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Sermon Starters
Support and Resources For Pastors and
Christian Ministry Professionals
Thomas F. Fischer, M.Div., M.S.A., Editor
Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost
Reformation
Series C
+ + +
Option #1: "The Boast
Dies Here"
Romans 3:19-28
Rev. Wayne Dobratz
I. The Law convicts all of sin; no one is righteous before
God
A. As in 1 Sam. 2:3
B. As in Job 40:4ff
C. As in Job 42:1-6
II. God's remedy for our hopeless state
A. Righteousness in Christ
1. See Ps.
48:10, 97:2 145:7, Jer. 23:6
2. It is IN CHRIST; see Rom. 6:23,
8:1, 1 Cor. 1:2 & 4, 27-31, 15:22; 2 Cor. 2:14
B. A righteousness apart from Law
1. The Law
condemns; see Rom. 7:9
2. Jesus was condemned by the Law and
its teachers (Matt. 18:20); see also Rom. 10:4
C. A righteousness that is by faith; see
Rom. 1:17, 3:28, 4:13-16, 5:2, 9:30-33; Gal. 2:16 & 20, 3:8-14
D. It comes through the Sacrifice of
Atonement; see Rom. 3:25-28, 1 John 2:2 & 4:10
E. It satisfies His justice; see Rom. 1:18ff., 2:2ff.,
F. Our Savior will be our Judge; see
Matt 25:32, John 5:22
III. The right kind of boasting (cf 1 Cor. 1:27-31)
A. In God's act of justification; see
Lk. 1:47, Ps. 34:2
B. In God's gift of forgiveness by grace
through faith; see 1 Cor 1:31, Ps. 51:12ff
"God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement" (Rom. 3:25)
Martin Luther writes: "Why does Christ suffer? He is a
fine, good, faithful Tree, and has not deserved so stern a sentence; but He
suffers it for our sake. He is carrying out His office as Priest. He intends not
only to pray for sinners but also to sacrifice His body and life on the altar of
the
cross so that God will be appeased through this sacrifice and poor sinners will
be freed from the wrath of God and be heirs of eternal life. That is why it
hurts the Lord to see us weep at the sight of His suffering. He wants us to be
glad, praise God, thank His grace, extol, glorify, and confess Him;
for through this journey (to the cross) we come into the possession of the grace
of God. By it we have been freed from sins and death and have become God's dear
children." (From a sermon on Lk. 23:26-31)
+
+ +
Option #2: "Real
Reformation"
John 8:31-36
Rev. Kelly Bedard
A. Doctrinal Policing (Orthodoxy)
1. Salvation based on lineage or
heritage or religious denomination or affiliation
2. Trust in the teachings of the Church;
truth = right doctrine
3. Devotion to God as slave labor:
something we're compelled by fear to do
B. Doctrinal Pardoning (Orthopraxy)
1. Salvation based only on an adoptive
relationship with God through Christ and the Spirit
2. Trust in the Church's Teacher
(Jesus); truth = a person (Jesus)
3. Devotion to God as a labor of
love: a consequent response to His love in Christ
Notes
1. In what sense did the Jewish leaders trust Jesus? It is
perhaps better to translate this "believe" than "trust."
They had believed his messianic claims (8:25) which he had spoken to them from
the beginning. But they had insisted on believing Jesus to be the type of
Messiah they had anticipated--chiefly political. This is suggested by
their refusal to admit that anyone had ever enslaved them (8:33) in spite of the
Roman occupation (not to mention the Babylonian captivity). (Hall Harris)
2. In the context of John's Gospel (particularly in light
of the Prologue) this [the truth] must refer to truth about the person and work
of Jesus. It is saving truth. As L. Morris says, "It is the truth which
saves [people] from the darkness of sin, not that which saves them from the
darkness of error (though there is a sense in which [people] in Christ are
delivered from gross error)." (Harris)
3. "Everyone who practices (present participle) sin is
a slave of sin." Here repeated, continuous action is in view. The one whose
lifestyle is characterized by repeated, continuous sin is a slave to sin. That
one is not free; sin has enslaved him. To break free from this bondage requires
outside (divine) intervention. Although the statement is true at the general
level (the person who continually practices a lifestyle of sin is enslaved to
sin), the particular sin of the Jewish authorities, repeatedly emphasized in the
Fourth Gospel, is the sin of unbelief. The present tense in this instance looks
at the continuing refusal on the part of the Jewish leaders to acknowledge who
Jesus is, in spite of mounting evidence. (Harris)
4. ...there is no lasting relationship with Jesus' word.
That is the root of the problem. That is why their faith has died or become
flawed. That is why the offspring of Abraham seek to kill Jesus. (Brian
Stoffregen)
5. If we are ever to enter fully into the glorious liberty
of the sons of God, we are going to have to spend more time thinking about
freedom than we do. The church, by and large, has had a poor record of
encouraging freedom. She has spent so much time inculcating in us the fear of
making mistakes that she had made us like ill-taught piano students; we play our
songs, but we never really hear them, because our main concern is not to make
music, but to avoid some flub that will get us in dutch. She has been so afraid
we will loose sight of the laws of our nature, that she made us care more about
how we look than about who we are; made us act more like the subjects of a
police state than fellow citizens of the saints.
6. ...it could be argued that if one is no longer learning
from the teacher or the teacher's words, they are no longer being disciples. (Stoffregen)
7. ...discipleship is the only true path to freedom, to
being all that you were meant to be. (Ray Stedman)
8. eleutheroo (verse 32): make free, deliver; to
set at liberty: from the dominion of sin
9. douleuo (verse 33): serve, be in bondage,
do service; metaphorically, to obey, submit to; of those who
become slaves to some base power, to yield to, give one's self up to
10. Perhaps the greatest form of bondage is either not
realizing or denying that you're in bondage ("We've never been slaves of
anyone...")!
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