Book of Romans: “But now…”

Bob Schwahn | Lead Pastor | March 10, 2024

Romans 1:17 (NIV)

For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Romans 3:20 (NIV)

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

BUT NOW…

BUT (conjunction):

Used to introduce a phrase contrasting what has already been mentioned.

Romans 3:21-24 (NIV)

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

IMPUTE:

To ascribe something to someone by virtue of a similar quality in another…

Philippians 3:4-7 (NIV)

though I myself have reasons for such confidence.  If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 4:16-19 (NIV)

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us.

“Reality, in fact, is usually something you could not have guessed. That is one of the reasons I believe Christianity. It is a religion that you could not have guessed. If it offered us just the kind of universe we had always expected, I should feel we were making it up. But, in fact, it is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have.“

— C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Reflection Questions:

What accomplishments in this life are you especially proud of?  What would you want to put on your “life resume”?
What are examples in our culture of the worldview that believes our resume/performance record is what validates or justifies our existence?
How can this resume/performance worldview leak into our view of God and how we relate to Him?
If you were to die tonight and stand before God and He were to ask you, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?”  What would you say?

How does the answer to this question clarify what we believe about what God expects from us?

Explain.

The word BUT is a word of contrast. What is being contrasted in Romans 3:21 from what Paul has been saying up to that point?  What makes this transition so important and meaningful?
In Philippians (above) Paul talks about his outstanding “resume”.  Why would Paul call those very good resume items “loss” or “worthless”?  How does an understanding of the Gospel (good news) cause us to regard our resume as worthless?

Romans 3:24 (NIV)

and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Define justified/justification.

Define Grace.

How does free justification by grace remove both fear of condemnation and pride in our resume?  If we experience fear of condemnation or pride in our moral record, how does that show we don’t understand or aren’t experiencing the gospel?
Read 1 John 4:16-19 (above). Why is fear of condemnation not a proper motivation to follow Jesus and obey Him?  Should we try to motivate people to follow and obey Jesus out of fear of condemnation?  Why do you think many people try to do this?
How would your life change if you were living out of a deep understanding of the gospel?  How has your life changed?

My life before -> BUT NOW -> My life after

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Notes Page: https://journeybozeman.com/sermons/notes/2024.03.10.pdf