Wednesday in the Word

what the Bible means and how we know

What is the Gospel

04 What is hope and what good is it?

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What is hope and what good is it? | WednesdayintheWord.com

RC Sproul defined hope as faith looking forward.  But what exactly are we looking for?  And how do we know that actually have a reason to hope?

Review

  1. Death – phenomena of human existence where everything physical & spiritual breaks down. Life is the opposite of death; tendency toward good in all of human existence
  2. Life automatically and inevitably flows from holiness. Death automatically and inevitably flows from sin.
  3. God is the sole source of life, because He alone can give holiness.
  4. When we rebelled, we cut ourselves off from the source of life (God) and we are stuck with death.
  5. The rebellion itself is wrong and deserves punishment. Until God’s justice is satisfied, He will not grant life.
  6. Justification is the forgiveness of our debt to justice which qualifies us to receive life. To be justified is to be in a position where God’s justice is satisfied.
  7. Justification is a gift from God.
  8. Justification is made possible by the sacrificial death of Jesus.
  9. Justification is granted to those who have faith.
  10. Saving faith is the permanent, ongoing trust in God that one day He will free me completely from all the consequences and effects of sin.  Saving faith itself is a gift from God.
  11. Saving faith involves 4 things: a genuine desire for holiness in and of itself; a genuine understanding that left to myself I am totally incapable of obtaining holiness; a genuine understanding that God owes me nothing and I am totally unworthy of any gift from God; and a firm trust that God both intends to and will in fact make me holy in the age to come because of the blood of Jesus Christ.

So what?

The “so what” of being justified by faith is now we have a reason to boast.  Paul explains that boast in Romans 5:1-11.

1Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die– 8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. – Romans 5:1-11ESV

  • In Romans 5:1, Paul means peace as opposed to strife.
  • Having been reconciled to God, we have reason to boast/exult/rejoice in:  1)  the hope of the glory of God (5:2); 2) tribulations (5:3) and 3) being reconciled to God (5:11).
  • The Greek word translated exult/rejoice/boast describes that rush of excitement which comes from a realizing you have value.  It is based on fully justified, accurate facts and it does not refer to our own accomplishments.
  • Hope is a confident, eager expectation that something will happen.  It is not a wish or desire.
  • Glory of God is his Holy character which demands our respect and admiration.
  • We rejoice in our sufferings because suffering tests our faith, revealing it to be genuine, which guarantees our hope.
  • Our hope is certain because God loves us.
  • If He demonstrated the depth of His love for us by dying when were his enemies, under His wrath, now that we are reconciled, it is much more certain that He loves us enough to fulfill His promises and bring about our hope.

Questions? Please ask

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Previous: 03 What is saving faith and why is it so important?

Part of the series: What is the Gospel?

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03 What is saving faith and why is it so important?

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What is saving faith? | WednesdayintheWord.com

 Review

  1. Death – phenomena of human existence where everything physical & spiritual breaks down. Life is the opposite of death; tendency toward good in all of human existence
  2. Life automatically and inevitably flows from holiness. Death automatically and inevitably flows from sin.
  3. God is the sole source of life, because He alone can give holiness.
  4. When we rebelled, we cut ourselves off from the source of life (God) and we are stuck with death.
  5. The rebellion itself is wrong and deserves punishment. Until God’s justice is satisfied, He will not grant life.
  6. Justification is the forgiveness of our debt to justice which qualifies us to receive life. To be justified is to be in a position where God’s justice is satisfied.
  7. Justification is a gift from God.
  8. Justification is made possible by the sacrificial death of Jesus.
  9. Justification is granted to those who have faith.

What is saving faith?

  • Saving faith is not obedience.
  • Saving faith is not giving intellectual assent to the right doctrines.
  • Saving faith is not giving intellectual assent to the right doctrines.
  • Saving faith is the permanent, ongoing trust in God that one day He will free me completely from all the consequences and effects of sin because of the blood of Jesus Christ.
  • Saving faith itself is a gift from God.

4 Core Convictions of Saving Faith

Saving faith includes:

  1. a genuine desire for holiness in and of itself.
  2. a genuine understanding that left to myself I am totally incapable of obtaining holiness; I am sinful.
  3. a genuine understanding that God owes me nothing and I am totally unworthy of any gift from God; I am totally dependent on the mercy of God.
  4. a firm trust that God — through the work of Jesus Christ — both intends to and will in fact bring me into holiness in the age to come and grant me life in His kingdom.

But what about sin in the meantime?

  • Justification only removed one of the consequences of our rebellion: the judicial penalty.   We still struggle with sin and death in this life.
  • A mature faith must be nurtured.
  • In this life, faith is more immediately important for us than avoiding sin.
  • Struggling with sin and death matures our faith.
  • In this life, God’s highest priority is not to give us holiness, but to give us saving faith.
  • If we become bitter that God has not removed sin, our faith lacks humility and longing.
  • If we become bitter that God has not removed sin, our faith lacks humility and longing.
  • If holiness seems irrelevant, our faith lacks an understanding of and a longing for holiness.
  • If we despair because we still sinful, our faith lacks trust that God will indeed keep His promise.

In a very real sense our lot as believers in the present age is to wait patiently and hope for our inheritance.

We’ll talk about hope next.

Next: 04 What is hope and how do I know I have it?

Previous: 02 What is justification and why do I need it?

Part of the series: What is the Gospel?

Photo by Julia Caesar on Unsplash

02 What is justification and why do I need it?

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What is justification and why do I need it? | WednesdayintheWord.com

Review

  1. Death is the phenomena of human existence where everything physical & spiritual breaks down. It’s the process of decay and corruption.  Life is the opposite of death; tendency toward good in all of human existence
  2. Life automatically and inevitably flows from holiness.  Death automatically and inevitably flows from sin.
  3. God is the sole source of life, because He alone can give holiness.
  4. When we cut ourselves off from God (the source of Life), we inevitably experience death.

The Problem: Rebellion

In the photos below, my right hand represents God and my left hand (wearing the watch) represents mankind.

Fellowhip - Justification Explained | WednesdayintheWord.com
Before, the Fall, we are metaphorically face to face with God.
  • Before the fall we are fellowship with God and God is granting us Life (as we defined it).
  • We are metaphorically face to face with God.
Rebellion - Justiifcation Explained | WednesdayintheWord.com
Mankind rebels and metaphorically turns its back on God
  • When we rebel, it is as if we turn our backs on God.
  • The first consequence of our rebellion is we now experience death.
Wrath - Justiifcation Explained | WednesdayintheWord.com
In response God metaphorically turns His back on us.
  • The second consequence to our rebellion is God’s wrath.
  • The rebellion is wrong and deserves punishment.
  • Our crime incurs a judicial penalty that must be paid.
  • Until God’s justice is satisfied, He will not grant Life.

Romans 1

In Romans 1:18-32, Paul makes these 3 claims: 1) mankind rebelled; 2) the consequence of that rebellion is death (as we defined it) and 3) God responds to that rebellion by abandoning mankind to the custody of death.

We rebelledTherefore: 1) we experience deathand 2) God abandons us to death
1:21 –  For though they knew God they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks. .1:21-22 – . . . they became futile in their speculations , and their foolish heart was darkened.1: 24 – Therefore, God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity    . . .
1:22-23 – Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man . . .1:24 –  their bodies might be dishonored among them.1:26 – For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions
1:25 – For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator . . .1:27…receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.1:28 –  . . . God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, . . .


The Solution: Justification

Justification - Justiifcation Explained | WednesdayintheWord.com
Once we are justified, God metaphorically turns back to us.
  • Justification is the forgiveness of our debt to justice which qualifies us to receive Life.
  • To be justified is to be in a position where God’s justice is satisfied.
  • None of us can justify ourselves by keeping the law.
  • Knowing and understanding God’s Law is not enough; we have to be the kind of people who can keep the Law (Romans 2:13-16).
Fellowship - Justification Explained | WednesdayintheWord.com
Return to fellowship
  • Justification is a gift from God.
  • Justification is based on God’s mercy.
  • Justification is made possible by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23-26).
  • God grants justification to those with saving faith.

For more detail and explanation, please listen to the podcast.

Next: 03 What is saving faith and why is it so important?

Previous: 01 What is life & death and why should I care?

Part of the series: What is the Gospel?

Photo by Julia Caesar on Unsplash

01 What are life & death and why should I care?

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What is life & death and why should I care? | WednesdayintheWord.com

Understanding the gospel means we must understand the problem that the gospel solves.  While the word gospel means “good news,” understanding the gospel begins with bad news: death.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23 NASB

What is death?

  • Our modern concept of death is the end of biological viability.
  • The New Testament concept of death is the process of physical decay that brings about the end of life.
  • Death includes both physical and moral “entropy”.
  • We are governed by death because of our rebellion to God.
  • Death is the inevitable consequence of sin.
  • We are unable to escape this rule of death by ourselves.
  • Sin inevitably leads to death.

What is life?

  • Life is the opposite of death.  It is an existence free from the power, presence and consequences of death.
  • “Eternal life” is life in the age of ages which will be an existence free from death.
  • Holiness is having a character ruled by life.
  • Holiness is the goal of salvation.
  • God is the sole source of life because He alone is Holy and can give holiness.
  • Holiness inevitably leads to life.

The problem is how do we escape death and gain life.

Next: 02 What is justification and why do I need it?

Part of the series: What is the Gospel?

Photo by Julia Caesar on Unsplash