Wrecked by Grace - Romans 4
Wrecked by Grace
Hello once again! I hope you’re keeping well and are excited to jump back into the word with me. Last time we read through Romans chapter 3, where we were focusing on our third pillar of the Gospel - The Law of God. Today we will be picking up where we left off and delving into the final Pillar we find in chapter 4.
As ever, please incorporate this into your own personal study. Don’t substitute the Bible for devotionals alone!
What to expect:
WEEK 2&3: Pillars of the Gospel:
READINGS: Romans 1-4:
Background to Romans
Importance of the Gospel
Pillars of the Gospel
The unrighteousness of man
God’s perfect Judgement
The Law of God
Saved and Justified by Grace
Pillar 4: Saved and Justified by Grace:
And so we come at last, to our final Pillar… Grace.
Read through Romans 4:
We’ve kind of touched on this point already, but Paul goes into much greater detail throughout the next chapter in question.
So far, Paul has given a deep exposition (break-down and analysis) of our Sin, the impossible demand of the Law and God’s righteous judgement of those who break that Law. It may seem he was being excessive, but Paul had to make a clear point to the church in Rome… That we are all saved by the same means. Remember what I said about the Roman Church at the beginning of this series; There was a great disunity between them, with the Jewish and Gentile believers fighting over who were the superior or more authentic Christians. But they’d missed the point…
There are no ranks or degrees of importance, within the body of Christ. There is of course an order of authority, but not superiority. We are all equal before God, levelled at the foot of the cross!
It was vital that all avenues of achieving/adding to, even an ounce of, our salvation were blown out of the water and exposed for the futile and arrogant attempts that they are. All those who call on the name of Jesus, in sincere repentance and worship, are given the same free gift of Grace - so that no one may boast, but only boast of the Lord.
Now Paul shifts slightly, in his focus and introduces the doctrine of justification. You see it’s one thing to be saved by the Grace of God, but Paul reminds us that we are also justified by it.
But what’s the difference?
An example of one of the Pauline Epistles written to the Roman church.
Saved by Grace:
We won’t linger for too long here, as we’ve already covered the point rather extensively in our previous study. But to summarise; we have all broken the Law of God and put ourselves at enmity with Him, coming under His wrath and judgement. Coupled with the fact that God is both completely good and Just (meaning that He must condemn evil and anything that has been tainted by it), leaves for a pretty bleak ending… however we know, that it doesn’t end there.
Aware of our true nature, God knew that there was no chance in hell (for want of a better phrase) that we could ever live up to the standard and way of life He required of us. So, with that in mind, He planned from the beginning to carry out the greatest rescue mission known to man - Jesus.
Through his suffering on the cross, Christ purchased each and every one of us, paying the penalty we deserved in place of us. Through his sacrifice, he became the ultimate and complete atonement for all those who call on his name in true repentance. All we need to do, is reach out in faith and humility, and the gift of salvation will be deposited into our empty accounts.
For those who have been saved, we are no longer under the wrath of God, but are now under His Grace.
This is the beautiful reality of being saved by Grace.
2. Justified by Grace:
Now In Romans 4, Paul shifts focus and begins to explain the Justification we’ve now received through our faith in Christ.
In chapter 4 we read:
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
ESV
It may not look like it on the surface, but this is quite a radical statement to make. He’s essentially pointing out, that the traditions and practices of the Jewish people, meticulously observed for generations, are utterly useless in achieving any degree of righteousness. It’s faith and not tradition that God honours.
For so many, the practice of bringing an offering to God, had become no more than a habit or cultural expectation. Their sacrifices were empty, their worship void of Love and they lived with the sole goal of achieving righteousness through their works. So to hear that it’s meaningless and no matter what they do, they can never convince God that they’re anything more than a wretch, would certainly make people uncomfortable.
Sometimes we may notice this in our own walk with the Lord! We can easily allow our faith to become just another activity in our life. We pray, read our Bible, even attend church and sing along to songs each week - but all without any real meaning. Despite our careful observation, these acts remain nothing more than performances before God. True worship and real relationship with God is so much more than simple traditions or habits.
Paul makes his point clear when he says:
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
You can see what Paul is getting at. When you believe that you contribute anything to your salvation or sanctification, you build a case for self elevation and a reason to boast of your faithfulness… as opposed to God’s alone.
This had been the problem with the people all along. They sought to earn righteousness over seeking God, becoming worshipers of rituals and themselves. For many, the process of perfecting one’s self had become the focus and goal of their faith and not to simply know God. The inevitable fruit of this mindset, is to hold ourselves in higher regard than we ought and thus lower God from His rightful place as supreme.
In order for God alone to be worthy of praise, then He alone must be the hero of the story. And there lies the key… you are not as strong, or special or as wise as you like to think you are!
This goes against our natural inclination to pat ourselves on the back and work to earn respect, favour or rewards.
To suggest that God requires nothing of us seems unfair, because it’s foreign to how our society functions.
Paul addresses this in verse 4:
Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.
The point is pretty straightforward. If you work for something, then you expect a reward. “I deserve my payment, because I’ve earned it!” This is effectively what we are saying to God when we claim to have contributed anything to the process of sanctification.
When you read it in the words Paul uses here, you can see just how arrogant this attitude is.
Ask yourself this question:
When was the last time you thanked your employer for paying your wage?
The chances are, you never have. Why? Because as far as you’re concerned, you deserve to be paid and it’s your right for the work that you’ve done.
This (if we aren’t careful) is how we can treat God. We demand love and forgiveness, purely because we believe our good deeds have outweighed all the bad.
But this is the truth of the gospel: God took a problem that we couldn’t solve and wrote Himself into the story, to save wretches like us from the the consequences of our own arrogance and pride. Not just that we were unable to do it ourselves, but we had no desire to get right with Him in the first place! Yet “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” - Romans 5:8.
He gets all the glory, because He has done all the work and we get to enjoy the benefits of His blessing.
Paul puts it another way. In verse 5 he says:
And to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
So what then does it mean to be justified?
Well Paul explains it in the verse we just read above… we (the ungodly) are counted as righteous in the eyes of God.
You can’t make yourself anymore righteous or holy before the Lord, than what you already are IN CHRIST. Now that will be either a freeing truth for the broken, messy Christian, or an offense to the self-righteous, do it yourself believer.
You see, it isn’t about us! It has nothing to do with how well we perform as Christians and our salvation is not dependant on our good behaviour in order to remain valid. If that was the gospel, then it just wouldn’t be good news. Instead, Paul teaches us that it is solely by Christ that we stand before God, not just saved, but justified.
In 2 Corinthians Paul puts it this way:
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Many sects and denominations within the church today, continue to struggle with this idea and refuse to accept it!
The two main camps we find guilty of this today, are the legalists and the sensationalists (of which there are many off-shoot denominations and sub-groups). You may be thinking “how are they the same, aren’t they two entirely different groups with opposing theologies?”
On the surface you’d be right. But underneath, they’re built on the same endorsement of a performance based salvation.
Legalism:
Not to sound like a commentator for a boxing match. But, in one corner we have the legalist; lovers of religion and man made traditions. The legalist, will often agree that Christ’s death on the cross is our only means of redemption, but with a caveat. Instead of trusting solely in the work of the cross for our complete salvation, they add an extra element. They rarely believe in what’s called the “Penal Substitutionary Atonement”
What on Earth is that, I hear you say!
Penal (Penalty) ~ Substitutionary (in place of) ~ Atonement (Payment/Fulfilment)
Before you accuse me of going on a detour, I’ll admit that I am… but it’s necessary I promise you.
PSA is simply the belief that when Jesus gave his life on the cross, he paid our debt in full and set us free from any requirement to atone for our own sins. He did it all, because we couldn’t.
There is a little more to it than that, but as a general summary, this is what we believe.
If you’re reading this and thinking, well of course… duh! It may surprise you to learn that there are many Christians who would disagree with that statement and argue that his death on the cross, was to (in essence) provide a blank slate to work from and start again. We often refer to this as the “Moral Influence Theory”. This is the idea that Jesus, through his life and death, presented us with both the example and tools to finally live up to the demands/expectations of God; that the moral framework has been given to us and so we must start living by it. This kind of teaching is also referred to as moralism.
Though this may sound biblical, the implication is theologically problematic and can be very destructive, causing many to experience a “crisis of faith”.
To tell someone that they should be perfect, or even strive to be so, only leads to one inevitable outcome. Once they realise the crushing truth, that they’re absolutely incapable of ever being perfect no matter how hard they try, they will naturally burn out and give up. Regardless of how badly you may want to be a better you, unless you’re delusional or an out right liar, you know the truth - you just aren’t nor will ever be perfect! And never forget, that it’s perfection that God is looking for.
I’ve known many Christians who have suffered greatly because of this rhetoric… and even been there myself.
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been riding the religious wave of, working harder, being better, fixing and cleaning yourself up. Eventually, that wave (with you on it) comes crashing down into a sea of despair, self condemnation and doubt. And you can understand why!
Unfortunately, this teaching is still present in the church. The overall emphasis is on us and our ability to maintain our salvation/sanctification through our own good works (moralism). And this here is the very point that Paul is addressing.
If the justification of our faith relied on our works, then we risk one of two outcomes:
We burn out and crash, doubting our faith and salvation as a whole. We go about our days with no real assurance or confidence of our eternal destination.
Or we become proud and boastful (even if we don’t realise) believing that we have some skin in the game, that we please or impress God with our performance each Sunday.
Sensationalism:
Now, in the other corner, we have the sensationalist. Also known as hyper-charismatic. This movement has swept over the global Christian community in recent years (though not a modern phenomena at its root) and been a key doctrinal influence in many mega churches.
Obsessed with supernatural encounters and gifts of the spirit, many sensationalists will speak highly of God’s grace, but with a caveat of their own. It often seems as though, the sincerity and quality of your salvation is dependant on the presence of supernatural encounters or gifts of the spirit active in your life. Similar to the last point, this may sound Biblical, but it’s once again theologically flawed and very destructive.
The idea that my salvation (or the validity of it) relies on my experience of the supernatural and how it translates in my time of worship; i.e. speaking in tongues, crying, feeling tingly or even convulsing on the floor - and sadly no I’m not making that up, is in and of itself legalist by nature.
The insinuation is that, unless you do this, experience that or worship like we do, then you aren’t a full Christian.
I’ve even heard the terms “activated & elevated Christians” thrown around before!
How divisive is that language! To suggest that there’s such a thing as an inactivated or non-elevated believer…
You’ll often find hierarchy in these circles and a varying degree of superiority between the leadership and the lowly congregation. One group is always “further along” than the other, because of how spiritual they seem to be.
There are even Christians, in this sphere, who claim to be without sin or that they rarely sin simply because they’re now “Children of God”!
If you speak of sin or weakness, they get uncomfortable, desperate to retaliate with a whimsical line about how “we’re children of God now, so think more positively, don’t focus on that!”, or even worse “we should live like we believe we’re Christians and act like children of God, don’t dwell on our sin”…
Notice how it’s beginning to sound similar to Legalism? This is just another religious performance of keeping up an image.
Before I move on, I feel it’s important to make my point clear.
Yes we are Children of God and we have the privilege of adoption into His family. By the work of Christ, we are born again and given hearts of flesh to replace hearts of stone. But that does not make us without sin. Only Christ can claim that title! We hope, that as we grow in our walk with the Lord that we will sin less and even desire to sin less, but we must never forget the truth. We are both Saint AND Sinner. This is the paradoxical reality of the Christian life. We strive to walk by the spirit in the light of Christ, while simultaneously our sinful flesh drags us in the opposite direction… and more often than not, it wins.
The concept of a Christian who daily continues to struggle with sin, who doesn’t live up to the self help, positive affirmation kind of Christian life, is inconceivable to these groups. If you keep falling into sin, then regardless of whether your a legalist or charismatic, your conclusion is always “you were never a Christian to begin with or that you didn’t have the faith to persevere”.
“Don’t choose a church because the stage looks like a concert and the sermon sounds like a TED Talk. Production can’t save you. A vibe can’t sanctify you. An emotion can’t feed you. Go where Christ is preached. Go where sin is named, and grace is offered. Go where the Bible is opened, not just quoted. Go where the gospel is the main thing, every week. And go often” - Nick Carol
As you can see, the argument Paul is making is just as relevant today as it was in his day.
Now back to the topic at hand…
The trouble with the Gospel
The style of message I’m promoting, is surprisingly contentious for many Christians even today. It seems that more and more people are flocking to either side of the theological spectrum. Either you run to the Law and legalism, or you run to experiences and sensationalism. Neither side leaves room for the broken believer, to be honest about their state; the one who has fallen back into sin, repeating old patterns once again and can no longer pretend to be anything more than a sinner in desperate, constant need of a saviour.
In reality, this is nothing new.
Even in Paul’s day there was a chasm between the Christian who knows they’re a wretch and is nothing and without Christ and the Christian who hates to hear it…
The gospel will always offend the proud and self-righteous. Those who want to stake a claim in their faith rather than simply believe, will always despise the simple message of the good news. They will try to convince other believers that you can either make yourself holy, or that you need to prove you are. But in truth, if you are in Christ Jesus, having put your faith entirely in Him and the work of the cross, falling at His feet, heart broken and repulsed at your sin, crying out for undeserved Mercy and Grace… Then remember what Paul says in verses 23-25:
But the words “"It was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in Him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
That is the gospel. And it’s beautiful to those who are desperately in need of hope… and I don’t care who it offends!
Thank you for joining this study of ‘Wrecked by Grace’ and making it to the last one of the series! I know these are rather long, but I hope that (now I’m uploading once a month) you will have enough time to get through the latest upload. There is no expectation for you to complete a study in one sitting and you can take as long as you need… It's always important to study at your own pace.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading through the first few chapters of Romans with me. This is by far one of my favourite books in the Bible (if I’m allowed to pick one) particularly because of it’s presentation of the gospel. For now we are going to move onto other areas in scripture, but I can promise you that we will return and go through the rest of Romans in the future!
As always, if you would like to study a specific book, passage or topic, then feel free to get in touch through the website. I can’t wait until the next study together. In the meantime though, have a great week ahead and God bless!
