IAG2M: 2 – The Faith Exchange

Yeah. So I wanna start this morning with a disclaimer that we are at the transformation life center are are drug rehab upstate new york uh an hour and a half away from Manhattan. And before I get going, I want to take my hat off and make sure that my signature there, I don’t know how shiny that is. Here we go. And so we want to be able to share today with what I believe to be the greatest and most important concept in the new testament and in the old testament, this precedes circumcision, This precedes the law. This principle which is really fixed In one word, loizeaux me Found in Genesis chapter 15 and verse six in genesis And of course Abraham who was a heathen, he was from er of the Kalderans. He was from modern day Iraq uh in Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates river in that place in the Middle East and God spoke to him and told him he would make him a great nation. He was a man without any Children. God promised him a seed an air his own not from born from a slave or any someone but his own from his own wife, Not just from a concubine that could have Children, but Sarah who was not able to bear Children. When God does a miracle, he really does it, he really wants us to know, hey this is me who did this when he parts, when he parts the red Sea, he wants us to know I’m parting the Red sea here when he raises Lazarus from the dead. You know the man is dead for you know three days and he’s going to call him out of a grave when he calls Peter to walk on water that is on. You can’t do this. It’s impossible. You can do it. If God tells you to do it, you know what is God telling you to do? And here In Genesis 15 6, God told Abraham, I’m gonna make your seed like the stars in the sky. That’s how many is gonna be and like the sand on the seashore in Abraham’s life. Yeah, right, sure. His wife is barren. He’s now, I mean he was He was 75 when God made this promise 25 years later, he’s 100 and that’s when the promise was fulfilled. God waits many times a long time to show you his promise. He doesn’t do it on your time table. He does it on his timetable. She was 90. He was 100 when this promise was fulfilled. It’s amazing, isn’t it? This is the story. But God reaches back to Abraham In Romans chapter four And he gives it to us 10 times in Romans chapter for this word, loizeaux me. So I want to I want us to go into the book of Romans and to kind of teach this word, which I believe is the most important word because we really understand God’s attitude towards us and how he transforms us and how he forgives us and how he puts into us his righteousness and he takes out of us our wickedness or sinfulness. Let me let me let me give you a modern day illustration, we’ve been experiencing Covid and many people have gotten P. P. P. They’ve got money organizations have gotten money, they didn’t work for, people have gotten money. Small businesses have gotten money that they didn’t work for. That’s coming into our account TLC right here, we got money, right, richard, we got money that we didn’t we didn’t work for. Just put into our account being I like that. Don’t you like that? Say Yeah oh that’s great. And not only that but just this yesterday I heard that Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire is gonna decide to give away about $20 million dollars to felons. Why the felons from florida? People who committed crimes Felony is anywhere between 3 to 5 years uh jail time? Who knows that? Let me see. We we don’t want you to confess anything. Okay. Yeah. But uh but let me say this to you that those felons have fines and they could not vote in the state of florida with those felonies on their records. So Michael Bloomberg, the democratic billionaire. He wasn’t a democrat, he was actually a republican then. He was nothing. And then now he’s a democrat, but he just, I don’t think he likes trump and without a doubt and he wants and this is not a political thing. I’m teaching a word here He is going to pay the debt of those felons, $20 million dollars or more so that they could get that off of their record. Why? So that they could get the vote for the democrats, you understand? Which I think and many people think it’s illegal. You can’t just go around buying votes like that. But look, I’m I’m not even talking about, I’m talking about, look, somebody takes out of your account, something that’s there that condemns you and somebody else puts into your account. Something that you didn’t earn that blesses you. That’s the word lawyers. Oh man, what is the word location? Look, here’s what it means to put into my account, what I didn’t earn and or to take out of my account. What I what I did deserve punishment, judgment, jail time, whatever. Say, are you with me yet? Okay. It’s very simple. I call it the great exchange, the great faith exchange my sinfulness for his righteousness. This is the book of Romans 16 chapters and in the book of Romans, my favorite verses, I am not ashamed of the Gospel is the power of God on the salvation. To the jew first and also to the greek. That’s me for in the Gospel is the righteousness of God revealed from faith. That’s a saving faith. Standing faith, walking faith battling faith, dying faith from faith to faith. The whole circumference of faith as it is written. The righteous man. The just Man. The word righteous and just same word ones. The verb ones are now the righteous man, videos anthropologist. The righteous Man shall live. Bye Faith. You do not get righteousness based on keeping the law or being good. You do not get eternal life according to Romans. Chapter five by being good or doing anything, giving some money, earning something Ephesians 2 8 and nine says for by Grace, we are saved through faith, not of ourselves. It is a gift of God, not as a result of works lest we boast about it. Titus three verse five says not by works of righteousness, which we’ve done, but according to his mercy. He saved us by the washing of regeneration, the renewing of the holy spirit which he poured upon us abundantly through christ jesus? Our Lord. No, no faith is what brings me righteousness. It’s a gift that God gives you eternal life is a gift that God gives you Righteousness is a gift that God gives you. Grace is a gift that God gives you mercy is a gift that God gives you. You can’t earn it. Are you tracking with me? Yeah, so you could say man, I’m righteous, but I got it as a gift. I didn’t learn it. How many of you know what I’m talking about, louis C. S. It’s pretty cool, very cool. Okay, so then There is Romans one through 3 and that deals with sin romans. One deals with my sin romans. Two deals with the Gente Roma one is the gentiles in Romans two is the Jewish sin, guilt romans. Three all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Just just in case you think of somebody else we’re all sinners say. Yeah but you don’t no you don’t understand. I don’t need to Romans 1, 2 and three all have sinned all are guilty Romans. Chapter four and 5 deal with salvation. Chapter four is the word louise. Oh man, so on chapter four you gotta put louise. Oh man you say well how do you spell that? I’m gonna show you in a minute. Chapter four and five it deals with sin. The basis of romans Four and five deals with the basis of salvation. How I got saved. What am I standing on? What is the foundation of my salvation Louisa? What are the results of this salvation? I have peace with God. Joy, love all the stuff that we’re looking for. It comes through my relationship with God through christ Chapter 6 7 and eight is sanctification. What is that? Once I get saved? Now God wants to put me through a process where he makes me like himself, it’s called ideas. Moss God is Holy God is Holy Isaiah 6 1, Seraphim Cherub angels archangels are calling out in the very presence of God are yours are yours? I’m gonna say it in greek. It also has in hebrew there and guess what they’re talking about God. They’re focusing in on the fact that he is sin less pure transparent holiness. He’s holy. Therefore be he Holy Matthew, Chapter five says as your heavenly father is holy. Now we’ve been born into his family, he wants us to be holy, the more we get to know God, the more we become like God that process is called are yours Holy most ideas most the process of becoming like him. Holy. That’s what the goal is for you to become like your father. Holy in my thoughts, in my words, in my attitudes, in my actions, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Matthew five. So chapter six is those four things that I need to remember in order to conquer my personal sin and have victory In Chapter seven. The difference between the law and grace gives us an illustration of a husband and wife and then chapter eight deals with the Holy Spirit’s power, the purpose to become like The image of Christ and the five promises of the father the way it ends. And then chapter 9 10 and 11 of the book of Romans is talking about Israel, it’s talking about the jewish past hebrew, Israelite jew. Chapter 10 is there present. Chapter 11 is their future. Chapters 12 through 16 deals with service. Okay, now that you have the theology one through 11 by the mercy of God, he’s allowed us to get in on it. Now, present your body as a living sacrifice? Holy, acceptable to God, it’s your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you could prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So this is the outline of the Book of romans. Chapter one. The gentiles are guilty. Chapter to the Jews are guilty. Chapter three. Everyone’s guilty. Chapter four the basis of salvation is faith. Faith is the basis Loizeaux make is believing God. And because we believe God, he credits us with his righteousness. He takes out of our account and discredits our unrighteous nous, wow, that’s what that chapter is all about. And he gives us two illustrations abraham. This happened to Abraham, not when he was circumcised, it was before he was circumcised. This happened to abraham, not when he had the law. And he was keeping all the right doing all the right stuff. This happened 400 years before moses went up to the mountain and received the law from God. So it’s not based on you’re keeping the law or some kind of rules and regulations. The righteousness of God has given to us on the basis of faith that he himself will do for us. What we cannot do for ourselves. Thank you God. Say thank you God, Thank God. Well, I can’t do it. Are you perfect No James. Chapter two says, if you keep all of God’s commandments, but violate just one point, you and I are guilty of it all cannot come to God on our merit system cannot be that way, You know? So here we are in psalm 30-1. You have David who says blessed is the man who sin. The Lord will not hold or impute or credit or reckon to his account. What does that mean? Well, David committed adultery, He committed murder. And yet God is not going to keep that in his account. Why? Because on the basis of faith in God, he takes it out of his account. Because the blood of christ cleans us from all sin. Yeah. The blood of jesus christ. His son cleanses from all sin. Now he believed in the messiah before the messiah came. Abraham believed in the messiah before the messiah came. You said, how do we know that? Well, what do you think he was doing when he was creating those altars in genesis 12 and 13 and 14 and 15. And on 17 22 genesis 22 he goes up with his own son. What a picture of the father giving up his own son. He goes up to mom Mariah to sacrifice Isaac God told him take your son, your only son and offer him up. He didn’t even argue with God. I would have probably had a few words, you know he and and so we have and so we have Abraham going up on the basis of faith in what God said that God was going to take away his sin and that he was going to provide a sacrifice through his descendants for that sin. That God had already told him this. God had already preached the gospel to Abraham. Really? Where’s that found in the bible Galatians? Chapter three and verse eight that before the scriptures were written, let me get my bible here. You know, I’m quoting all this from, from my memory. But before the bible was written, it says God spoke to Abraham the pro Evangelia. The Gospel before this book before this book was written? Because this book started with genesis 11 that was Moses six. So, it was 400 years later. Abraham was 4000 years ago. Abraham was 1600 BC. That was 3600 years ago. All right, are you with me? And and before the Bible was recorded Galatians 38 Paul says that before God gave us the scriptures he spoke. How did he do it? He did. It was a divine revelation. God gave Abraham the insight that the messiah was coming to bleed and die on a cross that he was going to be buried in rice from the dead. Did he really believe that? Of course he did. How do I know he believed that? Well, look at hebrews chapter 11. Go ahead. Look at it. Hebrews. Chapter 11 tells us that Abraham. Abraham so fantastic. It says he he went to offer verse 17 by faith. Abraham when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promise. That’s how you become righteous. That’s how you become forgiven. That’s how you get the righteousness of God in christ by the promise. Having faith in the promise of God. Uh huh. So here it is he received the promises was offering up his only begotten son. We’re talking Abraham offering up his only begotten son. Now what does that mean? Because he had another son through Hagar? No, it was his only begotten legitimate son. Huh? Are you with me? And it was he who whom it was said in Isaac, your descendants shall be called. You see the identification of the name. Not initially but in Isaac. And then it says in Verse 19. What has God prejudice? No, he’s giving us guide posts to show us who the messiah is and where he’s going to come from and what line he’s gonna come from. That’s why you have Matthew chapter one. That’s why you have luke chapter two. That’s why you have these specific line of where the messiah is coming from and all the 365 prophecies in the old testament concerning the messiah is coming when he’s gonna come. Daniel chapter nine Where he’s gonna be born, Micah chapter five verse two and three and so forth. In Bethlehem If Rata not there were two Bethlehem’s. It was the best I’m afraid to say. It was incredible judea. So there was specifically prophesies and here in verse 19 are considered that that is Louisa may, that’s the word Louisa. For he considered Abraham credited his faith to God. He credited it says that God is able to raise men even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. What Abraham believed that God was going to raise his son from the debt. Well listen, before you can believe something, you got to hear it. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. So he heard that. But we don’t have that written down anywhere. Go like this Because this was because the blow, the Bible itself is only 3600 years old from Genesis. And then the new testament is you know from the first century, are you with me? So you you have a deal here. You have God telling us that Abraham believed that God was gonna raise Isaac from the dead. Well, how did he believe that? Because God told him that he got specifically divine revelation told him this is what I’m gonna do. You go up and offer your son. He said okay. And just when he was ready to kill Izing the ram was caught in the bushes and God says, no, no, no, stop, don’t kill your son. I was So it was a test. And he took the ram and he said, he said, go take the ram and sacrificed the ram in its place. And the ram represented jesus christ. But but Abraham fully believed that his son might be the messiah, that even if he killed him, he would rise from the dead. It’s amazing. Now, let me quickly go illustration justified by faith, not by our works. That’s romans. Chapter four versus one through eight We are justified by faith, not by our works In verses 18 through 25, verses nine through 17. Rather justified by grace and not by the law. See that’s what that chapter is teaching. It was not through circumcision, it was not through the law. And it uses this word Louisa, Louisa. You go into chapter four of romans right now for the last few moments that we have, you go into chapter four of romans and notice how clear it is. I only have a couple of minutes here, but I want to show it to you anyway. Okay Romans. Chapter four notice what it says here in verse three, it was reckoned to him as righteousness. What does the scripture say verse four. Now to the one who works his wage is not reckoned as a favorable what is due again in chapter four, verse five. His faith is reckoned as righteousness. So it’s our faith that credits righteousness in our account. And then it goes on in verse six. The same thing reckoned in verse eight, Blessed is the man who sin the Lord will not take into account. In verse nine, Is this blessing upon the circumstances again, reckoned to Abraham in verse 10. How then will it be reckoned? And then it goes down again in verse 11, that righteousness might be reckoned to him, and finally, after you go all the way down to verse 21 billion fully Assured verse 21 that what God promised he was able to perform. Therefore, also it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Now, not for his sake only was it written? That is that it was reckoned to him, but for our sakes, also to whom it will be reckoned as those who believe in him who raised jesus, our Lord from the dead. He who was delivered up because of our sin was raised because of our justification. So you understand it wasn’t just that those stories, but it impacts us now because we believe in jesus, death, burial resurrection. Now, our faith in that brings to us righteousness brings to us salvation. God credits that to our account, picks out of our account. All of our sinfulness, john Macarthur says it is used both financial and legal settings. This greek word means to take something that belongs to someone and credit to another’s account. It is a one sided transaction. Abraham did not did nothing to accumulate this, he’s saying no God simply credited to him. God took his righteousness and credited to Abraham as if it were actually his this God did because Abraham believed in him. So many, so many other things that we could say about it. Let me, let me move on towards the end. My feeble chef was a guy that my feeble chef was a crippled guy that was from Seoul and yet God brought him to the table. David brings him to the table to be like one of his Children. Here’s the enemy in the house at the table because God wipes away all of that association with the father was trying to kill with Saul who was trying to kill David. Here is the thing that I’ll end with namely in first korean second Corinthians chapter five and verse 1920 and 21 namely that God was in Christ watch this Reconciling the world back to himself not counting their trespasses, Louisa, not counting their trespasses against them. Now he’s committed to us. This message of reconciliation and we’ve become ambassadors for Christ because it says that he who knew no sin, verse 21 became sin, that we would have the righteousness of God in him. This is what this word means. Now it’s used in two other places that I want to point out enclosing one is a negative way in second Corinthians five and 2nd Corinthians 10 verse 34 and five. It says although we’re walking in the flesh. Our battle is not against the flesh. It is spiritual casting down Loizeaux, we credit satan areas in our life as if they’re his and this is a false thing that we do. We need to cast down these imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge you’ve got bring into captivity. Every thought to obey christ that word is Louisa, May these imaginations these fortresses we build that are not really supposed to be in our life. And addiction is one of them and alcohol is another one. It could be sexual perversion. There is also a positive and closing and that’s Philippians four verse eight whatsoever things are true and honest and just and pure and lovely and good report. If there’s any virtue and if anything worthy of praise, Loy ease or may think credit that into your account. Take out of your account the negative junk that satan has grabbed you and kept you and and had a stronghold in your life and put into your account the character of jesus christ that which is true and honest and just and pure and lovely and good report and virtuous and praiseworthy. Think Louise. Oh man, credit that to yourself. Think about yourself that christ is in you and then you have victory through christ over everything in this world. The flesh, the world and the devil. This is a powerful word. We have much to say about it some more to say about, let’s apply it to our life. Okay. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.