Rom 3-Our Faithful God-manuscript

| Our Faithful God! Romans 3:1-8

March 19, 2006 (NLT) 1Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the Jewish ceremony of circumcision? 2Yes, being a Jew has many advantages. First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God.3True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they broke their promises, does that mean God will break his promises? 4Of course not! Though everyone else in the world is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say, “He will be proved right in what he says, and he will win his case in court.”5“But,” some say, “our sins serve a good purpose, for people will see God’s goodness when he declares us sinners to be innocent. Isn’t it unfair, then, for God to punish us?” (That is actually the way some people talk.) 6Of course not! If God is not just, how is he qualified to judge the world? 7“But,” some might still argue, “how can God judge and condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” 8If you follow that kind of thinking, however, you might as well say that the more we sin the better it is! Those who say such things deserve to be condemned, yet some slander me by saying this is what I preach!  Memory Verse:Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Roman 12:1 (NIV) 1. The value of being a “Jew” (vv. 1-2)(NLT) 1Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the Jewish ceremony of circumcision? 2Yes, being a Jew has many advantages. First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God.F    “Entrusted with the whole revelation of God”The Scriptures are, first and foremost a “revelation of God.”There is no other place where we can go to find this. The Bible is not one holy book among many. This is impossible because they contradict each other and each (or at least many of them), including the Bible, claim to be the only source of God’s truth.The Jewish people were entrusted with preserving and passing on this revelation. The extreme care with which they made copies of the Old Testament Scriptures was truly astounding! They understood that, in the Scriptures, they had the very WORDS OF GOD!This both a great privilege and an awesome responsibility James 3:1 – (NLT) Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness. The Scriptures were never meant to hidden, but rather to be proclaimed. F    The need for a high view of Scripture and the dangers of a low viewØ    Modernism, postmodernism and truthWhat’s true for you doesn’t necessarily have to be true for me. Truth is relative. This view effectively undercuts all authority. It makes all truth doubtful at best. The interesting thing about this is that the same people who would deny the existence of absolute truth, or truth which is true for everyone, insist that there cannot be a God because he cannot be scientifically verified. In other words, since we cannot PROVE the existence of God by repetition and trial and error, since we cannot PROVE that God is real by a consistent, scientifically verifiable “truth,” then they are SURE that it is TRUE that there is no God!!! What FOOLISHNESS! What BLINDNESS!!!Pragmatism – If it works, then that is what matters. It doesn’t matter whether something is right or wrong, whether it is good or bad. What matters is, does it work. The problem with this is we would all define what “works” from our own perspective, from the perspective of what is best for ME!We might as well each write our own Bible!Ø    Luke 6:46-49(NLT) 46 “So why do you call me ‘Lord,’ when you won’t obey me? 47I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then obeys me. 48It is like a person who builds a house on a strong foundation laid upon the underlying rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against the house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49But anyone who listens and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will crumble into a heap of ruins.” F    The Scriptures are supernatural.Ø    Plenary vs mechanical inspirationThere two types of inspiration of Scripture, plenary and mechanical. Plenary inspiration is where God enables a man to write history or letters, or whatever in such a way that it is completely consistent with the writers own knowledge and personality. What he writes are his own thoughts. However (comma) at the same time, because of the work of the Holy Spirit in that man, he is writing EXACTLY what God wants him to write and therefore it is ALSO God’s Word and not merely the human author’s opinion. Therefore, when Paul wrote his letters to the churches he was writing to them exactly what he wanted to tell them, but he was also writing God’s Word for all generations to come.Mechanical inspiration is where God tells the writer EXACTLY what to write or to say. The words which are written have nothing to do with the human author’s thoughts or ideas. The human author is merely putting what God tells him on paper.“Scripture, although also written of men, is not of men nor from men, but from God.” Martin LutherThere is a serious problem and danger when one looses the principle of the inerrancy of Scripture – “The scholar becomes the authority who tells us what is true and what is not true, what is of God and what is not of God, what we are to believe and what we are not to believe.” James BoiceØ    The Bible is supernatural, both in its origin and in its effect.2 Peter 1:20-21 – (NLT) Above all, you must understand that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophets themselves 21 or because they wanted to prophesy. It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God.Isa. 55:11 – (NIV) My word… will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.Ø    The Bible is supernatural in its ability to save sinnersI Peter 1:23 – (NIV) For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.James 1:18 –  He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. Ø    The Bible is supernatural in its ability to convict of sin and to enable people to turn from it.2 Timothy 3:16 – (NIV) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.Ø    The Bible sanctifies (makes holy) God’s people John 17:17 – (NIV) Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.2. God’s faithfulness & our unfaithfulness (vv. 3-4)(NLT) 3True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they broke their promises, does that mean God will break his promises? 4Of course not! Though everyone else in the world is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say, “He will be proved right in what he says, and he will win his case in court.”F    What about the Jew?If Jews are perishing because they don’t believe in Jesus (and most Jews do not) isn’t God being unfaithful to His covenant promises to them? That is another topic, one that we will deal with in detail in Romans 9-11. However, the short answer is that we are ALL under sin and NO ONE, Jew or anyone else, has any hope apart from God’s grace. F    The amazingness of graceThe Big question: “Will our lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? – The answer (v. 4): Of course not!Biblical truths:Ø    God is sovereign and all that He does is just.Ø    God will not break His promises.2 Timothy 2:13 – If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.Two levels of promise: corporate and individual, national and personal – i.e. the promises he makes to us as His covenant community – In the wheat and the tares Jesus points out that there will always be true believers and unbelievers mixed together in the church. We must not try to weed out the unbelievers, except by faithfully proclaiming the gospel and insisting on obedience to Christ. We CANNOT know men’s hearts and MUST not place ourselves in judgment over them!There has, and always will be, a remnant of faithful believers amongst the unfaithful. For the sake of those believers, God has mercy on their fellows and when he makes His promises, He does so with them, in particular, in mind.Ø    God gives the Holy Spirit all those who truly believe “as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.” (Eph 1:14)Ø    In spite of great corporate or national unbelief, some Jews, today as when Paul wrote, believe in Jesus as their Messiah.Ø    In the Old Testament, as in the New, the way of salvation is through the channel of faith and God’s promises. It is not, and never was through personal righteousness or faithfulness, as though any man could be good enough to MERIT a place with God.A danger: We often tend to presume to “oblige [God] to save [us] regardless of what we either believe or do.” (Boice)The Jews did it by virtue of their lineage. |   | We do it by virtue of ours, or because we attend church or been baptized or whatever. We PRESUME that God HAS to accept us.There is a BIG difference between presuming upon God, as if He were in any way obligated to us, and believing Him and trusting in His promises!God IS faithful. He will do what he promised. Even our unfaithfulness or fickleness will not change that. 3. God’s glory & our sin (vv. 5-8)(NLT) 5“But,” some say, “our sins serve a good purpose, for people will see God’s goodness when he declares us sinners to be innocent. Isn’t it unfair, then, for God to punish us?” (That is actually the way some people talk.) 6Of course not! If God is not just, how is he qualified to judge the world? 7“But,” some might still argue, “how can God judge and condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” 8If you follow that kind of thinking, however, you might as well say that the more we sin the better it is! Those who say such things deserve to be condemned, yet some slander me by saying this is what I preach! F    Is God “fair?” (v. 5 NLT)Fair means treating everybody equally.Just means treating everybody as they deserve.By this definition, God is not “fair.” He does treat His own equally, not according to what they deserve. But He does not treat us all the same.We do not all have the same benefits or opportunities. We do not all have the same obstacles or hurts.He Does treat everybody, at least in SOME sense, fairly, rather than as they deserve (common grace) – Matthew 5:45However,He does not treat His own the same as He treats those who reject Him.“Fairness” is a vague term we often use to justify our feelings of resentment towards someone else. Life is NOT fair. God never claims to be fair. But He IS just.The real question: How can God be both JUST and, at the same time, justify sinners like us?!? (More on that in weeks to come)F    Do our sins glorify God? (v. 5)Our sins serve a good purpose, for people will see God’s goodness when he declares us sinners to be innocent.It is true that God’s grace is seen all the more clearly in the face of deserved judgment.God will be glorified in the just judgment of those who reject Him AND He will be glorified in His gracious acceptance of us by grace, through the finished work of Jesus Christ.When we preach the gospel… (we either confirm God’s glory in His justice or we confirm His glory in His grace, depending on the hearer’s response)F    Then why NOT sin?“How can God judge and condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” (v. 7)The end does not justify the means. Right is still right and wrong is still wrong. Throughout history this argument has been used to justify horrific things, like the communists or the Nazis… even the CHURCHIn fact, in God’s eyes, we can DO everything right STILL be fully deserving of His judgment.God makes clear that He will hold us accountable for our sin. Even though it is forgiven, He still expects us to repent of it. Even though we are saved by His grace, He still expects us to be obedient…“Vain” Grace (2 Cor. 6:1 – As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.)We need to view temptation as an opportunity, rather than as a hardship. That’s what grace does…v. 8 – If you follow that kind of thinking (of sinning in order for God’s grace to bring Him glory), however, you might as well say that the more we sin the better it is! Those who say such things deserve to be condemned! (NLT)As believers we need to view obedience to God as a glorious opportunity rather than a burden. Do we trust Him enough to want to obey Him? Do we love Him enough to want to please Him? – It is travesty when we come to understand God’s amazing grace to us and then decide that obedience is no longer important!!! – Like attendance at church or involvement in ministry – Martin Luther, I believe it was, was once woken by peddlers getting their wares ready for market. He thought to himself, does not MY master deserve more than THEIRS?!? Doesn’t our Lord deserve more than theirs?Do we apply ourselves to excellence only when a paycheck is at stake?God is, indeed, glorified, even in our sin. The glory of His amazing grace does, indeed, shine all the more brightly in the face our unworthiness.It is true that He does not love us more for our obedience, nor less for our disobedience. His love is bound up in His choice, in His investment, so-to-speak, in us. His love is, indeed, unconditional. However, that SHOULD motivate us to ever greater love and obedience. THAT is how His grace is most honoring to Him, in the transformation of fallen, self-consumed sinners into sons and daughters of the King of King and Lord of Lord! A Truth to Remember: Just as God is the one Who began a good work in us, so also it is He Who will bring it to completion.A Challenge to Consider: Are there any ways in your life that you make God’s grace vain (empty) by failing to take sin seriously? |