Welcome to the broadcast ministry of Finding Purpose with Russ Andrews, where we seek to glorify God by making Him known and guiding others towards their true purpose in life.
No one is here by chance. God put us here for a reason. And the most important thing we can do is discover His plan for us and commit ourselves to it. Keep listening as we learn from the Bible how to live wisely in God's world, which is the first step in our life.
Today's message is entitled The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I want you to take your Bibles and open up to Romans chapter 1, and let's begin by reading verses 16 and 17. Here's what Paul writes, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the Gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last. Just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.
And then in Romans 3, 22, Paul writes this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. Now let me ask you a very important question. Is there a chance you have not been receiving reliable information as to what it means to be a genuine, true Christian? In other words, can you trust what you hear every Sunday coming from the pulpit in your church? And my question may shock you, what may even offend you, but I want you to listen carefully to what I'm going to say tonight.
And here's why I ask this question. The Bible says that Satan is extremely crafty and deceptive. And believe me when I say this, over the last 124 years, going back to at least 1900, Satan has been working deceitfully, infiltrating divinity schools and churches all throughout America. You see, Satan wants the world to believe that when he appears, he appears in the form of a cartoon character, you know, a red devil holding a pitchfork.
But he's too smart and conniving to do this. Here's how the Bible describes his appearance. In Second Corinthians, Chapter 11, verses 13 through 15, Paul writes, For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder. For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
Did you hear that? Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light, not a red devil with a pitchfork. Paul goes on. It's not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. And then he gives this warning.
Their end will be what their actions deserve. Now, listen, during the first century, the apostle Paul was so concerned about false apostles, deceitful workmen, infiltrating the church in Ephesus that he warned the elders the last time he met with them. Here's what he says in Acts 20, verses 28 through 31. This is what he said to the elders. Even from your own number, did you hear that?
Even from your own number, men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard. Remember that for three years, I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. For the past 40 years, I've been warning men about this issue to the point where I've even lost some friends.
Now, I certainly don't want to lose friends. However, I want you to notice I'm more concerned about offending God than I am any man. And this is what you're going to hear when you come into the sanctuary on Tuesday nights. You're going to hear the truth from God's word, not my word, but God's word. You see, God's word is in my heart like a fire, and I cannot keep it to myself. The prophet Jeremiah, who lived during the seventh century B.C., a time when many false priests had taken over the temple. He actually, God told him to go stand at the temple, the front door. And when they walked in to declare to them, woe to the shepherds who leave my flock astray. You see, he had God's word in him like a fire, and he could not keep it to himself. Here's what he says in Jeremiah chapter 20, verse nine. But if I say I will not mention him or speak any more in his name, his word is shut up in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I'm wary of holding it in.
Indeed, I cannot. Listen, the older I get, the more God's word becomes a fire within me. I cannot stop preaching the truth from God's word, even if it turns many people away.
You see, the reason I warn people, particularly men, about the false teaching coming from so many churches today is because so many of my friends and people that I know, people that I care deeply about, are being deceived by the great deceiver who has infiltrated their church, masquerading as an angel of light. Walter Martin, the author of Screwtape, writes again. It's a book that was kind of written on the heels of C.S.
Lewis's book, Screwtape Letters, and it has the same flavor as that book. But he had the same concern back in 1975 when his book, Screwtape Writes Again, was first published. That was 49 years ago.
He died in 1989. I wonder what he would write today if he could see the condition of the church in America. Now listen carefully to this. In his book, Screwtape, who is a high ranking demon, writes his nephew Wormwood, a demon who is in training to be an emissary or an ambassador for the devil. Screwtape is writing Wormwood to tell him how to implement Satan's strategy to infiltrate churches in order to keep its members confused, trapped and lost. So Screwtape begins by explaining to Wormwood that everything in Satan's strategy, listen now, is the exact opposite of Christianity. For example, the enemy is Jesus, and the enemy's spirit is the Holy Spirit.
Because from the perspective of hell, everything is opposite. Jesus is the enemy, good is evil, and evil is good. Screwtape says to Wormwood, if you can obscure these facts, there's a good chance that he will embrace what hell considers to be the perfect synonym for true religion, churchianity. In this marvelous imitation of the enemy's church, everything looks and sounds right and good, but the enemy's spirit is conspicuously absent.
Did you hear that? He's right, the Holy Spirit is absent from the church today, many churches. Screwtape then says to Wormwood, you must arrange to make him a devout Methodist or Baptist or Presbyterian or Episcopalian or whatever. Make him that. He must come to accept the church as a type of religious social club where people congregate.
Nothing more. In a word, Wormwood, helping to become more religious, but for hell's sake, not more Christian. In Fritz Rheinauer's book, How to Be a Christian Without Being Religious, he begins by explaining how genuine Christianity is so different from man-made religions. All of the religions of the world with exception of Christianity have one basic characteristic.
You know what it is? Each one teaches that pleasing God is accomplished through human effort. In other words, if you strive to be a good person by attending church, reciting liturgy, saying prayers in unison with everyone else, and then trying to perform good deeds during the week, then if you do all that, God will be pleased with you. Is that the truth?
I don't think so. Do you know what the Bible says about this? Hebrews 11 says, without faith, it is impossible to please God.
No matter what you do, without faith, it is impossible to please God. Rheinauer writes in his book, religions reach up toward God. Christianity is God reaching down to man. Christianity claims that men have not found God, but that God has found them. And to some, listen, this is a crushing blow.
It really is. You see, they prefer religious effort, dealing with God on their terms. This puts them in control and makes them feel good about themselves. So, men, we're getting ready to study Romans this year. And the reason Paul wrote Romans is to clearly explain what it means to be a real, genuine Christian. As we make our journey through Romans, Paul is going to explain in depth what it means to be a Christian. Moreover, although not explicitly stated, Paul is going to reveal that all of mankind faces an imminent threat, a clear and present danger. Do you know what it is? It's the wrath of God.
How do I know this? Because this is what the Bible says. In John 3, 36, just to give you one example, John writes, who believes in the Son has eternal life. But whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
The reason it remains on him is because it has always been there. You need to understand that we are all born under the wrath of God. And if something doesn't change within us, God's wrath remains our imminent threat. So, what must change about a man to be rescued from God's wrath?
Well, notice that I did not say what must a man do. What you're going to see is that what must be done for us to be changed inwardly has already been done. It has everything to do with the gospel. This is why Paul mentions the word gospel six times in the first 17 verses of Romans 1. So, I want to share with you tonight two key aspects of the gospel that will bring about this change within you. And here's the first one. Only by way of the gospel can a man be saved.
Why? Because we are born sinners who exist under God's wrath. Therefore, we must be saved if we want the gift of eternal life and if we want to be rescued from this wrath.
Look at Romans 1 16 again. Paul writes, I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. You see, the key to salvation, the key to your entrance into heaven is by way of the gospel.
There is no other way. So, it's important that we understand exactly what the gospel is. Well, look at 1 Corinthians 15 verses 1 through 6 where Paul clearly explains in detail what the gospel is. Listen to what he says.
After that, he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. So, there you have it. There is the gospel clearly spelled out to you and me.
So, here's the question. What must change about you and me? What must change within us in order for us to be protected from God's wrath? Number one, we must be saved. Well, to be saved, number two, we must hear the gospel.
And number three, when we hear the gospel, we have to believe it in order to be saved. So, how do you hear the gospel? Well, you either hear it by proclamation from a Bible preacher, you know, a preacher who actually believes the word of God, or you pick the Bible up for yourself and you start to read it.
John MacArthur puts it like this. You have to know what the Bible says and then believe it to point to the point that it becomes a conviction. You then have to have that conviction to the degree that your default position in life is to be obedient to that conviction. Now, this gets to the heart of the gospel. You must hear it, then you must believe it, and then you must obey it.
Now, think about this. When is the last time you heard the gospel clearly explained at your church? When is the last time you heard your minister say, you must be born again? See, that's what the gospel tells us. We have to be born again. Paul just said it is the first importance, and so we should hear it proclaimed from the churches in America every Sunday. In Romans 10, 17, Paul writes, Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. You must hear the word of God to be saved. And this is why we study the Bible. We actually believe that it is the very word of God. When we begin our study of Hosea this coming January, it will mark the 20th year of the men's study, which means I'm getting old.
For nearly 20 years, we've been inviting men to come and join us here on Tuesday nights. Do you know why? So that each one of them will be given the opportunity to clearly hear the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and therefore they will have a chance to be saved. Now, look back at verse 16. Paul says that the gospel is the power of God for what?
For the salvation of everyone who believes. So what does it mean to believe? Well, first let me tell you what it does not mean. It does not mean mental assent. It includes mental assent, but mental assent cannot save you. So what is mental assent?
Mental assent is when you know a fact to be true. You can know all the facts about Jesus and yet not know Him. You may know that Jesus is the Son of God. You may know that Jesus died on the cross. And you may know that Jesus ascended into heaven. Actually, when you recite the Apostles' Creed, what you're really saying is that you believe all of these facts to be true. The question is, have you really trusted in the gospel as it is presented through the Apostles' Creed when you're saying that? Are you really trusting it?
Or are you just reciting it from rote memory? Here's what it means to believe. To believe according to the biblical definition of faith. You must know the truth with your mind, but more importantly, you must trust in the truth with your heart.
Someone once said that it's often only 18 inches that separates a man from salvation. The distance from your mind to your heart. You see, your heart is your inner being where your core beliefs are formed. Your heart includes your mind, your will, and your emotions.
It's the real you. And what God looks at when he looks at you is not your outward appearance, but he looks at your heart. He can see your heart. He knows what you think and he knows what you believe. Romans 10, 9 and 10. Paul says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, to me that's mental assent.
And believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. What does it mean to trust in something?
Well, here's an example. You can walk by a hammock and believe in your mind that it will support your weight. But it's not until you lie down in the hammock that you truly prove that you trust in it.
You must rest your full weight into something to show that you really believe it. And this is what it means to believe in the gospel. The most important truth of the gospel, you need to understand this, points to the cross. To be saved you must come by way of the cross. So why is the cross so important? Why is it so important? It's the central point of history, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Well, the answer to its importance is found in the Bible. The Bible teaches that God is holy. He's so holy that we cannot comprehend it. He's also just.
And because of his justice, he has to punish sinners. Now, think about the sun, S-U-N. Think about its incredible light and its incredible heat. Now, if you get too close to the sun, what's going to happen?
You will be instantly consumed. That is a picture of the holiness of God. Hebrews 12, 29 says, for our God is a consuming fire. You see, we cannot come into his presence any more than we can come into the presence of the sun unless something about us changes. So what must change?
And by the way, this change takes place on the inside. Well, because God is holy, we too must be made holy. You see, if we're not holy, we can never come into his presence. But this presents a dilemma because we are not holy. We're just the opposite. The Bible says there's no one righteous.
Same thing as sin, there's no one holy. Not even one. All have turned away. They have together become worthless. There's no one who does good.
Not even one. And then it goes on in verse in Romans chapter three, verse 22. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We can never meet his righteous standard by our good deeds.
Why is that? Well, it's just impossible because we're all born unholy and unrighteous sinners. We just have this sinful nature. We just come out the wound designed to do what is wrong. It's innate.
We're born with it. Thus, God's wrath is an imminent threat. Something, his wrath remains over us until something about us changes. And so we have to be changed from the inside.
We have to have a heart change if we're to be allowed into the presence of God. And this gets to the second key aspect of the gospel. You see, it's only by way of the gospel that a man can receive what is known as imputed righteousness.
I'll explain that in a second. Imputed righteousness. Paul addresses this in Romans 1 17 and also in Romans 3 22, listen to what he writes. For in the gospel, a righteousness from who?
From God. A righteousness from God is revealed in the gospel. A righteousness that is by faith. And then in Romans 3 22, Paul writes, This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. That's the gospel in a nutshell. This righteousness must come from God and it comes by faith in Jesus Christ. Now, listen, if you ask most people this question, how does a person get to go to heaven?
They will probably say something like this. Well, I try to live a good life. I'm a faithful church member and I strive to live by the golden rule. Is that the way you get to go to heaven?
That sounds like works to me. And this is what is meant by religious striving or what I call churchianity. You're on a religious treadmill going nowhere and you don't even know it.
Why don't you know it? Because the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the glory of Jesus Christ. Paul puts it like this in Ephesians 2 8 9. For it is by grace you have been saved. Thank goodness for grace. That's why we sing Amazing Grace. It is by the grace of God that we're saved through faith.
And it's not from ourselves. It is the gift of God's not by works so that no one can boast. He says right here plainly, we're saved through faith, which is God's gift to us. God gives us faith and then it's a gift of God.
We don't receive it by works. We don't receive salvation by works. We cannot earn our way to heaven. Our salvation does not come by anything we do.
We cannot earn God's favor. So what must happen with us to be saved? Well notice that twice Paul says a righteousness from God. The great change that must occur in each one of us if you want to ever see heaven, if you ever want to live with God forever, is you have to be made righteous by God. And this happens through the cross of Christ. Through the cross God has provided the only way that we can be saved, the only way that we can be declared righteous. You see, the moment you place your trust in the gospel by repeating of your sin, that means to acknowledge it and turn away from it, and then surrendering your life to Jesus as your Lord is saved, you basically raise up the white flag and say, I surrender. That's why we sing the hymn, I Surrender All. The moment that God sees in your heart that you have trusted in his one way through the cross, in that moment he declares you righteous in the courtroom of heaven, and it stands forever.
He can never undeclare you. The biblical term for this is justification, a term that we'll learn more about in Romans chapter 3. It's a legal term that changes your status before God forever.
You see, this is what happens. Our status from sinner, unholy, to righteous believer has to be changed forever, and it can only be changed by God. And it happens the moment you're declared righteous. And in that moment, according to Romans 8.1, there is now no condemnation, no condemnation, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You must be in Christ. He's the only one who can protect you from the wrath of God. You see, when God declares you righteous, you stand wholly in the sight of God forever. No condemnation, no judgment, no wrath.
Why? Because Jesus absorbs God's wrath on the cross for you and me, and it applies to us the moment we believe. All we have to do is run to the shelter of the cross, which is the central focus of the gospel. 1 Thessalonians 1, 10 says, Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. Do you want to be rescued from the wrath of God? Do you want to gain entrance into heaven? Do you want God to declare you righteous? Then you must run to Jesus. One final point. What really happens at the cross when we place our trust in Jesus Christ to save us is known as the great exchange. It's the greatest exchange that's ever taken place in the history of the world. You see, when we trust in the gospel, all of our filthy sins are transferred or imputed to Jesus.
That's what that word imputation means. It means to transfer to someone else. So when we believe and trust in the cross, our sins are imputed to Christ. In the same moment, all of his righteousness is transferred or imputed to us. And when your sin is exchanged for his righteousness, your former destiny, which was hell, is exchanged for a new destiny, which is heaven.
This world is no longer your home. You become a citizen of heaven. You become a child of God and you become a carer of Christ. All that happens the moment you believe, in the moment when God declares you righteous. Now, why is a just God able to forgive us when we deserve condemnation, when we deserve hell?
It's because of what John MacArthur says. On the cross, God treated Jesus as if he had lived your life so that he could treat you as if you had lived his. Man, if you come with some doubts about your salvation, if you're listening to this message and you have doubts about your salvation, I can think of no better book in the Bible to study than the book of Romans. You've been listening to Finding Purpose with Russ Andrews. This broadcast is made possible because of the prayers and financial gifts of listeners like you. If you want to learn more about our ministry or support us as we reach others with God-centered Bible teaching, please visit us at findingpurpose.net. . .
