Published: June 25, 2023 | Speaker: Chuck Hartman | Series: Romans - Part 21 | Scripture: Romans 4:25
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Chapter 2 Verse 6 where the writer says but one has testified somewhere saying that's me somewhere it says something about a chicken
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I I don't want to condemn it whole sale because there's some benefit to having the word the word but when you when you focus on individual versus the tendency of of taking it out of context is very very
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great for example the phrase that Paul uses in Philippians where he says I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength now I know my chemistry students pray
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that when they take the final but that verse has been you misused and misconstrued and twisted so far out of its context that it's not
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even recognizable even recognizable you know you can't necessarily hit a grand slam in the ninth inning but you know the bottom of the ninth when your team is down through Christ who gives you strength I
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mean that's not what that verse means in fact much to our Chagrin he's talking about contentment learning to have much but also to have little learning to abound but also to be
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a base and we don't want to talk about that and and that's kind of the nature of of these refrigerator magnet verses and the scripture art scripture art if you ever notice that the paintings
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are always very peaceful pastoral ironic and so are the verses they're always pick me up verses feel good verses well I would like to see someone take
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Edvard munchen's scream and then underneath it Place uh you know verse from Revelation Fallen Fallen is Babylon the Great
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or maybe Picasso's Guernica and then again from revelation fall on us mountains and hide us from the Wrath of the Lamb you know that we don't see a apocryphal or apocalyptic
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scripture art but you know that's part of scripture too the Judgment of God against the unrighteous that's part of scripture too and so it really is just to serve the
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point that point that our modern practice of cherry picking verses that kind of our psychological balm is not what we're to do with the word of
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God but occasionally but occasionally there are verses that we come across that are indeed so compressed so concentrated that we
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can call it theology in a verse and and this is chapter 4 of Romans verse 25 this is just such a verse he who was delivered
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up because of our transgressions and raised because of our justification even the structure of the verse in the Greek tells us there's something special about
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it it's actually two parallel lines using this the verbs that are used are in the same voice and tense the prepositions are the same followed
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by the same case of the noun in other words without getting too technical this is like the stanza of a hymn where the first section about our
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transgression is exactly parallel to that second stanza about our justification in fact many commentators believe that
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this may have been an early creedal statement something that you would say at a baptism that you would confess that Jesus was delivered up for our transgressions or because of our
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transgressions and he was raised because of our justification and that that structure
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may have been written in a form that did facilitate memorizing it because in the Greek there is a certain Cadence to it like our music used to have but
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so in saying that we shouldn't focus on individual verses individual verses we must still recognize that there are particular verses that do stand out
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that have a significance in fact verse 25 of chapter 4 as we're going to see hopefully through this message is actually a hinge point in which Paul is transitioning from what
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he said in the first four chapters to what he's going to say in the next four chapters 5 through chapter 8. and so this verse right there in the
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middle of it is somewhat of a hinge that is a very important facet of his overall layout of the first two-thirds of this
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the verse itself is essential christology it's pure it's simple one commentator writes he has made us who were dead alive in Christ concisely put that is the meaning of justification
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but I don't think in disagreement with this particular author I don't think the doctrine of justification can be concisely put
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concisely put and that's been one of the problems in modern especially reformed theology is that too many think it can be that we can Define justification and be
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done with it and then anybody who tries to open up that box and take it out again and and try to see more well that that's verging on heresy
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but Paul's treatment of justification and even in this verse as we're going to see is much more nuanced than what we often think
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I remember my Greek professor in seminary making this comment he he said do not let your theology interfere with your exegesis
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your exegesis and that was a good comment I I'm not I'm not sure he successfully applied it but so often we we learn our Doctrine and if we're in a good church we're taught Doctrine because Doctrine does
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matter we can't just sail into the wind and not have any Moorings whatsoever but it is very easy to get doctrinal formulations so embedded in our mind
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that that it impacts the way we read the text of scripture we get to a place even unconsciously or subconsciously where we interpret the scripture how it
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must be interpreted into keeping with our Doctrine our Doctrine and that is not the way it's supposed to be at all times our Doctrine our theology must be brought under the light and
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scrutiny of God's word and that means that as we go through life as believers we're going to encounter places where our Doctrine is wrong
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and we must be courageous enough to change it the doctrine of justification that I'm going to be teaching in this lesson and others is not wrong as we have been
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taught it taught it it is simply incomplete and when something is taught as the whole
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when it is only a part then it becomes an error and so when we look at what Paul says
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here in this very simple parallel statement in verse 25 we're going to find a great deal of
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complexity but even when we look at a verse like this context does still matter what Paul has already written in verses in chapters one through four leads up to this verse this verse is a
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concluding verse of what has gone before but it is also a transitional verse to what is coming afterwards look in
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your Bibles at chapter five what is the first word therefore okay so our understanding of chapter 4 verse 25 is conditioned by what we've
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already read already read but also prospective as to what we're going to be reading and so the context does matter
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we're going to see that that these these two verses in with these two stanzas in verse 25 verse 25 summarize what has gone before and project what is coming ahead almost
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immediately for example the first stanza he was delivered up because of our transgressions well in whom did we
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Adam and who is Paul going to talk about in chapter five Adam and how in Adam's sin we all sinned
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and then he says but he was raised up because of our justification well who was raised up for our justification well Jesus and who is Jesus well he is the last
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Adam and in chapter 5 that's exactly where Paul is going to go so Paul himself is going to unpack this verse in the next chapter and as I've said before so much
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of Romans is set up that way where he'll give us a verse early on and then a little bit later he's going to unpack it unpack it and so you really can't ignore anything
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that Paul writes but in addition to that when you move on in Reading Romans you have to hear the echo of what Paul has already said
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already said so this verse sets us It prepares us for what's going to come on but there's another context a context that you you you might have heard echoing when you
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read it or when I read it it sounds a lot like Isaiah 53.
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and in fact we find that in the Septuagint the Greek translation of the Old Testament Old Testament the exact same words verb tense and voice and prepositions
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are used in Isaiah 53. one of the reasons why staying in the Old Testament is so important
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is to hear those critical echoes that Paul doesn't say thus it is written as Isaiah 53 but nonetheless the way he reads it the way he writes it
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the Jew at least would hear the echo of Isaiah 53 but he was pierced through for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities Isaiah 53 verse 5 and
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verse 12 and because of our sins he was delivered up delivered up again the very same words being used in that verse as in chapter 4 verse 25 of
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Romans this is further proof if we needed it needed it that Paul understood God's work in Christ not as a new religion but as a fulfillment of the old
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that idea that Paul was starting a new religion became very popular in the 18th and 19th century and it manifests itself today in many Protestant churches many professing Evangelical churches
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Evangelical churches by a complete neglect and ignorance of the Old Testament of Christian anti-Semitism which ought to
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be a contradiction of terms but a feeling that the Jews were a sub-human people sub-human people that they were Christ killers a view That Grew within the Middle Ages
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and became very strong in the enlightenment and led of course to the final solution of Adolf Hitler's Germany this was cloaked in the language of
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Christianity it was a heresy it was a sin but it was also the direct result of an ignorance of God's revelation of himself and of his plan in the Old Testament
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I say this simply because if you don't spend time reading the Old Testament then you are setting yourself for the same ups for the same type of error
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because every possible sin is conceivable within every possible every individual human being and even thoughts of anti-semitism
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we are not immune from them as Christians so read the Old Testament if only so that you can hear the beautiful background music of the New Testament as you read it as well
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so what are we looking at here what we're looking at in verse 25 perhaps the two sides of the same coin that constitute the currency of our Redemption on the one hand the cross
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and on the other hand the empty tomb and Paul is not separating them as if they were two distinct events as we read the rest of Paul we understand that the
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cross implies the resurrection and the resurrection implies or presupposes the cross in everything even if he only mentions one and not the other
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but the first half of the verse is is easy enough to understand he was delivered up because of our now without getting technical again the the
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the Greek construction of the prepositional phrase prepositional phrase means because of or for the reason of it's giving us an explanation or a Cause
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for the event that is being discussed so for example it's very easy to see he was delivered up he was handed over to the authorities he
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was raised up on the cross and crucified why because of our transgressions well yeah I get that
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had man never sinned Christ's need never die but because we did Sin we understand
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that this required the payment of death for our Redemption and we see that even at the very beginning of our fall in Genesis 3 15 and I will put enmity between man you and the woman talking to
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God is talking to Satan here and between your seed and her seed he shall Crush you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel the whole sacrificial system that's set
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up within the levitical law speaks to a substitutionary atonement that someone will be in place of those who deserve to die
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and again in Isaiah 53 he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom it was due it's a great Exchange
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that our sin deserving Eternal damnation Eternal damnation our sin for which the wage is death was placed on him Paul writes he became sin that we might
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become the righteousness of God in him there's The Great Exchange and so the Theology of the Cross is something that
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has been accurately taught throughout the history of the church it's one of the few things that hasn't been completely perverted it's actually the Theology of the Resurrection that has been messed up
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and that is why for example the Roman Catholics still have Christ on that cross but the idea that there was a great exchange my sins laid upon him as the
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perfect sacrifice him bearing those sins before God before God making payment a ransom and in exchange by grace me receiving
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the righteousness of God in him but the Theology of the cross once again once again cannot be concisely summarized it
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actually exists on two levels and the most common and familiar Jesus died for my sins that's kind of the essence of the modern Evangelistic message is it not that
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Jesus died for your sins that we can look around us in the world at any human being and at least conceive that Christ died for their sins we do
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not know whether they are numbered among those for whom Christ died the elect but we do know that Jesus died for the sins of his people he laid down his life
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for sin he paid the debt that I owed and could not pay my sin was exchanged for his righteousness Bernard of clairvaux is
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credited with that hymn that we often sing what thou my Lord has suffered was all for Sinners gain mine mine was the transgression but thine the deadly pain
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this is a wonderful aspect of the truth of the cross but again it does not exhaust Paul's understanding of the meaning of the cross there is a second level
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in which the Theology of the Cross goes from me and what I need to be forgiven of my sin and redeemed and expands to what God is doing not
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only for me but for all of creation and ultimately and most importantly for the glory of his name
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and so Paul when he speaks of the cross he speaks of it not as a horrible defeat but rather as a stunning victory
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then in the cross Christ triumphed over the forces of evil we tend to think that that Triumph was
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the resurrection the resurrection and when we sing Our Easter hymns we sing them in a triumphal manner that Christ gained the victory over the grave
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and yes he did that is true but that also implies that the cross itself was a defeat but listen to what Paul says that Jesus canceled out the
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certificate of debt consisting of degree decrees against us and which was hostile to us and he has taken it out of the way having nailed it to the Cross now listen
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to this part this is from Colossians chapter 2. he had when he had disarmed the rulers and authorities he made a public display of them having triumphed
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over them in the cross the cross was victory for Jesus Christ
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and that's part of the what's the word the the antithetical nature of the Gospel that was part of the challenge that that Paul had both with the Greeks and with the Jews with
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the Jews the idea of a crucified Messiah with the Greeks and the Romans the idea that a man condemned as a criminal and crucified on a Roman cross could be the
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king of the universe these were ludicrous ideas ludicrous ideas these were laughable they were scornable and Paul was scorned for them I think and I'm afraid that in our own
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theology we tend to subsume the cross into the resurrection As Americans we're a naturally optimistic people anyhow
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so so why spend time thinking about the meaning of the cross when we are aware that in three days that tomb will be empty Christ will have risen
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and yes that is a glorious truth that he brings out in the second part but let's let's spend some time on the first part that this cross was not just the payment
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for my sin it was the victory of God in Christ over the forces of evil and in particular the accuser of the Brethren Satan
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that was the meaning of the cross to Paul to Paul Jesus won back what Adam lost he was obedient where Adam
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was rebellious as Paul says in Philippians chapter 2 he was obedient to the point of death and that the death on the cross the cross so let's not short change or Short
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Circuit the doctrine of the cross meditate on it think about it read Paul and what he has to say about it again he's not separating the cross from the resurrection and oftentimes he mentions
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one with the other implied but when he is focusing on one or the other he's he's giving us insight into the meaning of what God did in Jesus
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Christ and let us be careful not to combine those two to the point where we miss the meaning of one or the other in its fullness and even more importantly
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let us not take part of the meaning and make it the whole let us not take the cross and only see how Jesus died for your sin or my sin on
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that cross that is a glorious truth that is an uplifting truth but it is not the whole truth whole truth because in the cross God in Christ triumphed over the rulers and the
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principalities over the wickedness and over the prince of this age that is his victory the cross
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the cross but we can understand what Paul is saying here in verse 25 that what caused that death on the cross my sin that was the that was the motivational
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cause of the crucifixion the sin of mankind the sin of God's people but the second phrase the second stanza is much more
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why was Jesus delivered up why the cross because of our sin why was Jesus raised why the resurrection because of our justification
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how did our justification get ahead of the Resurrection was not our justification confirmed and validated by the resurrection
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and commentators go all over the place with this with this because the writing the the words being used are a perfectly direct parallel
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and therefore they should be read the same way and hopefully your Bibles have them for example The New American Standard says he was delivered up because of our
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transgressions and was raised up because of our justification some of your Bibles might say for our trustification just our transgressions and then for our
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justification they're recognizing that the parallel of the words that Paul is using or or was this a hymn or a baptismal statement whatever it was that the words being used demand that we
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translate them the same in the English but because of has a meaning and so we are struggling at least the commentators to understand in what sense
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does our justification cause the resurrection of Jesus Christ well one of the problems that we have in this
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is again our theology how often have we been taught that the difference between justification and sanctification
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is that justification is a one-time event that happens when we believe where sanctification is a process that goes on through our life
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again a concise summary of something that cannot be concisely summarized for example sanctification as a process
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Paul speaks of in Romans chapter 6 as a one-time event one-time event that in Christ we have been sanctified as it's done
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and yet we understand it's not done but it is done okay the same is true for justification we tend to think in opposition uh to
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sanctification that justification is done the moment you accept Jesus Christ into your heart the moment you pray the sinner's prayer sinner's prayer you confess Jesus as Lord
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you are Justified we might even say that you were Justified as one of God's elect on the cross we might even say you were Justified
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from before the foundation of the world right but we tend to think of justification as a point in time
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but that's not how Paul talks about it yes it is a point in time but it is a point in time the effects of which continue in time
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you see everything that we need has been completed in Christ there is absolutely nothing that we need
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for our full sanctification and glorification that has not already been completed in Christ
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and yet scripture is quite clear that much of what we read about as having been completed in Christ is now being completed in US but again our theology gets in the way
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and we say well that's true for sanctification but that's not true for justification the other problem is that theologically we tend to associate
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justification with what Jesus did on the cross how was Israel Justified by the death of the sacrifice
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and those sacrifices didn't come to life later so death and the shedding of blood as we read in Leviticus without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins so we associate justification with the
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cross but Paul doesn't he was raised up that's not the cross that's the resurrection he was raised up for our justification
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see we gotta read the text and one of the most difficult things that we're faced with with Paul is that what he writes is often
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he he writes of so deep of Revelation that was granted to him by God that if we read him without having our minds confused expanded challenged
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then we're not reading him correctly we need to go back to what Peter has to say there's some deep things in Paul and things hard to understand
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and again we need to be careful that our theology doesn't get in the way of our exegesis Paul's meaning here is often missed because of that understanding that we
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have been taught with regard to justification as a one-time event what we are dealing with with the because of causes
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I think should best be looked at [Music] as one looking backwards in the other looking forward looking forward the technical terms are retrospective
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and prospective and prospective retrospective is the first part we sinned and those sins led to Christ being
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lifted up and crucified he was raised on the third day he was raised with a view toward our justification
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now what Paul's going to do with that as we get into the therefore of chapter 5. is to show us that the doctrine of justification is not merely a point in
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time but a way of life listen to what he says in chapter 5 because therefore because therefore connects directly with verse 25 of
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chapter four therefore what having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
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Jesus Christ well that's that's kind of good that one time I'm at peace with God that's the way it is but that's not where Paul stops in verse 2 he says through whom we have
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also obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand and we exalt literally we boast in Hope of the
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glory of God then he goes even further this justification actually keeps going and it it's a part of our new life
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in the Risen Lord he says and not only this but we also boast in our tribulations knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance perseverance proven character and proven
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character hope character hope and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us perseverance
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you don't persevere about something that's already done and finished you persevere through something hope you don't hope for something that you've
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already received you hope for something that's been promised in the future see these are these are eschatological words that flow out of Paul's doctrine of
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yes if you believe in Jesus Christ you have been forgiven your sins completely God has removed them as far as East is from the west and remembers them no more
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yes if you believe in Jesus Christ that God has raised him from the dead than your faith has been reckoned to you as righteousness
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as righteousness you have been credited as the righteousness of God in Christ that that has all happened
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Spirit want us to stop Resurrection the idea of Resurrection is going to govern the next four
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chapters there's that transition the first four chapters have talked about Sin and how far we have fallen from the glory of God and we come to the point where in verse
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25 the remedy for our sin is Jesus Christ delivered up but then he was raised up for our justification and that justified life is
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what Paul is now going to lead us through in chapters 5 and 6 with baptism seven our relationship to the law eight our glorious fulfillment of the law through the Holy Spirit
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leading to the end of chapter eight where nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus this is the hinge it's almost as though he has descended
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into the abyss of sin through chapters 2 and 3 and 4 and now he's going to take us to the height of redemption in chapter 8.
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and at the bottom where we go from descending to Ascent we have the Lord Of Glory descending in the grave and raising from it that's the vision that's the picture of
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what Paul has laid out here the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the beginning of the new creation that is an essential part of all of Paul's teaching
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and we who are in Christ are now part of that new creation we who have been born again are not waiting for some Millennium some
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tribulation some rapture for us to be in the new creation we are there now and so the life that we live now
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is not just looking back to that single point in time that date I wrote in the front of my Bible where I walked down the aisle and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior that was important
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but what we're looking at is having risen to walk in newness of Life Romans chapter 6. a Justified life
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in Jesus in Jesus let us pray father we do pray that you would help us to understand what Paul writes
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knowing that knowing that the greatness of the Revelation that you gave to him and what must have been the almost overwhelming difficulty of
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conveying that Revelation to us through the written word through language we know that what we read is even a condescension to our weakness
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as Paul says himself in Romans these are human words human emotions human Concepts human Concepts of a reality that transcends Humanity
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into the fullness of the cosmos and of the glory of God and yet you have created us in your image and therefore we must be able to
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progress and increase in our knowledge of your glory and your grace and so we do pray that you would open our minds and our hearts to hear truly what you have inspired
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Paul to write concerning our justification our adoption our sanctification our glorification that we might worship you truly
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that we might be ever more grateful for what you have done for us in Jesus Christ that we might imitate him and be
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conformed to his image more with each passing day and each passing reading of these marvelous words marvelous words we ask that you would do these things
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for your glory and for our good and for the exaltation of Jesus Christ Our Lord in whose name we pray
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please rise for the benediction from Ephesians chapter 3. now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or
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think according to the power that works within us to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all