The Simple Gospel: Man

Intro: Read the story of sin in Gen. 3. Point out how everything went from “very good” to Adam and Eve hiding from God.

FCF: God created us to reflect His righteous and holy image. Due to sin, the image of God in us has been marred, and we are marked by unrighteousness and sin. Context:

Big Picture in Romans: Paul is laying out the truths about God’s just wrath against sinful humanity.

He spoke in Romans 1 about the sinfulness of the Gentiles

In Romans 2-3:8 he speaks about the sinfulness of the Jews

In Romans 3, we have the summary of the sinfulness of all people—both Jew and Gentile.

Main Point: Apart from Christ, we are all unrighteous in the Lord's sight.

I. We don’t seek after God or His righteousness. (v. 10-12)

Illustration: Describe the first sin and what Adam and Eve did. They RAN From God. We do the same.

We aren’t morally neutral or righteous.

One of our culture’s biggest lies is that humans are morally neutral or naturally good.

We want to think of ourselves and others as “good”, but we have to lower the standard of goodness to do this.

In Mark 10:18, a man calls Jesus “good” and Jesus questions it. “And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

He’s not denying that He’s God. He’s pushing the man to be sure he knows what he’s saying and Who he’s talking to.

We were created to worship, but we worship the wrong gods.

At Mars Hill in Acts 17, Paul acknowledges that there are people who are very religious.

God created us to worship Him, and people from all places and all walks of life were created to seek Him and find Him. But we choose idols instead.

It’s only by the grace of God that any of us “find” God. We find God ONLY because God seeks us out first! That’s Grace!

Apart from Christ, our attempts to do good deeds are futile and filthy.

Christless righteous deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

Don’t look to yourself to be the solution to your life’s problems. The problem can’t ever be the solution!

At the heart of every false religion is the human attempt to fix our sin problem with our own good works.

The worst form of Christianity is the self-help, “I cleaned myself up” version. No Jesus, no real change.

Believers, don’t make yourself the center of your story. When you tell your testimony or share the gospel, emphasize human weakness and sinfulness. Our neediness is what draws people to Christ!

II. We don’t use our bodies in righteous ways. (v. 13-18)

Illustration: Hammers are a good tool if used rightly. They can be used to fix and create things. Used wrongly, they can bring utter havoc and destruction.

God created our bodies to glorify Him. But we find ways to misuse them to sin and dishonor Him and others.

We sin with our mouths (v. 13-14)

Similar to James, Paul describes the sinfulness of our tongues…grave, deceit, venom, cursing, and bitterness.

Some of the deepest wounds we inflict on ppl are from our words rather than our physical actions!

We sin with our actions (v.15-17)

Feet swift to shed blood, paths of ruin and misery, not knowing the “way” of God

Descriptions for running after sin and away from God.

From theft to violence to general disobedience, we are continually evil all the time (Gen.6:5)

Apart from Christ, we ultimately have no fear of God (v.18)

This speaks of reverence and honor for God.

At the heart of every sin is idolatry and breaking the first commandment.

God created us to glorify Him, but we use our bodies to rebel against Him!

The result of not fearing God: Read Romans 1:28-32

III. We won’t escape God’s righteous judgment. (v. 19-20)

Illustration: when you see flood waters, you’re not supposed to drive through them because you don’t know how deep or dangerous they are. Turn around, don’t drown.

Spiritually, God’s wrath is like floodwater. We often dont realize His power or fury until it’s too late.

None of us will escape Gods just judgment!

We are all accountable to God’s holy and moral Law.

The Jews were accountable to and under the Law of Moses.

All people are accountable to the moral law that is written on our hearts and in the Word.

We all know right from wrong, and we can’t make the excuse that we didn’t know or aren’t sinful. Every mouth will be stopped.

Some say the 10 commandments are a summary of God’s moral Law.

The moral Law teaches us commands and principles throughout the Bible that help us glorify God.

As our Creator, He has authority to determine how we should live. And we are held accountable to His Law and instruction.

We can’t be made right with God by Law-keeping.

Nobody will be justified or made right with God on their own strength and merit.

We can’t look at God’s Law, strive to keep it, and expect that God will acquit us based on our performance.

As we’ve seen here and in Psalm 143:2, nobody is perfectly righteous in God’s sight.

To be justified by the Law, we would have to keep it perfectly.

James 2:10 ESV

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

Galatians 5:3 ESV

I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.

Galatians 3:10 ESV

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

Apart from Christ, the Law only brings knowledge of sin.

It shows us God’s holy standard—what truly pleases Him.

It shows us our unrighteousness and inability to save ourselves.

We can’t even keep the 10 commandments for a day!

It shows our separation from God. Sin separates humanity from the presence of God. We were kicked out of the garden, kept from the inner part of the temple, and ultimately cast away from God.

It draws us to despair and hopelessness in and of ourselves. It brings to the end of ourselves and forces us to look outside of ourselves for help and restoration of our relationship with God.

Conclusion: Christ is our only hope of being made right with God.

Look away from yourself and look to Christ!

Read God’s punishment on sin in Gen 3. Fig leaves didn’t cover it. God covered them with animal skins.

Eve didn’t crush the serpent or get right with God. Her promised Seed would do that!

There is ONE man who can crush the serpent’s head and bring us back to God. That is Jesus!

We need the cross and to be covered by Christ alone!

In order to appreciate the good news, we have to understand the bad news. We have to show people that the bad news is us. The good news is Christ.