WONDERFUL WORDS OF LIFE RADIO SERMON May 16, 1976
THE EXCLUSION OF BOASTING
Romans 3:27 28
Do you have any signs on the door to your home? Many people have a "welcome" mat at the front door.
However, some have little signs on the door that read , "no solicitors or salesmen allowed." There is one that
always bothers me when I see it. It reads, “we shoot every third salesman that calls, and the second one just
left." I am aware that preachers have been mistaken for salesmen a few times. God could have a sign hanging
outside of the gates of heaven. If He had one it would probably read, " No Boasters Allowed." There will not be
one proud braggart inside of the gates for sure. They are all excluded from the presence of God.
Putting an end to human pride and bragging is one of the basic results of God's way of saving sinners. One
sure test of any presentation of the Biblical message of salvation is what part does man play in it. When the
salvation has been completed, did man do any-thing? If man had any part in it, if man contributed anything by
his efforts, you can know that it is a perversion of the Biblical message. God's way of saving sinners excludes
boast¬ing. Paul states it in our text like this, "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works?
Nay; but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."
This does not mean that there will be no boasting before God. There will be much boasting. It just means that
there will be no human boasting; there will be no man boast-ing of what he has done. There will be much
boasting of the Lord and His grace. There will be much praise and glory in the name of the great God of
salvation. But no man will be able to stand in the presence of God with the least pride of achievement in his
heart. His boast will be in and of the Lord.
Why? Why has boasting of human effort been excluded? Two reasons are suggested by Paul.
THERE WILL BE NO BOASTING BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING WORTHY OF BOASTING IN MAN.
If a man is going to boast in the presence of God, then surely he would have some¬thing worthy of such
boasting. He would have to have done some work that he could hold up before God and say, "I did it." Does
any man have any such work? The answer is obvious if you have been following the record God has set forth.
"There is none that doeth good, no; not one." Could anything be clearer? Man has no good works. All of his
morality is infected with the deadly virus of his sin. Because of this infection in the good works, they will not be
allowed into the presence of God. Though out¬wardly your works may appear to be healthy and acceptable,
they will never pass the inspec¬tion of heaven. Since everything a man does is contaminated with his sin,
nothing he does will pass inspection. It all stands under the condemnation of God because of this
contami¬nation. It will all have to be discarded before a man enters heaven. When a man enters the presence
of God, he will not have one acceptable work to carry with him.
Can you imagine what heaven would be like if salvation was by works? It would be a scene where human pride
would be exposed on every hand. Every man would be standing before God gloating over his achievements.
He would look condescendingly toward those who had not made it and congratulate himself on being a better
man than they. He would stand to pro¬claim exactly how he went about achieving such a feat. But since
human works contribute nothing to a man's salvation, he will stand in the presence of God stripped of any
cause for boasting.
If salvation was a reward for man's good deeds or for man's faithfulness, then the scene in heaven would
probably be like the locker room after a team has won the Super Bowl. You sports fans know that the scene of
victory at the Super Bowl is always one of self-congratulations. Did you ever hear the winning team say, "We
did not deserve to win?" Did you ever hear the winning quarterback say, "Well, the best team did not win
today!" No! With bubbling champagne pouring through their hair and down their bare shoulders, they
pro¬claim to the world, "We did it. We are number one. We worked hard. We deserved to win." They are
always ready to take the credit for the win because they have worked hard. They are right. The Super Bowl
victory is primarily a reward for hard work and full effort.
But in the victory celebration in the heavenly locker room after the game of life is concluded, no man will be
able to raise his voice in boast because there will not be one person present who contributed anything to the
victory. When you are allowed to interview those present, and you are allowed to ask them, "Did you do
anything to earn this victory"? They would each answer, "No". Were you to ask, "Do you feel that you are here
because you are the best man?” They would each answer "No". Boasting will be excluded and is excluded
now because man has done nothing worthy of any boasting.
THERE WILL BE NO BOASTING BECAUSE OF THE LAW OF FAITH
It is the law of faith that excludes boasting. This makes it clear that faith is not an act with any human merit.
Actually the Scriptures would teach that even saving faith is the result of God's work in our lives. He even
gives us the faith by which we receive the gift of salvation.
Let us go back to the heavenly locker room after the game of life for just a moment. Let us interview the
people present just a little bit more. Pick out any of the victors you may wish to interview. They will all give the
same answer. Let us ask them some very personal questions. "Sir, let us ask you, what did you do to earn this
wonderful victory?" "Nothing", he answers. "Well, if you did nothing, how did it come to you?" With a gleam in
his eye the man says, "The Lord gave me this victory." The interviewer tries to pin the victor down. "Now sir,
surely you must have done something to get God's attention so He could give you this victory." The victor
answers again, "No sir, you see all that I ever did on the earth was fail and come short of God's glory." "All I
ever deserved from God was death. If God had dealt with me according to my works, I would now be in the
other place."
Maybe you would like to leave that victor and interview another one. Pick out some kind, elderly lady this time
who always lived by the high moral principles of the Scrip-tures. Ask her this question, "Madam, surely this
must be the greatest achievement of all your life. You are to be congratulated." Quick as lightning she is
ready again with a quick answer, "O no sir, this is no achievement of mine at all. This is God's achievement."
Well, you ask, "how did you come to be a part of this achievement by God?" She is ready again with a quick
response, "By faith". You continue to interview, "But, madam, what do you mean by faith?" In order to answer
your question, she wants to tell you exactly how it happened. She will say, "When I was about sixteen years
old on earth, God began to make me aware of how I was breaking the rules of the game of life. He kindly
made me aware that the only prospect I had was to be a total loser. I would have to be assigned the
punishment that comes to all of those who break the rules which is banishment from His gracious presence
forever. After the Lord had shown me this, He began to show me something else," the lady continues. "He
began to show me that there was still a way that I could be a victor and have the crown of life. He told me of
how He had sent His only begotten Son down to earth to die on a cross to pay the penalty for my rule
breaking. He told me of how His Son was raised from the dead on the third day after His burial. He also told
me that if I would simply receive His Son into my life as my Lord, and would depend upon that which He did
upon the cross alone to make me a victor in the game of life that I could still gain that which I had forfeited
through breaking the rules of the game." By now tears are streaming down the face of the dear lady. Then
she continues, "When the Lord so kindly made this known to me, I dropped to my knees before Him. I cried
out to Him saying, "God I do believe that I have forfeited every right to be a winner in the game of life. I do
believe that your Son did all that You have declared. I do now receive Him into my life as my Lord, and I do
commit myself to Him in trust forever more." Then before our eyes, the little lady fell to her knees, and began,
with her head bowed, to point to the throne we could see in the distance, and began to sing quietly, "Jesus
paid it all, all to Him I owe, Sin had left its crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." Then she began to join
everyone in the heavenly locker room and to say of Jesus, "He is worthy of all the praise, glory, and honor.
Only His name is worthy to be praised."
So it will be after the game of life is over. All of the glory and praise will go to the Lord God of the ages and His
Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Everyone will be there to acknowledge that their presence in heaven is
something that came to them as a free gift from God Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your salvation is it a matter of something you have done, or is it something that God has done? To whom do
you give the credit for your salvation? Is it something you can take the credit for? Then in the name of the
Lord, you need to reconsider the whole situation. If your salvation is of the Lord, then only the Lord is due any
glory. To Him be the glory alone!
