The Justice of God in Condemning Sinners (Romans 3:19)

Introduction

In 1734, Jonathan Edwards preached a series of sermons as the pastor of his Congregational church in Northampton, MA. He had been pastoring there for seven years, two of those as a co-pastor alongside his grandfather (Solomon Stoddard) and the next five as the solo-pastor (after his granddad died).

During the winter of 1734 and the spring of 1735, the already large church grew by 50% (300 people were converted and added to the existing 600 members). This was (by most accounts) a genuine revival… and a prequel to what would later be called The First Great Awakening.

It would be another 5 years before George Whitefield (and others) would lead New England toward a region-wide revival. During the 1740s, 60s, and 80s, many sinners came to faith in Christ and had their lives transformed by a love for holiness and a desire to live faithfully for Jesus.

These were the marks of The First Great Awakening – conviction for sin, personal and experiential faith in Christ, and an abiding holiness in everyday life.

The Second Great Awakening (not quite 100 years later) was marked (largely) by revivalism, emotional experience, and social reform and activism.

Friends, there is a big difference between revival and revivalism.

Revival is something only God can do (by His word and His Spirit).

Revivalism is an effort to create results through specific methods.

But that’s a sermon or teaching for another day.

Now, lest I be accused of revivalism here, let me be clear that I am not copying one of Jonathan Edwards’s sermons in an effort to produce results. I have borrowed from his outline, and I’ve gotten help from his insights (much like I might normally do from a commentary). But I have made a real effort to form my own sermon, and not merely preach his.

No doubt, however, I would love to see a great number of our friends and relatives come to genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe the substance of what we cover today will help us think better about what it means that God is both perfectly just and exceedingly gracious. And maybe this will help us be better evangelists for our friends and family.

May God make it so…

But let me say flatly that I do not believe I can make salvation or conversion happen by any special methods or sermons.

No, my purpose today is to simply borrow from (what I think is) a great sermon from the past and to apply what is biblical and helpful to our own context today. Good sermons are (1) those that are faithful to God’s word and (2) those that help the hearer understand and apply God’s truth. I think Edwards’s sermon on Romans 3:19 was faithful, and he certainly tapped into an area of human experience and thought that often goes untouched in our culture today.

Let me note just a couple more things before we dive in.

First, this is a topical sermon – a systematic consideration of God’s justice in condemning sin and sinners. I will draw upon the text and context of our main passage, but I will go further than what we may find in Romans 3. I intend to take us further down the path of implications and applications, and I will base my thinking and argument on the whole of Scripture.

Second, this will be (if I have prepared as I meant to do) something akin to a Puritan sermon. I want to preach today as a Puritan might have done long ago – focusing on a theological truth or doctrine and following the line of thought past where we might usually stop – with my own voice and personality, of course.

May God (by His word) stop our mouths from making any excuses, may He close off any hope of escape or reprieve from our own efforts or arguments, and then may God break forth in our hearts and minds with the beauty and brilliance of His gracious grace in Christ.

Scripture Reading

Romans 3:9-20 (ESV)

9b 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 Idea:

All mankind deserves God’s justice; therefore, any forgiveness and salvation must come from God’s sheer grace.

Sermon

1. The Corruption of Man

In the lines leading up to our main verse, the Apostle Paul cites various OT passages to describe the default status of every child of Adam – (1) we are truly corrupt, (2) we are wholly corrupt, and (3) we are radically corrupt.

Man is truly corrupt.

In v10-12, the Scripture gives its verdict: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless [or “depraved” or “useless for good” or “corrupted”]; no one does good, not even one” (Rom. 3:10-12).

When we judge ourselves in comparison to other sinners, we may have room to think we are not so bad, but from God’s perspective, we are truly corrupt or shot through with sin such that we are useless for good.

Man is wholly corrupt.

In v13-15, the Scripture refers to several aspects of man – his “throat,” his “tongue,” his “lips,” his “mouth,” and his “feet” (Rom. 3:13-15).

In every part or feature or aspect of man there is death, deceit, poison, cursing, and violence.

We are not as wicked as we might be, but there is no part of us that is free from the corruption of sin.

Man is radically corrupt.

In v16-18, the Scripture describes the “path” or the “way” of sinful man – it is a “path” of “ruin and misery” and a “way” that is utterly devoid of “peace” [i.e., peace with God and peace with others] (Rom. 3:17-18).

In sum, fallen man has “no fear of God” (Rom. 3:18).

If the “fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge [or “wisdom”] (Prov. 1:7), then sinners are the epitome of foolishness – we do not fear God, we do not revere Him… and we display every trait of folly in the panorama of our lives.

This, then, is the natural and default setting of all people everywhere.

It is not our lack of information or our lack of opportunity that makes us what we are,

but it is our lack of righteousness,

We have no righteousness – it is not in us to do right.

it is our lack of any appendage to desire righteousness,

We not only have no righteousness, but we also desire the opposite of righteousness… we desire sin.

and it is our lack of any fear or love of God.

These are what is in us, and these are what produces all manner of sin and wickedness in our lives.

Friends, where have we ever found true virtue or love of good or fear of God arising from ourselves?

Can’t we relate to this biblical assessment?

Aren’t we (apart from Christ) truly, wholly, and radically corrupt?

For those of us who are not believing and trusting in Christ right now, don’t we see all manner of corruption making its way from deep within us and finding expression in our various thoughts, words, and deeds?

For those of us who are believing and following Christ, don’t we (even now) feel the real sense of war and struggle within us?

Don’t we still resist righteousness?

Don’t we still feel a love for sin?

Aren’t we tempted to think little of God and much of ourselves?

If God were to condemn us where we sit and to cast us off into eternal and complete damnation, wouldn’t He be just in doing it?

Friends, all mankind deserves God’s justice… because we are corrupted things, we are sinful creatures, and we are shot through with all manner of unrighteousness.

2. The Law of God

When we get to v19 of our passage, we ought not be surprised to read that the purpose (at least one of the purposes, the initial purpose) of God’s law is to “stop” every “mouth” (Rom. 3:19). Here we come to a hard but necessary truth of Scripture – the law of God does not save us from our sin and corruption, but it exposes us for what we are and tears away any excuse we might try to make.

God’s law stops us from boasting in our righteousness.

If we look to the biblical summary of God’s moral law (in the Ten Commandments), which of these can we boast that have we obeyed?

The tenth commandment forbids coveting (Ex. 20:17).

But haven’t we looked upon the resources or the luxuries or the traits or the experiences of others with longing and envy and (God help us) discontent in our hearts?

Has there never been a time when we have accused God of injustice for giving good things to others, even as we have squandered the good that He’s given to us?

The ninth commandment forbids lying, especially in an effort to advance our own standing at the expense of others (Ex. 20:16).

But haven’t we often spoken well of ourselves and spoken ill of others (even embellishing the truth or hiding some feature of it), so that we might be seen as better or more deserving or more virtuous?

The seventh commandment – do not commit adultery – forbids all deviations from God’s design for sexual expression (Ex. 20:14).

And Jesus explained the intent of this command when He said that even a “lustful intent” of the “heart” is worthy of God’s final and ultimate judgment (Matt. 5:27-30).

Friends, when we consider the standard or rule of God’s law, and when we measure ourselves against it, we must come to grips with the fact that we have no righteousness to speak of – our mouths must be stopped.

Even our good deeds (if we are honest) are often accompanied by less than noble intentions… even sinful intentions.

Therefore, God’s law stops us from boasting in our righteousness.

God’s law stops us from objecting to the punishment we deserve.

Not only must we admit (when confronted with God’s law) that we deserve no praise or affirmation (because we have no righteousness of our own), but we must also admit that we deserve whatever judgment God decides to give us for our willful failure to meet His standard.

And we must also recognize that the heinousness of our crimes is always measured in proportion to the standard we are obligated to obey.

So, the heinousness or wickedness or wrong of hatred is measured in proportion to our obligation to love.

The evil or wrong of lying against a fellow image-bearer is measured in proportion to our obligation to speak the truth.

Thus, the standard is righteousness on all counts, and we are obligated to meet it, but we have failed miserably.

More than this, the villainy or treachery of our disobedience is also measured in proportion to the authority and excellency of the one to whom we owe our obedience.

For example: if we disobey a law enforcement officer, our punishment will be at one level, but if we disobey a judge, then our punishment will be greater.

But our sin, our assaults against righteousness (our thoughts and words and deeds of unrighteousness)… these have been launched against the holy God of the universe – He is due our every gratitude and humble submission, but we have flagrantly thrown His commands aside and aggressively pursued our sinful desires.

God is our creator, He is our sustainer, and He is the one whose excellency and authority is infinite.

Even in the smallest sin (if we should call it small), we have aggravated or provoked the justice of an infinite God.

Friends, when we are exposed to God’s law, our mouths must stop boasting of any righteousness. So too, we must stop inventing any objection to whatever punishment that God might give us, since we have no ground or right or claim to God’s mercy… and since we have despised the beauty and majesty and holiness of the God who made us, preferring the momentary sweetness of our bitter sin over any lasting satisfaction that might come from doing what is right and good according to God’s commands.

For these reasons, God is completely just to condemn us where we sit.

3. Our Treatment of God

All of this should be enough to stop our mouths from any boasting or objection, but (sinful as we are) more might be said to stimulate us to acknowledge the justice of God in condemning us to the worst punishment.

Let’s look back on our treatment of God throughout our lives and ask ourselves, “If God should treat us as we have treated Him, wouldn’t He be perfectly just to cast us away?”

We have not exercised genuine love toward God.

If love is an active concern for the well-being of another, then when have we (of our own initiative) taken this posture toward God?

Our days have not been full of any real concern for the glory of God, the name of God, or the reputation of God in the world.

As long as we could promote our own welfare, advance our own interests, and gratify our own desires, some of us have given little (if any) thought to how such things might affect God’s glory, God’s name, God’s reputation in the world.

If we have not exercised this sort of love for God, why should He be obligated to show us this kind of love now?

We have slighted God’s honor throughout our lives.

Haven’t there been times when we have become aware that this thing or that one is contrary to the will of God?

And has this knowledge stopped us from pursuing the very things that disparage or minimize God’s honor?

If we have slighted God like this, then why should He give us any kind or generous consideration now?

We have shown ingratitude for the mercies God has already given us.

God has preserved us until now (as we sit here in God’s world, with God’s provision), and He has lavished upon us great gifts from His immeasurable stores of generosity.

God has granted to some of us not poverty but great luxury, He has granted some of us recovery from numerous sicknesses, and He has spared some of us from tremendous harms that should have been ours to endure because of our own foolishness and vice.

Indeed, none of us are not right now suffering the torment of hell!

And yet, how often have our prayers been utterly void of gratitude for God’s mercy and blessings?

God help us, how often have our prayers been (rather than full of gratitude and thanksgiving) only a litany of complaints and requests for yet more and greater undeserved blessing?

If we have been so ungrateful for God’s mercies already, then why should He be obligated to give us the greatest mercy of all – salvation?

We have voluntarily chosen to be at enmity and in opposition to God.

If the way of righteousness in the world is submission to God and obedience to His commands, then is it not so that our obstinance toward God and our disobedience to His commands is union with the devil?

Jesus said to those who opposed Him in John 8, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn. 8:44).

Thus, when we sin, when we oppose God, when we act and speak from our evil desires, we are taking up the devil’s cause.

If we have voluntarily thrown in our lot with the devil, then why should God give us any other treatment on the last day than what the devil deserves?

We have refused to hear God’s merciful calls unto faith and obedience.

How many times have we heard God’s own voice (through a Christian friend or a preacher) urging us to turn away from sin, to believe the gospel, and to obey God’s commands?

And how often have we been completely unmoved by such calls?

How many times have we gone on our way, doing exactly as we always had done, giving no attention to godliness and giving ourselves to the same sinful indulgences we always have?

If we have closed our ears to God so many times, then why must He be obligated to open His ears to us now or ever?

We have taken encouragement to sin in our expectation of God’s kindness.

The Scripture says that “God’s kindness is meant to lead [us] to repentance” (Rom. 2:4).

But how often (God help us) have we taken comfort to go on sinning because “God is kind, and He will forgive”?!

We neglect those things we ought to do, we give ourselves to that which is forbidden, and we flaunt our sin in God’s face… because we expect that God will forgive us (He must forgive us!).

This is a particularly heinous and evil way to sin since it is motivated by an unspeakable ingratitude and animosity.

God’s infinite mercy and grace are among His supremely praise-worthy attributes!

And yet, our arrogant and vile presumption leads us to respond, not with praise, but with rebellion and defiance.

We think of God’s kindness, and we disobey more freely!

If we have turned even God’s kindness against Him, they why should God show us mercy at all?

Don’t we see, then, friends, that it is not only the fact that we are sinners that condemns us before God… but it is also our arrogant and presumptuous and persistent experience of sin that heaps up our just condemnation?!

If God should merely treat sinners as they have treated Him, then all mankind is deserving of God’s indifference, God’s rejection, and God’s hostility. Even if sinners could claim to have given God some praise or obedience at one point or another in their lives, what have they done but what they ought to have done? And what is one or two or a hundred acts of love or obedience when compared with a lifetime of carelessness and even hostility toward God?

4. Our Neglect of Salvation

Despite our complete lack of righteousness and our thorough life of sin, God has indeed offered salvation to guilty sinners like us. And this should be the most welcome news of all time! But even at the announcement of a merciful and gracious salvation, we still find in ourselves yet more sin and corruption. We have often muffled our ears to the good news of the gospel, and some of us have aimed our course of life in the opposite direction – toward our own destruction.

If God were to unleash His justice upon us, then He would be perfectly right to do it, for He would be giving us what is agreeable to our own behavior in at least two respects: (1) our own neglect and (2) our own self-destructive pursuits.

We have been careless of our own salvation.

When we are young,

we hear the biblical command to attend to those things that will stir up faith,

the command to give effort to what that will diminish sinful desires,

and the command to strive for growth in the knowledge and grace of Christ…

and we think to ourselves, “I’ve got all the time in the world to do that later on… For now, I will give myself to worldly pleasures.”

When we have lived a bit longer,

we are reminded of those same urgent commands

to prioritize love of Christ,

to find accountability in fellowship with Christians,

and to earnestly seek the knowledge and grace of Christ…

but we think to ourselves, “I’m too busy for all of that right now… I must tend to my other responsibilities.”

Time and again, we could not be bothered to go out of our way (even just a little) to set our hearts and minds and actions upon that which God has provided for our spiritual life and growth.

We have not loved our own precious soul or our own welfare enough to take care in those most important matters.

Instead, we have delayed, we have refused, and we have neglected the very means of grace (Scripture, prayer, the fellowship of the saints, the ordinances of the church).

If we have been so careless in attending to our salvation throughout our lives, then why should God be bothered to take up such great concern for our salvation at the end of our lives?

We have willfully chosen self-destruction.

Not only have we neglected our salvation, but we have also willfully chosen self-destructive paths.

When we are young, we are easily enamored by the superficial and momentary pleasures of this world.

Like the merchants of Vanity Fair (that city of deceptive pleasure and empty distraction in Pilgrim’s Progress), the salesmen of this world call out to us to “Buy! Buy!,” and we turn out our pockets.

Our youth is spent in frivolous pursuit of whatever makes us feel good for the moment… even though we have been told that such is the path to destruction.

When we are a little older, we may tend to think that we have earned a little self-indulgence.

We know (from the warnings of good men and women, and from our own experiences) that even momentary lapses in judgment (fleeting occasions of laziness or distraction or greed), even these can be a danger to our soul… but we’ve survived worse before (we arrogantly think to ourselves), and after all we’ve worked hard to earn just a bit of what God says is off limits.

Friends, contrary to God’s repeated warnings, and against the conviction we feel in our own hearts and minds, haven’t we willfully chosen self-destructive paths?

And if we have knowingly neglected our own salvation, and willingly directed our efforts toward our own destruction – if we would run so hard into the fire of God’s justice – then why should God be blamed if He simply let us reach our desired destination?

Friends, all mankind deserves God’s justice… because we are truly, wholly, and radically corrupt… because God’s law exposes our complete lack of true righteousness… because we have spent much of our lives with total carelessness and contempt for God’s glory and God’s commands… and because we have often displayed an absolute indifference toward our own salvation.

For all these reasons and more, we can claim no right to God’s favor. We are like an unwelcome intruder in the house… like a spider or a snake or some other vermin… We have enjoyed various comforts and pleasures in God’s world, and we (apart from Christ) have contributed little if anything to the good of it.

If there be any forgiveness of sin, any salvation for wretched sinners like us, then it must come from God’s sheer grace.

And have I got good news for you!

5. God’s Sheer Grace

The portion of Romans 3 that we’ve been focusing on this morning is a single verse – v19 – which emphasizes our accountability before God and God’s justice in condemning sinners.

But the context of this verse is a longer argument that leads up to a glorious climax in v21-26. Look at it there with me.

The Scripture says, “21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested [or “revealed”] apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God [this is what I’ve been going on about for the last 40 minutes], 24 and [those sinners] are justified by his [i.e., God’s] grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25a whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Rom. 3:21-25).

I’ve said it many times – you don’t have to know this word, but all our hope in life and death hangs upon the meaning of it.

The hope of the Christian gospel is not that we might earn a righteousness that we do not have, but rather that we might receive a righteousness that we did not (we cannot) earn – namely the righteousness of God that comes through the propitiating death of Jesus Christ.

This is the great exchange, and it is an exchange based upon God’s sheer grace. Before ever we had done anything to deserve it, God graciously put forward His own Son – to live and to die in the place of sinners like us. In Jesus’s death, God Himself made propitiation or satisfaction for sins – Christ suffered the just punishment that sinners deserve.

Therefore, sinners like us can receive the gracious gift of God’s righteousness (i.e., the righteousness that Christ earned on our behalf) by simply believing or having faith in this gracious promise. We can avoid the due penalty for our sin (even now, after all we’ve done to deserve God’s justice), and we can enjoy all the blessings of full acceptance and unreserved love from God Himself, if we will simply turn our eyes toward this gracious Savior which God has provided for us.

Though we have had such wicked hearts, and though we have lived such wicked lives, God has shown grace and mercy toward us.

Though we had no love of God, He has exercised inexpressible love toward us.

Though we have treated God with contempt and even dismissed Him as a distraction or fought Him as an enemy, He has set such a great value upon us and our happiness (by His grace) that He has redeemed sinners like us at the price of the blood of His own Son.

Though we have shown so little gratitude for God’s past mercies upon us, He has given to us the greatest mercy of all.

Though we may have refused to hear God’s calls to turn from sin and trust in Christ a million times, He has opened His gracious ears to hear your call to Him in this very hour of your need.

Though we may have persistently neglected our own salvation, God Himself has not neglected it… but He has brought it to us at great cost and with open arms of grace and love.

Friends, we (and all mankind) deserve God’s justice, but God is both the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Therefore, we may receive the complete forgiveness of sins and the full salvation God has offered in Christ… if we will simply trust Him for it and receive these precious gifts of God’s sheer grace.

If you’re not trusting in Christ right now, then do!

If you are a Christian – turning away from sin and resting all your hope in the finished work of Christ – then never stop returning to this central hope and assurance… that (by God’s sheer grace) Christ is our only hope in life and death.

May God grant us eyes to see and ears to hear this good news today, and may God grant to us (by His grace) what we could never hope to have by any other means.