Romans 3

Dominos

I love those TV shows that are like Dominos…

Like maybe you watch the first few episodes and they are good…They capture your attention but really what the writer is doing is stacking dominos up that he knows he is going to knock them down later

Paul will do this in the book of Romans over and over again

He will stack and stack his dominos then get to the even bigger point and knock them all down again!

So today we are going to see how Paul has done just that…So Open your Bibles to Romans 3 and we will get started in just a second…

But maybe today is your first time with us…let me recap a few of these dominos that Paul is stacking…

For example…Chapter 1 talked about How God has naturally revealed himself in the world…and then how the pagan world has abandoned what is natural to go after un natural things…

It talks about the depravity that sin brings

Then Chapter 2 Paul goes after the Jewish people for judging the Roman Pagan world and doing the things they say they hate…

he says look you are God’s chosen people…The ones who know the law and should be embodying it!

the world is looking to you to see the kindness of God but you are full of sin too!

So both of these are little Dominos that Paul is stacking up…

He is showcasing the problem that all humanity has!

And this is the problem of sin

Violating God’s peace, Sin breaks relationship with God and what I think God is most concerned about is that sin ruins us!

Sin literally breaks humanity down…

Paul is concerned about this and so is Jesus

So Paul spends 2 chapters telling the pagans…Your sinful in these ways

and look Jews…You represent the Lord and you are sinful…In fact people blaspheme the name of God because of you!

And all of this sets up chapter 3

So if you were not here last week..Before we get into chapter 3 Paul basically tells the church

Look if you are going to continue claiming to be a jew and live in unfaithfulness to God then it is like you were not even Jewish in the first place…

So then he goes on to chapter 3:

Romans 3:1–8 NIV

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. 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.” 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.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!

There is a really basic point in here through all of the complex rhetorical questions is that God is faithful…

Just because God’s people are unfaithful does that make God not trustworthy?

No not at all

What Paul is saying here is:

God doesn’t measure his faithfulness to us biassed on our faithfulness to him

See we do this all the time…

When we know someone is unreliable…Maybe they are late all the time…Then what do we do? We won’t hurry…we might be a little late too

We are allowing the unfaithfulness of timekeeping of another person to make us unfaithful…

This might be a dumb example or maybe the perfect one…I don’t know…

My Dog is a faithful and loyal companion to my wife…

Somehow…I feed the dog, I walk the dog, I pick up his poop but my wife is the Alpha in the house…

It doesn’t matter how long she is gone…she could be gone on a trip for a few days…

It is always the same thing….She comes home and he cries at her to snuggle…

He literally wants her to get on our bed, grab a blanket and he wants to have his whole body touch her body and he wants to snuggle with my wife

She can be gone for 5 minutes or 5 days its the same response…

My Dog consistently loves my wife even when she is inconsistent with him

I think this is what Paul is trying to get across…Just because we are unfaithful it doesn’t mean God is that way

What Paul is saying is that God is the only one who is all faithful…So he is right to bring his wrath on us

Paul then quotes from Psalm 51 & Psalm 116 to show that God’s judgments are true

Paul wants the church to know that even though we have falsehood in us. God only has pure truth in him.

Then Paul at the very end says

New International Version (2011) Chapter 3

7 Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” 8 Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!

And what he is saying here is that God is the standard for justice, truthfulness and righteousness…We can not add to or diminish God’s character by our actions…

Paul says that some will say hey look if I sin then I really am proportionally showing how Good God is by showing how bad I am…

And Paul says no this is ridiculous…God can not be any more good than he already is

Our behavior doesn’t add to or take away from God’s character…

So he is imploring the church to stop with this mindset that if they do something evil then really it is a good deed

As humans we can spin anything..>And I think that this is what Paul was noticing in the church and in the culture…

people were simply doing evil things and spinning it to say oh look…My evil somehow makes God look good!

Romans 3:9–20 NIV

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. 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.” “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 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. 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.

Now finally…From chapter 1 Paul is concluding his argument

When you are reading Paul…and you see…what shall we conclude then? That is always a very nice cue that you are about to get into the territory of knocking down dominos

So remember Paul is having to convince his fellow Jews that they in fact have this sin as well

And this is a bit inconceivable to his Jewish audience because they are God’s covenant chosen people

For an average jewish person in the first century they would say that sin was breaking a law of moses. and living out of step of the covenant of Abraham.

Most Jewish people went to synagogue…they were concerned with the laws of moses…They probably wouldn’t see themselves as rebellious to God

so what Paul does is an Old Testament Mashup!

He takes 10 Old testament passages that shows look…We are sinners too…

Paul says the whole world will be held accountable to God for their lives and he concludes this little paragraph with

Look: No one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by works of the law, rather, through the law we became conscious of our sin!

So the law has a function: It exposes us as sinners! It makes us aware that we are not living up to God’s standards

When Paul is talking about the law he is referring to what every Jew reading this would instinctively know

The law is God’s divine law given to human beings that he made a covenant with

This would be the 10 commandments

And What Paul is saying now will actually go on to an argument he will make in all of chapter 4…

The law doesn’t make you righteous…it makes you aware of your sin

In fact…we are not going to spend a lot of time on chapter 4 in this series because I am going to sum it all up for you right now.

Righteousness comes by faith…Trusting God…Not by the law…And Paul will go on to talk about in the rest of this chapter and all of Chapter 4 is where did Abraham’s righteousness come from…

Because the Old Testament says that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness…

In other words righteousness comes through trusting God not through the law.

What Paul is trying to say is that Abraham was declared righteous about 430 years before the law was ever established…

So what Paul is really laying the foundations for is God wants a relationship with his people…

Like the one he had with Abraham…

It is through that trusting relationship where righteousness come from…The law just shows us God’s character and his expectations inside that relationship…The law simply reveals that God’s character is flawless

And then we are going to see that the most in the next section..>Where Paul knocks down all the Dominos

It is really one of the most excellent sections in Romans

Romans 3:21–31 NIV

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

Turn your attention to verse 22 real fast

Romans 3:22 NIV

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,

So much of this verse is just so key

Righteousness is given though faith in Jesus to all who believe

Righteousness is not earned

It’s not something that you can buy

it’s not something that you can achieve

…Now in the original greek the word “Given” is actually not there it is something an english translator put in to make sense of this sentence in english…The sentence basically says that our righteousness comes through Jesus!

Yes it is given but it somehow comes through relationship with Jesus

Almost like God’s righteousness is something that we get through time and relationship with Jesus

I mean it is something we say of people…

So and so is a good guy

Oh that person is a good kid

The NIV leaves out two words that are in the original Greek of this sentence says (Sometimes I am a NIV Fan and sometimes I am an ESV fan, depending on the translators per section)

“But Now” righteousness is given though faith: Commentators have long said that the word “Now” marks a new stage in salvation history

It is actually an eschatological use of the word “now” It denotes a new Era…

The era of the messiah where everything is different because of Jesus’ death and resurrection

Just that little phrase “But Now” means so much…A new world has dawned. A world where the Messiah Jesus is in control!

And by the way the righteousness that is given by Jesus is a big point for Paul….He will say this in many other letters

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Paul wants the church to know it is not you that does good…It is God giving you his righteousness through Jesus work on the cross

And it’s not like if you say “ok I believe in Jesus give me some of that righteousness now…”

No…It is through relationship that this righteousness is given…

Then he goes on to say

There is no difference between Jew and Gentile

Now again…This is a statement that Paul will make over and over again

Galatians 3:28 NIV

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

The point of Paul is that in Jesus we are one new family…

These old cultural distinctions no longer define us…The old covenant is done away with in the blood of Jesus a new covenant is made

I was just talking with someone who was newer to church and they made such an awesome observation about the church…This person said…I noticed that at REC its not just one race, it is diverse…You have Hispanic people, white people, asian people, black people…

and I was like yes! this is the church…The world throws up barriers but we are one big family in Jesus. This is the way that it should be!

So then Paul goes on to say

Romans 3:23–24 NIV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

I mean this one sentence sums up two chapters worth of writing…

He basically says look whether you are a Jew or gentile we are all in a state of rebellion and need rescuing

What Paul is saying here by falling short of the Glory of God

is that we have failed to achieve by our own power what is our destiny

God made us to share in his glory to rule with him over the all creation

But because of our own rebellion…We can not do it! We have failed to achieve what God wants to give us his Glory

We are estranged from the intimate presence of God because of our sin

There is an Aprophycal book of the Old Testament called Baruch that Paul may have had in his mind here

that explains that because of the sin of Adams he was “divested from the Glory of God”

In fact in this book Adam asks Eve why she robbed him of the Glory of God

Paul may have had this on his mind, we are not sure but what we know is that

Sin robs us from sharing in the glory of God

Paul was thinking of Adam and Eve here giving up their places in the garden

They gave up the glory…and for what? What they wanted vs what God wanted

We do this all the time…

God has a new life for us

God has a purpose for us

God has a job for us

But I am going to do what I want to do!

So all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God

BUT

All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by christ Jesus

Jesus declares us “not guilty” and has purchased us from death

So many good words for us to look at here

“Justified” is a legal term

It means “made upright” gratuitously through God’s powerful declaration of acquittal. In other words Jesus is the judge and he declares you not guilty!

By his grace: or by his favor…What is interesting is that Paul uses this whole phrase that is around in roman society

“gratis, for nothing” which means favor for nothing

Romans: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary Notes

The pre-Pauline term excludes the possibility of meriting justification on one’s own; it is a sheer gift of God

So All are declared not guilty…Not because of anything they have done but through the redemption that came by Jesus christ

Redemption is a marketplace term right? When you give money for a product you redeem the product…You rescue it from the store and make it your own!

When you use a coupon you redeem it…There is an exchange

What Paul is saying here in this most amazing passage is that look: because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, he exchanged his life for your life and he has given you his righteousness…Therefore you are not guiltry any more….He paid your bill!

and what Paul means by that is that he bought you back from sin and death

he paid for your life from his life

Because of this we can stand before God with confidence…Not because of anything we did, but just because we have faith in what he did!

So you have to ask yourself how can this all be?

Romans 3:25 NIV

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished

So how can this be that we are not guilty

The word Atonement here if you are a fan of Biblical words can also be translated Propitiation

Propitiation is a theological concept referring to the appeasement or turning away of God's wrath against sinners through an atoning sacrifice.

So wait a second this is an impotrant connection: Back in Chapter 1 Paul says look the wrath of God is being revealed against all humanity for all this sin that humanity has

But in Chapter 3. Paul uses this term Propitiation which means Jesus appeases God’s wrath! The term means something else that we will get to in a second…

I want to give you a sense of just how huge it i what I am saying because I feel like I am not even doing this justice…

In Genesis adam and eve sin For the very first time they realize that they are naked!

they cover themselves with fig leaves (This is man’s attempt to cover his own sin…This is empty religion)

So in the Old Testament God made a way..

It was called the day of atonement a(Leviticus 16 )

But on the day of atonement The high priest would confess all of the sins of the community onto a goat…

Do you get it? He would transfer the sin of a community on to an animal…This goat was called the scapegoat by the way…

So all the sins of the community would be confessed onto this goat, it would be killed and then the High Priest would take the blood of that goat and sprinkle it on to the “Mercy seat” of the ark of the covenant and this is when the people would be forgiven by God…

I actually have a graphic of the Ark of the Covenant…

See in the old testament the ark of the covenant was a box that had three things in it

Moses’s staff

A bowl of mana

and the tablets of the law

And this was placed in the Holy of Holies…And the idea was that God’s presence was there in the mercy seat and when the priest came to ask for forgiveness and sprinkle the blood of the lamb then that is where God would give mercy…

See in Romans 3:25 when it says, God presented Christ as a sacrifice of Atonement or Propitiation…There is a more direct translation of that word is and it is “Mercy Seat”

So Let’s put this all together…What Paul is saying to the church and especially his Jewish Audience is that look..>Jesus on the Cross is the Mercy Seat become flesh.,..

God himself grants you mercy though his life!

But in Paul’s language Jesus is the mercy seat. He came to us…He gave up his life for our sins and it is no longer just a covering once a year but it is a cleansing once and for all

He is the true mercy seat of the ark of the covenant and he became flesh and instead of covering your sin ever year he cleansed us from it!

Jesus isn’t just the sacrifice—He’s the Mercy Seat Himself, where God’s justice and mercy meet once and for all to cleanse us forever.

And this all comes through faith

Are you sick of your own rebellion? Faith!

Are you sick of your own Junk? Trust in Jesus

Do you need forgiveness? It is in believing that Jesus died for your sins

YES Card

The reason we have these YES cards in your seat is that maybe you need a tangible step in faith…

A tangible way to articulate your faith