Okay, we're gonna get started
in Romans. We'll be in Romans chapter three. And we'll be looking at verses
27 through 31. Romans three, 27 through 31. And Paul's primary objective
in these final verses of chapter three is to affirm to us the
exclusion of boasting. That in salvation, our boasting
in self, our boasting of what we've done to save ourselves,
it's excluded. And why? Why is our boasting
excluded? Why do we not have anything to
boast in? Well, it's because of what God
has revealed to us by faith that our righteousness is by the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. That we're justified, made right,
made perfect before God by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And so, the Spirit of God reveals
this truth to us. He reveals to faith. He reveals faith to the faith
which He's given to his people, and when he does that, boasting
and self ends. We stop boasting in ourselves
and in our works. And so, God gets all the glory
and salvation. And if he gets all the glory
and salvation, what's left over for you and me? Nothing. Nothing to boast in. He gets
all the glory for salvation. Our title is An End to Boasting
in Self. An end to boasting in self. And we'll have three divisions.
We'll see the end of our boasting, then we'll look at justification
for all through faith, and then we'll see that last verse in
this chapter, the law established in Christ. The law established
in Christ. All right, so first, the end
of boasting. We know, brethren, we that have
heard this gospel, that here, with the year of faith, we know
that the gospel is offensive to man. Wherever you came from,
whatever your background is or was, whatever you once rejoiced
in, you were offended in the flesh when you heard the gospel.
When it pricked you in your heart and revealed to you what you
are, and your need of salvation by grace. For example, we know
of men who trust in their flesh. They trust in the strength and
the wisdom of their flesh, that is their mind, their thoughts,
how they go about life and how they do things. This is seen
in the Gentile here. And the Gentile here, he trusts
in himself. He's trusting in his natural
religious beliefs, the way he was raised, what he learned in
the school playground, what he learned in life by experience
at work and doing things, and any religious beliefs that he's
picked up, that's his religion. That's the religion of the flesh. And the Lord reveals to his people
by the new birth that salvation is of the Lord, that it's his
work, that he's the one saving by grace apart from ourselves,
so that it's not my wisdom, it's not my riches, it's not my status,
it's not my family, it's not my looks, it's nothing like that,
but God reveals through the new birth. birth. It's a birth done by God. And I know that popular religion,
especially in our country, teaches that My faith saves me, that
when I believe and when I confess Christ, then I'm born again.
That's how I was taught when I was in religion, that I make
myself born again by my faith. And that's just not true. It's
a lie. It's a spiritual birth. And the
reason why we confess Christ and confess I'm the sinner, unable
to save myself, the reason we confess that is because of the
new birth. It's a product. of the new birth,
that we look to Christ and believe Him. And so we see through grace
that it's neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, that it's not of
works but of Him that calleth. And so those that came up by
their own status and their own, their trusting in themselves
and their strength and their abilities, it offends, election
offends to hear that God saves whom He will, it offends. And
that's because we were trusting in the law of nature. We were
trusting in our ability to speak for ourselves and to argue with
God and make our case why God should receive us. There's a
lot of people that think that, that that's going to be their
acceptance, that they're pretty good. The Lord teaches us in
Romans that they that are after the flesh, they're minding the
things of the flesh. That's just fleshly wisdom. That's
just fleshly foolishness is what it is to think that we're able
to stand before God and going to argue for our righteousness.
And so he teaches us that they that are in the flesh, Those,
like the Gentiles, they cannot please God. And then another
example is seen in the man that trusts in the Law of Moses. This
is the religious people, people that are very religious, trained
up and disciplined in religion. And they would be called or looked
at as the Jewish hearer. And they trust in their things being taught in law, being
taught in religious circles. And so the religious here thinks
that by their diligence, by their diligence and adherence to these
things, that that is their righteousness and that earns them favor with
God. And so when that type of hearer
hears the gospel and hears what's being said, they hear that it's
by grace that you're saved. of God, not of worthless, any
man should boast." And so, he becomes offended because, again,
he's thinking, well, if it's by grace and it's not by my works,
then what have I been doing all this time? What value or worth
is what I've been doing in religious things? Why have I been so diligent
in religion? And so, he gets offended because
what he's heard when Christ said in Matthew 5 20 that except your
righteousnesses shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and pharisees ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven
and the way the religious here hears that without the spirit
what they hear is oh I need to be working harder then I've got
to be more diligent and more serious and less, you know, I
can't smile, I can't play cards, I can't go to the movies, I can't
dance, I can't do anything because I've got to be perfect more so
than the Pharisees were perfect. And so they go about their religion,
they may hear of Jesus, right, and speak of Jesus Christ as
the Lord and Savior. But their salvation, their confidence
is, well, one eye on Jesus and one eye on the law, my law keeping. And you can't do that. Just try
it. You can't, you can't like look here and look there at the
same time. You're looking at one or the other and that's it. And that's their, their religion
is they cease to look at Jesus because they, all they know is
the flesh and that which is tangible and that which they can touch.
So they like works. Man likes works. Still doing what I'm supposed
to be doing. I guess everything's okay. He's not resting in Christ. He's not trusting Christ in his
righteousness. And so, Paul has brought us here
that through the revelation of the Spirit of God, revealing
to him the gospel, revealing to him how sinners are made acceptable
with God, he brings us to see that Christ Jesus The Son of
God is our very righteousness. He fulfilled all righteousness
for His people. He fulfilled the law. He filled full all the requirements
of the law and left nothing for the sinner to do for their salvation,
which includes their justification, their righteousness, their sanctification,
their wisdom, their redemption, Everything was accomplished by
Jesus Christ there on the cross. And so Paul asks in Romans 3.27,
where is boasting then? It's excluded by what law? Of
works? The law of works? No, but by
the law of faith. Because the law of faith declares
there's nothing for you and I, who are sinners and weak in this
flesh, there's nothing for us to boast in before God. We didn't
do anything to earn his favor. He had to do everything. We were
lost and dead in trespasses and sins. And he calls it the law
of faith to show to us that it's unbending, it's unchanging. God
has established that His people will be saved looking to Christ
by faith, resting in Him, staying right there. looking to Christ. And so, believing excludes boasting,
because it excludes every work of man in his salvation, and
what he's trying to accomplish. And so, this is because the Lord
has established our righteousness in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
is not looking to you and I for anything more for salvation. That's resting in Christ, that's
believing God, that He has indeed provided salvation in His Son. And so, salvation excludes, it
must exclude, the boasting of the saved sinner. We've got nothing
to glory in this flesh, and of ourselves. And to say, well,
I'm doing it, why aren't you doing it? We can't look at one
another in that way at all, because anything we have, anything we
do, is of the Lord, and we're thankful for that, and we believe
Him and trust Him, all right? So, a believer's faith, if you
think about it, faith is the very cessation, the ceasing,
the stopping of our works. It's the end of works, we believe.
We're resting in faith, looking to Jesus Christ, believing God
that just as God said, I'll save them, I've provided salvation,
my own hand is going to save the people. The Lord Jesus Christ,
he saves us by Christ, and so we rest there in him. Man gets
offended by this because, again, if God did all the work, then
God gets all the glory. And then man is left to ask,
well then what's left for me? What glory is in it for me then?
If God's getting all the glory, what's left for me? Nothing.
Nothing for you to glory in itself. All we glory in is the Lord Jesus
Christ and that's plenty. That's who we glory in is Jesus
Christ. And so we're careful not to preach
works so that man ceases to look to Christ and starts looking
at what he needs to be doing better and better apart from
Christ. We're trusting Him, because as Paul said, if I yet preach
circumcision, then why am I yet suffering persecution? Because
as soon as I preach the works of man, as soon as I lift up
and exalt man and convince him that there's something he can
be doing, as soon as I do that, then the offense of the cross
ceases. And I'm not saying that we don't
do works, The Spirit of God produces righteous fruit in the believer,
but it's not looking to ourselves and whipping ourselves and beating
ourselves, looking to the Law of Moses. That's not going to
produce anything. The Law of Moses was given to
show the exceeding sinfulness of sin in us. That's how far
apart we are from the righteousness of God. we're so far. So salvation is purely by grace. It's because of what Christ has
accomplished in us. So that's the end of boasting
there. That's what Paul is bringing us to there. Next we see in our
second point justification for all through faith. And that's
what Christ accomplished. All his people wherever they're
from, whatever their background is, all his people, he's justified
them one way, the same way, through faith, through faith looking
to him, because he's their justification. So Paul declares this in his
conclusion in verse 28. He answers the question on boasting.
He says there in Romans 3, 28, Therefore, we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Now, again,
Paul words it this way. A man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. He affirms it in that way to
show us, again, that boasting is excluded. That's what he's
showing here. There's nothing for us to boast
in. in self, and that's because of how our justification was
obtained for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he says we're justified
by faith, and we know earlier that he said we're justified
by Christ, and Paul's not contradicting himself. It's not our faith that
justifies us. Our faith is looking to Christ
who justified us. We're looking to Him. Look at
Romans 3, 24. Romans 3.24 and 25 says, being justified freely
by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood."
And so, God is revealing our justification. He's showing us
that he's satisfied with his people hidden in Christ, covered
by the blood of Christ. He's showing us, I'm satisfied
with them. and he makes us to be satisfied
with the salvation he's provided. He's given us faith. He reveals
to faith, which he's given, to look to Christ and be satisfied
with him. And so, Paul's highlighting that
our justification is through that faith that God gives us,
rather than looking to the deeds of the law, rather than looking
to something that we do. So in summary, because we're
wrapping up chapter 3 here, in summary of the first three chapters
that we've seen, first of all, Paul showed us that by the Spirit
of God that the Gentiles, they're not saved by their natural wisdom
and understanding. They're not saved by what they've
done in their flesh, their wisdom and their practices and their
idolatry and stump worshiping and things like that. He showed
us that the Jews who had the law, who had the oracles of God,
they're not saved by it. the law either. They're no better
than the Gentiles. Every single one of us is counted
under sin. God has concluded us, meaning
He's shown to us that we're all under sin. We've got nothing
to boast of in our history or past. And then He shows us that
if any one of us is justified, if there's any here justified,
it's Christ that justifies. It's because of His work of salvation
His going to the cross, His fulfilling all righteousness, Him shedding
His blood to cover the sins of His people so that in Christ
we're forgiven, we're free. And His Spirit, He gives His
Spirit to lift that veil of darkness, to lift that veil of just death
and nature's corruption. He lifts that veil so that we
see and behold the light of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
That's why we stopped. Otherwise, our religion, Christianity,
is just another dead religion. It's just another religion of
other religions. It's just doing work. I do these
as opposed to this. I light a candle as opposed to
going on a trip to Mecca. It's just another religion. But
it's not just another religion. It's living faith upon the Lord
Jesus Christ for what he has done. And so Christ is our justification. And speaking like that, declaring
that we're saved by grace through Christ, religion gets nervous. Religion gets angry about this
because now suddenly they lose their control. They lose that
carrot and that whip over you, to control you and get your flesh
to do what they want you to do. Because just like the Jew we
saw in chapter 2, they know that they're doing the same wicked
things, they're breaking the law themselves, but they consider
themselves justified because they're getting other sinners
to do better, to do something. And they're saying, well, I know
God's with me because, yeah, I break a few laws myself, but
I got so-and-so to do this and to stop doing that and to start
doing this, and so they count themselves to be the people of
God because they were instructors of the law, and that's what religion
does today. It just goes under a different
name. They call themselves Christians,
but it's a mockery because they're not trusting Christ, they're
not following Christ, they don't practice, they don't look and
preach and teach grace, they teach law, and they teach works
again still. So, look now at Romans 3, 29,
and he shows us, it's for all. Is he the God of the Jews only?
Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. In
other words, he's saying God created all peoples, the Gentile
and the Jew. He didn't give the Gentiles the
law, But that's because God's, and he's showing that God is
not saved by the law. He's the God of the Gentiles
too, who didn't have the law. All they had was nature's light,
and all they could do was look to creation, and they didn't
know the true living God. And so, again, the law was given
to make sin appear what it is to us, that we're sinners. Because
before the law came, It was just kind of a fuzzy understanding
of what is right or wrong based on what we believed as a tribe
and as a people. What the elders said was right,
that was right. And what they said was wrong,
that was wrong. But we didn't know what was right and wrong
until God revealed it very clearly and plainly in the law, showing
just how far we are from the righteousness of God. Just how
weak we are and incompetent we are in terms of serving him and
being faithful and just trusting him. There was nothing there.
And then the law was given because it showed us this is what you
do when someone breaks the law. You stone them. You put them
to death. Kill them. You don't keep it, you're dead.
Or certain things, you weren't necessarily dead, but you had
to pay fourfold or fivefold or something like that. You had
to pay out all this extra to really drive it home that Don't
you dare do that again. Don't do that. Don't even think
about it. He gave the law to show us just
how exceedingly sinful we are in the flesh. Alright, then Paul
says in Romans 3.30 He says, seeing it as one God which shall
justify the circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through faith. And so, again, he's bringing
us to see that God saves one way. It's by the Lord Jesus Christ. Doesn't matter whether you're
a Gentile, doesn't matter whether you're a Jew, it doesn't matter
what your background is, we're all saved one way. It's by the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's through him, it's through him coming the Son of God, taking
upon Him the likeness of this sinful flesh. And yet He Himself,
having no sin, having fulfilled the law perfectly on behalf of
His people, to make them righteous." And so He did that very work. And Christ, He died as our substitute. He died to put away the sins
of the people. He died bearing the punishment
that his people deserved for their sin. And that's our hope. As the Lord teaches us, he that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with them also freely give us all things? Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. And so we're justified by Christ. God reveals that to us, as he
says, seeing them, right? Seeing it is one God. We see
now, we see that there is no circumcision and uncircumcision.
It's a living faith that has nothing to do with the natural
world and what we do. in the flesh. It's apart from
us, apart from our works, God saves by grace, and He gives
His Spirit to dwell in us, to give us life, and to produce
those good works, such as that work of faith, looking to Him,
that work of love to the Lord, that work of Him turning us from
the natural love and affection that we have for the things of
this world unto loving and desiring and hungering and thirsting for
Christ our Savior, for His righteousness, to be found in Him, not having
my own righteousness, but to be found in Him, looking to Him,
resting in Him, trusting Him for all His righteousness. that
He did indeed fulfill everything that God said He would do. And
so, by that revelation, by regeneration, God giving us life from the dead,
from just this natural corruption that can't know God, or how to
worship Him, or how to please Him in anything, and He reveals
to us the mystery of godliness. That Christ is the mystery of
godliness. Before then, if you look at all
religions in the world, All they are is about what you need to
do to separate yourself from this world and to get yourself
closer to God. It's all about you. And the mystery
of godliness is that God has provided righteousness in His
Son Jesus Christ for His people. He is our righteousness. He is
our justification. And He teaches us, and leads
us, and guides us walking by faith, not looking to the law
for righteousness and how we're to live, but looking to Christ
for righteousness. And we see Him, we see what He
did, and how He loved, and how He was faithful to the Father
in all things. Even going to the cross, laying
down His life for His people, bearing their sins, believing
God all the while, that God was faithful and just to raise him
from the dead just as he said when he did that work perfectly
for his people. So it's by faith. Alright, now
we come to the third and final point which is the law established
in Christ. So seeing that We're justified
in Christ. Apart from our works in the law,
we believe Christ. We see, we rest in Him. It's
by faith. And then Paul says in Romans
3.31, do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid,
yea, we establish the law. Now remember, our Lord said in
Matthew 5.17, think not that I am come to destroy the law
or the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. So Christ, when he came, the
Son of God took upon flesh, when he came, he did what we cannot
do, what we couldn't do before and what we can't do now, he
fulfilled the law perfectly. He fulfilled it. Filled it full.
Just like if I keep pouring water in this glass, it's going to
get full. It'll be filled full so that
if I pour any more into it, it just flows right over. It's fulfilled. That means he's done it all.
There's nothing more to add to it. And so we perished under
the law. We died under the law. We were
found to be guilty sinners, unable to please God, and do what we
needed to do. And that's where we labored,
and that's where we moved about in that corruption, and in that
death, and in just that darkness, under a veil of darkness, not
knowing the truth of God. We didn't see it. But now in
faith, with that veil removed by the Spirit of God, we see
that Christ is true righteousness, and in Him we have liberty, liberty
That is in knowing that I'm not under the threats and the condemnation
of the law. We're free from that. Free so
that we don't have to look to the law and lie about it. What
does that liberty do? What does that liberty in Christ
allow us to do? Well, it says that we establish
the law. And that word establish means
to stand it up, to stand up the law. We establish it. It's done,
it's stood up. And so by the Spirit, we confess
what we are. We don't have to lie about that
now to one another and play games, right? We can confess, wherefore
the law is holy and the commandment holy, and just and good. We see
that. We know the law of God showed
the righteousness of God. And now how far apart we are
from that. And we confess, I'm the problem. It's the weakness of my flesh
to fulfill it. God has shown me. I'm weak in
myself. I can't do what is righteousness
as laid out in the laws. God showed me this law. I can't
do it. And since Christ fulfilled that
law for his people, even to the point where he died unto the
law, right? He died for his people. He fulfilled
righteousness and everything. He did the whole thing, even
to the point of dying for his people. So that now, in Christ,
I don't have to lie. I don't have to pretend like
I'm keeping the law and hide the fact that I'm weak. Again,
I'm not giving myself license to just do whatever I want in
the flesh. I'm a sinner. I don't delight
in the flesh and what the flesh loves. In the new man, I delight
in Christ and I want to walk in Him and serve Him. But we don't have to lie and
pretend. When I would speak to to other
men, I remember in the Spanish Pentecostal, they were so convinced
that now we don't sin, like we can't sin. That's how they took
it. We don't sin. And so when I said, well, what
is that that you just did there? That's sin. He said, oh, no,
no, no, no, no, no. It's a mistake. I did a mistake. I don't sin.
It's a mistake. I commit mistakes now. and they
just twist it, and it's just a lie. You're not being honest,
and you're not walking in the light. Now you're walking in
darkness, and you're hiding the fact that you're a sinner, and
that's where that enmity comes in, and that hatred, and walking
in malice, and deceit, and there's no sincerity there. But what
God has shown us is that as Christ has fulfilled it, God is righteous,
I'm a sinner saved. Saved by the righteousness of
Jesus Christ. And I don't want to walk in a
manner that hurts my brethren or offends them. I want to love Christ and I want
to be right there in His light and serving Him. And so we can
be honest in that sense. It's not, you know, religion,
they love to pointing to the law and just say, well, you know,
you meant well. God knows your heart. He knows
that you're trying your best and that you mean to do the right
thing. But the law doesn't know you
mean well. The law is strict. The law is
exacting. It's exacting. And the law says,
you do this and live. Paul said, the law is not of
faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them. In other
words, if you fail in it in some part, you die. You either do
it perfectly and live, or you fall and you're dead. That's
it, that's what the law does. But Paul said our salvation really,
really is in Christ. He said in Galatians 3.13 that
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on the cross. tree. And so Christ did
that. He hung on that cursed tree in
the place of his people to put away their sin perfectly by his
righteousness. And then Paul said in Galatians
3 11 that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God
as evident for the just shall live by faith. And so By faith,
we're looking to Christ, that when we stand before holy God
in that day of judgment, that we're not coming, everybody else
is gonna come with their works and start to argue and negotiate
with God and say, well, what about this and what about that
and doesn't this help me and didn't I do this for you and
didn't I do that? And the righteous, those that
are truly righteous, aren't looking to anything they've done. We're
saying, Lord, don't look at me and my works, look at your son
Jesus Christ, look at him, the one that you sent to make me
righteous, to put away my sin, Lord. And that's where the righteous
come, and that's where they'll be found, and he'll say, well
done thou good and faithful servant, enter into thy rest. You reverence
my son, you believe the one whom I sent for this very purpose
of work. I pray the Lord will take these
words that I tried to say, but that He show you the righteousness
of Jesus Christ in Himself. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord,
Father, we thank You for Your mercy and Your grace in sending
Your Son, Jesus Christ, who is the very righteousness of His
people. Lord, we pray that You would help us to rest in Him.
Lord, that your spirit would teach us this in the new man,
that you would make us alive unto Christ, not looking to our
flesh and having any confidence or boasting in the flesh, but
looking to Christ alone. It's in his name we pray and
give thanks. Amen.