By Pastor Greg
George grew up in church. His parents always made him attend even
though it was sometimes boring. One night, during a weeklong revival service,
George went forward and was baptized at the age of ten. He then spent the next 12 years of his life
involved with church activities and functions.
He became involved with the Youth Group
and was the president of the class for two years. George graduated from High
School and even attended a Christian College.
Sam, on the other hand, was never
involved in a church. During his teenage
years, he battled addictions, getting his first taste of alcohol long before he
should have. After high school, Sam
found a simple job but spent most of his
weekends in a bar. The sad part was that
Sam was empty inside and knew it, yet had no idea how to quench the thirst deep
within his heart. He often thought that
there must be more to life than this.
George and Sam were as different
as night and day, at least from the outside it appeared that way. At twenty-two,
the one was teaching Sunday School while the other spent evenings in a bar. While one was drinking communion juice, the
other was drinking beer. While the one
spent the weekend at an all-night bowling party with friends, the other spent
all night chasing women. The one spent
Sunday mornings in church. The other
spent Sunday mornings in bed with a hangover.
Which of these two men did God
love more; the one who did religious things, or the one who did worldly
things? Which of these men had a right
relationship with God? Which one had
their sins forgiven? Which one did God declare righteous?
I ask you these question and have
told you this story (which is true, by the way) because of what Paul says to
the Roman Christians. He makes a claim
that will shock the entire Jewish community.
It is still a controversial claim today.
Even today, there are people who say Salvation is not by Grace through
Faith, but also by works. Turn with me
to Romans 4, and take a look at why
it is through faith.
Paul says that Abraham was
justified (or declared righteous) by God not because of his many religious
practices (good deeds), but because he believed what God said. God told Abraham that he would be the father
of many nations, something outside of human possibility. He and Sarah were far too old to have
children, and Abraham knew this. Yet he
believed that not only could God make it happen, but that He would. Looking deep into Abraham’s heart, God was
pleased with the faith He found there.
So He justified Abraham; He declared him righteous.
Abraham lived 600 years before God
would hand down the Ten Commandments, so he never had them to follow. How could Abraham, who never had the Law, live
according to that Law? It was
impossible! Yet the scriptures say that
God counted Abraham as a righteous man.
And it was because of his faith.
God made a promise and Abraham believed.
Actually, if you think about it, Abraham was declared righteous while he
was still a Gentile. You see Abraham was
circumcised 14 years after God declared him righteous. So Abraham’s faith made him righteous in
God’s sight, and circumcision was nothing more than a symbol or a sign
of the covenant God made with him – to make him the father of many nations.
What Paul is saying here is that
if a person truly has faith in God, God declares them righteous. It is not doing religious things that make us
righteous or earning God’s love that grants us salvation. It is our faith in God’s promises that makes
us right with God. And what has God
promised us? He has promised us eternal
life by believing in Jesus. For God loved the
world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son
into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:16-17). So when we believe this,
we say “Amen.” And God, who sees that we have faith enough
to believe this promise, even though it seems too good to be true, counts us
among the righteous. He justifies us; He
declares us innocent.
Our efforts to become Justified
surround what we believe, not what we do, which is a lesson George learned in
his encounter with Sam. You see, George
had made the mistake many Christians make.
He associated religious practices with righteousness. However, although a Christian might honor God
and strengthen their faith through religious practices (such as prayer,
reading the Bible, tithing, etc.), they are not justified because of them. And George learned this when he met Sam.
Shortly before George and Sam met,
Sam was introduced to Jesus. And Sam
believed. Sam was justified by God
because of his faith, not because he lived a life filled with Good Deeds. So one night at a Bible Study, George was
deeply impressed with Sam’s enthusiastic love of
God; his deep devotion and passion to live according to God’s commands. When Sam shared his past, George was
dumbfounded. How could a man who had
such a wicked past be so on fire for Jesus?
That’s when George realized that “Christian” did not mean keeping a long
list of commandments or participating in religious activities. To be a Christian is to be reborn when a
person is ready to admit they are a sinner in need of a Savior; to believe in
the promise of God found in Jesus the Son.
Who did God love more? Neither.
He loved them both the same. Both
Sam and George needed to learn that to be a Christian is not to fill their life
with Good Deeds but to have faith in the
promise of God. Which is really Good
News. George did not need to fear that
his bad deeds might outweigh his good deeds, and Sam didn’t need to work to
undo all his wicked deeds from his
past. Both Sam and George need only have
faith, believing in the promise of God.
Actually, people should not be asking God, “What do you want me to do to
be saved”, but instead, “What should I believe to
be saved.” God is looking for faith within our hearts
that admits we are sinners in need of a Savior, and who say “Amen” to God’s
promise found in Christ the Lord.
For the person who grew up in
church, they need to realize that participating in religious activities does
not make them right with God. And for
the individual who did not grow up in
church, they need to understand that
their absence of religious activities does not keep them separated from
God. Salvation comes by faith; for the
life-long church attendee as well as the
person who has never attended church. I
might have grown up in church, but this did not mean I was right with God. My friend did not grow up in church. That did not mean he was forever separated
from God. Salvation comes by faith in
the promises of God. And as New
Testament Christians, our faith rests in
the promise God made that if we believe that Jesus is the Messiah and that He
paid the penalty for our sins, we will be granted eternal life.
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