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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Kurt Osena

Righteousness By Faith

For those of you that don't know who I am, my name is Kurt Oseña, and I am a pastor in Tennessee, in College Hill, Tennessee.

I pastor for a church called College Hill Korean Seventh-day Adventist Church, and so I guess I can say greetings from that church to you.

But it really is a blessing to be able to be back here in Loma Linda, especially to be able to speak here at Avin Hope.

I've had quite a lot of history here in the area of Loma Linda.

I've actually been born and raised in this area, went to school in Loma Linda Elementary, Loma Linda Academy, graduated, went to a couple years of college here in California as well.

But if there's anything I can remember about Avan Hope, Avan Hope has really been a blessing in the sense that when I was new into the faith, I would visit Burden Hall.

How many of you guys remember Burden Hall?

Yeah, they used to meet just right across from this place right here at Burden Hall.

And every time I would visit Avan Hope, it's always been a blessing.

There's always been speakers that are well educated in the word and have taught me many things from the scriptures, and so I'm really thankful for that.

But what I'd like to say is tomorrow morning was when I thought I was just gonna speak.

I thought I was just gonna speak 1 time here at Advent Hope, but I was speaking with Clifford, and Clifford asked me to actually see if I can speak a couple more times.

So I'll be speaking tonight as well as tomorrow evening as well.

But tonight's message is entitled Righteousness by Faith.

Let's go ahead and bow our heads for a word of prayer.

Our Father which art in heaven, I want to thank you so much for this Sabbath.

It's truly a privilege, Father, that we can all come here collectively under this roof to worship you and to study your word.

And as my sincere prayer, Father, as we delve into the scriptures and we study the topic of righteousness by faith.

I ask, Father, for your Holy Spirit to abide in this place.

I pray that you would be the 1 that would teach us, that you would guide us, and I pray, Father, that I would hide behind the cross of Calvary.

I pray, Father, that as we speak on this topic, or as I speak on this topic of righteousness by faith, I pray that we would truly understand it for ourselves.

That when we leave from this place, Father, we may be able to have applications that we can apply to our lives, Father, so that we may be able to be closer to you.

Father, I pray for your grace to be sufficient, and I ask these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ and everybody said, Amen.

Alright, so we're going to be talking about righteousness by faith tonight.

Tomorrow morning I plan to talk about presumption, which I believe is the counterfeit of faith.

And then my third message will be entitled the devil's lethal deception.

I won't tell you what that is yet, so you have to come to the last meeting in order to find what that is.

But tonight we're talking about righteousness by faith.

Now, how many of you have ever heard of this phrase, righteousness by faith, before?

Okay, I would assume that if you're from Avon Hope that you would know this.

But righteousness by faith is a concept and this idea that is important for us to understand.

Especially as Seventh-day Adventist Christians, it's important for us to understand what righteousness by faith is.

In fact, righteousness by faith is a message that we should be sharing.

It's a message we should be giving Bible studies on.

It's a message that we should tell our neighbors about.

It's a message that we should be preaching and teaching about because the message of righteousness by faith is a message that is relevant to the Christian, is a message that is important for us to understand in this time.

Righteousness by faith, how many of you guys ever heard of the term justification by faith?

Righteousness by faith, justification by faith, very similar.

I would say that righteousness and justification, there's a slight difference in definition.

When we're talking about justification, justification has a lot to do with a courtroom setting, isn't that true?

In that when you are deemed justified, that means you are considered to be what?

So righteousness, it has more to do with your character, someone's one's character.

So there's a slight difference there, but justification by faith and righteousness by faith are very, very similar.

In order for you to be justified, you need to be righteous.

So you'll hear me as we go through this message using those words quite frequently.

Justification or just, words righteousness or righteous.

In fact Ellen White says in Review and Herald, why is it important for us to be preaching on this idea of justification by faith or righteousness by faith is because in Review and Herald, April 1, 1890, Ellen White says something very important.

She says, regarding the third angel's message, she says, several have written to me inquiring or asking if the message of justification by faith is the third angel's message.

And I have answered, it is the third angel's message in verity.

So as Seventh-day Adventists, isn't it true that we ought to be proclaiming the 3 angels' message, right?

That is our calling as a church, as a denomination, to be spreading the 3 angels message.

And she says here that the third angels message is a justification by faith in verity.

And so it's very important for us to understand what this concept is about.

Now if I were to ask you this question, how many of you would, if Jesus were to come today, how many of you would know for sure you're saved?

Don't raise your hand, but how many of you would say, yes, I am saved?

Do you have the assurance, do you have the confidence in believing that you are a part of God's righteous?

Do you have the assurance of salvation today?

You know when we talk about righteousness by faith, when we talk about justification by faith, I hope that as we expound upon this topic that you can have the assurance of salvation if you don't.

Because God wants you to have that assurance, amen?

He wants you to believe and trust with all your heart that He can save you and that He will save you.

You know, I had the opportunity to teach at a high school for about a semester as an interim Bible teacher.

And as a Bible teacher, you know, I always have a concern for, you know, the spiritual well-being of my students.

And so I had this opportunity to have this poll.

I conducted this poll, and I handed out the papers, and the question that I asked them is I asked them the same question I asked you this evening.

I said, how many of you, with all of your heart, believe that you are saved.

I didn't have them write their name, but I told them to tell me whether or not they felt or had the assurance that they were saved.

And the second question is to basically, I asked them the question, if you don't feel that you're not saved, why is it that you feel that way?

Or why is it that you believe that you wouldn't be saved?

There was a large group that said, oh yes, Surely I would be saved.

If Jesus were to come today, I know for a fact that I would be saved into the kingdom.

In fact, I don't believe that there is a God.

And I got other answers where some would say, you know, looking at my lifestyle, looking at the way I live my life, I don't know if it's going to cut it.

Others were just having doubts about being saved.

And so it was very interesting to see all these different answers and it made me wonder, you know, how many people within the Seventh-day Adventist Church or how many Christians today really have the assurance that they are going to be saved into the kingdom of heaven?

I don't know about you, but it's important for us to have that assurance, amen?

To be able to believe that we can be saved into the kingdom of heaven.

I want you to turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 1.

We're gonna have a Bible study this evening.

We're gonna be looking at verses 16 and 17.

Romans chapter 1 looking at verses 16 and 17.

If you don't know where the book of Romans is, it's right after the book of Acts.

Righteousness By Faith

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