The Great Experiment
Rom 3:21-26
In the late 1700’s a group of men came up with the novel
idea of a country run by democratic rule.
No Monarchy, no Emperor, just people representing others from their home
area. Democracy at that time was called
the great experiment. Let’s see what
happens if we let people govern themselves.
Many other great experiments have happened over the
centuries in politics, science and sociology.
Even in religion. Today we’re
going to look at the great experiment between law and grace. Which is better?
PRAYER
I. Law
vs. Grace
A.
Why God gave the law
1.
One of the more common questions people want to know is why
did God give the law in the first place if it couldn’t save man?
2.
Man has always had a certain amount of thinking “I can do it
on my own.”
3.
God needed man to understand that when it comes to
righteousness, it was simply impossible to do it on their own.
4.
Stuart Briscoe tells of a time when he was in the Marines and
had to make a grueling march for 50 miles in a swamp filled area of
England. He and his group started out
just fine, but his friend’s feet soon got blistered. Still, he resolutely marched on.
Finally it to a point that Stuart convinced him to let him take his
equipment. This was a tough man, he
wasn’t about to give in and kept pushing on even though his feet were a
mess. Even without his equipment, his
feet just kept getting worse and he had to lean on Stuart to keep going. Finally after he had done everything he
could do within his own power, he allowed Stuart to carry him the rest of the
journey to the mark point.
5.
I believe God had to let man see how futile it was to try to
do it on his own before man would allow God to give us the grace we so badly
needed.
6.
Paul felt the same way in verses 19-20
7.
The Law was never God’s final answer.
8.
It was what God gave us until we were ready to understand and
accept the fact that we cannot attain perfect righteousness on our own.
9.
ONE sin separates us from God. And, as vs 23 points out, “all have sinned and fallen short of
the glory of God.”
B.
Why Grace is better
1.
So finally man begins to realize we need something more,
something better.
2.
At that time God came in the form of a human.
a)
Jesus
b)
100% God, 100% man
c)
The perfect lamb.
d)
The only sacrifice good enough for God to blot out our sins.
3.
In verse 23 we are confronted that we have all sinned and
cannot hope to have the perfection of God.
a)
The law just pushed the Jews sins back.
b)
It never forgave them.
4.
Grace changed all that.
5.
Listen to vs. 24-25
a)
Because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, ALL people, not
just Jews could actually have their sins forgiven and removed.
b)
It was like having your death sentence that you deserve
commuted because the Judge to sentenced you to death allowed his son to take
your place for the lethal injection.
c)
But going even further than that, the Judge erases your jail
record and expunges your police file.
d)
You have a completely new start in life, with nothing holding
you back.
e)
That’s what God did for us.
II. Grace
and Faith
A.
Understanding Grace
1.
Grace should be something easy to understand but since it’s
inception there has been confusion.
2.
Here in Romans the Christians thought that if they sinned
more, then they would get more grace.
3.
I don’t think that concept has ever gone away.
4.
Other Christians by practice rule out grace.
a)
They are so legalistic that they make the Pharisees look good.
b)
I just heard that in Malawi, a missionary is inciting churches
to disfellowship any church that sings during the Lord’s Supper.
c)
Guess what, 15 years ago, I was at a church that was
disfellowshipped for singing during the Lord’s Supper in Indianapolis.
d)
The legalists called it mixing acts of worship.
e)
Now the closest thing I could find to back up their argument
was the passage in 1 Cor about doing things decently and in order, but they had
to really take that passage out of context to come up with the idea of mixing
acts of worship.
5.
Grace is a gift from God, but it isn’t meant to be abused
6.
My brother experienced an example of grace when he lived in
Georgia. One day one of their members
stopped by the office and invited Jeff to lunch, after lunch they stopped at a
very nice clothier in Atlanta. Jeff
thought this man had something he needed and didn’t think much of it until one
of the people at the store said they needed to take his measurements. Jeff was mystified until his member said,
“I’ve been wanting to do this for a while.
You’ll be measured for a custom suit, shirt, ties and shoes.” An act of incredible kindness for no reason;
Grace.
B.
Justified
1.
Our text several times refers to a word, “justified”
2.
We throw that word around quite a lot, but I don’t know that
we see it in the same light that the biblical Christians did.
3.
Paul uses a term for justified that is only used here in
Romans.
a)
It’s meaning is “acquittal from guilt”.
b)
It’s a legal term that says the judge has removed guilt from
the person involved.
c)
By Jesus sacrifice and “propitiation” for our sins, God the
righteous Judge, has acquitted or justified us.
C.
Faith
1.
This whole passage deals with righteousness by faith.
2.
As I said before we are not saved by our acts of faith, but
have faith that God saves us by his grace.
3.
Faith in God’s grace isn’t a way to get out of doing anything,
but an understanding of how great God is and how little we can do to save
ourselves.
4.
When we show that kind of faith in God, he is faithful to save
us.
5.
That should be a release on our part to long to serve him
faithfully.
6.
God could have and should have condemned man to an eternity in
Hell, but he chose to show us grace and justify the sinner seeking Him.
7.
Will you have the faith to accept that grace?
8.
Or are you still trying to work your own salvation?