ES006 Forgiven!
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18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
We come upon a man hammering pieces of timber together. We ask “What are you doing?” And he replies, “I’m making a ladder to reach to the moon.” We’d think him mad for obviously no one can build a literal ladder to the moon.
In the same way we cannot build a ladder of good works that will take us to heaven. Many believe if they live a good life, God will let them into heaven. But a large segment of the book of Romans refutes this. Romans is the Bible’s most systematic presentation of God’s plan of salvation. Many reading this book have been saved. We know of the Roman Road, which is worth learning:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Before we can know how to be saved, we must have some sense of our sinfulness, some idea of the holiness and wrath of God, and some understanding of our total inability to save ourselves.
Often I have conversations about end of life. As Christians we are saved through Jesus Christ and to die is gain - but to die without Him means there is no hope. No hope at all. Scripture says:
12 At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.
From no hopers now we are those who have a bright future no matter how things turn out in this life.
And the first few chapters of Romans drive this home and overcome a fallacy that most people believe: that somehow, on balance, we are good and will get to heaven. Muslims believe this, and so do many other others in a forlorn hope. But Romans tells us that we can never go to heaven on the basis of good works. We’re all in moral and spiritual darkness. If we read the first three chapters of Romans we find out that the Lord tells us there is no chance for the Gentiles, no chance for the Jews, actually, no chance for anyone. It is important for us to get to grips with this for
1) We need to make sure we are saved and
2) We need to make this Gospel known to others.
First, there is “No chance” for the masses of people among the Gentiles, for ourselves and our society as a whole. Second, there is “No chance” for the moral people of our society, for those individuals who think they’re in pretty good shape morally and spiritually.
In the passage we read Paul gives a brilliant description of the way a culture collapses. There are five downward stages that always occur when a society begins to erode morally. So, let us see where we are in all this.
(1) The first stage of these is the Rejection of Creationism (vv. 18–20). The wrath of God will be revealed from heaven against any society that refuses to acknowledge the obvious fact that God is the Creator of the universe. He specifically made the vast, endless ocean of stars, the splendours of the solar system, the burning sun, the glowing moon, and the beautiful earth to show us His invisible power and divine nature. When we refuse to acknowledge that, we’ve taken the first step in a downward slide that leads to utter ruin.
It truly is a shame that people do not see that God created this world. When we watch nature programmes about the wonder of how all things fit together we think it stupid that the presenters do not see it or are unwilling to. Here is one such story:
Forty miles south of London is a village named Piltdown. One day in 1908, a lawyer named Charles Dawson, a member of the British Geological Society, claimed to have discovered an ancient skull. Suddenly the world had “proof” of Darwin’s theory of evolution—Piltdown Man. The scientific literature about Piltdown Man is enormous, with over five hundred doctoral dissertations written about the discovery. School children were shown “pictures” of how Piltdown Man fit into the evolutionary chain.
Sir Arthur Keith, one of the world’s greatest anatomists, wrote more about Piltdown Man than anyone else. He based a lifetime of thinking on his fascination with Piltdown Man.
Sir Arthur was a frail eighty-six years old when two scientists paid a visit to his home. They were breaking the news that after a half-century of study, Piltdown Man was a hoax—an old human skull, the jawbone of an orangutan, and a dog’s tooth.
“Keith was a rationalist and a pronounced opponent of the Christian faith,” wrote Marvin L. Lubenow in Bones of Contention. “Yet in his autobiography he tells of attending evangelistic meetings in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, seeing students make a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and often feeling ‘on the verge of conversion.’ He rejected the gospel, because he felt that the Genesis account of Creation was just a myth and that the Bible was merely a human book. It causes profound sadness to know that this great man rejected Jesus Christ, whose resurrection validated everything He said and did, only to put his faith in what proved to be a phony fossil.”
(2) The second stage is Idolatry (vv. 21–23). When we reject the true Creator, we begin making our own gods. Today our gods aren’t typically images of birds, animals, and reptiles unless you live in India or Japan. We’re a more sophisticated society; our idols are pleasure, ambition, and materialism.
I was listening to Radio 4 on a programme called a ‘disease called ‘fame’’. The greatest achievement you can achieve is to become famous is the philosophy of so many people. It started in Hollywood with certain groups of people trying to get in movies. Few called even fewer chosen. Then there were the music bands. The materialism grew at this time because getting the latest thing could make you happy, and then, the commercials changed to ‘because you are worth it’. This just led to commercialisation of people and so we started manufacturing stars. Reality TV. Instant fame. Big brother. Talent shows: Top model, singer, chef, businessman. But what has it left society with? We are crueller, voyeuristic in that we want to know everything about someone’s live and more self-obsessed. Celebrities are in the news with plastic surgeries of different kinds and with their lives’ problems on show for all. And it is all drunk in and all want their five minutes of fame. But if all are famous who is there to watch? We are our own gods and we make gods of others.
(3) The third stage is Immorality (vv. 24–25). When we erect our own gods, we can write our own rules, and such a society increasingly becomes immoral and sexually permissive.
Well you know how it is…if it feels good do it. There was a a song in the pop charts 5 years ago called ‘Happy’. This song says ‘clap your hands if you feel like happiness is the truth’. It has a catchy tune but ridiculous words. Happiness is now the test of whether it is good and true and this just opens the doors to all sorts of things – you might be happy to do something but someone on the end of it might not be – then where are you? No, the only standard for truth is Jesus and His Word. We are not necessarily happy with God’s verdict and can choose to ignore it but if we want to be happy in Jesus it is best to trust and obey.
(4) The fourth stage is Homosexuality (vv. 26–27). The fourth step involves the homosexualisation of society. It increasingly becomes a seedbed for homosexual activity and acceptance. This goes without saying since homosexual marriage came into force and nearly every programme and film and especially on BBC TV and radio is filled with homosexual relationships - there is simply no escape from it in the so-called entertainment business. There is a new openness to depravity.
(5) The last and fifth stage is Total Moral Collapse (vv. 28–32). The remainder of the chapter describes a society that is unravelling at the seams. It is moral meltdown. Let me reread what it says in Romans:
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
This five-stage pattern is as true for today’s UK & America as it was for ancient Sodom, Greece, and Rome. It reveals how far we have drifted from God for homosexuality and its acceptance is only the second to last step of complete anarchy - now we accept transgender men running in women’s races and allowing boys and men who think they are girls and women into women’s locker rooms and toilets. We have gone ridiculously mad. Society in the UK and most of the Western World have lost all moorings in the Scripture. And nothing but a pure revival is going to change that for we recognise already in these verses that we are already there as a Nation.
B. The Moral People (2:1–16). Yes, yes, we may say. This society is going to the dogs. It’s terrible what these people do. There’s no excuse for it. But keep reading!
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”: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.
Paul isn’t just referring to the masses of immoral people; he’s also talking about the individuals within that society who think they are morally upright. We’re all sinners facing the wrath of God. We have all done the same things—actually, mentally, or potentially.
2. No chance for the Jews Romans goes on to say (2:17–3:8). “Well, this definitely doesn’t apply to me,” some might say. “I’m not just a moral person; I’m a religious person.” That’s what Paul’s Jewish listeners thought, but he said that it’s “No chance” for them, too.
3. No chance for Everyone (3:9–20). Paul sums it all up in rest of Romans 3 by assembling verses from Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, the theme being the exceeding wickedness of each and every person in God’s sight.
We’ve said that there is no chance for anyone or society. This should not surprise us as the whole world is under the sway of the evil one, Satan. He is the god of this world. But God has not just left everything to go to pot, no! He has made a way to give us a chance and that, as we heard this morning, is through the cross of Jesus Christ for He became sin for us and was judged in our stead. And to prove it was done He rose from the dead.
The forgiveness of sins is one of the most exciting and deep emotions one can have. The sense you are free. The sins that have held onto you in guilt are banished out of sight. Our God forgives and forgets. We, on the other hand now think, not that we are good but that we are too bad to be forgiven just like that. The Accuser stands against us let alone the worst accuser being ourselves. The problem is that we think that since we are Christians that the sins we have accumulated since then are a bigger problem for God and is a bigger problem for us. How can we be forgiven if we do such bad things after becoming Christians?
Actually we have got it all wrong because none of us, even as Christians, can ever be good enough.
10 As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
Did you hear that? There is none righteous. None. We can never meet the standard of God let alone our own standard which is far below God’s. Living in fear, guilt and sin. The only way out is to turn to God, confess our sin. And that is it then. But we keep saying sorry to God for sins God has long forgotten.
1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Forgiveness, Results Of
We all have seen and used those little electronic calculators. What happens if you get your information confused or make an error? You press the “clear” button and automatically all of the information is eliminated from the calculator. Then you begin again, without trying to sort out the previous mistake. In fact, there is no record of your mistake! It is lost forever!
That’s what happens to our sins when God forgives us.
We can never be good enough for God even as Christians and we can never be bad enough for God’s grace not to cover us.
“But now the righteousness of God apart from law is revealed… even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe” (Rom. 3:21–22). Have you believed? Have you put your trust in Jesus?
The Lord Jesus, seeing our condition, came and shed His blood to make atonement for our sins that through Him we might have eternal life. He puts on us the robe of righteousness. He bids us proclaim Him Saviour and Lord – not only to become Christians but daily in His service in thankfulness that though we did not have a chance He took a chance on us.
Benediction
Benediction
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You.
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