The gospel of free grace – justification by faith apart from works – is not a licence to sin. Our old life of sin was put to death by Jesus’ cross, and we have been given a new life of righteousness by his resurrection. That means we are no longer slaves of sin, yet slaves of God, and so we are to live out our new life, by grace not law. It is unthinkable that a Christian should continue to sin – is that possible?
Read the Bible Text – Romans 6:1-7:6
– David Shead
What does scripture say?
‘Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness’ (Genesis 15:6)
When the apostle Paul cites this verse in Roman 4:3 he uses it to make the claim that a person is justified by faith alone.
James in his epistle also cites this verse in James 2:23 yet he used it to suggest that ‘a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
It appears the Paul and James are at odds.
‘Happy’. He said to me.
As I looked into the face of my friend, with the dark rings under his eyes, hair a little dishevelled, hands grasping the double shot expresso, which was his heart starter for the day, he said:
‘My goal in life is just to be happy’.
So much about what we relentlessly pursue in life aims to create an end result in which we will be happy. Burden now, achieve lots, sacrifice in the present – so that at some point it will all be worth it. We will be able to count up the coins, list off the achievements, bow to acknowledge the praise that is being directed our way – and then, we hope, we will be happy.
Some people call it the rat race.
There is nothing wrong with working hard, striving to reach goals, aiming to achieve much – that is the world we live in. In fact, it can be quite satisfying. Does it make us ‘happy’?
Yet, when it comes to faith, God works on a different spectrum – and for that reason Christians do well to recognise works, although they might be good, are not the measure used to determine godly happiness.
‘Happy is the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works’ (Rom 4:6). Let’s look at how…
Read the Bible Text – Romans 3:27-4:25
We all love justice and hate injustice. From earliest childhood this has been the case. One of the first complaints we learn to utter is, “That’s not fair!”
But how do we go when the finger of justice is pointing at us? Are we still as passionate about it? Or is there something else we love even more?
And what about God’s justice? How do we feel about that? Is justice beneath God? Does his justice betray a cranky side of him? And how will we go when God’s finger of justice is pointed at us?
These are very important questions!
Read the Bible Text – Romans 3:21-26
– David Shead
Who in our world is perfect? Mother Teresa? Gandhi? Nobel Peace Prize Laureates? Is there anyone in your community or family who is without fault?
In this sermon, we will see that all people are broken. Paul, the author, paints a vivid picture of how all people fall short of God’s standards. Both the religious and unreligious people of the 1st Century fell short of God’s standards.
But how do we compare? Can we reach the standards God has set? And what happens if we fail…?
Have a look at God’s perfect solution for our imperfect world.
Read the Bible Text – Romans 1:16-3:20
– Josh Ord
You may not know this. I was born in the USA. I still hold my US passport and defend my heritage although I have lived in Australia since I was 10.
This week I have felt very conflicted and it would not be hard to work out why. The news of the killing of Osama Bin Laden has been greeted with relief, praise and joy. He has been the figurehead of evil in the minds of many for the past decade. For those who have been connected in any way to the terrorist attacks in Nairobi (1998), Yemen (2000), New York (2001), Washington (2001), United Flight 93 (2001), Bali (2002 to 2005), Iraq (2003), Madrid (2004), London (2005) and elsewhere, his death in many ways will allow another stage of healing in the cycle of grief.
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