Sermons About Righteous
OUR VICTORY OVER SIN AND OUR CHRIST-CENTERED ASSURANCE IN LIFE (1 John 1:5-2:2 * Message #3/14) 10-18-09
NOTE: To receive these Sermon notes below in an outline form (which is easier to read), please email your request to Pastor Marcus Johnson (efcamarcus@sbcglobal.net). INTRODUCTION: SOME KEY DEFINITIONS – The Definitions below are taken from: {1} “Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms” by Grenz, Guretzki & Nordling; {2} “Systematic Theology” by Wayne Grudem; and {3} “1-3 John” by Robert W. Yarbrough. SIN: “The fundamental unbelief, distrust and rejection of God and human displacement of God as the center of reality. The Bible presents sin as both fallen humanity’s state of separation and alienation from God and as a person’s purposeful disobedience to God’s will as evidence in concrete thought or act. As an inherent part of the human condition sin is universal, and it is both corporate and individual.” {1}. ATONEMENT (atone means “to make amends”): what God has done thru the life and death of Jesus Christ to remedy the human problem of sin {1}, leading to the salvation of His people. It includes two key concepts: propitiation (“a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath to the end and in so doing changes God’s wrath toward us into favor” {2}); and expiation (the covering of sins and the cancelling of debts {1}). ADVOCATE: translated from the Greek word paraklētos (par-ak'-lay-tos) which means helper, or intercessor. (Other definitions: a righteous intercessor; a legal assistant who intercedes; an advocate who assists a sinner seeking forgiveness; a mediator who assists a sinner seeking remission of penalty at the temple; an advocate who gains a hearing for you {3}). The NIV translates this word as “one who speaks to the father in our defense.” RIGHTEOUS: As a noun, it means one who stands in a right relationship with God and whose life is in line with the will and nature of God. “Righteousness” is the doctrine that “God always acts in accordance with what is right and that he himself is the final standard of what is right” {2}. In 1st John 2:1, Jesus is called “the righteous.” The NIV translates this as “the righteous one” and the NLT replaces the word “righteous” with this phrase: “the one who pleases God completely.” PROPITIATION: (see definition above under “Atonement”) translated from the Greek word hilasmos (hil-as-mos') which means “an atoning sacrifice” (NIV/NRSV). This word is translated “propitiation” in the ESV/NASB, as “expiation” in the RSV, and as “the sacrifice that takes away” in the NLT. SUMMARY: “While Jesus’s death certainly has the effect of expiating sin (wiping away its penalty), it is difficult to avoid the impression that it also propitiates (turns away the wrath of) God’s promised punishment of sin and sinners whose transgressions are not atoned for on the last day–a day of condemnation spoken of by Jesus in John 12:48” {3}. LIVE IN VICTORY OVER SIN – 1st, By Knowing God and Walking in the Light: v1 (see 1Jn 1:5-10) [John’s Purpose: I write these things that that you may not sin]. 2nd, Thru Jesus Christ our Advocate: vs1-2 [The Righteous One/the Propitiation for Our Sins]. 3rd, By Seeking Holiness with Humility: vs1-2 [Live a holy life in Christ & Humbly seek His forgiveness daily]. LIVE WITH CHRIST-CENTERED ASSURANCE – 1st, Our Relationship with Christ: vs3-4 [We know that we know Christ if we keep His Commandments]. 2nd, Our Perfection in Christ: vs3-5 [We know God’s love is perfected in us if we keep His word] “Made complete” [perfected] means that the Christian’s love is entire and mature … To receive and obey God’s word is to be made perfect in love; the thought of pleasing and serving God is supreme in the Christian’s motives and molds his conduct … We must bear in minds two things: first, that perfection is not incompatible with further progress and development, and second, that John’s statement here must be place (paradoxically) alongside his earlier assertion that it is wrong for us to say “we are without sin.” (The Epistles of John, by I. Howard Marshall). 3rd, Our Life in Christ: vs5-6 [We know we are in Christ if we walk like Jesus did].
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Four Works that Do Not Make Us Right with God
We cannot be made right before God by our works, we must Look to Jesus Christ in faith to be made right before God.
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Who Is Righteous? How Religion and Culture Distort the Gospel
Paul carefully demolishes the arguments of the righteous - the most religious (Jew) and the most philosophical (Greek) to show that none is righteous but God.
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Where is the Camera Pointing?
Today I would like to uncover how we praise people with worldly fame, wealth, and influence and to call us towards praising those who take God seriously. The passage in Psalm 15 describes the righteous man who dwells with the Lord. We'll focus on verse 4 which says the righteous man despises a vile person but "honors those who fear the Lord". The Christ centeredness of the passage is that Jesus is the truly righteous man who dwells with the Lord. In Him we are pardoned for how we break verse 4 and through Him we abide with God both now and eternally.
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Christian's Witness to the World, Pt. 2 (Matthew 5:14-16)
Christians are left in this world for one primary purpose: to be witnesses to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (possibly note challenge of bad witnesses) Last week we noted the Christian’s witnesses as salt - witness through the character and purity of life. This is week the Lord compares the church to light, which reveals by dispelling darkness. Christian are commended to the obedience and proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Christian's Witness to the World, Pt. 1 (Matthew 5:13)
We as Christians are in the world “but not of the world.” We are redeemed from sin, new creations in Christ, justified, adopted children of God, citizens of a different kingdom, but, have you ever thought of this: “Why am I still here?” Almost everything that defines you as a Christian you can do better in heaven (worship, love, wont’ sin!). Christians are in the world for one primary purpose: to be witnesses to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The church is God’s witness to a decaying and dark world. Jesus will picture this relationship with the world is illustrated with two metaphors: salt and light. These metaphors speak of her dual roles as preserver and proclaimer. We are going to take the first of these this morning and look at the Church’s role of preservation in a decaying world.
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Who are the Merciful (Matthew 5:7)
We are continuing our study in what is the Lord Jesus’ most extensive and detailed explanation of what it means to be in the kingdom of God. This is not an instruction manuel on how to enter the kingdom, but a description of those who are already in the Kingdom; a description of all true believers, what it means to be a genuine Christian. I have noted repeatedly, and will continue to do so, that being a Christian is not about what you do, but is a matter of who you are. God is utterly unconcerned about externals in themselves, but is intensely concerned about the condition of your heart. The Certainty of your Christian profession is not about what you do, but what defines you in your inner man, your character, your view of God, sin, Christ, self, others, and the world. This morning we will continue to examine what the inner man of a genuine Christian looks like, by looking at verse 7 of Matthew 5, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
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