Much More to Come!

12 December 2021 AM – Romans 5:6-11 – Ro2021 – Scott Childs
Introduction: Perhaps you have received a gift in which was another gift, in which was yet another gift. With opening each gift, the excitement grew. There was more to come.
Transition: When a sinner who trusts Christ to save his soul, he receives the gift of God’s salvation instantly. However, God’s gift of salvation is many gifts wrapped up in one package, and there is more to come. Whether you have or have not trusted Christ, this morning we will unwrap three of those gifts and take a closer look at them.
The first gift we will unwrap is …
  1. God’s gift of cleansing
a.         As humans, we have a terminal problem
1)         Back in Romans 3, Paul established that each of us is a sinner. (Romans 3:23) “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” We were born sinners, and we have all chosen to sin. Paul repeats the fact of our sin again here in v.8.
2)         Hundreds of years earlier, Jeremiah described the human heart at incurably sick. (Jeremiah 17:9) “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?“
3)         Paul reminded sinners that they are ungodly. As sinners, we all lacked awe and respect for God.
4)         We have no strength to fix the problem (v.6). We are helpless. I challenge you to try to go one week without doing, saying or thinking anything that dishonours God. You cannot do it. Neither can I.
5)         Our sin has stained our lives and nothing we can do will remove that stain. Illustrate with my paint rag.
b.         Christ died on our behalf to cleanse us
1)         It is not common for a person to die in the place of someone else. That was true in the first century, and it is still true today (v.7).
a)         Scarcely would anyone die for a righteous person.
b)         Perhaps someone would die for a good person.
2)         Yet, Christ died for ungodly sinners. He died in our place. That is unthinkable! By doing this, God commended or displayed His love toward us (v.8).
3)         When Christ died in our place, He did so to wash away our sin and make us clean before God.
We unwrapped God’s gift of Cleansing, now let us unwrap …
2.        God’s gift of reconciliation.
a.         Our sin made us God’s enemies.
1)         Not only is our sin bad, but it makes us enemies of God (v.10). God in His perfect holiness hates sin, but loves the sinner.
2)         Last week I illustrated a similar concept with the two magnets repelling each other. Though God loves sinners, He cannot allow them near Him. They need to be reconciled to God.
b.         Christ made reconciliation possible.
1)         When a sinner repents of his sin and trusts Christ to cleanse his sinful heart, Christ gives him His righteousness. God no longer sees him as an enemy.
2)         By giving the sinner His righteousness, Christ reconciles that enemy to God. He exchanged His enmity for friendship. Where sin had forced God to repel the sinner as an enemy, now wearing Christ’s applied righteousness, the repentant sinner is able to draw near to God.
3)         Christ removed every wall and barrier caused by sin. Reconciliation turns enemies into friends, distance into closeness and hatred into harmony.
4)         Four of the five times, this word is found in the New Testament, it describes the sinner’s transformation from enmity to friendship. The other time, God applied it to reuniting a broken marriage. (1 Corinthians 7:11) “But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.“
5)         Tom and Betty had been married for 11 years. On their wedding day, they said they loved each other, but after a few months of marriage, they began to have conflicts. They became selfish and unforgiving. Their conflicts turned into battles and eventually into wars. Because neither of them was willing to follow God’s way of resolving conflicts by being humble, admitting fault and forgiving, their marriage was on the brink of disaster. Both viewed the other as an enemy. They desperately needed reconciliation. They needed to get right with each other.
6)         If one of your relationships has disintegrated into conflict, whether it be with your spouse, your parent, your child, a relative, a neighbour, or a colleague, you need reconciliation with that person. Wrongs must be righted through confession and forgiveness.
7)         For a sinner to be reconciled to God, Christ paid the debt, but the sinner must repent and by faith seek God’s forgiveness and cleansing. (Acts 3:19) “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out …“
8)         God’s way to resolve human conflicts is similar. (Ephesians 4:31-32) “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.“
We unwrapped God’s gifts of Cleansing and Reconciliation, but there is more.
3.        God’s gift of salvation
a.         This third gift is for those who receive the first two.
1)         Look at v.9.
2)         We remember that a justified person is a sinner who by faith trust Christ’s shed blood, death and resurrection as payment for his sin.
3)         A justified sinner has received God’s gift of cleansing.
4)         He has also received God’s gift of reconciliation.
b.         God promises to save the justified from wrath.
1)         We often use the terms save or salvation to refer to the entire born again experience, but here Paul uses it in its more specific sense.
2)         Christ died on our behalf to cleanse our ungodliness (4:25, 5:6).
3)         Christ raised from the dead to justify us and give us His righteousness (4:25).
4)         We were God’s enemies, but Christ reconciled us to God by the death of Christ (5:10).
5)         Much more then, (v.9) He will save the cleansed, justified and reconciled believer from God’s wrath on Judgment Day. If Christ has cleansed, justified and reconciled you to God, you will never go to hell. You need not fear when you read verses like 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9. “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;“
a)         He will save you through Christ’s blood (v.9).
b)         He will save you through Christ’s life (v.10).
6)         One commentator aptly put it this way. “Since God has already done the really difficult thing, justified the impious sinner, we may be absolutely confident that he will do what is by comparison very easy, namely, save from His wrath at the last those who are already righteous in His sight.” (Cranfield quoted by Rogers)
Conclusion: John 3:16. God gives every repentant sinner who trusts Him the gifts of cleansing, reconciliation, and salvation. His sins are washed away. He is given Christ’s righteousness and is reconciled to fellowship with God. He is guaranteed salvation from hell on Judgment Day. Amen? Amen!
            Now, “Have you received these gifts from God?” He will not force them on you, but he loves you and longs for you to receive them. You can receive them by admitting your sinful guilt, and then by placing your faith or trust in all that Christ did for you on the cross. If you would like to do that today, please talk to me about it after we close.
Song: Are You Washed in the Blood – 208