How Prisoners Go Free - Part B

Jesus is the only place God in heaven will meet with mankind on earth.

Jesus is our propitiation only place we can come together is in him.

So Paul from my fingers, one God and one mediator between God and man.

The man is armored so that's how prisoners go free of God is a generous God, all you have to do is look at the gracious act of the cross connect with Skip Hunter today as he shares about the free gift of salvation you have in Jesus giving you a better understanding of how God's grace and justice work together before we begin want to let you know about a resource that sheds critical life regions of marriage and the family never walk into a movie like you may never catch up on one well seems to them I miss the opening book your questions with Genesis is the foundation it's the ground floor if we don't understand the book of Genesis won't understand what follows that's divisive reminding that our redemption through Jesus's death and resurrection starts in the book of Genesis, God says to Satan, I will put enmity between you and the woman between your seed and her seed, the promise of the mercy seat provide Discover the foundation of your faith understand the book of Genesis are you do you get $35 or more today.

Request your copy when you get online securely connectwithskip.com/Oliver or call 800-9200 92 1888 in Romans chapter 24 to the extent so let's join Skip-now the righteousness of God. Apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets even work that is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference for all ascendant fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. This is the first transition in the book of Romans do.

Remember I said there's four sections of the book, the wrath of God the grace of God. The plan of God. The will of God. This is the first transition between the wrath of God and the grace of God found here between verse 20 and verse 21 is a Grand Canyon or we move we pet from the first section to the second and I love verse 21 but now, after a long dark night sun begins to shine in the horizon or in the language of the Chronicles of Narnia. The long, dark winter is over and Aslan is on the move. Finally, I love this section and I just before we even unraveled anymore. I want to know how important it is my favorite commentators, Donald Ray Barnhouse drew a heart over these verses in his Bible and he wrote in his commentary. I am convinced today after these many years of Bible study that these verses are the most important verses in the Bible, Leon Morris, another great writer said this is possibly the most important paragraph ever written, and Alva MacLean said if I could only have six verses out of the Bible and the rest be taken away. I take these six verses 21 to 26 because he said all of God's gospel is there to what is he talking about what is he introducing the righteousness of God. You see it.

But now the righteousness of God.

Apart from the laws revealed okay Paul is doing is going back to a theme he introduced in chapter 1, I want you to see that back to chapter 1 turn there to chapter 1 verse 17.Chapter 1. Verse 16 for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek here is for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith he introduced the thought the righteousness of God. But then he plummets down word in the very next verse.

Notice for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men suppress the truth in ungodliness, and from there on all the way through until now it's all been in the muck and mire and darkness of the wrath of God now will backup to the theme he introduced in chapter 1 the righteousness of God. Now he opens the windows.

Now he let's the lighting. What is that mean the righteousness of God. It does not mean God's own personal righteousness.

It means the righteousness he provides the righteousness he gives as a gift. And why is that important to us. Well are closer pretty raunchy.

Isaiah 64. All of our righteousness is as filthy rags.

All of our righteousness is as filthy rags.

Boy you need new clothes and here is the robe of righteousness that is given to us. I just want to highlight. It is this verse that revolutionized the life of a 21-year-old Augustinian monk by the name of Martin Luther. He was reading the book of Romans was one phrase he was having trouble with. You know the phrase was the righteousness of God.

It bothered him because he said I thought it meant the righteousness that God personally has, by which he punishes people I'm God and you're not. I'm righteous and you're not. I'm after you. But he wrote this night and day. I pondered until I grasp the truth that the righteousness of God is that righteousness whereby through grace and sheer mercy, he justifies us by faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors in the paradise it changed his life. It brought the Protestant Reformation and I would say it even change Western society. Notice what he says about the righteousness of God.

Apart from the laws revealed being witnessed by the law and the prophets, and he just part of the Old Testament to say you guilty 14 times along the prophets say you're all messed up now. He says the righteousness of God.

Apart from the law is revealed to the same law and prophets that announced our guilt announces God's gift. Some of you who know the Old Testament think it does. Are you saying that the Old Testament predicts salvation as a gift by faith absolutely is one of the prophets, Jeremiah 31 God announces to make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not like the old covenant of the law on the right my lot in their heart or Isaiah 53 there's a prophet.

All we like sheep have gone astray, but the Lord laid on him.

Jesus, the iniquity of us all about the Old Testament sacrificial system in the Old Testament. You and I for worship to grab it off. To do this on Sunday morning, we bring an animal with their hands on the animal we confess our sins on the animal priest would take a knife and slit its throat. The animal would bleed out and die and that sacrifice, God would allow to cover your sins. At that point you realized I'm not here my own righteousness something is been done to allow God to forgive me and in this case it was an animal.

All of that was looking forward to the time when those sacrifices would stop because Jesus Christ would come question.

How is this righteousness available. Would you look at verse 22 to answer that question. Even the righteousness of God through what faith, in whom Mark that note that it's not faith in God. Generally, it is faith in Jesus Christ. Specifically, faith in God is not enough pulsating and faith in God is not a bizarre believe in God so they love God. They follow God so faith in God is not enough faith in the son of God is enough. Jesus said I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the father except through me. Specifically, in the one who paid the price on the cross faith in him. Our guilt is universal. God's gift is available on all who believe. Let's end with this third one. This grace is remarkable. Look at verse 24 again and will finish this out, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness, because in forbearance God passed over the sins that were previously committed to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. See, God has a little dilemma.

If these can be perfectly just.

He asked to judge sin. And if it's as guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, all guilty to do some of that.

So how is he going to be just and at the same time let the prisoner go free justified people he has to let it all be taken out on one sinless victim so that he can confer something on others who are guilt is just as well as the justifier. How does it happen there's a key word here.

Grace. You know the graces graces on Meredith Weber and deserved favor the message translation says sheer generosity. God is his filled with sheer generosity. Grace now want to show you how this grace works if you don't mind would you like a tree terms. Consider this a theology 101 very basic but important. There's three words here. We need to understand to really get the picture of grace.

First is the word justify or justification see in verse 24 being justified the term. The word justification shows up 33 zero times in the New Testament. 15 of those times are in the book of Romans alone justification is a legal term comes from the law court of antiquity.

It's a forensic terms. If you were brought into the judge in a courtroom after all the evidence is given, or lack thereof. He would make one of two proclamation.

He would either say condemned or he would say, justified you want to hear the second right, that's a proclamation is a declaration justify means to declare righteous, and then treat a person based on that declaration.

It does not mean to make somebody righteous. This is important is to declare not make say I know some of you really well and you're not all that righteous.

Some of you know me really well I'm not always all that right is mean to make righteous. It means a proclamation or a deck duration is God saying I pronounce you a righteous man or righteous woman and I'm in a tree you like you never send. In fact, it helps to explain the word by breaking it apart. I'm justify the means. God treats me just if I never sin justified justified never sin.

How does all that work with the wrath of God. How can God justify when that wrath is hanging out well. One Puritan by the name of Henry Smith explains briefly by saying Christ hides our unrighteousness with his righteousness. He covers our disobedience with his obedience.

He shadows our death with his death that the wrath of God cannot find us a beautiful picture if I God saying on the cover you up so that wrath. It has to be done. Can't find you all follow Angie's so that his perfection can be imputed to you. How is that done. It says were justified.

Verse 24 justify was an expert freely, freely means without a cause. There is no reason for God to do this. That is, you can't produce a reason it doesn't come from you. The cause is not from you, you can provide it because is in Jesus, God declares you righteous because of what Jesus did, so I know you've heard this before but think of grace in that acronym GRA CE God's riches at Christ's expense.

Grace.

And that's the first word justification comes from the law court look at the second term redemption. The redemption is language the come from the slave market it means to set somebody free by paying the price.

So they would go into the slave market and they would pay a sum of money called the ransom to set a prisoner free or a slave free. But here's the deal fact that money was given shows that the owner places value on the prisoner or the slave is willing to pay money so redemption indicates value. What is that mean you and me. It means you are so precious to God.

God letting your life.

Look to your life, and said you are worth all of the pain that I'm in a send my son through your work. I am willing to pay that price to get you with me forever. That's the idea of redemption.

John 316 for God so loved the world unto God and say, for God so low the world that he sent his son to punch us out. He loved the world, there's a story to illustrate an American tourist went to Paris and she bought a very inexpensive amber necklace at a trinket shop paid under $25, but when she was going through customs to bring it home. She had to pay an inordinate amount of duty tax to get the country should know why she got back home had it appraised the jeweler who is looking it over, looked it over and then his head turned his head away from the little loop said I'll give you $25,000 right now for the $25,000. I didn't pay $25. What makes it so valuable and he said look here and showed her the inscription that read from Napoleon Bonaparte to Joseph ended up in a trinket shop in Paris.

She bought it, Napoleon Bonaparte, Josephine, his first try.

Now the value goes up because it's identify with a famous person.

Your value comes from being loved by the God of this universe. That's redemption keyword, justification, redemption, third word sort of an odd word is verse 25 whom God set forth as a pro P Shieh show and by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance God Passover the sins of her previously committed to demonstrate at the present time is righteousness that he might be the just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus of all three words. This word is the least familiar word.

In fact, I'm going to guess you never use the word propitiation. Once this past week my right unless you read in the Bible you never use the work that you only find it twice in the New Testament once in Romans and then in first John and not modern translations don't even use this word anymore and here's why it's hard to translate the Greek word here last carry-on and the English he last carry-on of the great work. He is our healer Astoria my translations is propitiation doesn't help much right as well.

Said healer Astoria so other translations have tried to translated the new international version says sacrifice of atonement. The today's English version calls it the means by which men sins are forgiven. That's so generic didn't help at all. The revised standard version is little bit closer, he means for XP aiding sin. And finally, surprisingly, the new living translation gets closest to any of them calls it the punishment for our sin, to satisfy God's anger that is more the meaning the word. The basic idea means appeasement or satisfaction. So God's wrath is a piece satisfied by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross so that that's the just active punishment, and he can say to you and I were justified even go free. You have liberty now, I mentioned the word propitiation is used twice in the New Testament, you still follow me right okay so she's twice in the New Testament. But if we had a Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint version of test was written in Hebrew, but they translated into Greek couple hundred years before Christ. If we had a Greek version that word in Greek shows up 20 times and it's translated in the Old Testament mercy seat ring a bell in the mercy seat, member the ark of the covenant.

There was a lid on top of the ark of the covenant called the mercy seat propitiation what happened on the mercy seat. Blood got sprinkled on the mercy seat inside that box. The ark was law, the 10 Commandments broken by God's people over and over again and God said, I will meet you. The only place I will meet with you is on the mercy seat. So what God from judging his people. The blood that was on the mercy seat that covered all of their infraction. All of their guilt.

All of their sin. What it means to us to bring it to a conclusion is Jesus is the only place God in heaven will meet with mankind on earth. Jesus is our propitiation only place we can come together is in him. So Paul summed it up by saying there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. He is our mercies. So that's how prisoners go free. Jesus satisfied the just demands of God's holy law. He by his act brought us our freedom paying the price of his own blood. God is now able to declare you as righteous as Christ entreat you as such. That is all summed up in the word grace God's grace.

Here's the deal, though, here's the only clincher in the holding ready for this.

You gotta receive if it's a gift you have to receive if I give you a gift at Christmas and I plopped down on the table in front of you and you stand with your arms folded and you do nothing but go with it as I get nothing zipped zero note zilch.

Not it does you no good.

You have to receive the gift, open the package and enjoy.

I read this week, but a prisoner in Florida who was pardoned by the governor and yet the prisoner refused to be released and what was going on his head. He refused. He just kind it was prideful. The case went to court, the judge ruled and said, unless the pardon is accepted that prisoner has to serve his entire sent, unless you accept God's forgiveness.

You will be forgiven for not forgiven. You still have guilt and blowing to that bag all day long you can go to your psychologist all day long. You shouldn't have guilt never get rid of guilt to you come to the cross to get forgiven, but when you do, God will say I declare you just as though you never sinned and honor to treat you that way because the ransom that was paid the price that was paid is enough to make you my son and my daughter were justified. Your redeemed. That is where I will meet you at mercies and there alone that skintight message from the sewage you Skip to share how you can keep these messages coming your way to connect you and others to the good news of Jesus. As believers we look forward to the future with hope when Christ will reign for eternity. That's good news for the entire world and we want to share that hope found in Jesus with as many people as possible. You can be a partner in that to your generosity when you give a gift, you also keep this ministry going strong so you can continue to receive encouragement through these messages here so you can give today give us a call at 800-922-1888 to make a donation. 800-922-1888.

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