There is None Who Does Good
Well this morning we are talking about something that's going to sound familiar for the men who were at men's group on Tuesday to be talked a little bit about what I'm going to talk about this morning.
If you have your Bibles, you can turn to Psalm 53. That's where we're at in a reading plan. Well earlier this week and that's where we're going to be. focusing this morning Psalm 53 said this
this will says in his heart there is no God. They are corrupt doing abominable iniquity. There is none who does good? God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand who seek after God. They have all Fallen away. Together they have become corrupt. There is none who does good not even one.
Have those who work evil. No knowledge who eat up my people as they eat bread and who do not call upon God. There they are in great Terror where there is no Terror. Forgot scatters the bones of him who encamped against you you put them to shame for God has rejected them. Oh that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion when God restores the fortunes of his people. Let Jacob Rejoice let Israel be glad.
Unisom 53 a bit of a unique song in that if you were to slip back way earlier on Into the Book of Psalms all the way back to some fourteen what you're going to find is you're going to find an almost-identical song there. So I'm 53 and Psalm 52 are almost identical to each other except for a few words and a few phrases in the biggest difference between 53 and 14 are found at the end of each one of the song David encourages the righteous that the Lord is present with them as a refuge when evil men come against them.
In Psalms 53 David speaks of a decisive victory over such evil men. And so what is saying persevere when evil men come against you and one is celebrating a victory against such evil men in this leads commentators to believe that's on 53 was changed by David David wrote both. So I'm 14. And so I'm 53 and we believe that David change the song 53 to celebrate when Israel conquered over their enemies during a specific victory that they had that we're not sure which Victory exactly that was just on 53 is this reminder that the Lord is with his people and then they will have victory over their enemies and so I'm 14 is a reminder for his people that the Lord is with them and they should remain faithful and persevere until such Victory comes. So this is the historical context of Psalm 53 and so I'm 14 and that's about as much as I'm going to say about the historical context this morning because what I want to do is I want to consider Psalm 53 in the expanded context in which the Apostle Paul considers it when he frames it in Romans 3 is part of his arguments in the first few chapters of Romans. He uses a portion of this song as support for the argument that he makes in Romans 1 2 and 3 and it is an argument that declares that all mankind is under the condition of sin. I got some good news for you this morning. I want to look at the this in context a focus on what great Sinners we are. But so that through it we may see and we may be able to Revel in the mercy of God that he has had on our lives but extending Grace to sinful men and women who are desperately lost apart from receiving that Grace from the Lord.
That's my goal this morning that you will Revel and you will glory in God's grace over your life. And there's a heresy that's growing in the modern church. And it's a heresy that isn't new at all. But it's making its way back around his heresies often do all which is actually something that is good to know. It's something for us to have in the back of our minds to have understanding that he receives are rarely if ever new ideas that sound new are really just a refrain meaning of heresies that have already been dealt with that have already been condemned by the early church as Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 1:9 what has been is what will be and what has been done is what will be done and there's nothing new Under the Sun. It's almost heresies that you come against have already been dealt with at some point in the history of Jesus's Church in the specific heresy that I'm referring to this morning is the belief that human beings are relatively good. Is the belief that is always present in the natural man. The one who is apart from Christ the natural man believes that he or she is a good person and that I was a good person. They don't deserve to go to hell. Yes, they deserve to go to heaven and this is a belief that is often articulated by non-christians when they use the statement. Will God wouldn't send a good person to hell. Maybe we should course is a misunderstanding and a miss representation of the Christian belief, but it's based on what is taught in every other worldview and every other religion. The people have the capacity in themselves to be good. The people have the capacity in themselves to achieve Heaven whatever the definition of Heaven is in that world view or that religion. Where is Christianity alone? We believe people are not good. We believe only God is good. And therefore we could never meet the standard of goodness. There's require to please a hole in a righteous God and what we are deserving of his not having at all, but we are deserving of hell. This is what God's word teaches. This is what Jesus taught in this is what the church has always believed.
However, the thought that human beings are mostly good is once again growing in Jesus's Church in our day and much of this belief comes out of the prosperity and the word of faith and the Progressive Church movements where Jesus is often presented as a helper for men to assist us in achieving. Our desire is a helper for us to live out our best life in give us he gives us space to live according to how we are inclined to live rather than viewing him correctly as our savior and our King who lifted us out of our complete corruption so that we may not see the pit of Hell which we deserve in its entirety. And whom we are eternally grateful to and show our love and our gratitude for him with how we live our lives to glorify his name.
In the prosperity and Word of Faith movements in the newest Progressive Church. Sin becomes an evil that is present that we need to be rescued from but it's merely a bump in the road. It's merely a bump it the Jesus gets you past so that you can focus on what really matters being prosperous being healthy being blessed and living in Victory all the while living as we see fit.
These things can only be a part of the equation of Christianity. If you think you are relatively good because if you are relatively good you are deserving of all of these things.
Christ van isn't so much a savior as he is a Savvy business manager that works for your enjoyment Here and Now helping you out with this pesky problem of sin in order for you to experience your best life.
Under all of this is the belief that you're relatively good. Attacked the prosperity and where the faith preachers will go as far as to say that 99.9% of people are good people.
Or we're all gods because we have the image of God within us so we can't be that bad.
Variations of this heresy in the Christian church go back as far as the 5th Century to a time of one of the most famous Church fathers in history Augustine of Hippo. A British man by the name of pelagus sparked a debate in the church after reading a passage that Augustine it written and wholeheartedly disagreeing with the implications. Augustine made in his passage written the following prayer. He said grant me the grace to do what you command and command me to do what you will this was Augustine prayer to God grant me the grace to do what you command and command me to do what you will and is there is a strong appeal to God's sovereignty in a giving of his grace to human beings Augustine is saying God, I need you to grant me grace before I'm able to Avail. Your commands Grace is the predecessor to my obedience to you. You cannot have obedience without Grace. This is what Augustine was praying. And play Just disagreed with the implications of this. Augustine taught that apart from the word of God apart from God moving and divine grace toward us apart from God initiating the gift of Grace in our lives. We are holy and righteous we are wholly unable to uphold his command do to our condition of sin. And play just on the other hand bleed. If God is shoes a command to someone the fact that he issued the command implies the one who receives a command already has the ability to obey existing within him or within her. God doesn't need to Grant the ability for obedience to his grace human beings already have it. We just have to choose it.
Sophie frame this thinking in the context of Salvation. The precursor to Salvation is to repent to recognize that you are a sinner who is living holy and Disobedience to the Lord and then believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that he has provided a way to be right with you with God.
Play this is thinking means that any man or woman has the ability within themselves to obey that command which initiates saving faith in their life.
Play just came to this conclusion because of what he believed incorrectly about. What happened at the fall of Adam and Eve age is believed that atoms in only affected Adam. It is sin did not cause a change in the nature of the human race as a whole that man was stillborn in the state of righteousness has one created in the image of God and that righteous State could never change his man Bears God's image.
Adam's sin, then simply brought sin into the world, but man could still choose to sin. or to a bay
We retain the ability to be obedient to God. And live a life of righteousness before him if we so choose.
Meeting God's grace was not necessary. It wasn't prerequisite to obedience. Is belief reduce the fall of Adam to Adam merely setting a bad example for the human race and if we follow in Adams footsteps just as he is guilty. We will also be guilty, but it's a choice. We can choose not to.
On the other side of this argument was Augustine and on the other side of this argument was God's word and Jesus and the apostles who argued that the Falls seriously impaired the moral ability of the human race, it plunged all of humanity into a ruinous state that we called Original Sin causing us to have the inability to do good or to be obedient to God apart from him initiating our reconciliation to him by extending the gift of Grace leading to obedience.
Play Justice view is ultimately condemned as heretical in 4:18 at the Council of Carthage. He was exiled in 429 and condemned by the church and 431 at the Council of Ephesus. Who's where this heresy originated? nnrj, we see remnants of pelagianism and variations of this belief system still present touched on the extreme version of it in the the heretical church movements that are alive and well in our day, but but there's one variation that is more subtle there remains in a more Orthodox side of Jesus's church and it's a variation called semi-pelagianism which was an attempt to bridge the gap between the augustinian view and the pelagian view the semi pelagianism teachers that Grace is necessary to achieve righteousness, but this grace is not given to a sinner according to God's Sovereign decree rather The Sinner makes the initial step of faith and then Saving Grace is given Is the idea that the center initiates relationship with God instead of God initiating relationship with the center as though God was waiting to see what you were going to do.
As though the giving of his grace is dictated by you.
How are you this morning? This is not at all the case. This is not Christianity and it cannot be the case based on how scripture explains our condition prior to Salvation. The message of the Bible is that God had a plan long before the fall of Man even occurred. He had a plan to save Sinners who are condemned in sin because of the falls were wholly corrupted by its affection are unable to save ourselves from our corruption Who Remain condemned apart from God except for God providing a way for salvation to us and giving us the grace and the ability to receive it by bestowing his grace upon us.
A Grace that must first be received in order to be obedient to him. obedience follows salvation Salvation does not follow obedience. That is a Works based gospel if I choose God and he responded to my choice by giving me his grace. I did a work in which I can boast.
I chose God look at me and then he extended his grace to me. And Paul has a response to that line of thinking in Ephesians 2:8 296 for by Grace. You have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing it is the gift of God not a result of work so that no one may boast what Paul is saying they're very clearly you didn't do it or else it is not Grace if you received it by a good work, we should be you're choosing it then it's not a gift.
You're just getting the wages that you deserve for the work that you did. And so now you can say look what I did. Look what I ironed and Paul cut the legs out from that kind of thinking. He said it's not your doing it's not a result of works. You can't stand there and say look at what I did. You cannot boast. It's a gift so that all you can say is looking what God did look at what he did in my life. Look what God gave to me the grace that he bestowed upon me. So that we can do.
So let's look at some 53 and will frame it and Paul's argument from Romans and we'll see we can't choose God.
You don't have that ability in ourselves psalm 53:1. He says the fool says in his heart. There is no God. They are corrupt doing a Bominable iniquity. There is none who does good? David Begins by speaking about this person who he calls the fool and you describe some of the attributes in the consequences of being that fool. The fool says in his heart. There is no God suing is the inner being at the core of this person's conviction in a hardware Everything. Jesus says stems from he has absolutely no regard for God. He has no care for his command. He has no care for his people he is wholly concerned with himself. The pool holds a humanist secular view which emphasizes the personal worth of self. It's All About Me
David uses three unique Expressions to emphasize the character. This person says they are corrupt which means morally perverted they're unable to act in a moral way. They are doing a bomb inable iniquity which means they are ritually unclean. So is this idea that they have a disease and when they were sick when they had a disease or certain diseases, they couldn't come before the temple. They couldn't worship with the people there ritually unclean the cannot approach God. And this results in none who does good doing absolutely nothing good the characteristics of the fool that David paints out here are pretty bleak.
And then David turns his attention from the fool. He turns his attention to God's perspective in verse 2. Says God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand who seek after God God is looking down from his throne and he's assessing the children amazed looking at every single one of us the entirety of the human race and he's accessing them as a judge would look upon a defendant in a court case to determine guilty or not guilty.
Any looks any seeds if there's any who understand meaning is there anyone who is wise and the definition of wisdom in this case is given whether or not someone is seeking after him. That is how we know who is wise. Is there anyone seeking after me? Universe 3 the verdict comes from God they have all Fallen away. Together they have been corrupt. There is none who does good? Not even one.
God looks down and sees Humanity. And gives his judgment on all of humanity. Does all have turned aside switch translated directly means all have become apostate. They ever announce their belief in God. Resulting in everyone together having become corrupt. Do God declares together they become corrupt. I'm immediately reminded of the Tower of Babel where people said to one another together, right? They took counsel with one another they decided to make bricks and mortar and build a city with a large tower all the way to the heavens in order. So that together human beings made make a name for themselves that we may glorify ourselves in the Lord sees that he looks down at the people that are gathered together and he judges if they carry capable of this they're capable of anything they will turn aside for me and he confuses their language and uses versus them throughout the Earth. It reminds me of the picture of humanity Before the Flood God looks down and determines before the flood in Genesis 6:5 the Lord saw the wickedness of man. It was great on the earth and every intention. Of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
evolve Falling Away They're all corrupt. There's none who does good. Not one. That is God's judgement on Humanity.
How are you feeling about ourselves we get can we go to put yourself this morning just here to lift you up encourage you in the Lord?
Now look back at first one. Let me see the entirety of what David is communicating. David argument is this the fool says there's no God and does abominable things and does nothing good. God looks down and sees none do good conclusion. All of humanity is a fool described in verse 1. That's David's argument. That doesn't necessarily mean that all Humanity or atheists there degrees of how falling man denies God the extreme is of course atheism, but there are also those who won't deny God but deny his claim over their life by living in Independence of God and Independence of his commands. The verdict is the same. It's foolishness. And it's all of humanity.
The Lord's verdict is no one is good. Not one and I just picked up by Paul enrollment enrollment 3 Paul uses several Old Testament quotes to show the weather. You're a Jew or whether you were Greek or a gentile, which is every single one of us. All people are under sin. He says as it is written. None is righteous. No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks after God all have turned aside together. They have become worthless. No one does good. Not even one. Their throat is an open grave that use their tongues to deceive. The Venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness their feet are Swift to shed blood in their past our ruin and misery in the way of peace. They have not known there is no fear of God Before Their Eyes. This is Paul's conclusion regarding the condition of all human beings. The language is very certain. It's all-encompassing. He leaves absolutely no wiggle room for arguing that there is any goodness in any man or woman? He leaves no space for inquiries. Will what about this purse. Order me. I'm not that bad. I'm a pretty good person. He leaves no space none. No, not one all turn all are worthless. Not even one.
Paul is communicating very clearly hear the doctrine was called total depravity.
Total depravity reflects the reality of original sin. It is called original sin because it is our origin from the moment of birth Psalm 51:5 David cries out to God. I was born in sin and in sin did my mother conceive me? He's recognizing that from the from the moment. He was born. He was completely sinful total depravity. Did this condition of original sin has captured and gripped the entirety of our human nature. That's why it's called total. Affect our bodies, which is why we die. It affects our minds and our thinking which is why the natural man has M&T before God's why we have depraved thoughts and effects are emotion is depression fit cuz has to be enslaved evil impulses and desires. We are totally meaning the totality of who we are depraved bison. This is what Psalm 53 says. This is what Paul says in Romans 3. There's no one that's good. Not even one.
So to go from this all-encompassing indictment and judgment on the human race and conclude that man can do nothing good man who can do nothing good can somehow make a decision to be obedient to God and pick themselves up out of the deep pit of saying that they're in and follow Jesus Christ without first receiving the initiating work of God's grace upon their life to recognize our condemnation if they are under deep repentance required to turn from their sin and their wickedness is too big of a jump to make and it is too big of a jump in the Bible does not attempt to make the entirety of God's work in the life of a sinner is a gift from the start to the Eternal continuation of it. All of it is a gift from God. God's Gift starts with the fact that God chose every single one of us Ephesians 1:4 even as he chose us in him before the foundations of the worlds that we would be holy and blameless before him John 15:16. You did not choose me. I chose you and appointed you and you should go and bear fruit and that fruit should have bought 1st Thessalonians 1:2 for we know Brothers loved by God that he has chosen you God's Gift Begin by him choosing you before the foundations of the worth in spite of the fact that you are a sinner than you are mine. I have chosen you. Here's my gift of Grace upon you. And it continues as he works in your life is a gift of Grace Philippians 1:6 and I am sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion of the day of Jesus Christ Hebrews 13 2021. Now may the God of Peace who brought again from the dead our lord Jesus the great Shepherd of the Sheep by the blood of the Eternal Covenant equip you with every good everything good that you may do his will working in us. Which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ whom be glory forever and ever. Amen God chose you before the foundation of the earth. It is a gift he continues to sustain you and work in you because it is a gift he who began in you will bring it to completion. Not you him. He who began in you will equip you with everything that you need in order to reach completion him not you is a gift and then into eternity. The fact that we receive attorney is a gift that we will inherit in the second coming of Jesus and the ultimate salvation we spend with him in eternity 1st Peter 1:13 there for preparing your minds for action and being sober minded set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ do as we going to return it. When Jesus comes again, please prepare yourself for the grace that he is going to bring and that Grace is the ultimate Grace we go to be with him an eternity at the revelation of Jesus Christ. He chose you it was he sustains you it's a gift you could have any tourney with him. It is a gift God pours his grace out on the spinner. That is why is a gift.
All of life is a gift from God that is given and that is received. We cannot earn it. And you may wonder why why does this matter? Why did I spend an entire morning talking about this and I'll tell you why it matters. It matters for the glory of God. That's why it matters. It matters that God be glorified above all things. We talked about it before right. God does all things for his glory his first and foremost for his glory and then he's for our good and it is the same and him choosing you and calling you and state to find you and bringing you into eternity with him. It is for His glory other people look at you and see your father through you so that you may not sit there go. Guess what I did I chose John guess what God did he lifted me out of a pit and he put me on a solid foundation. He did everything when we think that we have to do some things that puts a burden on us that we cannot bear. God bears that burden from start to finish into eternity and we glorify him in all things because everything that we have is a gift from him. Why would it be different with salvation?
Let's pray. Heavenly Father we glorify you this morning. knowing bit it was your grace. They even allowed us to take a breath when we came from my mother's womb. Is your grace for why we get up every single morning and we have life. Is your grace for why we know you why we are here this morning glory flying your name. It is your glory for why we live.
Help us to get our eyes off of ourselves help us to get our eyes off of the things that we think we need to do and focus on the things that you have done.
Father may we have such a high view of you in this place? Ring of the fullness of our lives would be the glorification of your name. And we recognize recognize from every moment. From first breath to Eternity when we praise you before the throne. You have been so gracious.
And you've bestowed so much. And we owe everything to you.
God may we never think that we have a high enough view of you? a mines cannot comprehend it.
The Lord we give you praise this morning. An honor for all that you are and all that you've done in Jesus name. amen