None Righteous
Romans • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” 20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Now, you may have never heard this story told in this context before,
But, if you’ll permit, I’ll explain the correlation.
In this story about this young ruler, he came to Jesus with the sincere belief that he was good enough to get into heaven.
When Jesus presses him about the requirements of the law, he simply boasted that he had already been doing those things.
What came next shocked him to the core, because never in his wildest dreams was he ready for Jesus’ response.
I am convinced by the reading of this story, that this young ruler was boasting before all the people,
“Look at me, you all know I am a winner. - I am wealthy, and upstanding in this community. -
I don’t think the good Rabbi knows about me yet, so let me introduce myself, saying -
“Good teacher”
For as good as he thought he was, he was still lacking one all important ingredient to gain eternal life.
He was still holding on to the “SELF”
To his EGO.
He had his identity wrapped up in his wealth,
And when Jesus told him to get rid of it, It was too great a cost,
But the reason I mention this story, is because of the last sentence in this story,
22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
He went away sad, because this forced him to look in the mirror and realized, he didn’t have what it takes.
In the first few chapters of the Book of Romans, Paul addresses three groups of people to illustrate the universality of sin and the need for God's grace through Christ. These three groups are often categorized as:
The Pagan/Gentile: The Pagan is someone who has rejected God's natural revelation (what can be known about God through creation) and instead worshiped idols and indulged in various immoral practices. In which we are told that their unrighteousness is without excuse, even without the Mosaic Law, because their consciences bear witness to God's standards.
Last week we spoke of the Pagan/Gentile man
Today we will focus on the
The Moral Man: that Paul addresses them as those who consider themselves morally upright, who might agree with his condemnation of the Pagan.
But for some reason believe they are exempt from the same condemnation due to their moral principles or doing good deeds.
The story of David and Bathsheba come to mind here.
After David has conspired to have Bathsheba’s husband killed in battle in order to cover for the fact that due to the illicit love affair between them,
She had become pregnant,
The prophet Nathan had come to see David,
But instead of outright blasting condemnations at the King,
He also forced David to look in the mirror, and realize, he didn’t measure up to the blessing God had given to him,
1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. 4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! 6 And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.” 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
As we continue to Read the letter to the Romans, we’ll see that even the moralist too, falls short of God's righteous standard.
Because they often judge others while engaging in similar sins themselves, and they presume they are all good with God, because of this, and have no need for repentance.
1 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:
You see, sometimes, like the young ruler, we get so caught up in the good deeds that we do, that we lose sight of the fact that we are still sinners.
Yes, even so we are forgiven of our sins, we are still sinners.
This is what we are being told, here in Romans.
We are all sinners,
None of us our righteous, no matter how many righteous and godly things you do, in the end, you are still a sinner and in constant need of Jesus.
Amen!
Romans gives us a direct diagnosis of sin.
Basically saying, “This is what sin is”
And if you think that for some reason, you have risen above the sin,
Then guess what? That’s a sin.
1 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
You see, its not hard for us to fall into the trap of thinking,
“We are guiltless before God.”
Because even for all of or righteous intent, we still fail ourselves occasionally, and need to repent.
Romans also reminds us that just because we heard the Word, and have well received it, and do all we can do to take the Word across Anna, IL, Across the country and the world,
We must also be DOER’s of the Word.
13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;
Moving now on to the Third group of People Paul addresses,
The Jew: Finally, Paul focuses on the Jews, who possessed God's Law and the covenant promises. He shows that their possession of the Law and the sign of circumcision do not automatically guarantee their righteousness or immunity from God's judgment. In fact, if they break the Law, their privileged position makes them even more accountable.
17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, 18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. 21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?
Ah-ha,
Paul is forcing the Jew now to look into the mirror at themselves,
Do you not teach yourself?
Do you steal?
22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.
He is talking here to the Jews who believe they are are righteous by virtue of being a Jew.
And he continues to outline their life in faith, reminding them of being judged by the weight of the Mosaic laws,
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.
By addressing these three people groups,
The Pagan, Moralist, and the Jew, Paul demonstrates that
all humanity, regardless of their background or religious affiliation, stands condemned before a righteous God because all have sinned and fall short of God's glory.
But then comes the good news. Amen for that
There is hope on the horizon,
As life can get hectic at times, cruel it seems at times and unfair at times, and sometimes, every once in a while it can get Hectic, Cruel, and unfair all at the same time.
Why?
Because of Sin!
Because we live in a fallen world, that groans for redemption,
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
But even in the midst of life calamities,
God has thrown us a life raft, and His name is Jesus Amen
Paul is tells the Jews, they are no longer under that unbearable weight of the Law,
Because there’s something better now,
His name is Jesus, AMEN
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
Did you hear that?
There is no difference between any of us,
For we are all guilty before the Lord.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We would do well to remember this when we begin to compare our righteousness with our neighbors.
Whom ever they may be.
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
Therefore, he is saying, next time you think yourself more righteous than the next,
You would do well to look in the mirror and judge yourself according to this,
Are we really all that righteous after all?
This inward look at ourselves from Romans tells us, not so much
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