a true legal standard.
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Otherwise God is a tyrant.
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Paul provides the answer in verse 3.
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For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.
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This quote is from Genesis 15 6.
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The context of this verse is that God has made a promise to Abraham, a promise that requires Abraham to have a son, a son he does not yet have.
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God promises Abraham a son and Abraham believes God.
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That's the gist of it.
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Here's the text.
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After these things the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision saying, Do not fear Abraham, I am a shield to you, your reward shall be very great.
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Abraham said, O Lord God, what will you give me since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? And Abraham said, Since you have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.
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Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him saying, This man will not be your heir, but one who will come forth from your own body, he will be your heir.
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And he took him outside and said, Now look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.
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And he said to him, So shall your descendants be.
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Then he believed in the Lord and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.
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Upon the basis of Abraham's belief in God's promise, God declared Abraham to be righteous.
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How can God do this? Is this not arbitrary? How have Abraham's sins been covered? What is the legal basis of God's forgiveness of Abraham? This is important for us to understand because this passage in Genesis is the basis for Paul's argument of justification by faith.
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This same passage Paul uses in Galatians 3.6.
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Even so, Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
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James quotes this verse.
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James chapter 2 verse 23 says, And the scripture was fulfilled which says, And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
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And he was called the friend of God.
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So it's an important verse.
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It's crucial that we understand it.
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We will come back and answer this question because we need to understand why justification by faith is not an arbitrary measure.
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What is the legal basis for declaring Abraham to be righteous? We need to understand this great truth.
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For the moment though, let's follow Paul's argument in our text here in Romans 4.
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He continues in the fourth verse.
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Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.
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When someone completes a job or completes a task, they have earned compensation for their work.
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This is the basis of employment.
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The employee agrees to complete a task or a set of tasks and in return the employer agrees to pay the employee.
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The payment is his wage.
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The employee is not doing the employer any favors.
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That is, the employee is not working for free.
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The employee expects to be paid.
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He is owed his wage.
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Contrast this with what Paul writes in verse 5.
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But the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.
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The one here who is not working is the one not using his religion, his wealth, or his status in life as evidence of his righteousness.
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Again, we do not want to use religion, wealth, or status, for these are arbitrary measures.
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We want a legal, true measurement.
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In this verse, Paul contrasts the one working with the one who believes in him who justifies the ungodly.
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The one who justifies the ungodly is God as he did with Abraham.
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God declared Abraham to be justified even though Abraham, again, was an idolater and a polytheist.
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God declared Abraham justified because Abraham believed God when God called him out of his religion and made him a promise that his money could not buy.
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A descendant.
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How can this belief be credited as righteousness? Why is this not arbitrary? How were Abraham's sins covered? For if God did not punish Abraham's sin and yet declared him righteous, is God being just arbitrary and a tyrant by choosing to not punish the sins of some but punish others? We need to address why justification by faith is not arbitrary.
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The simple answer is that God preached the gospel to Abraham.
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Paul writes in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 8, the scripture, for seeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, all the nations will be blessed in you.
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We read this earlier in Genesis 12.3, that all the nations would be blessed in Abraham because it was through Abraham that the Messiah eventually would come.
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Just prior to our passage in Romans 4, Paul addresses at the end of Romans 3 this very matter.
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How can man be justified by faith? He writes, beginning in verse 21, but now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
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Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe, for there is no distinction.
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For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by his grace to the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith.
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This was to demonstrate his righteousness because in the forbearance of God, he passed over the sins previously committed.
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For the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
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Where then is boasting? It is excluded.
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By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith, for we maintain that man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
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For is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
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There's much we could say about these important verses, but we need to focus on our question, how does justification by faith have a legal basis? For God to be just and not arbitrary, sin has to be punished.
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God's demand for justice, therefore, must be satisfied.
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There must be a propitiation for sinners.
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That's what that word propitiation means, satisfaction.
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He satisfied God's demand for justice.
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And Jesus Christ, according to Romans 3.25, is that propitiation.
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He satisfied God's demand for justice.
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He accepted our payment.
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He was and is our substitute.
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We must understand that when we use the phrase justification by faith, we mean that our faith, our trust, our belief is in the finished work of Christ, that it atones for and pays for our sins.
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We are saying that God declares us to be righteous because Christ has paid for our sins, regardless of whether one is a Jew or Gentile.
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The question then arises, how do we know that Jesus paid specifically for our sins? Why is faith the means God uses to show us that he has declared us to be righteous? Paul writes in Romans 3.22, we just read it, that God's righteousness is manifested or revealed through our faith in Christ.
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How can that be? When we trust in Christ, we are not trusting in ourselves.
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We are not trusting in our own arbitrary works.
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Rather, we are trusting in Christ and his work, his righteous work.
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For he fulfilled the law.
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He kept the law in its entirety.
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He never, not once, did he ever transgress God's law.
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So why is it just for God to accept Jesus' payment for our sins? The answer is in what we refer to as substitutionary atonement.
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Since Jesus was perfect, the reality is he owed no debt.
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Not at all.
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Paul wrote, and we read in Romans 3.23, that the wages of sin is death.
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Jesus did not sin, and so he owed no debt.
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Yet he allowed himself, according to the predetermined plan of God, to submit to human courts and be executed on a cross.
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He required no payment for sins because he committed no sin, and therefore the payment he made could justly be applied to the accounts of others.
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And he paid our payment in full.
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Believe it or not, we have the same idea in our society.
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This idea of substitutionary atonement.
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If you owe a creditor an amount of money, and someone else pays the creditor for you, then the creditor will consider the debt paid in full.
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The origin of the payment is of no concern to the creditor.
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The creditor's only concern is that the debt be paid.
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God demands the payment, and when the payment's made, it's paid.
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So why are we declared righteous if we believe that Jesus died for our sins? The answer is that even the faith to believe in Christ is a gift.
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John 6.29 declares this is the work of God that you believe.
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Ephesians 2.8 and 9 declare, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of thyselves.
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It is the gift of God, not as a result of works that no one may boast.
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You see, every aspect of our salvation, from the perfect work of Christ to the faith the Christian has, is the work of God.
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We can say that God declares us to be righteous through faith because our faith is His work.
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This declaration is not arbitrary, for it is not the work of a tyrant.
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No, salvation is a legal transaction whereby sin is atoned for, and because the sin has been atoned for, the sinner is declared to be justified and is given the faith to believe in the source of his justification, the finished, complete, and righteous work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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This is a good place to address whether God's choice of Abraham was arbitrary, and therefore tyrannical.
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In Ephesians 1, verses 11 and 12, we read, In him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to his purpose who works all things after the counsel of his will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of his glory.
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He chose Abraham and every other member of his elect according to the counsel of his own will.
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Some might dislike that God's source of counsel is within himself, but what better counsel can one get than God's counsel? God is no tyrant.
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His acts are not arbitrary or subject to the whims of humanity.
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He is consistent.
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He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
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The result of the gospel is that the sinner repents of his sins.
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He is freed from the vices that once plagued him.
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He no longer desires them, but desires to serve the Lord with every aspect of his life.
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Through the knowledge of the gospel comes the desire to be virtuous, to live a godly life, and to let go of the sins, the vices that once plagued us.
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So what has Abraham found? I think he has found the truth that ends tyranny, that ends arbitrary rules, and that ends unjust measures of status.
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He has found the gospel that explains how unrighteous persons have their sins justly atoned for and are thereby declared righteous.
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Any other so-called method of salvation is unjust if it does not include payment for sins, if it is arbitrary and does not apply the same standard to all persons, whether Jew or Gentile, and is the work of a tyrant if it is some despotic system that is not in accord with God's law.
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Recall the quote by Samuel Adams that we read earlier about tyranny and vice.
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Vice is sin, and tyrants use vice to keep their constituents under control.
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However, we need to be clear about an important matter.
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Although people can be and have been tyrants, history bears this out.
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The truth according to Scripture is that our true enemy, the true tyrant, is the force opposed to God.
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Ephesians 6.12 says, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
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Our battle is against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, according to the text.
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These forces can use people to accomplish their goals.
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One might say that behind the human tyrant is another tyrant.
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It is that tyrant behind the tyrant that we face and genuinely should be concerned about.
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The tyrant we face has a system of thought that is opposed to God.
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1 John 2.16 says, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
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The world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
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Our tyrant has a system of thought that is not from God, but is opposed to God.
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This system of thought seeks to glorify that which is temporary and has standards that are arbitrary.
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This system of thought calls good evil and evil good.
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If exhibiting true virtue is demonstrating godliness and knowledge is the truth of God's word, then these indeed are not compatible with tyranny because tyranny is sin and the gospel sets us free from sin.
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I think Samuel Adams was right.
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So what did Abraham find? The scriptures declare that he found the gospel that God's demand for justice was met by the finished, complete, and righteous work of Jesus Christ.
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Jesus fulfilled the law, fulfilled all righteousness, and therefore his payment could atone for the sins of others.
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Abraham found that his religion and status could not render him righteous in the eyes of God, yet he found that God gave him the faith in the Messiah who would come from his own descendants.
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He found the answer to tyranny, a gospel that is not arbitrary, but is based upon a legal declaration of righteousness, and that is not despotic, for it sets the captive free.
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Tyranny is opposed to freedom.
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Tyranny keeps us from being free in Christ.
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Tyranny tells us we don't need Christ or Christ can't possibly free us from the bondage of our sin.
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Tyranny keeps us in bondage to our sin and encourages us to remain in bondage to our sin.
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Flee tyranny and run to Christ.
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All of humanity, both Jew and Gentile, are under sin.
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Through the Holy Spirit transforming the hearts of believers and giving them a new nature, God has released us from the tyranny of sin, the tyranny of a system opposed to God, the tyranny of our old nature, and has freed us from the penalty of our sin as well as from the oppression our sins heap upon us.
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Abraham found true freedom from tyranny, and he found it in Christ.
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Are you desiring to be free from the tyranny of sin? Run to Christ, for in him and him alone you, like Abraham, will find freedom and rest.
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Let's pray.
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Father, thank you once again that we have been able to gather, that we have been able to open your Word, that we've been able to read it, meditate upon it, consider it, consider its truths, and examine ourselves in the light of its truth.
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And Father, I pray that you would allow your Holy Spirit to use your Word to examine the hearts of each that are here, and if there are any here who do not know you, that this would be the day of salvation, this would be the day that you would open their hearts and minds to the truth of your gospel, that you would cause them, Lord, not to rest upon their own works, but to rest upon the work of the one whom you sent.
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We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Amen.