The Sin of Ingratitude
Romans 1:14-23
November 18, 2018
I realize that
• When we typically gather at a Community event like this that the order of the day is to present something warm and uplifting and vanilla so that we can all just move along.
• So I realize that bringing a sermon on sin or even the wrath of God may seem a little out of place.
• But that’s what we’re going to do because it is necessary for us to understand.
(And don’t worry, we’ll cheer you up with desserts after this is over)
Many of you may already be familiar with this passage,
At the very least familiar with Paul’s famous statement in verse 16.
But in verses 14-15 we hear something of THE HEART OF PAUL as he mentions his obligation to preach the gospel.
(14-15) “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”
Paul understood that preaching the gospel was not optional for him.
• To the Corinthians he actually wrote, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (9:16)
So Paul lays his foundation for his eagerness to come to Rome
And preach the gospel.
And then comes that famous statement.
(16) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel”
Which is to say that
• Paul is never embarrassed, or feels shame, or feels it out of place to proclaim the gospel.
• It is always relevant, it is always essential,
• He never feels the urge to omit it or replace it with other tactics.
He is not ashamed of the gospel.
And at this point Paul begins to defend that statement.
So we would ask:
WHY ARE YOU NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL?
(16) “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
In short, Paul says he’s not ashamed of the gospel
Because the gospel is what God uses to save people
(both Jew and Gentile).
The power to save is not bound up in gimmicks or games or cultural lingo
The power needed to save sinners and reconcile them to God
Is found in the gospel.
If you want a little more clarification as to what Paul means when he speaks of his commitment to the gospel,
We can read his statement to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 2:1-2 “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
Paul believed totally in the power and necessity
Of preaching the cross of Christ.
• The cross shows men their wickedness, since the only reason for Christ’s death was the sin of humanity.
• The cross shows these wicked men how great God’s wrath is against sin, since on the cross God crushed His Son
• The cross demonstrates the love of God since God crushed His own Son instead of sinners who deserve it
And Paul knew that it is this message of the cross
That leads sinners to salvation.
That’s why he’s not ashamed of it.
HE SAYS IT IS THE POWER OF GOD FOR SALVATION.
But we could continue in his reasoning and say:
WHY IS THE GOSPEL THE POWER OF GOD FOR SALVATION?
And Paul is happy to oblige:
(17) “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”
Paul says that the gospel saves
Because only the gospel reveals the righteousness of God
And how sinful man can achieve it.
If man had any doubts as to the righteous nature of God,
Those doubts are squashed when God crushed His own Son on the cross.
Romans 3:24-25 “…redemption is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;”
THROUGHOUT HISTORY
Sinners had not been treated as they deserved to be treated by God.
Certainly there were events of judgment like the flood or Sodom and Gomorrah,
But even among God’s people Israel, they had not been treated as they deserved.
Surely there had been countless animal sacrifices,
But the writer of Hebrews reminded us that “the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins” (10:4)
Even David recognized:
Psalms 103:10 “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”
As Paul noted, God had “passed over the sins previously committed”
And one might even say that He ran the risk of
Being counted as merciful, but not being considered holy.
After all a holy God cannot let sin slide.
On the cross God settled the question about His righteousness.
When our sin was imputed to Christ, God poured out the full fury of His wrath on Him.
• Isaiah 53 says “God was pleased to crush Him” (53:10)
Even from the cross
• We have Christ for the first time not referring to God as “Father” but rather saying, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
God demonstrated His righteousness by crushing Christ,
Who bore our sin.
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL THE GOSPEL REVEALS.
• It certainly reveals that God is righteous,
• But the gospel ALSO REVEALS how sinful man can obtain that righteousness.
And the answer? FAITH
“the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
Carried all the way back to the days of Abraham
We read that simple and yet essential text:
Genesis 15:6 “Then he [Abraham] believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
Abraham believed and God credited righteousness to Abraham’s account.
It is called IMPUTATION
And it is one of the most beautiful words
The sinful human heart can ever hear.
Paul said it like this to the Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
That is to say that my sin was imputed to Christ,
So that His righteousness could be imputed to me.
To say it another way.
Even though He was sinless, God treated Christ as though He lived my life so that even though I am sinful, God can treat me like I lived His life.
I am not righteous, but I am clothed in Christ’s righteousness.
I am regarded as righteous.
We’ve often said it here as we study the gospel that
Christ did not come to make us righteous, but to be our righteousness.
He is righteous, I am in Him.
• I am counted righteous by God in spite of my sin because I am in Christ.
AND I AM PLACED IN CHRIST BY FAITH.
This is the gospel!
And hopefully you now see why Paul loves it so much.
The gospel shows sinful men
How they can be reconciled to a holy God
Through the sacrifice of Christ.
The gospel shows sinners how to be considered as righteous.
But that brings up another question.
WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO BE CONSIDERED RIGHTEOUS?
Certainly in our day being “righteous” is not a priority.
• Our culture would much rather us be “tolerant” or “non-judgmental”
Why is it so important to be righteous?
I’m glad you asked
(18) “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”
Well there’s your answer.
Because God’s wrath is poured out on the unrighteous.
That’s why you need righteousness,
Because the God who created the universe,
And the God who will judge the universe
Has determined that no quality matters more than that.
How many times do we hear Him say it? “You shall be holy as I am holy”
Even Jesus echoed it:
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
It’s not that righteousness is important to us,
It’s that righteousness is important to God
And so it must be important to us.
If you aren’t righteous then you are under God’s wrath.
(Again we see why the gospel becomes so important)
But what I WANT TO SHOW YOU TONIGHT beyond the importance of the gospel is what this unrighteousness that God is angry about looks like.
When we say that God’s wrath is on the unrighteous, what are we talking about?
• Rapists?
• Muslims?
• Canadians?
Who are these people who have so angered God as to abide under His wrath?
Well Paul gives you some indicators.
The first one is found there in verse 18.
(18) “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”
The unrighteous are “men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness”
• It’s not men who have never heard the truth…
• It’s not men who are ignorant of the truth…
• It’s men who “suppress the truth”…
That is to say, they ignore it; they disregard it; they don’t’ want to hear it.
So now everyone ask: WHAT DO YOU MEAN PAUL?
WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT MEN HAVE THE TRUTH, BUT THEY SUPPRESS IT?
What do you mean by that?
(19) “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”
Paul there says that God has delivered the truth to all humanity in 2 ways.
(I know we can talk about the native in Africa or in the jungles of South America who have never heard the name of Jesus, but what we see here is that every human has been given a certain knowledge of God)
And Paul says that they have that knowledge in 2 ways.
1) “that which is known about God is evident WITHIN them”
2) “for God made it evident TO them”
So all men have a certain knowledge of God WITHIN them and TO them.
We don’t have time to expound on this as much as we could,
But I can show it to you quickly.
Every man has knowledge of God WITHIN them through their conscience.
Romans 2:14-15 “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,”
It is that inner moral compass that God hard-wired into every human.
They instinctively know that some things are right and some are wrong.
Now certainly man can sear their conscience and grow worse,
But that is part of the suppressing of truth that Paul is talking about.
But God has revealed basic morality to every man.
Secondly God has made Himself know “TO” all men.
HOW?
Through creation.
Which is what Paul says next:
(20) “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
Paul said that from creation alone we can see God’s “invisible attributes”
• Things like “His eternal power and divine nature”
Paul says those things “have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made”
The very presence of a painting implies the presence of a painter
The very presence of a building implies the presence of a builder
And the very presence of creation implies the presence of a Creator
His power is seen, His glory is seen,
His grace is even seen if you read Psalms 8.
Psalms 19:1-2 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.”
It is referred to as GENERAL REVELATION
They are things that are generally obvious simple from creation.
So, Paul says that all men have a conscience
That bears testimony to the expectations of God
And all men have creation which testifies to the glory of God.
And this revelation is enough to render them “without excuse”
In other words.
• When men ignore even their conscience (i.e. suppress it)
• And when men ignore the obvious testimony of creation (i.e. suppress it)
That is enough to render them without excuse
And place them under the wrath of God, marked for eternal destruction.
SO CLEARLY YOU DON’T WANT TO SUPRESS THE TRUTH
So we can ask:
CAN YOU GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT IT MEANS TO SUPRESS THE TRUTH?
(What does that look like anyway?)
Are you readY?
(21) “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Here we are.
• We finally pealed back the onion.
• We finally get to the root of the problem.
What is it that sinful man did that was so infuriating to God that He determined to pour His wrath upon them?
What is it that man did that was so awful that it required the crushing of God’s own Son to be able justify and forgive them?
What did man do?
(Or rather, what did they NOT do?)
(21) “For even though they knew God” (and we just saw that all do through conscience and creation)
“Even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks”
AND THERE IT IS.
God had made Himself known to all creation
And the creature determined not to honor Him
Or to thank Him for what He had done.
And those seemingly simple sins
Pulled the full fury of the wrath of God down upon humanity,
Rendering him guilty, without excuse and awaiting judgment.
And had it not been for the mercy and glory of the cross
Sinful humans would have forever been consigned to eternal destruction.
Paul says that this disregard of God was both “futile” and “foolish”
That instead of honoring God these sinful arrogant humans decided to (23) “exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”
• Instead of honoring the creator man decided to honor the creature.
• Instead of thanking God man decided to ignore God and pat himself on the back.
And because of this God’s wrath abides on humanity.
So can I tell you quickly this evening about the sin of ingratitude?
IT IS A BIG DEAL TO GOD.
• Thanksgiving is not optional.
• Thanksgiving is not lame.
• We cannot be too busy to give thanks to God.
We are required to do this. We are commanded to do this.
Not to walk in greed and discontentment and grumbling
(go read 1 Corinthians 10 about the grumbling of Israel and what that got them)
We are called to be thankful and to express that gratitude
To the Creator who gave us life.
And we must also be thankful that even though we sinned against God
He made a way of redemption for us.
That we, as sinful creatures can be justified
And counted righteous through the atoning sacrifice of His Son.
I am also grateful for that.
And I understand why Paul loves that gospel message so much.
Are you grateful?