Sermon Tone Analysis

MBC - 11~/14~/2004 - Pastor Doug Thompson

*/“The Spin Stops Here!”/*

Romans 3:1-8

 

Let’s back up to 2:25 to get a running start on ch.3--and

I have to encourage you here to put on your thinking cap, because the first 8 verses of ch.3 are some of the most difficult vss. to interpret in the entire letter:

 

Ø      ROM 2:25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

Ø      ROM 2:26 So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?

Ø      ROM 2:27 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?

Ø      ROM 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.

Ø      ROM 2:29 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.

Ø      ROM 3:1 Then what advantage has the Jew?

Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

Ø      ROM 3:2 Great in every respect.

First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.

Ø      ROM 3:3 What then?

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

Ø      ROM 3:4 May it never be!

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."

Ø      ROM 3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say?

The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.)

Ø      ROM 3:6 May it never be!

For otherwise, how will God judge the world?

Ø      ROM 3:7 But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?

Ø      ROM 3:8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), "Let us do evil that good may come"?

Their condemnation is just.

Did you notice in vv.1-8, there are 9 questions in 8 verses?

And it’s difficult to figure out who is asking the questions, is it Paul’s imaginary objector, or is it Paul himself firing questions back to this guy?

I know this passage /sounds/ complicated, but we are going to unravel it this morning, so that every one of you can understand it.

Paul is imagining someone who is questioning him about what he has just been saying: Jews and Gentiles are on an equal footing before God--equally guilty of sin!

So the logical question is, “Does it mean anything then to be a Jew?”

At first he sounds sincere and honest, but as he goes on, you see that his questions are challenging and mocking.

He is sarcastic, he is twisting God’s Word to make it look ridiculous, and finally, he is outright blasphemous.

Ø      What is Paul’s response?

Does he say, “Well good neighbor, would you be open to a 32 week study of apologetics to answer those intelligent questions you are asking?”

No.

He says, “You are a slanderer, and God will be just in sending you to hell.”

Whoa--not very seeker friendly, Paul!

But there is a difference between having honest questions about the Bible and the way God does things, and finding fault with God and finding fault with the Gospel.

Those who criticize God’s Word and criticize the good news of the Gospel are not honest, sincere seekers, they are what Proverbs calls “mockers and scoffers.”

They are spiritual spin doctors who play word games with the Bible, because they don’t want to submit to it.

And they do just what this imaginary man is doing with Paul: when you present the truth of Scripture, they twist the Word and fire back with sarcastic questions and objections:

 

Ø      You show them Scriptures on election and predestination, and they come back at you: “Oh, so we’re just a bunch of robots?

So God is an ogre who forces people to do things against their will?

Oh, so we don’t have to share the gospel because the elect will just get saved no matter what we do?”

 

Do you see that these are not honest questions, they are accusations against God and His Word? Predestination was God’s idea, not mine, or John Calvin’s.

Ø      We have no right to criticize God and the way He does things!

Beloved, we need to search our hearts here: Ask yourself, “Do I do that?

Do I ever get indignant at what I read or hear in the Bible?

Do I challenge God when I read something I don’t understand?”

In Rom.1, we looked at what Paul says about those who have never heard the gospel, and it’s sobering: they will not be saved--not because they haven’t heard the gospel, but because they all reject what they do know.

After that message, someone told me, “My wife was really troubled by that message.

She said, “The God /I /know wouldn’t do such a thing!”

And it made me think of--

 

Ø      EZE 18:29 "But the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not right.'

Are My ways not right, O house of Israel?

Is it not your ways that are not right?”

Burn this into your brain: Never find fault with God or His Word.

Never put your own spin on it to make it more manageable or palatable.

Never attribute evil or injustice to Him--never.

If you do so, His Word will have no effect on your life.

And ultimately, the gospel contained in this Word will have no effect on you.

So determine to get all God-accusing thoughts out of your head.

That is a crime against God’s goodness.

When you hear a passage that you struggle with say, “O Lord, You are right, and just and good--Is it not /my /ways that are not right, O Lord?”

So let’s tackle this passage, but I have to caution you: “/You’re about to enter a No-Spin Zone!”/

/ /

*I.** “Is there no difference between a Jew and a Gentile?”*

 

Let’s get a running start on this passage: Beginning in 1:18, Paul is showing us ourselves and the world through God’s eyes--and what He sees through His eyes is not pretty!

The billions in this world who don’t know anything about the true God and His Son are in chaos.

And we don’t have to go to Africa or India or some remote island to see this, we can see it right here in California: Paganism--witchcraft, goddess worship, are right in our own backyard.

But have you noticed that in the last few years, we are sliding down past paganism to outright barbarianism: people without any law, morality, or even conscience--people who will kill you without batting an eye, people who are worse than animals.

These people are lost and need a Savior.

In ch.2, Paul deals with people who do know the truth about God from His Word.

They are moralists, they pride themselves on their civilized behavior.

But they are also hypocrites.

They do the same things that they criticize in the pagans and the barbarians--or at least they entertain themselves with it on cable or satellite TV.

Ø      To sum it up, the world as God sees it?

The bad people are bad, and the good people are even worse.

All of mankind stands condemned in the light of God’s blinding holiness, and in need of a rescue that only God can provide.

And that rescue is the Gospel, the good news that anyone who comes to Jesus in trust and surrender will be forgiven of their sins, and adopted into God’s eternal family.

No one is so bad they can’t get it, and no one is so good they don’t need it.

Now when we come to ch.3,

I want you to imagine that Paul is sitting at a table discussing all of this with a Jewish friend.

He was nodding in agreement with Paul all the way through ch.1, but he began to tense up during ch.2, and by the end of the chapter, his fist was clenched on the table and he was fuming inside.

But he has kept control of himself, and says very calmly to Paul:

 

Ø      “Paul, you have just put Jews on the same spiritual level as Gentiles.

You have just said that circumcision doesn’t matter.

Some Jews are not really Jews, and some Gentile are true Jews!

I understand your point that it isn’t physical surgery on the body that sets apart the people of God, but spiritual surgery on their souls.

The prophet Jeremiah said the same thing.

Ø      “But Paul, if all of this is true, then does the Jewish nation have /any/ special place in the purposes of God?

What about His promises and covenants with the Jews?

/God /made the distinction between the Jews and the rest of the nations, and now you are saying there is no difference?

Haven’t you just abolished the entire OT?

Is there any advantage at all in being a Jew?”

 

Now this is a legitimate theological question--Look at how Paul answers it:

 

Ø      ROM 3:2 [Yes, it is a great advantage to be a Jew] in every respect.

First of all, they were entrusted with the oracles of God.

 

Paul says, “Of course it is a great privilege to be a Jew! First, they were entrusted with the oracles of God (literally “the very words of God”) and this was a serious stewardship, they were meant to uphold God’s words by their faithfulness and obedience.”

Paul says, “First,” but there is no “second!”

But he is going to pick up this same question--“what about the Jews?” again in chs.9-11: