Man As He Is Apart From God

Transcript

GR 1416
01/24/10Man As He Is Apart from God
Romans 3:9-20
Gil Rugh

We're in Romans 3. The theme of the letter to the Romans was given in Romans 1:16-17, “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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the righteous, shall live by faith.” So as Paul begins now to unfold the gospel, the starting point is to demonstrate that we need salvation. The gospel is the power of God for salvation; in it the righteousness of God is revealed. So the starting point is to demonstrate that each and every person needs God's salvation, needs His righteousness. Therefore, you start out by talking about sin, that God has charged all, Jew and Gentile alike, with sin. We are under His condemnation and so we are lost. So chapter 1 verse 18 through chapter 3 verse 20 talks about the matter of sin. This is where you have to begin. If you do not understand that you are a sinner under God's condemnation, unable by your own works, efforts, religious activity, to become acceptable to God, righteous before Him, you cannot be saved. The gospel is not just something to improve your life, to add to your efforts. The gospel rescues the lost, those who have no hope. This is the difficult part of the gospel. It offends our pride; it humbles us. It is difficult to acknowledge I am a sinner, I am guilty, I am worthless in the sight of a holy God, but I turn to Him and His grace has provided for me, in the death and resurrection of His Son, what I could not do for myself.

Some of you are familiar with the writings of Donald Grey Barnhouse. He has multiple volumes on the book of Romans that you would enjoy reading. He pastored at Tenth Presbyterian Church until his death, I believe around 1961. But here is what he writes, “The last vestige of self respect must be destroyed and it is destroyed in order that he might stand as a naked and shameless bankrupt sinner before God.” That's where we have to come. This is a terrible struggle; it was a struggle for the Jews. In chapter 1 verses 18-32, Paul demonstrated that all men are sinners, the Gentile world particularly. In chapter 2 he begins to talk about the Jews. The Jews had a terribly difficult time accepting that they were on the same level as the Gentiles, that they needed salvation just as much as Gentiles needed salvation. They were religious, they had the law of God given to them, they were a special people. But when it comes to sin and judgment, they were on the same ground as the Gentiles. Chapter 2 verse 11 says “there is no partiality with God.”

So Paul has been demonstrating the sin and guilt of the Jews and showed in verse 29 of chapter 2 that the Jews need to be made new within; They need a new heart just as the Gentiles do. As chapter 3 begins, he asked the question, “Then what's the advantage of being a Jew? What's the benefit of circumcision?” the sign of the covenant that God had given to the nation Israel in marking them off as a special nation belonging to Him. Well, they have many benefits. The one that Paul picks out and focuses on in verse 2, is that first of all they are entrusted with the oracles of God. The Jews had been given the Word of God. That's a great blessing. He's coming back to that in the section we'll be looking at in a moment. But you understand it's not those who possess the Word of God, it's those who obey the Word. So back in chapter 2 verse 13 Paul reminded them, “it is not the hearers of the Law that are just before God, but the doers of the Law.” Still, it is a great blessing and privilege given to the Jews that they would have the Word of God.

When you come down to verse 9, Paul picks up this theme. The first four verses he talked about the blessings of the Jews, but God will be faithful in judgment as well as in blessing. Then he raised some issues that could be raised, particularly regarding the Jewish activity and their position. But he's ready to sum it up when we come to verse 9, “What then? Are we better than they?” Now where did this all leave us? Really, you go from verse 4 down to verse 9. Verses 5-8 are sort of a parenthetical elaboration. We've said the Jews have a great advantage. He's mentioned they have received the Word of God. There will be other advantages mentioned over in chapter 9, as we noted, regarding the covenants and so on that were given to them.

So he asks the question in verse 9, “What then? Are we better than they?” “We” refers to us Jews. Are we better than “they”, the Gentiles? Not better; they have advantages, but you understand the advantages don't give you a pass in judgment. It would be like a baby, born into privilege, born into a wealthy family, gets all the benefits that come with material affluence, the best education and all that life provides. And then there is a child born in the slums into poverty; he has little or nothing. They grow up and both commit murder. Assuming a completely fair justice system, that rich boy could stand before the judge, He has had great advantages, but he is judged on the basis of his crime. In that sense, he is no different from the person who did not have advantages.

That's where the Jews were. They thought: we are a special people, we've been given the Law of God, circumcision marks us off as the people of the covenant. We may not keep the Law perfectly but we do a lot of it, a lot more than the Gentiles do. So we're better than they are. No, we have more advantages, but in verse 9, are we better than the Gentiles? Paul says, not at all. Why? For he has already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. God has charged us, proven us guilty, Jews and Gentiles. So being a Jew does not put you in a special category because you are under sin just like the Gentiles are under sin. That preposition 'under' doesn't just mean that they have committed sinful acts, which they have, but it's more than that. It means to be controlled by sin, under the authority of sin, in the power of sin. Jews and Greeks alike, they are all under sin and the guilt that sin brings.

You know this whole doctrine of sin is a difficult one for people. They don't like to think that God is a judge that will pour out His wrath on us because we are sinners. The Bible is clear, our guilt is complete. Paul talks about living under sin, being controlled and dominated by sin. This is an idea that will be developed throughout the book of Romans. Jump ahead with me to Romans 5:21. You know what Paul will have to say about sin and our relationship to it. In chapter 5 verse 21 he says “as sin reigned in death. That's one of the things sin does: it reigns, it rules, it exercises its reign over us. It is like a king over us. Sin reigns over men. In chapter 6 verse 14, “sin shall not be master over you.” Sin is a lord. It masters us, it rules over us and controls us as a dominating lord. Chapter 7 verse 23 we see a law that we'll talk about when we get there, making me a prisoner of the law of sin. You see it's a king, it reigns over me; it's a lord, it controls me; it makes me a prisoner. Chapter 7 verse 17, “no longer am I the one doing it but sin which dwells in me.” That word dwell means 'to live.' I can't get away from it; sin lives in me. Verse 20 talks about sin which lives in me, dwells in me and thus makes me a slave. Back in Romans 6:6, “that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” Verse 17, “thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin.” Verse 20, “when you were slaves of sin.” You see what it means to be under sin, under the reign of sin, having sin as our master, making us a prisoner, from within controlling us. It lives within and enslaves us. So the control and domination of sin is complete. That's what it means to be under sin.

Come back to Romans 3. We have already charged, verse 9, that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. So when it comes to being a sinner and being under the control of sin and the condemnation for sin, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. And there is no difference between Jew and Jew and Gentile and Gentile.

Now what Paul is going to do is substantiate this again with a series of quotes from the Old Testament. You'll note in your Bibles how they are marked off with a different style of print, perhaps in capitals. You can see it marks them off as quotations from the Old Testament, from verse 10 down to verse 18. It will start out, “as it is written,” which is the normal way to introduce quotations from the Old Testament. These quotations are the longest string of quotations in the writings of Paul. They are basically from the Psalms and a couple from Isaiah, showing that we are all under sin. The Jews are under sin.

You see what he is doing here? The chapter started out, “What advantage has the Jew? What's the benefit of circumcision?” Verse 2, “Great in every respect.” First of all, they were entrusted with the oracles of God. They have the Word of God. Now down to verse 10, here's what that Word of God that's been given to the Jews says about them. So he is just confirming everything, that the Jews aren't better than the Gentiles because they are under sin along with the Gentiles.

These are in three groups and they follow a logical pattern. Verses 10-12 talk about the general character of man as sinner. Then in verses 13-14 he'll talk about the manifestation of that sinful character in his speech. And then in verses 15-18 he'll talk about the manifestation of that character in our actions, what is done.

As it is written, here is what God has to say. Verses 10-12 are quoted from Psalm 14:1-3. We're not going to go back to the Old Testament passages for time. You have them quoted here. So we'll just stay with these passages in Romans. Those same verses are repeated in Psalm 53:1-3. So you have the same verses repeated in those two psalms, Psalm 14:1-3 and Psalm 53:1-3. They are quoted here in verses 10-12 to show the sinful character of man and focus really on the Jews first. But it includes all because verse 9 says “all are under sin,” Jew and Gentile. So what is written here was given to the Jews, but its scope includes all.

Verse 9 starts out, “There is none righteous, not even one.” Note the emphasis on the word 'none' through this: none righteous, none who understands, none who seeks God, none who does good. There are no exceptions. “None who is righteous, not even one.” This is back to where we started in Romans 1:17; it's the gospel that reveals the righteousness of God. Man needs God's righteousness because there is none righteous apart from God. You understand in this list here and in the argument of chapter 1 verse 18 through chapter 3 verse 20, he's not talking about saved people at all. This is man as he is apart from the intervention of the grace of God into his life. There is none righteous on his own. He'll pick up with how we acquire God's righteousness when we get to chapter 3 verse 21, where he begins the discussion of the righteousness of God that God has provided for us. But here in verse 10 he is talking about none righteous. That's why we need the gospel that Paul wants to come and preach at Rome because it reveals the righteousness of God. You have to understand this foundational point, apart from God's righteousness there is none righteous.

If we don't get the point, he adds “not even one”, because we like to make exceptions. There is none righteous, that's a general statement. Of course, that doesn't include us good Jews. No, it includes everyone. When he says there are none righteous, there are no exceptions, not even one. That's not new; that's a quote from Psalms. There are other verses we could look at in the Old Testament. One is Ecclesiastes 7:20 , “there is not a righteous man upon the earth that does good and never sins.” Makes the same point. So this is not new, but somehow the Jews had developed the thinking that they were special by virtue of being Jews. There is none righteous, not even one. We get the sense of when Paul said all are under sin, he means all. My homiletics professor used to say, “All means all, that's all all means.” That's true. There is none righteous, no not one.

Romans 3:11, “There is none who understands.” Spiritually fallen man, sinful man, is unable to comprehend spiritual truth. That's what sin does to you. It blinds you, it confuses you, it makes you foolish in your thinking. Remember back in Romans 1:21 and 22, “even though they knew God they did not honor Him as God or give thanks; they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise they became fools.” Paul wrote to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 2:14 and said the natural man, the foolish man, the man apart from the work of the Spirit of God in his life, cannot understand the things of God. They are foolishness to him; they are spiritually discerned and understood. Now understand man, in his fallen sinful condition, is not able to understand the things of God, the workings of God.

Romans 3:11, “There is none who seeks for God.” Even as believers, we lose the focus on the issue of sinfulness. We think man is good, man is seeking, if he just had opportunity ..... You understand God says there is no one looking for Me, there is no one seeking after Me, none who seeks for God. Now I'm not saying that men don't seek to be religious, don't seek ways to feel better about themselves, don't seek religious experiences that will make them feel like their sins have been taken care of. All religious systems have that. The Protestants have their way of addressing it, the Catholics have their way of addressing it, and we go out from there. You understand the bottom line is no one is seeking for God.

Again this was covered back in Romans 1 where man suppresses the truth of God, doesn't want to know God. So we have the idea that man is good; he just needs the opportunity. He would so much like to know. If you really believed that, you would be out telling everyone in the city the gospel, right? The reason you don't is you know they don't want to hear it. When you tell them, it will get them upset. They may want to be religious, but they are not seeking the true God. And that's God's statement, “there is none who seeks for God,” so we know it's true. Anyone who does seek for God is seeking for Him as a result of His work in their heart in drawing them to Himself. But the basic statement is there is none who seeks for God.

Verse 12, “All have turned aside.” Remember Isaiah 53:6, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.” We have turned away from God; we are not on the path. Next statement in Romans 12, “together they have become useless.” We have sometimes gotten confused enough that we've told people, you are so valuable Christ died for you. You know what God says about you? You are worthless; you are useless. This is a word that is used of sour milk in other Greek contexts. When I say 'you' I mean all of us, because all are under sin and this is what he is describing here. “Together they have become useless, worthless, valueless to Me.” Jesus Christ did not come and die for you because you are so valuable; He didn't die for me because I am so valuable. You know what the amazing thing is? Christ died for us when we were worthless, useless, sour milk, rotten fruit, nothing of value to God. We do not serve Him; we do not honor Him, we do not desire to please Him. We are worthless. That's what sin does; it destroys you. Together, all of us have become useless and worthless.

Romans 3:12, “There is none who does good.” What use are we to God when we don't do any good? When we pursue our sin? “There is none who does good.” Now we get confused because we see people and we say, they are a good people; they do so much good. We are comparing ourselves among ourselves. But God is evaluating us in light of Himself. There is none who does good because sinners are not operating out of a desire to please and honor and obey the living God and give Him glory with their obedience. That's what God is measuring, He's going to judge the motives of men's hearts, He's going to judge the secrets of men as Romans 2:16 said. He says there is none doing good. We like to pride ourselves in doing philanthropic things, or being self sacrificing, or running off to Haiti to help people. I'm not saying there is not relative good among men, but you understand the judge before whom we will stand says if He evaluates the hearts, no one is doing good. No exceptions. “There is none who does good.”

“There is not even one.” When the Spirit of God brings these emphases in, He knows how our sinful hearts work. Well, I think that's an exaggeration, don't you? I mean, I may have sweet neighbors that have been thoughtful and kind. I think it could be said they do a lot of good compared to an Adolph Hitler or somebody like that, don't you? You understand God is evaluating again on His standard of what He requires. Among ourselves we do good, yes, but as God evaluates us and evaluates our hearts and the motive of our hearts “there is none who does good, not even one.” Pretty soon now you see the gospel gets to be offensive to many people. Are you telling me I don't do good? You don't know what I do. I don't, but God does. And my opinion wouldn't matter anyway because His is the only opinion that matters, and His opinion is right. “There is none who does good, not even one.”

All right, that's our general character as the scripture presents it—none righteous, none who understands, none who seeks for God, all turned aside, all useless, none who does good, not even one. That's the general picture of Jews and Gentiles.

Now we have some manifestations of this unrighteous, godless character in our speech. We will pick up with verse 13. Before we look into this next section, let me read you another statement from Donald Grey Barnhouse. “The fundamental difference between man's natural opinion of himself and God's declarations concerning humanity is that man starts off with the premise that there is something good in himself that can be polished and perfected, while the Word of God starts off with the premise that everything in man must be condemned and that God must begin with a new creation within the human heart.” We ought to be careful; we have to start with sin. We like to start with something else that won't offend people, won't make them feel bad about themselves. The gospel is humbling. All my best efforts, what I've poured my life into, the religious practices I've devoted myself to and tried to be so faithful to, the good things I've tried to do and now you tell me none of it counts? What did Paul say when he gave his testimony of being a Pharisee and a Jew in Philippians? It all had to go on the dung heap, it is all rubbish, all dung. None of it is worth anything. The gospel is humbling. That's why it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Why? The confidence, the self-confidence, the arrogance that comes often with worldly success makes humbling ourselves very difficult............ I can't make it, I can't do it, and none of my efforts count, and its all filthy rags. All our righteous acts are as filthy rags, God said to Isaiah. That's how He sees them, polluted rags, defiled. That's our best deeds in the sight of God.

Now our speech reveals our character. You'll note here in verse 13, he'll talk about their throat, their tongue, their lips; verse 14, their mouth. These are four ways of talking about our words. They are different parts of our speech—our throats, our mouths, our lips. All are talking about speech and our speech is revealing our character.

He's going to pick up with verse 13 and it's a quote from Psalm 5:9. We've moved on now from verses 10-12, which were quoted in Psalm 14:1-3. Now we'll move to other psalms and if I don't mention which psalm, you can see them in the margin of your Bibles where the scripture references are given. But verse 13 comes from Psalm 5:9, “Their throat is an open grave.” The picture here is their throat, their words. Their words are used for destructive purposes. It's like an open grave; it's there to cause people to fall into it; it's destructive. Their speech brings ruin and death and destruction.

With their tongues they keep deceiving. They are effective at luring people to destruction because they are deceitful people. They are flatterers, they are deceivers, they are slanderers. They use their speech to accomplish their purposes, but they are not honest. And we know that. You want to buy something or get something, and you need a contract. I'm going to buy a car from them; they said it is good. Well, did you have anybody look at it? No. Did you have any evidence it is good? Did you check the report on it? No, they told me its okay. You want to buy a house. Everything in our lives is bound by this. Why? We assume people will not tell the truth. You send your kids off to school; what do you do? You build in their pure little minds the idea that somebody might try to deceive them. Don't talk to strangers. Well, don't you want them to be outgoing and friendly? But you don't send them off and say, you be sure to talk to all the strangers. Instead you say. if somebody wants to give you candy or something you don't get in the car. Why? That's the character of people. We start out trying to make our children aware of that from early on, right? Their tongues keep deceiving. That's part of Psalm 5:9, Paul doesn't quote it here but David said there is nothing reliable or true in what they say. It's characteristic of the speech of fallen men.

“The poison of asps is under their lips.” Again, their words are destructive. This is quoted from Psalm 140:3, “the poison of asps is under their lips.” They are cruel; they are ready to destroy you, to kill you. That's the quality of their lives.

Verse 14, “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” That's Psalm 10:7. You see what it has to say about the speech; it reveals the character. Back up to Matthew 12. Jesus is speaking here, verse 33, “Either make the tree good and the fruit good or the tree bad and its fruit bad, the tree is known by its fruit.” Verse 34, “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good?” Why can't those evil people speak what is good? “For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” So you see the key about the words is it is revealing what is inside. We can't see inside a person, but we find out what's inside a person by their speech. They reveal their character in their words. Verse 35, “The good man out of his good treasure brings what is good, the evil man out of his evil treasure what is evil.” He's talking about what is coming out of the heart, what you bring out of your heart in your words. Verse 36 and 37, “I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you will be justified, by your words you will be condemned.” Oh, you say you are saved by your works, not by how you talk? Well, you understand the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. That's why you could be judged by your words; they reveal what's in your heart. .

Over in Matthew 15:18-20 “the things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slander. These are the things that defile the man.” So you see it's within. That's why at the end of Romans 2 we're told that they needed a circumcised heart. The sin of the heart has to be removed, for the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things, (not an exact quote so I didn't put quotation marks around it) Jeremiah the prophet said in Jeremiah 17:9. So our words become a revelation of our hearts, our inner condition.

Come back to Romans 3. He talked about the general character of all men as sinners in verses 10-12; then he gives an evidence in their speech with verses 13-14. Now we pick up with their deeds, what they do. So you see our general character is revealed in our words and also in our walk, our conduct, our behavior, what we do.

Look at verse 15, “their feet are swift to shed blood.” Now he is quoting from Isaiah 59:7-8. So you see how he's just drawing this series of quotes from the Old Testament here to drive home the point. “Their feet are swift to shed blood. “ They are violent, they are cruel, they are murderers. We look at the world and say, what is wrong with the world? Sometimes we hear that from Christians, and you wonder, have they ever read the foundational points of the gospel, ever read the description of man apart from the grace of God? “Their feet are swift to shed blood.” We act like, what's happening to our country? It's filled with sinners. Isn't it amazing that sinners act like sinners; they do sinful things? Sometimes we claim to have the gospel and then we deny it. Like, I can't believe they do that. Believe it, if you believe the Word. This is their character. Sometimes they have a veneer over them and it's less obvious in some people than others, but this is what God says is true of all of us at heart. It doesn't mean that all of us do the exact same sins, but at heart that's what you find. If God would open us up so we could see one another, see ourselves like God sees us, that's what He is doing. Here is what I see, a heart filled with these things. “Their feet are swift to shed blood.” That's why any idea of peace in the world and solving things is all temporary, transitory.

Verse 16, “destruction and misery are in their paths.” They spread a trail of misery, heartache, ruin. We look and ask, why would they do that? What is the point? The point is, this is what they are at heart, destruction and misery. Homes destroyed, families destroyed, kids thrown into turmoil. It's the path, it's the characteristic of their lives.

Verse 17, “The path of peace they have not known.” Isaiah 57:21 says “There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.” James 4 says that the wars and fightings among us come from inside. That's where it comes from, and there is no peace. The way of peace they have not known because peace can only be found in the God who brings peace. I'm not against working to harmonize in this world, and we want to do good to all men. That's fine. But understand the real condition. We're not solving the world's problems. Isn't it interesting how quickly churches are ready to jump in and go to Haiti? It's so tragic to see those people. Is there any such burden like that for the people around us? The people in our city are lost and on their way to hell. I'm ready to get on the plane and go and solve the physical problems of the Haitians. I'm not saying that's not a tragedy, humanly speaking, but that's not the greatest tragedy. The greatest tragedy is they are without hope in the world. And if they all get taken care of and that part of the little island is restored and they have plenty of food and plenty of water and die and go to hell, what have we done? Not a thing. It's easy to get caught up and do what the world says looks good, when really the message we need is the message of the gospel because of the terrible condition.

Note verse 18. “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” That's a quote from Psalm 36:1. Interesting, in Psalm 36:1, the word for fear there, we're not talking about the reverence of God. We sometimes talk about the fear of God, the reverential fear of God. This word in Psalm 36 is terror. There is no terror of God. So we're talking about fear here in the sense of terror. These are people who are not terrified of God. Oh, that's not the kind of God I want; I don't want a God I have to be terrified of. You understand, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Apart from His salvation and that work in our hearts, He is a God of whom to be terrified. When He pours out His wrath He will destroy the wicked in hell for eternity. You know what Jesus said, “Don't fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But fear him who after he has killed the body is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.”(Matt. 10:28) We don't want to hear that. I don't want a God you have to be terrified of. I want a God who is loving and kind, understands, puts His arm around me and just forgets all about my bad things. That God doesn't exist but in your mind. I tell you, sin is a serious thing and the scripture says here there is no terror of God before their eyes. That's why they sin openly, practice it. They are not terrified of God because they've created their own god, a god who doesn't deal with sin like the God of the Bible, a god who doesn't pour out his wrath, a god who doesn't hate the wicked. There is no terror of God before their eyes. Now we need to be careful. We sometimes want to present a gospel like it's just a nice gospel and a nice God. You know, God loves you, and it's true. That love has been demonstrated in His Son. You understand God being a God of love does not mean He passes over your sin. That's what the Jews thought, their special relationship, their uniqueness. There is no terror of God before their eyes.

I was encouraged that the sermon most downloaded from the one site we are on was the sermon on hell, because how important it is that people know about hell and hear about hell, and a God of awful wrath and the terror of that God. But you understand, you can fall on your knees and claim His mercy and grace today and be saved and escape the wrath that is to come but you don't escape it by pretending it won't be there. There is no terror of God before their eyes.

Romans 19-20, “Now therefore we know that whatever the law says,” and you'll note the law here is used of the Old Testament, as it often is a number of times in the New Testament. The law could refer to the first five books of Moses, the law could refer just to the Mosaic Law given to Israel, or it could refer to all the Old Testament scripture. It's all part of what God has revealed to the people to whom He had given His law. And here he has quoted from Psalms, he has quoted from Isaiah, and that's what the law says. It is here used of the Word of God. Whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, as the Jews were under the law. They were the people to whom the Word of God was given, Romans verse 2; they were the people to whom the Law of Moses had been given. So you understand what he is doing here. You Jews think you get a pass in judgment. Just who did God give this to? You. So when God says there are none righteous, who did He give that to? He gave it to you who are under the law, you whose great blessing, verse 2, has been to receive the oracles or word of God.

Verse 19, “We know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law.” So you understand that clarifies first and foremost this is to the Jews. Now it has a scope beyond the Jews because when God says “there is none righteous, not even one,” that obviously includes the Gentiles, because “there is none righteous, not even one.” But you understand, it has to include the people that He gave it to, those who are under the law.

And He does this so that, note this, “every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable.” Every mouth, all the world. When you've demonstrated the Jews to be sinners, you have everybody else included as well. And the scope here demonstrates that. What he's saying here is the Jews aren't an exception. Great tragedy in the world today. If the Jews aren't an exception, who else will be? The Lutherans? The Catholics? The Protestants generally? I mean, who is going to get a pass if the Jews don't get it? This demonstrates “every mouth is closed, all the world becomes accountable to God.”

Verse 20, “because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight.” We read back in verse 13 of chapter 2, “not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law.” It's not enough to have heard the law, it's not enough to have the law, you had to do it. Now he's not saying some did; nobody did. That's the point. But the Jews thought since they had the law and at least kept some of it, they wouldn't get the same kind of judgment as the Gentiles. No. All the law can do is make you more aware of sin. Verse 20, “for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” The law revealed sin to Israel more clearly than other people had that revelation. But the law never did provide righteousness.

Turn over to I Timothy1 as we wrap up here. You know the law, the Mosaic Law, was given to the Jews, and it was given to them not so they could be saved by obeying it, but so it would be revealed to them that they were sinners who could not obey it. It revealed how sinful they were. In Ephesus where Timothy is, there were some Jews who came in wanting to try to convince the church that they needed to keep the Mosaic Law to be acceptable to God. Verse 6 and 7, “some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.” Verse 8, “We know the law is good,” and we'll get to this in Romans 7, where Paul elaborates on the law, “if one uses it lawfully,” in the way God intended it to be used. Verses 9 and 10, “realizing that the law is not made for a righteous person but for those who are lawless, rebellious, ungodly, sinners, unholy, profane,.... murderers, immoral men, homosexuals, kidnappers, liars...., anything contrary to the glorious gospel of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.” verse 11. The law never was intended as a way of salvation. No idea that because you possess the law therefore you would be saved. The law could reveal your sin and if you responded to that revelation, then you would bow before the living God, humble yourself, recognize your sinful state and place your faith in Him as the God who could save you, because you couldn't do it on your own.

So when we end back in Romans 3:20, we've demonstrated Jew and Gentile alike, all are under sin in the bondage of sin. That's why some people are trying to break the bondage of sin; they are going to get out of it. Sin dwells within. I'm going to quit this practice; I'm going to be a better person. Well, you can quit that particular practice, and it might make your life a little more pleasant and the lives of those around you. But it won't make you a better person in God's sight. Sin dwells in you, it controls you, it enslaves you, it rules you. You are not your own person, you are the slave of sin, you are the subject of sin. You cannot make yourself righteous; only God can bring His righteousness to a life. That's what we'll pick up in Romans 3:21. We move on from sin to righteousness. That will go through chapter 5, God's marvelous grace in providing His salvation.

Attending this church doesn't save you, being faithful here doesn't save you. I mean if the Jews couldn't get by with all God had given them, provided for them, you can't get by by being part of this church. Nor can you get by by being part of any other church. I'm saddened to watch the commercials, people coming back to the Roman Catholic Church, come home. You're coming home to Roman Catholicism but you're not coming home to Jesus Christ and His salvation. That's not found in a system like that, nor is it found in most Protestant churches. It is found in the Word of God and in the Son of God who died to pay the penalty for our sin. Lord, I have no hope. Humbling as it is, my arrogance, my pride, my self-confidence, all my best, Lord, I have to bow before you. I am a worthless sinner, but you are a God of great grace and all that I can do is place my faith in you and the provision of your Son and that will bring His salvation.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your abundant grace. Thank you for the clarity of your Word. You indeed are a God to be feared. Our condition is awful, hopeless, but you are a God who brings hope. Our hope is not that we will change, that we will do better, that we will try harder. Our hope is that we give up any confidence we have in ourselves. We humble ourselves before you because we see ourselves as you say we truly are. Lord, we place all our hope, all our confidence, our faith in your provision for us. Thank you for a Savior who loved us and died for us. We pray in His name, amen.