Marv's Final Message Part 7

[0:00] Father, we are truly grateful for this opportunity to be here today on a beautiful day, mourning one more that you have made. And we ask that as we engage the truth that is before us, that you will give us the necessary enlightenment because we are very much aware of how lacking we are in understanding and appreciation of the wonderful words you've provided.

[0:26] So we ask that as we engage the material, you will strengthen our minds, our spirits, and our wills to not only take in but to be subservient and to respond in whatever way you would have for the content that lies ahead.

[0:42] We are so grateful for all that you have accomplished for us and will accomplish in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And we ask that as we spend this time together, you will make it special in the hearts and minds of each of us.

[0:54] We ask it in the worthy name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. As you will note, let me just remind you, refresh your thinking.

[1:08] Our message this morning is called The Quantum Leap from Law to Grace. Despite this being the most wonderful thing God has ever done since the creation of humans, it remains unknown to so many.

[1:30] We will do our best to make sure no one leaves here today without hearing it. So rejoice. We surely have good reason for doing so.

[1:41] And in connection with this quantum leap from law to grace, I have a number of things and points to share with you that I trust will be enlightening to some of you.

[1:57] And I am very much aware that it will be ho-hum old hat stuff to many of you as well because you've been around the doctrine of grace long enough.

[2:08] So if you feel an inclination to nod off, snore quietly, and I'll try not to disturb you, okay? Okay. The grace of God is a paradox.

[2:27] And I'm satisfied this is one reason that many people do not understand it. And when they hear it, they do not accept it. A paradox, according to the dictionary definition, is something that does not appear to be true on the surface.

[2:47] On an initial reading. But it is true. That's what makes it a paradox. Doesn't seem true. But it is true.

[3:00] And it's that last point is the only one that matters. That it is true. The grace of God, whereby an individual is put into a right relationship with God, all sins forgiven, heaven assured, and all the blessings and benefits that go with being in keeping with God, are yours solely on the basis of grace as a free gift.

[3:32] No strings attached. And I am fully aware that absolutely sounds too good to be true.

[3:44] And this is precisely why many are unable or unwilling to accept it. Grace is profoundly one-sided.

[3:56] Lopsided, if you will. At least in appearance. Grace is profoundly lopsided in appearance.

[4:08] And it is in sharp contrast to the law. The law as set forth by Moses, through the inspiration of God, that incorporates what we call the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

[4:27] Those comprise the law, as given on Mount Sinai to Moses, grace is so far removed from the law, that some suspect there's no way that these two entities could come from the same source.

[4:51] Because they're so opposite. So while we are in tune, humanly speaking, with the law and its dictates, which principally says, do and thou shalt live, the opposite of that is live and thou shalt do.

[5:13] And that's as opposite as you can get. And that doesn't make any sense to us in our nature and the way we look at things. So, in reality, there is no problem with grace except to man.

[5:30] But with God, grace is the supreme demonstration of love and mercy. And I would ask you to turn, first of all, to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, if you would, please.

[5:47] 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and we need to examine basic principles set forth in the simplest kind of way that the Apostle Paul is addressing here in this letter to the Corinthians.

[6:06] And you may be sure that they too were struggling with this concept, and he even addresses that in this first chapter. In verse 17 17 of chapter 1, Paul writes, For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void.

[6:36] Now, I know, and you know, the position that we all take regarding baptism. You are saved by baptism, and that is when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are baptized by the Spirit of God into the body of Christ.

[6:54] That is the baptism that saves. That isn't water. Water has nothing to do with it. It is not a rite, R-I-T-E. It is not a religious rite.

[7:06] It is a spiritual reality that takes place at the point of salvation whereby you are taken out of the world, the sphere of the world, and you are placed into the spiritual body of Christ, and you become one in union with him and with all other believers.

[7:23] That is the baptism that saves. Unfortunately, it is frequently mistaken for water and so on. That is an entirely different study which we will not go into now.

[7:34] But Paul says in verse 18, for or because the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness.

[7:45] And it means those who are presently in the process of perishing day by day. They have no clue. They don't know that.

[7:56] But they are. And our perishing, in fact, perishing is underway for all of us physically. because as we age and deteriorate and break down, it ends in physical death.

[8:12] But Paul is talking about not only physical death, he's talking about spiritual death. And he says, those who are in the process of perishing, for them, the word of the cross is foolishness.

[8:25] And I've given you the word before in the Greek. It's the word moria, from which our English word moron comes. And it means, in essence, that Paul is saying, I understand how people think about this thing called grace and the gospel.

[8:42] I understand how people see that. They see it as, you believe that? You believe that somebody who wasn't even smart enough to keep himself off of Roman cross from dying and excruciating death, and this one is supposed to be the savior of the whole world?

[9:01] Come on! You've got to be a moron to believe that. That's exactly the word that Paul is using here. And that's the accusation that was leveled against him.

[9:12] And by the way, these accusations were leveled then by the best and the brightest of humanity. Paul was in Athens.

[9:25] You know where Athens is? It's Greece. So what's the deal with Greece? Intellect. Plato.

[9:37] Aristotle. Demosthenes. All of the brilliant men produced in Greek culture and Greek intellectualism. Most of whom are in complete disagreement with each other.

[9:51] That ought to tell you something. but they represented the core and the center of intellectual attainment, brilliance, intelligence, all the rest that went with it.

[10:03] And when they hear the gospel and Christ, immediately for most of them it's, that's crazy. That's moronic. It's stupid to believe that. And he explains that.

[10:16] The word of the cross to those who are perishing is foolishness, moronic, but to us who are being saved, that is, we are in process. You know, the analogy, we have been saved, we are being saved, we shall be saved.

[10:30] Past, present, future, all of these are involved. And when Paul says, for those who are in the process, not that the process is not complete, that we are not saved to the uttermost, that's not what he's talking about, but he's saying for those who are underway in this thing called faith, it is the power of God.

[10:51] Now, the power of God is about as far removed from moronic as you can get. It's just priceless and wonderful and beyond imagination. But also, you need to understand this.

[11:03] Because of the depravity and the depths of human sin, and because of its extreme offensiveness to a holy God, God, it took something of incredible worth, energy, and power to be able to overcome that and to compensate for it.

[11:34] And do you know what that is? That is the gospel. That is the good news. power. It, it, and it alone is the power that penetrates and can reach right into the heart of a wretched, miserable individual and regenerate him and make him a new person in Christ.

[12:03] Christ. That is power. That's power. The word, the word in the Greek is dunamis.

[12:15] You've probably never heard of dunamis, but you've heard of an English word that's connected with it and it's called dynamite. That's what it is. The gospel is God's dynamite and it has an explosive energy to it that is able to take the foulest, meanest, most unbecoming individual in the world.

[12:37] Somebody like Saul of Tarsus. And clean him up inside and make him a brand new person and make him a proclaimer of that which he persecuted.

[12:51] That's how powerful that gospel is. To us who are being saved, it is the power of the God. It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.

[13:04] And then where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness, what men call foolishness, of the message preached to save those who believe.

[13:33] for indeed, Jews ask for signs. That's the word for miracles, simeon.

[13:45] wisdom. And Greeks search for wisdom. But, by way of contrast, we preach Christ crucified.

[13:59] You can't get more removed from both of those, the Greeks or the Jews, than preaching a crucified Christ, a crucified Messiah. absolutely stunning, just stunning.

[14:14] To Jews, a stumbling block, and you know what? It still is. It still is. It means a stumbling block is an occasion for being tripped up so that as a result of stumbling, you fall.

[14:34] Fall flat on your face. That's exactly what has happened to the nation of Israel. Read Romans 9, 10, and 11 for a complete commentary on what has happened to Israel in their blindness and in their fallenness.

[14:50] And because of that, Paul says, and he's speaking as a Jew, remember, he says, because of Israel's fall, and their fall was as a result of their rejecting the Messiah sent to them for their very salvation, the fall was the result of that, and because of that fall, God opened the door to the Gentiles, that is to all the rest of the world.

[15:21] For Jesus didn't come to the world. Remember, he came to Israel for the world. Israel for Israel, and Israel alone provided the basis for the preaching of the kingdom, doesn't mean that he didn't care about the rest of the world.

[15:42] He most certainly did, and that's why he sent the Messiah, a Savior, to begin with. But he came to Israel, and the intent was that Israel then, by embracing their Messiah, would be the spearhead point for reaching all the rest of the world.

[16:03] That was the plan, that Israel would be a light to the Gentiles. And Israel's attitude nationally turned out to be rather, he's our God and you can't have him.

[16:19] So there. And they pretty much kept to themselves. They weren't interested in being a light to the Gentiles, and whenever they did get involved, their own spiritual attitude and demeanor was so low that rather than being a light to the Gentiles that they did interact with, the Gentiles contaminated them and caused them to fall into sin that led God to the Babylonian captivity and later the destruction in 70 A.D.

[16:53] by the Romans and then in 43 B.C. or A.D. rather it was Bar Kokhba and that revolt and they even changed the name of Jerusalem to Capitolina and they crucified Jews by the hundreds and enslaved them and led them off in chains to show them off in the parades back home in Rome.

[17:16] And Israel has been the wandering Jew ever since and they remain in that position. but God is not finished with them because he has promises to fulfill to the seed of Abraham.

[17:31] And bless God, the time is coming when Israel will be restored. It will be however just as a remnant those who were gathered in the last days and they will respond to the gospel.

[17:46] This will be during the tribulation period and there will be salvation for Israel. And what Jesus told the apostles will certainly come true during that millennial reign that you who have followed me in the regeneration when the son of man comes into his kingdom you also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

[18:06] Of course that has never happened but it is as certain to happen as God is God and that's what's coming for Israel in the future but right now they are a nation that is set aside in unbelief and the apostle Paul the apostle Paul had such a fervent heart for his countrymen my prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved for I could wish that I myself were a curse from God to be able to reach my fellow Israelites.

[18:38] What a heart he had for them. He knew how they thought because it was exactly the same way he thought before the Damascus road and now he's trying to get his countrymen blinded by their sin and their bias to understand that God was making good on the promise that he made way back in Genesis 3 about the seed of the woman who would come and they didn't see it.

[19:09] Well the text goes on to say the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

[19:19] Now understand figuratively speaking and and literarily he's just using this as an analogy there isn't any weakness with God he's using it as an imaginary term and he's saying if there is such a thing as God being able to be weakness you need to understand that even his weakness even what would be considered his weakness is stronger than the strength of men that's all he's doing is making a literary comparison it's a beautiful beautiful thing what are and I've given a lot of thought to this over the years and I've talked to a number of people since I came to faith in Christ 65 years ago and I've tried to be an analyzer of people and the way they think and their objections and everything and see if I can try to break through some of the exterior years and some of the reasons that people give so what are the human objections to justification by faith and by the way you need to understand and it will become well it won't become clear here because we won't we won't be here to do it but it will be done on Christianity clarified most of you are aware that next

[20:30] Sunday is my last Sunday in the pulpit and I'll be retiring and this time I really mean it so but the material will be available on Christianity clarified and we'll continue to make those as long as the Lord enables us to do so and there are human objections to justification by faith and I attempt to point out in the Christianity clarified as tactfully and as compassionately as I can the basic difference between the Protestant what we call the biblical position as opposed to Roman Catholicism and this is the great item that separates the two probably more than anything else many years ago there was a group of Protestants prominent Protestant pastors and theologians got together with a similar kind of makeup from the Roman Catholic Church clergy and priests and so on and their idea was to bury their differences and get together so that they could make a more unified impact on the whole world rather than through the divisiveness of Protestants and Catholics and the things that separate them and so on and they were on an eight cylinder engine they were clicking on about six cylinders and things were looking pretty good and it was called

[21:57] ECT which stood for Evangelicals Catholics Together and they were making good strides and there was good comedy between the men the participants good attitudes good friendship and enjoyed each other's company and everything and they were making great progress until until they came to this one issue and it blew the whole thing apart that was the end of it both sides walked away shaking their heads I'm sure each were convinced that the other side was being unreasonably stubborn and justification by faith was the issue the Roman Catholic position is yes you are saved by grace absolutely how is grace administered to you how do you receive this grace you receive it through the sacraments you receive it through baptism you receive it through communion you receive it through partaking of the elements the wafer and so on you receive it through confession all of those are the elements that grace provides and that once you believe on Christ then you are put in a position where you are able to strive you are able to strive to complete your salvation now the likelihood is you're not going to be able to strive enough to do it or to make it but when you die you will then go to purgatory and whatever sins you have remaining that you did not strive to eliminate you will be purged from and then you will be purified and then you can go to heaven now the

[24:13] Roman Catholic position is held throughout the world and has been for a long long time not not from the first or second century but later and I could give you those dates but we won't go into that now and the great difference of course has to do with justification by faith and we are persuaded that this is what the scriptures teach and that this is what Paul preached justification by faith it means it means that you are declared to be justified or righteous before God solely on the basis of faith and faith alone well what does that mean what's the word for faith a lot of people don't understand that but literally it means simply by believing the word faith is pistis in the Greek p-i-s-t-i-s pistis and it is related to the word of believing which is in the same family and it means that believing is in that mental area where the volition of the individual and the will is involved and a commitment is made internally in the mind and heart of that person to make that decision to receive

[25:42] Christ as your Savior and if and when you do you are then and there immediately baptized by the Spirit of God and you are placed into the body of Christ and you are in union with him you have forgiveness of sins eternal life etc all on the basis of simply believing now I don't have any difficulty understanding how and why people reject that well you can't do that that's that's that's that's crazy that's too easy that's that's too easy there's no free lunch you've got to do this you've got to do that there are hoops to jump through and you've got to jump through them and God has done his part and you need to do your part well there is some truth to that God has done his part and we need to do our part too what is our part it is repent and believe of what do we repent we repent when we repent we the word literally means through the mind it's metanoia it is a mental thing it means you change you change your mind it has nothing to do with penance that's a

[27:08] Roman Catholic term and it has to do with having certain penalties assigned to you by the priest to whom you confessed as to what you must do in order to alleviate yourself of the sins that you have admitted that you are guilty of you may have to say so many our fathers or so many hail marries or this or that or something else and in doing that you cleanse yourself of your sins by those things and justification by faith simply says you are justified you are made completely acceptable cleansed forgiven pardoned by God solely on the basis of believing so there is the difference that was irresolvable between the Catholics and the Protestants that met and I think this was back in the 1980s and I can give you information on it if you're interested but it is it was quite a telling thing what are the human objections then to justification by faith and why doesn't everybody get on board with this reasons for rejecting the message of grace and I want you to know these because you're going to confront people who are dealing with it and it is so wide and so pervasive out there understand again you are coming from a minority position and as grace believers you are not only coming from a minority position you are a minority within a minority reasons for rejecting the message of grace grace rejects and will not accept human works or pride nothing you can do can make yourself acceptable to God and do you know why think about it what's your problem in the first place systemic problem what is it sin it's a problem we all have of course there are some who won't recognize it but but it's true that's a systemic problem and it affects all of humanity and any works or effort that you would try to accomplish in order to make yourself acceptable to God is going to be tainted with what with sin it's inescapable it doesn't make any difference how good your intentions are you are a sinful human being we all are every one of us the only one who ever escaped it was born without sin and even he was subjected to the severest of tests by the adversary for those 40 days and yet of course he did not sin so any works or effort that we would contribute in a way to help along the situation or to add to what

[30:08] Christ did that's contaminated God will not accept contaminated works it isn't until you come to faith in Jesus Christ that you have the indwelling of the spirit of God and you are then then and then only in a position to do works that are acceptable and approved of God because they are generated by the Holy Spirit not by the flesh God wants nothing to do with the flesh it's ugly and it would contaminate anything and everything all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags Jeremiah 17 9 grace is contrary to the way the world works that makes it easy for them to reject it is it is this is what makes it a paradox it is contrary to the way the world works there is no free lunch and you come along and say salvation is just on the basis of believing that's contrary to the way the world works you get what you pay for no free lunch grace is contrary to our powers of reason and logic grace promotes human arrogance and assurance think about that it is only the true believer in Jesus

[31:30] Christ who is able to say with any degree of confidence at all I know I'm saved I know I'm going to heaven do you know how most people regard that well who do you think you are you must think you are just absolute Mr.

[31:52] Wonderful whatever gave you the idea that you are so good that you can be sure of heaven and what's the answer you're not that good Jesus is that good that's the whole point when you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ he gave you his righteousness righteousness and imputed it to you you didn't work for it you didn't deserve it and you didn't earn it but you get it and you get it because Jesus paid it all and he didn't leave anything left for you to do but believe it now here's the problem

[32:57] I call this the hard part of the gospel believing it is easy but understand me well now because this is a real sticking point for a lot of people there is something you have to do yeah there is a contribution you have to make and what it is is an admission that you can't do it you are sold under sin you are weak and defiled and you cannot save yourself and you have to deal with the reality that you need salvation you'd be surprised how many people don't think they do those who do are the drug pushers and the murderers and the rapists more they need it but

[34:07] I am a decent upstanding citizen I don't beat my wife and I don't kick the dog and I pay my bills and I am essentially a good person and I've got as good a chance as anybody else and that's where most people are coming from but when you repent it is repent and believe the gospel and when you repent you do it through the mind you hear the information you hear the gospel this gospel is called good news and Paul tells us how beautiful how beautiful are the feet of those who publish glad tidings think of that the gospel the gospel the good news has to be believed has to be received but it has to be proclaimed somebody's got to say it and that's what evangelists and preachers are for and the text says there in Romans quoting it from Isaiah believe how beautiful are the feet of those who publish glad tidings it means the people who bring the gospel like the missionaries how beautiful are the feet and you know think about that

[35:15] I think I think about these things all the time how beautiful are the feet what an expression of course the feet is what you use to get there but is there anything more comely about our parts or uncomely about our parts than the feet do you ever see a beautiful foot I tell you you look at feet I used to sell shoes you know all the way when I was going through school I sold shoes part time with John Alderson down at the old rent store and I saw some of the awfulest looking feet you could ever imagine men and women that come in with big bunions and big corns and twisted toes and everything you know but Jesus loved you in fact when we were yet sinners God demonstrated his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Jesus died for us wow and then he goes on to say there in Romans 5 that you know there are some people who are willing to die for another person like a friend or a neighbor a good friend but Jesus died for his enemies that is going the extra mile that is love that is just absolutely amazing that's what

[36:40] Jesus did and you have to acknowledge your need this is a real turn off to a lot of people I've talked to some over the years and they would say something like well I'm not that bad I guess I'm you know but listen God doesn't grade on the curve you're either in or you're out that's the beauty of grace grace is the only method salvation by grace through faith is the only method that is able to provide assurance and confidence and blessing and comfort and joy because you know where you are it is a concluded thing but if there are things that you have to add if your salvation is 90%

[37:42] Jesus and 10% you how big is your 10% how do you know when you've done enough you see the fluidity the fluidity here there is no fluidity in grace it's solid it's complete it's entire he saves to the uttermost think of that Jesus saves to the someone says he not only saves to the uttermost he saves from the guttermost to the uttermost wow that's something and Jesus didn't pay most of it Jesus paid it all and all he left for you to do is accept it and believe it but before you will accept it you have to be convinced you have a need you have to be convinced you don't measure up and all

[38:42] I can tell people is this look you can just make a checklist here of all of the virtues and all of the vices and what not and if your vice column is all empty and you've got all the virtues in line Jesus is God's standard Jesus is God's standard for what he will accept and if you and your righteousness is as good as that of Jesus you've got nothing to worry about you've got it made but if it isn't you're sunk now what kind of company are you traveling in are you in lockstep with Jesus can you imagine walking down the veil with him arm in arm and he's saying to you boy I'm glad I found you I didn't think there was anybody else in the whole world that was like me but you measure up you are my companion nonsense we all know better than that and if people will admit it and say well

[39:50] I may be better than most but I'm not that good I didn't say I was perfect but do you realize that God will not accept anything but perfection do you know what would happen if he accepted imperfection you'd soon stink up the whole place that's what the impurities and the imperfection would do we are going to be robed in garments of white and they will be something they will reflect the purity that we don't have in and of ourselves but we will have as a recipient of what Christ did for us grace does not promote human arrogance we have every right to say I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able he is able

[40:53] I'm not able I never said I was able he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day and that kind of assurance really is necessary for any kind of personal evangelism how are you going to talk to anybody about the gospel if you're not sure you've got enough points what are you going to tell them you need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved and the forgiveness is wonderful and the hope of heaven and all the rest oh is that your story is that what you well I'm not sure you know I'm working on it I'm trying who wants to publish a gospel like that for crying out loud we have every reason to come boldly to the throne of grace because we are on solid ground and anyone who is knows it's not their doing to put them there it's what

[41:57] Jesus did for you and all you do was accepted this is why Paul talks about it being a gift some think and they oppose grace because they say well this salvation by grace is easy believism they call it easy believism it promotes licentious loose living because if you know that you're going to heaven you've got a guaranteed ticket prepaid why you can go out and just live like the devil you can do anything you want do you realize what Paul said in writing to the it was for or Galatians it was for freedom it was for freedom that Christ set us free think of that freedom freedom freedom for what freedom to live your life as you will hopefully under spiritual direction and responsiveness to the will of

[43:03] God but you don't have to you can do stupid things as a Christian you can do stupid things you can do sinful things but God love you too much to let you get away with it and he will take you to his woodshed and show you the benefits of obedience for what son is he whom the Lord chasteneth not and if you receive not chastening whereof all are partakers then are you illegitimate children and not sons yeah you can you can live an irresponsible Christian life but you cannot do it without God jabbing you along the way God has his woodshed God has his way of bringing us around and you know why he does it he does it for the same reason that you don't let your kids get away with some of the things they'd like to do because you love them too much and you care about them and you interfere with their antics and you step in and say no you're not going to do that

[44:05] I will not permit it and it's no different with God and his children grace does not encourage loose living what grace does encourage for those who really get a handle on it is it promotes a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude when you start understanding the pit from which you have been dug your appreciation index for who you are and what God has made you in Christ soars and it makes you want to love him and serve him all the more and not grieve him through your foolishness and grace removes one from legalistic necessities you mean you mean

[45:06] I don't have to go to church no you don't have to go to church you get to go to church you don't have to you get to and if you're on the same page with your Lord you won't spend any time trying to make up reasons why you're not going just get off your duff get out of bed and get out there and join the fellowship of believers to encourage them and be encouraged by them and you do it not because you have to you do it because you want to you love the Lord and you love these people you love the effect you have on them and the effect they have on you and that's what fellowship in the body relationships this is the family of God right here and there are thousands and thousands like this all over the country and all over the world and it's a beautiful thing just a beautiful thing

[46:11] I want to close by reading a couple of things because they are from the pen and I was just blown away for the time these came this is in two minutes from the Bible and Marie and I were reading it and this is absolutely priceless just my oh my let me read I'll just read it quickly to you without the law Romans 3 21 22 we find a most striking statement but now but now and the contrast is setting but now as opposed to the way it was before and Paul is saying but now there's been a demarcation something really dramatic happened to change from a to B and it is monumental life shaking earth shaking and it's from law to grace but now the righteousness of

[47:12] God without the law is manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets even the righteousness of God which is by Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe the righteousness of God bestowed upon believers apart from the Lord do you believe that this is difficult for many people especially religious people to accept yet here it is in the written word of God now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested and the passage goes on to say that the law and the prophets bear witness that this is righteousness indeed for it is the righteousness of Christ freely conferred upon the believer freely didn't cost you a dime it cost you the admission the acknowledgement of the need that's the price you had to pay but how shall we interpret the words but now but now in this passage when was this bestowed righteousness first manifested or revealed at

[48:32] Calvary no there it was purchased for us but not yet proclaimed how about under our Lord's great commission to his eleven apostles then nope not one record of this commission contains one word about justification through the finished work of Christ at Calvary was it at Pentecost then that Christ's righteousness was first proclaimed for the remission of sins nope not even at Pentecost their convicted hearers were still told to repent and be baptized and the baptism that Peter is talking about in Acts 2 is not spirit baptism it's water it's John's baptism that's the message of Pentecost their convicted hearers were still told to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and what did it mean if you didn't do that then your sins were not remitted that's the

[49:34] Acts 2 message it's as plain as it can be it is not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ who died for your sins and you will be saved no no no this is strictly a message to the Jew it was not until Paul that this blessed message went forth it was Paul and no one until Paul who declared but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested shown forth declared I've often thought about this who do you think was the most stunned by this information I'll tell you who was Paul Paul can you imagine he got we are told that he received an abundance of revelations we don't know how many but it was over a period of time he received successive information and as he received it he preached it and it worked its way by inspiration into the epistles that he wrote to the different churches and you will find truths penned by the apostle

[50:51] Paul that are completely foreign to what went before it's really different than the gospels it's amazing and this is one of the reasons some Christians reject oh you make too much of Paul listen Paul provides us with the update you get that we don't have to march to the beat of an old former drummer we've got a new master a new drummer a new beat a new assignment and it is all on the basis of grace you get absolutely no credit but you get all the blessings and the benefits Jesus gets all the credit and he's the only one who deserves it such a deal I tell you it is by grace through faith plus nothing it is wonderful it is absolutely stunning

[51:57] I want to read one more thing and then and then I want to close with a every now and then I need an amazing grace fix and nobody I don't know how many versions I've heard of amazing grace in the last 65 years since I've been a believer and an appreciator of amazing grace I don't know how many times I've sung it and heard it sung and how many groups and solos I've heard sing but I've never heard anybody sing it like El Devo and for those of you who haven't heard it or seen it well I've got more than I have time for but I well yeah let me let me let me share this this with you this is this is by the way these are all in this little in this little book by

[53:01] Mr. Stamm called Two Minutes with the Bible there may be a couple left back I know many of you have already gotten it and and this this we read just this morning or yesterday morning for our devotions Marie and I he says there are three misconceptions that most people entertain about the law of God and its Ten Commandments number one most people have a vague notion that the law always was and that it must have been given to Adam or soon after actually it was given by Moses about 1500 BC after about 2500 years without the law or the Ten Commandments most people suppose the law was given to mankind in general while in fact it was given to Israel alone Deuteronomy 5 verses 2 and 3 and here's a big one listen to this listen to this most people suppose that the law was given to help us do right even some clergymen teach this although the

[54:14] Bible clearly teaches that the law was given to show us that we are guilty sinners it is true that the law while given to Israel also shows that the Gentile that he is a sinner this is why Romans 3 19 says now we know that what things soever the law says it says to them that are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may be brought in guilty before God but most important of all few people realize that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins to deliver us from the just condemnation of the law this is taught in the following scriptures Galatians 3 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us Jesus took your hell that you deserve and paid for it in his own body and in his separation from the father just so you wouldn't have to that's why it's called amazing grace there is absolutely nothing like it in the world this is the world's greatest single treasure and it is the world's greatest misunderstanding understanding you know the best thing we can do to help the world understand this is to make sure we understand it ourselves this is stunning stuff

[56:03] I told you before that Jesus Christ on that cross and what he accomplished is the very centerpiece of the universe for all time everything hinges upon that it is marvelous beyond words there's nothing that you can add to it this has got nothing to do with being a catholic or being a protestant or being a jew it has everything to do with recognizing you are alienated from God and justly so because of your sin and the proof of it is you are a member of the human race and that automatically makes you a sinner and Jesus died for your sin he who had no sin