What is Goodness?
Romans Exposition Student Ministry • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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What is Goodness?
What is Goodness?
9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Main Proposition:
Statement of Doctrine or Application (SILVER BULLET)
Righteousness is not a classification among men, It is a classification among God
What is Goodness?
Intro:
Statement of proposition
In verses 1-8 Paul is saying that there is an advantage to being a Jew because they were given the oracles of God
That does not mean that just because they are Jews it guarantees them a seat in salvation
In the previous verses Paul asked a series of questions that are geared towards the Jew to try and open that their eyes to the fact that their salvation is not guaranteed because of their heritage it is guaranteed because of their faith in Christ. You are either at 100% or 0%. There is no in between
Comparison: Jews to God and Children to Christian Parents
The Jews have the mindset of invincibility when to comes their salvation. They think that because they are God’s chosen people therefore they do not have to hear God’s wrath.
What Paul has been doing over the last few chapters is telling them the exact opposite and how he is doing it is showing them their OT scriptures.
Paul is saying that he has already proven that both Jew and Gentile are all under sin.
He is going to take on that proof and he is going to prove to them that this is true through Scripture. We are going to see him engage with the heart of these issues in there upcoming verses.
We see this theme throughout scripture. People denying Christ because of their own pride. They want to ignore the truth because if they face it.
Men like to think that they are basically good and that vantage point is affirmed by counselors, some religious leaders, psychologists etc.
Men feel guilty because they are guilty. We feel guilty because that is a symptom of what the real problem is and that is sin.
The Apostle Paul was well aware of man’s disposition to deny his sin and now he is going to present the ultimate authority and testimony scripture.
Other texts that support
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Why does this matter?
This is important for all of us to understand because if we put salvation into something other than Christ we are going to miss the mark.
Illustration
If we look at the religions that are not God and Christ centered you will notice that they are all works based and nobody is guaranteed a place in Heaven with God.
Anything that is based on the works of men will always fall short and is always broken. What man touches he destroys.
Talk about the time I went to that Catholic overnight camp.
Main Point #1: Believer’s are no better than unbeliever’s
Main Point #1: Believer’s are no better than unbeliever’s
Statement
9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
Prove
Paul is talking about himself and his fellow believers in Rome, both Jew and Gentile.
Paul’s answer: “No”
Every single human being are under the same complete dominion and bondage of sin.
Regardless of who they are or who they think they are no one stands taller in God’s sight.
There are only two camps in this world, you are either: Under sin or Under grace
There are people who are very religious, go to church, pray, fellowship with other believers think that they are better than others, that it is because of their goodness that God has favored them. That God saved them because they were somehow more deserving of salvation than others.
What Paul is getting to in this verse and the verses to come is that if a person becomes right with God isn’t because they are better than anyone else or managed to live a life closer to God’s morals it is ONLY because he has acknowledged his sin and his helplessness.
He humbled himself before Jesus Christ and asked for forgiveness.
Only people that have humbled themselves and truly have put their lives in Christ’s hands will seek him.
It is at this point in Paul’s message that he is putting all of humanity on trial. They are all on an even playing field before the Almighty God
Flowers in texts
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
Here we have Paul writing to the Corinthians giving all the credit in his sanctification to Jesus Christ. Yes, he worked hard, but it is only through the grace of Jesus Christ.
Illustrations:
We see so many murder trials that are on the news and if it fits the narrative of the media then that’s all you’ll see. Those people are being tried by a human judge and a human jury. Errors will be made at times. Innocent people will be charged with crimes and guilty people will get away with crimes. We see smooth talking lawyers, prideful judges, etc. We live in a fallen world, but when we stand trial before God we better all know that we are standing before someone who will judge us perfectly.
Apply or Confront:
The world is going to look at this from the complete opposite perspective. They are going to say 99% of people are inherently good, that it is only the extreme people that are bad. No Paul is telling us straight up. We are all on an equal playing field and we are all bad.
Main Point #2: Characteristics of the unsaved man
Main Point #2: Characteristics of the unsaved man
Statement
In verses 10-18 Paul is going to break down the characteristics of a natural man.
In verses 10-12: We see the character
In verses 13-14: We see the conversation
In verses 15-18: We see the conduct
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Prove:
In these verses we are going to see Paul use the term “none” 6 times. Referring to man’s absolute lack of righteousness before God.
If he says it once its pretty important, he says it twice we better highlight it, he says it six times we better know that in our soul.
Paul is going to make it crystal clear that there is no single human being other than Christ is righteous.
We are going to see Paul specifically use OT scripture to back up his claims.
Paul has the receipts.
A. THE CHARACTER OF MAN
Verse 10:
In verse 10 Paul uses Psalm 14:1 “there is none righteous, not even one.”
Paul isn’t talking about specific acts or general pattern of behavior, but man’s inner character.
The heart of the person
Not even one person besides Christ has come remotely close to righteous perfection.
That is the only acceptable standard of God.
We cannot measure our goodness to others.
The Apostle is trying to get through the point that righteousness for us (fallen people) comes entirely by God’s grace in response to faith in His son. Jesus Christ.
Verse 11: “No one understands; no one seeks for God”
What does Paul mean when he says this? He is talking about the fact that not only is man universally evil, but also spiritually ignorant.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.
Men see God as a threat to his lifestyle rather than an eternal blessing and because of that he will make every attempt to escape the gospel.
Giving up their sinful lifestyle
They lack the wisdom of spiritual truth:
There are some that have a great understanding of the secular world whether it is in business, politics, but as the result of sin every single man who has ever lived since the fall does not have a spiritual understanding.
As far as spiritual wisdom it is irrelevant to him.
This is a perfect description of the average person today who just dismisses Christianity
God is not in his thoughts at all. He feels that because of his sophisication and education that is all that matters in their lives.
No understanding of his sin, sin nature, God’s way to salvation or His wrath.
Verse 12:
All have turned aside together meaning every single person has turned away from God. Instead of walking on the narrow road they are walking on the broad road. Like sheep who have gone astray
3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
They have turned their backs to God
The natural man is spiritually worthless or useless
Hebrew term often to describe milk that turned sour and rancid
Some people might that is a very harsh statement. Because they might say that there are Non Christians that are good citizens, give large sums of money to good causes. You’re going to tell me that they are unprofitable? 100% Yes.
They are unprofitable from the standpoint of God.
God does not care about secular morality…He cares about His glory.
“There is none that does good, there is not even one”
All of natural man’s goodness is self centered.
Every action is polluted by sin.
What is goodness?
To do things for the glory of God.
Your naturally good man does not do things for the glory of God.
If he does not have true genuine faith in his son he does not know how to glorify God.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
B. THE CONVERSATION OF MAN
Verse 13-14:
This is one of the traits that really pops out at you and is written all over scripture.
Sin in words
The poison of asps (snakes) is under their lips.
We aren’t just talking about cursing, but false teaching.
A person’s character will always manifest itself in conversation.
A spiritually dead heart can only generate spiritually dead words.
If you want to know where somebody stands in their heart let them talk and you’ll hear it. You will either hear words of scripture or words of the world.
Paul does not start off his evangelism with the question how would you like to be happier?
What is the point if that person is a sinner?
The primary thing isn’t about my happiness or my level of sadness, but my relationship to God.
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
C. THE CONDUCT
Verse 15: “Their feet are swift to shed blood”
Yes, most people are not going to possess the extreme brutality of murder, but scripture makes it clear that murder is one of the outcomes of a fallen world.
Verse 16: “Destruction and misery are in their paths”
Destruction meaning breaking into pieces, causing total destruction
Misery resulting harm that is always in the wake of man’s act of destruction against his fellow man.
Anything that man touches he destroys.
Verse 17: “Peacelessness”
The apostle is not talking about the lack of inner peace he is talking about man’s essential tendency away from peace.
Scripture has made it clear that peace will never dominate human society until the Prince of Peace returns.
Take a look around. We have SO many people advocating for peace on earth, no wars, etc, etc and what do we have? A world that is so far away from God that the world is beyond far from peace.
Verse 18: “No fear”
Verse 18 gives us the cause of the conduct of man, the conversation of man, the state of man in sin, his actions of which he is guilty
If you were to talk to a nonbeliever and asked them if they fear God I can guarantee you that they would shrug it off like it’s nothing. Why would they fear God?they do not know him?
For believers we have that awesome awareness of His power, His holiness and His glory.
1 Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.
The real trouble with mankind is that there is no fear of God in their eyes
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
Without that fear of God, that being in awe of his power leads us to be useless
13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Illustrations:
Dwight D. Moody Illustration:
Went to a large prison in NYC to speak to inmates. No chapel or place to speak to the group he spoke talking down the hall unable to see the faces of the prisoners. After the message he met one on one with some of the men. He found out that most of the men didn’t even listen to the message. When he would ask why that person was in prison they would make up an excuse for it and would declare his innocence. After making his way down the hall and getting discouraged he found one man on his elbows and knees and streams of tears running down his face. Moody asked the man what was wrong and the man responded: “My sins are more than I can bear.”
The moral to the story is that no man is open to God’s way until he forsakes his own way, that he will not seek salvation until he admits he is lost.
Apply or Confront:
False Teaching
People want to listen to somebody who is always talking abut love and the love of God
Praising you, the world, no need for blood of Christ
It sounds like honey, but stings like a snake bite
Main Point #3: Why We Need Faith In Christ
Main Point #3: Why We Need Faith In Christ
Statement:
It is at this point that Paul shows us God’s verdict of the fallen, unrepentant man.
This statement started in Romans 1:18 and ends in Romans 3:20.
There is one theme throughout this entire passage and that is the wrath of God is upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold down the truth in unrighteousness
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Prove:
Every unredeemed human being, Jew or Gentile is under the law of God and is accountable to God
Regardless if they like that or not.
God is the creator, sustainer and Lord of the entire universe so it is impossible for anyone or anything to be outside His control or authority.
God’s verdict is that the unredeemed mankind has no defense whatsoever and is guilty of all charges.
Paul is expecting some pushback from some people. People that think that they are “good” people that think that they have never done any of what Paul mentioned prior and his response is in James 2:10.
The law of God is meant to show unbelievers their lost estate before God and their desperate need to be saved by Jesus.
Here he has set up to receive the news of Christ who suffered and died under the curse of God’s law in the place of sinners who put faith in Him alone for life and salvation (Galatians 3:10-14)
There is no salvation through keeping of God’s law, because sinful man is utterly incapable of doing so. Man has neither the ability or the predisposition within himself to obey God perfectly.
Paul is summarizing that he has used their “oracles of God” to prove that all the Jews fall short of the glory of God, I have demonstrated that everyone is a sinner both Jew and Gentile.
That in order to get out of the pollution of sin, the love of our sin we must humble ourselves in front of Jesus Christ. Only then can we
Flowers in texts
10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
Illustrations
Apply or Confront
*Confront culture of False Teaching
Application:
Set Your eyes and heart on scripture
What you put in is what you will produce
2. Jesus Christ is the standard
a. We aren’t flying blind with no point of reference. Our aim is Christ.
3. Repent of your sins and walk towards Christ
a. Talk to us your parents, Kenny, Grant, Etc. We would love to talk to you about your faith, where you are struggling and point you in the right direction.