Romans 3:9-20 “There is None Who Does Good, No, Not One”

Good morning Calvary Chapel Lake City!

It was great to see so many ladies join in our Night of Testimony and Worship… and our men at the Men’s breakfast.

What a blessing to be living out iron sharpening iron. Thanks for attending.

Well let’s now sharpen ourselves in the word. Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 3. Romans 3:9-20 today.

We’ve been in Romans now for about two months… and I applaud you all because we’ve been trekking through some tough terrain.

Paul is writing to the saints in Rome… a mix of Jewish and Gentile believers… many of whom Paul had never met.

At the end of the epistle, Paul lists 26 people by name, plus those who are with them… but how many more faithful Christians were in Rome that he did not know? … Rome was a work he did not plant…

Thus, this letter to the Romans is unique because it’s Paul’s great treatise on the Gospel.

He goes the extra mile to ensure the saints in Rome understand the gospel.

Thus, starting in Romans 1… Paul first establishes that all mankind legally is guilty and condemned for there sin by a holy and just God.

This is what we’ve called “Bad News” section of Romans… where Paul condemns the entire unbelieving human race…

… putting all mankind on trial… proving their guilt before God because of their sin…

… demonstrating God is a just judge to pour out His wrath.

Paul charged the morally deficient person of Romans 1… with denying the witness of creation… and thus God gave them over to sinful lusts… fornication, homosexuality, all kinds of debased thinking…

He charged the morally educated person of Rom 2:1-16 of denying the witness of conscience… and for their hypocrisy in judging others but sinning themselves…

And, he charged Jews also for breaking the Mosaic law… for hypocrisy… for trusting in their national identity as Jews… for trusting in their ritual of circumcision as a sign of the covenant… and ultimately for their unbelief.

In this Paul establishes that ALL mankind is in need of salvation.

Last week… we began Chapter 3 where Paul presents a series of questions raised by an imagined objector.

The odd numbered verses in Chapter 3 (1,3, 5, 7, & 9) display these objections that Paul anticipates… and Paul’s responses are in the even verses.

We pick up in V9 today with one final question from Paul’s imagined Jewish objector…

… and we wrap up Paul’s condemnation section of the epistle…

And, then… next week… the clouds roll back, and the sun peers in… beginning in V 21… as Paul shifts from ‘condemnation’ to ‘justification’… the “good news” portion of this epistle.

But, today… we wrap up the condemnation portion of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans in a real feel good message titled “There is None Who Does Good, No, Not One”

If you’re visiting today, be sure join us next week also… when we enter into the sunnier side of Paul’s epistle.

Let’s Pray!

In reverence for God’s word, please stand as I read our passage.

Rom 3:9-20 “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.

10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” 13 “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; 14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways; 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 says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Praise God for His word! Please be seated.

In V9, we have one final question from an imagined Jewish objector to Paul’s condemnation on the Jews.

Just prior to V9… there were a series of questions in the form of objections… and the line of reasoning in vv 5-8 sorely digresses to foolish thinking…

Where the Jewish objector reasons…

“Our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then for him to punish us?”

“In fact my dishonesty highlights God's truthfulness and brings him more glory?’

“Therefore, the more we sin, the better it is!”

And, Paul seems to not cast his pearls before swine except to say “Certainly not!”, “God judges justly”, and “Their condemnation is just.”

Right after this… the final question in V9 is “What then? Are we better than they?”

The NLT translation reads, “Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others?” (“they” or “other” implying a comparison to Gentiles).

Essentially, “Are we Jews better than sinful Gentiles?” (which seems to paint Jews in a positive light… as better than Gentiles)

But, the ESV reads, “Are we Jews any better off?” (which seems to paint the Jews in a negative light… as in “Are we Jews worse than the Gentiles?”… which seems less contextually jagged… it seems to fit better)

Regardless… either way, Paul responds, “Not at all.”

Unbelieving Jews are neither worse off… nor better… than unbelieving Gentiles.

And, maybe the Jew sighs with relief for a moment… UNTIL they read the next line where Paul really drops the hammer…

End of V9… “For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.”

Starting in Chapter 1… Paul has laid out the case against unbelieving mankind… immoral gentiles, moral gentiles and Jews…

They were on a figurative trial… and in this letter Paul proved they are all “under sin”…

Several translations read all are “under the power of sin.”

Sin has dominated their lives and has control over them… they are a slave to sin (lit. they are “sold under sin”)… and they legally are under the “guilt of sin.”

This is a very powerful phrase describing the condition of mankind as being slaves to sin.

Sin is like a cruel tyrant ruler… whom unbelieving mankind serves… and they are blind to their bondage… they even love darkness (Jn 3:19).

Apart from Jesus Christ, whether a person is religious… or moral or degraded… ALL are under the power of sin.

In the Southern Bible Translation that reads, “All y’all.”

Everyone is a dirty rotten sinner. We’re all guilty.

There’s no “Southern Bible Translation” by the way.

There is a “Y’all Version” of the Bible though.

No joke… You can change “You” to “Y’all, Youse, Yinz...” all kinds of options for our Southern brothers and Sisters.

Youse are all guilty.

For religious people, this is a very difficult pill to swallow… because they pride themselves in their religiosity and their “good-personness.”

And, “personness” IS a word. For those of you thinking, “Is personness a word?”

It is… I looked it up. It’s “The state, quality, or condition of a person; personality; individuality; personhood; personableness.”

Bet you didn’t know “personableness” was a word either?

Good and religious people are very moral people… they pay their taxes… they go to church… they give back to society…

From the outside, they look great.

But, cut them open and reveal their heart… and truly they’re just hiding their sin better than other people.

Jesus one time was questioned by ultra religious Pharisees and Jews who believed His message, but were not committed to Him… and in John 8:31-36, Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. [Guess they forgot their history? Israel had been in bondage to Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and now Rome. But, who’s counting?] How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

Jesus made it abundantly clear in that passage that the national identity… of even the most religious people does not save. They were slaves to sin…

They did not abide or remain in His word… which was the word of truth… the only life giving… Salvation bringing word…

Which testifies that one must have faith in Jesus Christ to be set free from sin.

There’s no other way and NOTHING that compares to THAT freedom.

Money can’t buy it… good works can’t earn it… religious status doesn’t inherit it… and no one deserve it…

But, by grace and ONLY through faith in Christ… we freely obtain it.

Salvation… inheritance… abiding in the house of God forever.

But, on our own… apart from Christ we are condemned by God.

“Aww… Pastor Marc… I was just starting to feel good… and then you had to go and mention condemnation again.”

Well. Sorry… but we need to get back to the point of what Paul is wrapping up here in Romans 3.

Paul’s been building a case of condemnation against mankind since Romans 1.

Remember how Paul began this condemnation section of Romans?

Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men...”

So… now in vv 9-20… Paul is not only concluding his thoughts of condemnation against the Jews, but he’s tying a bow on this discussion that the entire human race is sinful…

If one stands on their own works to be saved… they will fail… they will be condemned (that’s why we need a Savior)…

And, God’s wrath on sin is just… everyone deserves to be punished for sin…

The beginning of Romans is not a “feel-good” message… Paul says, in Romans chapters 1-3… “you’re condemned… and you’re condemned… and you’re condemned...”

And this is the beginning of how Paul shares the Gospel…

And, sharing the gospel that way should feel familiar… many of you have heard of the “Romans Road to Salvation”… which is a string of verses in Romans that summarizes the Gospel…

And, what is the first verse shared in the Romans Road?

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

That verse encapsulates what Paul has been driving at in Romans chapters 1-3… what we’ve been studying for the past 2 months…

For all of us sitting here today… you need to understand this to fully appreciate what Jesus has done for you.

Apart from faith in Jesus Christ… we would be be found guilty of sin… our good works would be insufficient to save…

… at the end of Revelation Chapter 20… a clear picture is painted that all people who are judged by their works… they fail the test.

Their works do not meet the perfect standard that God requires… and they are cast into the lake of fire… which is eternal hell… the ultimate expression of God’s wrath.

The bad news is really bad… and Paul presents the bad news to the saints in Rome because he is setting the stage to share the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.

And, the good news is that much sweeter… and much more appreciated… and God is praised as He deserves… when we understand the gravity of what we have been spared from.

And, I love what Paul does next… as he often does… as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write… he takes his audience back to Scripture…

We see this with the words of V10 “As it is written… ”

Paul is not speaking solely on his own authority, but he cross references OT scripture because he stands on the authority of scripture.

vv 10-12… Quoting Ps 14:1-3 and Ps 53:1-3 (which are almost identical)…

Let me read Ps 14:1-3 “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. 2 The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. 3 They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.”

The fool’s cry is “There is no God.”

Even to think this in one’s heart without even articulating it is foolish.

And, as God looks down from heaven upon the sinful condition of mankind, God Almighty determines… “There is none who does good”… “There is none righteous, no not one.”

We look to the right and to the left… we evaluate our lives on the horizontal plane comparing ourselves to the person next to us and we think, “I’m doing pretty good.”

But, God looks down from heavenly perfection and judges NONE has led a perfectly righteous life…

No not one… Justin Alfred, who is man behind the voice on Blue Letter Bible… who pronounces all the Greek and Hebrew words… a true scholar…

When I was in Bible College, I had the privilege of attending his Bible study…

And, I remember him saying “None… and no, not one” is the strongest Greek and language to emphasize No one… not a single soul.

Just in vv 11-12… SIX TIMES… Paul will write “None” or “Not one”… just in case the readers didn’t understand.

It’s like… “how many are righteous… let’s count… oh not one.”

Can you spell “None?” N.O.N.E.

It’s written where even children can understand… it’s like an episode of Mr. Rogers neighborhood.

From Adam to today… and everyone in between… Abraham, Joseph, Noah… all those listed in Hebrews 11 “The Faith Hall of Fame”… Billy Graham, Mother Theresa… every declared saint…

God determines… that except for Jesus Christ… every mortal He breathed life into… is corrupt… is sinful… unrighteous… not right before God on their own accord…

V11… “None understands...” No one… on their own understands… the NLT reads “No one is truly wise...”

Pro 1:7 declares “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom...”

Without a reverence for God… true wisdom and understanding are impossible.

There’s over 50 verses in the Bible where wisdom and understanding are in the same verse… but both elude the unbeliever.

V11 closes with ‘None… seeks after God…’

Left to ourselves… mankind does not seek after God.

Kind of a bummer verse to the “Seeker Sensitive Movement.”

Probably not the best thing to base a movement upon.

“Let’s do everything we can… including watering down the word of God and not teaching all of it… to make church really attractive to seekers.”

“We definitely need an espresso machine.”

That’s stupid. The Bible says, “There is none who seeks after God.”

None in Gk. is a word that means “none.”

“There’s got to be at least one.”

“… no, not one.”

The only saving grace we have is the grace of the work of the Holy Spirit to draw us to God.

But, without the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit… fallen mankind does not seek God.

In fact, in John 6:44 Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Draw in that verse lit. means “to drag.”

Mankind is so resistant to God… hopeless and helpless… that God initiates the call… and then it’s up to each of us to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no.’

Good conversation starter between Calvinists and Arminians.

But there is this mysterious dance where God does a work to draw the spiritually dead to be born again and made alive…

But each person must express their own act of faith in Jesus Christ…

Even the highly religious person who appears devout… religious Jews in Paul’s context…

But still today… if all one has is religion… if one is simply steeped in tradition and rituals of any religious system… but they lack substance… they lack relationship with Christ…

They are not righteous… nor understanding… nor seeking…

It may appear to the outsider looking in that they are…

But, how many times did Jesus pronounce woes upon Pharisaic Jews who He called ‘hypocrites’?

Several times.

They are a classic example.

They appeared like seekers, but their hearts were far from God.

Religion often becomes man’s attempt to define and create what they think true worship looks like… but when man defines worship… it becomes idolatry.

Just like what we read in Rom 1:22-23 “Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man...”

That happens all the time… down through the ages… even unto today.

Spurgeon said it’s “empty religiousness… it is not communion with God… it is not getting to God; indeed God is not in it at all.”

And some of us have family members where this is there spiritual temperature.

And, Thanksgiving and Christmas are around the corner and we will see them.

Prayerfully a door will open to testify of Jesus… to testify of truth.

Because many of them are comfortable in religion and in being a good person, but as we read on…

V12 states “They have all turned aside”… or “turned away”… or ‘gone astray’…

There’s no one who lives a good life that would earn them salvation.

They need a Savior.

“They have together become unprofitable...”

Unprofitable means “usesless” or “worthless.”

Ps 53 calls this “abominable iniquity.”

David Guzik wrote, “The word unprofitable has the idea of rotten fruit. It speaks of something that was permanently bad and therefore useless.”

There’s no good use… there’s no good profit in our lives compared to a holy God…

Have you ever taken a bite of fruit that looks good on the outside, but as you sink your teeth in… you know it’s bad fruit?

And, you spit it out… it’s gross.

Apart from Christ… that’s the picture of our lives.

And this makes the grace of God just that much bigger.

I mean just consider 1 Corinthians 1…

God choose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise…

God knew our condition… and yet He called us before the foundation of world.

He saw these misfits… and said… “these are the ones I’m going to build a kingdom with.”

He said that about His apostles… and He’s been saying it every generation since.

Think about the Parable of the Marriage Feast… Matt 22…

He spoke this parable to the ultra religious chief priests and Pharisees… and they knew He was speaking about them…

In the parable He pictured Israel rejecting the wedding invitation for the King’s Son… and therefore were put aside…

And, despised Gentiles… took their seat at the wedding table.

They didn’t have the law… they were not God’s chosen people… they were found on the highways… on the streets.

And ‘they’ could be replaced with ‘we’…

We were in a state of mess before Jesus… and yet He called us… He invited us.

Such grace.

Mankind is indeed unprofitable or useless compared to a Holy God… and at the end of V12 Paul reiterates…

“There is none who does good, no, not one.”

Not a single one of us does good.

And to solidify this point, Paul cites that from head to toe… mankind is altogether wicked… every part of mankind’s body is corrupted.

The throat, tongue, lips, mouth, feet, eyes, and even thoughts… full of sin and rebellion.

Several commentators call this “God’s X-ray of the human race.”

At least three actions are pictured here… talking, (throat, tongue, lips, mouth), conduct (feet), seeing (eyes), and perhaps a fourth- thought (no fear of God).

And, Paul quotes an additional 5 OT verses or passages… mostly Psalms to back himself with scripture.

V13a “Their throat is an open tomb [This doesn’t mean “death breath”… like someone who knocks you over from bad breath… just keep reading]; With their tongues they have practiced deceit;”

Paul quotes Ps 5:9 here which gives us better context to the intent of what Paul means, Ps 5:9 reads, “For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; Their inward part is destruction; Their throat is an open tomb; They flatter with their tongue.”

The Psalmist writes about the enemies of God who’s word were untrustworthy… inside was destructive… their throat breathed death… and they flattered with their speech.

Their smooth speeches were flattering on the surface, but the inner motive was vile in it’s intent.

V13b “The poison of asps is under their lips”;”

The venom of snakes drips from their lips…

Paul now quoting Ps 140:3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips.”

Poisonous venom is in view coming out of their mouth… and their speech is sharp and destructive.

V14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”

Quoting Psalm 10:7 speaking about the wicked… “His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.”

The words of wicked unbelievers are in one word… blasphemous.

The words they speak are in rebellion to God.

They curse God… they are bitter towards God…

Hatred towards God… which spills over to harming fellow mankind.

James also wrote about the destructive power the tongue yields… and I love the picture James paints…

James 3:5-10 reads, “Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”

In 1871… the Great Chicago Fire consumed 3.3 square miles of the city… killing approximately 300 people… destroying over 17,000 structures… and leaving more then 100,000 people homeless.

The property damage in 1871 was valued at about 200 million which translates to over 5 billion dollars today.

The exact cause is unknown, but a famous speculation is Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over her lantern… setting the barn ablaze which spread throughout the city… causing great destruction.

The tongue is like this… it’s one of the smallest parts of our body, and yet… like a single spark can spread and burn down an entire forest… or city…

The tongue has the potential for great evil.

And deeper still… the mouth is simply the instrument used to reflect that which is in our heart…

Jesus said, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matt 12:34

There are 23 verses in the bible that have both the words “heart” and “mouth”…

These two are linked. The mouth is employed by the heart.

And we will give an account of every idle word we speak…

But at the root… beyond the tongue… the deeper issue is an issue of the heart.

And, only through rebirth… only through being born again is our heart renewed.

In vv 13-14, the wicked are pictured talking sinfully… and then in V15, they commit of the most wretched of sins… murder.

V15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;”

Quoting Pro 1:16 “For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.”

A proverb written to a son warning against sinners who would entice the son to shed innocent blood… in order to take their money.

vv 16-17 continue Destruction and misery are in their ways; 17 And the way of peace they have not known.”

There is a path… a course of life that the ungodly is set upon and it is not the way of peace.

They do not know it. They only know destruction and misery… or “ruin and wretchedness.”

Paul quotes so many OT verses in this passage… again… standing on the authority of scripture…

And drawing rich illustrations of the wickedness of unbelieving mankind deserving of God’s condemnation.

And vv 15-17 also are a quote of Isa 59:7-8 which reads, “Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths. 8 The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.”

In Isaiah’s day, he wrote about his own nation of Israel… God could save them, but their iniquities separated them from God…

Isaiah writes, “… your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.”

This passage in Isaiah, now quoted in Romans would be a clear reminder to Paul’s Jewish readers that their national identity did not save them from God’s hand of wrath… executed by the hands of the Assyrians from 734-722 B.C.

Their identity would not save… and how much more would mankind outside the covenant be condemned?

And, then in V18, Paul concludes his OT quotes writing, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Quoting David… Ps 36:1 which begins… “An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes.”

This oracle or saying of David was regarding the willful rebellion of the wicked… which David describes in various ways throughout the Psalm… not so different from what we just read in Romans…

But the first observation is there is “no fear of God before their eyes.”

Fear means “dread or awe”… which is the common and proper response when beholding God…

When Isaiah saw the LORD sitting on a throne, high and lifted up… he said, “Woe is me, for I am undone...”

But Ps 36 testifies that the wicked abandons fear of God… and is blind to evil… altogether deceived.

If we sit back and just soak all that in… the picture that Paul paints totally and thoroughly condemning mankind for their sin…

On this witness stand in this courtroom scene… the weight of evidence against mankind is presented and is so conclusively condemning… that there is no defense…

We, as the defender, are completely silent.

We have nothing to say to defend ourselves.

The result is what we read next in vv 19-20… Paul’s concluding statement… “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”

Paul once again addresses the Jews with a final statement regarding the purpose and the ministry of the law.

The purpose of the law is to stop every mouth.

To silence any mouth who would attempt to justify their sin… to hold the world accountable to the standards of God…

No one can plead ignorance… even the Gentiles are under a law… the law of conscience… as we saw in Chapter 2 of Romans…

And, the Jews were entrusted with the written Mosaic law.

The entire world is guilty before God… because no one keeps the law perfectly.

And, so in V20… Paul writes “Therefore”… his closing arguement…

“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

The law cannot justify… which means to “declare righteous.”

We will talk more about this next week, but in a legal context and from a salvation context…

This is the Christian doctrine whereby a believer in Jesus Christ is declared to be right with God.

And, Paul is saying in V20… “by the deeds of the law”… meaning by works… by attempting to keep the law by your own good works…

It is utterly impossible to stand before God and be justified.

“No flesh will be justified in His sight.”

Back in Rom 2… when Paul addressed the moral man… the good person in their own eyes, but not in the eyes of God…

Paul wrote God would righteously judge… and “render to each one according to his deeds”…

Rom 2:7 “eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality...”

Only Jesus accomplished this. For the rest of sinful mankind, this is a hypothetical impossibility.

No one continues doing good every moment of every day for all of their days.

Reality is Romans 2:8 “...but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath…”

Mankind fails… we all trip up and fail… every day.

We do better on some days more than others, but we cannot uphold God’s perfect standard.

In the Sermon on the Mount… Jesus presented a picture of people who did good works, but would not be admitted into the kingdom of God…

Matt 7:21-23 reads, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ [many good works] 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; [no relationship] depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

It’s not by works that one is admitted into the kingdom of heaven, but by doing the will of the Father…

After the Feeding of the 5,000, some Jews asked Jesus about works based righteousness…

In John 6:28-29 we read them ask, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

Just believe in Jesus. You want to do a good work… Belief is the work of God.

In the same passage… Jesus clearly articulates the Father’s will in John 6:39-40 “This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Justification comes by belief in Jesus Christ… this is the will of the Father.

It was crucial for Paul to begin Romans establishing the guilt and condemnation of mankind… so they stopped looking to themselves and their good works… and humbled themselves to bow to the Savior Jesus Christ.

Again, Rom 3:20 reads, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

All the law does is bring knowledge of sin.

When you leave here today… some of you are going to sin before you even exit the parking lot.

You’re going to get in your car and instead of driving around the building… you’re going to go the wrong way through the parking lot and there stands a sign that reads, “Do not enter.”

And, you’re going to drive right by it.

Watch… you won’t do it now because I just said this.

I’m still going to do it though… because who wants to drive all the way around the building?

There’s no incoming traffic. If a car does come, I’ll yield.

See how easy it is to justify ourselves?

And, then on your way home, you’re going to pass a speed limit sign. 55 miles per hour on Route 30.

Even if you go 56, you’ve sinned again.

Even unintentionally… even for a moment… the law is fixed. 55 miles per hour. Impossible to keep.

And if you drive less than the speed limit, I guarantee you’re causing other people to sin.

If you’re like me, you’ll justify… “I can really go 65 because to police won’t pull me over at that speed.”

I want to make my own rules… I want to do away with God’s law… That’s suppressing the truth in unrighteousness… Rom 1.

And, if you did get pulled over… let’s say going 60 in the 55… you’d say to the cop… “I was only going 60 in the 55. I have a clean record. Can I just get a warning?”

We seemingly abide by the law but then rationalize when we break it.

The speed limit sign is a worldly example of what Paul wrote about in Rom 3:20… “by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

That’s all it does. It just tells you the rule. That speed limit sign can no more save you than the law of Moses.

That’s not the purpose of the law.

The law was never designed to save us. The law was intended to point us to our need for a savior… and to reveal that we fall short.

What Paul has been doing in Romans 1-3 is he is showing us the depravity of mankind… and the need that we have for a Savior…

He’s building up to our need to cry out and say, “I can’t keep the law. I need help. I can’t do it. I need a Savior. I believe in Jesus.”

We need the good news of the gospel of Christ.

Earlier we looked at the Parable of the Wedding… and that parable pictures one who entered the wedding without a wedding garment. And, when confronted… Scripture says, “And he was speechless.”

Just like we read in Romans… “every mouth may be stopped.”

The man had not excuse because it was custom in those days to provide the guests with a wedding garment if they lacked one…

But this guest wanted to make his own rules instead of taking advantage of the offered provision by the king.

And he was bound and cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

You must accept the offered provision of the King… you must be clothed in the righteousness of God through the Lord Jesus Christ to enter heaven.

(Worship team please come)

God is a just God… who is just for punishing Sin… and when we pick up next week in Rom 3:21… we will come to the next major section of the letter…

The Good News section… speaking about Justification…

Where Paul will answer the question, “How can a holy God justify unholy sinners for the holiness of heaven and remain holy in doing so?”

Read ahead. Let’s pray!

Well… good job in hanging in there… we are now finished with the condemnation section of the book of Romans…

… which helps us to appreciate Salvation.

We’ll be camping out in the months ahead focusing on justification, sanctification, vindication, and applications.

It will be rich.

Before we go… if you need prayer… our prayer team will be on the sides for this closing song… come up and get covered in prayer.

May the Lord bless you and keep you and cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

God bless you as you enter the world this week ahead.