Discovering The Jewish Jesus

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: You and I, through Christ Jesus, have now become just before God, and we have peace with God. Everyone that puts their faith in him is now justified and has been given the gift of eternal and everlasting life. We are going through the book of Romans sequentially, chapter by chapter. I'm not covering every single verse, but I'm covering every concept. We're going to pick up today, beloved ones, at the end of chapter number 4, and I talked about that Yeshua was delivered over because of our transgressions. He was raised for our justification. And then we went on that because of what Yeshua did, both died for our sin.

I want you to get that because we have such accusation that we need to warfare against because the devil is constantly trying to put shame and accusation on us. He's constantly trying to beat us up. He's constantly wanting to make us feel bad about ourselves, because he knows that if he can push us down into a pit of shame, it's going to block our relationship with Hashem, and that's exactly what he wants. Remember what happened to Adam and Eve? As soon as they sinned, what happened? They felt shame. That's why they tried to cover themselves with the fig leaves we read about in the book of Genesis, and then they ran from God and were literally afraid of his presence.

So this is what happens when we feel accused because of sin. We isolate, we go into the darkness. But God is giving us his word today that Jesus died and took away our sin, and then he rose to prove that we are now justified before the Lord, and we have peace before him. Let me just read those two verses where I left off. The last verse in chapter number 4, he, speaking of Yeshua, who was delivered over because of our transgression and was raised because of our justification. In other words, everything that Jesus did, beloved, he did for you. He did it for you. He took away your sin, he took away your transgression, and he was raised for your justification.

Therefore, chapter 5, first verse, having been justified, I want you to hear that. You and I, we've been justified. I want you to say that with me. I've been justified. Let's just say it together again out loud before the Lord and to our own soul. I am justified in you, God. I'm justified before you, God. That feels good. And every day we have to remind ourselves of that because every day the devil is trying to put guilt and shame and accusation on us. This is what the Bible calls him, the accuser, speaking of the devil, of the brethren. So we stand against that accusation of the devil by having confidence in what Yeshua did once and for all.

He shed his blood to break the power of accusation over our life, and we need to declare right in Satan's face, I am justified before God. Why? Not because of who you are. You don't have to wonder if you're justified because you were good or bad yesterday or in the last hour. No, your justification is permanent because of your identification with Yeshua, with Jesus. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. I want to encourage you, warfare into that. These words can be words that just roll off our back and we agree with them intellectually, or we can come into a conscious awareness of the battle that we're in, and we can step forward in truth and crush Satan's head under our feet by confessing, believing, declaring, taking a hold of that we stand before the Lord without accusation, holy and blameless before him, because Yeshua broke the curse, he broke the accusation, he took away our sin, he justified us before the Lord.

Now we have peace with the Lord, and we're holy and blameless before him. It goes on to say we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained our introduction, and I want you to think about that word introduction, through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we exalt in hope of the glory of God. Let's take it apart a little bit slower. We're in verse number 2. Through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith. What does this mean? It means this is just the introduction. This is just the beginning.

The introduction, beloved one, and the beginning of what? Of entering into the fullness of experiencing God's grace. Listen, we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace. What is grace? It's God's unmerited loving kindness and favor and goodness continuously being poured out on our lives. The Bible says that God chose us in him, this is in the book of Ephesians, so that he could show the lavishness of his loving kindness towards us for the rest of eternity. This is just the introduction right now. Jesus took away our sin, brought us into faith to believe that we now stand holy and blameless before God.

This is the introduction. There's so much more. God is going to continue to show his goodness in kindness towards you and I through Jesus for the rest of eternity, through his grace. And so once again, verse 2, chapter 5. Through whom in Jesus also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we exalt in the hope of the glory of God. What is Paul saying? We should be, of all people, the most optimistic people in life. We should be full of joy, full of hope, because of our confidence in the future of what God's going to be doing for us, because of our optimistic sense of our destiny, because of our optimistic sense of where we're going, that for the rest of eternity, God is going to be pouring forth good things, his goodness in our life.

I want to read it and say it again. I know it sounds redundant, but we are living in such an evil age, and we're surrounded by so much hostility, so much danger. There is such a thick weight to the spirit of darkness in our culture and in our society today that it's easy for us to be overwhelmed by the spirit of the age, by the spirit of the enemy, by what the Bible calls the god of this world, referring to Satan. It's easy to be hit by times of waves of emptiness or depression or hopelessness or dread or just this feeling. We don't know what it is. We just know it feels terrible because we're living in this world where Satan's throne is, Jesus said.

Jesus said, I know where you live, where Satan's throne is. Not that Jesus isn't sovereign over all. He is, but Satan has a measure of influence in the world today, and because we're in the world, we feel it at times. So we have to be able to resist the feeling of hopelessness and dread and depression, this toxic atmosphere that we're surrounded by spiritually, by recognizing that we're not of this world and that we're going somewhere, that for the rest of eternity, the God of goodness, the God of light, the God of joy, the God of happiness, he is and will be continually pouring out himself into our lives.

And so once again, Paul says, in Jesus, we have obtained our introduction, just the beginning of where we're going, by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we exalt in the hope of the glory of God. We have hope. We're exalting in the glory of God because we're looking up, believing good things are in store for us, that every day is going to be a good day. Every day might not feel like a great day emotionally, but God's always doing something good in our lives. He's changing us.

Announcer: This is Discovering The Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider, and he'll be right back. But first, we want to help you go deeper into God's word. That's why we've come up with a free gift. It's called 18 Messianic Prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures. It's a PDF and MP3 teaching bundle where you can see for yourself how Jesus fulfills Messianic prophecy throughout the Torah, the prophets, and the writings. Get yours at myfreegift.com/prophecy. Did you know that the shofar is a biblical instrument that's used to announce God's presence, and we would love to send you one when you become a new monthly partner.

It's a special thank you gift that's been handcrafted in Israel. To join us and receive your shofar, visit DiscoveringTheJewishJesus.com. Thank you for partnering with us each and every month. Your support, it helps us continue to share the gospel. And now back to Rabbi Schneider.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: The book of Romans chapter 5, and in verse number 3, and not only this, but we also exalt in our tribulations. So every day is a great day. God's glory is being poured out on our life. It might not feel great every day because we face hard times and we have to overcome the enemy, even in the realm of spiritual warfare, even when Satan is trying to pour out his invisible presence upon our soul, trying to make us feel hopeless or whatever it may feel like, that negative feeling. Paul says this, not only this, but we exalt in our tribulations, whether it's in your visible circumstances, beloved one, or whether it's in a spiritual battle in the invisible world.

It may feel tough, but we're exalting in our tribulation, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope. And this hope that we're exalting in does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out upon our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us, and God's Spirit has overcome the world. So let's think about this for a second. What does this mean for us? How are we to truly assimilated? How should we be receiving it? How can this be making a difference? How can you walk away and be changed, be empowered, be transforming?

By truly knowing and taking a hold of this, God's love has been poured out on your life. Because of that, you will not be disappointed. What you're hoping for and what you're believing in will materialize. It will come to pass. You can exalt in your tribulation, whether you're going through a hard time circumstantially, something's going on in your life, whether it's with your family, your children, your health, whatever it may be, or it's something just in the invisible world. You have this feeling that feels terrible, you don't even know what it is. You're just in a war. God says, yes, you're in a war.

Everyone that desires to live godly in Christ, yes, is going to experience tribulation because going through the tribulation and clinging to God through it, affirming his promises through it, strengthens us in our faith. It's like resistance training, just like an athlete. How do they get stronger? They practice resistance. In other words, they develop stamina by pushing through hard times. So if it's a runner, for example, if it's an Olympic athlete that's preparing for a marathon in the Olympics, what do they do? They train every day by making themselves run longer or faster, pushing their body to the limits.

Their body is feeling terrible while they're going through the tribulation. They can hardly breathe. Their muscles feel they're about to give out, but after they press through, their body is so much stronger than it was if they wouldn't have gone through the resistance. Again, just like a weight trainer, just like a person that wants to develop muscles. They what? They subject their muscles to the force of gravity so that they lift a weight off the ground. The weight is pulling their muscle down, but they're pulling their muscle up, resistance, and through that training, their muscles grow. Well, the same thing happens with you and I.

We exalt in our tribulation. We don't give up on God. We don't fall into depression. We don't surrender to anxiety, but instead we do what Abraham did. We praise God in the midst of contradictory evidence, and through that we get strong. And when we get strong, beloved ones, we'll have breakthrough and understand what it really means to be happy by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh. And so once again, this hope that we have as we press in, not wasting our tribulation by giving up, but by using our tribulation so that we can go from one degree of glory to the next degree of glory. Listen, our hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Let's go to the next verse, verse number 6. For while we were still helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. So I want you to think about this. Jesus didn't die for you and I when we were doing our best to be good. Rather, he died for you and I, beloved, while we were still helpless and ungodly. This should give us confidence to know God loves us, and neither you or I have to do anything to earn or deserve his love. All we have to do is believe it and be thankful for it and look to walk in it. So listen again, verse number 6, chapter 5. For why we were still helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even die. But listen, but God demonstrated his own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. I want you just to realize God loves you, right where you're at. It doesn't mean that he's happy or approves about everything that we do or think, but his love is deeper and wider than that. He loves you, and he understands you. And to prove that, he sent his son to die for you while you were helpless and living in ungodliness, and that love for you will never change. You and I didn't do anything to deserve his love or bring his love to us, nor can we do anything ever to cause him to withdraw from us other than rejecting his love.

So you are safe in him as you look to him and thank him and seek, beloved, to continue to just walk in the grace that he's given you. He continues on in verse number 9, much more than, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. So what he's saying is if God demonstrated his kindness towards us, why we were living in ungodliness and didn't even have a consciousness of wanting to live obediently to him or knowing the way to him in Yeshua, if God died for us when we were in that helpless state, how much more will he pour forth his love upon us now that we've received him, church, and are seeking to please him through our relationship in Messiah Jesus?

What happens next in the text is Paul begins to shift his concept a bit, and he begins to help us understand that if it was through Adam's sin who sinned all the way back in the garden at the beginning of the book of Genesis, if it was through that one man, Adam's sin, that sin and death was then transferred to the whole world, because the Bible says the whole world died and became guilty before God because of Adam's sin, that the human race, once Adam sinned, because Adam was the human race's divine representative, and when our divine representative sinned, it separated the whole human race from God.

So now the Bible says, through Jesus, who's become the second Adam, through Jesus's one act of righteousness, dying on the cross for the sin of mankind as the perfectly righteous one, through that one act of Jesus, all that put their faith in him would be reconciled to God and justified. You see, it's all so simple. We have one humanity, and we have one head of humanity, Adam. When Adam sinned, the whole world became guilty and came under the power of sin. But when the second Adam came, Yeshua HaMashiach of Nazareth, and lived as a perfect God man, a perfect human being, and then went to the cross, not for himself, but for you and I.

He took our sin in his own body on the tree and then died in our place. And then to prove that God accepted that atonement, Father raised him from the dead. Through that one act, you and I have now become just before God, and we have peace with God. Through Adam, all died, but through Christ Jesus, everyone that puts their faith in him is now justified and has been given the gift of eternal and everlasting life. And if you love Jesus today, beloved one, that's you. So I say to you today, grace and peace to you. Shalom vracha, God's peace and blessing over your life. You are safe and secure in your relationship with God.

Give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, I hope you were blessed and encouraged by today's broadcast. The Bible tells us in the book of 3 John chapter 1 verse 8 that we should financially support the ministries that are feeding us spiritually. And in so doing, John says, we'll become fellow workers

Unidentified Speaker: with the truth. I want to encourage you, if the Lord is bearing witness with your heart to support us, would you just be obedient to him? The scripture tells us that everything we sow into the kingdom of God for the purpose of extending God's kingdom in the world is going to come back to us pressed down good measure and running over into our laps. And I also believe that when you financially support us, the Lord's going to open up your heart to receive even more revelation from him through Discovering The Jewish Jesus. Beloved, you and I truly are partners together. Without you, I can't broadcast.

I want to thank you for your love and for your financial support. If you feel the Holy Spirit knocking at the door of your heart to make an offering to the Lord through Discovering The Jewish Jesus today, just do it, beloved. You'll be blessed.

Announcer: Amen. And to support Discovering The Jewish Jesus today, visit Discovering TheJewishJesus.com or give us a call. Our phone number is 800-777-7835. You can also send your gift in the mail. Our address is Discovering The Jewish Jesus, PO Box 777, Blissfield, Michigan, 49228. And one place that your generosity is opening doors is our new outreach called Jews.com. Through Jews.com, Jewish people can explore Jesus, the Hebrew scriptures, and questions about faith in a setting that's created specifically for them. And sometimes the questions we receive reminds us just how important it is to be there when someone starts searching.

One person recently came through Jews.com with an incredibly simple but deeply personal question about whether Jesus could save them. Think about that for a moment. As Christians, a lot of us take that for granted as an absolute yes, but imagine being in their shoes. That's a scary thought to not know if he can or what will happen to you when you die if he can't, because Jewish people have been taught their whole lives that Jesus isn't the Messiah. It's built into their culture, and behind that question is a real person looking for a real answer that could affect their eternity. And that's exactly why this outreach exists, to answer that question for them and encourage them.

That's one reason why your partnership matters. You're helping create opportunities for Jewish people to ask honest questions about Jesus in a safe way. Your gift helps keep Jews.com available, so give today. Visit DiscoveringTheJewishJesus.com or call 800-777-7835. That's 800-777-7835. Now here's Rabbi with the Aaronic blessing.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: In the Old Testament book of Numbers, we find a blessing God speaks over his children through Moses and Aaron. It carries the idea of favor and expression. Open your heart to the Spirit and the Word today and receive Father's goodness into your life with confidence. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance, and the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace. And now in Hebrew.

Dustin Roberts: God bless you, and shalom. I'm Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering

Announcer: The Jewish

Dustin Roberts: Jesus.

Announcer: Thursday, what's really changed in your life since you decided to follow Jesus? Well, Rabbi Schneider challenges you to examine whether your choices reflect the new life that God's given you, right here on Discovering The Jewish Jesus.