Romans 3:9-20

What is the main theme of Romans 3:9-20 as presented in the sermon?

How does the speaker describe the perception of human nature in modern society?

A Reflection of the Human Condition

What is the main theme of Romans 3:9-20 as presented in the sermon?

How does the speaker describe the perception of human nature in modern society?

Romans 3:9-20

May 25th

1. We are continuing our study in Romans.

2. Paul wrote in Chapter one that “we are all sinners.”

3. He made in clear in chapter 2 that the Jew was not exempt.

4. When we get to chapter 3, he pulls it all together.

5. Last week in 3:1-8, Paul preemptively deals with 3 objections the Jews would raise concerning the Gospel.

6. Paul is dealing with the negative side of human nature.

7. We do not read this passage and think this my favorite part of the Bible.

8. Our tendency is to glaze over text like this one.

9. Our society and culture have bought into the lie that for the most part all people are good.

10.When you read the bible, it paints a different picture of who we are.

11.Many people justify themselves by comparing themselves to others.

12.Today we will look at the Reflection of Human Nature.

13. It had been a long day for the cosmetic saleslady. She was on her feet all day in a large department store, and just before closing time a man frantically rushed up and said, “Tomorrow’s my wife’s birthday. I don’t have anything. Now, I want to buy her something.” She brought out a nice bottle of perfume worth about $95. He said, “Oh, that’s way too expensive!” So, she brought out some $65 cologne. He said, “That’s still too expensive. What do you have that’s less expensive?” She brought out a $30 bottle of perfume, a small one. He said, “That’s still too expensive! What else do you have?” She brought out the cheapest thing she had at the counter, a tiny $15 bottle of cologne. He said, “You don’t understand, “I want you to show me something cheap.” So, she took a mirror, turned it to him and said, “LOOK!”

14.As we look at this passage today, we will see a reflection of the “Human Condition.”

15.Let’s stand a look together at Romans 3:9-20.

16.This is hard to accept but the sooner we accept these truths, the better.

17.The sooner one deals with this reality the quicker you can begin to walk with freedom and peace.

18.In fact, before we are done, we will see how to deal with our condition.

19.Paul points out…

I. The Problem that we face.

· Paul quotes the Old Testament to help us see the seriousness of our condition.

· When we look at verse’s 10-18 we see a reflection of Human Nature.

· None of us want to believe that this is a picture of human nature.

· Certainly, no one wants to admit that this is a picture of who they are.

· Paul gives us four areas of reflection concerning our Depravity. Our Sinful Condition.

· Verse 9- We see a scathing review of the human condition.

· Jew, gentile, red and yellow, black and white, we are all under sins curse.

A. Guard the mind- Vs 11-12

1. He quotes the psalmist in verse 10.

2. The psalmist wrote there is none righteous, no not one;

3. I would fail an English exam over this statement.

4. We are taught to never use a double negative in a sentence.

5. However, in the Greek it just emphasis the statement and in this case, Paul uses a triple negative to make his point.

6. “There is nonewho understands”

7. Our minds left to themselves cannot understand or seek after God.

8. If I could play on this screen the thoughts that are going through your head, what would we think?

9. Sin starts with the mind and heart and then sin manifests itself if left unchecked.

10. James put it this way, James 1:13-15, “Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

11.We must differentiate between trials and temptation.

12. Often God allows us to move through the trials, difficulties in life for the testing of our faith. Why? It produces patience.

13. But temptation is not from God.

14. He can’t be tempted, and He does not tempt us to sin.

15. We are tempted when we are drawn away by our own desires and enticed.

16. Sin begins in the mind and that is where we better deal with it.

17. Sin brings forth death.

18. We must deal with our thoughts.

19.How is this done practically?

a. Guard what you look at.

b. Guard what you listen to.

c. Guard what you dwell on.

d. Feed your mind with good things and good things will follow. (The Word of God)

20. First, we must guard our minds.

B. Guard the mouth- 13-14

1. Paul quotes psalmist again by stating that our mouths get us in trouble.

2. In verse 13, he describes the mouth as an open tomb.

3. When someone passes away we handle things differently than the Jews did during the time Paul was writing this letter. (We embalm)

4. In the Old Testament and during the time of Christ, The Jews would wrap the body up in cloth and all kinds of herbs and spices to help deal with the smell of the decaying body.

5. They would put the body in a small cave on a slab. (Family or borrowed.)

6. Close the tomb tight.

7. At the top there would be shafts into the tomb to allow the stench to air out.

8. After about a year the family would put the bones in a box or an ossuary.

9. Verse 13-15 is not a pretty picture of the mouth.

10. Paul is describing someone in their sin.

a. Their throats are an open tomb.

b. Their tongues practice deceit.

· Nobody has to teach you how to lie.

· From an early age, we teach our children to speak truth. 😊

· Get around a bunch of men telling fish stories.

· Often people will stretch the truth about someone else and usually it’s to make themselves look good.

· Paul says it is in our nature to lie.

· We are all guilty and we need help.

· Our help comes through Jesus Christ.

c. He describes their lips are like the poison of an asp. (Rattle snake.)

· The language people use is obscene today.

· The bad part is that many don’t feel offended by offensive language anymore.

· We hear it from our nation’s leaders all the way down to the streets of Jewett Texas.

· How’s your language?

· Is it edifying or is it destructive and negative?

· Growing us up we would recite, “Sticks and stones may hurt my body, but word never hurt me.” (That is not true)

· Using the Lord’s name in vain is not Ok.

· Our language should be edifying and uplifting.

· We should not speak in a way that we would not speak to God in prayer.

· The description of our Mouth is not pretty.

d. This is not a pretty description of man in his sin.

C. Guard the feet- 15

1. Their feet are swift to shed blood.

2. One of the most civilized educated cultures in the world brought about the Holocaust.

3. Adolf Hitler and his generals murdered almost 6 million Jews because they were Jews.

4. People around our world today want to wipe the Jews off the planet. (They chant “from the river to the sea”)

5. Just this week, “Sarah Lynn Milgrim and Yaron Vilchinsky were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington D.C. when they were shot dead

6. Swift to Shed blood.

7. Paul says this reflects the Human Condition.

8. It all starts with the heart.

9. Someone said, “The human heart is heir to every imaginable crime.”

10. The Lord Jesus traced adultery to the lustful look, murder to the angry thought.

11.

12. Some of you may be harboring hate in your heart.

13. It will eat you from the inside out.

14.Jesus said, Matthew 6:14-15, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

15. The feet are swift to shed blood and then notice…

D. Guard the heart- Vs 16-18

1. People in general are so miserable because they have not dealt with the guilt of sin in their life.

2. They are looking for peace, but it escapes them.

3. The sad part is that many Christians live as if they have no peace.

4. As believers in Christ, we should not be miserable, we should be joyful.

5. We have been forgiven for all our sin.

6. Our sin has been cleansed with the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

7. I heard that a company is selling Guilt bags to deal with guilt.

8. Just blow your guilt into the bag and through it away. 😊

9. Phil. 4:7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

10. The answer to our guilt problem is Jesus Christ.

II. The Answer to our Problem

· Now we deal with the solution to our guilt and sin problem.

· This whole passage is so negative and it’s not what we want to hear.

· We conclude with some good news for all who will receive it.

· God loves you and he has solved your problem.

· Notice with me…

A. The purpose of God’s Law

1. It is God’s law that helps me see my failure.

2. Until I realize that I have problem, why should I bother with God?

3. Verse 19, “so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable.”

4. I want to be transparent and confess something that happened to me many years ago.

5. I was stopped by a police officer for running a stop sign.

6. It made me angry because I knew I stopped but he claimed I did not. (tell courtroom story)

7. One day everyone will stand before God. (The Judgment seat of Christ or the Great Throne.)

8. Look at the last part of verse 20 “it’s through the law that we become conscious of sin.”

9. In Galatians 3:24 it says, “the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

10. When we look at the law and the Holiness of God, we come under conviction because we all come short.

11. The Jew could never live up to the law.

12. Every year a sacrifice had to be made.

13. We are not different, we are all sinners.

14. Jesus the sinless Son of God died once for all who will call on His name.

15. Do you know Him?

B. The Solution to our Problem

1. God’s love compels me to seek His forgiveness.

2. It’s amazing that God loves us despite our sin.

3. Romans 5:8 says that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.”

4. I’m glad didn’t require me to clean up my act before He saved me.

5. If He had done that, I would still be lost in my sins.

6. One of the classic books in the Christian community today is Peace with God by Billy Graham.

7. In the book, Billy Graham writes about going to the largest mental institution in England when he was doing a crusade there.

8. There were hundreds of people in this mental institution.

9. He asked the director, “What’s the main problem here?”

10. The director said, “We could empty half the beds in this place if these people knew they could be forgiven, and then they could forgive themselves.”

11. There are some of you who have never sought God’s forgiveness.

12.The bible says, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

13.For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is make unto salvation.

14. There are some of you have been forgiven by God, but you have not forgiven yourself.

Conclusion:

1. God Loves You more than the human mind can fully understand.

2. The bible says in 1st John 1:9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

3. It is true that all have sinned, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. Rom. 6:23

4. The only way we can receive forgiveness is Through Jesus Christ.