God Always Keeps His Word

Transcript

GR 1415
01/17/10
God Always Keeps His Word
Romans 3:1-8
Gil Rugh

We're studying the book of Romans together so I invite you to turn in your Bibles to Romans 3. Remember what Paul is doing beginning in chapter 1, verse 18 and through chapter 3, verse 20. He is establishing the sin and guilt of all humanity. All are under condemnation because all are guilty of sin and rebellion against God. In chapter 1, verse 18 through chapter 1, verse 32 He established the guilt of the Gentiles. Then beginning in chapter 2, verse 1 and down through chapter 3, verse 20, Paul is talking about the Jews and their guilt before God. Clearly his attention given to the Jews and their sin and being under condemnation is a greater space than given to the Gentiles because it was a rather simple thing to demonstrate the sin and guilt of the Gentiles. And the Jews would all agree to that. But the Jews saw themselves as a unique and special people, and indeed they were and are. They were God's covenant people. He had chosen that nation for Himself; He had entered into a covenant with them through Abraham, the founder of the nation. He had given the Jews the sign of circumcision which marked them separate as a people in covenant relationship with God. The problem was the Jews began to think of that physical connection as a guarantee, of an exclusion from judgment. And since God has chosen the Jewish people for Himself and He has given them the Mosaic Law and circumcision as the sign of the covenant, Jews will be judged with a different kind of judgment than the Gentiles will be. What Paul is doing here in Romans is demonstrating that God is an impartial judge. He will judge Jew and Gentile alike on the same basis, on their sin and on their guilt.

You'll note chapter 2 began, “therefore you have no excuse every one of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same thing. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, oh man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same, you will escape the judgment of God? And if you think lightly and ignore the riches of His kindness and grace in offering you His salvation, that you will escape judgment”. This was the condition of the Jews in that they had the Law, they would sit in judgment of the Gentiles, they were sinners, they were defiled, and they deserved condemnation. But we are God's special people; we will get a pass when it comes to judgment.

And so the chapter opens up, do you really think that's the way God is, that He plays favorites when it comes to judgment? I mean, think about it. What would we think of a human judge here on earth who every time this group of people or kind of people came before him, they got special treatment and their offenses were overlooked and ignored? We'd say he is not fit to be judge. That's the kind of argument that Paul is using as you move on through chapter 2. In verse 6, Paul says, “God will render to each person according to his deeds.” Verse 11,”for there is no partiality with God.” Verse 13, “for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law.”
A number of you read a number of commentaries on this passage. They talk about the fact that the Gentiles who obey the Law will be righteous before God. Understand there are no such Gentiles. And you'll remember we said the commentaries use this for the sake of argument to show that just possessing the Law was not enough. You had to obey it to be righteous.

But you understand down in chapter 3, verse 20, “by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight.” So he's not saying, “some Gentiles keep the Law and therefore are justified.” No, there are no such Gentiles. And the Jews would have never given that a thought. “The Gentiles could keep the Law? Impossible. But we Jews can.” Now a Gentile could convert to Judaism and be placed under the Law, but they would have to keep the Law. The point is, nobody keeps the Law—not the Jews, and the Gentiles (who of course don't even try, by and large).

“God will judge the secrets of men on judgment day,” as stated in verse 16. Verse 23, “you who boast in the Law through your breaking the Law do you dishonor God.” This points to the inconsistency. The Jews thought salvation was theirs by right of birth. They thought that salvation was theirs because of certain physical connections. They are physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and have experienced the physical rite of circumcision and so on. This idea is not so much different than people think today. I was raised (you fill in the blank), a certain kind of Protestant or Catholic and our family has attended this church. I was baptized in this church, I was confirmed in this church, I take the sacraments, etc. Well, wait a minute, do you think that gives you a pass in judgment? If anybody had a reason to think they would get a pass, the Jews did. Meaning, beginning in Genesis 12, all the way through the Old Testament and through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and the gospels, the Jews are God's special chosen people. The Mosaic Law was given to govern their conduct. If anybody had a reason to claim some kind of physical connection, it was the Jews.

But Paul makes it clear, in verses 28-29, 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. In other words there are two kinds of Jews. All Jews are physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but not all the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will inherit all the promised blessings God has given because you also have to be a spiritual descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You have to have received not only circumcision in the flesh, but circumcision of the heart. We looked at a number of passages in the Old Testament in our previous study where God told Israel they had to have a circumcised heart. Sin within had to be removed because it's the heart that is deceitful and desperately wicked. It has to be cleansed; the sin has to be removed.

Verses 28-29 talk about being a Jew outward and inward. And I've noted there are some today, many today, who claim that this means the Gentiles have become spiritual Jews. And some say that this passage now calls Gentiles Jews. In reference to this, let me just take a moment to read a couple of comments from some fine commentaries that I find very helpful. One of those says this: “For the first time in Romans 2, Paul alludes to Christians. In other words, he is referring to Christians as Jews. But even here it is only an allusion. Now if Paul is saying the Jews are no longer the physical descendants of Abraham, but they are the Gentiles who believe, that is a revolutionary shocking thing. To say here, well, he alludes to it, but it's only an allusion.” He goes on to say, “Paul goes beyond any first century viewpoint in implicitly, not explicitly, but implicitly applying the term Jew to those who were not ethnically Jews” I think that is a terrible misunderstanding. It would take more than Paul just implying that now a Gentile can be called a Jew. I mean, that is contrary to the very definition of a Jew. A Jew is a physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Another writer says this: “Paul asserts in chapter 2 verses 26-29 that uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God's commands reveal that they are true Jews and are circumcised in heart. One can be a true Jew without being an ethnic Jew.” I say that is just a made up statement. That is not what Paul is saying here. He is saying not everyone who is a physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will inherit the promises God has given to the Jews. Because the Jews not only had to be a physical descendant of Abraham, they also had to have circumcised hearts, the sin removed. They had to be saved.

One other writer says “this is an extremely important discussion because”, now listen to this “of the modern theological development of dispensationalism.” The word dispensationalism maintained the distinction between Israel and the church. The church is not Israel, Israel is not the church. And it is humorous to me when he says, this is extremely important because of the modern theological development of dispensationalism. Maybe later on in our study of Romans we'll talk about covenant theology. Covenant theologians, of which this man is one, are individuals who don't recognize the distinction between Israel and the church. But they imply dispensationalism is not trustworthy because it is a modern development, it's new. But dispensationalism as a system was developed in the 19th century. So that's relatively new, 1800s, 1800 years after Christ. But you know what? Covenant theology “ain't so old.” Do you know when covenant theology was developed? In the 17th century. So you say “dispensationalism is new.” Yes, it is 1800s; covenant theology 1600s. Why is that true? Well, we're 200 years older than you are, but you're 1600 years after Christ. So the issue is not resolved by saying one is new and one is old because there was no covenant theology system. John Calvin did not believe in a covenant of works. And the first redemptive covenant in Calvin's theology was the Abrahamic Covenant, the covenant with Abraham.

We're coming to Romans 3. Paul is continuing this discussion about the Jews. If what really matters is the circumcision of the heart and being a physical Jew doesn't guarantee your salvation, is there any benefit then to being a Jew? Are you saying “the Jews and the Gentiles, it's a wash.” Chapter 3 begins, what advantage has the Jew or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. So we're not saying the Jew doesn't have an advantage, we're not saying that circumcision isn't a blessing for the Jews. I mean, to be a circumcised Jew brings you great advantages in a lot of areas. You'll note the Jew has priority. Back in chapter 1 verse 16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The Jew has priority in the salvation plan of God. When you come to chapter 2 verse 10, he talks about God's coming judgment on sin. Verse 10, they are going to have priority in the blessings—glory, honor and peace to the Jew first and also to the Greek, as we just read in chapter 1. But then we come down and there is priority of judgment to the Jews.

And the Jews have great blessing in a lot of areas. That does not mean in every area, but as in chapter 3 verse 2, “great in every respect.” There are a lot of blessings and advantages to being a Jew. First of all, they were entrusted with the oracles of God. Now one of the things you do when you are reading a passage like this and you come across first of all, you say, I want to find out what the other things in the list are. The problem is there are no other things in the list because he never goes on to list anything else. So if you are looking for it, it's not here. He lists the first one and doesn't go on to list any others.

Turn over to chapter 9. He'll come back to talk about the details of Israel's relationship with God and Israel in the plan of God in chapters 9-11. And in chapter 9 verse 4, he talks about Israelites and then note what he says about their blessing: “To whom belongs the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the temple service, the promises, whose are the fathers, from whom is the Christ according to the flesh.” These are some of Israel's blessings.

Back in chapter 3, he says the first blessing of Israel that I want to talk about is the only one I'll talk about right now, is they were entrusted with the oracles of God. What a great blessing. The Word of God was given to the Jews and they were entrusted. That word, the basic word here, “trust”, is the same Greek word as we also translate “believe” or “faithful, faithfulness.” So you have it mentioned four times—once in verse 2, they were entrusted, verb is ______ and noun is _______ in Greek. They were entrusted.

Then verse 3, “what then, if some did not believe”, there is the same basic word. Their unbelief there is the same word made negative. “Will not nullify the faithfulness”, there is the word again, of God, will it. So four times in verses 2-3 he's really talking about the faith, the faithfulness of Israel. They were entrusted with the Word of God, the Word of God was given to them and they were responsible to believe it and be faithful with it. That's a great privilege. Out of all the nations and the peoples on the earth, the great and powerful nations of the earth, only one nation was given the Word of God in the Old Testament—the Jews.

Turn back to Deuteronomy 4:2. Now here he is talking to Israel. Verse 1, “now oh Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform.” Verse 2, “you shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor shall you take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.” You'll note the Word of God is entrusted to them. It's not theirs to do with as they please. It's God's Word, it remains God's Word. They are to receive it, not make any changes to it, and obey it. Look down in verse 8, “or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous and this whole law which I am setting before you today.” No other nation had been given the Word of God, the law of God like Israel had.

Turn over to the book of Psalms, chapter 147. This psalm starts out, “praise the Lord, it is good to sing praises to our God. For it is pleasant and praise is becoming. And the message about God's promised coming blessings to the nation when they are restored to the place He has promised them and they are overwhelmed with His blessings.” So verse 2, the Lord built up Jerusalem, He gathers the outcast of Israel, heals the broken hearted and so on. We want to come down to verse 19. He declares His words to Jacob. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Jacob's name changed to Israel, remember. He declares His words to Jacob, His statutes and ordinances to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any nation, and as for His ordinances, they have not known them. Praise the Lord. I mean, what advantage is it to be a Jew? What are the advantages of circumcision? They are great in every respect. First of all they have been entrusted with the oracles of God, the Word of God. I mean, it's God's Word, they have it. No other nation on earth was given the Word of God. The Jews were. That's remarkable. What a blessing, what a privilege that all of our Old Testament basically comes through the Jews. Who was the human author under the direction of the Spirit of God and who wrote the first five books of our Bible that tells about the beginning? Moses. We call them the books of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. And through Moses the Law is given on Mt. Sinai. All the prophets have the Word of God. And you'll note it is the Word of God, unchanging.

So when Paul writes coming back to Romans 3, 1500 years after Moses, it is still the Word of God. His Word stands firm and true. It's still His Word today. God has spoken, here is the Word. It was given to the Jews. They bear a responsibility to that Word. Just possessing this Word is not enough; that was the point in chapter 2. Having the Law did not save the Jews, but believing and obeying the Law did. The Word of God, the truth that God had revealed, nobody could be saved by keeping the Law. But the Law was to be a reflection of the will of God manifest in the lives of the people of God, particularly the nation Israel. What happened to somebody in China who wanted to know the will of God? They would have to make their way to Israel and find out from the Jews what the God of Israel, who is the God of all creation, had said. What a privilege given to the Jews to be entrusted with the Word of God.

The problem was the Jews, though it was enough to have the Word of God and obedience, got lost in it. Like people today. They have a Bible, they may put it on their coffee table, they keep it dusted, they want to be careful, “don't set your drink on the Bible, you know, that's the Bible,” but they don't obey it. Having a Bible doesn't do anything for you. The Jews had the Word of God but having it didn't change their hearts, didn't remove the sin of their heart. But they had been entrusted with the oracles of God.

Now what Paul is going to do here is raise some questions and answer them, theoretical questions that might be raised. Verse 3, “what then? They have the Word of God, if some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?” The Jews had been entrusted with the Word of God and as those entrusted, (remember this is the same basic word to believe, be faithful), they didn't really believe it. They weren't faithful to it by obeying it. Their lack of belief, their unfaithfulness, will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? The fact the Jews were given the Word of God and didn't believe it, does that mean God won't be faithful to do what He promised? Will their unfaithfulness nullify (nullify means to render void, to cancel it out, make it inoperative) the faithfulness of God. In other words, now God won't do what He promised because the Jews didn't keep the Word of God that He gave to them.

The answer is as firm as it can get—may it never be, the expression magnoito. May it never be is a literal translation. King James has “God forbid.” The word God does not appear here. But the point is that this is a sharp, firm, negative. It's inconceivable, not even a possibility that God would become unfaithful because the Jews were unfaithful. May it never be. Rather, let God be found true though every man be found a liar. God's faithfulness is not determined by Israel's faithfulness. God will do what He promised; God will be true to His Word no matter what man does. So no, the unfaithfulness of the Jews will not cancel the Word of God. That means every promised blessing will come to the Jews. God can't be unfaithful. But the Jews are like we are today. They like the parts of the Word of God they like and ignore the other parts. People don't mind coming to church and hearing about the love of God and the mercy of God and the kindness of God, talking about heaven and how wonderful heaven will be.

I was doing a funeral service a few years ago, talking about those kinds of things. I got to a point where I said, “Now I have to tell you that's not the whole story. There is another side that has to be considered to the Word of God.” And I told them about hell and judgment and condemnation. Afterward someone said, “You were doing fine until you got to that part about hell and judgment. I don't think that was appropriate.” Isn't it amazing how we decide certain parts of the Word of God are appropriate and certain parts are not? You know what the Jews did? They claimed every blessing that God said He would bring upon the nation Israel and they just closed their ears to His promise of judgment and condemnation for unbelief and disobedience.

Turn back to Nehemiah 9. We're going to get a little ahead of ourselves but we'll catch up to it when we come back to Romans. Now understand in the days of Nehemiah, Israel was under judgment. They had experienced deportation from the land because of their sin. Under the Assyrians and the Babylonians, God's judgment had come upon them. In grace now with Ezra and Nehemiah we see some restoration. In Nehemiah 9:17, “you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness. You did not forsake them, our fathers”, verse 16, “who acted arrogantly.”

Come over to verse 32. Verse 31 talks about His compassion, “nevertheless in your great compassion you did not make an end of them or forsake them. You are a gracious and compassionate God.” Does anybody get offended with you when you talk to them and say, God is a God of love, He is a God of compassion, He's a God of forgiveness. If that's all you say, they are happy to hear that, that's okay. Verse 32, “now therefore our God, the great, the mighty, the awesome God who keeps covenant and lovingkindness. He is such a faithful God. Do not let all the hardships seem insignificant before you which have come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, on all your people from the days of the kings in Assyria to this day.” What did the kings of Assyria do? They carried the northern ten tribes away into captivity. And that would later be followed by the Babylonian captivity of the southern kingdom.

Look at verse 33. “However you are just in all that has come upon us. You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.” You see here in the context? God is a gracious God, a compassionate God. God keeps His word, He keeps His word in promised blessings, He keeps His word in promised judgment. And Nehemiah says He is God. You have acted faithfully; you are just, and righteous in all that has come upon us. What did he say? You are a God who keeps His word. You promised blessing when we believed and obeyed. You promised judgment when we did not believe and when we did not obey. You are just, you are faithful.

Come back to Romans 3. “Let God be found true though every man be found a liar. As it is written”, now he quotes from Psalm 51:4. Psalm 51 is a psalm written by David after his sin with Bathsheba and Nathan the prophet has confronted him and he recognizes the greatness of his sin and guilt. “That you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged.” Or better as you have it in the margin, prevail when you judge. That's what the Old Testament passage says, “prevail when you judge.” That you may be justified, shown to be righteous, prevail when you exercise your judgment. All will have to acknowledge He is fair. Nehemiah had to say, God has brought great judgment on us, the nation has been dispersed from their land and God has been just. Well I thought He promised blessing, I thought He promised glory, I thought He promised prosperity. Yes, He did, when you obey and believe. And He also promised judgment. You would be dispersed among the nations if you don't believe and obey. God is faithful. When it comes to the judgment of God, He will be revealed to be just, He will be shown to be a righteous judge. This is what we saw back in chapter 2 verse 6, “He will render to each person according to his deeds.” Why? Verse 11, “there is no partiality with God.” People tend to think, because I am special, then I'll be judged differently. If any people had a reason to think that, the Jews did. They were the only nation God had chosen for Himself, they were the only nation God had given His word, they were the only nation that God had given the sign of the covenant to. But you won't get a pass in judgment.

You know, people think the same today. I go to church, I try to be a good person. There are some people who are really vile and wicked; we like to say that some people are disgustingly wicked. We just don't happen to be those people. We're not perfect, but we're not like they are. Well, what does that mean? We think we'll get a pass in judgment. It's not hard to get a person to say they are a sinner, the Jews acknowledged they were sinners. That's why they had the Law, that's why they had the sacrifices. Their sins could be taken care of. Do you know the danger with that? Since they had God's provision for them, they began to think that since they had that provision, their sin would not be viewed in the same way as someone else's sin, so the Jews will be judged differently than the Gentiles. Not because they had believed God and lived faithfully in obedience to God, but just because they are Jews. And of course our sin isn't as bad as the Gentiles' sin. And most church people think that way. People that blow up innocent people, people who commit vile mass murders, those people deserve to be judged. Can anybody not say that an Adolf Hitler deserves punishment from God? Let's face it, we're just not sinners like they are, we don't deserve that. That's why people don't want to hear about sin, they don't want to hear about hell because I'm not that kind of person. Are you perfect? Nobody is perfect, but I wouldn't deserve that judgment from God, which is just like the Jews—I'm different.

God will be faithful to be kind and loving and merciful, but He won't be faithful to judge me for my sin. That was the Jewish thinking. I use us today as an example because people are people. We don't have as much reason if there could be a reason to think that way as the Jews did, but you understand nobody is going to get a pass in judgment. The judgment will be the same. So if I profess to be a Christian, I go to church, but I have not really believed in the provision God has made for my salvation and I'm believing faithfully before Him, don't think I'll be judged any differently than the person who is on the golf course in a warmer climate this morning. Why? I don't get a pass in judgment. We say, what about Christians, true believers? They don't get a pass in judgment either; somebody has just taken their place and paid their penalty. But a true believer does not have a view of sin that makes him different. Because I'm a believer, that doesn't mean my sins are not as serious as the sins of someone else. The Jews thought their sins were viewed differently than Gentiles' sins. You understand sin is sin; it is an offense against a holy God. Do you know what David said in Psalm 51? Against you and you only have I sinned. It's a dangerous thing when we begin to think well, since we profess to be Christians, our sins are not serious like other people's sins. You understand sin in the sight of God is sin, it is always serious.

We have children who get raised in our families and our churches, they go away thinking, I was raised there, maybe I was baptized there, my parents taught me. I'm not living for the Lord, but I'm going to get a pass in judgment. It isn't going to happen. That's the point that Paul is making here.

You ought to note something else in verse 4, “let God be found true though every man a liar.” We live in a day of opinion polls and everybody wonders “what is the opinion on this, what is the approval rating?” And we begin to think this is the way God is. You look at the change in our attitude toward sin. There was a time when the world generally in our country thought sex outside of marriage was wrong, even unbelievers. I was raised, my parents weren't saved until I was a little older, but they had certain moral standards, the law of God written on their hearts as chapter 2 says. Now things have changed and sex outside of marriage is common and becomes acceptable. Pretty soon we begin to think, God doesn't view it as serious as He used to. We're waiting to see if we can get enough votes to approve homosexual marriage. Then what? It will be all right in the sight of God? I got 51%, Gabriel. We're going to change things. What if you get 99%? You know what? If every single man had a different view than God does, God is still right. Let God be true and every man a liar. There is only one vote that counts, you know. It's God's. Lord, don't you know that 88% of the people supported this and said it was okay? And God's only response—I said it was wrong. This is what happened to Israel. Pretty soon everybody was doing it and so that became okay. A verse you ought to mark—“let God be found true, and He will, and every man a liar.” That's the only standard—what God has said.

Look at verse 5. Now there are some other options to bring up here. Paul is presenting what might be said. But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? I mean, Israel is unrighteous, but their being unrighteous just shows how righteous God is. The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? In other words, would God be unrighteous if He punished those, even though they did something wrong, really the wrong they did showed how righteous God is. I sin but my sin shows how righteous God is, how can God punish me? Didn't I magnify His character and make it more clear?

Paul has to say at the end of verse 5, “I'm speaking in human terms.” I mean, I'm just presenting this as an argument that people might present, that unbelieving Jews might present, like professing Christians might present. And I've shared with you, I've had this presented to me; a married person in immorality. But you know I think this was God's plan for me because I've had opportunity to witness that I wouldn't have had before.

It's not often that preachers are speechless. But what do you say? A person says my immorality is part of the plan of God and is good because it enables me to testify. That's the same kind of argument. I mean, is God going to judge me because of what I did, even though it was sin and unrighteous, really ended up showing how righteous God is, how gracious God is. But we tend to think that. I sin and I may even sin like the unbeliever does, but you know it's just not the same because when I sin as God's child, my sin just shows how gracious and kind God is in forgiving me. Right? So that's just an excuse and a reason for God to have His grace poured out on me and so really my sin shows the graciousness of God and the sin of the unbeliever shows the wrath of God. Now what I've done is redefined my sin again as though my sin is in a different category than their sin. That is never true. Sin is sin is sin. Immorality is immorality whether it's committed by someone who professes to be a believer or someone who is an atheist. But in our minds we redo it and therefore sin becomes not so serious for us. I'm not saying there isn't provision for sin in the life of a believer, but that doesn't mean my sin has taken on a different character, it is less serious as sin than the unbeliever's sin. If I commit immorality, that is just as serious a sin as the atheist who commits immorality.

So, that's the question. If our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? Is God righteous when He pours out His wrath on Israel? I mean, let's face it; Israel's unfaithfulness has demonstrated the patience of God, the kindness of God, the graciousness of God to a rebellious people that He had chosen for Himself. So can God continue to pour out His wrath and ultimately bring them into the same kind of judgment at the Great White Throne that unbelieving Gentiles will come into?

You'll note the answer to this question, verse 6, “may it never be.” I mean, such a possibility can't even be considered. For otherwise, who will God judge the world? Ultimately God works everything together for His glory, but no one will get a pass in judgment where they stand before Christ at the Great White Throne and say, I was a sinner. My sin was used to accomplish your purposes. Is Judas going to stand there and say, God, didn't you prophesy the death of your Son as payment for sin? Sure, I didn't believe in Him and I betrayed Him, but wasn't it necessary for the Son of God to die on the cross to pay the penalty for sin? Are you going to condemn me to hell for that which was good and demonstrated your righteousness? You say, even that kind of reasoning is perverted and distorted. But we come to think of that and the Jews thought it.

How will God judge the world? That judge who shows such partiality, when people of this kind of background and nationality and ethnicity stand before me, they get judged differently than everybody else who stands before me. You say that judge is not fit to judge. So that's the point here. May it never be, otherwise how will God judge the world.

Come back to Genesis 18. Abraham is the one here. God has told Abraham He is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot the righteous man lives in these cities with his family. Abraham comes before God, verse 25, “far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike.” Far be it from you. Shall not the judge of all the earth deal justly, do justice? I mean to say, Abraham is not telling God what He can do and can't do, but he is bringing before God His character. And God would never do that which is contrary to His character. And God, what you have revealed about yourself reveals you will not destroy the righteous with the wicked. You are the judge of all the earth and you will do justly. That's an argument that God accepts. He will always act consistently with His character, He will never lie, He will never be unrighteous. He will always keep His word. That's the theme we are driving home in the book of Romans. He will keep His word for blessing; He will keep His word for condemnation.

Turn over to one other passage, Deuteronomy 32. The character of God is shown here in judgment. Verse 3, “for I proclaim the name of the Lord. Ascribe greatness to our God, the Rock. His work is perfect,” now note this, “for all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He.” God always acts consistent with His character as God. It's not “there is a standard outside of God He must conform to.” God is the standard. There is nothing outside of Himself He must conform to. For example, when Abraham said “shall not the judge of all the earth do justly,” of course He will because He always acts consistently with His righteous character. But you understand that means the judgment will be righteous without injustice. That means the saved will be blessed and the unsaved will be condemned. That is consistent with the righteous character of God. People say, I don't believe God would send people to hell. Well you understand, let God be true and every man a liar. He will always act consistent with His character. He will destroy the wicked, and He will bring blessing to the righteous. We like to ignore the one side and claim the other. That's what the Jews were doing. They are claiming all the blessings in the Word that God has given to them, but thinking they are excused from all the curses.

Come back to Romans 3 as we wrap it up. Verse 7, here he is just repeating what he said in verse 5 with similar words. Verse 7, “but if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also being judged as a sinner?” So you see, the same argument as verse 5. If my unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, how can God judge me? If I lie and God's truth is magnified by my lie and He gets glory, why will I be judged as a sinner? The fact that God takes even our sin and uses it for His purposes will never excuse us from our sin and the consequences of sin.

Why not say, (and there were some teaching this about Paul, as we are slanderously, blasphemously reported, and as some claim we say), let us do evil that good my come. All Paul can say on this is their condemnation is just. There is no other answer to that. People who would distort and twist the Word of God in such a corrupt way deserve to be condemned by a just and holy God. The ends justify the means, in other words. Some were going around saying, “you know what Paul really teaches? He teaches grace and grace means you can do what you want.” Jude talks about the false teachers who turn the grace of God into licentiousness. In other words, you may sin, but sin for you as a professing believer is not in the same category as sin of those who don't profess to be believers. Because you live in the realm of God's grace and therefore when you sin it's immediately washed away and clean and so sin for those who live in the sphere of God's grace is not like the sin of those who live outside that sphere. There is always a partial truth in error.

But like the Jews, we live in the realm of the covenant that God has made with our nation. We live, in effect, protected by the sign of the covenant; we are the possessors of the Law. Sin that we do is not like those who are outside those bounds. That is the same kind of teaching. Paul says those who would try to reason that there is a difference in sin for those who are part of the covenant nation and those who are not, those who think you can sin more freely because you are a Jew and not a Gentile, their condemnation is just. And that kind of thinking would be true of anyone. People think, “I'm Roman Catholic and I go to mass, therefore my sins are different. I'm Lutheran but I do this. I'm independent, I go to Indian Hills, I'm sure that gets me in.” Nobody gets a pass. We all must experience the removal of sin in the heart through faith.

Turn to John 3 and look at Jesus' statements to Nicodemus. John 3 opens up telling us Nicodemus was a Pharisee—like Paul, very scrupulous in trying to keep the Law. He was a ruler of the Jews, verse 1. He is a teacher in Israel as Jesus will indicate later in the discussion. You know what Jesus said to him, even after he says, verse 3, “Rabbi, we know you have come from God as a teacher. No one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” To know about Christ, to know some things that are true about Christ, does not mean now you are saved. Look at what Jesus said to him, “truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” You know a lot about Me, Nicodemus, you know a lot of things that are true about Me. You can be a Pharisee and a ruler and a teacher in Israel. Nicodemus, you'll never be part of the kingdom unless you are born again. You have to have the sin of your heart removed; you have to be made new to be born from above.

You know that has never changed. We looked in our previous study in the Old Testament, going all the way back to Deuteronomy. God required the circumcision of the heart. Go all the way back to the Law. You go through the prophets, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, God requires the circumcision of the heart. You come down to the New Testament, the book of Romans, what does God require? The circumcision of the heart. Look in the book of Colossians, what did God require? The circumcision made without hands of the heart. You must be born again, Peter will write in his letters. You must be born again, you must be born from above. Sin has to be removed. How sad that the error is repeated. And just as Israel trusted their physical lineage, so people today think as long as they go to church, as long as they get baptized, as long as I do my best I'll get a pass in judgment. But you understand there are no passes, there is no partiality with God. Only those who truly believe in His provision, His Son, experience the cleansing of the heart that only God can do and won't come under condemnation.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Word. Thank you for this very important section that clarifies for the nation Israel the seriousness of their condition. And Lord, reminds us as Gentiles of the terrible error of thinking that a physical relationship here on this earth, physical actions whether circumcision or baptism or church membership or anything like that can cleanse a heart and make a person new. Thank you for your grace which is real, genuine and infinite and has made salvation available to all. The Lord has told us that salvation comes only through faith in the finished work of your Son, the One who loved us and died for us. Thank you that there is forgiveness, and Lord, may we take to heart the seriousness of the situation. Outside of Jesus Christ there is no forgiveness, there is no salvation, and there will be condemnation. Thank you for the clarity of your Word. In Christ's name, amen.