19) What is Right?
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Please turn to Romans 3:21.
The history of humanity has been plagued with different conflict.
Conflict between nations: There has never been a time in recorded history when the world was without conflict. Even today some record more than 110 armed conflicts around the world.
Conflicts between Ideologies continue to tear the world apart. The wars of ideas and beliefs continues to pit nation against nation, family against family and person against person. We don’t have to go back very far to be able to reflect on how damaging this can be. We see the greatly different responses to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. We all remember the way people responded to covid. Each generation sees different conflicts but they can be simplified down to the difference on one one group thinks is right or wrong verse what another group thinks.
But there is one conflict that is as old as humanity itself and that is the active rebellion of mankind against God. Man thinking he is right above all others, including God. Paul has very thoroughly worked through the proof that every person who has ever lived is in great danger. The danger of having God’s wrath and anger poured out on them.
18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.
He showed that all of the Gentiles rejected God to worship and follow other things. He showed that even though the Jews had greater advantage by receiving God’s words, being his chosen nation, having the promises from God, or the sign of the covenant, these did not guarantee them salvation. They were also in great danger of also receiving wrath and anger.
6 He will repay each one according to his works: 7 eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness.
He finished up his arguments with an all encompassing evaluation of what God’s word has said about all people.
9 What then? Are we any better off? Not at all! For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, 10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. 11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. 13 Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips. 14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, 17 and the path 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 subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment. 20 For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.
All are under sin. No one is righteous not even one. For no one will be justified in God’s sight by the works of men and women.
20 There is certainly no one righteous on the earth who does good and never sins.
The readers would have come to have one question fill their mind. Who can be saved then? If God has revealed his anger and wrath against those that are not righteous and no one is righteous then there is no hope. There is no salvation from God, all have earned there own destruction, there is no one who will receive eternal life.
Based on man’s own effort, there is no hope of salvation, there is no working harder, or being lucky. There is the universal just punishment for all unrighteousness. Man has been painted into the corner, nowhere to turn, no way to escape, he is in a helpless estate. Completely ignorant of his situation he must see the truth and when he does he will find that he is trapped. Then he will call out who can save me?
When all hope has been lost Paul brings forth the answer to the hopelessness of man. That God will save him. By revealing his righteousness, giving his righteousness, and demonstrating his righteousness.
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. 26 God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
Here in this passage we see the central parts of the gospel. The good news of Jesus. We see God’s revealed righteousness, man’s belief and faith, man’s justification, Christ’s redemption of fallen man. We are going to slowly work through this passage because it is pivotal in the presenting of the Gospel that Paul is doing. Today we are going to ask the question what is righteousness? Or what is right?
Righteousness
Righteousness
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets.
Man’s hope resides in the revealed righteousness of God. This word seems to have lost its importance in the vocabulary of the church. Depending on your preferred translation the word righteous and its different forms is used between 530 and 590 times. It is a central theme and a pivotal doctrine in the scriptures.
So what does this word mean.
Websters: Acting in accord with divine or moral law
Righteousness is a quality that is ascribed to a person. It is based on what is moral. And what is moral? It is doing what is right and not doing what is wrong.
When we look out and say, that person is righteous and that person is not. What we are saying is that this person does what is right and this person does what is wrong. The next question then is what is right and wrong, what is moral? How do we know? Morality is always based on a set of standards that define right from wrong.
Righteousness->Morality->Law->Law Giver
We live in a world filled with sets of standards that define right and wrong. How many of you have found that you cannot go out into the world and do anything your want? If I walked over to Urie and took his wallet, everyone here would likely say I was in the wrong. Why? because there are rules in what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior. When you go to work, is there a different set of rules? How about in your home? Children, do you have rules at home? can you do anything you want? No. Your home has a set of rules, school has rules, work has rules, church has rules. What are these rules? They are what we call laws. Now they may not al have consequences but most do. A law is the collection of rules that regulate behavior.
What is right or wrong? what is righteous is dependent on the law that was written? That is why different countries have different views on what is right and wrong. It is why one family allows one thing and another does not. Because the set of rules, the law, is also dependent on something more. It is dependent on the one who gave the law.
This is why no one can agree on, what is right or wrong, in our country. Each set of rules is written by people who have different ideas of right and wrong. They create different laws. This creates different definitions of morality. So the result is no one has any idea today what is considered to be righteous.
3 Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.
How does one establish their own righteousness? They write a new law a new set of rules that aligns with what they want to do. If everyone is running around creating their own definitions of right and wrong then what do you have? Chaos.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.
Does doing right and not doing wrong matter? When does it matter when you break the rules, break the law? It matters when you stand for judgement before the law. When you are evaluated against them. If each person’s rules are in conflict with each other, then you had better be sure that you have the right set of rules.
Paul is saying that we believe that God’s righteousness has been attested in the scriptures and by the Prophets.
God’s Righteousness
God’s Righteousness
God gave his laws to show his own righteousness.
8 And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?
These words were trustworthy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right, and all his work is trustworthy.
They are reliable and righteous.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous.
They are Holy and just.
12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.
God wrote his Laws, in his word. They revealed who God is by what he instructs. They defined what is right and wrong. They defined what is moral. They showed mankind how they must live to be found righteous before God. But they could not save rebellious man. The works of the law could not justify man before God.
15 We are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,” 16 and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified.
God also spoke through the prophets as they attested to God’s righteousness in different ways
They proclaimed that God is righteous by nature.
137 You are righteous, Lord, and your judgments are just.
4 The Rock—his work is perfect; all his ways are just. A faithful God, without bias, he is righteous and true.
21 Speak up and present your case— yes, let them consult each other. Who predicted this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the Lord? There is no other God but me, a righteous God and Savior; there is no one except me.
His righteousness does not change and is eternal
3 All that he does is splendid and majestic; his righteousness endures forever.
8 For moths will devour them like a garment, and worms will eat them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, and my salvation for all generations.
God demonstrated his righteousness through his actions.
14 So the Lord kept the disaster in mind and brought it on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all he has done. But we have not obeyed him.
11 Let them tell the righteous acts of the Lord, the righteous deeds of his villagers in Israel, with the voices of the singers at the watering places. Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates.
His rule is righteous.
13 before the Lord, for he is coming— for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his faithfulness.
The old testament scriptures are filled with verse after verse that speaks of the righteousness of God. But apart from the Law God’s righteousness is revealed in Jesus.
Righteousness of God Revealed
Righteousness of God Revealed
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets.
Revealed means to be made clear, be manifest. God’s righteous nature was manifest in the physical body and life of Jesus. As he walked on the earth he was a demonstration of God nature.
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Everything that Jesus said and did was a manifestation a physical revealing of who God who is spirit only is.
18 No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.
17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
The foretold Son
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Jesus committed no sin. Transgressed no laws, never acted, thought, or spoke in a way that would be against the laws of God.
22 He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth;
Completely obedient
19 For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
He will be called our righteousness
6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is the name he will be called: The Lord Is Our Righteousness.
30 It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
So that those who have faith in him would become the righteousness of God.
21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
For in Christ alone a person will be found righteous
8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.
Without a clear understanding of God’s righteousness, there is no clear understanding of the Good News that Jesus brought. The message of the Gospel that Paul claimed was his direct mission was dependent on the Righteousness of God as it reveals God’s righteousness.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.
Man’s greatest conflict is with God. God has made known what is right and wrong. He had it written down and handed down. He has laid out the consequences of unrighteousness. The law writer gives the holy law. It defines one morality. This is not arbitrary or subjective from one person to the next. This is the truth that God has given.
Based on my own experience there is a great disconnect from righteousness and the Gospel of Jesus in modern day Christianity. There is very little desire to learn what God calls good. Even less desire to align their life to his commands and instructions.
But when we look at the Greeks words used from Romans 1:16 though 5:2 Paul uses a group of words that all have the same Greek root.
He uses these interrelated words to reveal the truth and depth of the gospel. When we read these words they are building on the same idea with more and more depth. The root word means punishment, penalty, Justice
He speaks of: At least seven words come from this root word.
The Quality of Righteousness
The Declaration of Righteousness
Righteous Judgement
Justification - To be found Righteous
Just Commands; Righteous Commands
Deserved Punishment
Unrighteousness
We have divorced the connection between righteousness and Judgement. A person can only be declared righteous if they are evaluated against a moral law. People do not like the moral laws that God has given. When they are evaluated. No one is found righteous. No one cares if they follow the law until they stand for judgement.
What if one day you met a man that you really like to hang out with. You spend time with him, and tell him about all of the laws that you break each and every day. You brag about what you get away with and how you don’t care for the law and that no one can do anything to you. What if one day you were called into court and your friend was sitting on the stand. You know you have no defense because you already revealed you were guilty. You never thought you would be held accountable for your actions. That you would never be evaluated to the law, you would never be judged.
This is how people who claim to be Christians live today. They claim to be friends of Jesus, his brothers and sisters. They boast and act in every way that is against what Jesus commanded. What will be the realization when their day comes.
27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—
10 But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God. 12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Their day comes and who sits in the stand.
42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead.
31 because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
22 The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son,
The contemporary church has determined that they would rather help people be ignorant of the truth that they will one day face the righteous judge, then to speak the truth of God’s word to them. The truth that they cannot stand before the judge and be found righteous. They will be found guilty and will receive the punishment of God’s wrath and anger.
For no one is righteous not even one. Each and every person is found guilty before the moral law. But what if I don’t agree with God’s Law. Well then we turn back to his previous arguments. Do you judge others and then do the same? You hold other people accountable to your rules and then do the same. Then Paul says you are a law unto yourself and you are still guilty by your own standard.
He said if you truly believe you are righteous and always do what is right, then why do you feel so guilty about so much stuff that you do? Why does your conscience condemn your actions? Because you know your are not doing what is right. No one can hide from the fact that they cannot meet any moral law that is put in place let alone the holy Law of God.
A person must be righteous to be saved, to receive eternal life.
6 He will repay each one according to his works: 7 eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness.
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Let anyone who has ears listen.
But if no one is righteous then the only answer left is that each person must receive righteousness from outside of ourselves.
8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.
If you have noticed Paul has not spoken of acts of men leading to salvation. He speaks of hopeless, helpless people in need of a savior. Here Paul gives the answer that he will expand throughout all of his ministry and writing.
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction.
We will discuss this more next week, but man is credited and receives the righteousness of God through one way and one way only, faith in Jesus Christ.
Faith that he is God. Faith that Jesus is a man of flesh, that he lived and died a sinless, righteous life. Faith that he gave that life as a substitute for your debt. Faith that he paid your penalty. Faith that he purchased you with his own life. Faith that he died as the perfect sin sacrifice. Faith that because of his sinless life, death could not hold him and that he was raised on the third day and walked with his people. Faith that he has ascended to the throne of God. That by faith you have been made the righteousness of God. Faith that when it is your appointed day to leave this earth, and you stand before Jesus as the judge of the world you will be able to stand in his righteousness. Confident before the court.
For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Today there are many who are asking questions that they have not asked before. Many are evaluating what they believe and why they believe it. We have people questioning what is right and what is wrong. They see the assassination of Charlie Kirk and what they put their confidence in is shaken. They watch Iryna (ee-RIH-nuh zah-ROOT-skuh) stabbed on a train and no one helps it has caused people to ask some of the hardest questions. Why do I believe what I believe? What is good? Am I good? Who is God? How do I stand before him?
The question for us today is who am I before the mighty creator of the universe and if I am not righteous without him, do I believe his righteousness is in me? When my day comes to stand before the judge of righteousness, with Jesus see my acts of rebellion or Jesus’ acts of obedience? Covered by his blood, washed clean, and receive eternal life to worship forever?
Let us pray.
Let us pray.
Prayer
Blessing/Benediction
5 Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus,
