Toledo Reformed Theological Conference
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Preconference Afternoon Session
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Steve Camp
A Passion for the Gospel
The Gospel is not an offer, the Gospel is a command.
Deny oneself and take up the cross of Jesus Christ
God is not an impotent spectator in the glory of salvation
The Heart of the Gospel
Romans 3:21-26
Reconciliation
Through the law comes the recognition of sin. It is an injustice to divorce the law from the Gospel. Under the law we stand condemned. But under the righteousness of Christ we receive forgiveness of sins in the redeeming of Christ on the cross.
The punishes and is the justifier
This passage contains all five solas of the Reformation
- Sola Scripture
The cross declares the Word of God (v. 21)
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
The Old Testament is not an inferior revelation
He took the wrath of the law for us. That is the good news of the Gospel.
- Sola Fide
The cross defines salvation as the work of God (v. 22)
Rom 3:22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
Two types of religion, human achievement and divine achievement. Every other religion are based on a system of works righteousness. It is hard to give up boasting in the flesh.
The work of God in man, not the work of man before God.
Salvation defines faith, salvation is defined by faith
- Soli Deo Gloria
The cross demands the justice of God
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
No matter what we do, our righteousness is as filthy rags before God.
We love our sin, and hate to leave it behind. It is heart rending to part with our sins, like a divorce.
- Sola Gratia
The cross distinguishes the grace of God
Rom 3:24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Salvation is an unearned blessing, flying in the face of Roman merit. Justified= declared righteous. It is a matter of imputation, our sin imputed to Christ and His righteousness imputed to us. He was treated as if He lived our life and we are treated as if we lived His.
The good news is not a system it is a Savior.
Solus Christus
The cross displays the satisfaction of God
Rom 3:25 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.
The merits of the cross reach backward as well as forward.
Sins do not go unpunished.
Propitiation: To avert wrath, to avert anger.
God doesn’t love the sinner and hate the sin. God hates the sin and the sinner.
We can’t just say God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,
The Gospel doesn’t begin with the love of God, it begins with God Himself, a holy and just God.
God didn’t turn His back on Christ because He couldn’t look on sin. Christ was forsaken, but God didn’t turn His back because He couldn’t look on sin, on the cross Jesus was face to face on our behalf as a propitiatory sacrifice on our behalf.
The cross demonstrates the Righteousness of God
Christ as the spotless lamb was sacrificed for us. He went as High Priest on our behalf into the Holy of Holies on the cross. When the sun went dark, the wrath of God poured out on Christ for all the sins that would ever be committed by all who would ever believe.
“Vicarious penal substitutionary atonement”
My God, My God why have You forsaken Me
He didn’t turn away because He couldn’t face sin, He looked on Christ and saw every sin, and Christ drank the cup and God was satisfied.
When He declared “It is finished” He satisfied the Law.
The emphasis is not will a sinful man come to God, but will God come to a sinful man, and the answer is in the cross.
The Gospel is not an offer it is a sovereign command
The Cross delights the person of God
Rom 3:26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Why? Because He enjoys all the glory.
He is enough, complete in Christ
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