Rescued From Misplaced Faith Part 2

Rain forests looking to Jesus and perfect are all linked to the Romans give conclusive ritual and confer salvation is Jewish readers know that their father Abraham was not justified through circumcision today. More on my believing in rituals is to have misplaced faith from the Moody Church in Chicago. This is running to with Dr. Erwin looks her was clear.

Teaching helps us make it across the line master looks or could it be that a ritual is easier to understand a concept like justification. Damien raised a very interesting question. You know, rituals can help us they can remind us of what the truth of Scripture really is. But oftentimes they get in the way and people begin to trust them. They begin to trust a crucifix or they begin to trust deeds and pretty soon they believe that these items have magical qualities it's really distracting.

Contrary to the gospel. Yes it is true that the gospel of Jesus Christ is based of course on truth and therefore it is based on concepts such as justification, but is not difficult to believe those concepts if we see that we are a sinner and we need a Savior. That's what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. And even as we open our Bibles to the book of Romans. In a moment will understand that more clearly and by the way, before we do that I want you to know that these messages can be yours for a gift of any amount you go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com for a gift of any amount. As I've mentioned, these messages can be yours, or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337 that I need to tell you that these messages also come with a personal study guide but now we go to the book of Romans to understand the gift of salvation now in the rest of this section called Ozan and this is his argument, and I'm going to summarize five or six verses very quickly for you. Here is the fundamental issue that people in his day, asked the Jewish community well were circumcised. Circumcision is a sign of the covenant, and therefore this is proof that we belong to God because we have circumcision in the Gentiles, don't, here's Paul's argument for the next five or six verses here in Romans chapter 4 what Paul says is this that Abraham was justified by faith. And then it was 18 years later that God gave them circumcision so the whole point is this that he really is the father of us all is the text says when it comes to faith and the reason is because he was just I before God justified before God long before he was circumcised. So if circumcision comes as a result, circumcision comes as a result order brings about salvation. That just doesn't wash. He says circumcision is a sign of faith, but it is not an indication of faith, not waste salvation, Paul here is arguing for a message that you and I need to hear that rituals never say, and yet I need people to say what I was baptized a Christian, I have a certificate that says I was baptized a Christian. I need people who say that I participated in the sacraments or in one way or another. I did this ritual. I did this for Aaron and Paul is saying none of that is the means of salvation. These may be expressions of salvation and a little bit. We're all going to be able to participate in what we call the Lord's supper as we participate.

We are saying do this. As Jesus said in remembrance of me. It does not say, but it is an act of worship because we have been saved through faith, so the answer to saving faith is unique to understand sin and grace that Abraham was not justified simply because he was a good man. He was justified because he believed God's promise. Parenthesis is because all the other religions are based on works or there are people who are absolutely convinced that their religion is true they are willing to kill others to prove that their religion is true and be killed, what they do not have. Please understand this what they do not have his personal assurance that when they die they will go to heaven because there's something with in them that tells them that that's assurance is impossible because after all, after all, that assurance is something that they cannot attain to Christianity says that when you believe on Christ. There is an assurance and that assurance is the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the ministry of the Spirit gives us that deep settled peace that Jesus paid it all and that we belong to him. Romans chapter 8, as many as are led by the spirit of God. They are the sons of God and the spirit cries within our heart and the father God, you are mine and I am your child and thank you that you have adopted me into your family. There's 1/3 characteristic and that is that saving faith always is a growing faith.

For this I want you to look at the latter part of the fourth chapter, you'll notice that tab it says in verse 18 and hope he believed against hope that he should become the father of many nations because he was told. So your offspring shall be.

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dad since he was about 100 or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb faith. I should put it this way, faith, true faith is both an act and the process. It is an act of God had told Abraham many times you're going to be great to multiply your seed in so far as we know Abraham was not justified because he didn't believe it, but there in the 15th chapter of Genesis. He finally really believe God for his faith was perhaps somewhat shallowly he heard what God was saying but there in the 15th chapter at least he knew that what God was telling him was the truth, and he believed in God. He believed in a God who could do the impossible credited to him for righteousness. That was the active faith that saved Abraham but that was the end of his life of faith.

Was it years later Isaac is born in accordance with God's promises. And now he's the son of promise and God says to Abraham I want you to take him to Mount Moriah and sacrifice and what's going on there.

That's a longer story, of course, God didn't want him to be sacrificed in God.

Never let it happen, but God is saying, Abraham, you know this business of the seed you believe me once, namely that you were as good as dad and Sarah is good as dad decades way past the age of bearing children but yet you trusted me that I could actually raise you from the dead. Can you trust me that I will raise Isaac from the dead. If you sacrifice it. Bible says in the book of Hebrews that when Abraham went on to Mount Moriah. He believed God was even able to raise him from no wonder the text says he didn't struggle with faith. Well that's not exactly what it says he did struggle with faith.

You know the whole story about his relationship with Hagar, Abraham's faith wasn't perfect, but as you look at his life. You see the S founding faith he had that he had heard from God and that God was going to fulfill his promises. What an amazing story and you and I know that we come to saving faith in Christ.

It is an act and then God keeps bring us more trials more trials more trials. Why to test our faith to develop it to give us such confidence that even if we should be put to death for our faith, we can endure it because as the text says regarding Abraham. He was absolutely convinced that what God said God could perform.

I like to nail this down and quickly give you three facts about faith that will help you determine whether or not you really believed in Jesus, or whether you're just going along with the crowd and your family.

Listen carefully, because I believe God is been preparing some of you to hear this message so be careful. First of all, it's very obvious that the object of faith is much more important than the amount you have Jesus that even a little bit of faith if it is placed in the right thing can bring you great benefits a little bit of faith in the true Jesus is much better than absolute confidence in the wrong Jesus and this is maybe why those folks were barred out of heaven. When Jesus said I will say to you I never knew you even though you know you cast out demons, and all that they were believing in a wrong Paul says in second Corinthians chapter 11. He says I'm afraid that some of you are being misled by another Jesus.

We don't know exactly what that Jesus was like, but we know it was so much like the true one that Paul feared the people wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

See not only Jesus will do you have today. For example, the cosmic Jesus who indwells everyone you have the Mormon Jesus said different Jesus, you have the Santa Claus Jesus that I think I saw on television last night we saw the Santa Claus Jesus you give money to me and God is going to bless you and give you a lot of money back. Thank you. It's not even Christmas. And here we have the Santa Claus and all these people you know they're talking about Jesus.

Jesus there some countries in the world where parents name their children Jesus and it's a very popular night.

You just can't believe in any Jesus, you have to believe in a Jesus who is the Savior, who shed his blood on the cross for sin whose qualified to be a Savior. You have to believe in that Jesus.

And if you come even with a little faith to the real Jesus he'll accept you better to believe in the real Jesus with a trembling heart and to believe in the wrong one with calmness and smug serenity.

I was counseling a woman one day, who I believe was a true believer, but she struggled with assurance. She led Bible studies and let other people to Christ, and we were beside a lake and I said you know an illustration comes to mind a time when there was a lake that was totally frozen and somebody wanted to walk across it, and Midway began to fear that the ice was too thin and so began to actually crawl so as to spread his weight and then off in the distance toward him became a team of horses, and he knew why in the world am I crawling.

Obviously, this ice is strong enough to hold me. I said I'm on the same ice that you are it is thick. You have promises that you can believe and trust in you can investigate Jesus. Those promises reason to be believed by secure crawling across the lake and some of us are just so confident were hopping and skipping and sliding around. I guess on the lake.

Better to trust with trembling a Jesus that can save you rather than to think that your trusting another Jesus finally or not quite finely but second second fact about faith sometimes faith how shall I put it.

We have to believe that even though we don't know how God is going to do it.

We have to believe even though we don't know how God is going to do it when God said, Abraham, you know you're going to be as great an organ have all these posterity more than can we can count. Abraham wasn't given a game plan as to how God was going to do it the promise in many respects, was too good to be true in there. Some of you here who are listening to this message, you are saying this is too good to be true. I can believe on Jesus and be saved. And I'm saying to you today no matter what problems you have with the promise even though you don't quite see how an omnipotent God can do it. It is very important that you realize that it's not necessary for you to understand it all. You just know that the person who's giving the promise is reliable and that says he's qualified to do. That's what you must believe and when you believe that God puts everything else in perspective and in place. Finally, very important. Faith is not just information.

Faith is an attitude of trust, faith is a transfer of trust and that's another place where people go they say will you know I love Jesus I admire in my go to church.

I am involved in this ministry or that ministry and I'm basically a good person and yeah I believe I've asked many people the question as I did on the plane this past week you were to die. What would you say if God were to say why should I let you into heaven, the man though educated in religion, said he had no answer and then he said something that I like to sit. I want to ask you that question. While you see, the fact is my friend fax alone don't save you. There must be that transfer of trust and transfer of trust God saves us and we begin a journey of trust and challenge because without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he read towards those who diligently seek him out for some of you the gospel that I just presented is indeed too good to be true because if the truth were known, you know very much so that you are a sinner and you need to believe on Jesus and and you say, but if you know what I've done. I don't know what you've done, but God does. But today, as it says in this text we know that God is able to justify you by faith in Jesus.

Paul ends this chapter by saying that Jesus Christ was put to death because of our trespasses and raised for our justification.

What he means is that if Jesus had just died and remained dead. Michael Rendell neck is a messianic Jewish person who's a great friend of mine. He said that if there is no resurrection, Jesus is nothing more than it did you, but thankfully he's a living Jew, a living Savior and today I urge you just taken this information and say what was in that interesting believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. If God has prepared you for this moment right now, you can receive them, shall we pray Lord we ask that you shall take these words and bless them to our hearts and asked for those who've never trusted Christ made they do that and for those of us who have hopeless not to take for granted the great miracle that you've done in our lives that we do not understand, but Abraham never understood everything either.

And yet he believed you and it was counted to him as righteousness, grant that for us all. God we ask a nose.

I was listening to the comments that I was making about the resurrection of Jesus.

I was reminded of the words of Vance have.

He was a Southern preacher.

He said if the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a myth that I am myth taken mystified and miserable and how right he was. But thank God that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a fact of history.

He died on the cross for our sins and was raised on the third day. If you are profiting from this ministry from the book of Romans. If you are being spiritually edified.

I'd like to encourage you to get these sermons to have them permanently so that you can share them with your friends. And when you do that along with the messages we will also send you a new study guide. It's a personal study guide that will help you dig deeper into the book of Romans and understand Paul's argument and therefore understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the exposition of the gospel. Here's what you do, you can go to RTW offer.com. As I mentioned, for a gift of any amount.

These messages can be yours RTW offer.com. Of course RTW offer is all one word or if you prefer you can call us at 1-888-218-9337 I'm going to be giving you that contact information again but from my heart to yours. I want to thank the many of you who continue to support the ministry of running to win where in more than 20 different countries of the world and it is because of people like you. Thanks in advance for your prayers and your gifts. Here's what you can do to receive these messages and the study guide. Go to RTW offer.com or if you prefer, call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 is time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor lutes or a question about the Bible or the Christian life. The Bible sometimes uses more than one word for what seems to be the same thing. Making sense of this can be a challenge. Susan has gotten in touch with us to ask this, what is the difference between Rachel and Hades and which is most appropriate for the apostles Creed. Thanks so much for your question says in a couple of things in the Old Testament you have the word she'll that is the Hebrew word she'll I think it's used 65 times in the Old Testament and what the ancient rabbis believed and I think they were right is that it really has two compartments because you know the righteous went into she'll and yet it's a place of activity according to Isaiah and other passages and also the unrighteous went into she'll so it can be the grave, but actually it is more than the grave. We learn that in the Old Testament when you get to the New Testament and Jesus tells that story about the rich man who went to Hades. You see, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the New Testament was written in Greek. When the New Testament quotes a passage from the Old Testament that has the word she'll it translates it as Hades and of course there we have to compartments don't way you have Lazarus on the one side and you have the rich man on the other. Now the point is, neither of these is hell. As a matter of fact in the book of Revelation.

It says that eventually Hades is thrown into the lake of fire.

Hades is the place where I believe unbelievers go today, but it is not their final destination. They are not cast into hell until they have been finally judged as indicated in the book of Revelation. Now the question of the apostles Creed a couple of comments. First of all it says he descended into Hades, most assuredly, I don't think it should read. Hell, if anything, it should read Hades but there it might simply mean the grave, because once again, Hades can just be more general reference to the grave. But here's the point that I want to emphasize.

It is not true, as some Bible teachers have alleged that Jesus went to hell in there he paid for our sin. I've heard it said that he descended into hell and there he took our hell and it is there in hell were we were redeemed. No, I don't believe that we were redeemed at the cross, the shed blood of Christ, the sacrifice that was made.

It is there that we were redeemed and if Jesus did go into Hades, which I believe he would've if that's the way in which you interpret Scripture. He wasn't there for very long. Lizzie because he said to the thief, today you shall be with me in paradise. So I don't believe that Jesus went to hell I even doubt whether or not he went to Hades. I tend to think that he went straight to heaven and just to think his last companion on earth apparently was his first companion in heaven. Thank you and God bless you. Thank you Susan, thank you Dr. lutes or if you'd like to hear your question answered. Go to our website@rtwoffer.com and click on ask Pastor lutes or or call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 you can write to us running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614 one of the great blessings God confers on those who believe in Jesus's hope next time don't miss rescued from hopelessness. This is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church