10/12/2026
The Gift of Transformation Tony Batts 10-11-26
Good morning again to each of you. I give honor to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I also honor our church family that's here and the family we just dedicated the flag to. And any other friends that may be here in the building. I'm thankful and I'm glad that you chose to come out to this part of Etna, Ohio to worship the Lord. Again, my name is Tony Batts and I'm the pastor of Waco Community Church and humbled and honored to be here. Last week, we began a sermon series and the sermon series was called Scriptural Holiness, Living the Wesleyan Way. And last week, we preached from the theme Awakening to Grace. And that scripture came from Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 10 and Luke chapter 15 verses 4 through 6. And the main idea I wanted to get across to each of us during that sermon was that before you ever took a step toward God, he was already running towards you. In the sermon, we looked at Ephesians 2.1, which says we were spiritually dead before Christ. We also looked at Luke chapter 15 verses 4 through 6. And we noticed that lost sheep can't do anything to rescue themselves. We also talked about Wesleyan theology. We talked about terms like provenient grace. And we said provenient grace was the love of God surrounding us before we even recognized it. If I were to call the audience and ask you to look back over your life, if you are honest with yourselves and with the Lord, you would be able to see each and every situation where he was protecting you, guiding you, or even pulling at your heart. Today's sermon will be titled The Gift of Transformation. And we'll be reading from Romans chapter 5 verses 1 through 11. And we'll also be reading in Luke's Gospel chapter 18 verses 9 through 14. And the main idea I wanted to get over for today is that Jesus doesn't just cover your past. He rewrites your standing before God. Before we preach, let's pray together. Gracious God, Heavenly Father, I give you thanks once again. I thank you for your many blessings you've bestowed upon us. I thank you that you gave us the mind to come out here to worship you in the beauty of holiness. Through the trials and tribulations, for some it may have been a troubling week, a tumultuous week, we rest in the notion and the fact that you are still on the throne. And that you are still in Christ, reconciling the world to yourself. Now, Lord, it's preaching time. Grant me your power, your wisdom, and your grace to preach. I pray for the ears and the hearts of the congregation in the room and those that may be watching online. This I ask in Jesus' name. Amen. I want you to imagine something, if you will, that you wake up tomorrow morning and you log into your bank account and you tend to kind of balance your checkbook. For those of us that still have checkbooks, we still balance those, right? Right. I heard a right. There's still three of us. What's that? There's still three of us. There's still three of you that do it. But if you were to look at your checkbook under the debt, or if you were to go online and you look at your largest debt, whether it's your mortgage or your car loan or student loans, but instead of an overdue balance, your page reads, balance owed zero, paid in full. So for most of us, if we see something like that, whether it's online or balancing our checkbook, we're going to call and ask some questions. Has somebody paid our debt for us? So imagine you are online or you make a phone call to your favorite bank representative and they tell you, sir, ma'am, this is not an error. Someone who chose to remain anonymous came to our branch yesterday, and they wired the exact amount that you owed, and they legally assumed your entire debt. It's been completely cleared. You don't know a thing. How would you react in that moment? How would you breathe in that moment? Some of you are grinning. I can only imagine, just with the things that I owe, if I were to see something like this, I would ask a lot of questions. But I would have to go back to my car knowing that somebody paid it all for me. I would breathe a little bit easier, and it would be just like weight falling off my shoulders. I told you that analogy to give you this one. In our spiritual lives, we're all born with a debt we cannot pay. But the moment we move from the awakening of God's provenient grace, of God's grace chasing after us before we even knew God, and before we step from that reality into justified grace, this is exactly what happens to our souls. But I want to let you know that there is a tragedy in the church. Many of us walk around acting like the debt is still there. Sometimes we come to church, and we sit here, and we feel like we're on permanent spiritual probation because we didn't do enough, because we didn't come enough, because we didn't pray enough, because we didn't preach enough. And for a lot of us, that feeling of spiritual probation causes us to try to pay back a bill that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ already paid. I have a confession to make. I have a bit of a problem. And I have a tendency to keep score. I don't know if anybody else is like that. But I have a tendency to keep score. We have credit scores. We have grading scales for those of us that are still in college, a.k.a. seminary. We have performance reviews if we have work. And believe it or not, unconsciously, I project that onto God. There was an assumption that I made when I joined church when I was about 13 years old. That I would walk down that aisle, and I have to give you a little bit of context, because I was Baptist in my earlier faith. So there's a part of the sermon where the preacher says, come to give your life to Christ. It's an invitation to discipleship. So on that August morning, my brother and I walked down the aisle, and we joined church. Did y'all catch what I just said? We joined church. So I had this assumption that after I joined church, that God would then have this spiritual clipboard, and he would start checking off things that I did or didn't do. Every time I lost my temper. Every time I stopped coming to Bible study. Every time I missed a prayer or every selfish thought that I had. I thought I was owing 100,000 with the Almighty. So I felt like I was on probation, so to speak. I had this notion that if I did good, God would love me. Or if I messed up, God would be angry with me. But I want to show you in today's scripture, especially with this first verse in Romans chapter 5, the Apostle Paul completely dismisses that mentality. So if you have your Bibles, I would invite you to turn with me to Romans chapter 5. I'm going to turn with you, and I'm going to be reading out of the NIV translation. Romans 5 chapter 1 starts off with the word, Therefore, I'm glad you asked. So, therefore is a very important word, especially in scripture. It links what was said and done to what's going to be said and done. So when you run into this word, you have to ask, what's the therefore, therefore? So you get the full meaning, weight, and importance of what's to come. And in order to figure out what is therefore, you have to go back and re-read and re-evaluate what was said and done leading up to it. So in Romans chapter 4, Paul makes an argument that Abraham was justified by faith, not by works, not by the law. And in case you may have been wondering, whenever we say law, we're not talking about just the Ten Commandments and Exodus. We're talking about all 613 of them. So, let me ask you something. No matter what you do, on your best intention, do we always keep the law? If you say yes, I'm going to come out of this pulpit. Let me see if I can prove that. When I had to run an errand this morning, I'd get on Main Street and then I'd make a left going back towards Reynoldsburg. I had to run to the store. There's a speed limit sign that says 55. Ask yourself, you really think I was driving 55 miles per hour this morning? No, no. I'm going to tell the truth because I don't want to get struck by lightning. Especially not with mama waiting. Exactly. So even on our best day, no matter what we do, we can't keep the law. So Abraham was justified by faith, his belief. Not by what he did, but by what he believed. Let's go back to the verse. Notice the tense of the verb. Paul doesn't just say we are open to be justified or we will eventually be justified if we do enough good works. He says we have been justified. It's a done deal. To be justified is a legal term. It means to be declared righteous in the court of heaven. It means that God, when God looks at your life, he doesn't see your rap sheet of failures. He doesn't see your list of sins or regrets. He sees the flawless righteousness of his son, Jesus Christ. Those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. I struggle with guilt sometimes. And I'm not sure who this is for. But if you came into this room this morning and you are carrying guilt over something you did. I want you to go back to Romans chapter 5 verse 1 and look at that text. Justification means you are no longer a defendant on trial. The gavel has come down. The judge has declared you not guilty and the courtroom is empty. You can stop looking over your shoulder waiting for God to punish you. So we're going to switch and go to Luke chapter 8 for a little bit. Luke chapter 8 verses 9 through 14 tells a very interesting story. Jesus is telling this story about two very different men who went up to the temple to pray. And if you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to Luke chapter 18 for a little bit. I'm going to turn there with you. And you probably have heard this before. So the text says this in Luke chapter 18 verses 9 through 14. There is a title in there. It's called The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. And I'm going to read these verses to kind of continue on with the message. To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable. Two men went up to the temple to pray. One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed. God, I thank you that I am not like other people. Wow. Or robbers, evildoers, adulterers. And I can imagine in my sanctified imagination that as he was praying this prayer, he actually had the nerve and the audacity and he probably pointed. He probably pointed, I thank you I'm not like other people or even this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I give a tenth of all I get. But look at what the tax collector says. He stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven. He beat his breast and he said, God have mercy on me, a sinner. Jesus goes on to tell you in verse 14. I tell you that this man rather than the other went home justified before God for all those who exalt themselves will be humbled. And those who humble themselves will be exalted. The first man, the Pharisee, was trying to justify himself by his resume. Oh, I'm fixing to get in trouble when I say this. Y'all ever met Christians slash church people who are always drawing their resume in your face? I do this. I do this. I do this. I do that. This second man, this tax collector. Would have been considered an outcast. Because in that time in Jewish culture, the Pharisees would have been the ones who would have told people who was righteous and who wasn't. And these days and times, we call them holy rollers. I've met people like this. I'm getting ready to get in trouble. I'm already too far out there. I met someone way back when I was living in North Carolina. That's where I'm from. All I said was good morning. And they hit me with a sermon. I said, good morning. They said, well, praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. John 3, 6. I'm blessed and highly favored. And I said, all I said was good morning. You know the issue I take with that? You could have just said good morning back or I was fine. That's pharisaical thinking and behavior by giving your resume to people. Now, I know you're blessed and highly favored. You know how I know you're blessed and highly favored? Because we're upright and moving and breathing and vertical and walking through these doors. That's one way I know you're blessed and highly favored. Let me go back to the text. Back to the text. But listen how carefully Jesus concludes this story in verse 14. He says, I tell you this man rather than the other went home justified before God. The religious man, the Pharisee, went home empty because he thought he could earn his standing. Brothers and sisters, let me tell you something. It doesn't matter how much good you do or earn or try to justify yourself before God. It won't work. The scriptures tell us there is none righteous. No, not one. We are made righteous by declaring our faith in Jesus Christ. It is the Holy Spirit that makes us righteous. You know what the Hebrew word for righteous is? It's Zadok. Z-A-D-O-K. It means, quite simply, it works right. So no amount of good can justify you before a holy and righteous and perfect God. It's grace that does it. Grace, justified grace, is not earned by any religious rituals. Or any heritage. Or any type of moral perfection. It is accessed through one door and one door only. And that is humble faith in Jesus Christ. Amen? Because I'm in seminary and I have to give you bits and pieces about the founder of Methodism, John Wesley. And I'm finding out some amazing things about this guy. John Wesley came over from England to America. Savannah, Georgia to be more specific. And according to his own words, and what I've studied and found out, is that he was acting just like this Pharisee. He was always doing things. He was always trying to pray the perfect prayer. Preach the perfect sermon. Even give enough. But according to Wesley, in his own words in his journal, he had no internal beings.
Or his works weren't holy enough to save him. So after this failed missionary journey, he's on a boat going back from Savannah, Georgia, back to England. And this storm comes up. And some of you may have heard this before. He was on the ship with a bunch of Moravians. And the storm is being tossed. And John's terrified, thinking he's about to die. But he looks over at his Moravian buddies. You know what these Moravian folks are doing? Singing, praising. Because in their mind, they believe that if they died on that boat, they would instantly be with Jesus. That's what faith in Christ does. It changes your heart. It changes your mindset. That's it. So like most of us, John came back and they made it to their journey back to the UK. And he said, I want some of that. Let me test your Methodist history. How many of you have ever heard of the Aldersgate Street Experience? Show of hands. Ooh. Every time I read that story, I get chills. Let me give you the Cliff's Notes because I don't want to run too far because I'm hungry. And y'all might be hungry. I'm just giving you a bit. When he heard this preface of Romans written by Martin Luther being read, something happened to him. Wesley finally figured out that he didn't have to save himself. That if he trusted in Jesus Christ and Christ alone, by faith alone, he's saved. That's it. You can't do anything to get saved. You can't pray enough to get saved. You can't preach hard enough to get saved. It is faith in Jesus Christ. And something happens. And John Wesley writes this in his journal. My heart felt strangely warm. You know what that's called, brothers and sisters? That's called assurance. So whenever you sing this song, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. That song ought to have a new meaning to you. You got to have assurance that you belong to Jesus and Jesus belongs to you. Not because of anything you did or who you are, but because God, while we were yet sinners, he commended his love towards us while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us. And Wesley knew that all his sins were taken away. In our tradition, justification or justified grace is not this cold, legal transaction. So God does not keep score. So even if we're in Christ and we're prone to mess up, there ought to be a thing in you called repentance. Not shame, but repentance. What should lead to repentance? Guilt, not shame. Shame and guilt are two totally different things. I want to help somebody else with this because there is a gentleman who's my preacher of preachers. You may have heard of him, Jeff Greenway something or another. He explained the difference between guilt and shame to me. He said, shame is a reminder of what you did and it keeps you burdened. It keeps you bound, it keeps you locked. But guilt, guilt is a reminder that there is conviction and that the Holy Spirit ain't done with you yet. And that conviction ought to lead to repentance. Sometimes we come to the house of the Lord and we have prayer requests for people. We pray for our country, we pray for our family members, we pray for the church. Sometimes we need to walk in here and say, it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not my sister or my brother, but it's me standing in the need of prayer. See, when you're justified by Jesus Christ and what he did, God whispers these things to you. He says, I know what you did, you're still mine. I'm so glad that the Holy Spirit just hit me with this. There's little people, there's children in this room right now. And I'm a father of five. My oldest is 31, my second oldest is a son, he's 31. My daughter is 28 and then we have children here, Kayla, Maria and Isaiah. Kayla's 21, Maria's 19 and Isaiah's 17. I'm a father of five, grandchildren of six. And to the parents and grandparents in the room, I'm finna hit you with this. You're gonna understand what I mean by this. Because my children are mine, there is nothing that they can do to make me love them less. Did y'all catch that? I promise you there are parents in the room and if you don't have any children, I guarantee you got some nieces or some nephews. But ask yourself this, is there anything that your children can do or any failure that they have to make you love them any less? Absolutely not. That's how God's love is towards us in Christ. God's love says through justified grace, yes, I know you messed up but come back. Come back so we can work on this together. I'm trying to get you conformed to the image of my son that every time I look at you, I see him. Come back, don't wallow in it. You know what really messes me up sometimes is that I've seen this and I've done this, that when I've done wrong, I wanna run out of these doors and stay away from the church. Not just the building but from the family. I got news for you. You can't outrun God. I'm going off script and trying to get back but you can't outrun God. So that's God's Holy Spirit saying, come on home. Come on home, let's work this out together. But God, this is what we do and I've done this. But God, do you know what I've done? Yes, I watched you do it but come on home. There's nothing that you can do to make me hate you. You're my child. God says, and I'll paraphrase this a little bit. I paid the ultimate price I'm going to pay. I sent Jesus down here to reconcile your relationship with me. What got ruined in a garden in Genesis got restored in a garden in the Gospels in the garden of Gethsemane through Jesus Christ. So I don't know who this is for. Maybe you're online and you're carrying something. Brothers and sisters, come on home. The Lord is standing with outstretched arms waiting for you. He says, you're mine and you're forgiven. God's favor and his grace upon our lives is not based on performance. Let me give you that one one more again. God's favor and his grace is not based on our performance. I will surprise some of you when I say it. You're already in his favor. You're already in his grace. You know why? Because he loves you. Plain and simple. So if our legal status has changed and if we're securely standing in this ocean of grace, how does that fundamentally change the way we live on Monday morning? Grace demands a response. Let me give you that one again. Grace demands a response. Grace shifts you from working for God's love to working from God's love. Do you see the difference? Even on my best days, brothers and sisters, I couldn't earn it. I don't deserve it. But still, he gives his love away. Is it any wonder why God's love is overwhelming and never-ending and reckless? Can I get a witness? I don't know who wouldn't wanna serve a God like that who is more willing to forgive than we are to ask. Oh, I feel like shouting on that one. Folks, if you only knew of how willing God is to forgive, see, back in my old church days, when we would get into Bible study in the Old Testament, I came to this one conclusion and it was jaded that God is mean and angry. S***m and Gomorrah, that was him. The flood, that was him. The 188,000 soldiers that got slain by God, you remember that? For those of us that remember that story, that was an angel of the Lord, but that was him. But with everything that God does, he does it for a reason. He's holy, he's righteous, and he's just. And this is a warning for me more than anybody else. In your prayer life, in your prayer time, I'm so committed to asking God for things, and stuff, and items. I can't remember the last time I asked God for a closer walk with him. I can't remember the last time I asked God for more humility, more courage, and more discernment. I can't remember the last time I asked God just to sit in his presence. So the grace of God demands a response. So this is the challenge I want you to take with you. The next time an old sin pops up in your memory, and it will, the next time someone comes up to you and says, oh, you thank you all that because you go to church. The next time someone says to you, you thank you all that just because you go to church, you look at them and you tell them, I'm not. I was what I was, and I thank God that his grace covers me. Yes, I mess up. Yes, I'm a sinner. But we just talked about justifying grace. Justifying grace is I'm forgiven. I don't know if this helps anybody today. We're forgiven. Even when we fall short, we need to operate in the notion that we're forgiven. I've mentioned this before, and I'm getting ready to close, that I'm part of a band meeting, and the band meeting is the Wesleyan tradition for accountable discipleship. And one of the things that the brothers and I, there's five of us total, we don't do sin comparison. We don't say my sin is bigger than yours, or you messed up, or you did wrong. We hold each other accountable in truth and in love. I think that's missing in today's church, not just the local church, but the larger C church. Holding each other accountable in truth and love. You know what that looks like? It looks like, hey, brother so-and-so, or sister so-and-so, you know that I love you, right? Of course. Well, I have to be able to tell you that the thing that you're not doing is not God's best for you. The attitude or the thing you're holding on, the unforgiveness that you're carrying around. I should've heard an amen on that one. Amen. The grief that you're carrying around, the thing that won't let you go or you won't let it go. Grace says you're forgiven. And once you operate in that notion that you're forgiven, it changes you. It changes how you think. It changes how you talk. It changes how you walk. I'm gonna hit you with this one, and I'm gonna preach this another Sunday. Forgiven people forgive much. Forgiven people forgive much. I'm still learning. I'm still learning. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, it is my prayer that, and I'm hopeful that I said something that was from you. But if I said something that was not from you, I hope it will be cast into the sea of forgiveness as though it ever stole it. But those words that were from you, Lord, that's not my sermon. That's your sermon. I'm just your vessel. I'm prayerful in the name of Jesus that the words that I preached this morning would sink down into the hearts and the minds of the listeners and the believers and the disciples of Christ in this room and watch it online. Your grace brought us out of the muck and the miry clay that was our sinful condition. But your grace also demands a response. And the response is this. Your will is that none should perish but all come to repentance. That's your will, God. That's been your plan since the world began. You so desperately wanna walk with us in the cool of the garden like you did with Adam and his wife in Genesis. And because we have had so many centuries to mess this up, you gave us the law, you gave us the prophets. But then, one evening, you gave us Jesus. Hallelujah. Through 42 generations, the Son of God was born. And 30 some odd years later, what was lost in the Garden of Eden was reclaimed in the Garden of Gethsemane. But it didn't stop there. Because one Friday, Jesus laid down his life on an old rugged cross on a skull-shaped hill called Calvary. He died. But on that third day morning, he arose. Can I get a with this? And because he lives, we can face tomorrow. Thank you, God. May it be so, in Jesus' name, amen.
