Not Even One
Romans 3:9-18
October 14, 2007

There is a misconception that bounds across our world today.
It is dangerous, and it leads countless thousands to destruction.

It is the misconception that man is basically “good”.
We hear it at funerals – how he was a good person
We hear it in the court room – “I’m a good person”

Another misconception is how man achieves that goodness.
Man is convinced that the reason they are good,
Is because they have done something good to achieve that status.

And quite often, it is far less than you would think.
Going to work…
Paying their taxes…
Helping their friends…

Still others do noticeable deeds like:
Give to charity…
Volunteer in the community…
Support good causes…

THE POINT IS, MAN THINKS HE IS GOOD
WHEN HE DOES GOOD THINGS

And this attitude is seen in Scripture.
Matthew 19:16 “And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?”

And that sounds like sound logic.
If I do good things, I am a good person.

BUT WHAT IF AFTER I DO A GOOD THING, I THEN DO A BAD THING?
You would think that would negate the goodness, wouldn’t you?

We maintain our goodness
Through the masterful art of human comparison.
In short, our standard is moveable.

We convince ourselves that we are good
By finding someone who is not as good as us.

We call them bad, and that makes us good.

If you want a technical term, we call it: SELF-JUSTIFICATION
CERTAINLY THIS IS WHERE THE JEWS FOUND THEMSELVES
All of their good deeds…
All of their religion…
Compared to the goodness of the Gentiles…

Certainly the Jews had nothing to worry about.

THE BIBLE TEACHES OTHERWISE.

(9) “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;”

• Paul has already spent all of chapter 2 revealing to the Jews That their religion or their ancestry didn’t save them.

• He then spent the first 8 verses of chapter 3 fending off their arguments.

But what Paul does here is really the lowest of the low.

BECAUSE UP UNTIL NOW, THE JEW
STILL HAD THE COMPARISON GAME GOING ON.
Maybe our religion isn’t acceptable…
Maybe being Jewish doesn’t save us…
Maybe circumcision is a false hope…
But I’m still a good person, because I’m better than…

That is exactly what Paul attacks here.
“What then? Are we any better than they?
Are Jews better than Gentiles?

“Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;”

And this is really the point Paul has been driving for.
Every man is sinful.
No man is good enough.
No man has done enough.

In chapter 1 Paul condemned the Gentile.
Romans 1:18-19 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”

In chapter 2 Paul condemned the Jew
Romans 2:1 “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.”

All are under sin,
But to make sure, none of us are still seeking to justify ourselves
Paul records this next section of Scripture.

Verses 9-20 of Romans 3 are the great leveler.
Paul throws all men together and reveals the worth of mankind.

THIS IS MAN THROUGH GOD’S EYES
When God looks at man, this is what He sees.

It doesn’t matter what you think you are,
It matters what God thinks you are, and this is it.

6 passages to reveal 6 characteristics
#1 MANKIND IS DEPRAVED
Romans 3:10-12

He is actually quoting a passage of Scripture that is found in two places.
Psalms 14, and Psalms 53

Psalms 14:1-3 “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.”

No doubt Jews had read and sang that Psalm for years,
And had always applied it to the Gentile.

But God is applying it to all men, Jew and Gentile alike.
And the idea is that all of mankind is depraved.

When God created this world, He used one phrase over and over.
“God created the heavens and the earth…and it was good”
God said, “Let there be light”…and it was good”

Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

And of course that included the creation of man.
So even God was saying that man was good.

And then we hit Genesis chapter 3.
Genesis 3:6-7 “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”
Genesis 3:22-24 “Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” — therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”

And from this day on man would look different to God.
Mankind was no longer “good”. Man had developed a new nature.

Genesis 6:5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Now of course that was before the flood.

BUT EVEN AFTER THE FLOOD
Genesis 8:21 “The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.”

MANKIND HAS A DEPRAVED NATURE

It is the nature that Paul referred to in:
Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

And if you want to get the picture of that depravity,
Look at what Paul says here in verses 10-12.

MAN IS WICKED
(10) “There is none righteous, not even one”

Man today argues their worth before God, but not a single man has it.

MAN IS STUPID
(11a) “There is none who understands,”

Man today thinks he understands God. That is not true.
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

MAN IS SELFISH
(11b) “There is none who seeks for God”

Man doesn’t seek the will and benefit and glory of God,
Man seeks the will and benefit and glory of man.
MAN IS FUTILE
(12a) “All have turned aside, together they have become useless;”

People have this misconception that God needs them. WRONG.
We turned aside from God, and we have become useless.

MAN IS EVIL
(12b) “There is none who does good, there is not even one.”

Despite our self assurance, no one does good at all.
“not even one.”

IN OUR FALLEN WORLD, THERE IS NONE GOOD, NOT EVEN ONE
I don’t care how much money is given to charity…
I don’t care how well you take care of your family…
I don’t care if you are the greatest citizen ever…
I don’t care if you served your country…
I don’t care if you have “Yard of the Month”…

“There is none righteous, not even one.”

As God looks down, He doesn’t see a world that is basically good
He sees a world full of men who are wicked,
Who don’t seek Him, Who don’t follow Him, Who don’t fear Him, Who don’t love Him, and Who are useless to Him.

MAN IS DEPRAVED
#2 MANKIND IS DECEPTIVE
Romans 3:13a

Here Paul is quoting from
Psalms 5:9 “There is nothing reliable in what they say; Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; They flatter with their tongue.”

All that comes out of their mouth is “death” and “uncleanness”.

“Their throat is an open grave,”
What they say does not benefit men, it swallows men,
It deceives men, it destroys men.

James 3:5-9 “So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;”
Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

And if you want to get specific as to what Paul meant.
“with their tongues they keep deceiving.”

They are liars.
They don’t tell the truth.

THE BOLD FACED LIE
Some people just enjoy lying to you.
THE COVER UP LIE
Many people will lie to get out of trouble.
THE WHITE LIE
Forest Gump says this doesn’t hurt anybody (EXCEPT YOU)

Because the mouth reveals the heart.

Matthew 12:34-35 “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.”

John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

THE USEFUL LIE
The lies used to get ahead (FLATTERY)

Flattery is when you say something to somebody’s face that you wouldn’t say behind their back.

IT’S DECEPTION.

And when God looks down from heaven this is what He sees.
A bunch of liars going at it.

Mankind is not good, we are depraved, we are deceptive.
#3 MANKIND IS DEADLY
Romans 3:13b

Psalms 140:3 “They sharpen their tongues as a serpent; Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah.”
This is “DEADLY FORCE”

It started thousands of years ago.
Genesis 4:8 “Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.”
And it continues on through today.
Daily murders…
Assassinations…
School shootings…

When God looks down from heaven,
He sees men filled with deadly rage.

WE SAY, YEAH BUT NOT EVERYONE HAS KILLED SOMEONE.

We kill people with what comes out of our mouth.
“The poison of asps is under the lips”

Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”
We might not shoot someone (go to jail)
But we’ll cut them up with our tongue

We are reminded that the serpent isn’t at all
The most wicked creature of God’s creation.

Mankind is not good. We are depraved, deceptive, deadly
#4 DISGRUNTLED
Romans 3:14

Psalms 10:7 “His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.”

EVER MEET SOMEONE WHO IS DISGRUNTLED?
THAT IS MANKIND.

When is the last time you had a conversation about how good the president is?
We love to complain…
We love to gripe…

Everything is wrong, getting worse, and can’t possibly get any better.

This was Solomon.
Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 “Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 9:2-6 “It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead. For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.”

And you say, so what if a man is filled with “bitterness”.
It’s no crime to be disgruntled is it?

WHAT DOES GOD COMMAND?
Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

IN SHORT, GOD SEES MEN
THAT AREN’T GRATEFUL FOR ANYTHING.
If it’s dry, when is gonna rain?
If it rains, when is gonna stop?

Man is not good we are depraved, deceptive, deadly, disgruntled
#5 MANKIND IS DEGENERATE
Romans 3:15-17

Isaiah 59:7-8 “Their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Devastation and destruction are in their highways. They do not know the way of peace, And there is no justice in their tracks; They have made their paths crooked, Whoever treads on them does not know peace.”

The idea here is not just what they do, but where they are headed.
AND THE IDEA IS THAT WE ARE ONLY GETTING WORSE.

Mankind is not gravitating closer to God.
Every second mankind is gravitating further away from God.

That is why Paul wrote
2 Corinthians 6:2 “for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”
“POST-MILLENNIALISM”
• Jesus returns after the Millennium
• The world just keeps getting better until Jesus comes

BASED ON THE PREMISE THAT “GOOD” IS CONTAGIOUS
“Random acts of Kindness”
“Pass on a good deed”
“Chain of Love”

Sounds great, but it doesn’t work.
BECAUSE MANKIND AREN’T HEADED TOWARDS GOOD,
WE ARE HEADED TOWARDS EVIL.

Look at what God said through Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 22:23-31 “And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ “There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her. “Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. “Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain. “Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD has not spoken. “The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice. “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. “Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads,” declares the Lord GOD.”

We are depraved, deceptive, deadly, disgruntled and getting worse.
We are degenerate.
#6 MANKIND IS DARING
Romans 3:18

And this one may really drive the nail in the coffin.

Psalms 36:1 “Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; There is no fear of God before his eyes.”

NOT ONLY IS MAN HEADED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION
But the fact that man doesn’t even fear God,
Means there is no turning the ship around.

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

But if man doesn’t fear God, then what can turn the ship around?

It is man’s lack of fear of God
That spins them even further away from God.
Romans 1:32 “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

AND HOPEFULLY YOU SEE THE POINT.
MANKIND IS NOT BASICALLY GOOD
MANKIND IS TOTALLY EVIL

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

GOD DOESN’T SEE “GOOD” PEOPLE, HE SEES LOST PEOPLE

Man doesn’t love Him, Doesn’t follow Him, Doesn’t seek Him,
Doesn’t obey Him, and Doesn’t fear Him.

THERE IS NOTHING GOOD THAT ANY MAN HAS TO OFFER GOD
NOT EVEN ONE

THERE’S NO REASON WHY GOD
SHOULD LET ANY MAN INTO HEAVEN.
BUT THERE IS A WAY HE WILL.
Through Jesus Christ.

He came to this earth and lived the way man was supposed to live.
1 Peter 2:22 “WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH;”

Peter was quoting
Isaiah 53:9 “His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”

This sinless man gave His life as a ransom for those who are sinful

Now through faith in Jesus,
You can be forgiven, and have eternal life.
Not because of anything you do, but because of what He did.

You are not good.
But Jesus is good, and you can be saved through Him.

Romans 5:8-9 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”

The Glory Debate
Romans 3:7-8
October 7, 2007

We come to the final leg in the series of arguments
That has been thrown at Paul in regard to the gospel he is preaching.

He told the Jews that they were not acceptable to God based upon the fact that they were Jewish or religious.

They argued, “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?”

Of course the benefit is it gives you access to the word of God,
But it does not save you.

But still they tried to prove to Paul that they really were saved.
Calling to memory the promise God made to Abraham that his descendants would be blessed, they ask Paul, “What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God will it?”

And Paul silenced that argument by pointing out that God is faithful,
It is Israel who has been unfaithful.

Even if they were unrighteous, they still didn’t deserve punishment. “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He?”

God is so righteous that He will judge your sin,
Because you would not deny yourself in order to follow Him.

TONIGHT WE GET TO THE FINAL ARGUMENT
And I really believe it is probably the most telling of all,
In regard to the condition of their heart.

For during this argument,
We find no allegiance to Judaism, or circumcision.
We find no appeal to being Abraham’s children.
We find no desire to find some good in their old life.

VERY SIMPLY WE FIND A PERSON
WHO JUST DOESN’T WANT TO GIVE UP SIN.

AND HONESTLY, THAT IS THE OFFENSE OF CHRISTIANITY.
You cannot love sin and love God.
You must reject one or the other.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

But that is precisely what these people wanted to do.
You can hear that in their questions.

“But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”?”

That is a person who is looking for any possible reason
To be able to continue in sin.

And as we did this morning,
Before we dive into that ludicrous statement,
Let’s point out why the desire to continue in sin
Is foreign to Christianity.

It really goes hand in hand with what we learned this morning.
This morning we were reminded that a person must “deny themselves” And included in that, is denying the will and desire to sin.

We have a fancy theological term for that.
REPENTANCE

And we have talked about it before, but let’s make sure we remember
What repentance is, and what it is not.

1) Repentance is not an emotion
2) Repentance is not temporary.

Repentance is a continual action.
It changes your life, and it changes it forever.
Otherwise, repentance has not occurred.

Remember what John the Baptist taught?
Luke 3:7-9 “So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘ We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. “Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

If you kept reading, later in the passage, people would ask, “what shall we do?”

He didn’t just want an emotional display down by the water side.
He wasn’t looking for a temporary commitment.

John wanted the lives of these people to change, and to change forever.
WHEN JESUS WOULD COME ALONG AFTER JOHN.
His first sermon.

Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

And then as He confronted people.
The cripple in the Bethesda pool.
John 5:14 “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”

The woman caught in adultery.
John 8:11 “She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

AND THIS REPENTANCE FROM SIN IS NECESSARY.

After Jesus ascended into heaven, and the day of Pentecost came.
Peter preached that Jesus really was Lord and Christ.

When the people wanted to know what to do.
The first statement of Peter.

Acts 2:37-38 “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Later in Acts 3 when Peter healed the cripple and the crowd flocked to him. He preached and said:
Acts 3:19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;”

AND OF COURSE THIS IDEA IS NOT NEW.
Repentance is always what God has sought
In order for people to come to Him.

Isaiah 1:16-20 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. “Let Us Reason” “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. “If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land; “But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword.” Truly, the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Jeremiah 4:1-4 “If you will return, O Israel,” declares the LORD, “Then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detested things from My presence, And will not waver, And you will swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’ In truth, in justice and in righteousness; Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, And in Him they will glory.” For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.”

In order for man to walk with God,
God has always required man to walk away from sin.
He has always required the permanent action of repentance.

Therefore, it also stands to reason
That a person cannot be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ
And live in sin at the same time.

1 John 1:6-7 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

1 John 3:4-10 “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”

Later Paul would ask?
Romans 6:2 “May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”

And this is why Paul could so easily define and separate
True believers from false believers.

Galatians 5:19-24 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

It is clear isn’t it?

After all, what did Jesus come to save us from?
Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

If you are still in sin, it is sure hard to make the argument
That you have been saved from it.
God requires true and genuine repentance from sin.
And of course Paul has been making this point throughout Romans.

Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”

It doesn’t matter if you are the godless pagan or the reformed Jew.
If you live in sin, God is angry, and you are under condemnation.

But despite this truth, mankind has sought not only to live in sin,
But some also seek to live in sin
While also laying claim to salvation.

You will see it again later in Romans,
When some try to fit through the grace loophole.

Romans 6:15 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!”

It is people who want any excuse at all to stay in their sin.
Yes they want to go to heaven, but they don’t want to repent to do it.

AND THE JEWS WERE NO DIFFERENT.

We always read about the Law and the requirements,
And the sacrifices, and all that stuff,

And usually it follows with a statement like,
“Could you imagine. Oh, I’m so glad we are not under the Law like that anymore.”

And we say that, like it was the ambition of every Jew
To get out from under the Law.

THAT WASN’T THE CASE AT ALL.
They loved it.

That is evidenced by their stubborn refusal to leave it.

They loved the sacrificial system

WHY?
They thought it allowed them to sin
And then not bear the penalty for sinning.

You were only one dead sheep away from forgiveness.
It was perfect.
It was a system that allowed them to continue in sin,
Yet still be forgiven, with relatively no cost to themselves.

Of course Paul has already killed that notion in Romans.
Romans 2:12-13 “For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”

So now at this point, they have scrapped the Law,
And this last question Paul mentions really reveals the heart to us.

Here we see why they are so eager to justify self, and argue with Paul.
THEY LOVE SIN

And here they are doing the unthinkable.
They are trying to justify continuing in sin
By proving that their sin does have value.

Look at this.
#1 THE MISCONCEPTION
Romans 3:7-8a

“But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?”

WHAT IS THEIR LIE?
It is their swearing falsely.

Remember, the Jews were taking God’s name in vain.
Romans 2:17 “But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God,”

They claimed to be followers of God, but their lifestyle was a lie.
And now it is obvious they know it, for they even call their life a lie.

But look at their attempt.
“if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?”

If my hypocrisy only made God look that much more truthful…
If my deception only makes God look that much more trustworthy…

Then why is God judging me like those pagan wicked sinners in the world.
(“also” being judged.)

They are claiming that they shouldn’t be judged,
Because even though they sin,
It just makes God look that much better.
“God, do you have any idea how righteous you look every time a huge crowd comes to the Day of Atonement? Why if it wasn’t for the fact that we continue to sin, then no one would know how righteous You are.”

So in fact, we are doing God a favor by sinning.
We are actually glorifying Him.

Paul picked up on this ridiculous argument.
Vs. 8, “And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”?”

Paul says, why not just say what you mean?
Why don’t you just go ahead and sin
So God could look really righteous.

This is a person who seeks to justify sin at all cost.

But that type of thinking is a major misconception, and let’s look at why.
#2 THE MESSAGE
Romans 3:8b

Now I hope you notice, Paul doesn’t even do them the honor
Of answering such a ridiculous notion.

He simply says, “their condemnation is just.”

If you really think that your sin is a good thing,
Then you deserve what you are going to get.

You get the feeling Paul reached the point that Jesus spoke of.
Matthew 7:6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”

The argument and the logic is so backward it is mind boggling.

AND LET ME TELL YOU WHY
1) Sin does not glorify God, Righteousness does.

You see, anybody can sin.
Any person alive on this earth can give way to warnings,
Sear their conscience and do what feels good.

I’ve never seen a person get drunk and just be amazed
That he was able to overcome the temptation to stay sober.

“I’ve been tempted to stay sober, but glory to God, I’m overcoming that temptation. I’m getting drunk for the glory of God.”
I’ve never seen a person get hooked on pornography and just been amazed that he was able to overcome the temptation to look at fully clothed people.

“I’m tempted to only look at people with their clothes on, but glory to God, I’m overcoming it.”

THERE IS NOTHING GLORIFYING TO GOD ABOUT SIN.
ANY PERSON CAN DO IT.

RIGHTEOUSNESS IS GLORIFYING TO GOD.
WHY?

You cannot do it apart from His Spirit.
You can do good things, but not for the right motives.

So when a person walks in righteousness, that is truly glorifying to God.

John 15:8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

God is glorified when we overcome temptation,
Not when we succumb to it.

But there is another misconception these people have.
2) Sin is not beneficial for anything.

We live in the day, where surprisingly enough
People still seem to think that sin does have it’s good qualities.

Now maybe we don’t go to the depths of these people here an assume that it is beneficial to glorify God, but still we see people in the church who think it is beneficial.

PERHAPS YOU’VE HEARD OF THIS
It’s good that you sinned like that,
So now you can minister to people like you.

It’s good that you were a drunk, so now you can minister to drunks.
It’s good you were an adulterer, now you can minister to adulterers

IT DOES NOT TAKE A DRUNK TO REACH DRUNKS
IT DOES NOT REQUIRE ADULTERERS TO REACH ADULTERERS

IT TAKES THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD THROUGH THE PREACHING OF HIS GOSPEL TO REACH THOSE PEOPLE.
Sometimes we act like if people in the church are too good,
We really need to get them to sin a little,
So they will better identify with the people they are trying to reach.

THIS IS ABSURD
Are doctor’s required to have a heart attack, before they can treat one?

THERE IS NOTHING GOOD THAT COMES FROM SIN.
Now it is a credit to God that He can still glorify Himself
In spite of our sin, but there is nothing good in regard to sin.

Sin never brings a positive consequence.
Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”

Romans 6:16 “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?”

Romans 6:21 “Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:6 “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,”

Romans 8:13 “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Everybody get the point?
There is absolutely no benefit to sinning,
Least of all bringing glory to God.

And so when this person seeks to justify sin,
Paul simply says, “Their Condemnation is just”

THE POINT I WANT TO LEAVE WITH YOU TONIGHT IS THIS:

The gospel of God is simple.

• Mankind is sinful, in desperate need of salvation.
• Religion may have introduced you to the things of God,
• But it cannot save you.
• God requires you to deny yourself and to repent of your sin.

The only way to be saved is through the blood of Jesus Christ.
IT IS USELESS TO ARGUE WITH GOD
The gospel is that simple.

You cannot justify yourself
You cannot save yourself
You cannot justify your sin

The only way to be saved is to repent of your sin, deny yourself, And trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ.

I know it sounds strange to a Sunday night crowd,
But trust me,
The Jews didn’t expect to be recipients of this sermon either.

Everyone needs Jesus,
If you have not trusted Him,
Let tonight be the night.

Romans 5:8-9 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”

The Righteousness Debate
Romans 3:5-6
October 7, 2007

Of course, we are in a section of Scripture in which Paul is answering common arguments that he faced when preaching the gospel.

Last Sunday morning, we saw “The Religion Debate”.
Paul spent chapter 2 telling the Jews that their religion had no saving value.

“If our religion has no value to save,
Then what advantage is there in being religious?”

Being involved in religion, you have access to the word of God,
And that is a good thing.

Sunday night we saw “The Faithfulness Debate”

“Paul you said Jews aren’t saved just because they are Jews,
Then are you saying that God lied to Abraham?”

“May it never be!”

God wasn’t unfaithful, it was the Jews who were unfaithful.
Besides God’s promise to Abraham was not a physical one
But a spiritual one anyway.

And so Paul’s point that Jews without Jesus
Are lost and in need of a Savior still stands strong.

This morning we get the third argument.
“The Righteousness Debate”

Vs. 5, “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He?”

Now hopefully you picked up on the accusation.
It is people so in love with their life, that they actually accuse God
Of being unrighteous for being angry at them.

“The Righteousness Debate”

But before we dive into the specifics of that debate, I want to take a few minutes and explain where this question comes from.

And I want you to see that the basis for this argument
Is not gone today by any means.
There is a key and vital component in regard to salvation.

(Indeed there are several,
But I want to specifically remind you of one this morning.)

It is the one that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 16.

Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

We talk about it a lot,
If a man is to come to Jesus, he must “deny himself.”

Jesus of course taught it again in
Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

Jesus taught that entrance into the kingdom was not “free”
It is free in the sense that you cannot buy it,
But in one sense, it very really costs you everything.

And the reason of course is because selfishness
Is exactly opposite of the attitude that God is looking for.

Self is the biggest idol that man allows to rest in his heart,
And so in order to be saved, that idol must be removed.

AND SO MAN MUST “DENY HIMSELF”

Some responded accurately to the call.
Matthew 4:18-22 “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”

Luke 19:5-9 “When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.”

And you see that these guys turned their back
On the important things of life in order to follow Jesus.
Some however, responded in a less than acceptable manner
Matthew 19:21-22 “Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.”

Luke 9:57-62 “As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Jesus was asking for them to deny the very most important things about their lives in order to follow Him.

And this is not new with Jesus.
God was asking this, even in the Old Testament.

Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Then later he was tested again.
Genesis 22:1-3 “Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.”

The Psalmist understood this requirement.
Psalms 45:10-11 “Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear Forget your people and your father’s house; Then the King will desire your beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him.”

AND THE POINT IS
In order to be saved, you must see the worth of your life Through God’s eyes.

If you need help:
Isaiah 64:6 “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

You must see that there is absolutely nothing you bring to the table.
There is absolutely nothing of merit to God in your life.
You have absolutely no bargaining power, and no leverage.
There is nothing worth keeping in your old life.

It is to confess with Paul.
Romans 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”

And of course this is the attitude required for salvation.
Matthew 5:3-10 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

It is a person so spiritually broken, realizing their spiritual bankruptcy,
Not only do they hate their sin, and hunger for righteousness,
But they are willing to fully surrender to the God who can supply it.

To be saved a person must completely disown their entire life.

And that is summed up in what Jesus told Nicodemus.
John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

And when you read a statement like that, I hope you get the picture.
Denying self is not just a commitment to change your actions.
Denying self is not just a commitment to do things better…
Denying self is not just a commitment to stop doing things bad…

You must look upon your entire life as being futile in all attempts.
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WORTH SAVING

IT IS NOT SIMPLY A DENIAL OF DEEDS, BUT A DENIAL OF SELF.

To Peter this meant letting go of his dreams.
Matthew 16:21-24 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

Thomas had to deny his right to live.
John 11:16 “Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”
But perhaps we see it even better in Paul,
Who declared, that not only was his future in the hands of God,
But also his past was absolutely worthless.
Philippians 3:5-7 “circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”

DO YOU GET THE PICTURE
To reach a point to cry out to Jesus,
Man must realize that there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
Worth saving in the old life.

BUT AS YOU KNOW
MANKIND HATES THAT THOUGHT

In a temporal sense we hate it.
Type in a sermon, only to realize that it is not right.
TIME – WORK – ENERGY
Wasted and valueless

BUT EVEN BIGGER IN REGARD TO SALVATION
It is not as though the last few hours of our life is wrong,
It started with the first brick.
It was laid by a carnal heart, bent on self, in love with the world;
And because the foundation is wrong, the whole house must come down.

We have to turn our back on the whole thing and start over.

So you can see why the Jews here hated Paul’s teaching
That all of their religion was in vain.
AND SO THEY ARE CHALLENGING PAUL HERE.

BUT THE CHALLENGE IS NOT WHAT YOU WOULD THINK.
You would think they would argue
That there was value in their religion.

Paul already proved that wrong.
Romans 2:17-24 “But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written.”

And so now, KNOWING that argument holds no ground,
The Jews give Paul a most unusual and backwards approach.

They are scrapping for any reason at all
Why they don’t have to completely discard their entire life

#1 THE MISCONCEPTION
Romans 3:5

And this is really an amazingly far-fetched and backwards approach
That is given here by the Jews.

“But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God..?”

“demonstrates” translates SUNISTEMI (soon-is-tee-mee)

Literally “to stand with”
“to approve, to commend, to exhibit”

The idea is that when we sin,
We only succeed in making God look that much better.

THEY LOST THE ARGUMENT THAT THEIR RELIGION
MADE GOD LOOK GOOD
“name of God is blasphemed”

So now the Jews try a different approach.

“Your right Paul, our good deeds weren’t really good, they were actually bad, but if they were bad, it only makes God look that much better”.

It gets better.
“But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He?”

Now they have actually concocted a full blown heresy.

If our badness only makes God look that much better,
Then God should not be angry with us.
In fact, if God is angry with us, when all we did was make God look better, Then God is the one with the real problem.

It is literally a worldly logic argument.
In fact Paul says, “(I am speaking in human terms)”

BUT WHAT IT REALLY IS:
Is another attempt of mankind to justify
Their wicked, selfish, unacceptable behavior.

If God isn’t pleased with me, then God is the one with the problem.

Why do you think people are so quick to argue with the Bible?
The Bible condemns their sin, so they condemn the Bible.
That is precisely the same thing that is going on here.

But let’s look at how Paul answers them.
#2 THE MESSAGE
Romans 3:6

There again we get that strong statement from Paul
“May it never be!”

It is an absolute foolish and faulty assumption
To even assume for one second
That God is anything but perfectly righteous.

That is not even up for debate.
Isaiah 6:1-3 “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”

In fact 25 times does the book of Isaiah refer to God as “The Holy One of Israel”

The angels in Revelation second that claim.
Revelation 4:8 “And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,
“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY,WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.”

Psalms 99:9 “Exalt the LORD our God And worship at His holy hill, For holy is the LORD our God.”

If the only way you can justify yourself is by condemning God,
You will never justify yourself, for God is holy.

He is perfectly righteous.
Psalms 97:1-6 “The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; Let the many islands be glad. Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Fire goes before Him And burns up His adversaries round about. His lightnings lit up the world; The earth saw and trembled. The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have seen His glory.”
God is righteous.
When He says sin is sin, He is right to say so.
When He says someone is guilty, He is right to say so.
When He is angry, His anger is always just.
When He is full of rage, it is always right.

So these Jews need to know that God is not unrighteous in being angry with them, for He is never unrighteous.

But then Paul does a very interesting thing in proving his point.
There are several ways, and several examples,
Paul could have used to prove God’s righteousness.

Paul could have talked about His great faithfulness…
Paul could have mentioned how many good things God has done…
Paul could have quoted a bunch of Old Testament…
BUT HE DIDN’T

DID YOU CATCH HOW PAUL REMINDED THESE JEWS OF GOD’S PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS?

By reminding them of judgment.
“For otherwise, how will God judge the world?”

THERE IS NOTHING IN THIS WORLD THAT PROVES THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD BETTER THAN HIS JUDGMENT.

Paul already stated it.
Romans 2:9-11 “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”

Paul was not simply trying to prove to the Jews that God was righteous.
God is righteous, whether they believe it or not.

Paul is reminding the Jews that if they don’t deny themselves,
They will fall under the righteous judgment of God.

They can justify their sin until they are blue in the face…
They can invent all sorts of reasons why God shouldn’t judge them…
But it won’t matter, for God judges in righteousness.

Every sin must be paid for.
Hebrews 9:22 “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

Come the final day of judgment men will throw all sorts of arguments at God as to why He shouldn’t judge them.

Some will say, I did good, and of course they did not do good enough.
Some will say, I did bad, but it made you look good, that won’t was either.

God is not asking men to justify themselves.
God is asking men to deny themselves.

You see God already made a way to justify men.
That is found through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

Romans 3:23-24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”

God is asking men to deny themselves and follow Jesus.

As long as you try to hold on to your life, there can be no salvation.
Matthew 16:25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

In order to be saved, you must come to grips with the fact,
That there is nothing in your life ever,
That is of any value in regard to saving you.

No good deed you ever did…
No religious work you ever accomplished…
No amount of trying hard…

It all has to be scrapped, it was built on a faulty foundation.
Then you must quit looking to yourself for justification
And start looking to Jesus.

That is why Jesus didn’t stop after He told us to deny ourselves.

Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, AND take up his cross and follow Me.”

Quit trusting in yourself, and start trusting in Jesus.
He was sinless.
He was perfect.
He died for sinful man.
And if sinful man will deny himself and trust Him for salvation.
He will be saved.

“The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous is He?”

ABSOLUTELY NOT
Mankind deserves the judgment that awaits.

But this morning, you can be saved from the wrath of God.
Romans 5:8-9 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”

The Faithfulness Debate
Romans 3:3-4
September 30, 2007

This morning we began listening to Paul
As he answered the critics of his preaching.

They argued that he preached against Moses and the Law.
This was not true.
Paul taught that there is advantage to religion,
Just no saving value in being a part of it.

Tonight Paul addresses a second argument he faced.
“The Faithfulness Debate”

They argued that Paul’s teaching said
That God was not being faithful to His word.

They accused Paul of teaching
That God had broken his promise to Abraham
AND THAT ACCORDING TO PAUL, GOD WAS UNFAITHFUL.

We read it this morning, but listen again.
Acts 21:27-29 “When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.”

Later, look at why they get mad at him.
He is giving his testimony, most of which they listened to,
UNTIL HE GOT TO THE END.

Acts 22:17-22 “It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance, and I saw Him saying to me, ‘ Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ “And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You. ‘And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’ “And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'” They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, ” Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!”

DO YOU SEE WHY THEY ARE ANGRY?

It’s not just as though Paul was telling the Jews they were wrong, Paul was also insinuating that the Gentiles were right.

THAT WAS THE ISSUE.
It appeared that Paul was teaching that God had a new people,
That the promise to Abraham was gone,
Now God was selecting some other group of people as His own.

The Jews couldn’t tolerate that notion,
So they attacked his preaching.

They believed Paul was teaching that God had abandoned the Jews
And therefore that God was unfaithful to His word.

So let’s look at this second argument this evening.
Same three points.

#1 THE MISCONCEPTION
Romans 3:3

The argument is simple to see.

If Jews didn’t believe,
Paul says they are lost.

If Jews are lost,
Did God lie to Abraham when He said his descendants would be
saved?

Of course they Jews don’t really think God lied,
They’re just trying to prove to Paul that he is wrong.

So again, let’s look exactly at what Paul did teach.

The tough statements he made in chapter 2.
Romans 2:13-15 “for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. 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,”

Romans 2:26-27 “So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?”

To the Jews that sounded like Jews were out and Gentiles were in.

And indeed, to some degree, Paul had taught that very thing.
Romans 9:30-33 “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

Romans 10:18-21 “But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.” But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, “I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS BY THAT WHICH IS NOT A NATION, BY A NATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WILL I ANGER YOU.” And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.” But as for Israel He says, “ALL THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.”

Romans 11:7-10 “What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; just as it is written, “GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.” And David says, “LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM. “LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.”
And not only did Paul teach those things,
But some of his decision while in the ministry
Seemed to reinforce that belief.

Acts 18:5-7 “But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue.”

Acts 28:23-29 “When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe. And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, ‘GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY, “YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING,BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES; OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.”‘ “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.” [When he had spoken these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.]”

Paul taught that Jews were missing out on the salvation of God,
And Paul definitely taught that Gentiles
Were receiving the salvation of God.
PAUL ALWAYS TAUGHT THAT SALVATION WAS BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Galatians 3:26-29 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”

If salvation is by grace, through faith,
Then Gentiles with faith are saved, and Jews without faith are lost.

THE JEWS HOWEVER, SAID THIS CAN’T BE,
FOR GOD PROMISED ABRAHAM.

AND SO THEY TOOK ISSUE WITH PAUL’S GOSPEL

Before we get to Paul’s answer, let’s once again,
Talk about why the Jews were so adamant about this point.

#2 THE MOTIVE
Romans 3:3

The Jews liked being able to rest in the fact that they were secure
Because they were the seed of Abraham.

WHY?
Because that is a secure salvation with no responsibility.

Under that theology, you are saved regardless of what you do.
It was already decided when God caused you to be born a Jew,
And now there is nothing that anyone else could do about it.

We know that is what they thought.
That is why what Jesus taught them floored them.
Luke 13:28-30 “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. “And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. “And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”

If I thought my salvation was automatic because of my parents
I wouldn’t like that sermon either.

Remember the rich man in hades, called Abraham, “Father Abraham”?
And the reason they fought so hard for this
Is because it meant a salvation without effort.

OF COURSE, THIS DOES NOT EXIST.
It is a great mystery when we go to laying God’s sovereignty
Beside man’s responsibility, but the two equally exist.

God’s sovereignty is a fact.
Ephesians 1:3-6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

And I do believe that means your salvation
Was set before the foundation of the world.

HOWEVER
That does not negate the fact that in order to be saved,
You must repent of your sin, confess the Lord Jesus,
Live in submission to Him, and persevere in your faith.

John 8:31-32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

WE LOVE TO TALK ABOUT HOW FREE SALVATION IS. (really?)
Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
(Ask the Rich Young Ruler if salvation is free.)

WE LOVE TO TALK ABOUT HOW EASY SALVATION IS. (really?)
Luke 13:23-24 “And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”

Matthew 10:21-22 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

(Ask the persecuted Church Peter wrote to if salvation is easy.)

WE TALK AS IF SALVATION COULD ALMOST OCCUR
WITHOUT A PERSON EVEN REALLY KNOWING IT.

Hebrews 2:1 “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”

“pay much closer attention to” translates PROSECHO (pro-sek-o)
“to hold to”

It was primarily a nautical term regarding mooring a ship to the dock.

“drift away” translates PARARHEO (par-ar-eh-o)
“to flow past”

Also a nautical term of a ship allowed to drift past the harbor.

That verse screams that if you are to be saved,
You must take persistent action towards being saved.
Salvation doesn’t just haphazardly occur.

Listen to the writer of Hebrews again.
Hebrews 4:1 “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.”

That is heavy on the responsibility of man.

THE POINT IS THAT SALVATION IS NOT CHEAP, OR EASY.
Although God is sovereign ordaining the end from the beginning,
It does not negate the responsibility of man in regard to salvation.

Too many times man is commanded to:
Come, Repent, Trust, Obey, Persevere, etc.
All the while God is
Drawing, saving, changing, and sealing

I cannot rationalize the two,
But only tell you that both are highly biblical.

A JEW WOULD OF COURSE BE ALL SOVEREIGNTY
AND NO RESPONSIBILITY.
(The basis for arguing salvation simply because of a promise to Abraham)

SOME DO THIS TODAY.
They take God’s sovereignty to a point
That Scripture never intended.

Romans 11:17-22 “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.”

Jews thought they were secure, until they were broken off,
Then Paul warns against Gentiles thinking the same thing.

But I think you understand why the Jews
Didn’t like what Paul was teaching.
He was teaching that they were spiritually bankrupt.
He was teaching that their salvation was incomplete.
He was teaching they needed more.

They didn’t like that because it
Pulled them out of their spiritual apathy and laziness.

So they accused Paul of being wrong,
saying his preaching accused God of being unfaithful to His promises.

“What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?”

Let’s get Paul’s answer.
#3 THE MESSAGE
Romans 3:4

And there is that strong, immediate, and forceful answer.
“May it never be!”

If you thought I was insinuating that God is not faithful
Then you completely missed my point.

In all those passages we read,
Did Paul ever say that God was unfaithful to Israel.

PAUL SAID ISRAEL WAS UNFAITHFUL, NOT GOD.

Romans 10:21 “But as for Israel He says, “ALL THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.”

God has never ceased to be faithful,
In fact, do you want to see how faithful He is?

“Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, “THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.”

If you are curious where that Old Testament quote came from.
Psalms 51:1-4 “Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.”

Of course that is the great Psalm of repentance,
And did you catch David’s point?

God, I am pleading your mercy, I am pleading your grace,
But since there is no doubt about my sin, you are justified in judging me.

David knew God had promised him great things.
But because David was unfaithful to God,
God would not be unfaithful in judging David,
Including taking away His Spirit from David, as He did to Saul.

And that is Paul’s point.

God hasn’t ceased to be faithful, Israel has.
Now God’s faithfulness is not revealed in keeping a promise,
But in maintaining righteousness.

GOD IS FAITHFUL TO JUDGE ACCORDING A RIGHTEOUS STANDARD.

That is what we just read that Paul told the Gentiles wasn’t it?
Romans 11:22 “Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.”

If you think for one second that God is being unfaithful in this,
You are absolutely wrong.
God is more than justified in putting away Israel.

Remember these Old Testament warnings?
Isaiah 50:1 “Thus says the LORD, “Where is the certificate of divorce By which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, And for your transgressions your mother was sent away.”

If God wants to send Israel into oblivion,
He would not be unfaithful in doing so.

BUT NOW LISTEN TO ME

God would be justified in sending Israel away forever,
BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT HE HAS DONE.

These Jews argue that if one Jew doesn’t get saved,
Then God lied to Abraham.
WRONG.

That promise was not made nationally, but personally.
It was also not made physically, but spiritually.

Romans 9:6 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;”

That promise to Abraham still stands in tact,
Because children of the flesh are not who God was talking about.

Galatians 3:7-9 “Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”

SO IF YOU WANT TO LOOK AT IT IN THAT SENSE.
God didn’t break that promise, they just misinterpreted it.
That promise was to those who had the faith of Abraham.

But let’s go a little further to see the mercy of God at full force.
Romans 11:25-29 “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION,
HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

GOD HAS EVERY RIGHT TO SEND EVERY JEW TO HELL FOREVER.
But, despite His right, God will still show mercy, by drawing Israel back to salvation, which is what Paul said right there.

Zechariah 12:10-13:1 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. “In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. “The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves. “In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.”
That can only be Israel.

SO LET ME MAKE SOME SENSE OF THIS.

GOD WOULD BE JUSTIFIED TO TOSS ISRAEL
1) Because He never promised that national Israel was safe
2) Because even if He did, they are the ones who left

BUT GOD’S MERCY HAS PROMISED THAT HE WILL BRING THEM BACK.

BUT PAUL’S POINT TO THIS SECTION IS THIS.
God is not unfaithful to any of His promises.
In fact, God is faithful to judge anyone who rejects Jesus.

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

And God is not required to save one single person
Simply because they grew up in the right family.

Romans 2:11 “For there is no partiality with God.”

God hasn’t broken a single promise, and He never will.
He is faithful.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”

TONIGHT, TRUST IN THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.

Paul put it best.
2 Timothy 2:11-13 “It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”

If you trust Him, He promises to save you.
AND HE IS FAITHFUL

If you deny Him, He promises to judge you.
AND HE IS FAITHFUL

The Religion Debate
Romans 3:1-2
September 30, 2007

Last Sunday we concluded Paul’s chapter on
“Exposing False Security”.

Paul revealed that if you are trusting in:
Your Moral Goodness
Your Ancestry
Your Knowledge
Your Ministry
Your Works (circumcision)
For your salvation, then you have a false assurance.

NONE OF THOSE THINGS ARE INDICATORS OF SALVATION
And Paul made no bones about saying so.

He concluded that chapter with a wonderful summation of his point.
Romans 2:28-29 “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”

If you missed the point throughout the chapter,
You would have been hard pressed to miss it there.

IN REGARD TO SALVATION,
God does not require religion, God requires righteousness.
God is not looking at the flesh, God is looking at the heart.

Paul concluded that section with that strong statement.

However, just because Paul concluded the section,
That doesn’t mean we are finished talking about it.

For now Paul assumes there is an argument coming.
Paul assumes that people are going to disagree
With not only those final two verses, but most likely all of chapter 2.

And the first (of 4) arguments against his preaching
Is one that Paul commonly dealt with.

We will call it “The Religion Debate”.

There was continually an argument posed at Paul
As to just how valuable religion really was.

Paul continually cut the legs out from under legalism.
If you thought you were saved because of something you did,
Paul always seemed to have your number.

Paul reminded the Jews that it didn’t matter how religious they were, they were not pleasing to God based upon their religion.

AND PAUL WAS CONSTANTLY CONFRONTED ABOUT THAT.
Perhaps you will remember why the Jews
Sought to arrest him, and put him to death.

Acts 21:17-22 “After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. “What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.”

Then later,
Acts 21:27-28 “When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

They had labeled Paul as one who preached against all of Judaism.

“against our people, and the Law and this place”

He was removing their false assurance of religion,
And they took it personally.

As the Romans read this letter,
They had either heard these arguments,
Or it was only a matter of time.

We will look at the first this morning: “The Religion Debate”.

Let’s look at it in three ways.
#1 THE MISCONCEPTION
Romans 3:1

Here is the first of four misconceptions that the people had.

They accused Paul of teaching
That there was absolutely no value in Judaism
(and all that it entails) or circumcision.
Every time Paul preached, they quickly passed him off as an anti-Semitist.
Paul was just against the Jews.

And that is revealed through their sarcastic question here.
“Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?”

Certainly they had certain Scriptures
Pulled up in the back of their minds.

Deuteronomy 10:15 “Yet on your fathers did the LORD set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day.”

Exodus 19:4-6 “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

Zechariah 2:8 “For thus says the LORD of hosts, “After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.”

Or in regard to circumcision.
Genesis 17:10 “This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.”

And I think you get the point.
They had been taught that being a circumcised Jew
Was what made them different.
Being a circumcised Jew was what made them pleasing.

And now this Paul comes about,
And starts preaching that all of that is insignificant.

And so here they challenge him.
“Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?”
You can hear their scorn.

But let’s look for a second at exactly what Paul did teach.
We’ve already studied chapter 2, so we won’t go back there in detail,
BUT LOOK AT WHAT HE HAS PREACHED OTHER PLACES.

1 Corinthians 7:18-20 “Was any man called when he was already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? He is not to be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God. Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called.”
Galatians 5:1-6 “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”

These two churches make good illustrations of what Paul taught.
• Primarily Gentile Churches
• Had already heard the gospel
• By in large were saved

Paul writes to them in order to say,
There is now no benefit in becoming Jewish.

To the Corinthians, he said,
If you are a Jew; fine. If you are a Gentile; fine.
“but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.”

Then to the Galatian church.
If they think circumcision is going make them “more” saved,
Then they are throwing Christ aside in order to be saved by their works.

What Paul taught there, he taught everywhere.
THERE IS NO SAVING VALUE TO WORKS

And this wasn’t just Paul.
Peter (when the matter came before Jerusalem)
Acts 15:10-11 “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

James
Acts 15:19-20 “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.”

THERE IS NO SAVING VALUE TO WORKS

BUT PAUL ALSO TAUGHT
WORKS DO NOT GET YOU CLOSER TO GOD.

Galatians 3:1-9 “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain — if indeed it was in vain? So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”

AT CRAWFORD: The youth through “Lent”
The idea was: to get closer to God through sacrifice.

THAT IS ABSOLUTE NONSENSE

DID YOU COME TO GOD THROUGH WORKS? (no)
THEN WHY DO YOU EXPECT TO GET CLOSER TO GOD THROUGH WORKS?

You get close to God, the same way you initially came to God
FAITH.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

And this is what Paul continually taught,
Especially in regard to the regulations of Judaism,
And circumcision.

Religious works (even Judaism) do not get you to God,
Nor do they get you closer to God.

And it is that teaching that people are arguing with Paul about.

AND THEY STILL DO TODAY.

People today still think that if they go to church,
They are more pleasing, than if they didn’t go to church.

People today still think that if they read their Bible,
They are more pleasing, than if they didn’t read their Bible.

And when you step up and tell them that there is no saving value
They scoff just like these Jews.

WHY DO THEY SCOFF?

#2 THE MOTIVE
Romans 3:1
We won’t stay here long,
But it is important to understand why people hold such views,
And why they are so angry with Paul over exposing them.

WHY DO PEOPLE ARGUE WITH PAUL’S TEACHING?
Because they like a “works based” salvation.
Because then they get the glory for their salvation.

If you can do something to get yourself saved,
Then you get the glory for getting saved.

And the legalistic Jews were no different.
Remember the Pharisee?
Luke 18:11-12 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’”

And not only do they get the glory for earning salvation,
But continuing in those deeds causes them to suppose
They are closer to God than other people.

WE DO THIS
Wednesday night people are closer to God than Sunday night people…
Sunday night people are closer to God than Sunday morning people…
SO WE THINK

So did the Jews.
Remember how Paul said they viewed themselves?
Romans 2:17-20 “But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth,”

Not only did they pat themselves on the back for getting saved,
But they were certain that their religiosity made them closer to God.

Then Paul comes preaching in such a way
As to pull the rug right out from under them,
IT IS NO WONDER THEY TOOK ISSUE WITH HIM.

“Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?”

That was their argument.
Now let’s hear Paul’s answer.

#3 THE MESSAGE
Romans 3:2

When they wanted to know the advantage or the benefit of their religion, look at what Paul says.

“Great in every respect.”

That seems like that goes against
What Paul has been teaching everywhere else.

It even seems to contradict what he just said in chapter two.
“What advantage has the Jew? What is the benefit of circumsion?”

“Great in every respect.”
Not only is there a great advantage,
But it is a great advantage in every respect.

AND THERE IS THE KEY WORD
“advantage”

THERE IS NO SAVING VALUE IN BEING A JEW
OR IN BEING CIRCUMCISED,
BUT ONE WHO IS A JEW OR WHO IS CIRCUMCISED
HAS AN ADVANTAGE IN REGARD TO ACHIEVING SALVATION
OVER SOMEONE WHO ISN’T JEWISH.

And then Paul gets specific.
“First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.”

There are many advantages to being a circumcised Jew,

Paul lists their advantage in even more detail in chapter 9.
Romans 9:3-5 “For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”

BUT THE BIGGEST ADVANTAGE
IS ACCESS TO THE WORD OF GOD.

An uncircumcised Gentile had no access to the word of God.
Jews could go to Synagogue
Jews could enter the temple

And we all know how important the word of God is
In regard to salvation don’t we?

Romans 1:16 “For 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.”

Romans 10:14-15 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

If you have two lost men that you want to get saved, and only one of those two lost men has access to the word of God, which one has the advantage?

The Jews had the Scriptures
All of the Old Testament is filled with Jesus.
John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;”

A circumcised Jew had a definite advantage
Over anyone else in regard to finding the true salvation of God.

Of course the problem was they didn’t make use of that advantage.
Romans 10:16-21 “However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.” But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, “I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS BY THAT WHICH IS NOT A NATION, BY A NATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WILL I ANGER YOU.” And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.” But as for Israel He says, “ALL THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.”

Hearing the word of God didn’t make them saved, but it certainly gave them greater opportunity to be saved, then not hearing it.

AND HERE IS THE POINT.
You may know right from wrong…
You may have Christian parents…
You may have Bible knowledge…
You may be involved in ministry…
You may have tons of good works…

None of those things means you are saved,
But all of those things do give you a distinct advantage
In finding the salvation of God.

IF YOU READ CHAPTER TWO, OR LISTENED TO THESE SERMONS,
AND THOUGHT TO YOURSELF:
“I knew I didn’t have to go to church” or
“I’m just as good as those people who go all the time.”
YOU MISSED THE POINT.

Attending church faithfully doesn’t automatically closer to God.
But it sure gives you an advantage over those who don’t.

I’VE ALWAYS HATED THE ARGUMENT
“You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.”

That’s true,
But if you are serious about learning how to live like a Christian,
And finding encouragement to live like a Christian,
And finding opportunity to grow in Christianity.
Name me one place better to be.

I HAD A CONVERSATION WITH A GIRL
Inviting her to church, she wouldn’t because she was too confused.

“Do you think you will find the answers by skipping church?”

Christian parents don’t automatically make you closer to God.
But they sure give you an advantage over those who don’t.

Remember Timothy?
2 Timothy 1:5 “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.”

Remember what God told Moses?
Exodus 20:5-6 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
That is not to say that if your grand-daddy feared God
You have nothing to worry about,
Nor is it say that if your grand-daddy was a worthless fellow
That there is no hope for you.

BUT I’LL PROMOTE GODLY PARENTS OVER UNGODLY ONES ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.

Don’t get legalistic
Thinking you are saved because you did something,
But don’t get lazy either.

AND THAT IS PAUL’S POINT.
They accused Paul of devaluing religion altogether.
That is not true.

Religion has value, just not to save.
It has value in making you aware of what it takes to be saved.

THE FACT REMAINS:
Only Jesus is the way of salvation.
Only Jesus died upon a cross to satisfy the wrath of God.
Only Jesus rose from the dead putting an end to it’s power.
Only Jesus can save.

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

But don’t stop going to church, or reading your Bible

Those things cannot save you,
But those things can expose you to Jesus,
Who is the only One who can.

Romans 5:8-9 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”