Session 5: The Righteousness of Christ (Romans 3:19-30) - Corrected Session

Kootenai Church

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Take your Bibles, please and turn to the book of Romans You knew we had to get to Romans eventually, right?

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Romans chapter 9 or chapter 3 excuse me and follow along as I read verses 19 through 30

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Now we know that whatever the law says it says to those who are under the law That every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God Therefore by the deeds of the law notice that no flesh

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Will be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin

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But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed Being witnessed by the law and the prophets.

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That's the whole Old Testament The righteousness of God was revealed in the Old Testament through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe

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For there is no difference for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus Whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness

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Because in his forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed To demonstrate at the present time his righteousness

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That he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

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Do you see a recurring word here? Righteousness Where is boasting then it's excluded

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By what law of works? No, but by the law of faith Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law

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Or is he the God of the Jews in only is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes of the

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Gentiles also Since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith

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Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not Contrary we established the law.

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I used to believe that if you gave people the truth, they would be able to detect the error I don't believe that anymore

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People aren't getting it You can tell them the truth and they may believe that but they don't see an opposing view is wrong.

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Just different Now if you say it's wrong You're seen as being judgmental

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Intolerant and unloving there's a popular hymn that says

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I need no other argument I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me.

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That is patently false And if that's what you're hanging your hopes on you're on your way to hell this very minute

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It's not enough that Jesus died for you. Am I a heretic?

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Let's see. We also sing another hymn My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness

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Those two hymns contradict each other That's why we ought never to get our theology from our hymn book.

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We ought to get it from our Bible That's why there's one denomination the

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Reformed Presbyterian Church, North America, they only sing the Psalms a cappella

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Because they believe that if we're singing what God wrote there won't be any error. There are a couple of hymns that drive me crazy

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One is my mother -in -law's favorite hymn. It's called in the garden. I Come to the garden alone.

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I believe any hymn that starts with a word. I should be ripped out I was sinking deep in sin

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Love lifted love didn't lift anything Christ lifted you I Come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses.

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Oh a Hallmark movie And then there's

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Jesus and he walks with me and he talks with me And he tells me

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I am his own and the joy we share as we tear you none other has ever known You're the only

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Christian that's ever lived obviously There's a cute little story about the boy that came home from Sunday school

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His mother says what'd you learn today? And he says we learned what God's name is Really? What is it?

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Andy God's name is Andy Andy walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me

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I am his own. That's what they said For me.

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The worst one is this that has God dying That thou my God should die for me

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God can't die. It's impossible for God to die

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So why would we sing that thou my God should die for me? Well, Jesus was

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God. That's not what it says I've been trying to get people to sing that thou

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O Christ should die for me that thou my Lord should die God can't die

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You don't do God any favors by singing error about him I said this at Grace Church the first time

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I preached there I looked at Clayton. I said you want a list of hymns? I think are okay We're always ready to hear hymns and sermons about the blood of Jesus But we very seldom hear a sermon or a song about the righteousness of Jesus But according to the song we sing we're building our hope on nothing less

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The blood of Christ alone applied to your account will keep you out of hell, but it'll do nothing to get you into heaven

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For that you must be as Paul says clothed in the righteousness of Christ in Romans 3

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Paul not only ascribed salvation to the blood of Christ, but also to the righteousness of Christ He tells us that righteousness is through faith in Christ for all those who believe

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In Romans 4 6 Paul quotes David speaking of the blessing on the man to whom

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God reckons righteousness apart from works And notice in Romans 5 19 it is through the obedience of Christ that were made righteous not through his death

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It's through his obedience through his perfect sinless life that we are made righteous when that is imputed to our account

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Imputation is a key word in the gospel what Christ did is imputed to me as if I had actually done it and God accepts me for what

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Christ did Now much of this discussion of righteousness has to do with our understanding of the covenant

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When a person acts as a true covenant partner, he said to be righteous God is said to be righteous because all of his actions are true to his covenant oath

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God is absolutely dependable as a covenant partner Now as the other covenant partner man is required to reflect the image of God his creator

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The Ten Commandments are the stipulations that rest on man the human partner When a man is true to his covenant obligations, he said to be righteous back

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Deuteronomy 6 defines this force It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the

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Lord our God as he commanded us so perfect obedience

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Would be righteous, but none of us has it John Calvin said the law of God contains perfect righteousness

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We willingly confess that perfect obedience to the law is righteousness and that the keeping of each commandment is a part of righteousness and He said righteousness consists in the observance of the law in Romans 2

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Paul begins his words about God's grace by stating that God is He does not begin his message on God's grace by stating that God is relented on his demands for righteousness

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He brings Jew and Gentile before God to show God is absolutely uncompromising

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In his demand for his God never lowers his standard Arthur Pink once said in his book saving faith

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If the gospel were more faithfully preached there would be fewer people professing to believe it

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We've so he says we've so watered down the gospel. Even the non -elect can't refuse it.

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God requires a holy life of people The justice of God's judgment seat requires exact and obedience to the perfect to God's law and man

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Cannot be saved unless that law is fulfilled every jot and tittle of it Again to quote

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Calvin the Lord promises nothing Except to perfect keepers of his law is a hymn that we sing that I think is solid

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What can wash away my sin? nothing but the blood of Jesus What can make me whole again?

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Nothing? But the blood of Jesus here's the human predicament

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No one of that kind is to be found it keeps God's law and This is where God stepped into our dilemma and provided for us a substitute in Jesus Christ Hebrews 7

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Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant not only by his blood which atones for our offenses, but by his righteousness, he reconciles us to God and Presents us in the sight of divine justice as if we had actually kept the law ourselves

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That's wonderfully foretold in the Old Testament in Isaiah 42 God talks about his chosen servant

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Says I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I will appoint you as a covenant to the people

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Speaking of Christ he repeats that in Isaiah 49. Well, what does all that mean? well, God had entered into covenant with his people, but they had failed time and time and time again, so God entered into covenant with himself through Christ Because Christ is the only one he could count on to be faithful It's as if God were saying it has to be him.

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He's the only one I can trust. I love southern gospel music

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Great harmony Unbelievable tenors, there's a group

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I really like called Ernie Haas and Signature Sound H -A -A -S -E

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Was the outgrowth of the older group the Imperials and The song that they're most noted for singing is

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Oh, what a Savior Absolutely abominable theology

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It says once I was sinking in sin's dark valley no hope could I see

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But they looked around heaven and they found a Savior to save a poor wretch like he didn't look anywhere

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He volunteered Wasn't like they held auditions God called his son and said here's what

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I want you to do. I want you to go to earth live among them Be insulted beat whipped and killed how's that sound so far and Jesus said father if that's what you want, and that's what

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I'll do. That's submission folks. That's what you want.

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That's what I'll do He didn't look around heaven Hey, you may see one guy maybe

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He volunteered That's why you can never say that the death of Christ was unfair he volunteered

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He said I'll do that There's a popular

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Quote Christian song it calls Jesus a victim of the cross Jesus wasn't a victim of anything.

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He was in charge the whole time In fact, he said no man takes my life. I'll lay it down You can't call that murder,

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I mean those people are responsible for murdering Christ But he was the one in charge not the

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Romans not the Jews the righteous servant

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Christ is humble and yet powerful Jeremiah prophesies of Christ as being a righteous branch the

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Lord complains about the shepherds of Israel who scatter and destroy the flocks and God says

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I'll raise up a faithful shepherd and by him save his people Jeremiah gives us the hope of salvation that every one of us here is hanging our hat on Jeremiah 23

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Behold the days are coming declares the Lord when I shall raise up for David a righteous branch and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land in his days

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Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely and this is the name by which he will be called the

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Lord our Righteousness when you pass from this life and go to stand before God Say it's me

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John used to say always make yourself the bad example. Here it is and God says who are you?

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Don Kistler Nope Don't have any

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Don Kistler down here Sorry, but if he says who are you?

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My name is Don. The Lord is my righteousness. Oh One of my son's boys.

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Come on in I was talking about movies last night. One of my favorites is a movie the

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Disney made called miracle It's the story of the 1980

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Olympic hockey team all college boys for the US that beat the Russians Fantastic movie

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The Russians were all professional hockey players. They hadn't lost a game in 15 years

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They played an exhibition game and the Russians beat the US team 10 to 3 So going into this game, nobody said the

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US had a chance We beat him and what means so much to me is that I remember watching that on television.

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It was on ABC For that few moments There were no

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Democrats Republicans liberals conservatives. We were all proud Americans Look what our boys did

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What was the movie opens up her Brooks and Kurt Russell should have got an

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Academy Award for playing her Brooks as a coach best job of a coach I've ever seen on TV.

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I coached for 22 years and I grade these guys He's starting to put his team together

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So he calls him to the center ice and he says let's let's get acquainted Give me your name where you're from and who you played for Start over here.

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My name's Tom Reynolds. I'm from St. Paul, Minnesota, and I played for you at the

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University of Minnesota Did you? What's your name? My name is

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Michael Roussioni. I'm from Winthrop, Massachusetts. I played for Boston College really

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What's your name each guy gave his name his hometown and the college he played for and Herberg said we're not a team

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It's a bunch of into which and they were still fighting Boston College beat, Minnesota So they fought on the ice right there at the

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Olympic Trials So the last game before the Olympics opens is against Finland We should have blown him off the ice

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They were ahead two to one with 15 seconds to go We scored a golden title

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And the next thing is the Olympics started nobody's giving us a shot So they start to skate off the ice and Herb Brooks blows his whistle here back on the ice

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Why were games over you didn't want to work during the game? We're gonna work now Blue line

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Now think of a hockey rink. There's the goal line a midline a center line another midline and another goal line

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Center line back Blue line back center line back midline back goal line all the way back.

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That was one They did it for an hour These guys just played a hockey game some of them were starting to falter

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Guys were heaving on the ice We did that in football we call them gassers because when you've done a few you're out of gas

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They call these Herbie's because of Herb Brooks He did it for an hour The guy who ran the rink says

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I've got to close up herb says give me the key. I'll lock up The team doctor says

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Herb you're gonna kill these boys. He said they'll wish again And finally some of them can't even stand up on their hockey sticks

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And he says to them you cannot be a team of uncommon men

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Uncommon men go nowhere You have to be uncommon men

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Again and all of a sudden he hears this Michael Rizzione Where you from Went through Massachusetts Who do you play for?

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I? play for the United States of America Good night, gentlemen.

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I'll see you tomorrow Had to lose their identity to come together as a team

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And then it is something no team had done 15 years they beat the Soviets and won the gold that wasn't a gold medal game the next one was but they beat the

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Soviets and People are shouting and cheering you s a you s a

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We had all come together if we are saved It's because the

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Lord is your righteousness It's because you play for him. It's because we take the name the

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Lord our righteousness to be our name Christ's life was a life full of God's Spirit a life of humility patient trust in God's zeal for God's glory perfect submission to God's will and Unflinching courage to do the word

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God gave him to do When Christ died on the cross, do you remember what the Roman centurion said? Certainly this was a righteous

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Man, he came to be baptized.

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He said to John in order to fulfill all righteousness Philippians 2 says that Christ was obedient unto death

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Literally, it means he was obedient until death This takes account all of Christ's life from the manger to the cross

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He went lower and lower and lower in the path of submission Till he hit the cross and there was no place lower to go and Paul calls this the righteousness of one

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This was a vicarious righteousness, by the way, Christ didn't it be righteous for his own self? He had to be righteous for you and for me

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Christ voluntarily assumed our obligation so he could do for us what we couldn't do for ourselves

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That's a pretty good Christian song. He paid a debt. He did not owe. I owed a debt. I could not pay

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I Needed someone to wash my sins away Christ's righteousness was of infinite value a lot of people died on crosses back then.

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I Was pretty common But only one person in all of history Hung on a cross and saw

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God turn his back Like this on his own son.

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You know what that proves If God won't accept sin in his own son, he's certainly not gonna accept it in you or anybody else

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Adam and Eve before God could close their nakedness a beast had to yield its life so they could wear its skin

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Death made the skins available, but it was the life of the animal that produced the coat Romans 5 says while we were enemies to God we were reconciled through the death of his son much more

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Well that much more there's so much more there Having been saved and reconciled we should be saved by his life

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Paul says in Romans, I'm not ashamed of the gospel For in it in the gospel the righteousness of Christ is revealed.

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I hate that phrase We went out to share the gospel preach the gospel

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Sharing is eyeball to eyeball. I'm no better than you are a Richard Baxter said it this way says

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Me preaching is one beggar trying telling another beggar where you can find some bread When I first started to preach

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I would often get introduced this way. Here's mr. Kistler. He's come to share what's on his heart.

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I Got so tired of that And at one church, I'm I wasn't as sensitive then as I am tonight in front of you

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He said here's mr. Kistler. He's come to share what's on his heart. I got it. I said I did not The only thing on my heart is cholesterol.

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I didn't come to share that I've come to preach Never invited back the blood of Christ washes the way the stain of our guilt and the righteousness of Christ clothes us

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With the righteousness that God demand faith doesn't offer God any righteousness of its own.

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That would be non saving faith We're not to place our faith in our faith as if that were some kind of meritorious work

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There's no merit in your faith. All the merit is in Christ in whom we place our faith

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Told you last night about that crash where they found a hope and with the fingers crossed If you stand before God with anything other than the merits of Christ and the righteousness of Christ, that's all you're doing we must say my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness and We must also say my hope is built on nothing more

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Than Jesus blood and righteousness If you add anything to what Christ has done you've subtracted it all

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Don't make that mistake Shall we pray father?

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We thank you for the scriptures clarity on these matters Now may we be hearers of the word

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Doers of the word and not hearers only for the honor of Christ and the glory of God in whose name we pray.