Why we cannot save ourselves
Notes
Transcript
Claim: God is always faithful despite us all being unrighteous.
Focus: No one is righteous, and even knowing the scriptures cannot save you, they only make you aware of your sin!
Focus: Accept we are unrighteous even if we know God’s word and live apparently moral lives, therefore we must repent and rely on God’s righteousness!
To a Jew - the first 2 chapters of Romans may have felt like God had moved the Goal posts of how to be a Child of God!
I thought says the Jew - that being a circumsied Jew - ment I was in!
I’m one of God’s chosen people,
but now Paul, you’re saying - my circumcision isn’t going to save me, or even mean anything!
It’s purley not whether ew have recieved a spiritual circumsion of the heart from God?
And if we have we will see our enduring need for daily repentance and have an inclined heart towards doing God’s will and law rather than thinking I can save myself through obedicne to the law?
So
No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.
What is the point in being a circiumsied Jew then?
Surely God has moved the Goal posts - surely he can’t keep his pormises of the OT if I’m not good enugh for him!
Well Paul anticipates their question - and uses it to launch his next argument about how actually - the goal posts havn’t changed - they have always been the same - but the JEws have too readily and regulairy misunderstood them.
What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.
The advantage in being a Jew says Paul is First - or more accurately - of first importance - you have the priveledge of being the recipoient fo God’s revelation of himself in History.
It’s a bit like - growing up in church and hearing week in week out the truth of God being taught.
What a privilege to grow up knowing the truth!
But if you think that privilege is what saves you,
If you think just knowing the truth is enough!
Well you’re sorely mistaken.
The Jews espeically had a tendancy throughout the OT to think they were ‘good with God’ just ebcasue of who they were.
And their behaviour and hearts sadly did not match the God they thought they belonged to.
The OT prophet Micah makes this very clear when he brings the Word of the Lord to the Israelite Jews who thought they could make sacrifices to God but not incline their hearts towards God.
With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Bt but but the Jews in Rome might protest - if God is not going to save all the Jews - how can he be faithful to his OT promise - to save a people for huimself?
What if some (Jews) were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness?
Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: ‘So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.’
Pauls point is that just ecasue mankind are not faithful to God’s word becasue they deny the truth, and therfore are liars about God and about themselevs.
This does not mean God is unfaithful - for he will always fulfil his pormises.
And there is literally no conection between man’s faithfulness and God’s!
God iwll be faithful end of storey - and mankind - by their nature will be unfaithful - end of story.
And he quotes from psa 51v4. The full v reads as follows:
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
Paul’s point is the opposite fo what we might think.
God does not fail when we fail - infact - God suceeds all the more becasue of our failure!
Calvin the 15th centure reformer puts it like this:
the Lord, notwithstanding the lies of men,…does yet find a way for [truth] through a pathless track, that he may come forth a conqueror,
and that is,
by correcting in his elect the inbred unbelief of our nature,
and by subjecting to his service those who seem to be unconquerable.
The more obvious the Jew’s and infact now ours today, rebelion and sin and unfaithfulnes to God is - the more God is seen to be victoriious!
Well then anticipates Paul..
But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.)
Clearly Paul does not like this question he expects from his readers! Only a sinful human could thik like this - but let me entertain it.
If God is seen as righteous only when we are seen as unrighteous - how can he blame us and judge us!
It’s sounds ridiculous when written like that - but it’s a question many of us will have considered.
If God is the only one who save - if he elects those who will be saved freely by grace - not by their own works by by a free gift.
How can that be fair!?
How can he judge the rest of humanity if they cannot be righteous at all - and those who are saved have not done anything but find themselves chosen?
Paul rephrases the questions similailiry:
Someone might argue, ‘If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?’
Well Paul ins’t going to give us a full logical answer here - he’ll retunr to similar issues later in Romans and give us a little more,
but he does something more helpful I think…
He reminds us how dark and sinful even entertaining such human ideas and questions are before a Holy and just God.
And it should be a warning to us as well -as we’re far too easily tempted - especially in our ‘I have rights to know’ age.
Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—‘Let us do evil that good may result’? Their condemnation is just!
Don’t be ridiculous says Paul!
God is truth - we are liars.
God is faithful - we are unfaithful
God may therefore act as he chooses and it will be faithful, and we will not!
God is Good - we are bad!
We cannot fathom his ways - but we know a few things for sure.
All of mankind deserve God’s right anger and judgement.
If he so chooses to save some - he is to be glorified and homoured for in incredible mercy and grace.
He is not to be objected too and challenged.
And so Paul moves to conclude Paul’s first theme in Romans.
It started back in chapter 1 v18 and it ends here in 3v20.
What is his summary?
Well partly that Jew and Gentile are entirely equal before God?
All are equal before God
All are equal before God
What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.
You may have benfitted from the law of God being given to you - but the law doesn’t and acn’t save you anymorer than a Gentile without it. Every human that has ever lived and ever will - has the same problme before God.
And why are Jew and Gentile equal?
becasue
All are Under the Power of Sin.
All are Under the Power of Sin.
That phrase at the end of v9 - Paul will return to in chapter6 - where he describes sin as a slave master.
We are enslaved to sin!
His point so far in Romans has been that we have reached this point of slavery to sin - becasue we have exchanged the truth for a lie.
We have exchanged our master God Almighty - for a new Master. There are only 2 masters.
And we have all chosen Sin!
And to prove this unrighteousness, this sin as our chosen master home - he brings out the full weight of the oT upon the Jews. The Jews love God’s word - as we do here - so when it’s used to convict us - it carries God’s full authority.
So be preaperd:
Starting with Psa 14:
No One Seeks God v10-12
No One Seeks God v10-12
As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’
Notice the repetitons:
No-one, not even one, no one, all have turned, no one, not even one.
Get the point - slavery to sin equals complete unrighteousness for everyone, all - no one escapes - not even one.
No one - by their human nature escapes this slavery.
And what is unrighteousness in this context - a turning away from God.
Instead of seeking HIm as we should - chapt 1 of Romans,
we turn away!
from the depravity of our hearts - Paul moves up to the troats to the toungue to our lips:
slaves to sin..
All Speak Evil v13-14
All Speak Evil v13-14
Quoting from 3 psalsm he groups a section on our speach…
‘Their throats are open graves; their tongues practise deceit.’ ‘The poison of vipers is on their lips.’ ‘Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’
I don’t know about you - but I am amazed at how bitter and foul most peoples speach is. At my hockey club - men in their 40’s will swear at the kids on their own team for missing a ball.
But that’s actuially quite minor!
The back biting in playgrounds,
the putting donw of those we don’t like.
the efforts made in the office to get popel on sides about this person or that!
But let us not be too quick to make the Jewish mistake and think those terrible gentiles out there!
What about within this very church!
Within my very heart and yours even!
Angry words about someone who you thought should have known better.
Setting up cliques to stand against another.
The words we mutter under our breath at even our loved ones when they annoy us.
Crusing this person and that without a thought for God’s ways..
This sounds like me, does it sound like you?
… the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
And what is the result of slavery to sin?
No-one seeks God,
we all speak evil.
and 3rdly:
All Destroy Each Other v15-17
All Destroy Each Other v15-17
Quoteing Isa 59 v7-8 Paul now shows how our evil toungues affect the direction of our life.
Our feet, our ways, the way - all in the direction of destroying unity and peace.
Of course we don’t think of it being delieberate - but we don’t have to look far to see humanity hurting each other, physically or emotinally or repaltionally.
We do it for the ‘right cause’ or to ‘protect and look after No 1’ It’s right to hurt others if it’s right to protect oursleevs.
IN Isah the passage is about the religious unbeloiever - casueing the most harm to God’s people.
Perhaps the saim idea is in Pauls mind, as he reflects back to chapter 2 - where the one who thinks they are ‘good with God’ is actually the hypocrit!
And so they judge and bring disunity amoung the church rather than knowing and seeking peace.
Most of us have not drawn physical blood,
but we have most cetrainly at some point - at school, at work, in our families, amoungst even our church - drawm blood with our evil toungues.
We can’t help it - it’s our nature.
And all this
A turned away heart, evil tongues, destroying each other - should surely casue our sinful nature - our salvery to sin as out master -
It shoudl surely casue us to cry out to God for his mercy and forgiveness!
What hope do we have!
But The sting in the tail,,
Blind to God’s Wrath! v18
Blind to God’s Wrath! v18
‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’
So enslaved by our nature to our master sin we are - that while the fear of God ought to be obvious - it has been revealed to us in creation (chapetr 1)
We are blind to it.
It’s true fro the Gentile and the Jew.
True for the one who has never heard of the Bible and the one who knows their bible well.
And so Paul concludes:
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
Be Silent
Be Silent
You think you’re ok JEws - becasue you have the law - you know your bibles and you think God therefore can’t be angry with you!
Well think again:
The law - ought to silence us.
We have no excuses!
This is a good reominder for many of us - who know our bibles well, who are morally repsectable people - we’re actually the ones who it’s hard to convince thet God is rightly angry with us and going to judge us!
Some terrible isnner just released from prison is far easier to convince they are deserving of God’s angre - but not us - here in leafy WP!
Be silent says Paul - no more justifying, excusing or explaining why our sin isn’t that bad! If you do - you’re a hypocrit.
Instead - be silent. Repent - be humbled.
Becaue
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
No-one is righteous 10, and therfreo no0one will be delcared righteous in God’s sight by works of the law.
Notice the link back to the satrt of this section in
For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’
Some will be declared righteous - but it is by Faith - a gift of God - to those who chooses to save - not ever by works of the law!
To think that obeying God even is enough to please him is to deny -that God is very angrey at us and there is Nothing we can do about it!
The law then cannot save us - obedicen cannot save us - becasue we’re never good ennough!
But the Beauty of the Good News of Jesus - is that when we are prepared to realise and accept we are worthy of God’s judgement and unable to do anything about it - that is the momnet Jesus has entred your heart - circusised you heart by hIs Spirit.
briough you to repentnace and faith that leads then to obedicene.
And it’s all His work and to His glory.
Don’t ever begrudge, or shrink back from hearing that we are sinners! Becasue this is the truth that will show us Christ is our all in all!
The moment we want to consider ourselevs more highly than anything other than worthy of jdugement,
is the moment we begin to deny the grace and mercy and sacrifice of Jesus in our place!
Absolutely - once we’re in that place of daily repentnace, trusting in Him alone, then our lives by His spirit will be found to have a
… persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life.
But that is the proof of our salavtion - a gift from God,
not earning salavtion that we might boast in ourselevses.
