Romans 9. The wonderful doctrine of predestination

Romans 9

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Predestination. A doctrine that makes some people very angry, and others of us confused and worried. But it is a doctrine that is of great comfort and should bring us great joy!

How do I know I’m saved? Because God has chosen you and his mercy is upon you like it was on Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The same promises are ours in Christ.

I know from personal experience that this passage can be difficult. But I hope it will also be deeply encouraging as we see how great and powerful and scary and full of mercy our God is!

Three points tonight:

1. I would save my people if I were God – but I’m not

2. I did not save myself – God did.

3. The difficult and wonderful doctrine of predestination

1. I would save my people if I were God – but I’m not

9:1 With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. 2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them.

Paul’s desire is for the Jews to be saved. But he knows that even if he offered to be cut off forever – such a dramatic gesture – that would not be enough. Only God can save. And Paul must himself bow the knee before God’s sovereign rule.

You can feel the passion. The anguish for his people. Especially when he reminds us that everything that now belongs to the Christian, as he’s shown us in the past few chapters, used to belong to Israel.

4 They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises.

That’s what we have in Christ. All that was Israel’s is ours. The covenants, his glory, and adopted as His children – all ours in Christ. And so we worship him. In Christ we are God’s people.

5 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

Look at all that they had. But Paul’s heart is broken because they have thrown it all away. They have stumbled over Christ the stumbling stone. They rejected him and they have fallen.

Being Jewish is not enough. It is Christ and faith in him that is required, not your bloodline.

But this throws up a question in our mind: if the Jews had all these promises before me, but the gospel now says they don’t apply to them anymore, but to me – how do I know that the same won’t happen to me?

If God’s people, the Jews, have been rejected by God… can I trust God?

6 Well then, has God failed to fulfil his promise to Israel?

And the answer is simple: 6 No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people!

Throughout the Bible there is Israel – those born a Jew - and then there is a smaller group: True Israel or the “remnant”. And the Holy Spirit now shows us through Paul’s words that the remnant or True Israel were those chosen by God. This has always been the case, and still is. If you are chosen by God his wonderful promises apply to you, and nothing you do can change that. His favour rests upon you like it did upon Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.

But if you are not chosen, then everything you do will lead you away from God and confirm your hardness of heart.

Remember what we have already learnt: We all are sinners without hope. All in Adam. No-one does good, not even one. Condemned. There is no way for us to save ourselves. Morality judges us. The law condemns us. We’re in trouble. Hard heart. We are the source of our condemnation. We do not choose God. We choose, in a sense, hell. That’s what the Jews are doing and Paul is grieving. They reject Jesus, God’s righteousness, and try to earn their own righteousness. And so they stumble.

But, oh glory!, remember 3:21 But now a righteousness FROM God is revealed in Christ. God is the source of salvation. And His Spirit brings new life, new life from within. Not by doing good deeds, not by following the law, but by trusting in Christ’s death and resurrection on the Cross. And tonight’s passage shows that faith comes not from within, but from God’s choice to include us in the promise. And so now there is no condemnation, we are God’s children, we are heirs, and nothing can separate us from God’s love because his promise stands.

We know this, and it brings us unspeakable joy. But it does mean that we cannot MAKE those we love accept the Lord, and we cannot MAKE the Lord accept them either. Even if we were to be cut off for their sake – it would make no difference. We have to simply trust God.

I would save my people if I were God – but I’m not.

2. I did not save myself – God did.

15 For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” 16 So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

This is the one point that tonight’s passage is making: Salvation is God’s domain. Salvation is God’s domain. We can no more choose it or work for it than a dead person can choose it or work for it. Without Christ we are spiritually dead. And it is God who raises us to life.

And this has always been the case. Just like in chapter 4 we are reminded that salvation has always been through faith – Abraham believed God and God credited to him as righteousness – now we are reminded that God’s word has all along promised salvation only to those whom God sovereignly chose. And the Holy Spirit through Paul uses two examples from Israel’s history to show that belonging to God’s people depends not on birth or on anything a person does, but on God’s call.

6 Well then, has God failed to fulfil his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! 7 Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too.

The word translated “counted” is kaleo and means named or called, and is key to this section. It is the same word in v12 “he calls people” and in v24 we are among those whom he selected and v26 “there they will be called ‘children of the living God’”

A call is not an invitation. An invitation is “Would you like to come?”. A call is “Come here”. An invitation is your friend saying “Do you want to come to my house after school”. A call is your Dad saying “Come here we need to talk”!
In salvation God does not invite. God calls. He compels.

7b For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too. 8 This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. 9 For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” 10 This son was our ancestor Isaac.

Do you see the point Paul is making? As God called only some from among Abraham’s descendants to be his people (6b–13), so now he calls even some Gentiles (v24 Those not my people I will now call my people) and the remnant of the Jews 27 Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved. That’s the argument. God has always sovereignly chosen some to be saved, some to be “of the promise” and others not. Abraham had Ishmael and Isaac. But Isaac was the son of the promise, not Ishmael.

10 When he (Isaac) married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. 11 But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; 12 he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” 13 In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”

Can we be sure we are saved? Yes. If God has chosen us, then we are saved, as surely as he chose Isaac and Jacob. If His favour rests upon you then your calling and election is sure. Your good or bad works matter nothing – what matters is the purposes of God.

And this is always the way God has worked. He has not been unfaithful to Israel because he had always made clear that a remnant would be saved, not every Israelite. That is, the mark of salvation was faith in God’s word, and the obedient life that followed from that, not being born a Jew.
Same as being born to Christian parents is not a mark of salvation. I needed to be born again by the Spirit of God. I was called by God out of darkness and into the light. I was on my way to abandoning the faith my parents held. I was following my heart into the darkness. My birth counted for nothing. What counts is God’s mercy.

I did not save myself, God did. You did not save yourself, God did. And if you think you saved yourself, then there is a very real danger that you are not saved. Because that’s what Romans 1-8 has shown us. There is no-one righteous. No-one seeks God, not even one. Not even you. Not until the Spirit breathes life into you.
By the way, if you’re thinking “but I’m seeking God” then praise God, because that means the Spirit is at work in you!

I did not save myself, no more than Isaac chose himself to be the son of the promise, or Jacob chose himself to be greater than his twin brother Esau. I did not save myself – God did.

And that’s what we call predestination or election. That God is sovereign over salvation.

3. The wonderful doctrine of predestination

What is predestination? Article 17 of the 39 articles of faith of the Church of England defines it like this:

Predestination to life belongs to God’s everlasting purpose. Before the foundation of the world, it is his unchangeable decree, in accordance with his secret counsel, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he has chosen in Christ, and to bring them by him to everlasting salvation, as vessels of his mercy.

In other words God has chosen who will be saved. He did this in eternity before even creating us.

14 Are we saying, then, that God was unfair?

Isn’t that our main objection to predestination. It’s unfair. We have a VERY strong sense of “fairness” in our Norwegian society. Everyone has to get same opportunity. Everyone has to get the same. If one gets a sweet, everyone has to get a sweet. So much so that sweets were banned in my daughter’s class because not everyone could get and some people might feel bad if some had an others didn’t. So no sweets, cakes or biscuits for anyone. Got to be “fair”.

But the gospel is not fair. If the gospel was fair it wouldn’t be good news because we would get what we deserve – eternal judgement.
Is God unfair? No, because he is God he can show mercy to anyone he chooses! 15 For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” 16 So it is God who decides to show mercy.

Just like it is perfectly fair for me to take my kids out on a Daddy date, and not take someone else’s kids out with me. Because I’m my kids Dad. I love my kids. No-one would say “that’s not fair”.
Same with God. He has mercy on those whom he loves. And what mercy! God goes on a rescue mission that involved being born a man, suffering and dying on a cross, in order to rescue us!

Now if you’re struggling with this, let me give you some comfort. You’re struggling because of your culture, not your morality. It is your cultural bias that is being challenged, not necessarily what is good and bad. If you were born in a different place or different time you would have no problem now. So let’s not give our gut reaction too much weight. Our culture is good, but has many flaws.

But our struggle is real. So let’s try to understand this. Because we often misinterpret this as “So you’re saying that I’m a robot!”.
No, the Bible is very clear that we are not robots, that our choices are real and that they matter. In fact it is our choice to reject God that sends us to hell. But the fact that we have real choice (sometimes called “free will”) does not mean that God cannot be sovereign over all things.

But how does that work? I don’t know. How is light a stream of photons and a wave at the same time. No-one knows. But it is. Start reading up on quantum physics. Weird stuff. Impossible stuff. But it happens every day all around us. We live in a complex world where things that seem to contradict and cancel each other out… don’t. Two things that we think should be exclusive aren’t. God’s sovereignty does not change our free choice, and our free choice does not exclude predestination.

Salvation is like a door: we see “Come and choose to be saved” but as we go through the door we see behind us “predestined from before time”. These are two sides of the same coin.

Predestination is fundamental to a gospel of grace. The gospel does not work otherwise. Our very concept of God does not work.
If we throw out predestination we throw out grace. Because grace is by its very nature “unfair”.
We deserve hell (Romans chapter 1,2 and 3) – that is what we chose by the exercise of our free will. But God in his mercy overrides our choice. Predestination. We who did not choose God are chosen by God… and so we then choose God. God changes our hearts so that we love Him and choose to follow him instead of reject him. Instead of us getting what we chose, what we deserve, Jesus takes it. He goes through death and hell so that we don’t have to. He is treated like us. And we are treated like him. Children of God. Eternal inheritance. No condemnation. Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

Without predestination none of that is possible. If you want grace you want predestination. If you want grace you want God’s sovereignty. It is not possible otherwise. This is a wonderful doctrine.

And then Paul goes and ruins it with v17!

17 For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.” 18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.

Woah dude. God hardens people as well? I didn’t sign up for this! God is a loving God!

Well, maybe it’s time we get rid of the idea that our God is a loving God?

God is a loving God to those whom he loves. But to those whom he does not love, he is not. In the end He is a terrifying judge bringing destruction and eternal damnation. If you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Saviour then be afraid! Fall to your knees and plead for mercy. Maybe He will hear your prayer.

19 Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”

Well, if God is sovereign over everything, then what’s the point? How can he judge us? How can I have free will, free choice? And the answer is…. God is God, trust him.

20 No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? 22 In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. 23 He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. 24 And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.

This is both terrifying and greatly comforting. The world is divided up into two groups: those chosen in Christ to bring eternal glory to God. Those not chosen who are garbage. Ouch.
But if you’re in Christ, be free. Your salvation rests on God’s election, his eternal choice. You are secure!

Now the annoying thing is that God has not told us why or how he chooses some and not others, and how that lines up with his desire that all men should be saved. We are simply called to trust him, and trust his character revealed in our Lord Jesus, particularly in his death on the cross. When we see Him one day we will understand, and we will praise him.

See how the passage makes us focus on God and on his sovereign choice: over Isaac, over Jacob, over Israel, and over us.
Now there’s a very tempting theory out there called Arminianism which is not happy with God not revealing the reason why some are given saving faith and not others. Arminianism says that God looked into the future and saw our choices. That how he chooses who is saved and who isn’t. It fits well with our culture, it seems to solve the problem of God being a big bad who sends people to hell. Unfortunately it also removes assurance of salvation and puts us squarely in the centre of salvation. Oh, God chose me because I chose him. There’s three reasons why it doesn’t work:

1. God is not bound by time. He’s not looking ahead to see our choices. He’s already there, in the moment. And he’s at the end of time with those he has glorified (Rom 8:30)

2. He made us. He designed every part of us and the world we live in. it’s not like he doesn’t know the factors that will influence our decisions. So you still end up with the same problem: God designed some people in a way that meant they would choose him, but others were designed to reject him.

3. It rejects the Biblical teaching on sin. Rom 3:10 No-one seeks God. Eph 2:1 We are dead in our sins. Rom 5:12 death spread to all men because all sinned. Gen 6:5 every inclination of the heart of man is only evil all the time.
There is no way we can save ourselves because we are dead in sin. We cannot choose. Some people then respond “Ah, but Jesus’ death opened the way for everyone to choose”. But that’s makes all the clear teaching on sin nonsense: if Jesus’ death opens the way for everyone so that everyone can choose, then everyone can seek God – but the Bible says “no-one seeks God”.

4. And here’s a bonus reason: that not what tonight’s passage says! It’s very clear that God decides. Not us. He is the source, not us, no matter how much time is involved.

30 What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

Don’t stumble over the stumbling stone of Jesus. Trust him, not in yourself.

See, the doctrine of predestination is wonderful! As the 17^th article says: The reverent consideration of our predestination and election in Christ is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable strength to godly persons, who feel the working in themselves of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh and their earthly passions and drawing their thoughts upward to high and heavenly realities. This teaching is welcome to us both because it strongly establishes and confirms our assurance of eternal salvation to be enjoyed through Christ, and also because it kindles in us a fervent love to God.

Predestination is fundamental to the gospel and to our understanding of God. It is liberating. It is freeing. God is God and am not and his undeserved favour resets upon me so I’m free to serve him and love him and ador him and when I fail I am not worried because he loves me and has already glorified me – so secure am I!

Praise the Lord.

To end off, I want to give us a gentle push to those of us who are still struggling with this doctrine.

1. You already believe it. You believe that in the beginning God created everything from nothing. He is awesome in power, sovereign over all things. The God who speaks and things are from nothing, is supremely powerful! Of course he’s sovereign over our salvation too.

2. It goes against our culture. Be suspicous of doctrines that tell us what we want to hear.

3. It gives glory to God. We are small, God is big.

4. The greatest theologians of the church throughout history believe in predestination as the clear teaching of Scripture: The Apostle Paul certainly did. So did Augustine, Calvin and Luther, guys who took the Bible very seriously and changed the world.

5. No cults believe in predestination. None of them. Every single cult, whether Jehovah’s Witnesses or Iglasio ni Christo all reject the sovereignty of God and predestination. So does unbiblical nonsense like the prosperity gospel. Why? Because then I can’t get power over you. If salvation comes from God then you don’t need me! But if I can convince you that salvation comes from your own efforts, then I can say “and you need me to coach you, now give me your money”. Predestination protects us from dependence on sinners for salvation.

Brothers and sisters, we serve an awesomely powerful God. And for some reason he has chosen to lavish his love on us. Why, I do not know. But I am so grateful. He called me out of darkness to light, and he has called you. Praise God. Praise him with great praise!

And because He is sovereign, then anyone can be saved. There is always hope, because maybe your family member, your work colleague, your friend, or that stranger on the bus, is elect. Left to our own devices we all reject God. But God has mercy on whom he will have mercy. Amen.

Romerne 9. Den vidunderlig læren om predestinasjon

Romerne 9.

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Dette kapitlet er veldig enkelt. Faktisk er det det. Det sier bare en ting: Gud er suveren over frelsen. Og som svar på våre motsigelsene «men det er ikke rettferdig!» i v14 og «Gud kan ikke dømme oss!» i v19 får vi: ja men, Gud er Gud.

Enkelt. Problemet er ikke at det er komplisert. Problemet er at vi liker ikke det det sier! Jeg vet. Jeg har jobbet med dette kapitlet en stund, og funnet ut at man kan ikke kommer bort fra det som står skrevet. Gud utvelger mennesker til frelse. Og han forherder folk i sin dom.

Tre punkter i kveld:

1. Jeg ville frelst mitt folk hvis jeg var Gud - men jeg er ikke det.

2. Jeg frelste ikke meg selv - Gud gjorde det.

3. Den vidunderlig læren om predestinasjon

1. Jeg ville frelst mitt folk hvis jeg var Gud - men jeg er ikke det.

9 Jeg taler sannhet i Kristus, jeg lyver ikke! Min egen samvittighet bekrefter det i Den hellige ånd. 2 Jeg bærer stor sorg i hjertet og plages uavbrutt. 3 Ja, jeg skulle gjerne vært forbannet og skilt fra Kristus, om det bare kunne være til hjelp for mine søsken som er av samme folk som jeg.

Paulus ønsker at jødene skal bli frelst. Men han vet at selv om han tilbød å bli forbannet i evighet – noe så dramatisk! - ville det ikke være nok. Bare Gud kan frelse. Og Paulus må selv bøye kneet før Guds suverenitet.

Du merker at han lider for hans folk. Angsten han har. Spesielt når han sier at alt som nå tilhører den kristne, som han har vist oss i de forrige kapitlene, før tilhørte Israel.

4 De er israelitter; de har retten til å være Guds barn, og herligheten, paktene, loven, tempeltjenesten og løftene tilhører dem.

Det er det vi har i Kristus. Alt som var Israels er vår! Paktene, Hans herlighet og adopsjon – vi er Guds barn! – alt er vårt i Kristus.

5 De har fedrene (Abraham, Isak og Jakob), og fra dem stammer også Kristus, han som er Gud over alt, velsignet i all evighet. Amen.

Se på alt de hadde! Men Paulus sitt hjerte er knust fordi de har kastet det bort. De har snublet over snublesteinen Jesus Kristus. De avviste ham og de har falt.

Å være jødisk er ikke nok. Det er Kristus og tro på ham som kreves, ikke din etnisitet.

Men da dukker kanskje opp et ikke så ubetydelig spørsmål: Hvis jødene hadde alle disse løftene før oss, men evangeliet sier nå at de gjelder ikke lenger for dem, men for meg - hvordan vet jeg at det samme ikke kommer til å skje med meg?

Hvis Guds folk, jødene, er nå blitt avvist av Gud ... kan jeg stole på Gud? Har Guds ord slått feil?

6 Det er ikke slik at Guds ord har slått feil. Hvorfor? For ikke alle israelitter tilhører virkelig Israel.

Gjennom Bibelen er det Israel - de som ble født som jøde - og så er det en mindre gruppe: Sann Israel eller en «rest» (v27). Og Den Hellige Ånd viser oss nå gjennom Paulus ord at Resten eller Sann Israel var de som ble utvalgt av Gud. Dette har alltid vært tilfelle, og er fortsatt. Hvis du er valgt av Gud, gjelder hans vidunderlige løfter for deg, og ingenting du gjør kan endre det. Hans godvilje, hans favør, lyser på deg som det lyste på Abraham, Isak og Jakob.

Men hvis du ikke blir valgt, vil alt du gjør lede deg bort fra Gud og bekrefte ditt hjertes hardhet.

Husk det vi allerede har lært: Vi er alle syndere uten håp. Alle sammen i Adam. Ingen gjør det gode, ikke engang en. Fordømt. Vi kan ikke redde oss selv. Moral dømmer oss. Loven fordømmer oss. Vi har problemer. Harde hjerter. Vi er grunnen til vår egen fordømmelse! Vi velger bort Gud. Vi velger, på en måte, helvete. Det er det jødene gjør og Paulus er full av sorg. De avviser Jesus, Guds rettferdighet, og prøver å tjene seg til sin egen rettferdighet. Og så snublet.

Husk 3:21 men nå er Guds rettferdighet blitt åpenbart i Kristus. Gud er frelsens grunn. Og Hans Ånd bringer nytt liv, nytt liv fra innsiden. Ikke ved å gjøre gode gjerninger, ikke ved å følge loven, men ved å stole på Kristi død og oppstandelse på korset. Og så nå er det ingen fordømmelse, vi er Guds barn, vi er arvinger, og ingenting kan skille oss fra Guds kjærlighet.

Vi kjenner dette godt, og det gir oss stor glede! Men det betyr jo at vi kan ikke tvinger de vi elsker ti lå ta imot Herren, og vi kan heller ikke tvinge Herren til å ta dem imot heller. Selv om vi skulle bli forbannet for deres skyld, ville det ikke oppnå noe som helst. Den eneste vi kan gjøre er å stole på Gud.

Jeg ville frelst mitt folk hvis jeg var Gud - men jeg er ikke det.

2. Jeg frelste ikke meg selv - Gud gjorde det.

15 For han sier til Moses: Jeg viser godhet mot den jeg vil, og er barmhjertig mot den jeg vil. 16 Så kommer det altså ikke an på den som vil eller anstrenger seg, men på Gud som viser godhet

Dagens tekst sier bare en ting: frelse tilhører Gud. Frelse er Guds domene. Vi kan velge det eller tjener oss til det like mye som et lik kan velge det eller tjener det. Vi er åndelig døde uten Kristus. Og det er Gud som reiser oss til livet.

Og slik har det alltid vært. På samme måte som i kapittel 4 er vi minnet på at frelse alltid har vært gjennom tro - Abraham trodde Gud og Gud regnet det som rettferdighet - nå er vi minnet på at Guds ord har alltid lovet frelsen bare til de som Gud valgte ut. Og Den Hellige Ånd gjennom Paulus bruker to eksempler fra Israels historie for å bekrefte dette: de som hører Guds folk til avhenger ikke av fødsel eller ens gjerninger, men på Guds kall.

6 Det er ikke slik at Guds ord har slått feil. For ikke alle israelitter tilhører virkelig Israel, 7 og ikke alle Abrahams etterkommere er Abrahams barn. Det står jo: Gjennom Isak skal du få en ætt som skal kalles din.

Ordet «kalles» er nøkkelen til denne tekstbiten. Samme ordet ser vi igjen i v12 bare av ham som kaller og i v24 Også oss har han kalt og v26 der skal de kalles den levende Guds barn.

Et kall er ikke en invitasjon. En invitasjon er «Vil du komme?». Et kall er «Kom hit». En invitasjon er en venn sier «Vil du hjem til meg etter skolen». Et kall er når pappa sier «Kom hit, vi må ta oss en prat»!
I frelsen inviterer Gud ikke. Gud kaller. Han tvinger.

7b Det står jo: Gjennom Isak skal du få en ætt som skal kalles din. 8 Det betyr: Det er ikke de som er hans barn av kjøtt og blod, som er Guds barn. Bare dem som er barn ut fra løftet, regner han som Abrahams ætt. 9 For det var et løfte han fikk: Jeg kommer tilbake til deg når tiden er inne, og da skal Sara ha en sønn. (Isak)

Forstå det Paulus sier? Som Gud kalte bare noen fra Abrahams etterkommere til å være hans folk (6b-13), nå kaller Han altså visse hedninger (ikke-jøder) (v25 De folket som ikke var mitt, vil jeg kalle mitt folk) og jødenes rest 27 Om Israels barn var så tallrike som havets sand, skal bare en rest bli frelst.
Gud har alltid valgt ut i hans suverenitet noen til frelse, noen som er «ut fra løftet» og andre ikke. Abraham hadde Ismael og Isak. Men Isak var ut fra løftet, ikke Ismael.

10 Men ikke bare det – også Rebekka fikk to sønner med én mann, Isak, vår stamfar. 11–12 Før de var født, da de verken hadde gjort godt eller ondt, sa Gud til henne: Den eldste skal tjene den yngste. Guds plan og utvelgelse skulle stå fast og avhenger ikke av menneskers gjerninger, bare av ham som kaller. 13 For det står skrevet: Jakob elsket jeg, men Esau hadde jeg uvilje mot.

Kan vi være sikre på at vi er frelst? Ja. Hvis Gud har valgt oss, er vi frelste, på lik linje med Isak og Jakob. Hvis hans godvilje, hans favør, lyser på deg så er ditt kall og utvelgelse sikkert. Dine gode eller dårlige gjerninger teller for ingenting - det som betyr noe er Guds vilje.

Og slik har Gud alltid vært. Han har ikke vært utro mot Israel fordi han alltid vært tydelig på at bare en rest ville bli frelst, ikke enhver jøde. Det vil si at frelsens kjennetegn var tro på Guds ord og lydighet som følge - og ikke det å ble født en jøde.
På lik linje er det å bli født inn i en kristen familie ikke noe frelsesmerke. Jeg trengte å bli gjenfødt av Guds Ånd. Gud kalte meg ut av mørket og inn i lyset. Jeg var på vei til å forlate troen mine foreldre holdte. Jeg fulgte mitt hjerte inn i mørket. Min fødsel telte for ingenting. Det som teller er Guds nåde.

Jeg frelste ikke meg, Gud gjorde det. Du frelste ikke deg selv, Gud gjorde det. Og hvis du tror du frelste deg selv, så er det en veldig reell fare for at du ikke er frelst. Det har romerbrevet 1-8 vist oss! Ingen er rettferdige. Ingen søker Gud, ikke engang en. Ikke engang deg. Ikke før Ånden blåse liv i deg.

Forresten, hvis du tenker «men jeg søker Gud», da pris Gud, for det betyr at Ånden jobber i deg!

Jeg frelste ikke meg selv, akkurat slik Isak valgte ikke seg selv til å være løftets sønn, eller Jakob valgte seg selv til å være større enn hans tvillingbror Esau. Jeg frelste ikke meg selv - Gud gjorde.

Og det er det vi kaller predestinasjon, forutbestemmelse eller utvelgelse. At Gud er suveren over frelsen.

3. Den vidunderlig læren om predestinasjon

Hva er predestinasjon? Artikkel 17 av «the Church of Englands» 39 definerer det slik: Predestinasjon eller forutbestemmelse til livet tilhører Guds evige formål. Før verden ble grunnlaget er det hans uforanderlige bestemmelse, i samsvar med hans hemmelige vilje, å redde fra forbannelse og fordømmelse de som han har utvalgt i Kristus, til i evig frelse i ham, bare av nåde.

Med andre ord: Gud har bestemt hvem som skal bli frelst. Han gjorde dette i evigheten før han skapte oss.

14 Hva skal vi si til dette? Er Gud urettferdig?

Er det ikke vår største innvending mot predestinasjon? «Det er urettferdig». I vårt norske samfunn er det stort. Det må være rettferdig. Alle må få samme mulighet. Alle må få det samme. Hvis en få godteri, må alle få godteri. Så viktig er dette at godteri, kaker, og andre godbiter ble forbudt i min datters klasse fordi ikke alle kunne få, og da kunne noen føle seg utestengt. Da ble det forbudt. Må være «rettferdig».

Men evangeliet er ikke rettferdig! Hvis evangeliet var rettferdig, ville det ikke være noe gode nyheter fordi vi ville da få det vi fortjener: evig dom! Er Gud urettferdig? Nei, for han er Gud, og derfor har han lov til å vise nåde til hvem han vil velger! 15 For han sier til Moses: Jeg viser godhet mot den jeg vil, og er barmhjertig mot den jeg vil. 16 Så kommer det altså ikke an på den som vil eller anstrenger seg, men på Gud som viser godhet.

For eksempel, det er helt greit for meg å ta mine barna på en «daddy date», og ikke ta andres barn med meg. Fordi jeg far til mine barn. Jeg elsker dem. Ingen ville ha sagt «det er urettferdig».
Slik er det med Gud. Han er barmhjertig overfor de han elsker. Og hvilken barmhjertighet! Gud utfører en redningsaksjon hvor han bli født som et menneske, han lider og så dør han på korset for å redde oss!

Hvis du sliter med dette, la meg gi deg litt trøst. Du sliter på grunn av din kultur, ikke fordi dette er umoral. Dette utfordre vår, ikke det som er rett og galt. Fordi hvis du hadde blitt født et annet sted eller i en annen tid, ville du ikke hatt noe problem med dette. For noen av dere er veldig glade akkurat nå! Dette er ikke et problem for din kultur. (Din kultur har jo andre problemer med Bibelen!).
La oss ikke legge for mye vekt på vår reaksjon. Vår kultur er god, men har mange feil!

Uansett er dette vanskelig for oss, så vi må jobbe for å prøve å forstå dette. Fordi vi ofte feiltolke dette som «du sier at jeg er en robot!». Nei, Bibelen er veldig tydelig på at vi ikke er roboter, at våre valg er ekte og at de betyr noe. Faktisk er det vårt valg å avvise Gud som sender oss til helvete. Men faktum at vi har reelle valg betyr ikke at Gud er da ikke suveren over alle ting.

Men hvordan fungerer det? Jeg vet ikke. Hvordan er lys en strøm av fotoner og en bølge samtidig. Ingen vet. Men slik er det. Begynn å lese deg opp på kvantumfysikk. Rare ting. Umulige ting. Men det skjer hver dag rundt oss. Vi lever i en kompleks verden der ting som synes å være det motsatte og bør ikke kunne skjer samtidig gjør det! Ting som vi tror skal være eksklusive, er ikke det. Guds suverenitet ødelegge ikke våre frie valg, og våre frie valg utelukker ikke hans suverenitet eller utvelgelse.

Frelse er som en dør: vi se «Kom og velg å bli frelst», men når vi går gjennom døren ser vi bak oss «forutbestemt fra evighet». Disse er to sider av samme mynt.

Predestinasjon, forutbestemmelse er grunnleggende for et evangelium av nåde. Uten det fungere ikke evangeliet! Vårt Gudsbilde i Bibelen fungere ikke uten. Hvis vi kaster ut predestinasjon, kaster vi ut nåde. Fordi nåde er naturen «urettferdig». Vi fortjener helvete (Romerne kapittel 1,2 og 3) - det er det vi valgte ved vår frie vilje. Men Gud i hans barmhjertighet overstyrer dette, og i stedet for at vi får det vi fortjener, tar Jesus det. Han går gjennom død og helvete, i stedet for oss. Han blir behandlet som oss. Og vi blir behandlet som han. Guds barn. Evig arv. Ingen fordømmelse. Ingenting kan skille oss fra Guds kjærlighet.

Uten forutbestemmelse er dette ikke mulig. Hvis du vil ha nåde vil du ha predestinasjon. Hvis du vil ha nåde vil du ha Guds suverenitet. Det er ikke mulig ellers.

Ok. Kanskje vi kan akseptere det. Da går Paulus videre og ødelegger den med v17!

17 For Skriften sier til farao: Jeg lot deg stå fram for å vise min makt på deg, og for at navnet mitt skal bli forkynt over hele jorden. 18 Altså viser han godhet mot den han vil, og forherder den han vil.

Gud forherder folk? Nei, du, det går for langt! Gud er en kjærlig Gud!

Jada. Kanskje er det på tide at vi blir kvitt ideen om at vår Gud er en kjærlig Gud. Gud er en kjærlig Gud mot de han holde kjær. Men for dem som han ikke holde kjær… er Han til slutt en skremmende dommer som bringer ødeleggelse og evig fordømmelse. Hvis du ikke kjenner Jesus som Herre og Frelser, vær redd! Fall på knærne og be om nåde. Kanskje han vil høre bønnen din.

19 Nå vil du vel innvende: «Hva har han da å bebreide oss? Hvem kan stå imot hans vilje?» 20 Men hvem er du, menneske, som tar til motmæle mot Gud? Kan verket si til håndverkeren: «Hvorfor gjorde du meg slik?» 21 Bestemmer ikke pottemakeren over leiren, så han av samme leirklump kan lage én krukke til fint bruk og en annen til simplere bruk? 22 Og enda Gud ville vise sin vrede og gjøre sin makt kjent, har han tålmodig båret over med de krukkene som var under vreden, de som var laget for å gå til grunne. 23 Han gjorde det for å gjøre kjent hvor rik hans herlighet er for dem som han ville vise godhet, og som var gjort ferdige for herligheten. 24 Også oss har han kalt til å være slike krukker, ikke bare blant jødene, men også blant hedningene.

Dette er både skremmende og … trøstende. Verden er delt opp i to grupper: de som er utvalgt i Kristus til å ære Gud i evighet. De som ikke er utvalgt er som… søppel (det er det grunnteksten sier, ikke «simplere bruk» men søppelbøtte). Uff.

Når vi sliter med dette, må vi se til korset. For der se vi Guds kjærlighet åpenbart. Vår Gud som er villig til å dø for sine fiender for å gjøre dem om til hans barn - det er vår Gud. Og vi må stole på Ham. Det er det Paulus sier. Det finnes ikke noe svar på disse spørsmålene - Gud har ikke fortalt oss hvorfor eller hvordan han velger noen og ikke andre, og hvordan dette stemmer med hans ønske om at alle skal bli frelste. Vi må stole på ham, og stol på hans karakter åpenbart i vår Herre Jesus. Når vi se ham en dag, vil vi forstå, og vi vil prise ham.

Et veldig populær feil svar kalles arminianisme, og de fleste av oss tror faktisk på det fordi det passer godt med vår kultur. Arminianisme sier at Gud så inn i fremtiden og så våre valg, og utfra det – ut fra våre valg så valgte han oss. Det er feil, og her er tre grunner hvorfor:

1. Gud er ikke bundet av tid. Han ser ikke fremover for å se våre valg. Han er allerede der, i øyeblikket. Og han er på slutten av tiden med de som han har herliggjort (Rom 8:30)

2. Han skapte oss. Han utformet alle deler av oss og verden vi lever i. Det er ikke som han ikke vet hva som vil påvirke våre beslutninger. Så du ender opp med samme problemet: Gud utformet noen mennesker på en måte som betydde at de ville velge ham, men andre var designet for å avvise ham.

3. Den avviser den bibelske læren om synd. Rom 3:10 Ingen søker Gud. Ef 2:1 Vi er døde i våre synder. Rom 5:12 Død spredte seg til alle mennesker fordi alle syndet. Gen 6:5 alt de ville og planla i sitt hjerte, var ondt, dagen lang.
Det er ingen måte vi kan frelse oss selv på fordi vi er døde i synd.
Å si at Jesu død gjør det mulig – at alle kan nå søke Gud - er fullstendig galt fordi det undergrave den klare læren om synd: Bibelen sier at ingen søker Gud.

Men poenget er: hvis du er i Kristus, vær fri. Din frelse hviler på Guds valg, hans evig valg. Du står på stødig grunn! Lær fra Israel.

30 Hva skal vi så si? Jo, hedningene som ikke jaget etter å få rettferdighet, de har vunnet rettferdighet, det vil si rettferdigheten av tro. 31 Men Israel, som jaget etter loven for å vinne rettferdighet, nådde ikke fram. 32 Hvorfor ikke? Fordi de holdt seg til gjerninger, ikke til tro. De støtte mot snublesteinen, 33 slik det står skrevet: Se, på Sion legger jeg en snublestein og en klippe til fall. Men den som tror på ham, skal ikke bli til skamme.

Ikke snuble over Jesus. Stol på ham, ikke deg selv.

Læren om predestinasjon er vidunderlig! Som den 17. artikkelen sier: Å tenke dypt over vår utvelgelse i Kristus fører til søt, elskverdig og uutslettelig styrke til gudfryktige personer, som merker i seg selv Kristi Ånd, som dreper kjødets gjerninger og deres jordiske lidenskaper og leder sine tanker oppover til høye og himmelske realiteter. Denne læren er ønsket både fordi den etablerer og bekrefter vår visshet om evig frelse i Kristus, og også fordi det tenner en ivrig kjærlighet til Gud i oss.

Predestinasjon er grunnleggende for evangeliet og for vår forståelse av Gud. Den er befriende. Den frigjør. Og hvis vi ikke forstår denne læren, vil vi sliter.

Da vil jeg avslutte med noen hjelpemidler slik at vi kan akseptere predestinasjon

1. Du tror allerede på det. Fordi du tror at i begynnelsen skapte Gud alt fra ingenting. Han er ufattelig i makten, suveren over alle ting. Gud som sier et ord og så er ting fra ingenting – det er overveldende makt! Selvfølgelig er han suveren også over vår frelse.

2. Kirkens største teologer gjennom historien tror på predestinasjon som Skriftens tydelige lære: Apostelen Paulus helt klart. Det gjorde også Augustin, Calvin og Luter, som tok Bibelen på alvor og forandret verden.

3. Ingen kult tror på predestinasjon. Ingen av dem. Hver eneste kult, om det er Jehovas vitner eller Iglasio ni Christo, alle avviser Guds suverenitet og forutbestemmelse. Det gjør også ubibelsk tull som herlighetsteologi. Hvorfor? Fordi da kan jeg ikke få makt over deg. Hvis frelsen kommer fra Gud, trenger du ikke meg! Men hvis jeg kan overbevise deg om at frelsen kommer fra din egen innsats, så kan jeg si «og du trenger meg og mitt hemmelig kunnskap til å lede deg. Nå gi meg pengene dine». Predestinasjon beskytter oss mot å være avhengig av syndere for frelse.

Brødre og søstre, vi tjener en Gud som har allmakt. Og av en eller annen grunn har han valgt å øser ut hans kjærlighet på oss. Hvorfor vet jeg ikke. Men jeg er så takknemlig. Han kalte meg ut av mørket og inn i lyset, og han har kalt deg. Vi priser Gud!

Og fordi han er suveren, så kan hvem som helst blir frelst. Det er alltid håp, fordi kanskje din familiemedlem, din arbeidskollega, din venn, eller den fremmede på bussen, er utvalgt. Hvis vi får velge avviser vi alle Gud. Men Gud er barmhjertig mot den han vil. Amen.

Romans 7:1-8:1 We are free!

Read: Romans 7:1-8:1

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Ro 8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

Free. No condemnation!

Do you feel like that?

Or do you feel like a failure? Like a fraud? Last week’s message from chapter 6 that sin no longer has power over us and that we live to serve Jesus as his slaves…. but I don’t feel like that! I struggle with sin. We know in our minds what we want to do - but we face a war within ourselves. I want to do good – but I do evil instead. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?

Isn’t that how we feel sometimes? Such a failure as a Christian. We don’t feel like we’re set free from sin. We don’t feel like slaves of God, but slaves of sin!

Today we’re hammered with the truth that the answer is NOT to try harder, or to find the hero within ourselves, or to abandon Christianity because “it’s just too hard”. The answer is in v25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. Ro 8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

How does that follow? How can I be a slave to sin in my sinful nature and yet not be condemned?

And what’s this stuff about the mind? How can I want to obey God’s law in my mind, but still sin?

Well if you know Romans, you know that chapters 1-11 is the “mind” part of the letter. This is the stuff we need to KNOW before we can obey. We need to THINK right before we can ACT right. It’s all about how we are to think. This is the battle-ground up here. We must understand who we are in Christ. This is our identity.

It’s no surprise then that when we come to chapter 12 it begins: Ro 12 And so, … I plead with you to give your bodies to God [as] a living and holy sacrifice…2 Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

How should we then think of ourselves? Not under law! But how can we defeat sin without the law? We defeat it with grace.

1. Grace is more powerful than law

2. We fight sin with grace, not with law

3. Grace frees us from a life dominated by sin and death, which law cannot do.

1. Grace is more powerful than law

6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit

There are only two ways to live: by effort, or by grace. We are all judged by works – it just depends on whose works. Our own works – which reveal our sin and lead to eternal death. Or Jesus’ works, which are perfectly righteous and lead to eternal life. Do we trust in ourselves, or trust in him? The law or the Spirit?

4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ.

The law has no power over the one who is dead. We died with Christ. Just like if your spouse dies, you are free to remarry – the law of marriage no longer applies. Death breaks the power of the law. So if we have died in Christ, the law no longer applies to us. 8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

Because the law brings condemnation. The law like a spotlight reveals our sin and condemns us, rightly. But in Christ we have died to the law. It can no longer condemn us!

4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.

Interesting. The fruit of a life lived by the law is condemnation. The fruit of the free gift of grace through faith produces good deeds. So if you want to do good deeds – remember who you are. Don’t strive. Don’t beat yourself up with the law. Remember who you. Dead to sin, alive to Christ. Mitt kjøtt er dødt!

And why doesn’t the law work? Because v5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.

6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.

We are free! Not only have we died to sin, but we are alive in the Spirit. We are not just saved FROM our sin, but also saved FOR God. And he breathes new life into us. We have his Spirit.

And that’s why it feels like there’s a battle-ground in us. Because have our old sinful nature still clinging on. No it’s my effort. And we have the new Spirit-filled nature, saying it’s all Jesus. And that creates conflict within us.

Imagine you were there when Jesus was being crucified. You see him beaten and bloodied. You hear his amazing words “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing”. You see him cry out – and just before he’s about to breathe his last breath, his great work accomplished – you shout “wait!”. Jesus breathes in – surprise on his face. “Wait, wait, wait, I just need to add my bit in to this”. Jesus, his arms outstretched, nails in his hands, the mission complete, a life lived in perfect obedience to the Father, and now giving his life in perfect love, bearing all our sins in his own body, just looks at you with bemusement. As you rush forward, pulling out your wallet. Look! The stuff I gave to TV aksjon! And that time I helped my friend! And here’s my church attendance.

Foolish isn’t it? “My child, none of that is necessary. My work is sufficient.” Jesus says. And then cries out “Father into your hands I commit my spirit” and dies in the darkness of the noonday sky as the earth shakes and rocks split open and the Roman centurion says “Surely this man was the son of God”.

Jesus’ work is sufficient. Why do we think we can add anything to it?

Grace is more powerful than law. And he proved it by bursting forth from the grave a few days later. Who of us can do that? Stop trusting in yourself. Trust in Jesus! Be free! Grace is more powerful than law.

2. We fight sin with grace, not with law

14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin

What is the problem with the law? Me! I’m the problem with the law. The law is good. It is God’s good law. It came from his mouth. It is perfect. But as a way of salvation it is severely flawed. In fact, as Christian pointed out last week, the law itself recognises that it is flawed, because it has the sacrificial system built in to it for all the times you fail to keep it! “Here’s the law, guys, but you won’t be able to keep it, so here’s the way to be forgiven when you don’t keep it.”

The law was never the way to be saved. We are saved by grace. Abraham was saved by grace. David was saved by grace. There is no other way to be saved.

The law is an expression of God’s character. It is good and holy and pure – but as a way to be saved or a guide to holy living, it is horrible, and drives us to despair. There is no way you can live up to the standard of the law. As Christians, we do not look to the law to live the Christian life. Not if you take it seriously. For the summary of the law is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul” Who of us does that? Could possibly do that? Never mind the second part which is easier “love your neighbour as yourself”. We just don’t love our neighbour and that reveals that we don’t love God.

The law is remote and unyielding. It is perfect perfection, as hard as diamond, and it will break us. Its holiness, its perfection, is death to us.

7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”

God’s law reveals my sin. Like a spotlight. The rational thing to do would be to repent! But then my sinful nature kicks in. 8 But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power.

This past summer the kids and I were at a wildlife park, and there was this magnificent stuffed rhino on display. The real rhino were just over the fence – we could see them – but this one you could get close enough to touch. To feel the rough skin of the rhino. To feel as if you were right there.
But there was a sign on it. The sign said “do not touch”. Do you know, the sign did not make us want to touch the rhino less! In fact, it made us want to touch the rhino more. It was forbidden.

We touched it.

And that’s what we’re like with God’s law. God says “don’t do that”. And immediately we want to do it. Because if I’m pretending to be God in my life, I’ve got to show who’s the real boss.

Touching a stuffed rhino has little consequence apart from a few tut-tuts – but breaking God’s law kills us.

9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died.

14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.

Brothers, let’s not fool ourselves. We cannot fight sin with the law. The law just makes things worse. We try to beat ourselves over the head with it – stop sinning, it’s wrong.
It doesn’t work. “Be better!” has never achieved anything. The law is powerless to change us. Only God’s grace can change us, because grace comes with the Spirit of God.

Let’s not say “be better” but “help me”. See, law-based religion is me-focussed. It’s my efforts that will help me. However much I talk about God, it’s actually me and my strength and my discipline which will help me succeed. Oh, God might help me, but it’s God helping ME. I’m in the arena, and he’s cheering me on. That will lead to frustration and death.

Grace is about recognising my helplessness. It’s not looking to me but to Jesus. He is in the arena fighting the battle I cannot win and I am cheering Him on. Yes Jesus, thank you, Jesus! He’s the focus, not me. And there is tremendous freedom in that. I am a slave to sin says v14. Do you believe that? Or do you still think with a bit of focus and discipline you can win? Is your trust in you or is it in Him?

We fight sin with grace, not with law.

3. Grace frees us from a life dominated by sin and death

24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

It’s all about Jesus. Whatever our problem, it is sin that lies at the root. And the ONLY solution to sin is JESUS. Every other solution is trying to fight sin with.. more sin. Even God’s perfect law, something from heaven, from the mouth of the living God, cannot solve our problem. Why do we look to our wife or husband or politicians, or therapists, or discipline or techniques? Sin has ruined them all.

There is only one solution: Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus, the man from Nazareth, born of a virgin called Mary. Jesus was born a human being in order to save us human beings from our sin. It is massive. Why do we think that “trying a bit harder” will succeed if God thinks that the only thing that will work is if he steps out of heaven and becomes one of us. Duh! What a miracle Christmas is.

Jesus the Man, became Christ: the rescuer, saviour, promised in the Scriptures. And showed that he is the Lord, the Living God, in his words, miracles, compassion, and his resurrection. Jesus Christ our Lord. Do you ever stop and just marvel at him. At his magnificence? At the beauty and wonder of the gospel. At the glory of Christmas? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

I keep sinning. Why? I know it’s sin – I agree with the law! 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

There are two of me inside. When you become a Christian, you enter a battleground. A battle in your mind. Two natures, fighting for control. Thanks be to God, the Spirit will win on the Last Day – but until then we are locked in a desperate battle against ourselves.

22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?

Not me! Not my wife. Not the therapist. Not the politicians. Not even the Christian preacher peddling gospel-lite pop psychology. Only Jesus has the power to defeat sin. Only he can change us from the inside out. Don’t forget that. One of the main weapons our old nature uses is deception – lies – by convincing us to rely on ourselves to solve the problem, rather than the freedom of relying on God. the law does not work and really can never work. We need to kill any idea in us that obeying a certain set of rules, being a certain way, going to certain meetings or avoiding certain foods or certain entertainment will make us right with God. We need to kill that idea. What will make us right with God is Christ. And nothing else. We cannot add anything to the work of Christ.

I experienced this recently. I was getting stressed, anxious. My joy went. I wasn’t excited about the next day – even when the next day was getting stuck in to the Word to prepare a sermon. Oh dear. Why? Because I’d forgotten who’s church this was. I’d forgotten who was responsible for all of you, and all those on the outside, and the churches in Oslo and Vestfold, and the state of the gospel in Norway and the church building and it wasn’t me! It’s Jesus. Fool I was. It took my wife and Petter to remind me that I am not the infinite Creator and Sustainer of all things. And when I let go of that burden which was not mine to bear – oh the lightness of being and the JOY that came back. Praise God.

In Christ we are free.

8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

We cannot add anything to the work of Jesus achieved on the Cross. So how do we apply this? Brothers and sisters, one thing we cannot do is go out of here relying on ourselves to live the Christian life. We are not the answer to our problems. We must humble ourselves and turn to Jesus. Jesus is not our life coach, helping us along – we fall at his feet as he lifts us up and turns us in to a beautiful shining example of his grace at work.

How does this work in practice? To fight sin with grace, rather than law, and embrace the freedom we have been given in Christ? Here’s an example: relationships problems! Those we love the most are often those we struggle most with as well. Why? Because you’re putting sinners together. Whether it’s your wife or your work colleague you’ve got two sinners put together and that creates issues. But this is the key: All relationship problems – ALL – are rooted in sin. Either yours or the other persons (or more likely, both!). The root cause is sin. Selfishness.
And who can fix sin? Not me, not you, but Jesus. Relationships are fixed vertically before they’re fixed horizontally. Remember the triangle – particularly if you’re married. You (L). Your spouse (R). God (Top). The closer you are to God, the closer you are to each other. How is it possible to love another person? Don’t rely on yourself – draw close to God, and He will show you how to love her. Draw close to God, and He will give you the power you need to love her with a fierce undying love. Draw close to God and things will fall into their right place. That’s why we’re gathered here tonight. Draw near to God in wonder and thankfulness and humility.

When we sin, we are reminded that we are weak and need grace. Don’t beat yourself up, but turn to him who arms full of grace died for you on the cross and then rose to life to give you his life-giving Spirit. There is not condemnation but power in humbling ourselves before Jesus. Power no law, no effort, no beating ourselves up can match. Because he lifts us up so that the glory goes to him and we stand in awe of what he has done in our lives. He is the hero in our story. Let’s live like it. Hooray for Jesus. Amen.

Romans 4. Jesus was always Plan A

Romans 4:1-25

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A few weeks ago when Christian started us off in Romans he told us a story from when he was a young Christian. He said that he didn’t understand how God’s salvation plan worked – that it seemed like a lot of trial and error. He thought that God first tried Adam and Eve with just ONE RULE but then they messed that up, so then he tried a WHOLE NATION with MANY RULES, but that didn’t work – so finally he tried Jesus and oh my goodness that worked! Hooray.
And Christian’s not the only one who thought this. There are many today who believe in dispensationalism – that God had a number of salvation plan attempts. And many believe therefore, wrongly, that there are a number of ways to come to God!
But as Christian grew in his faith and read the Bible – like today’s passage - he realised, hang on a minute, that’s totally NOT how things worked. There wasn’t plan A, B and C – JESUS was plan A all along. Jesus has always been the plan. Jesus was always God’s plan to save the world.

Even way back in Genesis 3:15 we read “And I will cause hostility between you [Satan, the snake] and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” Right at the start God promises a rescuer will come – a human being, born of a woman, who will strike the head of the devil. (This verse by the way is called the “protoevangelion”: the seed of the gospel) The rest of the Bible is really a search for this serpent-crusher, the one who can defeat evil – but at great cost to himself, for he will also be struck.
The whole way through the Bible it points to Jesus who fulfils all things. Jesus is the serpent-crusher of Genesis 3:15 who defeated Satan. Jesus is the Noah’s Ark of rescue, saving everyone who trusts in him from the coming judgement. He is the seed of Abraham who blesses the whole world. He is the prophet like Moses who leads the whole world from slavery to sin and to the promised land of the new creation. He is the fulfilment of the Law, the perfect Sacrifice, our great High Priest. And Jesus is the King in David’s line, who was promised that an everlasting King would come from him who will rule in peace and prosperity forever.

The whole Bible points to Jesus, rests on Jesus. He is the foundation, the theme, the one great subject of all of the Bible. Amen!

(By the way, that means that if you don’t understand how a certain part of the Bible relates to Jesus, you haven’t understood that part! The Bible is like a diamond, and Jesus is at its centre. There are a thousand beautiful ways to see him from multiple different angles as we read the Word.)

And this is the theme in today’s passage. The Jews had fallen into the trap of thinking that they were loved by God because of who they were: because they were “good” people – better than those “out there”. (How often do we fall into the same trap?)
No, says the Holy Spirit through Paul. It is not by works but by faith, and has always been by faith. And here’s Abraham, your forefather, to teach you!

Ro 3:20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

Three points tonight and in honour of 500 years since the Reformation two weeks ago, I’ve pulled in a few of the Reformation rally cries to help us. Excuse the Latin!

1. Sola fide (by faith alone) – we are saved through faith in Christ, not through works (which is faith in ourselves)

2. Sola fide, Solus Christus (by faith alone in Christ alone) - there is no other way to be saved except through faith in Christ

3. Sola Gratia (by grace alone) - our faith is based solely on the grace of God, not on ourselves. We are counted righteous.

1. Sola fide (by faith alone) – we are saved through faith in Christ, not through works (which is faith in ourselves)

2 If [Abraham’s] good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. 3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”

Abraham had nothing to boast about, nothing he could go to God with and say “you owe me”. This was the absolute opposite to how Judaism viewed Abraham at that time (and still today). They view him as a great pioneer of ‘torah piety’, a man who pleased God above all by his obedience to the law. And many church groups and cults do the same thing. Because what we WANT in our heart of hearts is for it to be possible to earn our salvation and not be by grace. Why?

Because if it’s by grace alone then we have no control, no influence, no way to pretend to be God! The heart of sin is that I want to be God in my life. I want to answer to no-one but myself. I want to have faith in myself, my own efforts, rather than trust in (have faith in) God.

Because if I can jump through enough “good person” hoops, then God will owe me. God will be in my debt! I have something over God!
But if it’s by grace alone… then I am in His debt, He is God and I am not, and I must just submit to His will. Ooh. It’s hard.

4 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. 5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.

If we could work for our salvation then we could earn it. But we can’t. The Scriptures don’t say “Abraham earned his salvation and so was righteous” but they say “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous”.

Righteousness is given, not earned. It cannot be earned. It was never earned. Abraham, the “great man of faith”, the forefather of the Jews – he did not earn his righteousness, but it was given to him. And King David, Israel’s greatest king – he also did not earn his righteousness, but it was given.

6 David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: 7 “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. 8 Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin.”

We are saved, declared righteous, worthy of standing before God - only through faith in Christ, not through works, which is faith in ourselves.

How can we apply this?

Well, if we understand that the heart of sin is “I want to be God” and I want to earn my salvation and declare MYSELF righteous, we can understand the world a lot better.

For example, this gets to the heart of the transgender debates. Because they’re really about who will be God. I am God and I will determine my reality. My sex will change to conform with my perception of reality.
That’s why seemingly intelligent people are jumping on this bandwagon. Because it’s a great way to declare that we are independent of God. He cannot determine our sexual reality. I will. So I will support your campaign to determine your own gender because I support above all your right to determine your own reality, your right to be God.

Because if I say you can’t – well, then I’m admitting that there are boundaries to what we can do, that it may not be possible for us to determine our reality and that it may be that we are not God.
It is sin, the desire to be God, which lies at the heart of all this transgender foolishness.

So let us have grace, and present the gospel, because Jesus is the only solution to sin. Angry posts on Facebook and ugly protests are not going to save anyone or win anything, but push people away from Jesus. When we understand that sin is the underlying issue, the real problem, then we can have compassion, and come with grace and open arms – because that’s how Jesus accepts us.

You can certainly think of many other applications in the world today! And closer to home. Why is there conflict amongst us, in our homes. Is it not because I’m pretending to be God, and you’re pretending to be God, so when we meet – who’s going to be God? Fight!

Jesus is the solution. When I understand that I am a sinner who has been GIVEN righteousness and therefore I have nothing to boast about - not even ABRAHAM could boast… then I can meet others more and more with Christ’s love and Christ’s forgiveness.

Sola fide (by faith alone) – we are saved through faith in Christ, not through works (which is faith in ourselves).

2. Sola fide, Solus Christus (by faith alone in Christ alone) - there is no other way to be saved except through faith in Christ

11 Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith. 12 And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised. 13 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.

Circumcision was the mark of being a Jew. If you were a Jew you were circumcised to show that you belonged to God. A bit like being baptised into the church. But just like baptism, people began to mistake the outward sign of God’s grace as the thing that really mattered. They thought that having the mark was what was important, not the actual reality of God’s grace behind it. I’m circumcised, I can do what I want. I’m baptised, I’m safe now, I don’t have to bother with this Jesus fellow any more.

That’s like me saying “have you met my wife” and then pulling out a picture of Debby. And then talking to the picture and kissing the picture and sleeping with the picture – and never saying a word to Debby! That’s replacing the reality with the symbol.

Because circumcision was just a sign, nothing more. Circumcision without faith in Jesus is useless, just as baptism without faith in Jesus is useless.

And the Holy Spirit shows us this by pointing out that Abraham received God’s promises BEFORE he was circumcised. Circumcision was a sign of the grace he had been given.

In Genesis 12 God calls Abraham and promises to be with him and bless the world through him. In Genesis 15 he reconfirms his promise to Abraham (after Abraham had sinned) and that’s where he says in 15:6 And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith. In Genesis 18, 29 years later, Abraham is circumcised. He is declared righteous, and then receives the sign.

Therefore we who are Christians, if we have faith like Abraham in the promises of God – he is our spiritual father, whether we are Jewish or not. Whether Jew or Gentile, we who trust in Jesus are the sons and daughters of Abraham, the people of God.
But if you’re Jew but don’t believe in Jesus – well then your sign of circumcision is worthless and condemns you.

In the same way, baptism, taking communion, even serving in the church – is all worthless without faith in Jesus. If you are doing things to impress God, to get God in your debt, you are lost. Repent quickly and receive God’s grace!

We are baptised because we believe in God’s word that we who believe in Jesus are 1. justified (declared righteous); 2. redeemed (set free from sin); 3. and propitiated (the wrath of God is satisfied). That’s what we learned last week: the court, slave market, and sacrifice. The judge has declared us righteous in Christ. In Christ we are no longer slaves of sin but now set free to serve God. And the wrath of God like a blazing fire was taken by Jesus, and satisfied in his death on the cross. Hallelujah!

Therefore we as Christians serve with joy! We are declared righteous and so we want to live like it!

To give a personal example of this. A few people have remarked on how Debby and I can just keep on serving. And serving. And serving. Year in year out. And this is the secret – what we’re learning in this passage. Because it’s not about our efforts, what I can do, but what Jesus has done. We are saved through Christ alone. Our eyes are on him, not ourselves, and so we are filled with His strength.
Our friends who are Jehovah’s Witnesses are confused. They can’t understand how we can work and work and work and still be happy and full of energy. Because they cannot keep up with us! As Jesus say “Our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees”. And I’ve seen the same amongst many of you as well. You give and give and never are exhausted. Because the love of Christ burns in you. What a witness that is to those around us. The way we love each other burns blindingly bright!

Because others serve out of self-reliance, faith in themselves. Whereas we serve out of the joy of faith in Jesus. So I’m free! I’m free to give up my career and to move to Norway. I’m free to work only part-time in order to plant a church. I’m free to serve and serve in as much energy as the Lord gives me because my worth is not attached to my output. I’m already declared righteous. I’m God’s son! So whether I’m sick for two weeks like recently, or whether I’m meeting with forty guys and preaching ten times – my standing before the Lord is unchanged.

And faith is trusting in that truth.
Sola fide, Solus Christus (by faith alone in Christ alone) - there is no other way to be saved except through faith in Christ. And that sets us truly free!

3. Sola Gratia: Our faith is based solely on the grace of God, not on ourselves. We are counted righteous.

You may have noticed now that I'm just saying the same thing three times! That’s because this whole chapter just says one thing. We are saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone. But look now at what that means in practice. How God sees us.

20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. 22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. 23 And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded 24 for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.

Now here it’s useful if you’ve read the story of Abraham. Because if you have – isn’t v20 weird? How can Abraham be described as “not wavering in his faith” and “his faith grew stronger”. Hasn’t Paul read the Old Testament? Did the Holy Spirit make a mistake?

Because when we read the story of Abraham we see someone who “wavered” many times and outright disbelieved God’s word! Abraham lied because he was afraid of Pharaoh. He didn’t trust that God would protect him even though God had promised him exactly that. Instead, he lied and put his wife at risk - in fact, she became part of Pharaoh's harem. That is, he allowed another man to abuse his wife sexually because he did not believe in the word of God. Is this the man of faith?

But it get worse. Abraham was sexually immoral, raped his servant Hagar, and then abandoned her to die in the desert!

My wife also pointed out that another sin was that he “listened to his wife”. When Sarah came up with the suggestion, “Why not be unfaithful to me and sexually abuse my servant Hagar?” he said “ok”. He was the “nice man” and said “yes dear”. Just like Adam, he did not take responsibility for saying “no” to his wife. He didn’t want to be unpopular. Anything for a quiet life…

I want to spend a bit of time on this because it’s a big issue today. Men who aren’t leading, aren’t taking responsibility, but instead are “nice”. The nice man. We are called to be much more than nice - we are called to be godly! Love demands that you take responsibility and say “no” when necessary.
Because it is tempting to be “nice”. It looks like you're a modern man who values his wife - but it's really just laziness. You just say “yes dear, whatever you want”. And then when things go wrong, you just say “It's not my fault, she said ...”.

You know, God wasn’t fooled when Adam tried that, nor when Abraham tried it, and he won’t be fooled when you do either. And neither will your wife. A friend of mine is a nice man. He bent over backwards to satisfy his wife. He’s now divorced. Because what he thought was being “nice” and even perhaps “other-person centred” she experienced it like this “He's lazy! He doesn’t care about me. He just sits on the couch and says ‘yes dear what you want’. He doesn’t love me”.

Don’t be nice. Be godly. Have faith that God's way is the best way, no matter what our culture and norms say. Who knows better? God or us?

Back to Abraham. He wasn’t godly with his wife, he was a liar, abuser, and so on... but he is described here in Romans as one who “did not waver in his faith” Why?

Because this is how God works. The point of “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” is not Abraham's faith but God’s faithfulness. Our faith is not what matters. So often we have such weak faith. We doubt. We waver. We act in disbelief and disobedience. Just like Abraham.
But because God is faithful, Abraham and you and I are counted as righteous. And so God says about us “Daniel Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.” Put your own name there into v20 and lets read it together.

Do you believe that? Because if God is for you, who can be against you (8:31)?

If you feel like you've messed up, like you've sinned, that you're not worthy of forgiveness – that’s right! Admit that now as we confess our sin together. I am a sinner. But keep listening, don’t get distracted: because after confession comes communion. When we are reminded of Jesus' masterwork on the Cross, and we are reminded that though we may be unworthy and unrighteous, he is worthy, he is righteous, and he has given us his righteousness! Abraham understood this. He believed in what God said: “You are righteous.” Let's do the same.

We are saved through faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone. Glory to God in the highest! Soli Deo Gloria! Amen.

Romerbrevet 4. Jesus var alltid Plan A

Romerbrevet 4

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For noen uker siden da Christian startet romerbrevet, fortalte han oss en historie fra da han var en ung kristen. Han sa at han ikke forsto hvordan Guds frelsesplan fungerte.
Han trodde det var mye prøving og feiling. Han trodde at Gud først prøvde Adam og Eva med bare én regel, men det gikk ikke, så prøvde han da med en hel nasjon med mange regler, men vi alle vet hvordan det gikk! Fokus på regel og glemte Gud! Så til slutt prøvde han Jesus og Å Herlig! Den fungerte! Hurra.
Og han er ikke den eneste! Det er fortsatt mange disse dager som har en sånn tro (dispensationalism også kalt tusenårsriket teologi, hvor Bibelsk historie er delt opp i forskjellige deler, hvor Gud prøve nye ting inntil han vinner fram).
Men da Christian vokste i sin tro og leste Bibelen - for eksempel, dagens tekst! - skjønte han fort at slik var det ikke. Gud hadde ikke plan A, B og C - JESUS ​​var plan A hele tiden. Gud er suveren, han tukler ikke med prøving og feiling! Han hadde en plan, og alt var målrettet etter planen: og Jesus har alltid vært planen hans. Jesus var alltid løsning til å frelse verden.

Allerede i 1. Mosebok 3:15 leser vi «Jeg vil sette fiendskap mellom deg [slangen, dvs Satan] og kvinnen, mellom din ætt og hennes ætt. Den skal ramme ditt hode, men du skal ramme dens hæl.» Helt i begynnelsen er det et løfte om et menneske (kvinnens ætt) som vil slå djevelen i hjel. (Dette verset forresten kalles «protoevangelion»: evangeliets frø). Resten av Bibelen er egentlig et søk etter slangeknuseren, han som skal beseire ondskap – men det vil koste han noe og, for han vil også bli rammet.
Hele veien gjennom Bibelen peker alt mot Jesus som oppfyller alt. Jesus er slangeknuseren i 1. Mosebok 3:15 som beseiret Satan. Jesus er Noahs redningsark, som redder alle som tror på ham i hele verden fra dommedagen. Jesus er Abrahams ætt som velsigner hele verden. Han er profeten som Moses som leder hele verden ut fra slaveri til synd og inn til det lovede landet: den nye skapelsen. Han er lovens oppfyllelse, han er det perfekte offeret, han er vår store øversteprest. Og Jesus er Kongen etter David, som lovet en evig konge fra Davids ætt som vil regjere i fred og velstand for alltid.

Hele Bibelen peker på Jesus, hviler på Jesus. Jesus er Bibelens grunnvoll, oppfyllelse, nøkkelen. Han er det store temaet i Bibelen. Amen!

(Det betyr forresten at hvis du ikke forstår hvordan en del av Bibelen handler om Jesus, har du ikke forstått den. Bibelen er som en diamant, og Jesus er i sentrum. Det er tusen vakre måter å se på ham fra flere forskjellige vinkler når vi leser Ordet.)

Og dette er tema i dagens tekst. Jødene hadde falt i fellen av å tenke at de var elsket av Gud på grunn av hvem de var og fordi de var «gode» mennesker - bedre enn de forferdelige ”der ute”. (Hvor ofte faller vi inn i samme felle?)
Nei, sier den Hellige Ånd gjennom Paulus. Det er ikke av gjerninger, men av tro, og har alltid vært av tro. Og her er Abraham, din stamfar, for å lære deg!

Rom 3:20 For ikke noe menneske blir rettferdig for Gud på grunn av gjerninger som loven krever. Ved loven lærer vi synden å kjenne.

Tre punkter i dag.

1. Sola fide (av tro alene) - vi er frelst ved tro på Kristus, ikke gjennom gjerninger (som er tro på meg selv)

2. Sola fide, Solus Christus (av tro alene i Kristus alene) - det er ingen annen måte å bli frelst på, unntatt gjennom tro på Kristus

3. Sola Gratia (av nåde alene) - vår tro hviler bare på Guds nåde, ikke på oss. Vi regnes som rettferdige.

1. Sola fide (av tro alene) - vi er frelst ved tro på Kristus, ikke gjennom gjerninger (som er tro på meg selv)

2 Dersom han ble rettferdig ved sine gjerninger, da hadde han jo noe å være stolt av. Men overfor Gud har han ikke det. 3 For hva sier Skriften? Abraham trodde Gud, og derfor regnet Gud ham som rettferdig.

Abraham hadde ingenting å være stolt av, å skryte av. Han kunne ikke gå til Gud og si «du skylder meg». Men dette var det helt motsatte til hvordan jødene på den tiden så på Abraham (og fremdeles i dag). De ser på ham som en pioner for «torah lydighet»: en mann som klarte å vinne over Gud med hans lydighet mot loven. Og mange kirkegrupper og kulter har samme syn på Abraham. Fordi det vi ønsker dypt inni oss, er at det er mulig for oss å tjene oss fram til frelse. Vi vil ikke at det skal være av nåde alene.

Hvorfor? Fordi hvis det er av nåde alene, har vi ingen kontroll, ingen innflytelse, ingen måte hvor jeg kan late som jeg er Gud. Fordi syndens hjerte er dette: jeg vil være Gud i mitt liv. Jeg er Gud. Det var Adam og Eva – de skulle bestemme selv. Og hver og en av oss har arvet den lysten til å være Gud. Jeg høre på ingen bortsett fra meg selv. Jeg vil tro på meg selv, min egen innsats, i stedet for å stole på (tro på) Gud.

Fordi hvis jeg kunne klare samle nok «god menneske» poeng, så vil Gud da skylde meg. Jeg har noe over Gud!

Men hvis det er av nåde alene ... da skylder jeg ham alt. Han er Gud og jeg er ikke… og jeg må bare kaste meg under hans vilje. Åååå. Det er vanskelig!

4 Den som har gjerninger å vise til, får lønn etter fortjeneste, ikke av nåde. 5 Men den som ikke har det, men som tror på ham som rettferdiggjør den ugudelige, blir regnet som rettferdig fordi han tror.

Hvis vi kunne tjene vår frelse gjennom gjerninger da ville vi ha fortjent frelsen. Men Abraham fortjente ikke hans frelse. Skriften sier ikke «Abraham har tjent fram sin frelse og er derfor blitt rettferdig»" – nei, det står «Abraham trodde Gud, og derfor regnet Gud ham som rettferdig»

Rettferdigheten, frelsen, er gitt, ikke opptjent. Vi kan ikke tjene oss til rettferdighet. Det er ufortjent. Det var aldri opptjent. Abraham, store troens mann, jødenes stamfar - han tjente ikke fram sin rettferdighet, men den ble gitt til ham. Og kong David, Israels største konge, han tjente heller ikke fram sin rettferdighet, men den ble gitt ham.

6 Slik priser også David et menneske salig når Gud regner det som rettferdig uten at det har gjerninger: 7 Salige er de som har fått sine lovbrudd tilgitt og sine synder skjult. 8 Salig er det mennesket som Herren ikke tilregner synd.

Vi er frelst – erklært rettferdig, verdig til å stå foran Gud – vi er rettferdig ved tro på Kristus, ikke gjennom gjerninger, som er tro på oss selv.

Hva betyr det da for oss? Hvordan vende vi det an til oss i dag.

Hvis vi da forstår at kjernen i synden er «Jeg vil være Gud», og at vi vil tjene oss fram til rettferdighet, kan vi forstå verden mye bedre.

For eksempel transkjønn debatten. Fordi dette handler egentlig om hvem som skal være Gud. Fordi jeg er Gud, vil jeg bestemme min egen virkelighet. Og derfor kan jeg endre mitt kjønn slik at det stemme med min oppfatning av virkeligheten.
Dette er hvorfor «alle» bare støtte dette blind. For dette er en fin måte å erklære at vi er uavhengige av Gud. Han kan ikke bestemme over vår seksuelle virkelighet. Jeg skal. Derfor vil jeg støtte kampanjen din for å bestemme ditt eget kjønn fordi jeg støtter fremfor alt din rett til å bestemme din egen virkelighet, din rett til å være Gud.

Fordi hvis jeg ikke støtte deg – da innrømmer jeg at det er grenser for hva vi kan gjøre, at det kanskje ikke er mulig for oss å bestemme vår virkelighet og det åpne for at kanskje det finnes en Gud og det kan vi ikke tillate!
Det er synd, lyst til å være Gud, som ligger som kjerne i dette transkjønn dårskap.

Derfor må vi kle oss i Guds nåde og presentere evangeliet, fordi Jesus er den eneste løsningen på synd. Ondsinnet innlegg på Facebook, og hatefulle protester kommer ikke til å vinne over noen, men dytter dem heller vekk fra Jesus. Hvis vi forstår at synd er problemet, da kan vi kommer med nåde og åpne armer, for slik har Jesus tatt imot oss.

Du kan sikkert tenke på andre anvendelse ut i verden og litt nærmere oss. Hvorfor er det strid blant oss? På grunn av synd. Jeg vil være Gud og du vil være Gud og når vi møte – hvem vil være Gud? Konflikt!

Jesus er løsningen. Hvis vi skjønner hvor syndig vi er og at vi har da FÅTT rettferdighet og derfor har ingen ting å være stolt over – heller ikke ABRAHAM hadde det… da vil vi kunne møte andre mer og mer med Jesu kjærlighet og Jesu tilgivelse.

Sola fide (av tro alene) - vi er frelst ved tro på Kristus, ikke gjennom gjerninger (som er tro på meg selv).

2. Sola fide, Solus Christus (av tro alene i Kristus alene) - det er ingen annen måte å bli frelst på, unntatt gjennom tro på Kristus

11 Og omskjærelsen fikk han som et tegn som skulle bekrefte den rettferdighet av tro som han hadde før han ble omskåret. Slik ble han far til alle uomskårne som tror, så de kan regnes som rettferdige. 12 Men han ble også far til de omskårne når de ikke bare er omskåret, men også går i vår far Abrahams fotspor og har den tro han hadde før han ble omskåret. 13 For det var ikke ved loven Abraham og hans ætt fikk løftet om å arve verden, men ved den rettferdighet en får ved tro.

Omskjæring var et tegn at du var en jøde. Hvis du var jøde, ble du omskåret for å vise at du tilhørte Gud. Litt som å bli døpt inn i kirken. Men akkurat som dåpen begynte folk å se på det ytre tegn av Guds nåde som mer viktig en det det sto for: Guds nåde! Igjen vår synd. For jeg kan påvirke handlingen «omskjærelsen» men jeg kan ikke påvirke Guds nåde. Derfor begynner vi a falle bort mot handling i stedet for nåde.
De jødene trodde at det å ha symbolet var det som var viktig, og glemte Gud. «Jeg er omskåret, jeg kan gjøre det jeg vil.» Slik i dag med mange som tror at de er trygge og «inn med Gud» fordi de er døpt. «Jeg trenger ikke å bry meg med denne Jesus-mannen lenger, jeg er jo døpt!». Farlig.

Det er som om jeg sa «har du møtt min kone» og så tok fram et bilde av Debby. Og jeg snakket til bildet og kysset bildet og sov med bildet og aldri sa et ord til Debby. Det er å bytte ut tegn, symbol, bildet, med realiteten.

Fordi omskjæring var bare et tegn, et bilde, av Guds nåde, ikke noe mer. Omskjærelse uten tro er ingenting verdt, akkurat som dåp uten tro er ingenting verdt.

Og den Hellige Ånd beviser dette ved å påpeke at Abraham tok imot Guds løfter før han ble omskåret. Omskjæring var et tegn på nåden han hadde fått.
I 1. Mosebok 12 kaller Gud Abraham og Gud lover å være med ham og velsigne verden gjennom ham. I kapittel 15 bekrefter Gud sitt løfte til Abraham (etter at Abraham hadde syndet) og det er der han sier i 15:6 Abram trodde HERREN, og det ble regnet ham til rettferdighet.
Så er det bare i kapittel 18, 29 år senere, hvor Abraham blir omskåret.
Han er først erklært rettferdig, og mottar deretter tegnet, symbolet.

Samme med loven. 13 For det var ikke ved loven Abraham og hans ætt fikk løftet om å arve verden, men ved den rettferdighet en får ved tro. Loven kom 400 år etterpå, ved Moses. Men Abraham ble erklært rettferdig av tro, uavhengig av loven.

Derfor hvis vi som kristne i dag har tro som Abraham, det vil si hvis vi tro på Guds Ord, Guds løfter – da er Abraham vår åndelige far. Om vi er jøde eller ikke-jøde, vi som stoler på Jesus er Abrahams sønner og døtre, Guds folk. Han er faren til alle som tror, jøder og ikke-jøder. Men hvis du er en jøde men ikke tror på Jesus – da er din omskjæringen verdiløs og fordømmer deg.

På samme måte, dåp, å ta nattverd, tjene i menigheten - alt dette er verdiløs uten tro på Jesus. Hvis du gjør ting for å imponere Gud, for å prøve å få Gud til å skylde deg, går du fortapt. Vend om fort og ta imot Guds nåde.

Vi er døpt fordi vi tror på Guds ord at vi som tror på Jesus er
1. erklært rettferdig; 2. satt fri fra synd; 3. og Guds vrede er tilfredsstilte. Det var det vi lærte forrige uke: domstolen, slave, og soningssted. Dommeren har erklært oss rettferdig i Kristus. I Kristus er vi ikke lenge syndens slaver men nå satt fri for å tjene Gud. Og Guds vrede som flammende ild ble tatt imot av Jesus, og tilfredsstilte i hans død på korset. Halleluja!

Derfor tjener vi Gud av glede, ikke plikt. Vi er erklært rettferdige og så vil vi leve som det!

For å gi et personlig eksempel: mange lurer på hvordan Debby og jeg kan fortsette å tjene. Og tjene. Og tjene. Og dette er hemmeligheten, det vi lærte i dag. Fordi det er ikke avhengig av det vi gjør men det Jesus har gjort. Vi er frelst av Kristus alene. Vår øyne er rettet mot ham, ikke oss selv, og da få vi Hans styrke.
Våre venner som er Jehovas Vitner er helt forvirret. De kan ikke forstå hvordan vi kan jobbe og jobbe og jobbe og fortsatt være lykkelige og full av energi. Fordi de klare ikke å matche det vi gjør. Som Jesus sa «vår rettferdighet overgår fariseernes». Og det har jeg sett blant dere og. Folk som gir og gir og gir og aldri ble utmattet. Fordi Jesu kjærlighet brenner i dere. Dette er et stort vitnesbyrd til alle som se. Hvordan vi elske hverandre er et blindende lys.

Fordi andre tjener ut av selv-fokus, ut av tro på seg selv. Mens vi tjener ut av gleden i å stole på Jesus. Vi er frie!
Jeg er blitt satt fri slik at jeg kunne gi opp karrieren min og flytte til Norge. Jeg er fri til å jobbe bare deltid for å plante en kirke. Jeg er fri til å tjene og tjene til de grade Herren gir meg energi fordi verdien min er ikke er knyttet til hvor mye jeg få til: jeg er allerede erklært rettferdig. Jeg er Guds barn. Om jeg er syk i et par uke som nå, eller om jeg møter fire menn og forkynner ørten ganger – så er min status foran Gud uendret.

Sola fide, Solus Christus (av tro alene i Kristus alene) - det er ingen annen måte å bli frelst på, unntatt gjennom tro på Kristus. Og det er frigjørende!

3. Sola Gratia (av nåde alene) - vår tro hviler bare på Guds nåde, ikke på oss. Vi regnes som rettferdige. Vi er ikke rettferdige i oss selv.

Du kanskje nå legge merke til at jeg sier bare det samme tre ganger! Hele kapittel sier bare en ting. Vi er frelst av tro alene, i Kristus alene, av nåde alene. Men se nå på hva det betyr. Hvordan Gud ser på oss.

20 Han [Abraham] var ikke vantro og tvilte ikke på Guds løfte, men ble sterk i troen og ga Gud ære. 21 For han var overbevist om at det Gud hadde lovet, hadde han også makt til å gjøre. 22 Derfor ble han regnet som rettferdig. 23 Men Skriften sier ikke dette bare for hans skyld, 24 det gjelder også oss: Vi skal bli regnet som rettferdige når vi tror på ham som reiste Jesus, vår Herre, opp fra de døde, 25 han som ble overgitt til døden for våre synder og oppreist for at vi skulle bli rettferdige.

Her må man har lest Abrahams historie. For hvis du har lest den er ikke v20 merkelig? Hvordan kan Abraham beskrives som «ikke vantro» og at han «tvilte ikke på Guds løfte». Har ikke Paulus lest 1. Mosebok? Gjorde Den Hellige Ånd en feil her?

Fordi når vi leser historien om Abraham ser vi en som tvilte flere ganger og var vantro! For Abraham var en løgner, fordi han var redd Farao. Han stolte ikke på at Gud ville beskytte ham slev om Gud hadde lovet ham akkurat det. I stedet for løy han og satte sin kone i fare – det er faktisk mulig at hun ble en del av Faraos harem. Det vil si at han tillot en annen mann å misbruke hans kone seksuelt fordi han trodde ikke på Guds ord. Er dette troens mann?
Men det er mer. Mye mer. Abraham var seksuelt umoral, han voldtok sin tjener Hagar, og så forlot han henne – faktisk til å dø.

Min kone påpekte også at en annen synd var at han lyttet til sin kone. Når Sara kom med forslaget: «hvorfor ikke misbruke min tjene Hagar og være utro mot meg» han sa «ok». Han var en «hyggelig mann» og akkurat som Adam, tok han ikke ansvar for å si «nei» til hans kone. Han ville ikke være upopulær. Å alt for et fredelig liv.

Jeg vil stoppe her et lite stund for dette er faktisk et stort problem i dag. Menn som leder ikke, ikke ta ansvar, men i stedet for er «hyggelig». The nice man. Vi skal være mye mer enn hyggelige, vi skal være gudfryktige! Kjærlighet krever at man tar ansvar og sier «nei» når man må. Fordi det er veldig fristende å være «hyggelig»: for det ser da ut som du er en moderne mann og verdsette din kone – men egentlig er det bare latskap. Du sier bare "ja kjære". Og så når ting går galt, sier du bare "Det er ikke min feil, hun sa det...".
Du vet at Gud ble ikke lurt da Adam prøvde seg ned den unnskyldningen, ikke da Abraham prøvde, og heller ikke når du gjør det. Din kone vil heller ikke bli lurt. En venn av meg som er en «hyggelig mann» og gjorde alt for å tilfredsstille sin kone er nå skilt. Fordi hun sa «Han er lat, han bryr seg ikke! Han sitter bare på sofaen og sier "ja kjære, hva du vil". Han bryr seg ikke om meg.»

Ikke være hyggelig. Være gudfryktig. Ha tro på at Guds vei er den beste vei, samme om det trosse vår kultur og normer. For hvem vet bedre? Gud eller oss.

Tilbake til Abraham. Han var ikke gudfryktig overfor sin kone, han var en løgner, misbruker, osv… men han er beskrevet her i Romerbrevet som en som «tvilte ikke på Guds løfte». Hvorfor?

Fordi slik fungere Gud. Poenget med «Abraham trodde Gud, og derfor regnet Gud ham som rettferdig» er ikke Abrahams tro men Guds troverdighet. Vår tro er ikke det som er viktig. Så ofte har vi så lite tro. Vi tviler. Vi har vantro. Akkurat som Abraham. Men fordi Gud er trofast er Abraham og du og jeg regnet som rettferdig. Og så vil Gud sier om oss «Daniel var ikke vantro og tvilte ikke på Guds løfte, men ble sterk i troen og ga Gud ære.» Sett din egen navn inn det i v20.

Tror du på det? Er Gud for deg, hvem er da mot deg (8:31)?

Hvis du føler deg at du har rotet det til, at du har syndet, at du er ikke verdig tilgivelsen – helt riktig. Erklærer det nå under syndsbekjennelse. Jeg er en synder. Men ikke la oppmerksomhet vandre – følg med det som skjer etterpå under nattverd. For da blir vi minnet på Jesu mesterverk på korset, og vi blir minnet på at han er verdig, han er rettferdig, og at han har gitt oss hans rettferdighet. Abraham skjønte det. Han trodde på det Gud sa: «du er rettferdig». La oss gjøre det samme.

Vi er frelst av tro alene i Kristus alene av nåde alene. Ære være Gud i det høyeste! Amen.