The Good News

The Good News

# Reason for this study- “You can’t have grace if you haven’t heard where we came from, then we’re saved from the wrath of God.”

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

• Since we understand the bad news, we realize that everyone has sinned, no one has been perfect except for Jesus Christ. 

Romans 3:24-25 “And are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”

• God gave us Jesus Christ as a gift. The greatest gift ever. He gave us his only son who lived a perfect life, took our sin, and died for those who believe in him! There is no better gift! (John 3:16-18, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4) 
• Jesus’s blood was shed on the cross so that we may live! (Romans 5:9)
• God did this because he loves us even though his people are going in the wrong direction (Romans 5:9)... So this shows us his righteousness; because of Christ, and if we believe, God passes over our sins.

Romans 3:28 “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”

• You cannot be saved by works. You can only be saved through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Romans 4:4 “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.”

• For those who do good works, they are expected to do these works as they claim they are Christian. It is our duty as Christians to do good works for His name and not our own.

Romans 4:13 “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.”

• Abraham gained his righteousness from God just through faith in God. He didn’t have to do anything physical but to show God his faith and trust in him. (Story on Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac as proof of faith- Genesis 22)

Romans 4:15 “For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.” 

• The law brings wrath on those who think they obey it. It is impossible to live perfectly under the law. If you believe that you are living under the law, then you are being justified by works. Like you are saving yourself. However if there wasn’t a law in place there would be no reason for transgression- breaking the law. So then there would be no point of a savior!

Romans 4:16 “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring--not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all...”

• By having faith in Jesus, God guarantees his grace to us. The promise of God is that if we have faith in Jesus, God will give us grace. (John 3:16, 2 Peter 1:2, James 4:6, Romans 3:24, John 1:17)

Romans 4: 24 “... but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

• commenting on verses 20-23... saying “it was counted to him” was not just a word of God for Abraham, but also for those who believe and have faith in Jesus, who died for our sins and was raised as proof to everyone that Jesus is Lord (1 John 4:14).
• If Jesus didn’t raise from the dead, then Christianity would be a hoax and we would not have salvation.

Romans 5: 6 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”

• Saying that we were weak (read the bad news and you know we were weak) or lacking moral strength which pins us just like the ungodly. So Christ died for us to give us strength. 

Romans 5: 7-8 “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person-- though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

• As humans, one may die for a morally good person. But God’s love is completely different. God didn’t die for morally good people. Instead he died for everyone who is unrighteous. 

Romans 5: 1-2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin shall still live in it?”

• Just because we asked Jesus to take control of our life and are considered free from sin doesn’t mean we can continue in sin because our sin is forgiven (Hebrews 3:14, 2 John 1:9, Romans 11:22).

Romans 6: 6-7 “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.” 

• Our sin was crucified on the cross like Christ was crucified. Therefor we are dead to sin. Not physically dead but our old self, old ways, old lifestyle, etc. are dead. When the Holy Spirit came into our heart, we were swept clean. 
• We are also no longer slaves to sin, sin does not control us. So we leave our old sinful ways - Romans 6:11-23

Romans 6: 24 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

• Sin leads to hell, but thanks to God he gave us a “free gift” which is eternal life for those who have faith in Him.

Romans 8: 1-2 “There is therefor now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

Romans 8: 31 “What then shall we say to those things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

• Therefor we should not be afraid or ashamed of anything because we are guaranteed life and no one can take that away. (John 10:28)
• check romans 8:38-39

Romans 8: 38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

• Simple... God loves us :) and if we truly believe in Him, then nothing can separate us from His love

***Romans 10: 9-10 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” 

• When we bow down and repent our sins and confess with our mouth, then we will be saved. 
• We must also believe in our heart and not just give a soft fluffy “im sorry God” and get rid of our guilt, we must bow down and repent our sin because we now understand that we offended God in our past. We ask for forgiveness (1 John 1:9).
• This is the key to being saved. True repentance and faith in our loving God

Romans 10: 12-13 “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

• It doesn’t matter what our ethnic background is, who we are, or what we have done in the past. There is only one God and he is the God of all. If we believe in Him we will be saved.

** So after we repent of our sins, and ask for forgiveness and pray for Jesus to come take over our lives... where do we go from here? Well check out Romans 12- 15! Gives us clear instructions on what we are to do as Christians. I hope that you have made that decision and if you have and are struggling in faith, its time to ask for forgiveness and forget about the past. We only have one life, don’t make that mistake. 

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