What makes Christianity different from every other religion?

• Christianity is not about living in

like other religions. It is about the

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of guilt so that we can be reconciled with God.
• Christianity flips the world upside down. With the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, there is a new level of degree of

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about this upside down kingdom that Jesus has established.
• In Romans 3:24-28, Paul told us that if you want to live in God’s Kingdom, if you want to receive this gift and enjoy the benefits of being in this family, you can never earn it. It can only be received like a

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– freely.
• DL Moody >> “The thief had nails through both hands, so that he could not work; and a nail through each foot, so that he could not run errands for the Lord; he could not lift a hand or a foot toward his salvation, and yet Christ offered him the gift of God; and he took it. Christ threw him a passport, and took him into Paradise.”
• But before he can get to how this righteousness benefits us, he wants to make sure that we understand faith, simple faith in God’s provision, has always been what God requires. So, Paul begins with two OT examples: Abraham and David.
• What you should hear from these verses is: If you can’t work to earn this kingdom, then you find inhabitants like this. If faith was enough for Abraham and David, it is enough for me too. If ungodly folks like this can be saved by the all-sufficient grace of God then I can be saved as well.

Too Easy?

• In this passage, Paul very clearly makes the point that

alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ opens the door to the righteousness required to have a relationship with God.
• In order to prove his point that faith alone saves, Paul uses two well-known figures from the Old Testament: Abraham and David.

The Example of Abraham: Believe the

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(vv. 1-5)

• In Genesis 15, Abraham looked at this promise and simply believed that God was

to do what He said He was going to do. Now, he was not perfect in that obedience, but he simply believed. God was the one who would keep the promise, Abraham was just called to believe.
• Galatians 3:6-7 | just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
• James 2:22-23 | You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
• If we want the righteousness of Jesus Christ that saves, like Abraham, all we can do is

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. It doesn’t matter how ungodly or sinful you are. If you respond to the promise of God with faith, you are swept into the current of

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by which the God of mercy transforms the ungodly (see Romans 4:5).

The Example of David: Only God Can

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(vv. 6-8)

• David knew that if sin was going to be

, God was going to have to be the one who covered it.
• V. 6 >> David calls this a “

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.” This blessing is the gift of God by grace, the forgiveness of our sins, and the removal of our guilt.
• V. 7 >> Paul quotes Psalm 32, which is considered to be one of the psalms that David wrote after he was found out to be an adulterer and a murderer.
• When we

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our sins in confession, we open the door to our sins being covered by the blood of Christ >> Psalm 103:12 | as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us (see also 1 John 1:9).
• “How can God forgive me?” One commentator said, “God’s forgiveness, [is directly related to] His justice, [and[ is based upon the payment of the penalty by a substitute. Jesus Christ, His Son, paid the penalty for our sin by dying on the cross…Looking at Calvary, God is now free to forgive those who come to Him through the blood of Christ.”

Are you believing the promise that only God can forgive?

• Faith in the Lord Jesus saves us by accessing the righteousness, forgiveness, and redemption purchased by Jesus Christ. The same faith that saved Abraham and David is the same faith that saves us.
• Does it sound too good to be true? D.L. Moody said, “God never made a promise that was too good to be true.”