March 12, 2006
Romans 3:19-28
Art Barrett, New Life Christian Fellowship (Pleasant Hill)
Read the passage and respond to these questions:
1. What is the true purpose of “the Law”?
2. How does the righteousness of God contrast with the righteousness of the Law?
3. What happened to give sinners hope that they could be righteous?
Once upon a time, people who wanted to meet people talked to people about meeting people; soon people met people whom they then dated. Today there is a whole new way to meet people. Online dating is the No. 1 paid content category on the web.
Consider Trish McDermott, co-founder of Match.com, who left the company saying online dating doesn’t work. It sounds easy, “A few dollars down and you’ll discover the love of your life.” Months later and hundreds of dollars lighter, alone on Valentine’s Day, you may feel gypped! But McDermott has a new way, Engage.com, and she claims its solves all the problems!
History shows people dealing with a relationship with God the same way. “Check out the latest new way to God, it solves all your problems.” We have 21st century ideas and sensitivities. Even Oprah tries to help us find new ways of being cool with God. Do this and don’t do that . . . . But before we actually quit doing ‘that,’ we fail at doing ‘this.’
If we are honest, the whole idea that we could really become good by doing good begins to just look stupid. Paul says, “No one can ever be made right in God’s sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God’s law, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying it.”(vs. 20 nlt)
Only our ignorance allows us to imagine we could suddenly get good. We aren’t good enough be “good enough.” The more we know what God says is “good” the more we see we can’t make a way to do enough good to be good.
Only one who is “good” can make a “good new way.” So God himself made the way. God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight—not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. The new way is not predicated on our doing enough good.
What is God’s new way? “We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins.”
Now watch this . . . “And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.” (vs. 21-22 nlt)
Underline, “no matter who we are or what we have done.” How does that make you feel about your past, about your future?