Dr. Joe K. Taylor, Senior Pastor, South Reno Baptist Church, Reno, NV August 3, 2014
All Scriptures are printed verbatim with translations noted. Pew Bible: 1038.
In the Study Verse Section, God’s Word is printed in regular faced text with Pastor Joe’s commentary in the smaller faced text.
Biblical words, underlined with dots, are explained in the brackets.
A. Believers are saved by faith, to freedom, and for forgiveness.
B. We are saved by His grace (God’s sovereignty) through our faith (Man’s responsibility).
C. Salvation is found in no one else—but Jesus.
The Question in Today’s Passage:
Q: Are we saved by faith or by works?
A: By faith—alone—in Jesus Christ!
Faith v. Law
1. Believers have a new relationship with the Law.
Romans 3:27–28, HCSB - 27 Where then is [Jewish ceremonial] boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith. 28 For [after our study of Romans 1-3] we conclude that a man is justified [ie., saved] by faith apart from the works of the law [Author Pink quote: “This is the verse that changed the history of the church forever.*”].
*History: In 1517, a Catholic monk, named Martin Luther, read and studied the book of Romans—specifically, this verse (Rom. 3:28). He concluded that the Roman Catholic Church was in error and he wrote about it in a paper titled, “The Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.” He nailed that paper to the door of the Catholic Church, The All Saints' Church in Wittenberg, Saxony, in the Holy Roman Empire (Germany). He basically complained about the Catholic Church’s teaching on baptism, penance, indulgences, and purgatory, and salvation by works. It is widely regarded as the initial catalyst for the Protestant Reformation of the 1500’s.
Sometime this week, please view this video about the life of Martin Luther—it’s awesome!
Go to “The Ballad of Martin Luther” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eglz9Yhqflo#t=497
Or just Google: “The Ballad of Martin Luther” by Marc Hayes
2. Believers have a new relationship with The Lord.
Romans 3:29–30, HCSB - 29 Or is God for Jews only? Is He not also for Gentiles? Yes, for Gentiles too, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised [the Jews] by [the Gk. preposition “ek”, meaning “out of”] faith [lit., “the circumcision that rises ‘out’ of faith”] and the uncircumcised [the gentiles] through [the Gk. preposition “dia”, meaning “though”] faith [lit., “through faith” of “by means of faith” Paul is saying the same thing to both groups—faith along saves].
Romans 3:30, NIV84 - 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.
3. Believers have a new relationship with life.
STUDY VERSE SECTION - Romans 3:31, HCSB - 31 [Here is the final question] Do we then cancel the law through faith? [in other words, “If we are saved by grace through faith, is the law not null and void?” or “Can we throw out the law?”] Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law. [The Lord used the Law to teach us that we were sinners. He used the Law to show us that we were doomed without Him. He used the Law to establish our need. Now that we are saved, the Lord begins to live this Law through our lives. Now we show the world that people can live for God, by letting God live in and through us! [Our whole lives can change when we understand this principle—God is us working through us to do what we could not do for ourselves.]
Romans 3:31, TLB - 31 Well then, if we are saved by faith, does this mean that we no longer need obey God’s laws? Just the opposite! In fact, only when we trust Jesus can we truly obey him.
Life Application Section: Summary statements from Romans Chapters 1 - 31. ______is short.
2. ______is sure.
3. ______is the cause.
4. ______is the cure.
F
or I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is God’s powerful method of bringing all who believe it to heaven. This message was preached first to the Jews alone, but now everyone is invited to come to God in this same way. - Romans 1:16, TLB
Answers to “Q&A That Matters—Part Four” Sermon
Dr. Joe K. Taylor, Senior Pastor, South Reno Baptist Church, Reno, NV August 3, 2014
1. Life
2. Death
3. Sin
4. Christ