Romans 3:9-20 "The Fallacy of Good Works"

Introduction

The fallacy of good works is very simple. It is the false notion that fallen man has that he can save himself by performing good works in order to be reconciled to God.

This is the basis of every religious pursuit outside of biblical Christianity.

You don’t have to be an expert on all the world religions to be able to engage those who practice those belief systems.

There is always some pursuit of man moving upward by his performance into the acceptance of his god.

Mormonism is built upon this premise. I once toured a Mormon temple prior to its dedication. As we journeyed through it we took stairs going up higher and higher.

As we reached the highest floor we met in a room in preparation to go into what they referred to as the celestial room.

The guide told us that we had been going up ever since our tour started. Even on this final level even the floor was slanted higher towards the celestial room.

The celestial room was astoundingly beautiful with the white decor and the beautiful woodwork with polished brass shinning like gold.

False religion incorporates human performance into everything they do. It is very appealing and affirming to human pride.

The idea that man can perform and earn his own way into the favor of his god is completely contradictory to the Universal Indictment of Scripture. Look at verses 9-18:

I. The Universal Indictment (9-18).

These verses describe what God says about fallen man in his moral character. This is the picture of what man looks like in his actions if left to himself and to his truth suppression.

Most of the verses come from various Psalms and from Jeremiah and Isaiah the prophets.

Fallen man doesn’t seek for God on his own, he doesn’t pursue good and he doesn’t fear the God of the Bible.

Man may seek a god because he has been created to worship but due to his sin nature he will not seek on his own the God of the Bible.

Adam proved this immediately after the fall. God came into the garden and man ran for the bushes out of the guilt and shame of his sin. It was God who called out to Adam.

Man will fashion false gods out of his own perceptions of what he wants his god to be. The desires of his fallen heart will shape his theological play-dough to resemble his own desire for his god.

God must initiate transformation in man by His sovereign grace in order for this to change.

Verse 18 tells us that there is no fear of God before their eyes. They have no fear of the wrath to come. They are full of their own confident assurance that there is no divine accountability.

Because if someone suppresses the truth of the existence of God revealed in nature and the moral law then there will never be any accountability.

Socially and Politically this secular humanism worldview ostracizes a biblical worldview to the fringes of the modern day culture.

Christianity has become irrelevant or at best just one of many possible worldviews that someone can embrace. So if Christianity doesn’t inform our moral ethic then what does?

Maybe a better question would be, What was the source and basis of the worldview that decided that Christianity had to take an equal seat to all the other worldviews in the modern day? In other words what worldview decided that moral relativism was right?

Christian it didn’t come from the Bible. It came from our infatuation with our own human autonomy. It is the idea that man is the measure of all things for his life and existence.

Example: Mother who said she doesn’t want to force Christianity on her kids. She wanted them to grow up and decide for themselves if they wanted to go to Church.

The Bible tells me what my kids would do if left to themselves. I know because the Bible tells me so.

Any parent who doesn’t realize this about their family is no different than an individual who doesn’t realize it about their society and their culture.

We like secular humanism because it put us in the drivers seat but there are Universal Implications that one has to ignore to be tolerant of this worldview. Look at verses 19-20:

II. The Universal Implication (19-20).

The law speaks of everyone universally. Regardless of whether it is written on the pages of Scripture or upon the hearts of men (19).

Because of this every mouth is stopped from declaring their own righteousness before God. This is due to the undeniable existence of God and the inescapable implications of the moral law.

And this leaves all of the world universally accountable to God. He is the Creator who made man in His own image to live before Him in righteousness. And human beings ever since the fall have lived in defiance of the one, true God.

We all died in Adam and we show it every day that we would have done no different.

This is what law does. It exposes fallen man for what he really is. There are even times when human beings attempt to compensate for their sin and to alleviate their sense of shame and guilt through good deeds.

This is when we imagine our sin on one side and our good deeds on the other side and we think that we could somehow tip the scales in our favor and earn acceptance into God’s heaven.

Fallen man has an infatuation with such a notion. But God doesn’t weigh the man in the balance by using the man himself as the standard for the scale.

The truth is the weight of the scale has the Holiness and perfection of the righteousness of God on one side and man in his fallen nature on the other side.

The contrast is infinite in comparison but to illustrate; It would be like a small grain of sand on one side with the whole of planet earth on the other side.

This is why during the First Great Awakening the famous evangelist George Whitefield in his last sermon just before his death in 1769 declared: “Works! Works! A man get to heaven by works! I would as soon as think of climbing to the moon on a rope of sand!” George Whitefield

We need a righteousness that is of Holy Perfection on our side in order to balance the scale on our behalf. This is the dilemma of all humanity born in Adams line. “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes the knowledge of sin.”

Conclusion:

So unbeliever, what good works do you have that will justify you before a Holy God? You need someone with Holy, righteous perfection to balance your scale.

You need a savior to come to your rescue. Someone who is a perfect sacrifice to die in your place and to have His righteousness to occupy your side of the scale. This is the only way a human being can measure up to the standard of the righteousness of God.

Believer, if you don’t remember what you were saved from and what the gospel has done for you, you probably will not find your ultimate joy in the Lord.

You will be tempted to find it from some aspect of the world. Christ is the catalyst that we live all of our life through.

You probably will not be too inspired to tell others either. Because if you can make it without emphasizing Christ in your life, you probably wont see the need to communicate Him to others for their lives.

The gospel brings us back to the truth of our hope and joy in the Lord. Confess your sin and rest in Him for Christian He has balanced your scale.

Lets Pray!