Sermon 4th October 2009
Righteousness through faith
Today, our Associate Vicar, John Itumu, preaches based on the passage from Romans 3:21- 31.
There is a story in one of the gospels that tells of Jesus defending himself from the criticism of Pharisees for mixing with wrong company:
Mark 2:15-17:
While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with ‘sinners’ and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
On hearing this Jesus said this to them, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’
According to Pharisees, God’s mercy only extended to those who obeyed the Law of Moses and the traditions of elders. Jewish tax collectors were regarded as outcasts and sinners. They were not welcome in the synagogues; a disgrace that even extended to their families.
I think this incident speaks volumes about an inherent characteristic in most human beings: the inability to see, to use Jesus’ word again ‘ the log in our own eye.’ This unpopular principle is behind justification as explained by Paul who declares that all men and women are sinful, guilty and without excuse before God. ALL, you and I are a sinful lot. Accepting one’s sinfulness is the gate to becoming a follower of Christ – a Christian. It is a difficult hurdle to clear and it is not a popular one! In our human nature, even as we accept our sinfulness we more easily see the differences in the severity of sinning. We even quietly rejoice at our relative ‘goodness’ and ‘righteousness’ as compared to others. But not Paul. In another gospel (John 8:1-11) Jesus confronts a group of people who are about to stone a woman caught in adultery. He challenges anyone who has no sin to be the first to throw a stone at her. They all quietly disperse.
‘... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’... and are justified freely by his grace (grace of God) through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus’.
But what does it mean to be justified? Justification is the opposite of condemnation. Both are pronounced by a judge. Justification is more than pardon. Pardon says, you are free to go but in justification Christ declares very positively ‘come to my presence and love.’
What is the source of Justification?– v24 God and his grace this is the amazing grace that John Newton once sang about, Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me…
On what ground does justification occur? How can a righteous loving God let sin go unpunished? How and why does justify the wicked? The answer is - Christ and his cross. How? All are justified freely by grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Jesus has bought us out of captivity of sin by shedding blood as the price, ransom-rescue. V25 – God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement...in other words...
...God presented Christ as a propitiation for our sins...
To propitiate (according to the dictionary) is to stop somebody from being angry by trying to please them. But isn’t it ludicrous to suggest that it is possible to appease God?
The Christian understanding of propitiation is different from a pagan view. For the pagans the gods are bad tempered, even unpredictable and need to be regularly appeased, even bribed. In contrast God’s righteous anger is aroused by evil alone.
God has a righteous anger against sin. This divine wrath needed to be dealt with and God presented Jesus as sacrifice of atonement
1 John 4:10
‘This is love: not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins’
For the pagans we undertake to appease the gods because we have offended them. Christians believe that we cannot pacify, or conciliate the righteous anger of God. We are simply incapable. Thanks to God, the poor would never have access to God!
God however did this by coming in the person of Jesus to die as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. The idea of God providing the means by which sin could be dealt with is enshrined in the Old Testament understanding of sacrifice. God always provided his people with the animals that they would in turn offer to him as a sacrifice of atonement for their sins.
Lev 17:11 For the life of a creature is in the blood and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves and on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.
God in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth came to show us how to live, then died as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. The love, the idea, the purpose, the initiative, the action and the gift were all God’s. There is nothing to boast about! The job required to put us right with our creator has been done. All that is needed is to accept this act by faith.
Justification is the heart of the gospel. No other religion or ideology lays claim to free forgiveness and a new life to those who do not deserve. All others teach some form of self-salvation through good works - philanthropy, self -righteousness. Only Christianity acknowledges the huge chasm between God and sinful human beings, we. The necessity to bridge this gap is what the gospel proclaims. The redemption that comes through Jesus Christ crucified.
My intention this morning is not to induce guilt in you – for then I would have failed miserably. My goal is to remind us that there exists an all powerful God who loves us and longs that we take a step of faith and entrust our lives to him. He alone can sort our brokenness; only he can put us together again, as we were originally meant to be. He only asks that we trust him. That is faith.
The choice is mine – the choice is yours.
Today, our Associate Vicar, John Itumu, preaches based on the passage from Romans 3:21- 31.
There is a story in one of the gospels that tells of Jesus defending himself from the criticism of Pharisees for mixing with wrong company:
Mark 2:15-17:
While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with ‘sinners’ and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
On hearing this Jesus said this to them, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’
According to Pharisees, God’s mercy only extended to those who obeyed the Law of Moses and the traditions of elders. Jewish tax collectors were regarded as outcasts and sinners. They were not welcome in the synagogues; a disgrace that even extended to their families.
I think this incident speaks volumes about an inherent characteristic in most human beings: the inability to see, to use Jesus’ word again ‘ the log in our own eye.’ This unpopular principle is behind justification as explained by Paul who declares that all men and women are sinful, guilty and without excuse before God. ALL, you and I are a sinful lot. Accepting one’s sinfulness is the gate to becoming a follower of Christ – a Christian. It is a difficult hurdle to clear and it is not a popular one! In our human nature, even as we accept our sinfulness we more easily see the differences in the severity of sinning. We even quietly rejoice at our relative ‘goodness’ and ‘righteousness’ as compared to others. But not Paul. In another gospel (John 8:1-11) Jesus confronts a group of people who are about to stone a woman caught in adultery. He challenges anyone who has no sin to be the first to throw a stone at her. They all quietly disperse.
‘... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’... and are justified freely by his grace (grace of God) through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus’.
But what does it mean to be justified? Justification is the opposite of condemnation. Both are pronounced by a judge. Justification is more than pardon. Pardon says, you are free to go but in justification Christ declares very positively ‘come to my presence and love.’
What is the source of Justification?– v24 God and his grace this is the amazing grace that John Newton once sang about, Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me…
On what ground does justification occur? How can a righteous loving God let sin go unpunished? How and why does justify the wicked? The answer is - Christ and his cross. How? All are justified freely by grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Jesus has bought us out of captivity of sin by shedding blood as the price, ransom-rescue. V25 – God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement...in other words...
...God presented Christ as a propitiation for our sins...
To propitiate (according to the dictionary) is to stop somebody from being angry by trying to please them. But isn’t it ludicrous to suggest that it is possible to appease God?
The Christian understanding of propitiation is different from a pagan view. For the pagans the gods are bad tempered, even unpredictable and need to be regularly appeased, even bribed. In contrast God’s righteous anger is aroused by evil alone.
God has a righteous anger against sin. This divine wrath needed to be dealt with and God presented Jesus as sacrifice of atonement
1 John 4:10
‘This is love: not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins’
For the pagans we undertake to appease the gods because we have offended them. Christians believe that we cannot pacify, or conciliate the righteous anger of God. We are simply incapable. Thanks to God, the poor would never have access to God!
God however did this by coming in the person of Jesus to die as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. The idea of God providing the means by which sin could be dealt with is enshrined in the Old Testament understanding of sacrifice. God always provided his people with the animals that they would in turn offer to him as a sacrifice of atonement for their sins.
Lev 17:11 For the life of a creature is in the blood and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves and on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.
God in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth came to show us how to live, then died as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. The love, the idea, the purpose, the initiative, the action and the gift were all God’s. There is nothing to boast about! The job required to put us right with our creator has been done. All that is needed is to accept this act by faith.
Justification is the heart of the gospel. No other religion or ideology lays claim to free forgiveness and a new life to those who do not deserve. All others teach some form of self-salvation through good works - philanthropy, self -righteousness. Only Christianity acknowledges the huge chasm between God and sinful human beings, we. The necessity to bridge this gap is what the gospel proclaims. The redemption that comes through Jesus Christ crucified.
My intention this morning is not to induce guilt in you – for then I would have failed miserably. My goal is to remind us that there exists an all powerful God who loves us and longs that we take a step of faith and entrust our lives to him. He alone can sort our brokenness; only he can put us together again, as we were originally meant to be. He only asks that we trust him. That is faith.
The choice is mine – the choice is yours.
posted by Parish Administrator at 12:52 pm
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