Righteousness Needed!

Righteousness of God revealed - Book of Romans  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  42:58
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Is hearing enough?

As we head into this last section on - Guilty! the Gentiles have been convicted, the world convicted now comes the Jews. The Jews heard, knew the word, but was that enough?
Hear the word (Rom10:17; Mt11:15)
Faith comes by hearing we know that one.
Matthew 11:15 NASB95
15 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Write the word (Deu11:18; Pro7:3)
Deuteronomy 11:18 NASB95
18 “You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
and add to that
Proverbs 7:3 NASB95
3 Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.
You hear the word so you can apply the word, right?
Apply the word (Jm1:22-25)
James 1:22–23 NASB95
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
James 1:24–25 NASB95
24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
Q- hear, writing, applying does that mean you believe?
Come on in school you had to do math, but never thought it was going to be applicable, or science, or history, you did it but thought at the time it had no value, for the most part. - in hindsight you found out many of those things were of great value. So, belief goes beyond application, it goes to internalization
(Transition) So, this message this morning, the last of the “guilty” sub-section, of the messages hard to hear we will look at yes, even the Jews were guilty, and righteousness was needed.

Jews: Privilege without perception

Have you ever felt privileged? The Jews thought that their Jewish heritage gave them privilege and preference, but they had a wrong perception.
First, we need to glean from the passage, we have broken down in three sections, I will do each section independently as we go through our study this morning.
Romans 3:1–2 NASB95
1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.
Romans 3:3–4 NASB95
3 What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? 4 May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, That You may be justified in Your words, And prevail when You are judged.”
Romans 3:5–6 NASB95
5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) 6 May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?
Romans 3:7–8 NASB95
7 But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.
Anything stick out to you? Any words that we should define so to get better understanding?
Paul starts off (v.1) with a statement, or a question, what is it?
He answers the question (v.2), how does he answer it?
What can we know about the faithfulness of God (v.3-4)?
What does our (Jews) unrighteousness demonstrate (v.5-6)
We have to remember that Paul is addressing the church at Rome but with a focus on the Jews at the moment, it was for them, but yet we can still learn and apply too
An outlandish statement is made about what the apostles were supposedly saying, what is it (v.8)?
Some points to consider:
(Insert Points to consider Picture here)
Jews had privilege (advantage) but with wrong perception (vv.1-2)
They had been entrusted with the oracles of God; and we know they had the promises of God through the prophets
They thought being a Jew was enough, was it?
Can we have a wrong perception too?
They had been shown the faithfulness of God, yet there was unbelief (v.3)
They had the evidence yet they did not accept the evidence that was overwhelming. They knew the faithfulness of God who said “this is My Son in whom I’m well pleased.” Yet they did not believe.
God is true, but every man is a liar (v.4)
Paul throughout our entire passage inferences or uses other passages the readers would have been familiar with, note down from this verse (Job40:8; Jn3:33; Ps62:9) you may have those in the margin or center column of your bible, but in case not, there they are.
Our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God. (v.5)
God is not unjust in inflicting wrath on the liar, on man, on the unrighteous. Paul uses in the negative sense ‘Is God unjust?”
God was going to judge by truth; don’t believe the lies (vv.7-8)
Look again at (v.7) even when spoken of negatively (claims a lie), God is getting glory through the truth.
Truth presented does not mean truth received, truth believed, but it does not change the fact of the truth.
So what advantage did the Jews have? None if they did not live up to the law, to the commands, to the ordinances of God. Paul has been driving home the point, to the Gentiles, to the Jews we are all guilty, we are all in this together. We are all under sin..

Presentation - all under sin

Guilty, Paul now changes to a court of law view, so join me and let’s see what is going on in the court.
Romans 3:9–10 NASB95
9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10 as it is written, There is none righteous, not even one;
Romans 3:11–12 NASB95
11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
Romans 3:13–14 NASB95
13 Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” The poison of asps is under their lips”; 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
Romans 3:15–16 NASB95
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood, 16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
Romans 3:17–18 NASB95
17 And the path of peace they have not known.” 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Anything stick out, any words to define?
Paul is very bold about something (v.9), what is it?
(Insert a mountain of evidence picture here)
He goes on to lay out the evidence (vv.10-18), lets look and see what the evidence he presents is.
None righteous (v.10)
None understand (v.11); none seek God (v.11)
All have turned away (v.12); none do good (v.12)
Throat open grave (v.13); their tongues keep deceiving (v.13)
Mouth full of cursing, bitterness (v.14)
Swift to shed blood (v.15)
Destruction, misery are their path (v.16)
They know no peace (v.17)
They have no fear of God (v.18)
Now, I mentioned that our passage tonight is full in implications of other scripture or scripture itself, so here we got with the character of the sin mentioned (vv.10-12). Keep in mind court setting and the Jews are the ones on trial here with a mountain of evidence being presented.
The court proceeding
OK, here we go, Paul is speaking to Jewish Christians in Rome, they would be very familiar with all his references, inferences, so I need to put those before you.
Charges - none righteous (Ps14:1-3)
Psalm 14:1–3 NASB95
1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. 2 The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.
Opening statement - All have turned away (Ps53:1-3)
Psalm 53:1–3 NASB95
1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,” They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; There is no one who does good. 2 God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there is anyone who understands, Who seeks after God. 3 Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.
Indictment - Because of their throats (Ps59:9)
Indictment is formal charge brought
Psalm 59:9 NASB95
9 Because of his strength I will watch for You, For God is my stronghold.
Impeached testimony - (Ps5:9)
impeached calls into question the integrity of a practice
Psalm 5:9 NASB95
9 There is nothing reliable in what they say; Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; They flatter with their tongue.
Arraignment (Ps10:7)
To call or bring before court an answer to the charge (indictment)
Psalm 10:7 NASB95
7 His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.
Incriminated (Isa59:1-7)
Strongly imply guilt of someone
Isa59:1-7 “1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue mutters wickedness. 4 No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies; They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity. 5 They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth. 6 Their webs will not become clothing, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And an act of violence is in their hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Devastation and destruction are in their highways.”
Implicated (Isa59:7-8)
to show someone involved in a crime
Isaiah 59:7–8 NASB95
7 Their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Devastation and destruction are in their highways. 8 They do not know the way of peace, And there is no justice in their tracks; They have made their paths crooked, Whoever treads on them does not know peace.
Final charge, they are cited (Ps36:1)
Psalm 36:1 NASB95
1 Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; There is no fear of God before his eyes.
The Jews who had an advantage because they had the law, the prophets, the promises, but the wrong perception have been found guilty in the court because they deny their own scripture. They were guilty under the law.

Under the law and pressure

The law has provided amble proof of the guilt, but there are some things the law cannot do, and we should look at too before we close.
Romans 3:19–20 NASB95
19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
(Insert under the law picture here)
Anything stick out to you, any words to define?
Who does the Law speak to (v.19)?
Who is accountable to God (v.19)?
What comes through the law (v.20)?
So, here is what the Law cannot do.
Law cannot pardon, cannot save
Law cannot justify or make righteous
Law cannot heal the sin problem
Law cannot earn anyone salvation
If the law could earn, heal, justify, pardon than Jesus died without needlessly
Galatians 2:21 NASB95
21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
(that is not on your outline, note it down; oh hold on here is another one to note down, if fact lets turn quickly to Gal3:21-25 for it fits well with our last two verses.
Galatians 3:21–22 NASB95
21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Galatians 3:23–24 NASB95
23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.
Galatians 3:25 NASB95
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Works, the law, keeping of the law could not save. It is only Gods work - love, sending Jesus, Jesus work His sacrifice, the Holy spirits work at regenerating us so that we are saved by grace through faith.
We talked what the law can, what the law cannot do and from 1:18-3:20 we have seen all the world is guilty but there is hope
Romans 10:3–4 NASB95
3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
The law is fulfilled, the law was nailed to the cross, and we are under God’s royal law, Jesus Christ!
(Prayer) (Exit)
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