Righteousness (2)

Romans  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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2) HOW THE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUSTICE OF GOD ARE REVEALED

Notes
Transcript
I. Introduction
Have you ever at some point in your life just felt terrible when seeing people who have hit hard times, on the corner asking for spare change? Especially those times when you see children out there doing the same with their parents. Now I would think that child protective service would take care of that situation. But be that as it may. Now just think, you pull up at the corner and your heart just drop for the person. So you want to help. You were on your way to grab a burger anyway so you buy two burgers. You go back to the corner and hand the hungry individual the sandwich only to have him slap it out of your hand because the sign specifically said money for food, not food. How disrespected you’d feel after that. Your feelings would be hurt right? You saw that the person had a need, you try to help only to be insulted by the very person you were trying to help.
That’s how it feels to be offended by people you are only trying to help. God saw a need in people that would result in death if he didn’t do something about it. So he sent his only begotten son to die in our stead in order that we don’t die eternally. That’s the gospel message.
God provided a way for all who would put there trust in the cross of Christ for salvation. The work that Christ did on the cross is exactly what humankind needed to avoid eternal death. But just like the beggar who offended the person who cared enough to offer him exactly what he needed to live, we offend God in the same way as if we know best what we need for survival better than God.
In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. Righteousness is the sub theme to the entire book of Romans. The reason for all of humankind to be made right with God is the argument presented in this book. No one is exempt. We all need a savior. That savior who makes you right with God, righteousness, is Jesus the Christ.
In order to be right with God, it was necessary that the righteousness of God be made known, revealed, to all.
  a. Proposition Statement :
The righteousness of God is made known to all.
 b. Transitional Sentence :
How has God made his righteousness know to mankind?
God has made his righteousness known to mankind through justice, retributive justice and remunerative justice. In other words God communicates his righteousness through judgement. And the result of his judgement is either wrath or reward.
II. Main Body   
a. Wrath: Retributive justice
  i.    Romans 1:18-2:5,8
Romans 1:18–2:5 ESV
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
Romans 2:8 ESV
but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
Romans 1:18–2:5 ESV
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
Romans 2:8 ESV
but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
Romans 1:18–2:5 ESV
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
Romans 2:8 ESV
but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
 ii. Argument    
The wrath of God is revealed to show Gods displeasure with all that oppose His gospel, and justice is meted out accordingly.
 iii. Explanation   
In verse 17 the passage says that the righteous shall live by faith. But in order to know the righteousness of God, it is made known through God’s judgement of the unrighteous. God’s displeasure with mankind is based upon the fact that he has acted in opposition to Gods own holy character. Paul says in verse 18 that we know the truth about God but we suppress the truth. To suppress the truth is to know something is true but act or live as if it were not. As if we can ignore it long enough and not talk about, but live the opposite of it long enough to where it seems to have no type of reality in our lives. As if Gods word has no bearing on us.
But God after showing much patience with us as we totally ignore him for so long, he takes his protective hand out from over our lives and the result of that leaves us susceptible to our own desires. It’s the worst thing that can ever happen to a person. To be given over to our own desires is what Scripture calls a depraved mind. A depraved mind is a person who has totally bought in to the fact that all that pleases him is right, and all that doesn’t please him is wrong. It’s the clear opposite of Gods righteousness. (Read vv 28-32).
Therefore God in order to reveal his displeasure in that which opposes the righteousness made known to us through the gospel, the cross of Christ, God must eventually mete out punishment, his wrath on the unrighteous, the ungodly.
  
iv. Illustration    
The majority of the people in this world seem to think the God’s word only apply to those of us who are paying attention of what God is saying to us, not knowing that in the end every soul that has ever walked this planet will have to give an account to the gospel, the cross of Christ. It’s like a person who has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer who decides that they are gonna ignore the fact that they are sick  and not take the medicine nor receive treatment, hoping that the cancer will just go away if you ignore it long enough. It’s gonna kill you if you chose to ignore the fact that the cancer is eating you alive.
v. Personal Application    
Romans 1:16–17 ESV
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
vi. Transitional Sentence
b. Remunerative justice
III. Conclusion  
 a. Restate Division Titles  
 b. Proposition Statement  
 c. Personal Application
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