CHUKA KEN MINISTRY

If you can open your Bibles to Romans three, we’re going to, we’re going to read three verses, Romans, chapter three, verses 21 through 23. And it says, Paul says, but now the righteousness of God, apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law, and by the prophets. Even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe for there is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Please be seated. And kids club if you go into your class, go right ahead. And teachers, we’re gonna pray for your class. So as we just read in Romans 321, sometimes, I know a lot of us are doing. We read the Bible throughout the year, and we follow different reading plans. And sometimes while you’re reading the Word, you come across a verse, and you think, Oh, my gosh, what did his verse say? And you read it and and mentally you go, Wait, what are mentally you’re saying? Can you read that again. So something like this first one, it says, but now the righteousness of God apart from the law has revealed, is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and by the prophets. So a couple of things, a couple of commercials I want to say before I actually get started on the sermon is, number one, when you read your Bible, and you come across a verse like this, it’s a little difficult to understand, don’t be discouraged, don’t say, oh, you know what, I look at it in 10 years, but rather, pull half, get a get a commentary. And if you don’t know which commentary to use, depending on what books of the Bible you’re reading, we have a great resource here at pastor Hale, he will recommend a good commentary on the section that you’re reading. Because it’s real important that you understand it. And by the way, the second commercial that that I mentioned, is, you know how every year of the deacons will come out in the leadership will come out and do a yearly membership meeting with you. And they’ll go well, how’s your walk with Christ? Are you in the Word. And if you want to make your deacons heart, skip a beat, in a good sense. If you want to make their heart skip a beat, tell him that you’re reading your Bible with a commentary. Praise God, because then, then we know and we can, we can celebrate with you that, yes, we’re digesting the word. And we’re not coming across those verses that, that maybe we don’t understand. Maybe we put them on for later. God wants you to know what he’s saying through his word he wants you to know. And he wants to bless you through that, as he tells us in Revelation that you’re blessed to it. So enough for the commercials. Now, the sermon, we’re dropping men, men are drawn to take credit for their accomplishments and and what they do. And they like to brag about it. A lot of times, you’ll see that the men will puff out their chest, oh, look what I did. You know, they’ll push their shoulders back. And they’ll even buff their nails, look what I’ve done. But they’ll take it to the point where they’ll even say, look, what I’ve accomplished. Look what I’m doing, look how good I am, even to the point where they perhaps try to take part in gaining their salvation. We count man has no part in earning his salvation, he cannot do it. There was a skit that was done by a clean comedian. 

He said, and this is just a skit. So where there was a group of people at a party and all the men that were breaking old, I’ve done this and I’ve done that, and I’ve done this. I’ve done that. And there was a fella sitting quietly, often and just listening to all this all evening. Oh, I did this. I did that. I’m loving nails and and towards the end of the evening, they come up to him. They go hey, Neil, what? So tell us what have you done? You know, you’ve been hearing all our accomplishments, everything that we’ve done, what have you done? Nothing really, you know, yeah, tell us one thing you’ve done. He goes, Okay. Well, I walked on the moon. Neil Armstrong. Interestingly enough, Neil was a Protestant as well. But that was just as good. If you’re taking notes, number one, the law as a commandment. Or the you know, the obeying of the works of the law contributes nothing to our justification. Contrary contributes nothing towards justification. God’s righteousness existed before the heavens and the earth were created.

So one might say, Well, wait a minute. Why is Paul addressing God’s righteousness and making this description or this this comparative analysis about God’s righteousness apart from the law? Perhaps it was because Paul, he was raised believing that he had to obey the law, to be righteous with God. But after his conversion, he was convicted to shed the light to his kinsmen, the Jewish nation. The truth about salvation is not of ourselves, but as it is, God has done. So still, some might be thinking, well, you know what, as Christians, we know that God is righteous, even before everything. He created the heavens and the earth. All right, let’s close our Bible and head home. Right? We know he is Rachel. No, it’s not that simple. We know God’s righteousness, especially when it comes when it’s compared to the sin whole sinfulness of man. Excuse me a moment. So we know his righteousness, especially when it’s compared to the sinfulness of man as stated in verse 23. He causes us to have a more humble posture towards God. And he shows us our desperate need for His grace. He shows us our need for His mercy for his forgiveness. And this is shown by His righteousness. If you’re taking filling in blanks, number two, God’s righteousness was on display before he gave us the law, and after, but is confirmed by the Law and the Prophets. Number two is confirmed by the Law and the Prophets. Doing a word study on righteousness because it was written in Greek rights it does, it translates to legitimacy. You and I know that God is perfect in every attribute. He’s perfect. He’s supreme legitimacy, legitimacy. Supreme, supreme, honorable, supremely virtuous. He says he has supreme justice. He’s supreme with purity. I like this one, he supreme with every proach ability. And he’s supremely holy, God is holy. So I’m going to show you an example of how man, in addition to his words, even tries to not only earn his salvation, but he tries mantra, sometimes the Trump what God declares. First of all, how does the law confirm God’s righteousness in this example, that I’m going to use right now? God forgives perfectly. To set the stage, the law that was given belongs to God. God gave us the law. The law is holy, the law is on God’s side. In the Old Testament, on many occasions, you’ll hear it especially in the book of Psalms, where people quote, God, we love your law, we love your precepts. So the example was frequently in counseling, there’s a narrative that’s used about forgiveness, where the slave was forgiven, much. So regarding forgiveness, remember when, and we’re gonna get to that example in a moment. But remember, when Jesus was teaching the apostle

to pray, part of the prayer was, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. So to come back to the slave that was forgiven them much. In Matthew 18, I’ll read what was written, therefore, the the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to sell the accounts with his servants. And when he began to settle the accounts, one was brought to him that owed him 10,000 talents, that was a lot of money in that time. But he was not able to pay his master commanded that he be sold with his wife and his children, and all he had, so that payments would be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all. Then the master of the servant was moved with compassion, released him and forgave him of the debt. But the servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 denarii, not quite as much as he owed the master. And he laid hands on him, and he took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe.

So the fellow servant fell down at his feet and baked He is saying, Have patience with me and I will pay you all. And he would not, but when and threw him into prison till the debt should be paid. So his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were grieved, and they came and told their master what had been done. Then the master after he had called him, and said to him, You wicked servant. I forgave all your debt, because you begged me, should you not have also had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you. And the master was angry and delivered them to the torches until he should pay all was do him. So to help my heavenly father also will do to you if each of you from his heart does not forgive your brother, and it’s in his trespass? You’ll hear some people say, Well, I know that God forgave him, I know that he repented. But I’m not gonna forgive him. How will that look on Judgment Day? Aside from the direction of forgiving others, man thinks that his doing is the ultimate authority, the ultimate call. And that’s not always the case. You know, the buffing nails the puffing chest, that’s not going to earn you place in heaven, salvation. If you’re taking notes, number three, it’s man’s arrogance, and pride of life that causes him to believe that he can contribute to his salvation. It’s man’s arrogance and pride of life that causes him to believe that he can contribute to salvation. God even repeatedly reminds us Hey, beware of the pride of life. He wants to call us to him and realize what our true need is. Paul grew up Paul grew up believing that salvation was by keeping the law that’s what he knew, before he was saved. Now having been saved by Christ, He confirms God’s righteousness. And God’s salvation for us, is therefore a part an outside an absent of the law. obeying the law is no no longer needed to gain salvation. We obey the law because we are saved, but we don’t obey the law to gain our own salvation. The law simply confirms God’s righteousness. Then politics question, you know, after he he starts preaching this and he takes the question, Well Is the law sin? Then? If you’ll turn in your Bibles to Romans seven, I’d like for you to follow with me on and here’s the answer Roman seven, and we’re gonna read starting in verse seven. And you’ll be able to see Paul’s answer. Roman seven, verse seven. What shall I say then it? Is the law sin? Certainly not. On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, You shall not covet. You see, the law simply shows us what sin is, and that no man can keep it. So verse eight, but sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law, sin was dead. But now the law is showing him what sin is. I was once alive without the law. But when the Commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death, spiritual death. For sin, taking the occasion, by the commandment, deceived me, and by It killed me. And of course, he’s speaking, speaking about the spiritual death, thinking that with the law before he was saved, thinking that the law had salvation. What the law does, it makes us realize that no man is able to follow the law. And we’re all spiritually dead, with no hope of salvation on our own. When you compare our spiritually dead nature, and then look to God, and then and only then can you resolutely see God’s righteousness. So let’s continue in verse 12.

Therefore, the law is holy, it came from God, it’s holy. The Law and the commandment holy and just and good. Has then what is good become death for me. Verse 13, certainly not, but sin that it might appear sin was producing death and me that through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin, I was born sinful. Verse 15, for what I am doing, I do not understand for what I will to do that I do not practice. But what I hate that I do. If you’re taking notes, number four, when saved by faith in Christ, it is the carnal part of me, sold under sin that causes me to sin, and do what I hate to do.

Continue on verse 16. If then I do what I, what I will not to do I agree with a law that is good. If then I do what I will not to do I agree with a law that it is good. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh. He says nothing good dwells. For it for two will is present with me. But how to perform what is good I do not find, see that conflict. There’s the spirit in the flesh. But Paul ceases because he’s now come to repentance. For what for the good that I will to do, I do not do but the evil, I will not to do that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do. It is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find them Allah, that is evil is present in me. No one wills, no one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity, under the law of sin, which is in my members. He’s talking about the spiritual battle in us, we have the Holy Spirit. Praise God, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit that is the dwells in us. But we there’s still that conflict. Our flesh wants to do what’s different from the spirit. And he’s saying that the law shows us what sin is, and that he cannot keep the law. He continues or wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. In this discourse, Paul describes the following the leads, that law leads to death and sin that dwells in us. As Jesus told the apostles, another example of of this conflict, he told the apostles stay awake and pray, but they fell asleep. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak is the law then it gets and we’re done with with that section, but as the law then against the promises of God, certainly not for it, if it had been the law given, which could have given you life truly righteousness would have been by the law and we know that not to be the case. I say then walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, the flesh lust against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another. So that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you’re led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Here once able to see that obeying the law has no self effect characteristic number five, if you’re filling in blanks, the law obeying the law has no salvific characteristic. But what it does do, it allows us to see what sin is and how not being able to obey it perfectly, though obey the law perfectly. We see our innate sinful nature before God’s holy and perfect law. And that affords us to see our need for salvation. theologia John Murray puts it this way. He says the law in one sense, pronounces the opposite of justification. As we’ve been hearing, we cannot follow the law. But in another sense,

The law preaches justification, because we see what sin is in the law. And we see we can’t follow it. It points us to our need for a Savior for salvation. Paul here describes in this way that there’s spiritual battle against the principalities, against rulers of darkness of this age. As believers, we have the Holy Spirit, as I mentioned, that dwells in us. And at the same time, our flesh continues to be tempted, and thereby the battle. Here Paul says that the law is not death, but rather,

it allows us to see the sin that we are faced with, yet in our sanctification. God knows that the Spirit in us honors and glorifies Him, but that our sinful flesh is weak. And it’s succumbs to sin, as we grow, to learn how to hate sin as God does. When we’re saved, we’re convicted, as we see our desperate need for a Savior.

There’s some commentators, and this is kind of interesting. And that’s why I say be careful what commentaries use you as a resource as pastor Hale for commentaries? Because there’s some commentators out there that say, Well, you see the Law and the Prophets hinted dentally at justification by faith, but did not unveil it. And I kind of cringe when you hear something like that. And that’s why you need to question especially when it comes to the subjects are not as easy to understand. God’s way of justification is to impute righteousness to the believer. And we’ll get back to that into dimly, you’ll see that every page in the Bible speaks of Christ. I believe, however, that the law and the prophets did point them and points us in the direction of a need of a Savior, who is was Christ that displays God’s righteousness, into dimly. Here’s an example of that, that God in the Old Testament that God would send his son and that his name would be called Emmanuelle. Okay, God would send a son, and his name is something would be called Emmanuel, God with us. Born of a virgin, he would be a wonderful counselor, he would be mighty God, Prince of Peace, etc. And to me, I don’t think so, you know, like it points us to Christ. Going back to the law, the law confirms God’s holy righteousness in all aspects. And man tries to use the law for his own salvation. And it doesn’t work. Let me give you a simple example. And we’re gonna deviate a little bit on this example from our text. But in chemistry, I know there are a lot of people that love chemistry, whether in class, yes, and, and some of you loved it even differently. In chemistry, there’s an element called sodium. And as we’re not going to get into the atomic numbers and weigh in on them, but sodium on its own elemental self, that one molecule by itself is a if they put enough together, it’s a silvery white, metallic substance and it’s pliable. Yet they have to keep it in a liquid. They can’t let it get exposed to air because what happens when you take your forceps and you take it out of the beaker of liquid, that little block of sodium, and you set it on your petri dish? What does it do go? Poof, spontaneous combustion of burn, burst into flames, that little piece of metal, it’s one of the coolest things you’ve ever seen. No, I’m not a pyromaniac, either. But God designed it this way. This is the law of elemental sodium, that God designed it. That’s the law of sodium when it appears by itself. There’s another element that I want and I’m just going to go over to we’re not going to do the entire periodic table of elements, which by the way Chemistry is one of those

subjects that every element on that table the many people would rather not look at. It proves that God created the heavens in the earth, and that it was by God’s design. Every time it goes, God it screams of God. But anyway, the second element that we’re going to talk about is chlorine. A lot of us are familiar with it, we use it for clothes to whitener clothes. By itself, God designed chlorine to be poisoned. If you drink it, it’s poisonous. If you inhale it, it burns your lungs. And no, I didn’t take it. If you let it get on your skin, it starts melting your skin. It’s dangerous. It’s a dangerous element. This is the law of chlorine elemental chlorine as God designed it. Okay. So somebody in a far distant land will say, wow, these are some pretty dangerous elements. And by the way, don’t try this at home what I’m about to talk about. So somebody in a far distant land, who I’m going to put those two dangerous elements in somebody’s dinner.

Let’s see what happens. So that puts it in the dinner the person eats fictitiously the person eats or dinner, what do they do? They stand up say thank you shake the person’s hand that did that. Because they just salted put salt on the person’s dinner and flavored it for them. Sodium chloride, when put together that’s table salt. But man will try to use it the law for their own good, and they use it wrong. It’s no wonder that salt, sodium chloride NaCl is one of the most abundant a compounds that God has put on Earth, but by themselves, they’re dangerous when separated. So by the way, never try this. Never do that when you’re handling those. But that’s just an example a very simple example of how men would misuse God’s law. So then, you need to know God’s purpose for the elements, and God’s purpose for his law. God summarizes it this way through a psalm 97. I love his word. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise that simple. So he Praise God. He’s taught me a lot. And he’s opened our eyes to His Word. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. So we’ve talked about the law that proved God’s righteousness, what about the prophets and we may have hint, talked about one of them. God appointed Prophets to preach the gospel, to preach condemnation of the sin of disobedience. But he also had them preach restoration for some people. You see, God didn’t elect everyone. He God chose those that were elected and praise God. That’s why you’re sitting where you’re sitting right now. Praise God. All these things show God’s righteousness through the faith in the Messiah that was to come. And that savior is the Christ Jesus. If you’re filling in blanks, number six, God’s word makes it evident that he would send his son, the Messiah definitively. As we mentioned earlier, the prophet Isaiah, Therefore said, when I say something, you don’t have to turn to this, but the Lord himself will give you a sign, Behold, a virgin shall conceive. embarrassin. And his name shall be called Emanuel, there was Christ, God sent His Son, born to be born of a virgin, and his son is God, his name is God with us that was Jesus Christ. The Prophet continues. In chapter nine, he says, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given in the government will be upon His shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. That’s Christ. Paul argues that the Old Testament in the Old Testament times, it wasn’t the lack of detail about God’s right through a Messiah, but the lack of full understanding by God’s choice. You see the prophet Isaiah like most prophets, announced bad news of the punishment of sin, but he also preached the coming of the Messiah, after a revelation of vision of God in heaven. If you would turn your Bibles into Isaiah six, five, this one, I do want you to follow with me and you’ll see why. I say hit chapter six, we’re going to read five verses, verses five through 10. Isaiah six, chapter six, verse five. So I said, Woe is me, I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips. What’s he saying there? First of all, we are all sinners. He’s saying, Yes, I realize we are all sinners, from my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.