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Receiving Your Just Wage – Don Keathley

Mar 17, 2024
Thank you, thank you, good morning, Digital Cathedral family. I'm glad you're with me this Sunday morning. I hope you are all set and ready to go. I am very excited about the word I want to convey to you this morning. We are really excited. In the second part of the little series we call eradicating death, we are considering some things that have not been taught much in the church. I had never heard any teaching on this until recently. starting to come to the surface, so I want to talk to you this morning about

receiving

your

salary,

receiving

the fair salary that you have imputed to

your

life.
receiving your just wage don keathley
I want to take a look at Romans chapter 6 verse 23 and we're going to Let's look at this verse and I want to emphasize the last half of it. Romans chapter 6. Let me give you a little warning right at the beginning: the first five minutes, maybe eight nine minutes. I may be a little confused on some things. things not in what I'm presenting but in what you may be hearing, so I want to encourage you not to shut down if it seems a little confusing or murky and you're not getting the essence of where we are. but I guarantee that if you stay with me it will crystallize and you will see some things this morning that I think will add to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ that you are moving toward and this.
receiving your just wage don keathley

More Interesting Facts About,

receiving your just wage don keathley...

The topic of death is a big thing right now and I think the spirit of God is teaching us some things about life and death. Let's go to Romans chapter 6 verse 23, as I say, stay with me this morning until the end and I will do it. I assure you that we are going to collect something of truth that will build you, it will not take anything away from you, it will build you, that is what we do in the digital Cathedral that we built, we do not subtract the chapter of Romans. 6 verse 23 very familiar verse says the

wage

s of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our lord let me say let me read that again

just

write this down I know you've heard it many times the

wage

s of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus let me say a couple of things.
receiving your just wage don keathley
I'm going to take the last half of that verse um but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus let me

just

say a couple of things about the first part of the verse and I'm really going to weigh in on the last part, the wages of sin is death. when I heard that and taught it for years, I looked at the death that was being emphasized. in that verse the wages of sin is death I looked at it as spiritual death I never bothered to look at it I never bothered to study it is just what we all take on the wages of sin is spiritual death your sin you will go to hell sin you are totally separated from God and It's going to be a spiritual death.
receiving your just wage don keathley
I did a little. I've done some research on that word death. In reality it is the number 2288 and the Strong's Concordance and it really refers to physical death, so the wages of sin is physical death we know that when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden that God said the day you eat it you will die now they didn't die that day they didn't make him die next year it took a long time for the effects of sin to pay its wages but it finally did in a physical death always the consequence of sin is physical death let me say this about sin sin is not an action you like drinking smoking uh going to the movies whatever your church labeled all these sins made laws against them said you do this you know it's doubtful it's or even saved any of those things are sins what is a sin is harmattia missing the target what is the target What sin is actually an archery term when you shoot a bow and arrow at one of those circular targets that you know you have outside the Circle and then one is the interior and then you have a target when an archer shoots an arrow and misses the target, is it called? a sin that is the target the target has always been eating from the Tree of Life sin has been moving from the Tree of Life and reaching the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil every time we eat from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil Evil, which has been the tree from which man has actually eaten for hundreds of years, has been the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Everything in our world is based on what we determine to be good. be bad, right and wrong and God said that is the wrong tree, the tree of life is simply a tree where God speaks and we respond, God speaks and we agree and we move according to what he says, then humanity has moved away from that and we have suffered the consequences of it so when he says that the wages of sin is death he is talking about the wages of eating from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and will produce physical death is that the missing Marcos pays a salary there is a check you get from him and the check is written this is death when you eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you miss the target you miss the target and the consequence of physical death so let's turn this around Now if the wages of sin is death let's look at the other side of the coin the opposite of death is life the opposite of sin is justice the opposite of death is life the opposite of sin is justice if I walk if the sin pays a wage of death can justice pay a wage of life can the opposite be true yes if a form of work produces death which is a sin is an action can a form of work of justice pay life now I said no I make myself say something that I don't say here I'm just asking a question if you do a job if you sin eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil it produces death now if on the other hand if we toss the coin in the air is there something you do that produces eternal life?
I think justice has its benefits, even when it comes to the law, we tend to think that justice is adhering to the law, keeping the rules, the regular regulations and I think there is a benefit to that, honestly, when you look at the law . Thou shalt not kill. You will not steal when you look at the Ten Commandments and keep the Ten Commandments, obviously there is an advantage to that. I would rather face the consequences of not murdering than murdering someone if you don't murder, there is a salary that is paid and as you can be a free citizen.
The other day I saw something that I thought was very funny. One guy said, "If you played Monopoly, if you played Monopoly and all you did was collect your 200, you never bought any property, you never made any." investment in what could produce income for you, but all he did was take his two hundred dollars and give it to those who had built hotels and motels on his property and tried to stay out of jail. He said that's pretty much what characterizes people's lives today. they are not really functioning even in a natural life today they just exist giving their money to the rich and trying to make sure they don't go to jail.
Are there any consequences for righteousness? Absolutely even keep the law. You will not do it. murder, you won't go to jail, you won't lie, you won't have to face the consequences, that's when the lies catch up to you, so looking at it from a natural point of view, there is a salary that justice pays that it does have. its benefits I don't think we've really understood what the benefits actually are. We know that the wages of sin is death. You can see what is raging around you. People. You know you can. You can do things that will help. it simply totally destroys your body, you can make bad decisions and the more you eat from the Tree of Life, the deeper the death, so can justice produce the Zone in which the life of God leads us to death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ.
Jesus, now, this thing of justice and its ability to impart life must be really important because Jesus made an exchange with us, let me read it, let me read it to you, I call it The Great Exchange. I'm not the only one who has called it that. but I call it a great exchange second Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21. now justice will lead to life. I'm going to show you some scriptures about how righteousness can lead to life. The question is can you do enough to be able to receive the wages of self-righteousness that will impart to you eternal life look what it says here must be this righteous thing must be important when it comes to life because it says that he made Jesus, that he knew no sin, he knew no death, he had no wages of of uh of sin coming to him he did not sin made him sin to be made death to collect our wages our check for us so that we may become the righteousness or the life of God in Christ that's a great verse.
That I think really highlights the distinction between the wages of sin and the wages of death and how we collect for either of them. Now I'm going to get into that in more detail in just a minute, but I want you to see. This word righteousness as it relates to life must be important because Jesus made a trade, he took all our sins and gave us his righteousness now, by taking our sin, he also picked up to pay for sin, he died for us, if one died for everyone, then everyone. He died, I will die in Adam, all made alive in Christ, so when he took our sin, he took our death sentence and in turn gave us righteousness from it.
Now if he took our sin and our death sentence, then the righteousness he gave us must be. be a producer of life, think about how he took all our sin, which is death, and then deposited it directly. I love that term direct deposit, when we talk about spiritual things, he directly deposited righteousness into our lives. Now it turns out that justice does pay a salary. Now, stay with me, it turns out that justice pays a salary. When you look at the Scriptures, you find that there are references to righteousness that often point us to life even in the Old Testament, and that's one of the things that we learned under the law is that we tried to become righteous by keeping the law that we knew It existed if we strived to be perfect.
Right, be perfect because I am perfect. God says good luck with that thing you can't do. that or you can try hard and try, but fairness, there are several references in the Old Testament. I'm just going to look at the Book of Proverbs. I'll give you four from the Book of Proverbs that they tell us. the correlation between justice and life when you see the word justice in Scripture, if you were to just substitute life in there, I think you would have a pretty accurate translation, justice is the antithesis of sin, justice is the antithesis of death, just when, when , let's stay with sin is the antithesis of sin, the opposite of sin is justice, the opposite of death is life, so if sin pays the wages of death, then justice must pay the wages of life.
Now the question is how one obtains enough righteousness to collect the wages of eternal life. points to life I really want to remember that today because if you see the exchange that Jesus made took our sin, gave us his righteousness and imputed it to us, deposited it directly and gave it to us free of charge, then you will be under begin to understand that the life that It works in you it has no relation to sin sin death is gone the wages of sin is gone and well look what Proverbs chapter 10 verse 2 says. The treasures of wickedness are of no use except that justice listens justice delivers of death, let me continue reading, I'm just going to give you a couple more Proverbs, the next proverb chapter 11 and verse 4 riches are of no advantage in the day of wrath, but justice delivers from death, so we arrived just there.
In two chapters we have the direct correlation relationship of justice with life and justice that frees us from death, okay, let's continue with the next chapter Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 28. in the path of justice is life and in the way and in the way is the way I'm sorry let me start the verse again in the way of righteousness is life and in its way there is no death Proverbs chapter 21. Proverbs chapter 21 and verse 21. he who follows righteousness and mercy finds life justice and honor so when you follow justice what you find in the end is that you find life so it pays a salary the salary of justice is absolutely life now just think about this for a second if justice frees us from death and in the path of justice. justice, we just read it if in the path of justice there is no death, that means that in the path of justice there is immortality, there is immortality and I hope that we can unlock just a couple of small steps of this, even in the Old Testament the justice paid a salary that there was. a consequence of justice and that was life, the opposite of sin and death in this moment, it is important to understand that it is important to let that settle into our understanding that justice produces life, that relationship of ours with justice It is a key, I think it is an absolute key to understand what Jesus accomplished on the cross to bring eternal life to the now he brought eternal life to the now by making us righteous he took our sin second Corinthians 5 21 he took our sin and the consequence the wages and in his place gave us his justice he just said give me that and I'll give you this and he imputed gave it to us direct deposit put it in our life so all we could say about it was thank you very much and nothing I can do to really earn it so um , let's go back to verse 23 of Romans 6 for just a minute.
I want you to look again at the correlation of the topicof sin and death when someone works, they are paid a salary, are you with me, do you sin? That salary pays you, uh, that work of sin pays you a salary and it is death. Paul expressed it this way in Romans chapter four. I'm trying to bring this home and if I repeat myself several times a day it's because I do it on purpose. I don't think most of us have correlated justice with eternal life. We have tried to access eternal life with many different things, but when you become righteous there is no longer sin or death within you so if death is working in us then it is stealing from us what belongs to us it is a thief it is a thief and a thief and a thief comes to steal kill and destroy truth Jesus came so that you may have life there is the antithesis how he gave us a life he imputed justice to us he made us as if we had never sinned he justified us Romans chapter four let me read the first four verses this is what Paul says about What shall we say that Abraham our father found according to the flesh?
Because if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. What does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Verse 4, not for the one who works, the salary is not counted as Grace, but Dad, so if you are trying to work for justice, that is not Grace, it is a debt that you have tried to fill with your actions. Verse 5, but for him who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the wicked, his faith is counted as righteousness, but for him who does not work, where there is a key right there, because we try to work for righteousness and you do not can work for it, it is resounding. a gift to all of you in that resounding gift of justice is life itself, the opposite of sin, let me read it again, but for the one who does not act what he believes in the one who justifies the wicked, but does not listen to any teaching about justification. of the wicked, right?
I don't think I've ever heard a teaching on what I might have to do about that the wicked are justified, how are the wicked justified? They are imputed with righteousness their faith is counted for righteousness, okay, so if you work to earn righteousness, if in effect you are saying that I am working to obtain eternal life, that is what you are really saying, if I am out there, You know, busting my ass. trying to keep all the rules, laws and regulations so that God will be pleased with me and give me grace and I can appear before him one day.
And he says, "Wow, you sure did a great job keeping all the laws." enter into enter into heaven you know there is somewhere in the cosmos if we work to earn justice then we get paid for what we work let me tell you that again if you work for justice then you will get the exact wage that you work for we get exactly what We have won and no longer, the problem is that this humanity has tried and tried for generations and each time has failed to work hard enough to obtain the wages of justice that will pay them. eternal life if I could have known Jesus I could never have needed to come Jesus came to give us life he came to make an exchange for example if you work at McDonald's I don't care how good an employee you are if there is nothing wrong with working at McDonald's McDonald's is a job honest and honest, but if you work at McDonald's you can earn enough money to buy a Ford, but if you work at McDonald's, I don't care how conscientious and hard you work, you will never buy a Lamborghini, you can't possibly earn enough at McDonald's to earn a Lamborghini Now if you try to work for righteousness, you might get a salary of some enjoyment in life and I told you that working for righteousness, if you don't kill someone, there is a reward, if you don't steal, there is a reward for that. right, you won't go to jail, you can live a normal life, there is a way, but you will never be able to work for righteousness to the level where you can get a paycheck that will give you eternal life, right, you could earn enough You will never see a Lamborghini parked at Wendy's or McDonald's because no one who works there can afford to not earn enough wages and it's the same with us, you will never see someone who is trying to work for their justice. your way to heaven will you ever be able to reach it there there is no way you can earn that much salary now there is a better way there is a better way and the best way is this if we stop working for justice now here I am I'm going to start leaving this a unclear.
Somehow I work on some things like: you can work for righteousness, you will receive a particular salary for it, you can enjoy life to a certain extent, but you will never be able to work for righteousness. enough to earn a salary that will pay for eternal life so there is a better way for us to get it right in 2 Corinthians 5 21 when Jesus made a trade he took our sin he gave us his righteousness he took our death and he gave us his life okay that is exactly what happened in that exchange? So there is a better way if we stop working for justice and instead trust in God.
Abraham believed God and that was told to him and deposited directly into him for righteousness. What is it to believe in God? Believing in God is simply an effortless response to Revelation is eating from the Tree of Life when the father speaks to you something and no oh I see that it is very clear then you will respond well sometimes that response to what he says may be a little contradictory to what seems right or what feels right or what is logical if you go with what feels right what is logical what you are in effect saying is I'm trying to win I'm trying to get married I'm trying to be good enough to get something that would be a positive paycheck he says no don't work it that way he said I want you to learn to trust me and believe in me there is a credit placed in your account listen to me carefully there is a The credit placed in your account without working for it and not as payment of a salary, it is a gift, so this thing of justice that gives us eternal life is a gift, it is not a salary that we can earn, it is a bonus, it is a great complement. about man, I tell you it does not come by merit, it comes by gift, not by the sweat of our brow, not by the work we try to do Romans chapter 4 verse 3.
I hope you are getting something out of it. about this because I'm going to explain it in just a minute for you, we're going to include this in what this is all about what justice is about and we have greatly underestimated the justice that was given. To us in exchange for our sin or in exchange for our death we were given life Romans chapter 4 verse 3 what the scripture says Abraham believed God he responded to the word that God spoke to him well he believed God and that was counted to him for righteousness there was nothing that he had there was nothing that Abraham could do to earn the justice that was necessary for him to fulfill the plan that God had for him he trusted in God who against all hope believed in Hope you can receive enough for the eternal life that he does not know death if you can understand the delivery of justice that has been given to you apart from your works apart from your work we will never be able to earn enough you can you could earn enough for the Ford you will never earn enough For the Lamborghini, today you may have a little better life through your acts of righteousness, you may obtain some favor from men, but you will never be able to hold a right position or sufficient righteousness with good and evil chosen, and good and evil, eating from that tree.
You will never, ever be able to conquer it enough to be able to obtain the results that would be obtained by eating from the Tree of Life, which is justice. Now this is going to shock your world. This is going to shock your world. But I. I want you to listen to Jesus for just a minute John chapter 11. Let's see how this plays out here John chapter 11 verse 25. This is strong stuff. This is a story of Lazarus. I have taught this story to many people. times over the years, but it was just recently that I rang my bell here and I have reflected and reflected and meditated on this and I tell you it is coming home loudly in verses 25 and 26 in Jesus' response to the sisters in the verse 25 and 26 he makes a surprising revelation he makes a surprising revelation Jesus said and this is about the dispensing of justice and the acceptance of the gift Jesus says in verse 25 I am the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me, even if he dies , he lives, look, that is eternal life.
Jesus said that whoever believes in me, even if he dies, can die, he did not say that he had died, he said that you can die, he will live now look what he says in verse 26. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never live. . he dies, do you believe this? she didn't ask she didn't ask in verse 25 do you believe this because that was the accepted norm is still the accepted norm that we believe in him we die and then we get eternal life? That's exactly what she said, there are two groups of people Jesus highlights two groups here, which one do you want to be in?
You want to be? in verse 25 who believe in him and die and then you have eternal life or want to be in the group in verse 26 who lives and believes in him and never dies this is the guy we are referring to what the gospel is people who believe get a credit of righteousness and never die now there is only a distinction between verse 25 and verse 26 verse 25 those who believe in him die and have life those who live those who live and believe in him will never die now in the verse verse 25 everyone lives and dies in group one because heaven is their hope and they've accepted the process that death is the entrance to eternal life, that's what religion has taught.
The Evangelical Church means that everyone is going to die and then once you die you go to heaven and then eternal life begins there and that is pretty much the accepted norm. that's pretty much what we've all been led to believe, but let me read verse 26 again because when I read this I think, oh my God, Jesus is talking about two specific scenarios here in verse 26, it says whoever lives, whoever lives and Those who believe in me will never die, that is the gospel, that is the gospel, but few people have believed it. I'm talking to you here at the Digital Cathedral this morning and you're probably further along the path than 99 percent of them.
The people who are sitting in church this morning listening to the same three-point message with a different title are more advanced in their spiritual understanding, their spiritual depth than they are, and yet very few of us have gotten the gospel part. . of the gospel that says if you live and believe in me you will never die now you can believe in me and you will die and then you will have eternal life so verse 25 is eternal life verse 26 is immortality you do not die that means you never transition. I'll tell you what immortality means to me.
Frankly, I'm not going to live to be five hundred and six hundred, I don't care, but immortality for me means that I don't have to suffer from diseases, I can do it. live until I'm satisfied with my life until I can look at my life and say I've completed my homework I've run my race I finished the course that's where Paul was that's where I was Paul said I finished the course I'm ready to be I'm ready to hook them I'm ready to I'm ready to transition so it wasn't death it was a transition it wasn't death he didn't didn't go through Look, death has fear attached fear has kept death fear of death has kept to people in bondage all their lives all their lives and Jesus said there is a way that is better than that he said it is part of the Gospel is the good news for you you say it is part of the Gospel.
I have never heard this part of the Gospel. Let me read you second Timothy chapter one second Timothy chapter one and let me let me read verses 8, 9 and 10. Second Timothy chapter 1 verse eight this has never been attached to immortality has never been attached to the gospel because it has never been attached to the gospel We couldn't hug her We couldn't believe it We couldn't say a creative word No, not even this morning I will Almost certainly many of you are sitting here thinking what in the world are we talking about something that is part of the Gospel part of what belongs to us because to the finished work of the Cross Jesus conquered death for us in our name Look what he says here this is Paul speaking to Timothy, therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of Our Lord or of me as a prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings by The Gospel According to the power of God see verse 9 who saved us in the past tense and called us with a holy calling. not according to our works that they saved in Sozo making us healthy giving us life was not according to our works but according to their own purpose and Grace listen which was given to us in Christ Jesus Before time began that is an objective truth that is the objective truth there same that's a done deal that's what has happened not according to our works he saved us he made us healthy he made us righteous he made us you know righteous full of life but now it has been revealed by the appearance of Our Savior Jesus Christ look who has abolished death, do you really believe that?
Can we really believe this morning that he has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, so the gospel should illuminate life and immortality? The wordImmortality means indestructible, uh, incorruptible, not subject. to decay without the ability to decay this is how we should live we should not decay we should not be decrepit inclined Holding on to life by a thread he gave us something better than that to me immortality is living until you are satisfied that you have completed the course and you are not and you are not suffering you are not dying of a disease, we have simply accepted the fact from verse 25 John chapter 11 that we live, we die and then enter into life verse 26 we have never considered the fact that when we live and believe in he we would never die and because we have never really accepted it or looked at it, we have never considered it, especially since it has never been attached to the gospel and Paul makes it as clear as possible that this is part of the Gospel Package this is him Jesus abolished death When he died on the cross he abolished death if he abolished death why does he have so much control over us today?
I would be the first to tell you that it is a mystery, there are things that I don't I don't understand I don't understand I can't tell you this morning how we can make that move, but I can tell you one thing, the fact that I don't understand it doesn't detract from the fact. that it is the truth is true and there must be a generation that becomes the generation of the resurrection that sees that the spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us sin no longer has dominion death no longer has dominion on us and we have to start seeing it as that immortality Strong's number 861 says Incorruptible not subject to decay cannot decay now maybe we understand a little what it is about First Peter chapter 1 and verse 23.
Have you read that verse before ? Let me read it to you now come on. to capture a little see all this continues to uncoil like an onion, lower the layer and you will see a little more verse 23 First Peter chapter one to be born again not of corruptible seed but Incorruptible you know what that seed is Incorruptible it is immortal not subject to decay we were born again when you came out of the tomb of Jesus when you were born from death to life in him he embraced you he took you to the cross with him he took you to the tomb he took you out of the tomb you have ascended with him you stood you are sitting you are sitting at the right hand of the father today that is your lens that is your perspective and from that perspective death has no influence on us no no it does not dictate the way we live even though it has been brought from death let me be clear you were brought from death to immortality through the resurrection the new creation according to the order of Jesus is eternal death has no power over it death had no power over Jesus are you like?
He is in this present world, you know what Jesus said. I have never heard anyone say this, they say they are like Jesus, they say they are a brother of Jesus, right, I have heard all kinds of people Proclaim all kinds of things about themselves I have never heard anyone say this verse 17 John chapter 10 That's why my father loves me because I lay down my life to take it back no one takes my life I lay it down of myself and I have the power to leave it I have the power to take it back this command that I have received from my father that command that you have received from the father we dare to begin to say with our mouth I lay down my life without money no one takes it away from me no illness takes it away from me the spirit that lives in me raised Jesus from the dead I had the power to lie down I have the power to raise it again look at me death in any form is not our friend death in any form is not a friend of the father Jesus defeated death Jesus had the power to lay down his life and pick it up again Paul captured it Romans chapter 6 Romans chapter 6 .and verse 10 Romans chapter 6 I'm going to get there and verse 10. for the death that died look listen to the death that died died to sin or to death died to the wages of the wages of Sin which is death once and for all you are in that everything that died to sin once he did that for everything he says, but that the life that he lives, he lives for God in the same way you also consider yourselves dead to sin, you are dead to death, can you grab that one?, you are dead to death, sin has no dominion over you.
He has no dominion over us when you see the word sin think of death when you see the word justice think of life you cannot earn enough justice to obtain eternal life you can earn enough justice he will pay you a salary you do not lie, you do not kill, you do not You commit adultery, there is a salary to be paid. Life is better. Life is calmer, but it won't give you eternal life. The man can't earn enough. The salary cannot be sufficient by self-righteousness to gain eternal life. Consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord, so he says you have to start telling this, you have to start recognizing this, you have to start saying it for yourself, right?
Jesus defeated death. from me and he has given me imputed justice you know death death let me say it again death is not your friend you know why you know why I know he is an enemy because in First Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 26 Paul says The Last Enemy be defeated or placed under our feet is death objectively Jesus fulfilled that on the cross he annihilated death he annihilated and annihilated everything that had to do with death that was attributed to death that is an objective fact now subjectively it has to be walked by us and finally we are in a generation that is at least beginning to say it I see it I see it as part of the gospel I have not yet lived at that level no one there have been some there have been some I have read the testimony of some who have decided that their life is fulfilled they are happy and they just go to sleep they just go to sleep and that is the way you should make the transition that is a Transfiguration that is not a death that is a change from one dimension to another dimension as easily as you walk from the living room to the kitchen without illness or disease and I wouldn't feel sad because someone who transitioned that way called me on the phone and said hello Keithley, uh, I'm done, uh.
I'm leaving here tomorrow. I'm going to exchange this body of flesh for a glorified one. We will see you soon. I wouldn't feel bad about that. What makes me feel bad is when I see. people suffer and go through agony, you know that reaching death for most people is the real problem that we have to face to get there and that Jesus imputes to us his life and his justice for what he is telling us. We don't have to go through that. The best we have ever hoped for is healing. The best thing we've heard about healing.
The problem with healing is healing someone. You will still get sick at some point because that is what they believe they have to die John 11 25 and then they will get eternal life so they will have to go through that process. Everything you have done is well established. Is there anything better? Romans is an excellent book on this. He really wants to. to dig into it, sin equals death, righteousness equals life, read the book of Romans and I'll give you just a couple shots of Romans this morning to tell you exactly what I'm talking about in a little bit of time. .
I have about eight nine minutes left. I want to give you some scripture verses that highlight the power of this righteousness. The first one I'm going to give you is Romans chapter 1 verse 17. I want to read it aloud. from the passion translation this gospel reveals a continuing revelation of the justice of God very well when you see justice what do you see you see life the gospel in let me insert that there the gospel reveals a continuing revelation of the life of God a perfect justice a perfect life It is given to us when we believe that believing is an effortless response to Revelation.
Believing is not work that the church has done. Belief or work that you have to do. the light comes on, you will see what has been revealed, let me know I can't read these verses, but preach a little, perfect righteousness gives us when we believe and turns away from us receiving. life through faith to the power to live by faith now look when you see receiving life through faith that is when you are going to die and live again but when you have the power to live by faith that is a life that is not good , is going to live and believe, believing is simply receiving life through faith.
I believe that, but when you live and believe, that's when you come to life by faith. That's what the Scriptures mean when they say we are right with God through life by giving faith, you know what faith? This faith is simply a trust in the one who promised you his ability to fulfill it, that's what faith really is, so that's a good verse Romans chapter 1 and verse 17, let me, I want to give you a couple more, can I do that? I have a little time here Romans chapter 5 and verse 17. Romans chapter 5 verse 17. So when you see justice, what do you see?
You see life. When you see sin, what do you see? You see death. So what do we find? unraveling the scriptures is that justice always prevails over sin justice is Kryptonite to sin sin has no power against justice that is why you have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus your perception your identity of Life is In Christ you are seated with Christ in Christ and the heavenly Colossians 3 3 says you died you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God there again life justice has control over death you die you already died with him one died for everyone everyone died right now look this Romans chapter 5 and verse 17.
I did it, I did it, I don't know how long it was before I had any revelation of Grace, but this really captivated me, it must have been around 1997, maybe 6 97, and I did it for a whole time. Series about this I did not, I did not see then what I see now, but he says this because if for the defense of one man death reigned, for one man much more those who receive abundance of grace will watch and the gift of justice will reign in life . through the only Christ Jesus then there again we see that this gift of justice destroys the death that reigned for one the death of the Kingdom for one does not have control of your life what has control of your life is this justice that is a gift that It allows and enables you to live in life, so the word life is not just natural life, it refers to eternal life and death is what you are going to face, it is the consequence if you think that Adam did this and we all died. and we are saved we go to heaven that is the minor league we need to get to the major leagues well we have lived we have lived in the minor leagues and we have played in the minor leagues long enough we need to make the transition to the major leagues again Romano shows us that the gift of righteousness produces Zoe that is what I want you to see from Romans 5 17 the gift of righteousness helps us to reign in life through one Christ Jesus then Romans chapter 5 verse 21. so that if sin reigned in death, so the grace may reign through righteousness unto life eternal life through Jesus Christ Our Lord to obtain, makes a distinction, says this is what sin brought death, right on target, don't think when you no longer think sin, think about breaking some law, what a sin it is, not hitting the target, the target is the Tree of Life and whenever we live from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, we have missed the target, which is a sin, so we all we have sinned.
I have missed the mark because they have lived according to the truth and the knowledge of Good and Evil and if death entered through the tree the knowledge of Good and Evil will then come out when there are no longer people eating from the Tree. of the knowledge of Good and Evil that you are only eating from the tree of life now I am going to tell you this this could require some transition it could take a generation or two I don't know but I tell you this is What will put death under the The last enemy to destroy is death, which is the result of eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so at some point there will be people who will only eat from the tree of life and which is present. our culture you are going to see a world that is totally upside down Romans chapter 5 verse 21 that your sin reigned in death likewise Grace Reigns through justice and that justice leads you to eternal life through Jesus Christ Our Lord so when read Romans if you really want to do a good study just read Romans and see sin and equate it with death justice is life and see how justice always defeats sin itself um when you read Romans it's hard to miss, but we have it because We always go back to that first group in John chapter 11.
We still go back to the place where we have to die and then we get eternal life and that's not what Jesus said we've screwed up, we haven't even considered group two, living and believing. In it we never die, we have not even given our consent. I never heard anyone mention it. Now it is clear why we cannot earn enough justice to earn the wages of immortality, but man tries, doesn't he? just by itself by being good by keeping the rules by keeping the laws and it is certain that we cannot work hard enough to earn eternal life it has to be imputed it has to be given to us sin is what subjects our body to disease illness and Death and sin lack the mark, it is not that you smoke a cigarette.
That's just not healthy.naturally, but that's not going to be. That's not what the Scriptures mean when they talk about sin, it's not going to the movies, it's not dancing, all those things we do. We were taught that if you are a Christian you don't just say that is a sin, that is not a sin, sin is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in fact, those who told you not to dance were doing it, we are eating the knowledge of Good and Evil of what seemed right to them and what seemed wrong God never told them that he never whispered to them that they just came up with it that's okay I have one more scripture and I have to hook you I hope you get something out of this I have made happy this morning Romans chapter 8 verse 1 says this, well, let me read it, so I want to get the exact wording.
I reflect and meditate on these things and what happens is that I have to rephrase it myself as I go through it over and over again. I said fine. listen to it then there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation that condemnation comes as a result of trying to be righteous by choosing the right tree that you do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit when you walk according to the flesh you are walking according to the tree of knowledge of good and evil your senses uh you feel the things you see you hear you feel and make a decision you take a course of action based on the flesh but there is no condemnation when you walk according to the spirit or eat from the Tree of Life now look at this this is this is a way to end for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus the spirit of Life the spirit of life eternal life no death no Pro no possibility of dying made me free from the law of sin and from the law of sin and of death, so the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death, so free from why still, why still living in it, why do we continue to suffer the consequences of it? um, if we have been freed from it, we should not die.
Why might it be that we are still trying to work on some level for our justice, might it be in? On some level we have not recognized the imputation of righteousness that Jesus gave us and we are still on some level trying to think that we need to earn it, let's take a step this morning, let's take a step, let's completely agree that Jesus put a stop to the payment of our check for sin, right, he put a suspension of payment on that check with what it pays, which is death, there will be no more death pay.
Sin is no longer allowed to send death towards us without reaching the mark, we will not eat from the tree. We are not going to give way to it, let us see Jesus giving us all without working, without sweating, without making an effort, a check of life that imputes to his justice and the salary of eternal life. Let us be the generation that takes this ball of immortality and moves through the field. Let us be sons and daughters who take a giant step to take this Last Enemy that has plagued Humanity which is death, this Last Enemy and put it under our feet now remember in the truth of the Kingdom and I have to stop preaching here remembering the Kingdom The truth is that the stages of the oyster are first the seed, then the leaf, and then the corn filled in the air, which correlates with us.
First you have to hug him. There has to be a people who embrace what I'm talking about this morning and don't just agitate for it. They shake their heads and roll their eyes and say it's Mission Impossible, there has to be a people that embrace it as part of the Gospel of what Paul told Timothy that immortality is part of the Gospel and once you embrace it, when there is a people that embrace it, You can begin to believe it and once you believe it from the abundance of your heart, look at your Believers down here and this is where it grows once you embrace it, you begin to get Revelation, you believe it and when you believe it, you can Say a creative word with your mouth and you can start saying I choose not to die I choose not to be angry with you and there is a force there is a power of the spirit behind this this is not a lifeless confession just because you confess it you don't. does, so it has to be strengthened by belief and embrace.
Okay, I think that's enough for today. We're going to last 53 minutes, that's longer than I would like, but hey, this is an important topic. It is an important topic and I want it to reach your spirit to where we at least begin to recognize that immortality is part of the Gospel. Alright, God bless you, see you Wednesday night. Thank you for his prayers. Thanks for your support. It's January, if you would like to do something monthly for this year that would be great, it would really help us, and I appreciate those of you who donate regularly and even from time to time, that is a big help to us. see you Wednesday night secret place next week Digital Cathedral 10 a.m.
Center and we will take this to another level God bless you see you then foreigner

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