They say that the road to hell
is paved with good intentions. I don’t
know exactly what the road to Heaven is paved with but I do know that it is a
toll road and not a freeway. In our passage we see that everybody who aspires
to justification before God has a bill to pay.
We will also see that the currency we have on our own to offer to pay the
toll is worthless. So if it’s not a
freeway and our money is no good, how do we get to our final destination???
Romans 3:23-25
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and
all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that comes by
Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the
shedding of His blood – to be received by faith…
Things to think about:
· The premise
here is that a debt has been incurred and must be satisfied. In our verse above
it says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In Romans 6:23 it goes on to say that “the
wages of sin is death”
o
Hebrews 9:22 tells us that without the shedding of blood there is
no remission of sin
o
This is in keeping with the Old Testament law of blood sacrifice
found in Leviticus 17:11
§ “For
the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make
atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for
one’s life.”
o
This is clearly NOT a freeway
· So there is a
toll to be paid on the road to salvation and its currency is blood.
o
“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the
shedding of His blood”
o
God has provided the token for the toll road
o
Salvation is freely offered but salvation is surely not free.
o
In the same way you can give a gift to someone (and they accept
it), that gift is free to him or her but may have cost you quite dearly.
· “All are
justified freely by His grace”
o
Ephesians 2:8 – For it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith – it is the gift of God
o
So the toll has been paid if we will take the token offered to us
o
Why are works really counterfeit coins in God’s toll booth?
§ Isaiah 64:6 –
“all of our righteous acts are as filthy rags”
· To be clear,
this has to do with salvation, not our good works offered to God after we have
accepted His atoning sacrifice. See Ephesians 2:10
o
How do we accept God’s free gift?
§ Hint: it’s in
our verse above
§ How would you
define faith?
§ Hebrews 11:1
- Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do
not see.
· In what ways
does today’s study help you think about the road to Heaven?
o
Has it cast anything in a different light for you?
o
Are you using the right token on God’s toll road?
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