Week 42 - Free Weekend Program for Street & Vulnerable children.

Text : Romans 9:28-33

Theme : By Faith Alone

Verse 28 “For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth quickly and with finality.”

God’s judgment against sin and sinful men will be swift and final, as stated in scripture. No one will escape the full consequences - severe punishment for even the smallest sinful thought, intent or action. It is not a joke, Fela is not playing Afro beats in hell, no! Hell is a place of real torment Luke 16:24; God’s fierce judgment is coming, Just as in the time of Noah, when the flood came suddenly and wiped out everything off except for those who were in the ark; Today, Christ is our refuge, our ark of safety, run to Him! Those who do not have faith in Christ will face God’s severe judgment for their sins. I used to believe and teach the saying “God hates sin but loves the sinner”, but through good faithful teachers and a deeper understanding of scripture, I now realize that it is not just the sin that is punished, but the sinner as well, facing eternal torment in the fiery lake alongside Satan. Rev. 20:10. This is a harsh and scary reality, but it is the undeniable truth of the gospel.

Verse 29 “And Isaiah said the same thing in another place: “If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of our children, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah.”

It is evident that without God’s Mercy and Grace through predestination, election, and adoption, we would all face eternal damnation in hell, without exception. It is only through God’s love and mercy, as demonstrated in His favor towards Jacob, that we are saved from this torturous fate like the fate of Pharoah, Esau, Judas, many more and satan Rev. 20:15. Thank God that your name is written in the book of life.

We should be grateful every day of our lives, regardless of our physical temporal circumstances, because our destiny is secured in Christ. God has chosen you! He selected you for adoption before you were even born, before your father, grandfather and great grand mother were born. He chose you and made you His own through adoption. He has already determined your ultimate destination (the celestial city), paid off your debts, paid your dues in full, and have settled your bills with the precious blood of His Son. He has also entrusted you to the Holy Spirit to guide you safely home to heaven. This is truly remarkable and amazing! a unique privilege for every genuine believer in Christ, i mean every true Christian.

Verse 30 “What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place.”

Most of us grew up without biblical knowledge, we had no spiritual understanding of biblical truth, our parents and grandparents were idol worshipers, we were all blind, steep in idolatry - marine spirit, occult, wooden images etc . Psalm 115:8; We may have gone to church at some point, but even then, we weren’t seeking God. Our offerings were for greed, our service for self exaltation and our dedication for pride - self glory. The Glory of God was not foremost and alone in our hearts. We were dead in sin and trespasses Romans 3:11, but God made us alive! Forgave our sins and gave us faith as a gift, so we can believe in Christ, in Him who was raised from the dead and be healed - transformed. John 3:14. This is the message of the glorious gospel, Salvation is :

• By Grace Alone

• through Faith alone

• In Christ Alone

• According to scripture Alone

• To the Glory of God Alone.

God alone has done this and He alone deserves all the praise; our adoption was His choice, His plan and according to His perfect wisdom, none can question Him. He alone paid for our redemption, He has also justified us, we are being sanctified progressively and He will glorify us, give us a new body that will live forever with Him in heaven. Learn this gospel truth, keep them in your heart and ponder on it often; think about it regularly, why did God adopt me as His own child before I was born, why did he forgive me and wash me with the blood of Christ? Because He love me like He loved Jacob, I did nothing to deserve this.

31 “But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded.”

During Jesus time on earth, they asked Him “what must we do to do the works God requires? He said “the work of God is this : to believe in the one he has sent. Then, they asked for miracle, something physical, He offered them Himself - eternal life, the celestial city and they were not happy. Like Esau, they wanted stew, pottage not birthright. What does this mean for us? Will you rather steal than truth God for provision? Some people will rather cling to adultery, deny the existence of God if possible, roll over into African tradition than trust God to heal their marriage and make it sweet like old wine.

Even as Christians, and unlike Samson who chose his own path way to pleasure, we must trust that the will of God will satisfy us and give us ultimate pleasure even here on earth. Matthew 19:29 doesn’t necessarily mean He will multiply wealth or wives as we were erroneously taught by false fraud “preachers” but that verse is saying that the Lord Himself will be our satisfaction, our joy and rejoicing. He is more than ten sons! 1 Samuel 1: 8-12. Christ is more pleasurable, more delightful than wealth, sex or fame 1 John 2:16. He gives peace, joy, pleasure and fulfilment that this world cannot know; He can also add physical things as He pleases. Matthew 6:33

Faith in Christ is all we need, our “clever” and diligent efforts will avail us nothing, it’s a striving after the wind, an endless grasping towards nothing. God is not pleased with it. Israel never attained righteousness or holiness through self effort, no religious person no matter how dedicated, devoted or sincere, can attain perfect righteousness and holiness by self effort; righteousness is a gift from God, we cannot attain God’s perfect standard of righteousness by works - self effort. We are made righteous by faith in Christ alone. Romans 3:22. Pray 15 times daily, fast for 120days, plus more, tithe, live in the desert, live as a monk, memorize and recite the scripture 5 times daily, travel to Niger by foot, and on and on, it will offers you no rest, God swore that no such person will ever enter into His rest. Hebrews 4:3. Rest is only by faith, by trusting in Christ. Good works are fruits- prove of a righteous life, they are not the means to it. we cannot gain acceptance before God by doing good.

32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path.

Unbelief is a sin, all Israelites that came out of Egypt perished in the wilderness except Caleb and Joshua because of unbelief. God made sure they didn’t enter into the promise land ( celestial city) because they didn’t believe Him. Self righteousness rejects God’s free gift of righteousness by faith, its unbelief, “ Unbelief calls God a liar! Denounces His word as a farce and will rather depend on its own efforts than put faith and trust in the word of God. It shuts the door to heaven, there is no forgiveness for the sin of unbelief if one dies in it.” Steve Lawson.

God has made His way plain, Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” John 14:6. Pride can choose to fashion out it’s own “pious” ways through diverse religious rituals and activities, but the end is futile - eternal damnation. Flee from it! Put your faith in Christ and depend on Him for everything; whatever we do without faith is sin! A rich man once came to Christ and asked specifically what he must do to inherit the kingdom of God, Jesus said, go and keep the commandments, he said, I’ve kept all of it, obeying since I was a young boy, Jesus said, ok, go sell all you have, give the proceed to the poor, then come and follow me! Give away all my possessions, and put faith in Christ? Hmm! He went away sorrowful. We can’t please God by fulfiling all His law, it’s much more than us; if we fail in one, we are guilty of all. James 2:10

33 “God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

‘For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God” Romans 10:4. Put your trust in Him and you will never be ashamed; reject Him and you reject the gift of God for your eternal soul, scorn him and you scorn God’s love, mercy and Grace towards you and your end will be worst than sodom.

Let’s us pray.