Exodus 20: Fulfilment and freedom

Exodus 20

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Last week Petter said “When non-Christians want to embarrass Christians they use the Law in the Old Testament.”

It’s true isn’t it! “Haven’t you read” they say with a sneer. “Shouldn’t you be stoning the gays, not just voting against them?” or “Why do you wear clothing of two types of fabrics” or “why do you eat bacon or eat shellfish?”

And we mumble something like “We’re in the New Testament”.

But we’re confused. What IS the relationship between the Old and the New Testaments. Why DON’T we have to stone people? Why can we eat pork? Why doesn’t God kill the priest who doesn’t wear his holy underpants? Important questions. And yes, holy priestly underpants is a requirement of the law! Ex 28:42-43

To most of us the Law, God’s Law, the Law given by Moses, is a mystery. We sort of dip in when we need it, quote a bit of “thus saith the Lord” when it suits us, and we think maybe the 10 Commandments are quite important – but apart from that we just don’t know what to do with it.

And that’s a problem. Because the Law given through Moses is a massive chunk of the Bible! Not just big parts of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy but the Wisdom literature like Proverbs and Psalms unpack the Law. And the history of Israel from Joshua to 2 Kings is in large part about Israel forgetting or disobeying or even obeying the Law. And the prophets are all talking about the Law.
The Law is a big deal!

So how are we to understand the Law?
Now there’s two mistakes we can make: we either ignore the Law. We say “doesn’t apply to us”. We’re Christians, not Jews.
Or we apply it directly to us. It’s God’s word. He spoke it, I believe it, and I’ll obey it. Now hand me those holy underpants so I can go to church without God killing me.

We can neither ignore it nor apply it directly. For there is both a continuity (continues to us) and a discontinuity (a break) with us and Old Testament believers.

A continuity because this is God’s Word to his people. (diagram1) It is his revelation of himself. To ignore this is to get a skew picture of God. And many Christians today have a warped view of God because they haven’t read the Old Testament. They don’t know Him. This, God’s Law, is written to us.

But there is a massive discontinuity: Jesus. (diagram2) We are here – on this side of the incarnation (God becoming man) and the cross and resurrection. Jesus is the complete revelation of God. This side is partial, but this side, after Christ, is complete.

So as we look at the Law, and indeed any Old Testament text, the questions we need to ask are: (diagram)

1. What did this mean for them then? Because there is a continuity between us and the Old Testament believers. We are God’s people, listening to God’s word.

2. How does Jesus change that? Discontinuity.

We read the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament. We put on our New Testament “glasses” as it were. The New helps us understand the Old through Jesus.

2 points today.

1. What does the New Testament say about the Law?

2. Do the 10 Commandments apply to us?

So let’s put on our “glasses”: as we think about the Law, how does the New help us to understand it?

1. What does the New Testament say about the Law?

Well, we don’t need to go any further than the words of Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 is a study on the law of God. Turn to Matthew 5:17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.” Or as other translations put it “I came to fulfil the law”

He did not come to abolish it, but to fulfil it. How? In what way is there continuity and in what way discontinuity?

Well, there is discontinuity because it can’t mean that we as Christians must keep the law! Like not eating pork and keeping the Sabbath and wearing priestly underwear. Jesus fulfils the law. He kept it perfectly. And so, Romans 8 in him there is now no condemnation…. 8:3 God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son…and declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

We are no longer under the law. In Christ we no longer have to obey the law.

Woah! That sounds a bit extreme, Daniel. Sure you’re right? Well, remember from reading Acts: this exact question was a big argument in the early church! Should the new non-Jewish converts be required to obey the law of Moses? (And should Jewish Christians). And the answer was no. No. Christ has fulfilled the law. It purpose is completed in Him. Christians are no longer required to obey the Mosiac law.

That is the discontinuity. Where is the continuity? Ah, we do not obey the law, but we do not abolish or nullify the law. In fact, we are called to go beyond the law. As Jesus continues in Matt 5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.…
20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!”

In the rest of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus extends the Law, saying it’s not just the outward but the inward that counts.
Our righteousness needs to exceed that of the Pharisees – and those were the most holy of holy people. They even went around cutting 10% of their herbs to give to God. And Jesus says that kind of fastidious (fussy, particular, detailed) legalism isn’t enough.

And that’s where the title of this series comes from: fulfilment and freedom. Fulfilment, because in Christ the righteous requirements of the law are fully satisfied for us (Rom 8:4). And freedom, because in His power we are free to be what we were born to be: more and more like Jesus. (Rom 8:29 we are called to be conformed to the likeness of his Son)

Not for us the letter of the Law – but now in every situation the Law of love: what would Jesus do in this situation? What will give him the most glory?

But that’s impossible! We cry! How are we supposed to be better than the Pharisees? How can we be like Jesus? That’s impossible!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Didn’t we get that sense last week as Petter unpacked chapter 19 and the first parts of 20? That our God is a holy God. Our God is a holy God and we are called to be his holy people.
Jesus says in Matt 5:48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Feeling distraught? Feeling worried? Don’t be. That’s why Jesus came. He fulfilled the Law. He kept it so you don’t have to. He has given us his righteousness. So you have already perfectly kept the law of God. In Christ you are perfect. So now live like it. Live out your new identity. We’re not called to obey the Law – we’re called to go beyond it, to exceed it, to not just keep the letter of the law but the Spirit of the Law.

Turn back to Exodus 20 and read v2. I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

2 comes before 3. They were rescued before they were given the Law. They didn’t keep the Law to be rescued. It was God’s mercy. And with us. We don’t obey in order to be saved. We obey because we are saved. By nature we do what the law says because we have a new nature.

So our New Testament glasses say: the Law is fulfilled in Christ. And we go beyond it.
But what should we obey? How do we then understand the Law? What about the 10 commandments? Surely they apply?

2. Do the 10 Commandments apply to us?

I want to propose a hypothesis – a way to understand the Law of Moses – that we can use over these next few weeks. And we’ll test it out today on the most important part of the law: the 10 commandments.

And this is it: fulfilment and freedom. Because the law is fulfilled in Christ, and we have his righteousness imputed to us (given to us) – we have already perfectly kept the 10 Commandments. We are free in regard to the Law of Moses! Free to even exceed the requirements of the Law!

So let’s test that out. And see if it works with continuity/discontinuity. Is it in line with God’s word to his people?

Ex 20:1 Then God gave the people all these instructions: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. 3 “You must not have any other god but me.”

Seriously? You think we are free from “you must not have any other god but me”. We can have more gods? Where’s the continuity?

Well, no. Because freedom from the law is not freedom to indulge our sinful nature. We too have been freed from slavery. Not slavery in Egypt, but slavery to sin. So now we are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves of God, slaves to righteousness as Rom 6 puts it.

But more fundamental than that – we have been reborn. As Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3 “You must be born again of the Spirit”. Or one of my Dad’s favourite verses 2 Co 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

This is called regeneration. When you believe in Christ the Spirit changes you from the inside out. We are given a new heart. A new nature. We are recreated. We are not the same. On the day the called me to him I died and then I was reborn. The old sinful me died, the new me who wants to live for Christ was born.
As Christians our heart now cries out for God. Whereas before we at worst hated him, at best ignored him – now we long for him. We want to be with our Father. We want to know God. We long to stop loving all these other things that cry out for attention and we want to love him.

So, yes, we are free from the command to have no other gods, because our deepest longing is now to be with him. The Spirit within cries out to the Father. We have a new nature.
How can we have any other gods if we are the very children of God?

It is not law that keeps us from idolatry. It is identity. We need to remember who we are!

4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. 6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.

Are we free from this? Can we make images or pictures of God to worship? What about icons, holy relics, statues of saints, Mary, etc..?
Well, as the Unfortunate Incident with the Golden Calf in chapter 32 shows, making an image of God quickly turns to idolatry – we worship the thing instead of God. That quickly becomes our God, rather than the true and living God. Freedom from Law is not licence to sin!
But anyway, for us as Christians, why would we make an image of God when we already have the perfect representation of God in Jesus Christ? As Jesus said “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” (John 14:9). Or Col 1:15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

As Petter pointed out last week, this is not about drawing a picture of Jesus or even movies – but it is about worshiping things instead of God, and trying to get power over God by reducing him to a thing that you can put away in a cupboard or something.

That’s why we need to get our view of God from the Spirit’s words to us in the Bible, so that we see Jesus more clearly. Not from artwork or films or memes or other “pictures” of God. We need to know the true God as revealed in the Living Word.

Just a note on v5. Why does God punish the third and fourth generations? Think about how sin affects people. I know a man whose father was a drunkard, who beat up his mom in front of him. That affects you. He bears scars which have affected his relationship with his own kids. He is a Christian so much of that has healed, but there are still issues. And his kids in turn will pass it on. Sin has a generational impact.

But God’s mercy is greater than our sin. 6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.

7 “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.”

The third “word” in v7 is about how we speak about God. Yes, we are free from the law, so we can misuse God’s name, speak badly about him, drag his name through the mud. But can we?
That is the name we ourselves bear. It’s like me tearing down my father’s name – “that Jack Garratt, he’s a terrible man, an awful person, like all the Garratt’s”.
Why would I do that? I bear my father’s name. I love him. Therefore my words will honour him and respect him.

Likewise we bear the name of God. We are his children, his ambassadors, his priestly representatives on earth. Why on earth would a child of God misuse the name of Jesus?

Again, it is not Law, but love, our new nature, our identity, that compels us to do what the Law requires. Fulfilment in Christ, free to exceed the law!

8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.”

Ooh. Here we have a nice juicy topic. Maybe we’re happy that the laws about holy underpants don’t apply to us, but the Sabbath? C’mon. That applies, surely? Many of us grew up with that. No dancing on a Sunday. No card playing. No movies. No non-Christian music. That kind of stuff. By the way, do you know why you can’t have sex on a Sunday? Because it might lead to dancing.

But seriously, there’s a big problem with claiming the Sabbath as LAW.
Firstly, then why do you eat bacon and shellfish? In other words why are you being inconsistent and not keeping the other 637 or so laws?
Secondly, we’re not Jews.
Thirdly, Sabbath was a Saturday, not a Sunday. So if we’ve understood enough to change the day we honour God from the day the Jews had to the day when Jesus rose to life from the dead – surely we should understand that that desire to set aside time to honour Him comes from love and not from law.

Our key way of thinking about the Sabbath comes from Jesus himself. Mk 2:27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” 3:1 Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. 2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” 4 Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”

The Pharisees had reduced the Sabbath to not working. Jesus points out that the purpose of the Sabbath is honouring God. We rest in order to spend time with God. The Sabbath is made for us, to help us to honour God. Not us made to conform to the Sabbath.

So as Christians we are not required to keep the Sabbath. That’s why we don’t stone our medical people for working on Sunday! Because love for those who are sick takes precedence.
And if you think that preaching is “resting” – it isn’t. I’m certainly working on a Sunday!

Now there is a timeless principle in here – did you see it? In v11. We are part of creation, and therefore we need to rest. So resting is a wise. A day of rest for the nation is a good thing. The Soviets tried a 10 day week and it failed. 6 days work, 1 day rest is the way God has designed things.

But I need to make sure I take some time to rest, to not work, recognising my limitations as a created being. Needing rest reminds me that I’m not God. And I need to set aside time to be with the Lord, and be with his people.
That’s keeping the Sabbath, exceeding the Sabbath.

As Christians we are in Christ, right at the heart of that God-given rest, that perfect relationship. That’s what we long for. So we honour God not just on a Sunday but every day. And we set aside time to rest and time to be with Him and His people, at church, at Bible study and beyond.

We don’t keep the Sabbath. We go beyond it. And yes, you can dance, and even play cards on the Sabbath as a Christian. In fact, on any day. Just be sure to honour Christ in everything you do!

Do you see why now Paul says in Romans 3:31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. (ESV)

We uphold the law because we follow the law of the Spirit, the law of love. And that love compels us, because of our new nature, to honour God in all that we do. We go beyond Sabbath, beyond clean lips, beyond merely avoiding idols, to the very heart of God, the relationship between Father, Son and Spirit. By faith we are there. That is the arena of grace in which we now stand.

Now I had planned to go through the rest of the 10 words from God boomed out from the top of the mountain, but our heads are probably spinning now. So we’ll leave that to next week, along with the delightful prohibition against having steps up to the altar because people might look up your robe! Holy underpants alert! And we’ll think about what that could possibly mean for us today.

Dear friends, if we are in Christ we are no longer under the law. It has been fulfilled for us. We are caught up into the very relationship the Son has with the Father.
The Son does the Father’s will, not because he is obliged to (Law), but because his love for the Father is such that he cannot do otherwise. It would be to deny his very nature. (Gerald Bray).
And we have that same nature now within us. We do the Father’s will, not because of obligation, of Law, but because we love Him. We love Him and to act otherwise is to deny our nature.

That’s why before you meet Christ sinning comes naturally.
After Christ you are reborn and it grates to sin. As my Dad’s friend said “you can’t sin properly anymore”. It’s now against our fundamental nature! No law – it is fulfilled – but instead the freedom to be what we were reborn to be through the Spirit who gives life. Fulfilment and freedom!

Let’s pray.

Romans 16. People from every background are together in Christ. (united in the gospel)

Romans 16.

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After that reading you might be thinking: a whole sermon on a list of names? Seriously? That’s boring!

Well, hopefully not. Because you see, it’s not just a list of names.

For example, in this church there is a Samual and a Jerusalem, an Eyobed and a Sara, a Christian and a Johanna, a ‘Tori and a Peter, there’s Robyn, and Kolton, Kaleb, Jack, Marit, Glen Egil, Birthe, Mia, LJ, Torgeir, Eirik etc. What do all these names tell you about this church?

We’re an international church! People from all over with nothing in common except Jesus. We are united in the gospel.
And that’s what Paul is doing here. Showing just what he’s been talking about for 15 chapters! That the gospel is by grace for EVERYONE. For Jews and Gentiles, for women and for men, for slaves and free, for the rich and poor, no matter what your background – even if you’re from King Herod’s family, or you work for the Emperor of Rome – you can be saved by Jesus Christ.
You belong.
Isn’t that cool?

People from completely different backgrounds all with one common purpose: to live for Christ. To glorify him with their lives, and to spread the message of the good news, the gospel! That was them then and that is us now.

Not unity for unity’s sake. But unity IN THE GOSPEL.

1. Who’s who in the early church: a celebration of diversity

2. United in the gospel: together for Christ

1. Who’s who in the early church: a celebration of diversity

Remember that this letter was written by Paul to ask the church in Rome to support him. But they didn’t know him and he didn’t know them. So he tells them his message, in great detail, his gospel message which he will be preaching in Spain so that they are on the same page as him. United with him in the gospel. But then he also lists an unusually long greeting to 26 people in all. For two reasons.
1 to commend himself to them. They can vouch for Paul. He’s worth supporting.
2. To show the power of the gospel message. For all. Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, male, female, slave, free, and whatever your political affiliation! Amazing diversity. United in Christ.

Let’s have a look at these names

First, surprisingly, is Phoebe – v1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea.
What?! A church leader in the 1^st century is a WOMAN? And Paul mentions her FIRST?
Actually, Paul mentions NINE women in this greeting! Misogyny (prejudice against women or hating women) is entirely non-Christian. In fact according to Genesis 3 it is Satanic! In Christ men and women are equal. So she is a church leader.

But God made us different, with different roles and responsibilities. We are equal, but not the same! And we are to honour those differences and respect them. There is a great deal of disrespect and hurt done to women in our society. Women are told that the only good woman is one who acts like a traditional man. How disrespectful and dishonouring can you get? To both men and women. Men and women, praise God, are different. We complement each other. Fulfil each other. Also in the church. We need each other.

So Phoebe is a church leader, but she is a deacon and not an elder. Deacons can be men or women, but elders are only men. What’s the difference? Elders have the overall responsibility for leading the church, and they MUST be men who regularly teach and preach the Bible. Because it is God who actually runs the church through His words. We’re just the messengers. So just like the husband is called to lead the family like Christ, self-sacrificially, and his wife partners him in that – equal, but different roles - so elders are called to carry the burden of leading the church, self-sacrificially, like Christ, and the deacons help the elders in that. Together the elders and deacons make up the leadership of the church, but if things go wrong, it’s the elders’ fault! Like if your family’s a mess – don’t blame your wife – roll up your sleeves and get to work! And pray for grace!

So, Phoebe, a church leader, who is to be v2 welcomed in the Lord as one who is worthy of honour among God’s people. Help her in whatever she needs, for she has been helpful to many, and especially to me.

The word “helpful” is patron or guardian, indicating someone with wealth and power.
So Phoebe is a powerful and rich businesswoman who is happy to “just” be a deacon.
And she carried this letter from Paul to the Roman church. No “posten” those days! If you wanted to send a letter you had to find someone that you could trust who was going there! So Paul trusted Phoebe.

Next on the list is a fantastic Christian husband and wife team. 3 Give my greetings to Priscilla (or Priska) and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. 4 In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches. 5 Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home.

We meet them first in Acts 18 in Corinth. They went with Paul on his missionary journey for a while, travelling to Cenchreae (where Phoebe is from). They were leaders of the church. When Apollos came to Corinth Ac 18:26 says “When Priscilla and Aquila heard [Apollos] preaching boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside and explained the way of God even more accurately. Apollos was later one of the elders at Corinth together with Paul! They lived for Christ, even risking their lives to save Paul. The church met in their home. They are always mentioned together, never apart. Their marriage glorified God.

So we have Phoebe, the powerful and wealthy Gentile single woman, and Priscilla and Aquila, the Jewish husband and wife team, also businesspeople (tent-makers, like Paul).
Paul then goes on to name v5 Epenetus, a Gentile name, the first convert of many, still going strong in the Lord. Mary, or Miriam, a Jewish name, a hard-working woman. Andronicus and Junia, another married couple, fellow Jews who were imprisoned together with Paul for the sake of the gospel. v7 says they are highly respected among the apostles or more accurately “outstanding among the apostles” that is, those who were eye-witnesses to Jesus. How cool is that?

v8 Ampliatus and v9 Urbanus and Stachys and v10 Apelles are Latin (Roman) names. Gentiles.
Aristobulus was probably the grandson of King Herod the Great and Heriodion is also a name indicating a link to Herod.
So even amongst the household and family of the king of the Jews, who had rejected Jesus (Herod the Great tried to kill Jesus as a baby, his son Herod Antipas killed John the Baptist and mocked Jesus when Pilate sent him to him at his trial) – even in that horrible family and household – there are believers. Even Herodians can come to Christ!

In v12 we meet the sisters Tryphena and Tryphosa, the Lord’s workers. Their names indicate aristocracy (rich, upper class). Giving that up for the sake of the gospel.
Then “dear Persis”, another single lady, who has worked so hard for the Lord.

v13 I love. Greet Rufus, whom the Lord picked out to be his very own. If we turn back to Mark 15:21 we read A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.).
Isn’t that cool? The man who carried Jesus’ cross believed. And his whole family. Here is Rufus, faithful in Rome. Here is his wife, Rufus’ mother, who has been a mother to Paul! Isn’t God’s mercy amazing?

14 Give my greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who meet with them. 15 Give my greetings to Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and to Olympas and all the believers who meet with them. 16 Greet each other with a sacred kiss. All the churches of Christ send you their greetings.

So, not a boring list of names, but a mighty celebration of the power of the gospel to bring people together! “Come as you are” indeed.

Those names tell us a lot about the early church:

· its surprising diversity: Jews, Gentiles, men women, singles, marrieds, rich, poor, slaves, free

· its surprising equality: men and women described as leaders in the church, husbands and wives mentioned together, women praised, Jews and Gentiles mentioned with equal love, and

· its surprising unity: all in different ways serving the same mission: to glorify God. Some through leading churches, some in business, some risking prison, some carrying letters. Living for Jesus and spreading the gospel.

Who’s who in the early church: a celebration of diversity

What does that then mean for us? How can we apply this passage? First: Anyone can be saved. No matter your background or religion or politics – you can be saved! So who do we think can’t be saved? Who do you know that you’ve written off because they’re Rødt or they’re Fremskrittsparti or Muslim or Hindu or atheist or pansexual or Filipino or too old or too young or… whatever.
We know what the gospel says – and this list of names is proof. There is always hope.
Perhaps there is someone you’d like to pray for during the communion.

Second: No matter who we are we can be used for Christ. It’s not only the rich, or the men, or the women, or the Jews, or those who’ve grown up in Christian families or… whatever excuse you use to think that God can’t use YOU.

Each of us with a part to play, like a puzzle piece – we’ve all got our spot, our gift, our service.

So what is it that holding you back? What excuse are you using?
Decide today to serve. Start where you are and use what you’ve got. How can I serve God in my home, at work, at school, in my family, at church? Do something, and see what happens. No matter how small. Start. And see.

We need each other. For we stand together for Christ.

2. United in the gospel: together for Christ

17 And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. 18 Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people.

The church is fantastically diverse! And unity is so important. But that unity is not just unity for unity’s sake. It is unity in the gospel. And that needs to be defended.

That’s why Paul outlines the gospel so clearly. As he says in 15:15 “I have written to you quite boldly!”. And why after the celebration of unity in diversity of the past 16 verses, the Holy Spirit inspires him to warn us to protect that unity.
Watch out. Stay away. Strong words! They cause division. They deceive.

Because unity can be evil. Think about the Tower of Babel: humanity united against God. And that lead to judgement. Chaos and confusion.

If we want true unity, we need to know the Gospel. We need, as Romans has shown us, clear teaching. We need to know and live out the Gospel: we need to obey the words of the Lord, we need to be quick to forgive each other as Christ as forgiven us, to love each other as He has loved us – true, real, unity flows out from the gospel.

And that means rejecting or silencing or disciplining false teachers or sinful ideas. So if you see us doing that as leaders in this church, be thankful. And if we are accused of not being united, of being divisive, thank the Lord, for we are contending for the gospel.
And pray for us, that we ARE contending for the gospel, and not just being arrogant!

I must point out that this is difficult for us as Norwegians for we are very consensus-driven. Unity at all costs. But that is not what we believe as Christians. And this has damaged the church so much when we have not protected gospel unity and instead had fake unity.

18 Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people.

We must listen to what people are actually saying. What are they teaching, and how does that affect their life? Are they living for Christ, or for themselves? Do their sermons bring glory to them. Put the focus on them as the gurus, the holy people?
Do they speak clearly and plainly, or is it confusing and mysterious and secretive? Smooth talk and glowing words. Watch out for teachers and preachers who make you feel good but say nothing! Those who tell you of their experiences and use that as an authority for teaching. No. We need God’s word, not someone else’s. Tell me what He thinks, not you. And tell me clearly and plainly in a way that I can understand, and that I can see where you get it from in the Bible.

19 But everyone knows that you are obedient to the Lord. This makes me very happy. I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

We are in a battle. But as we remain faithful to God and His gospel, Satan is “soon” or “swiftly” crushed. If we are not swayed from our secure foundation, Satan has no way to get us. He is defeated.

So, we are united in the gospel: together for Christ. And the final remarks show that

21 Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you his greetings, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow Jews. 22 I, Tertius, the one writing this letter for Paul, send my greetings, too, as one of the Lord’s followers. 23 Gaius says hello to you. He is my host and also serves as host to the whole church. Erastus, the city treasurer, sends you his greetings, and so does our brother Quartus.
25 Now all glory to God, who is able to make you strong, just as my Good News says. This message about Jesus Christ has revealed his plan for you Gentiles, a plan kept secret from the beginning of time. 26 But now as the prophets foretold and as the eternal God has commanded, this message is made known to all Gentiles everywhere, so that they too might believe and obey him. 27 All glory to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, forever. Amen.

Amen indeed. What a letter this has been. And what a reminder right at the end that whether Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, upper class or lower class, single or married, woman or man: we are equal in Christ, united in the proclamation of the gospel. Fantastic.

So - are we united in the gospel? Is our church showing this gospel diversity and gospel unity. Where can we be better at crossing those difficult social and cultural boundaries?
I want to ask you: are there ways we can be better? Do you feel side-lined or marginalised. Think about how things can be better, and then come with some ideas and we can see if we can do it together. Don’t just sit and feel lonely or out. Because we don’t know how you feel or why because we are not you. Not your culture, not your background. So speak. But not just moaning - think about possible solutions. Because you’re also the best for that!
The more we can stand united in our diversity, united in Christ, the better. And people will notice. Not just surface unity. But real unity.

1. Who’s who in the early church: a celebration of diversity.
Anyone can be saved. Who do you need to pray for?
Everyone has a part to play. What’s your excuse. What’s holding you back? Ask God to help you get started.

2. United in the gospel: together for Christ
How can we get more inclusive in this church? Pray for wisdom.

Romans 12. Live together in love.

Romans 12.

Link to MP3

What can you offer God? What can you give him to get right with him?

If you’re thinking “well, I can give him myself as a living sacrifice” you are – WRONG!

Wrong – but it says so right there. There in the passage.

No. What does it say?

Ro 12 And so (therefore), dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God – why? because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable.

ESV I appeal to you therefore by the mercies of God, to offer yourselves as a living sacrifice.

The Bible clearly tells us that there is nothing we can do to get right with God. Nothing. We are dead in our sins. We are in Adam, we rebel against God, choose our own way. And nothing we do can make us right. Rom 3:10 there is no-one righteous. Therefore the gospel is not “this is what you can do to get right with God” – that is the way of every other religion! The gospel is GOOD NEWS. It is bad news if this chapter was what we had to do to get right with God! We’d be in big trouble. No it’s not the bad news, it is good news. In light of God’s mercy – as v1 because of all he has done for you.

The gospel is that when we were in rebellion, when we were dead, when we rejected God – God came for us. Why us? We don’t know. There was certainly nothing special about us. But it is because of God’s great mercy. Because he is full of love he decided to take rebels, sinners, and make them – you and I (if we are in Christ) – make us trophies of grace.

We do not sacrifice to get mercy. We have mercy, therefore we offer sacrifice. And it has always been this way. It was the same with Israel. They were God’s people, chosen by God. Therefore they offered sacrifices – praise offerings, thank offerings, and sin offerings. Now, because of Jesus, we no longer offer sin offerings. Our sin offering was given and accepted once and for all when Jesus gave his life for us on the cross. But we do still offer praise and thank offerings. And we do that by living! Being living sacrifices, living for the glory of God.

My Dad for years hated v1. “I don’t want to be a sacrifice”. Sacrifice has to do with altars and blood and flesh and flies and death. I don’t want that. Then one day as he was reading he suddenly noticed a word he’d never noticed before: living! A LIVING sacrifice. Our sacrifice is to LIVE fully for God. We are called to LIVE for God. To be truly alive. To be what we were born to be.
We were created to reflect God’s glory, his beauty, his love, his power, his love. And in Christ that is what we are called to. We have been remade, renewed, restored, from the inside out. We have the Holy Spirit of God within us. Now, in light of God’s mercies, because of all he has done for you, people chosen, loved, and kept by God: LIVE!

You see, it is one of the great truths of Christianity that death brings life. Christ died that he might win life for all, and proved it by rising form the dead. And for us death brings life. As we die to self we find we live. As we obey we find blessing and truth. As we do what seems unwise we find wisdom.

Ro 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

It is very important for us to remember that as we start looking at how we are to live that we remember what has come before. Otherwise we might think that all this is how we impress God so that he will like us and let us in to heaven. No! In light of God’s mercies. We have been forgiven, we have everything!

Now some might argue “but where’s the motivation then? If God has given me everything, if I know I’m saved, if I know I’m going to heaven. Why do anything? Why sacrifice? It takes away the motivation.”

Well, let me tell you about two teachers I had at school. One was called Mr Shone, who I had in the 6^th grade. And one was Mr Liddle, my 7^th grade teacher. Mr Shone was a cruel man. He was petty and vindictive and took particular pleasure in making certain pupils miserable and breaking them down. We were all afraid of him. When he was in the class, everyone obeyed! In fear of what he would do. But when his back was turned…. We hated him. We called him names. We stuck our tongue out at him. Our motivation to obedience only lasted as long as his eyes were on us.
Mr Liddle was the opposite. He loved us and cared about us. Those who had been crushed by Mr Shone Mr Liddle built up again over the year. You know we loved to obey Mr Liddle – even when he wasn’t in the room. We loved him because he loved us. Love is more powerful than fear as a motivation.

What view do you have of God? Do you see a stern taskmaster who demands the impossible. And you’ve got to somehow impress him? If that is the way you think of God, that is the God you will meet. But in the gospel we meet a God who demands the impossible – and then says what is impossible with man, is possible with God, and GIVES us his righteousness, purchased through laying aside his majesty, becoming one of us, suffering with us, dying for us, and then rising to new life. That is the God we serve. A God of such love. If we have met him, if we know him and are known by him, that is motivation enough to live for his glory.

You know, I don’t have to force myself to be married to my wife. I don’t think “oh no, I’m bound by this horrible contract”. It is a JOY to be with her. I know her and she knows me and so I want to please her, to bring her glory and joy.

So that’s what this passage is about. It’s about knowing God so that we can know what pleases him. Just like I know my wife and study her so that I can know what pleases her, we study the Lord to know what pleases him and what brings him joy. Let us delight our Father’s heart in the way that we live.
And, of course, living that way brings us great joy too, because it is the way we were made to live. And our motivation is love. We are loved by God. Rom 8:39 nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That is what we need to keep in mind as we look at tonight’s passage, and indeed chapters 12-16.

So that was the first point: In light of God’s mercy, live. Be a living sacrifice because he loves you.

The second point is this: To be a living sacrifice you need a renewed mind – and our mind is renewed through the church.

And the third is: A living sacrifice lives a life of sacrificial God-glorifying love

1. Live 2. together 3. in love.

So, how do we live as living sacrifices for God? How do we give glory to God in everything we do? How do we reflect his beauty and love and glory and joy in our lives?

Well, it starts here – in our minds.

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.

ESV Do not conform to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.

Our minds need to be changed. We need to think God’s thoughts so that we can do what God wants.

And how do we do that? Need to know Him. Need his word. The Bible.

Now v1 and 2 I’ve known very well. Read it lots of times. But I haven’t really paid so much attention to the context. I know. So in preparing this I was amazed to see something that I’ve never seen before. The Holy Spirit through Paul after telling us that our minds need to be renewed – what does he immediately talk about? The church! The church is where we go to renew our minds.

3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. 4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. 6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.

I found that fascinating. Because I’m such an individualistic Westerner I think “renew my mind, yes, I’ll lock myself away in my room and read the word.” If I know the Bible. Or if I’m a bit more “spiritual” I might say “I’ll go and seek God and wait for him to speak to me”. Or religious “I’ll go to a monastery”. But it’s all me on my own.
But our brothers and sisters from Africa and the East will be laughing at us now going “duh, no we do this as a COMMUNITY: the church”. We do it together! In the church most importantly we hear God’s word - but we also see it lived out. That’s why we have a body, not just a mouth! 6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. We need each other.

It’s like the Law. I’ve been reading the Pentateuch recently (the first five books of the Bible). And there’s a lot of law. Do this do that. And it’s not arranged logically. It’s all mixed up together. Stuff you had to do in everyday life with stuff the priests had to do with rules for the government. All mixed up. It’s impossible to remember. But not if you see it lived out. You’d watch your parents and go “oh that’s how it’s done”. Watch your neighbours. Oh yes, I’m supposed to do that. See the priests doing their duties “Oh that’s what it means”. The Law of God, his word, was lived out, on display, every day.

Likewise in the church. I have learnt so much by watching how my brothers and sister in Christ do things. I remember staying for a few weeks with our friends Paul and Penny Dawson and their five kids. I learned so much about Christian living just watching how they did things. How they balanced ministry and family demands, what they prioritised as important, how they spoke to their kids, how they taught them the Bible at their different ages. Wisdom on display.

Debby and I were both privileged to grow up in Christian families and we have gained much practical wisdom in how to live as a Christian. I know many of you did not – but that’s why we have the church! So watch godly people and see what they do. Ask. A number of people in this church will phone me up and say “I have an ethical dilemma, what should I do”. That’s brilliant. That’s Christian living.

And note that no-one has all the gifts. We need each other. Some teach, some prophecy (that is apply the Bible to everyday life), some exhort, some lead, some are generous, some kind, and so on. We are a team together, helping each other.

I want you to notice something. It is not just that God saves us. But he also gives us gifts and he decides the level of faith we have! 3 Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
God is not only sovereign over our salvation, but also our sanctification (being holy). So see yourself as you are by how much faith you’ve been given. And if you want more – ask.
Because it is God who even gives us our faith, we cannot be proud. But humble. And as for us leaders – we have been given much, so much is asked. Not pride but humility and responsibility.

Some of you are highly gifted. And we will develop those gifts. How? In submission to Gods word. The more gifted you are the more essential it is that you know the Bible! A prophet needs to know Gods word. A leader needs to know Gods word. That’s why the leaders of the church are elder because an elder is one who teaches the word. We all need each other. The church needs you! Because we are called to be a living sacrifice. And to be a living sacrifice you need a renewed mind – and our mind is renewed through the church.

So then, third point, A living sacrifice lives a live of sacrificial God-glorifying love. As a church, how do we live in a way that glorifies God. How do we live together in love?

Well, the rest of the chapter! There’s a lot here, so I’m just going to read it, make a few comments, and leave it up to each of us before God to repent! Different things will challenge us!

So, brothers and sisters, in light of Gods mercy, because we are forgiven, because we are chosen by God, because nothing can separate us from his love, because we have heaven as our inheritance and because the Spirit of God lives in us – this then is how we are to live, reflecting God’s glory:

9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honouring each other.

See, if we see ourselves as we really are, by the FAITH God has GIVEN us, then we will be humble, delighting in others. Let us be quick to praise each other, to honour each other, to thank each other, to admire. When you think about the church, do you think “wow” or do you think “uh, why isn’t that done, why didn’t they do this”. Complaining comes so easy, complimenting so hard. Let’s delight in honouring each other.

11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
Like Christian and Johanna, and my parents. But not just church events. Invite people home from church. Invite non-Christians. Open you home. People SEE Jesus in your home life. Don’t underestimate the work of the Spirit in and through you. Many things we take for granted just the way we do things, for others is ground-breaking.

14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Christian spoke two weeks ago on forgiveness from Philemon. Have you forgiven?
We sin against the Lord and deeply hurt him and others – yet we are forgiven. Therefore can we not forgive others who have hurt us?
This is not easy, and some of you may need help because of deep hurts. But we’ll do it together. Let’s take the ice that is in our hearts and melt it together in the furnace of God’s love.

15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. Odd translation! It’s “don’t be too proud to associate with those you think are beneath you”. I want this church to be full of “losers” outcasts, the “rubbish” of society. Because God is very good at taking those who are least and making them glorious. Let’s see what God can do! Because that’s the heart of Jesus. He was always hanging around with the lowly, the “sinners”.

And don’t think you know it all! 17 Never pay back evil with more evil. (oh how easily that comes to us. Revenge! No. Let GOD handle things). Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honourable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. 20 Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” 21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Isn’t that the very heart of God? We who are evil have been conquered by good. So let’s do the same thing! Never forget that we were enemies of God. And He has transformed us. He can do the same with that person who makes our life miserable, with that bully, with that pervert, that threat, that grumpy neighbour.
Never forget that we are sinners. But by the grace of God that is us. Perhaps if we’d grown up like them we’d be the same. Maybe all they’ve ever experienced is hatred, attacks, maybe that’s why they’re so hard and messed up. So ask the Lord for his strength, ask Him for His love, His compassion, see them through His eyes, and treat them how Christ has treated you. And see what God will do. Conquer evil with good. And if they are mean and horrible and unchanged – well, leave them in the Lord’s hands. He will pay them back much more than you can with your petty revenge. Leave it to Him.

Right. Wow. Well, aren’t we glad and overjoyed that this isn’t a list of rules to keep in order to be right with God! Praise the Lord that it is because we have been forgiven, renewed, transformed, we are called to live like Christ.
So let’s do it. Together. Let’s encourage each other. Let’s watch each other to see how to live. As they are following God, let us follow. And let’s encourage each other, pick each other up when we fall, carry each others burdens, help each other, push each other, work together until that great day when we see our saviour face to face.

1. In light of God’s mercy, live. Be a living sacrifice because he loves you.

2. To be a living sacrifice you need a renewed mind – and our mind is renewed through the church.

3. A living sacrifice lives a life of sacrificial God-glorifying love

1. Live 2. together 3. in love.

Rom 8:1-16 The joy of the gospel!

Rom 8:1-16

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

No condemnation. Why? Because we belong to Jesus. Law of Spirit (life) instead of law of sin and death. The law cannot condemn us, just like if you’re dead the police can’t come and arrest you and you can’t be convicted. We have died with Christ and so the law – God’s law – cannot convict us. We are dead to the law and alive to Christ! We are dead to sin because we live for Christ.

This is the message of Romans! No condemnation. We do not have to placate God. We do not have to worry about our “performance”. We do not have to live in fear of disappointing God so much that he throws us out. He is a good, good father. He loves us unconditionally. I don’t know what kind of parents you had. Some of you maybe did grow up in fear. Fear of disappointing them. Fear of upsetting them. But in Christ there is no fear. He has declared us to be in the right with him. He loves us and nothing can separate us from that love.

Nothing can separate us because his love is not based on our performance - we are weak because of sin and so we fail – his love is based on his performance, guaranteed by the cross and resurrection. God has done what the law could not because we are weak. V3 So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.

His sacrifice means that we are in perfect relationship with him. With God. A relationship so perfect that we can call God “father”.

Lord grant us today that we will see the glory and the joy of the gospel. Open our eyes to your mercy. Let us feel it! Amen.

Ok. It’s been a while since we’ve been in Romans. And v1 starts off with the word therefore. If you see a therefore ask what the therefore is there for! Two good reasons to do a quick review of Romans so far.

So let me take us through what we have learned so far to bring us up to this most powerful statement: so there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

Romans kicks off with something equally powerful: 1:16, our key verse: I am not ashamed of the gospel for IT is the POWER of God for salvation. The gospel is GOD’S power for salvation for ANYONE who believes.

Why? Why do we need the gospel? Why does the gospel need to be God’s power? Why can’t it be our power? 1:18 gives the answer: Ro 1:18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
The gospel has to be something FROM God TO us (not us reaching out to God) because we are sinners and God is angry with us. How do we know this? Look around at the world. The mess we see around us is proof of God’s judgement. He gives us over, abandons us to our foolishness. He allows us to sin.

And chapter 2 says the way out isn’t being good – because the good person just condemns themselves! Lying is wrong, but we lie.
And being Jewish doesn’t help either. Because the Jew who is supposed to keep the law, doesn’t. So instead of the Law bringing salvation, it brings condemnation.

And so we end up with this sobering conclusion in 3:10 No-one is righteous, not even one. All our excuses are brought to nothing. How often have you done something despite the fact that you knew it was wrong? What about all those things in the moral “grey area”? Our own morals condemn us long before we even get to God. Ro 3:10 “No one is righteous— not even one. 11 No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. 12 All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”

And that is why we are not ashamed of the gospel! No we rejoice in the gospel! Because in it a righteousness FROM God is revealed. God’s power for salvation in Jesus Christ. Ro 3:22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
In the gospel God does what we can’t:
we break the law, so Jesus keeps the perfectly law for us. Justified.
We are slaves to sin, in bondage to sin, so Jesus never sins – a perfect sacrifice. He pays the price to set us free. Redeemed.
We face Gods just anger – so Jesus takes our sin upon himself, and satisfies God’s anger with his sacrifice on the cross. Propitiated.
We are justified, redeemed, propitiated.

Ro 5:1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

But it’s not just our future which is secure, it is now. New life starts now. Not just saved FROM sin but saved FOR God. We have new life. Sin brings death, but faith in Jesus brings life.

As Christians we are the new humanity. Jesus is our new Adam. As human beings we are all sinners, because we are all born “of Adam”. His sin DNA is in us and we all confirm that we are sinners almost immediately. Just watch kids! No-one teaches them to sin but they do. This is why God must be sovereign over salvation. If we had any part to play in our salvation, then the unborn, the mentally challenged, and babies and small children all have no way to be saved. Because they are in Adam Ro 5:12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

Therefore we are not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of…. GOD for salvation. Not us, praise God. So anyone can be saved. The unborn, the aborted, the mentally challenged, and you and me. The Spirit can wake anyone to life.
Adam’s one act brought death, but Jesus’ one act brought life - big enough and powerful enough to swallow up Adam’s act of death and reverse the curse. Amen!

Therefore, how should we live? Chapter 6 Like we belong to God! Ro 6:20–23 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

But, we say, I don’t FEEL like I’m dead to sin. In fact, sin feels very alive in me! I keep doing what I don’t want to do. Ro 7:23–8:1 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? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

The answer when we are tempted to sin is to remember who we are. We belong to Christ. We have died to sin. Sin has no power over us. We don’t need to sin anymore!
Because what benefit does sin bring? When was the last time you sinned and thought “I’m so glad I did that”. Sin brings judgement and sin leads to eternal death. But now, in Christ, we can be righteous. For the first time we can choose not to sin!

So there are now two of me inside. The old man of sin and death, and the new man of Spirit and life. I am free now! I don’t have to listen to the old man anymore. I don’t have to follow the old way of life. Ro 8:2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

In Christ we are for the first time truly free. Free to see ourselves as we truly are – sinners. Full of selfishness and self-justification, and excuses for our behaviour and the painful awareness of “me” and how are people seeing me and what if they don’t like me. We’re set free from that self-obsession so that we can glorify and enjoy God – what we were made for.
We’re free to choose not to sin, and we have been given the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead. His power is sufficient!

Chapter 8 continues to remind us of the incredible truths of the gospel as Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writes these words in v3, summing up what we’ve been learning from the previous chapters:

3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have.

That’s what we just celebrated at Christmas. That God was born a man. Now that is astounding enough – that he became one of us to reveal himself to us. But that’s not all. V3 continues: And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

Wow! The law was fully satisfied in Jesus. That’s why there’s now no condemnation. The law was fully satisfied. Why? Because Jesus perfectly kept the law - AND he then took the punishment that law-breakers like us deserve: Death. He died. His death freed us from the condemnation of the law. The fine has been paid, the prison sentence served, the death for the death penalty died, the firing squad has shot a guilty person. Our sins were transferred to Jesus on the cross – he became guilty for us and so our guilt and shame and sin is all gone. We are free! We are reborn!

We now follow a new law in ourselves. No longer a law of sin and death, but a law of the Spirit. A law of life.

That is something that comes from within. You cannot pretend to be a Christian. You must have the Spirit. Because the Spirit changes you from the inside out.

5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

You know, I have discovered that that is true. When I sin it leads to problems! Many problems. When I obey God it leads to life and peace. Maybe not instantly, sometimes it means going through difficulties – saying sorry, confessing a lie or a mistake – but it sets the relationship back on track. So many people live with homes full of strife – fighting and arguing and nastiness. Because they’re trying to protect themselves, and so no-one says sorry, no-one says I love you – because that would show I’m vulnerable. As Christians that is not how our homes should be. We should be quick to say sorry because we know we’re sinners. We should say “I love you” and risk being hurt because we’re already perfectly loved by God. And it’s amazing the change you will see. Ask those in the church who’ve become Christians about the change in their home life!

My Dad’s friend when he became a Christian said “I can’t sin properly anymore!” It’s true! There is a new nature within you.

7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. 9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

If you find it easy to sin, you are untroubled by sinning, or you find yourself dismissing or ignoring God’s commands – maybe you’re not a Christian. Maybe you don’t have God’s spirit in you and you’re trying to impress God with your own efforts. That is the law of sin and death and you will fail. In fact, as v7 says you are hostile to God.

Please, take the opportunity now to ask God to show you the truth and to repent.
If you’re worried about not belonging to Christ, if you’re worried that “oh no I keep sinning – do I belong to Christ” - the fact that you’re worried about it means you do belong! That desire in you to obey, to stop sinning. That crushing disappointment when you sin. That cry of despair in confession. That resolve to fight sin. All signs that you belong to Christ. For we are in bodies full of sin, but we are in our spirit righteous before God.

10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Isn’t that amazing? We don’t deserve that. But God takes our sinful rotten, dead selves, and makes us alive.
You know, if we saw ourselves in glory we would fall at our own feet in worship for we would be so glorious and amazing. That is what God I doing in us and will complete. He will turn us into a trophy of grace to the praise of his eternal glory.

Remember that. Remember his power works in you. The same power that raised Christ from the dead – is in you. You can resist sin!

There is deep eternal joy awaiting us. Let’s keep our eyes fixed ahead, for the glory and joy to come.

Debby and I were talking yesterday and I said to her that I wished I knew that she was in my future when I was younger. It would have been so much easier to keep myself from certain temptations and sins knowing that she was waiting for me. Why mess around with junk when gold is ahead?
And it struck me that that is exactly where we are. We know what is coming in our future! We have a glorious, joyful eternity ahead of us. Why mess around with “pleasures” that promise much but deliver only heartache. Fill your mind with him, with your future, and you will find the temptations of this world become quite dull.

12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.

Now I could end there. Choose life. Praise God and all that. But I want to end with a little encore. A little extra that will blow your mind. And it’s in the last few verses of today’s reading. When the Spirit opened your eyes and you believed in Jesus this is what happened: you became a child of God. Jesus our brother. God our Father. A new Spirit in us.

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.

We do not need to be afraid. We are not fearful slaves. We are beloved children. I don’t know how good or bad you parents were, but God is perfectly good. To be his child is amazing. We are adopted as his children and we can call him “Abba, father”.
Abba is a word in Aramaic meaning “Daddy” or “Dad”. It is an intimate and personal word. “Father” sounds quite formal – Abba is personal. And we can call him Abba.

But why does the Holy Spirit here use the phrase “Abba , father”? To show us something amazing! There are only three places in the Bible this phrase “Abba, father” is used. Once here, once in Galatians, making the same point as here – but it’s first used in Mark 14:36. Turn back there and read it and be amazed. “Abba” is the intimate word Jesus used to talk to his father. In deep distress the night before his crucifixion he calls out to God saying “Abba, father”. “You are my father, my Dad”, he says.

And this is what is mind-blowing: we can say the same thing. We have the same access to God as father, the same intimacy, the same rights as a son as Jesus. That is what he has given to us. Amazing grace indeed!

If you are in Christ, then you are a child of God. And God is your father. Isn’t that just astounding. Praise God. Praise him with great praise. What a gospel we have.

Ro 1:16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes. No longer under law, free from sin, we have the Spirit and we are called sons and daughters of God.

O Lord fill us with joy and wonder at your mercy. Fill us with awe at what you have done. Capture our vision so that we are not tempted by the lesser distractions of this world, sin which drags us down – but let us look forward to the glorious future you have prepared for us in your mercy. And let us remember who we are. Child of God. A child of God. Daddy! We cry. Dad! My Dad in Heaven, I praise your name. our Dad in heaven, we love you.

If you don’t know him, get to know him now. If you need to make right with him, do that now during communion. Lord, move in mercy I pray. Amen.

Romans 1:16 to 31 Why do we need the gospel (Good News)?

Romans 1:16-31

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How do you picture God? What words would you use to describe our God? Grace, love, mercy, generous, welcoming, acceptance. But what about judge? Wrath? Angry? Big? Powerful? And dangerous?

Because that is what we see in today’s text.
Why do we need the gospel or Good News as the NLT translates it? We need the gospel because we, you and I, have a problem, a big problem, a problem created by our sin: and it is that God is our enemy.

His anger burns against us. It's not blind fury, out of control, but his anger is the feeling you get when you see someone doing something terrible to someone else and you react to protect them.
His anger is his settled opposition to all that is evil.

And we see it there in v18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

We need the gospel, God's plan of salvation, because our biggest problem is: God.

Therefore, the gospel must be from God, God’s action, God’s achievement, and something that God gives to us. And that’s why we cannot be saved in any other way than through the gospel. Because if we are not in Jesus, in the gospel, we are against God.

Only God can satisfy God's wrath (anger).

That is why we rejoice in the gospel. Because if God had not done something, we would be without hope!

Ro 1:16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Today we are going to explore the first part of today's text:

1. What is the gospel? The gospel is God's plan of salvation for we who are under Gods anger

2. The gospel is about Jesus. Not me.

3. The gospel is by faith from start to finish

Next week we will look at the rest of the chapter.

1. What is the gospel? The gospel is God's plan of salvation for we who are under Gods anger

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” 18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

The “but” there in v18 is a bit of a poor translation. In the original Greek text it is more like “for” or “because”, which makes the link a little more clear. The Apostle Paul who wrote the letter says he is not ashamed of the gospel, the Good News about Jesus, FOR God is showing his anger against all people.

God is angry with us, with our sin and ungodliness, therefore I’m not ashamed of the gospel. Therefore it is Good News. Because otherwise we could earn our salvation. We could be good enough. We could try, strive, achieve nirvana, create our own truth - all the other ways that promise salvation that all rest on us and what we can do. Sacrifice to the ancestors, generate "faith", use crystals, say "oohm" do good deeds, go to worship services every week.

But the Holy Spirit reveals to us in these chapters that all this is in vain. A waste. Pointless. For when we do those things, we are choosing to reject God and we replace him with our own customized version. We don’t want the God of the Bible, but our own god.
Our mind is darkened as it says in v21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.

By nature we do not worship God, but instead create something else to worship: a false God. Whether it’s a humanists with "choose your own truth," or Islam with Allah, or today's church, where far too often you meet God created in our image: God as a 21st century Norwegian instead of the God of the Bible. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, [we] worship idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. An idol does not have to be physical, but can be one mentally: God is an idol when we remake him in our own image. As v22 says, claiming to be wise, we have instead become utter fools.

And because we're empty up here, we start to do stupid things. And God allows this. Is this not the worst form of judgment - to let people do exactly what they want? Like an exasperated parent saying to his kid who has whined an moaned about touching the fire – fine, do what you want! WAAAAAHHH!

24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired

26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires.

28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.

That's what we are, by nature. There is nothing in us that chooses God. Even though we can look out of the window at creation and see that "God exists!" we reject him by nature and worship something else. Anything else.

Therefore, the gospel has to be something that God does. And that's exactly what we heard last week. The gospel is the power of God for salvation. In Jesus, achieved by Jesus, through Jesus, in the power of Jesus. In Jesus, and only in Jesus, can we be saved! There is no other name by which we can be saved.

I recently heard a comedian saying, “When I was a kid I thought that quicksand and lava would be a bigger problem than they turned out to be.” And that's true! How many times did we play that the floor is lava or that you have been caught in quicksand? And in so many children's stories!

But maybe we were right as children. Because we are in quicksand. The quicksand of sin. And we are sinking. And the more you try to get yourself out of quicksand, the more you struggle and kick and try to save yourself - the faster you sink. As we try to save ourselves from our own sin, we just sink faster. Sin is, after all, a self-focus instead of God-focus. Depending on ourselves for salvation just makes things worse!

What is the gospel? The gospel is God's plan of salvation for we who are under Gods anger

Is that what you believe? Do you see yourself in quicksand, crying out “help”, saved only by the mighty arm of Jesus who lifts you up and out? Or is it a little more 50/50? Or maybe it's you who have chosen this, you’re a good person who does good things. Well, if that’s what you think, let me warn you that you do not believe in the gospel and you worship an idol. A false Jesus. A Jesus created in your own image. Repent!

But what about those of us who know the truth, that we are sinners saved by the grace of God - how often do we live as everything depends on us? That our salvation stands or falls on what we do? Brothers and sisters, we should be the happiest, most free of all people. We are saved by Jesus! We were under the wrath of God, but now he has saved us and accepted us.
Let's be happy today and every day to come.
What is the gospel? The gospel is God's plan of salvation for we who are under Gods anger.

And the gospel is about Jesus.

2. The Gospel is about Jesus. Not me.

1: 16 It [the Good News, gospel] is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes

The Gospel is about God's power for salvation, about the Son of God Jesus and what He has done. So I want to stop here and remind us of what we learned last week from Christian because it is so important that we get this in place.

Turn back to v1-4 and see how the Holy Spirit has inspired Paul to present the gospel right up front.

Ro 1:1–4 This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, 4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

What is the gospel? It is "Jesus Christ, our Lord." He who was promised through the prophets, he who is Jesus, the man born in Bethlehem, and Christ, the promised rescuer who fulfils the covenants, who is also our Lord, God most High, the Second Person of the Trinity. Jesus Christ our Lord.

God has not hidden this, but He has revealed Himself in the Bible through the history of Israel, through the great covenants with Adam and Abraham and Moses and David. And everything finds its origin and fulfilment in Jesus Christ. He is Plan No. 1. He has always been the plan, and indeed the purpose of all creation is to glorify Jesus! We were created so that Jesus could be glorified through his salvation work in the gospel.
Jesus was not something new, a new dispensation, a plan B or C. The Bible has always been looking forward to Jesus, the better Adam, the better Moses, the better David. Jesus did not sin, he did not only save Israel but the whole world, he fulfilled the law, and he is the everlasting king on David’s throne. He is the fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant that the whole world would be blessed through his descendent. Jesus blesses the whole world. And Jesus is the answer to the Old Testament's dilemma: How can a holy and good God forgive sinners?

Jesus is and has always been our representative. He stands in our place, as our substitute. He does what we could not do. Obeysthe law, fulfils the covenants, lives a perfect life. Jesus does all that we could not. For by nature, we reject God, we sin, we forget God, we ignore God, we do not listen to the Word of God and instead we form another god in our image and worship it instead. Just like the Israelites in front of God on the Mount Sinai (Horeb), they made a golden calf and worshiped that while Moses received the Word of God! Doh! They didn’t bother to listen to God but instead chose to make an idol. A false god.

The gospel is about Jesus, and it is the Bible that defines both the content of the gospel and who Jesus is.

When Kristin and Kaleb were small, they really struggled when it was someone else's birthday. I think most young children struggle with that! They were convinced that the birthday was about them. And that the presents were theirs. How embarrassing! When you sit in the place of honour and have to be moved. When you have to give back the present you took for yourself to the rightful person.

We are like toddlers on someone else’s birthday when we believe the gospel is about us. We are not the focus, we are not the one who will be honoured either now or in the future. That is Jesus.

Do we believe that? Or are we still living as if we were the one who must be honoured and worshiped in our lives? The Gospel is about Jesus. Not me. It is about what he has done on the cross, and the resurrection. And that is why the gospel must be by faith from start to finish. From faith to faith.

3. The gospel is by faith from start to finish

17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Have you ever wondered why the gospel is by faith? Why is it faithm belief that matters, and not what we do (actions, deeds)? Because faith is a nothing. Faith is not special. Faith is trust: "I trust this". Like sitting on a chair: I trust this chair. Faith is so ordinary, so boring. Why can’t it be “the good people who want to seek God”? That’s what the Jehovah's Witnesses say. And many “churches” today.
Have you heard such messages? “God helps those who help themselves.” “Do what is right and God will love you, bless you.” Or “Seek the Lord within”
This is not the gospel – it’s paganism. It is humanism: “We will succeed by our own efforts. We will save ourselves.”

That's not what the Bible says! It’s the opposite of what the Bible says. Why do we need the gospel? We need the gospel because God does not look down on us with love in his eyes, simpering “so lovely” beaming with delight as one of his creations stumbles into the light, like a mother’s delight in watching her children take their first faltering steps.
That is how God is presented in many places. And it’s completely unbiblical and wrong. Romans 1: 18-31 tells us the truth.

18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

God looks at us in anger. Like a mother who walks in on her children bleeding all over because they’ve been kicking, biting and beating each other. “No no no! Stop it! What do you think you are doing?”

What are we doing? We are exchanging the glory of God for with our own image of god.

21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

We who were created to praise and honour God, who are surrounded by His amazing creation which bellows the truth that “God is great and almighty and creative and beautiful and good”, we who were placed as rulers over all the earth to take care of it and each other and we have done a terrible job: war, famine, climate change, rape, lies, cheating, theft, etc., etc. – that’s us! Do we really believe that God should love us? Should love those who ruin and vandalise his creation. That destroy and break down each other. Who takes each new invention into a weapon and each new technology is twisted to oppress others.

So God is rightfully angry with us!

18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

God’s anger is shown. God's wrath is revealed. That's what the Bible tells us. And we must believe it. Belief, faith - so boring. So ordinary. And so hard. I have to accept this? I have to believe in all that God says? Can’t I just choose the parts I like? Must my faith, my belief, really include all that God says?

Because we can reject God's anger. “I do not want to believe what the Bible says”
But if I do that, am I a Christian? Because the Bible is God's revelation of himself to us. So if we are Christians we can not pick and choose our “truth” because if we do we have made an idol, a false god image - in fact formed a whole different religion.
And then you may as well be honest with yourself and cross the street to the "Make God a 21st Century Norwegian Club" also known as the Norwegian State Department of Religious Indoctrination.

Am I exaggerating? Maybe. But isn’t this what God is warning us about in His Word today?

25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

When a church, when “the church” fails to talk about God's anger and God's judgment as the Bible does, they are preaching a false gospel. A false gospel that places you and me in the centre and not Jesus. “We’re good people who struggle a bit, but if we try hard and are good Norwegian citizens and follow the government's guidelines then God will like us.” That is no gospel. That is emptiness and folly.

If you really want to change God to be more palatable, rather drop the whole pretence, be honest and become a humanist. They say right up front “You create your own truth”!

Am I being too harsh? Maybe. Maybe I’m overdoing this. But I would rather overdo this than not, for this is life and death. This is the core of today's debate in the state church. Will we believe and obey God's word or not?

Am I still a Christian if I refuse to accept parts of the gospel, the parts of the Bible I do not like? Will we have faith in, will we believe in the word of God, or will we exchange him for a lie?
And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people. A tame God for the "modern" Norwegian?

Look at my T-shirt. From a distance it looks like any Christian T-shirt, with a good Christian message. “Jesus saved my life”. Amen and Hallelujah. But look a little closer. That’s not what it says. Because a small printing error has crept in - and it changes the entire message. Because Jesus can save, yes, but not Jusus! “Jusus saved my life.”

Unfortunately, many people have their faith in “Jusus” – they believe in a false god. And there is no power for salvation there. For it is the gospel that is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. The gospel as a whole, also with those parts that we don’t agree with and don’t like. The gospel is God’s revelation - it's not something we've made up or discovered. It is God's message, and so we are not at liberty to change it. Because even a slight change can mislead people. Jusus instead of Jesus.

Whatever it is we struggle with in the Bible – whether it’s the wrath of God, God's judgment, God's sovereignty, it doesn’t matter. We must believe it. It is by faith from first to last. We must have faith that what He has said is true. And we can have faith. God has made that clear that this is something we can trust. Because Jusus didn’t do anything, your false image of God didn’t do anything… but Jesus: Jesus was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He proved who he is when he rose from the grave. And that's impossible! Nobody did that before Jesus, and nobody’æs done it since. The resurrection of Jesus is the great demonstration that he is God.
Therefore, brothers and sister, let's listen to what he says and obey it. Have faith, living faith to do as he says, leaving the consequences to him.

Do what’s right and trust in God.

The gospel is by faith from start to finish.

1. What is the gospel? The gospel is God's plan of salvation for we who are under Gods anger

2. The gospel is about Jesus. Not me.

3. The gospel is by faith from start to finish

This means we have absolute freedom to obey God. For example we can support the church by giving money and serve with our time and effort, we can block out put on Sundays and Wednesday evenings and time each day to read the Bible and pray, and we can care for others who can’t repay us, we can work for the Lord and not just for a paycheck, we can fight injustice, and we can love our spouse and our children even when they don’t deserve it, because Jesus first loved us when we didn’t deserve it!

Because God has saved us, we are free to do what is right! Not oppressive, not a heavy burden of the law that weighs us down, but Jesus who lifts us up. Yes, we deserve God’s anger, but in the gospel we have the power of God for salvation for all who believe. Let's believe. Living faith. Amen.

Grace (Romans 3:10-26)

Romans 3:10-26

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In February 1996 I nearly died.

I was on a hike with a bunch of first-year students from the University of Cape Town. It was late in the evening and dark - and my friend Mark and I decided to take a “shortcut”. Why go around when you can climb straight up? And that’s how this genius here found himself stuck halfway up a cliff face unable to move either up or down. I could see the lights of Cape Town city centre below me, and the stars above me, and I began to realize that maybe this had been a rather stupid idea. Fear gripped me as I saw the situation I was in. My arms and legs began to tremble with fatigue.

As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one. 11 No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. 12 All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”

These verses describe our situation. We have chosen the wrong path. Two ways to live – and instead of choosing God's way, we have gone our own way. And now we begin to realize that maybe this wasn’t our best move. Maybe you’re here today because your arms and legs are starting to shake and you don’t know how long you can hang on before you lose your grip.
Maybe you’re looking at the ground far below and you’ve been tempted to just give up. Take your own life. At least you’ll be at peace? Right?

Maybe I would’ve started thinking like that gripping onto that cliff 300 meters above Cape Town? How long could I have hung on for?

Well, who knows, because suddenly a hand reached down, grabbed my right arms and hauled me upwards. I was saved! I had been in a terrible situation, without hope – until I was rescued by someone standing on solid ground.

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. 21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.

If you are a sinner today - and you are because you are a human being - you are a sinner here today, so you, like me, need someone to save you from yourself. And that's what Jesus does. He is the mighty hand that reaches down and pulls you up to safety.

In my case on the cliff that mighty hand was my friend Mark, who had climbed with me, was got stuck, but after a moment of intense sweating and equally intense prayer in a slightly higher octave than usual from both of us, he managed to see a tiny shrub that he could grasp. He pulled himself up on the shrub, and then managed to pull me up. We called that shrub “answered prayer”!

I have to say that Mark and I had true faith that evening. Because we risked everything on that little bush. If it had come loose we would both have fallen and probably not survived. I stand here in front of you today because I had faith and trusted that little shrub on Signal Hill in Cape Town in February 1996 - and it held fast!

But how about you? What do you trust? What are you believing in? Is it yourself? Are you betting your whole life now and into eternity on… you? Is it your good morals you’re betting on? Your background? Your church experience? Your “goodness”? Or, are you betting on “science” to save you (which I think is always a bit strange. I believe in science. Everyone believes in science. It explains how the world we live in works and it’s constantly evolving. It's like saying “I believe in the dictionary”). Or maybe you believe in Buddha or Mohammed or Krishna or countless other gods or alternative philosophies. Or religion without Christ - which is really another way of saying “I believe in myself and my own efforts”.

How secure do you feel? Is it working? Is it solid? Or are you feeling the roots begin to losing their grip on the rock, and you see the long fall awaiting you?

God tells us that anything but him is worthless. It will fall. Oh you may succeed in climbing your own way - for a little while. Some of us get a little further than the rest. But we are all of us stuck. None of us can reach up to God on our own. None of us are good enough. We all are miss the mark. And so we are left clinging on for dear life, waiting for the inevitable.

As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one. 11 No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. 12 All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”

We reject God, and that is the root of what the Bible calls sin. Sin is a term that encompasses everything that is wrong with us and the world. It does not mean naughtiness, and it's doesn’t mean delicious like the adverts use it “oh, that ice cream is sinful”!
Sin is rebellion against God: we have chosen our own way. And because we have turned our backs on God, broken our relationship with him, everything begins to go wrong.

Sin is unfortunately the easiest Biblical doctrine (teaching) to prove. We know it all too well. Turn on the news. Look at your own life. We hurt people - even those we love the most. And we are hurt by them in return.

Why? Because we have chosen our way instead of God's. We were created to function with God as King – then everything just works. But we have chosen the path of death.

Just read v13 to 18. Does this not describe our world and all too often our own lives?

13 “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.” 14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “They rush to commit murder. 16 Destruction and misery always follow them. 17 They don’t know where to find peace.” 18 “They have no fear of God at all.”

It is a summary of what the Bible says about humanity without God. And to our shame - he's right. The world is full of violence and abuse of power. Our lives are all too often full of lies and gossip, curses and bitterness. And peace! We lack peace. There is no peace in the world and no peace inside us.

What do we do when we realize this? I'll be better, we say. I'll work harder, be a better person, strive.

We have the story of Israel in the Bible to tell us that this does not work! For they didn’t have their own made-up morality, but God's morality, called the "law". They had the Temple, and miracles, and had experienced God's kindness and faithfulness - and they failed to keep the law.

19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 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.

As v19 and 20 say the law, or morality, is not the way to salvation, but instead it mocks us by showing us that we can not do it.
The law is laughs at us as it shines a spotlight on those areas in which we fail most.

Just take some of the ten commandments: No other gods before me. Fail. Do not worship anything but me. Oops. Money, power, sports cars ... Fail. Honour your mother and father. Fail. Be sexually pure. Fail. Do not lie. Fail. Do not covet (be jealous of) what other people have. Fail and fail again!
And these are just some of the Ten Commandments, never mind the rest of them. And not to mention what Jesus said!
The law makes a mockery of us. And you totally miss the point if you come to the Bible to find a way to impress God as if you could be obedient to God. The Pharisees who killed Jesus thought that, and so do cults like Jehovah's Witnesses and Iglasio ni Christo (Church of Christ)

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.

What hope is there, then? Because if we have sinned against God and cannot make amends because we can’t be good enough, and if the law is no way of salvation but a judgment, and if religion has no answer and science has no answer and humanism doesn’t work either - because if the Jews who received God's morality direct from God failed, we can be quite sure that following our own made-up morality isn’t going to succeed in impressing God. So, if nothing we do works - what hope is there?
Just like me on the cliff - we need a rescuer. We need someone other, someone above, someone who standing on solid ground to reach down and pull us up. We need someone who can do what we cannot. And that's what Jesus does.

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. 21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. 23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.

Let us spend a few minutes on these verses. For this is the essence of Christianity.

21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.

That word “but” at the beginning of v21 is probably the most important word in human history. For all hope was lost - but God. We were done for, arms trembling on the cliff face - without hope. And then we hear a voice “grab my hand”. I tell you that I was filled with rejoicing when I heard those words!
But what a fool I would have been if I had said “no thanks, I can manage”
Don’t do that! Accept Jesus and let Him pull you up.

We rather naughtily call v21 God's big butt! Yes, it’s childish I know. But it is God's great big BUT! We deserve judgement. We deserve hell because we chose life without God and life without God is the very definition of hell! As Homer Simpson says "Doh!"
BUT GOD! God set in motion his rescue plan, and instead of US dying, HE died! That is love.

21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law,

God’s righteousness is not gained through the law. You don’t have to fix up your life before you come to him. It has nothing to do with what you do or have done. Without keeping the requirement of the law.

22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. 23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

This gospel, this good news, is not only for the “good people”, those who are good at religion, the ethnic Norwegian or those who are “proper” people, good an upstanding citizens. This is for everyone. Because all have sinned. I am a sinner, you are a sinner, the pope is a sinner, the King is a sinner. We are all sinners and we all need Jesus. We all fall short of the glory of God. We fall short, we don’t make it, we run out of steam and we are ridiculously far away from the finishing line.

24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

God’s righteousness is a gift. It is given, not earned. At Christmas you don’t open your presents and then say “how much do I owe you?”! It's a gift. The gift of free grace from God to each of us who is willing to receive it.

24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.

On the cross Jesus took our punishment. We are all sinners, unable to save ourselves, and so in his love and mercy he stretched out his arms and bore all our sins on his shoulders. He dealt with our sins as he carried our sins into death.
When Jesus was on the Cross - the Son of God on the Cross - God the Father gathered all the sins that all his people had committed from the past and the future - all your sins and all my sins - and laid them on Jesus on the cross.
Like when you use a magnifying glass or a prism to gather and focus light to a point, a burning point – really fun when you’re a young boy – I can burn things with LIGHT! – but on the Cross it was as if God had a huge cosmic magnifying glass that gathered all of our sins from all of time and space and focused them down to burn of the cross.
“It is finished!” cried Jesus as he breathed his last.
And dealt with all our sins – our past sins, and even the sins we haven’t committed yet – all our sins were dealt with on the cross. Amen and hallelujah. His sacrifice has made us right with God. He calls us “righteous” because we are now redeemed in Christ Jesus. His death, his blood, has made us clean.
Yes, we are sinners, but we are forgiven sinners, declared righteous by the judge, and so we are righteous.

Imagine if you were unlucky enough to end up in court. You wait for the verdict. The judge's word has power, real power. If he says “guilty” - then you are, and you will be punished.
But if he says “innocent” – then you are, and you are free.

In Christ Jesus we are declared “innocent”. And if an earthly judge has so much power in his judgment - how much more God Almighty?

If you are here today and you feel unworthy, weak, hell-bound – you’re in the right place. We here are not good people who have impressed God, but we are sinful people who have had their eyes opened. We are all by nature selfish egotists who ignore God. And we come to him to say sorry - and then we discover that it is He who has been calling us and working in us to call us to Him.

So I’d like to welcome you here today, especially if it's your first time, and especially if you're not a Christian. Because you are here today because the Holy Spirit is at work in you. God is saying to you: “Come, I accept you as you are”

In this church you come as you are. Here you will find mercy. Here you are allowed to fail, to be a sinner, without judgement. Here we know that we are sinners, but also that we are forgiven! Amen.

Now some of you are maybe sitting there now saying to yourself “yes, yes, but he doesn’t mean me. I'm too bad for Jesus, too far gone. If you knew what I’ve done... Jesus won’t accept me.”
If that's you, then I have a word for you: rubbish! Jesus came for you. You who know you're too dirty, too ruined, too bad, too sinful - it's you he came for. He didn’t come for those who think they can do it, but for those of us who admit that we can’t, that we need him. It is by faith. Not effort.
It doesn’t matter lies in your past. Norwegian society may well judge you and exclude - but Jesus does not. Here there is always hope.
In this church there are people just like you. People who have done the same things as you. Some of them, even worse things! And they have experienced the truth that we read about here. We are forgiven. God forgives us because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

So receive. Don’t hang on the cliff, arms shaking, waiting to fall. Lift up your eyes and see Jesus standing there with an outstretched arm saying “take my hand, you don’t have to struggle any more. With me you are safe. With me you will find peace”.