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Christ is the goal or fulfillment of the law, the object to which the law pointed. Christ, Paul says, “is the end of the law for righteousness,” meaning that He is the end  in the sense of the fulfillment of the law, but also in that He terminated the era of the law and introduced the new era where men and women could be delivered from the hopeless task of fulfilling the law and could be invited to be saved through faith. The error of Israel was, in a special sense, that they were chauvinistic despite the fact they had been chosen. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

Paul’s question about God being unjust is the theme of Romans 9-11. His answer “Certainly not!” rings loud and clear. If God is unjust then He cannot be God, for God is perfect justice in and of Himself.   God is absolutely sovereign and is doing what He wills to do. He may choose or not choose. He may bless or not bless.  He is God. God’s mercy is not in response to man’s will. Nor is God’s mercy a response to man’s effort. God is free to show mercy to whomever He wills, independently of what they do.   In extreme Jewish thought the fact of election to be the chosen people was tantamount to an eternal guarantee of blessedness, and the corresponding choice of God not to make the Gentiles the chosen people was a guarantee of their inevitable rejection. For the Jews, therefore, to be told by Paul that Gentiles were being accepted while Jews were being rejected because of attitudes to Christ, was totally unacceptable. In the first place, it was a national insult and, in the second, it attributed to God a freedom the Jews did not believe was appropriate—the freedom to reject Jews and accept Gentiles. To attribute this freedom to God was in their eyes to make God the perpetrator of a deeply unrighteous act. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

As Paul begins this important section in Romans, he is speaking the truth in Christ and with great compassion for his people: “I am speaking the truth in Christ–I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit–I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart”. These are remarkable words coming from the heart of Paul; he carries a personal burden, but he is also aware that the only one who can relieve him of this burden is God working through the Holy Spirit.   Paul exulted in the thought of God’s salvation, but in his joy recognized again that his own people, whom he loved deeply, knew nothing of the joy that was his. A cloud passed over his sun as he contemplated Israel’s rejection of his Lord. Calling Christ and the Holy Spirit as witnesses, Paul affirms his love for the Jews. His greatest joy in His position in Christ is contrasted by the sorrow and grief he feels for his unsaved Jewish brothers and sisters.   There is a striking intensity in the apostle’s words as he tries to impress on his readers how genuinely he feels about the condition of his own people. He insists he is telling the truth, adds that he is not lying, appeals to his conscience, and adds the testimony of the Holy Spirit as he speaks of heaviness of heart and continual sorrow. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

The Letter to the Hebrews is about the person of Christ-His deity, humanity, supremacy, priesthood, sacrifice, and glory. The letter contains more than 20 names and titles for Jesus, with the most common being “Son” and “priest.”   God spoke at various times-to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, and to the prophets-and in various ways, from thunder and lightning to the voice of a trumpet; in a still, small voice or in visions and dreams; in human form and angelic visitations; through a foreshadowing and parable and more.   God did not reveal all of Himself in any one time. The process of revelation was a continuous one, in which the recipients received ever-increasing revelation of God. At no time in that older process did they have a complete idea of God. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

In Romans 8:1, Paul summarizes not just chapter 7, but his whole argument up to this point. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Having carefully expounded the divine principle whereby God justifies sinners and frees them from all condemnation for their guilt, Paul now shows that the believer has much more to enjoy in terms of freedom from condemnation. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

One issue surfaces in virtually every one of Paul’s letters: What good is the law? To most of Paul’s audience, the word “law” stands for the huge collection of rules and rituals detailed in the Old Testament. Whenever he starts talking about “the new covenant” or “freedom in Christ,” his Jewish listeners want to know what he thinks about Moses’ Law. Does God still require obedience? Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

Once upon a time we were “married” to God’s law—and it wasn’t such a great marriage, was it? Never any peace, not for a single moment—because our own sinful desires and actions were constantly fighting with God’s law. It wasn’t the law’s fault--- we can all see for ourselves that the commandments are good. But we are not good—not healthy, whole, and happy, the way God made us to be. We are broken people, unable to live by the law. And God knows this.   So He solved it with a death—Jesus’ death. Jesus took our sin, our brokenness, upon Himself, even though He Himself never did anything wrong. And then He took us, the people He loved, along with Him, all the way through His own death and resurrection—so that we could become God’s own beloved children, living in freedom and joy.   And not living alone! Because as Paul says, now that we have died and risen with Jesus, we are remarried—this time, not to the law which made us miserable, but to Jesus, our Savior. He is the One who gave Himself up for us, so that we could live in freedom, serving “in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” Today we do good, not because we “have to,” but because the Holy Spirit is living inside us, making our hearts more and more like our Savior’s. And we delight to make Him happy, because we love Him. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

Romans 6:15-23 continues Paul’s discussion of sanctification by reminding his readers of their past slavery to sin and their new slavery to righteousness. He wants them to live in submission to their new master, Jesus Christ, and not to be entangled again with the sins that characterized their old life, sins which no longer have any claim over them. People are either obedient slaves of sin, which leads to death, or they are obedient to God, which leads to righteousness. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

Sin put you in prison. Sin locked you behind the bars of guilt and shame and deception and fear. Sin did nothing but shackle you to the wall of misery. Then Jesus came and paid your bail. He served your time; He satisfied the penalty and set you free. Christ died, and when you cast your lot with Him, your old self died too.   The only way to be set free from the prison of sin is to serve its penalty. In this case the penalty is death. Someone has to die, either you or a heaven-sent substitute. You cannot leave prison unless there is a death. But that death has occurred at Calvary. And when Jesus died, you died to sin’s claim on your life. You are free.   Christ has taken your place. There is no need for you to remain in the cell. Ever heard of a discharged prisoner who wanted to stay?  When the doors open, prisoners leave. The thought of a person preferring jail over freedom doesn’t compute. Once the penalty is paid, why live under bondage? You are discharged from the penitentiary of sin. Why, in heaven’s name, would you ever want to set foot in that prison again? Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

When Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity, it is said there were only twelve men who were intelligent enough to understand its implications. Forty years later the number had risen to millions as the horror of Hiroshima unfolded. Relatively few could see great significance in E = mc2, but even fewer failed to understand that through one man the race had been ushered into the atomic age. There was no going back and there were no exceptions, because in Einstein atomic reality had come upon all men. When a man introduces something new into human experience, the race will always be left to live with the consequences.   In Romans 5:12-21, Paul sets out to show how one man’s death can provide salvation for many. To prove his point, he uses Adam to establish the principle that it is possible for one man’s actions to inexorably affect many other people. So when sin entered the life of a man, it also entered the experience of a race as yet unborn. If it be objected that those locked up in Adam’s loins could hardly be said to have been introduced to sin in Adam, it should be remembered that in Adam they were introduced to everything, for without him as source they had nothing, and if he had died they would not even have had life. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

The center. As human beings, we often try to find the center of things. It is just the way we are. We want to find the center. What is the center of Christianity? The bull’s eye?  The nucleus? We all know the answer. Jesus Christ. There is no argument about that. What does God want from us? We all know- faith in Jesus Christ, believe in Jesus Christ, trust in Jesus Christ. Christ and faith in Jesus Christ is the center of Christianity. The bull’s eye. We know that. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

What does it mean to believe in Christ? To trust God like Father Abraham did, not wavering or doubting but firmly believing that God could do what he promised. That is what faith is: to believe that God can do what he has promised. It is to trust the promises of God so implicitly that you act on them. Paul uses the model of Abraham to prove justification by faith alone because the Jews held him up as the supreme example of a righteous man, and because it clearly showed that Judaism with its works-righteousness had deviated from the faith of the Jews’ patriarchal ancestors. In a spiritual sense, Abraham was the forerunner of the primarily Gentile church in Rome as well. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

It was Paul’s conviction that in our lives, we make such mistakes that there is no way that we can buy our way out. We can’t wiggle our way out of it, as we so often try to do. We hurt others by our sins of commission, of what we have done wrong to hurt others. The way that we have hurt people and our family. We cannot pay God back for all the sins of our lives. For all that we have done wrong. For all that we have not done right. And so when you and I come to stand before the judgment day before God, we are going to say, “O Lord God, please have mercy.”  And God, in that situation, pays the penalty for your sins. He takes the punishment. His son, Jesus, dies on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins with his blood. That is what the death of Christ is all about. That is what the atonement of Christ is all about Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

Scripture is brutally honest about the sinful condition of humanity. Nobody is righteous, and no one fully reflects the image and glory of God. Paul elaborates in Romans 3:12-16 that humanity has become absolutely worthless, deceitful, poisonous, cursing, bitter, barbaric and brutal. Only through God’s law do we become aware of the reality of sin’s presence in our lives, and our inability to fulfill all the righteous requirements of the law. Paul writes, in Romans 3:19-20, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin”. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.

Knowing God’s will is not the same as discerning a specific decision or path. To know His will refers to a revelation in Scripture that is agreeable to Him, what He requires us to do, what he commands, what He prohibits, what He approved and what He rewards. The Jews inherited this treasure trove of truth through their covenant relationship with God, yet they were blind to the promises being fulfilled before their very eyes. Because they possessed the law, the Jews were confident that they were spiritually superior teachers; guides to blind pagans, light, wise in God’s ways, and able to teach the immature (probably a reference to Gentile converts to Judaism). The Jews were to be spiritual guides to the nations, but Jesus  told them that they themselves were blind. He called them blind guides in Matthew 23:24 and blind leaders of the blind in Matthew 15:14. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sermons-from-my-heart--2423678/support.