Do you live By Faith or Works?

As I said, I want us to consider one question, and that question is, do we live by faith or do we live by works? And I suppose that it's easier to ask the question from the side of the one that hears. So do you live by faith? Or do you live by works? And when I ask that question, I'm not asking if you prayed a prayer or if you have had faith in Jesus Christ in the past.

I'm asking is your life characteristic of putting your faith in Christ Jesus every day? Are you living by faith? Or are you living by works? What is the source of your peace? What is the source of your satisfaction?

Is it Christ and the completed work upon the cross? Or is it your works and your performance? I want us with the help of the Spirit, I hope, to address that from verse 27 to 31. So we're going to read. portions of the scripture Romans chapter 3 verse 21 to 31 and then we're gonna jump to 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 26 to 31.

The reason why I'm getting you to read these two passages is because I want you to pay attention to these two things brother. the righteousness of God. Here Paul is going to say to us that the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, he's going to tell us that that righteousness of God is not a standard. The righteousness of God is a person, Jesus Christ.

And the second thing that I want you to pay attention is to boast Him. In verse 27, the apostle tells us that what has become our boasting, it is excluded. By what kind of law? By the law of works? No, but by the law of faith.

Boasting or pride is excluded by faith because boasting is not supposed to be in our own performance, but the one who boasts, boasts in. So let us read together Romans 3, verse 21 to 31, and then we go to 1 Corinthians 1. This is the word of the Lord. Let us read, paying careful attention to each one of those words. Verse 21, But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to the righteousness of God.

the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, for all have seen and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness. because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show or to reveal His righteousness at the present time so that He, God the Father, may be the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Then, what becomes of our boasting or pride? It is excluded. But what kind of law? by a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.

For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Who is God, the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?

By no means. On the contrary, we uphold the law. Now, I call your attention to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1 there, the apostle once again is going to mention or is going to speak about those concepts of the righteousness of God and then boasting. We are not supposed to boast in our works, but we boast in the Lord.

1 Corinthians. Chapter one, verse 26. Pay attention to our calling and who we are as Christians. Verse 26. For consider your calling, brethren.

Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

God chose what is low and despise in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who, that is Christ, became to us Wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. So that as it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. Amen. This is the reading of God's Word, and if you return, please, to Romans chapter 3.

As I said, what I want us to consider today is just a simple question. Do you live your life by faith, or do you live your life by works. And when I ask that question, I'm not asking about the genuineness of the profession of your faith, but rather I'm speaking about what is the characteristic of your daily life. Do you live by faith, trusting in something outside of you, the Lord Jesus Christ? Or do you live your Christian life trusting in your own works and in your own performance?

How do you know that well? Is your peace, is your satisfaction derived from the completed work of Jesus Christ, which is outside of you? Or is your peace, your satisfaction derived from the works that you do or you don't do on a daily basis? Or is it perhaps this sense of having accomplished something derived not from what Christ has done, but rather the things that you do or that you don't do? So that when you do the things that you have in your mind as your own standard of what you should be, you're satisfied with yourself and you're happy.

Or perhaps when you don't do the things that you have in your mind as your own standard of life, and you fall short of those works and that performance, then you feel broken and frustrated, not convicted of sin, but rather frustrated because you have not met the requirements of your own performance. Do you live by faith, trusting in the completed, finished work of Christ, or do you live Self-righteousness is what the Apostle Paul was trying to destroy through the first three chapters of this letter. He was trying to destroy the self-righteousness of the Gentiles who said there is no God, and because there is no God, we are our own standard of life, and we live our lives according to what we want it to be. And he was also trying to destroy the standard of self-righteousness of the Jews. The Jews who had the law, the Jews who had the commandments, the Jews who were trusting in what they had received, and because they were religious, because they were the people of God, they thought that they were going to receive the righteousness of God just by being religious.

The apostle is trying to destroy something that is natural to the flesh, and that is self-righteousness. And the way that the apostle does it is by presenting, first of all, the problem in which we are. We have all seen and fallen short of the glory of God. We have all broken God's commandments. And he says in James Chapter 2 that if we break one of the commandments, it is like we have broken the entirety of the law.

It doesn't matter that you're a Gentile. It doesn't matter that you're a Jew. If you are a human, you are a sinner already. And because you are a sinner, you have broken God's commandments. And there is going to be one day, Romans Chapter 2, in which the righteous judgment of God is going to be revealed.

And if we present ourselves in our own righteousness, if we present ourselves according to our own standard of what it is to be good, then we're not going to have a good surprise because the Apostle Paul calls that day in Romans Chapter 2, the day of wrath, the day of wrath in which the righteous judgment of God is going to be revealed. The apostle is trying to show us all of that so that when he comes to verse 21, he presents to us the solution to the problem. The solution to the problem is not a moral standard that we are supposed to fulfill, but the solution to the problem is a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. The problem to our sin is a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. He's not a standard of morality, but He's the Son of God.

He's not a set of principles, but He's the Son of God who came and revealed Himself. This is the righteousness of God that has been revealed in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So when a person repents of their sins, and put their faith in Christ Jesus, brethren, so when we repent of our sins and we put our faith in Christ Jesus, we do not receive something that is abstract, but we receive Christ Jesus Himself. His righteousness is given to us and His life is given to us as we continue to walk in the Holy Spirit. The solution to the problem of sin is only the person of Jesus Christ.

And the point of the apostle is this. that obtaining Christ, that having Christ in us is something that is accomplished only by faith. It is not by works. It is not by deeds. It is not by being a good person, because we are not.

It is not by keeping the commandments, which we have already broken. It is not by being religious people, a religion that we have already tainted with our unrighteousness. It is not by the keeping of the commandments, but is by faith in Jesus Christ. And faith means to give up. to surrender, to understand that apart from Christ Jesus, there's nothing that I can't do.

That apart from Jesus and His completed work, I deserve hell. Faith is not inside of me. Faith is outside. The object of faith is a person of Jesus Christ. The apostle is now going to address all of these from chapter 3 of the end of chapter 3 until chapter 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

And the most important question that I want us to ask this afternoon is, do you live by faith? Namely, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ? Or do you live by works, trusting your own deeds and your own performance? Is your peace, your satisfaction derived from Him alone? Or is it derived from the things that you do?

Even though you may say Jesus is Him, the one that is the object of your satisfaction and the peace of your heart, when you are in trouble, when you have committed sin, do you run to Christ or do you run to your own efforts trying to fix yourself in your own flesh and in your own strength? Do you trust when you have committed a sin or when you have done something, do you trust that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is enough, that He's just and faithful to forgive your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness? Do you believe that? Or when something happens in your life, either a sin or something that you have not, shouldn't have done or you did, then you run to your own way of fixing yourself. almost a cardinal of fleshly pragmatism, that you believe that just by doing certain things now you are going to remove the problem of sin from within you.

Do we have to do things when we have the problem of sin? Of course we have to do things, but who is the priority in your heart? Is it coming to the feet of Christ by grace through faith and to know that He has done it all, that He has completed it, or is it works? Because the nature of the person is going to lead us to want to do things by words, self-righteousness, which is what the apostle is trying to address here. So I want us to consider this idea of faith.

And this is a very interesting passage because this passage, these verses that we have in verse 27 to 31, are actually going to be kind of like the hypothesis statement of the apostle to then open up this in chapter 4. I want us just to address this question. Are we living by faith or by works? And the way that the puzzle addresses this in verse 27, it is by using rather an interesting term. If you pay attention to verse 27.

I hope this bird doesn't come to my head, truly. OK, verse 27. Now that we're recording this on video, that will be very funny. OK, verse 27, it says, then What becomes of our boasting? It is excluded.

But what kind of law? Pay attention to the language that the apostle uses. By a law of works? No. By the law of faith.

The only instance in which in the Bible we have that expression. the law of faith. He says the law of works or the law of faith. Actually, if you allow me, let me just show you the structure of the passage before I get into this. And let us just see these three questions.

The apostle is basically going to make a case for three things. Let us just try to keep our focus, even with the little bird just flying there. Focus on three important things. Faith, my dear brother and sister, when we live by faith, the genuine faith that saves is a faith that humbles, contrary to pride. Pay attention to verse 27.

Then what becomes of our boasting, of our pride? It is excluded. But what kind of law? By a law of words, no, by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from words of the law.

When we live by faith, faith humbles. And what the apostle is going to do is that he's going to use the example of Abraham in chapter 4 to speak about the humility of these men that was old, that trusted the Lord, and then the promises were fulfilled. Pay attention to verse 2 of chapter 4. For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. Saving faith humbles.

Instead of producing pride, it produces humility. In chapter 4, he's going to open up that in the case of Abraham. Second thing, saving faith when we live by faith. Now we know that God can be the God of all sinners independently of the religious background. So he says in verse 29, Or is God the God of the Jews only?

Is he not the God of the Gentiles also? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since God is one who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Living a life of faith teaches us that God is one and that He is the Savior of all sinners, independently of where they come from. The Apostle is going to open up this in chapter 4, verse 9. Pay attention to 4, 9.

Is this blessing then only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised? He's going to explain that third statement there. And then the final statement that the Apostle gives us is that saving faith, brethren, and this is perhaps one of the most important ones this afternoon, Saving faith puts the law in the place that it should go. We cannot understand the law apart from genuine saving faith. The law without faith points us to our unrighteousness and that we are sinners.

The only way that we can understand the righteous place of the law is if we have genuine saving faith in Christ Jesus. So he says in verse 31, Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? And then he says, by no means. On the contrary, we uphold the law. He's going to open up this idea in verse 13 in chapter 4.

Pay attention to verse 13, chapter 4. For the promise to Abraham and his offspring For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be the heir of the world did not come through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. He's going to open up those three ideas. That is the simplest structure of the text. So I'm not going to focus on the opening up of the text because Apostle is going to do that in chapter four.

I'm going to focus on the principle that Apostle has in mind that will help us understand the rest of the passage if the Lord allows us to focus entirely on what we're going to be saying today. And that is, of course, the question of living by faith. I want us to explore together, brethren, this statement of verse 27, this law of faith. This law of faith. Because I'm going to submit to you that what the apostle has in mind, and then he opens up in chapter 4, 5, 6, and 7 and 8, it is two principles.

The principle of the flesh that aims to be righteous through works and the principle of the spirit, which is the principle of faith that does not place the eyes on self, but places the eye on the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Two principles, the law of works and the law of faith. Again, he opens up in chapter 7 as this law of sin and death or this law of the spirit. Let's do it. What is this law of faith?

As I said, brethren, this is the only time that the Apostle uses this expression, the law of faith. He is going to use a similar concept in chapter 7, which we're going to read very soon. But this is the only time in which the Apostle uses this idea of the law of faith. I don't know if this happens to you, but this sounds contradictory to me, right? Salvation is by faith, not by the law through words, but then he says this law of faith.

And actually, there are some people who say that what the apostle means here is that under the Old Covenant or under the Old Testament, there were commandments. And the law of works that the apostle mentions here is obedience to those commandments. And now when the New Testament has come, or the new covenant has come, we have a new law, a new commandment. All of those have been replaced, and now we have this law of faith. So people will say, I'm just speaking about what people say, this is not what the text means, So people will say that this law of faith refers to an external commandment under the new covenant that people are supposed to obey.

So they will say faith is the new requirement of God. Under the old covenant, there were 613 laws that people were supposed to obey all of these commandments. But under the new covenant, there's only one requirement, and that is the requirement of faith. So they will say this is the law of faith, something that we need to obey. And actually, if you read carefully the New Testament, they will have a little bit of a case.

Because you may read the New Testament, how many times the Bible tells us to repent and to believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and those statements are presented as commandments. that we are to repent and to believe, repent and to believe so one can make a case that this law of faith is an external commandment that God gives to people so that when we obey that commandment of believing in Jesus Christ, then we receive the benefits of eternal life. But of course, and I think that most of you will know, this is not the case. I'm going to submit to you that this law of faith, contrary to the law of words, is not an external commandment that we have to obey in the New Testament, but rather, and most importantly, is an internal spiritual principle that is going to work and operate through the Word of God that is meant to produce the fruit of obedience. Once again, this law of faith is not an external commandment that I need to obey, but rather this law of faith is an internal spiritual principle that happens in the person who has been born again generally.

that operates through the Word of God, is produced with the Word of God inside spiritually, and that produces the fruit of obedience. So faith is that which is required for the commandment to be kept according to God's will. If I don't have faith, then obedience becomes disobedience in the eyes of God, because that which energizes and empowers genuine obedience is genuine faith and principle that is meant to happen inside of the person. The other time in which the apostle is going to use this idea of this law is in chapter 7. So come with me to chapter 7.

I'm going to show now, and I hope with sufficient time, what I want to show you now is that this law of faith is an internal spiritual principle, not an external thing that we need to obey. Faith is not something that you obey. Faith is something that is supposed to happen inside of you by the spirits. Does it make sense, brethren? Not something that is outside that we need to obey, but faith is meant to be inside of us.

Pay attention to chapter 7 verse 18. In this famous passage, the Apostle Paul is speaking about this conflict. You remember this conflict that is within him? that he wants to do the right thing, but there's another law that is going on inside of him that leads him to disobey. And the apostle is in this conflict.

I want to do the right thing, but then I found in my members this sin that leads me to do other things. There's a conflict. Here's where he's going to introduce this idea of this law or this principle. Pay attention to verse 18. For I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh.

For I have the desire to do what is right, the apostle says, but not the ability to carry out." There's a conflict. There's a conflict inside of the apostle. I want to do the right thing, but I feel that many times I don't have the ability to do the right thing. And I suppose that that conflict has been experienced by every single Christian, that we know the right thing to do, but there's something in us that sometimes leads us to do the thing that is not correct.

Pay attention to verse 19. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now, if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, now pay attention to this, but sin that dwells within me. It is no longer I who does it or who do it, but it is sin that dwells within me. Here in verse 21, the apostle is going to open this law or this principle that is from within.

Verse 21. So I find it to be a law. that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law." Once again, verse 23.

But I see in my members another law, waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells within my members. Now here the law is not referring to the commandments of the Old Testament. It's referring to a principle, kind of like an operating power that is inside of Paul. You see that, brethren? It says in verse 23, But I see in my members another law, waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

Richard, man that I am, the apostle says, who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself serve to the law of God in my mind with my flesh and sent the law of sin. The apostle has presented these two principles that are operating from within. this principle of the law of sin and death, and this other principle that leads him to do that which is right.

The most important thing that I'm saying here, brethren, is that this is something that is inside of the person. In chapter 8, the apostle is going to now open up this and he's going to tell us that this principle that leads him to do righteousness is a spiritual principle. Pay attention to verse 2 in chapter 8. for the law of the spirit of life has set you or set me free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." Here the apostle now has revealed these two principles that operate in the life of, in this case, the Christian.

The law of the spirit that has set the Christian free from the law of sin and death. And because the sin is still in us, we still have sin and death from within. What am I saying here, brother and sister, and I hope that we might be able to capture and get the idea of what I'm trying to say. It is that this law of faith, saving faith, genuine faith, It's not something that is here outside like a commandment, believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to which you respond with cognitive or intellectual assent. And then you say, I believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What I'm saying is that faith, saving genuine faith is a spiritual matter that happens foundationally in the heart of a person. This is the law of the spirit. This is the law of faith that transforms, changes the heart of the one that is a sinner. This is very important to understand because faith is foundationally a spiritual reality other than an external assent of your mouth or of your brain. The Apostle in verse 9 of chapter 8 tells us that the Spirit of Christ in us is the one that gives us this life.

Pay attention to verse 9, and I'm sorry that I'm reading so many scriptures today. It is just that I want you to see the principle that the Apostle will take through all of these chapters. Verse 9 of chapter 8. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. These are the two principles, brother, the flesh or the Spirit.

The Christian has been liberated from the bondage to the flesh, even though the flesh is still present, but has been taken, removed from the kingdom of the flesh and now is in the Spirit. Why? Because the Spirit of God, of Christ, is inside of us. Verse 9. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.

if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. So if you say that you have saved in faith, that is equivalent to saying that you have the Spirit of God dwelling in you. Having faith is not that you have made up your mind about who Jesus Christ is and what He did upon the cross. It involves this. It requires that, that you will understand and have an agreement with the truths of what happened historically.

But having genuine faith is to have the law of the Spirit inside of us. The Spirit of Christ is in us. So he continues, and he says in verse 9, let me just read it once again. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.

You see that, brother? Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. In other words, genuine saving faith is not a mental ascent from which I jump in and out, but genuine saving faith is a spiritual reality that is equivalent to have the Spirit of Jesus Christ inside of that person. Verse 10. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Keep reading with me, please. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Please continue. So then, brethren, pay attention to this. We are debtors.

not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. But if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we might also be glorified with him. I think the bird is gone, isn't it? No. OK, brethren, what am I saying here?

This reality of saving faith is a spiritual reality that is going to define the way that a person behaves. Works and deeds are not the result of obedience, but works and deeds are the result of a spiritual reality that has taken or not taken place in the heart of a person. So when a sinner has a problem of sin, if we focus on the commandment and obedience, we will be placing our focus on the right place, because the commandment or obedience cannot cleanse the sinner from the guilt that they have. The sinner is to place their eyes on the source of spiritual life, that is Christ Jesus himself, and only then the sinner will be able to have the spiritual reality within themselves that will lead them to obey the commandments that the Lord wants us to follow. That's why the apostle, when he is speaking about the conscience in Romans chapter 14, if you come with me very quickly there, You will remember that will tell us that the standard of the Christian is actually very high.

It is not about the letter of the commandment and the things that we're supposed to do, but rather the intention of the things that we do. Romans Chapter 14. Pay attention to this. Romans chapter 14, verse 23. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats.

Speaking of those who eat and those who do not need the foods of the Old Testament. Verse 23. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats because the eating is not from faith. And I just wanted to pay attention to the last statement. For whatever does not proceed from faith is whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Coming to church or preaching a sermon or doing good things, if I do it for my own reputation, if I do it for my own glory, if I do it just to be observed, to be following the pride of my flesh, even though to the eyes of people they might be as a good thing, is that a sin or not, brother? It is a sin, because the standard of the Christian is not an external standard to give to the poor, to help the needy, to preach a sermon, or to share the gospel. Those things are to be done, but the heart of the good work and deed is meant to be spiritually begotten, spiritually initiated. That is faith. faith in our heart, and a spiritual reality that leads us to produce the good work and the good deed.

And then when we examine the Scriptures, perhaps the question that follows is, then how can I have that spiritual reality in my heart that is going to lead me to the obedience that I'm supposed to have? The Apostle is going to give that answer in a very well-known verse if you come with me to Romans chapter 10. What do I need or what is it that I require so that I will have that spiritual reality in me that will lead me to have that faith that is spiritual in nature? In Romans chapter 10, in a very well-known verse, the apostle will tell us this. Pay attention to Romans chapter 10, verse 17.

Faith, this spiritual faith that produces fruit. Verse 17. So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of God or the word of Christ. That which produces genuine spiritual faith is the Word of the Lord. And it's not only me hearing the Word of the Lord, because the implicit requirement of verse 17 is that God speaks.

God speaks, and spiritually speaking, the person who receives and hears the voice of God, then in that person, by the work of the Spirit of God, the heart of that person produces genuine faith. And genuine faith is that what will produce works, because faith without works is dead, but is the genuine faith, the spiritual faith, the faith that is the result of hearing the words of the Lord. It is a transformation that happens by the power of the gospel focused on the person of Jesus Christ giving the glory all to the Lord. That is that He has done and I have not done. It is the type of change and transformation that happens not in behavior, but that happens inside in the heart that is the result of the word of the Lord.

This is the type of change that the Galatians were having. Do you remember Galatians chapter 3? They had started by faith, but progressively they were turning now to obedience by changing their eyes from Christ to the commandment. Come with me to Galatians chapter 3. This is a parallel passage in which the apostle will address these topics.

Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. the experience of the Galatians, or better, the temptation of the Galatians is the same temptation that we all experience. That we have initiated the walk with the Lord by faith, and then our flesh naturally tends us to put our eyes in our own performance, works, and deeds. And that which was initiated by the Spirit, by hearing by faith, genuine spiritual faith, now tends to be a performance of the flesh.

Christ no longer satisfies the desires of our heart. We want to live our lives by the satisfaction of our own deeds and works. Chapter 3 of Galatians. O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?

It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this. The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 3, verse 2. Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

In other words, did God speak to you His Word, and then you received the spiritual reality in your heart by faith, or was that by the keeping of and the observance of the commandments? Did the law provide to you the spiritual reality that is necessary, or was it God who spoke to you, you heard by faith, and then this faith was received and produced? Verse 3, are you so foolish Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Which, by the way, it is a rhetorical question, right? Because the flesh cannot perfect us.

The commandment, the observance, our performance, our deed cannot bring us close to the Lord. Are you so foolish? Are you so foolish? Please don't come to me. Are you so foolish, having began by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? Does He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you Those who by the works of the law, or by hearing with faith, just as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." And this is the example that he will use in Romans chapter 4. Brethren, the glories of the gospel is this, that that which God requires of us is that we trust Him, is that we believe in Him. Believing and having faith.

Thank you so much for getting rid of the bird. Thank you. That which God requires of us, brethren, now let's just try to pay attention without being birthless now. That which God requires of us, brethren, is that we believe and that we trust in his word. It has been like that from the very beginning in the garden.

That which God requires of his people is that he speaks and then we, by faith, take his word as truth. And not only is truth, but we say this is the word of my God. who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for me. When He speaks, I believe. And when I believe, something greater than understanding happens.

My heart is empowered by the Spirit of God that brings the illumination of His Word, and then obeying and keeping the commandment is the result of the presence of that Spirit in my heart because I have believed and not because of my focus on the things that I'm supposed to do. One thing is to observe, you shall not lie. Another thing, it is to look to Christ, who is the fountain of truth, and to believe in what He has done. He died upon the cross because of the lies that I have said with my mouth, and then to desire to speak the truth in love, as He calls us to, because He does so. One thing is to avoid the letter of the rule.

One thing is to follow the commandment, give her. Following Jesus Christ is what strengthens the flesh, what strengthens the body to do what He says. We cannot do what He says in and of our own. It has been like that from the very beginning. Come with me to Genesis chapter 2, and very soon I will finish with this.

Genesis chapter 2, please. Genesis chapter 2. Faith is always that which is more foundational to obedience, and it has always been like that. Genesis chapter 2. In the garden, after God created Adam and Eve, or better, after he created Adam, God is going to come to Adam, who is in the midst of the garden, and God is going to give Adam a commandment, right?

He's going to give him a commandment. You remember what the commandment is. The commandment is, do not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. For the day that you eat of it, you shall certainly die that is the commandment that is given to adam pay attention there in verse is 16 of chapter 2 and the lord got to 16 and the lord god commanded the men saying you may surely eat of every tree of the garden But of the tree, of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die."

Now, die? Death? What is death for Adam? I mean, he's one day old. He has never seen anyone dying.

Actually, he has never seen anyone. He's the only person there in the garden. He has no experience. He has not seen death. He has never experienced death.

The only thing that Adam has about death is the word of the Lord. God has spoken and said, the day that you eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely die. That was the only piece of information that he had. And what was expected of him was not only not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but more importantly, what was expected of him was to believe the word of the Lord, because in believing the word of the Lord, obedience to the commandment would have been just the simple, natural response. So then when we come to Genesis chapter 3 and we see the temptation, the temptation is not only to do something, but to question the word of the Lord.

Chapter 3 of Genesis. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, words, right? The words of God had been said in Genesis chapter 2. Now it comes the words of the world or the words of Satan.

He said to the woman, Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We might eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden. But God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither you shall touch it lest you die. But the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

And he continues, and you know what happened. What happened with Adam and Eve? Did they disobey the commandment and ate of the fruit? Yes. More foundationally, they did not believe the words of the Lord.

They did not believe the words that God said, the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. They changed the truth of the word of God from the lies of Satan. So then the lies of Satan is what produced disobedience in them. Obedience depends upon the existence of faith. And that faith comes from the words of the Lord.

It's a spiritual reality, certainty that what he says is truth. And if that was the case for Adam, how much more for us? that we don't only have the words of the Lord, but we have the Word of God in Christ Jesus, who is the revelation of God Himself, who came to this world to die for our sins upon that tree, that He will take upon Himself the wrath that we deserve. And in doing so, He confirmed that absolutely everything that God has said in the Scriptures is completely true. And if it's true what God has said about the past, it is also true what God says about the future.

The duty of the Christian is one. Trust the one who loved you and gave his son for your soul. And then your duty is not to go into your imagination and try to give answers to the questions that you have. Come to the word of the Lord. The One who created you and sent His Son to die upon the cross because it is only through the Word of God that faith, genuine faith, spiritual faith is produced.

The faith that keeps us not only walking initially with the Lord but continually with the Lord. So let me return please to our text and then with this I finish in the next five or seven minutes. Please let us return now to our text. This is the law of faith. the law of faith compared to this law of works.

And as I said in the beginning, the law of faith or saving faith does three things if you remember from the beginning. The first thing that this genuine faith that is the result of hearing the voice of God. The first thing that this law of faith does in the life of the person is that excludes boasting. In other words, produces humility. Pay attention to 27.

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. Literally what it says there in Greek is permanently, permanently removed. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded.

But what kind of law? By a law of works? No, by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Genuine faith, my dear brother and sister, will remove from you any manifestation of wanting to believe that you are good enough or that your works or your deeds are that which give you or make you as a reward of whatever blessing that you can have upon your life.

Genuine saving faith removes the eyes from you and places them upon Jesus Christ, who He is and what He has done. Not only who He is and what He has done, but also the timing of what Jesus Christ finished in the past. So then that means that the person who has genuine faith, even though they are going to be contrite and they are going to be broken for the sins that they have committed, When they commit a sin or when they break the commandments of the law, the place to which a person goes because of that saving faith is not trying to fix themselves, but it's at the feet of Christ Jesus, who has been already a demonstration of God's love, who has already completed everything that was required, who came to this world to die for sins. And in doing so, boasting is excluded. In coming and saying, it is You, Lord, the one who saves.

Righteousness comes from You. Eternal life comes from You. Salvation comes from You. You are the one who works all things. All pride is excluded.

There's no place for boasting. I deserve that in my life. Look at me, how good I am and how much I have been reading the scriptures of coming teachers. Look at me, how I have put together my life as a Christian. Certainly, I deserve to live a type of life in this way.

No, brethren, when there is a clear realization of the completed work of Jesus Christ, boasting is removed, not by the law of works and performance. by the law of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with our eyes set on what He does. And that humility is not only seen in the fact that we're not prideful when we do certain things, but that humility is also very importantly seen when we are convicted of sin. Because when a person is convicted of sin, there's only two options. I go to the Lord Jesus Christ and I confess the sin that I have committed, knowing that He's just and faithful to forgive my sin and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness, which is a sign of humility, of knowing He's the only one who can solve the problem of sin, or in my flesh, I'm going to try to fix myself, Lord.

I'm going to fix myself, and then I will come to you. Just when I'm worthy, just when I've done certain things, I will come to you, and then I will be a good Christian to be in your presence. That is a manifestation of pride. The humble heart of a Christian leads them to know that the only one who solves the problem of sin is Christ Jesus. In the gospel, boasting is removed, and he who boasts, boasts in the Lord.

Second, there in verse 29, saving genuine faith, as I said in the beginning, shows us that God is the Savior of all sinners. Those who believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who by grace put their faith in Jesus Christ, repent independently if they are Jews or Gentiles, whatever they come from, they have salvation in Christ Jesus by faith. The Apostle says 29. Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is He not the God of the Gentiles also?

Yes, of the Gentiles also, since God is one who will justify the circumcised by faith. and be uncircumcised through faith. God is one, and those who are saved are not required to be religious or to belong to a certain group of people. Those who can be saved are those who, by grace, put their faith in Jesus Christ. And when the Spirit is given to them, they are saved, and they are free, and the bondage of sin is removed from them.

That is the power of saving faith. Let me finish with this, verse 31, saving genuine faith. puts the law in its righteous place. Verse 31. Do we then overthrow the law by disfaith?

By no means. On the contrary, we uphold the law. From the very beginning, my dear brother and sister, the requirement of God to humans was not only the keeping of the commandment as in the garden, do not eat of the fruit of the knowledge of tree of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, The requirement of God was always that we will listen to His voice and believe what He says, and the result of that belief in His Word will produce a spiritual, genuine obedience. The problem in the garden was that we did not believe, and hence we broke the commandment. And because we broke the commandment, sin entered into the world, and the problem of humanity now is that we are sinners by nature, so we break the commandment.

Not because the commandment is bad, or it's not good, or it's not holy, but because we have a sinful nature. So the problem to disobedience is not to keep the commandment because it has been already broken. The solution to obedience is to change our hearts. so that by the light of the gospel we can have new hearts, we can hear the voice of God, we can believe in Him. And when the Spirit of Christ is in us, then the commandment is not a burden to our shoulders.

1 John 5, verse 3, the commandments of the Lord are not burdensome. They are not a weight on our shoulders, but they are not a weight on the shoulders of the spiritual person. Because the commandments on the shoulders of the fleshly person becomes a burden because the flesh cannot carry the commandments of the Lord. Why? Because they cannot be carried by men.

They have to be carried by Jesus Christ in us. This is the weight of Christ that is light, brother. This is the yoke of the Savior that is easy. This is the place of rest where we are to go. The place of obedience is the feet of Christ.

If you have a problem of sin, come to Jesus. If you have a problem of disobedience, come to Jesus. If you have a problem in your mind with your thoughts that go to different places, come to Jesus. If you have a problem with your hands or with your feet, Come to Jesus! It is in Jesus Christ, brethren, that we find the spiritual power, the strength to be forgiven and to follow His words, His sheep.

They hear the voice of the shepherd, but we need to be transformed, revived, strengthened, empowered in the inner man. This is the law of faith, which is the law of Christ, which is the law of the Spirit, which is the transformation of the heart. This is the type of life that produces humility. This is the type of life that produces gospel proclamation. And this is the type of life that produces genuine obedience and sanctification.

Because in the secret place of your heart, if Christ is there, then there's no going to be any other thoughts than Christ in there. But if Christ is only in your mouth, and if Christ is only in your religion, then when you are in the secret place where no one sees, then if Christ is not in here, you're going to have yourselves. And when you have yourself, then you're going to do the things that you're not supposed to do. The problem is not the do or don'ts. The problem is the who, and that is meant to be Christ Jesus.

Brethren, that we might not fall into the same mistake of the Gentiles and the Jews of the church in Rome, that they were self-righteous in their own standard, but rather that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will see the perfections and the love of Christ who died upon the cross for our sins. And in doing so, we will not look to ourselves, but we will look to Him, come to His feet, trust Him. in every aspect of our lives. Have you fallen 1,000 times? Don't think that you're not falling 1,001 unto Christ.

After this message, have you fallen 10,000 times unto Christ? Because there's no amount of sin that Jesus Christ cannot pay for and fulfill. You think that the amount of unrighteousness that we have is greater than the sacrifice of God himself? It's not. He will provide grace and forgiveness for those who generally come to Him.

And this is the glory of the gospel because in the end of the day, there's no hope for any one of us. But this hope has been manifested and He came, He died, He loved us, He rescued us. And He did not only do that in the past, He continues to be seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for His people, and the work that He has begun in each one of His children, He will bring it to completion. So if there's one more day of grace, and if there's one more day of life, then we have Christ. And if we have Christ, brethren, we have it all.

Praise God for the gospel and for Christ, because otherwise we won't receive what we deserve. And if we receive heaven and glory, it's because of our Savior. Amen? Amen.