Sermon Tone Analysis

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Rom 3:

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Romans 3:4-

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INTRODUCTION

In today’s study we are going to wrap up a very important message that Paul is presenting to introduce the book of Romans..

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That that message is this:

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NO MATTER WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE HAVE DONE, WHAT RELIGIOUS DEVOTION WE CLAIM, OR WHAT PERSONALLY CONCOCTED PHILOSOPHY WE ARE RELYING UPON… NO MATTER WHAT… WE ALL DESPERATELY NEED JESUS.

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Chapter one spoke, not only to the immoral person, but also to the human condition.

To anyone who is truly honest about the sins they struggle with, or the corruptions we have been stained by… - chapter one is sufficient.

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Most of us would read about the means by which mankind walked away from God’s plan, God’s design, and God’s purpose… and see that we have become broken and corrupt as a result.. -AND WE WOULD DESPERATELY RECOGNIZE… we truly need Jesus.

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AS I SAID LAST WEEK… FOR MOST OF US… THE MESSAGE IS LOUD AND CLEAR IN CHAPTER ONE… we desperately need Jesus.

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However, no everyone receives that message… so Paul addressed a different crowd in chapter two.

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SOME PEOPLE RELY HEAVILY UPON THEIR RELIGION TRADITION AND THEIR RELIGIOUS DEVOTION..

They think that their record of religious activity accounts for something with God… as if, God has a scale, and He’s weighing one’s religious devotion against their sins…

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Paul says to this crowd… “You misunderstand the kindness of God.”

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It is not kindness that allows you to get away with the bad you do as you personally justify it by weighing it against your religious devotion.

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KINDNESS DOES NOT LEAD US TO ACCEPT AN ONGOING MORAL FAILURE.

KINDNESS LEADS US TO REPENTANCE.

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Chapter one was for everyone… but some of those who were prideful in their religious ways didn’t receive it… So, in chapter two, Paul makes it abundantly clear…

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THAT THEY TOO… NEED JESUS.

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Paul knew that some would make a rebuttal to his message in chapter two.

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He just told the religious Jew, that their outward deeds do no affirm their inward reality.

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So, of course, the philosophically minded one would say… - Then our deeds and our heritage as Jews means’ nothing.

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And if our deeds and our heritage mean nothing, then the God who called us to do these deeds must not be true.

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So Paul answers that rebuttal.. by saying God is true and righteous no matter what men think.

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TO WHICH… THE PHILOSOPHER WOULD SAY…

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If our unrighteousness declares God’s righteousness.. well, then it’s a good thing that we are sinners… we are doing God a favor by our unrighteousness… because it inadvertently declares God’s righteousness.

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We know, by the structure of Paul’s argument, that he is anticipating the responses of his audience.

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-Obviously, he has faced these rebuttals before.

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_He has spent many years explaining and defending the Gospel to many different people....

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-Paul knows every potential response that might come his way in regards to the Gospel.

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He is covering every base… and he wants his audience in Rome to know… That every single one of them, DESPERATELY NEEDS JESUS.

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SO, THIS GIVES US AN IDEA OF WHAT WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT TODAY… WITH THAT, LET’S LOOK AGAIN AT

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In so many words, Paul has just told the religious Jew who is not living a morally faithful life to God…

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That they are in a worse place, than an uncircumcised Gentile who is living a morally faithful life to God.

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And so, the Jewish person might say… Well then, what’s the advantage or the value of my heritage?

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And Paul tells them… you’re advantage is huge… - Our people, the Jews, have been entrusted with the oracles of God.

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Basically… -this is kind of a slap in the face… - The Jews have always possessed the truth.

The Jews have always had the opportunity to learn from and grow in the teachings of God.

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Here’s what Paul is saying in an underhanded way…

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You who think that your Judaism is simply a matter of outward expression… of circumcision, or of diet..

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you have had the truth for generations… AND YOU DON’T GET IT!!!!

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let’s read on...

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So

Rom 3.

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How often do we see people pointing fingers at the actions of people, and decrying blame to God?

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reminds us that God’s invisible attributes are clearly seen, even His eternal Godhead, so that men are without excuse..

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What that means is… the reality of God is something that people need to come to terms with in their life… Somehow, in some way, God reveals Himself to people…

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And then, people need to deal with that revelation… some wrestle with it and come to terms with it… responding to the conviction that the HS puts in their hearts… they give their lives to Jesus and receive His eternal gift of salvation..

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Some, immediately push it away.

They are hard, bitter, and opposed to having a higher power that they themselves haven’t created.. in their lives..

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Some divert that conviction, and find comfort in traditions and religious practices.

Their devotion to works and ceremony distracts them from the revelation of God in their life…

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PEOPLE ARE WIRED TO LOOK FOR AN EXCUSE TO NOT BELIEVE IN GOD… -that corrupt wiring is explained also in chapter one…

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So it’s a common thing, that they would point at the bad behavior of a religious person… a Christian… a pastor… and say, “See, God can’t be real if His own followers are acting like this.”

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Even people who want to follow God sometimes subscribe to this kind of thinking… “They want to be in church and learn about God… but they are bad people, and there are only good people in church.”

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NOT TRUE!!!

There are all kinds of people who are wrestling with all kinds of struggles.

The people who greet you at the door.... the people who take care of the property… the people who stand up on stage and play music, or who preach… the people who run the sound board and teach your children… - all of us only wish that we could live the kind of lives that you think Christians should live.

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Like you, we wrestle day in and day out to live obedient lives that honor God.

It’s a constant battle… and we don’t always win.

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Yes, it’s true that our lives are supposed to serve as a testimony of God to others… and we should strive to do this..

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But we mess up… probably a lot.

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People struggle with their humanity… Non Christians struggle… and Christians struggle..

We all struggle.

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Our behavior… does not validate or disprove God.

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GOD DOES NOT WANT TO BE JUDGED ON THE BASIS OF OUR BEHAVIOR.

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Paul says in vs. 4… even if every man in the world… believer and unbeliever… were a liar… GOD WOULD STILL BE TRUE...

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Gramatically: HE IS SAYING THIS… -LET GOD BE REVEALED AS BEING TRUE… -

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He is true, and that truth will continue to be revealed.

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It doesn’t matter what men do… what men think… what men believe… GOD IS STILL GOING TO BE REVEALED AS BEING TRUE.

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Then, Paul quotes from … that Psalm of repentance that David wrote after being confronted by the prophet Nathan for his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband..

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David is wide open to the Lord about His guilt.. and in vs. four..

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The portion that Paul quotes looks different, because he is quoting from the Lexicon, which is a Greek translation of the OT.

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The overall meaning here is this.. “I have sinned… I have done evil… BUT YOU LORD… you are not like me… YOU ARE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS… your words are true!!!

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And the verb rendered “judged” could go either way…

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it either says… “get judgment for yourself” or “when you are judged”… - Either way, in the judgment that God makes… or in man’s attempts to judge God… the outcome is the same.

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God remains blameless

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Romans 3:5-

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Here, Paul anticipates another rebuttal from yet another group looking to philosophically excuse their unrighteous lives.

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They might say: If our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God… then, it would be wrong for God to punish us or judge us..

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They might also say, “Why am I being condemned as a sinner, if through my lie, God’s truth abounds?”

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-These arguments are so ridiculous that Paul doesn’t even entertain a rebuttal..

+ + + he just says: ‘Their condemnation is just.’

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Some arguments are so dumb… some propped up charades of logic are so weak… that it’s simply enough, to declare openly what people are thinking.

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Paul is not refuting this argument.

It’s just dumb.

He simply says… their condemnation is just.

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The actor, Sylvester Stalone’s mom is a rumpologist.

She believes that a reading of your rump has psychic significance, and she can tell your future if you send her a picture of your butt and $125.

- Do we really need to say anything to refute that?