WEBVTT 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:05.719 I'm glad that you could come and join with us 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:08.960 today. I'm going to ask you to take your Bible 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:12.220 and come with me to the Book of Romans. Today 00:00:12.220 --> 00:00:16.219 we're going to begin studying the Book of Romans 00:00:16.219 --> 00:00:19.760 on a verse -by -verse basis. But to do that, 00:00:19.899 --> 00:00:21.859 we're first going to spend a week getting the 00:00:21.859 --> 00:00:30.100 overall view of this marvelous epistle. We're 00:00:30.100 --> 00:00:33.420 inserting a book in today, a copy of a suggested 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:36.740 outline for the book of Romans, which you may 00:00:36.740 --> 00:00:41.619 want to place in your notebook for future reference, 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:43.700 because we'll be following this outline as we 00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:50.159 study our way through the book. Someone has called 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:57.579 Romans the most complete statement of theology 00:00:57.579 --> 00:01:02.030 in the New Testament. Not that there aren't other 00:01:02.030 --> 00:01:05.950 passages that are theological in nature. In fact, 00:01:05.950 --> 00:01:09.189 the passages that deal particularly with a person 00:01:09.189 --> 00:01:13.549 of the Lord Jesus Christ are not found in Romans. 00:01:13.549 --> 00:01:16.629 They are found in Philippians and in Colossians. 00:01:17.069 --> 00:01:21.370 But taken as a whole, this book is the most logical, 00:01:21.609 --> 00:01:25.870 sequential statement of New Testament theology 00:01:25.870 --> 00:01:30.739 that could be found. Martin Luther... said about 00:01:30.739 --> 00:01:34.359 this book, it is the masterpiece of the New Testament. 00:01:34.700 --> 00:01:39.340 It deserves to be known by heart, word for word, 00:01:39.379 --> 00:01:44.879 by every Christian. It was the in -depth, detailed 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:49.560 study of Romans that led Luther to the point 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:53.319 of initiating the great reformation of centuries 00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:58.459 ago. The truth of justification by faith alone 00:01:59.180 --> 00:02:04.920 apart from works, not only saved him, but it 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:08.860 created through him a tidal wave of reclamation 00:02:08.860 --> 00:02:13.639 that changed the course of world history. The 00:02:13.639 --> 00:02:16.080 Book of Romans comes in a unique place in the 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:19.099 New Testament. It is the first of the epistles. 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:21.919 Up to this point, the books of the New Testament 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:25.259 are historical books. The first four, based upon 00:02:25.259 --> 00:02:28.759 the life of Christ, the Book of Acts... the story 00:02:28.759 --> 00:02:31.580 of the early church. Beginning, though, with 00:02:31.580 --> 00:02:34.780 the Book of Romans, we have an epistle or a letter. 00:02:36.039 --> 00:02:40.639 John Christensen, who was a marvelous preacher 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:45.120 and who was bishop of Constantinople, had the 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:48.740 Book of Romans read to him two times each week, 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:51.939 so valuable that he considered the words of it. 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:58.169 Even Samuel Polary, A couple hundred years ago, 00:02:58.250 --> 00:03:00.669 the English poet and philosopher said this about 00:03:00.669 --> 00:03:03.909 the Book of Romans. It is the profoundest piece 00:03:03.909 --> 00:03:09.990 of writing in existence. A grasp of the content 00:03:09.990 --> 00:03:14.289 of this one book of the New Testament will prepare 00:03:14.289 --> 00:03:18.370 a person to well understand the whole of the 00:03:18.370 --> 00:03:22.949 Bible. If we were to take the epistles and to 00:03:22.949 --> 00:03:25.330 subdivide them, you would notice that Romans... 00:03:25.629 --> 00:03:29.289 is the first of the church epistles. Romans, 00:03:29.490 --> 00:03:32.530 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 00:03:32.629 --> 00:03:36.289 Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, were all written 00:03:36.289 --> 00:03:40.469 to churches or bodies of believers. The other 00:03:40.469 --> 00:03:42.590 epistles of Paul were written to individuals. 00:03:44.430 --> 00:03:50.509 Titus, Philemon, Timothy, and so on. And so Romans 00:03:50.509 --> 00:03:53.710 comes as the first of the epistles written to 00:03:53.710 --> 00:03:58.569 the church. Now, because of that, this book is 00:03:58.569 --> 00:04:00.830 worthy of our special attention, too, because 00:04:00.830 --> 00:04:04.889 all of Scripture is written for us, but not all 00:04:04.889 --> 00:04:07.409 of it is written directly to us or about us as 00:04:07.409 --> 00:04:10.289 the Church. The Old Testament, for example, is 00:04:10.289 --> 00:04:13.330 written to Israel and is about Israel. It is 00:04:13.330 --> 00:04:16.730 for our learning. We learn by the examples of 00:04:16.730 --> 00:04:18.610 the Old Testament. The principles of the New 00:04:18.610 --> 00:04:21.589 Testament are illustrated in the Old. When we 00:04:21.589 --> 00:04:23.509 come to the New Testament, we have the part that 00:04:23.509 --> 00:04:26.310 is written to us. and most specifically those 00:04:26.310 --> 00:04:28.750 epistles that might be called the church epistles. 00:04:29.230 --> 00:04:31.009 Therefore, I think it's fitting that we give 00:04:31.009 --> 00:04:36.709 special diligence to look at them. The Book of 00:04:36.709 --> 00:04:39.529 Romans was written by the Apostle Paul. Of course, 00:04:39.550 --> 00:04:42.990 Paul was a very unique individual himself. C 00:04:42.990 --> 00:04:46.009 .A. Fox has made a good summary, I think, of 00:04:46.009 --> 00:04:48.529 the life of Paul. If you may exercise, please, 00:04:48.610 --> 00:04:50.970 the discipline of listening for a moment to someone 00:04:50.970 --> 00:04:55.639 to read. Mr. Fox says, many apparently opposite 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:58.259 qualities went to make up the special fitness 00:04:58.259 --> 00:05:01.899 of St. Paul for his great life work. He combined 00:05:01.899 --> 00:05:05.180 in his own unique experience a personal connection 00:05:05.180 --> 00:05:08.879 of the closest kind with the three principal 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:12.980 social spheres of his age. He was called out 00:05:12.980 --> 00:05:17.060 of the very heart of Judaism. Jewish legalism 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:20.879 he knew from end to end. He was called out of 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:24.129 the very heart of the Greek culture. for he lived 00:05:24.129 --> 00:05:26.990 his early life from infancy in one of the great 00:05:26.990 --> 00:05:30.230 centers of Hellenic life and was familiarized 00:05:30.230 --> 00:05:33.170 with all that was great and noble in Greek literature. 00:05:34.569 --> 00:05:37.410 He had, moreover, enjoyed from birth all the 00:05:37.410 --> 00:05:41.910 varied privileges of Roman citizenship. He was 00:05:41.910 --> 00:05:45.769 thus a Hebrew to the backbone. He was a Greek 00:05:45.769 --> 00:05:48.430 in the fullest sense of the term, and he was 00:05:48.430 --> 00:05:52.350 a Roman citizen freeborn. But besides all this, 00:05:52.529 --> 00:05:55.810 he united in his rare personality an unusual 00:05:55.810 --> 00:06:00.709 vigor of intellect, strength of will, depth of 00:06:00.709 --> 00:06:05.430 feeling, and sympathy. Intensity was the mark 00:06:05.430 --> 00:06:07.870 of his character, whether intellectually or morally. 00:06:08.389 --> 00:06:11.310 Yet the one thing which surpassed all else in 00:06:11.310 --> 00:06:14.050 preparing him for his apostleship has yet to 00:06:14.050 --> 00:06:17.870 be mentioned. His sudden and miraculous conversion 00:06:17.870 --> 00:06:22.550 and call. by the direct interposition of Christ 00:06:22.550 --> 00:06:27.069 himself beyond all else, fitted him to compare 00:06:27.069 --> 00:06:30.930 together Judaism and Christianity with perfect 00:06:30.930 --> 00:06:34.810 fairness, and enabled him to set the two systems 00:06:34.810 --> 00:06:40.269 side by side in vivid, startling contrast, as 00:06:40.269 --> 00:06:43.730 well as empowered him to testify how that Christianity, 00:06:44.230 --> 00:06:48.589 instead of being a violent antagonism and outrage, 00:06:49.449 --> 00:06:53.470 upon pure Judaism was the legitimate outcome, 00:06:53.889 --> 00:06:57.430 development, and completion of Old Testament 00:06:57.430 --> 00:07:03.149 truth. I think that paragraph by Mr. Fox certainly 00:07:03.149 --> 00:07:07.009 summarizes the things that we might say about 00:07:07.009 --> 00:07:09.569 the Apostle Paul as we begin talking about a 00:07:09.569 --> 00:07:13.870 book penned by him. It was penned by him during 00:07:13.870 --> 00:07:18.069 his third missionary journey. During that journey, 00:07:18.149 --> 00:07:20.790 he... stayed in the city of Corinth for a period 00:07:20.790 --> 00:07:24.850 of some three months. It was delivered to the 00:07:24.850 --> 00:07:30.290 Romans, apparently, by a godly woman whose name 00:07:30.290 --> 00:07:33.730 was Phoebe. We would get this from chapter 16, 00:07:33.850 --> 00:07:37.910 verses 1 and 2. The letter was written in 56, 00:07:38.370 --> 00:07:42.269 perhaps 57 AD, depending upon how you work out 00:07:42.269 --> 00:07:46.209 the chronology of Paul's life. It was written 00:07:46.209 --> 00:07:48.670 to the church in what city? Can you tell me? 00:07:50.290 --> 00:07:52.769 Right, see, you're a Bible scholar and perhaps 00:07:52.769 --> 00:07:55.949 didn't know that. The city of Rome, and that's 00:07:55.949 --> 00:07:59.290 why we call it Romans. It was written to believers 00:07:59.290 --> 00:08:02.829 in Rome. Now, the interesting thing is that Paul 00:08:02.829 --> 00:08:06.029 had never been there. In fact, here in chapter 00:08:06.029 --> 00:08:08.649 1, he indicates that that had been his desire. 00:08:09.170 --> 00:08:13.660 For instance... In verse 8 he says, First I thank 00:08:13.660 --> 00:08:17.220 my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because 00:08:17.220 --> 00:08:19.699 your faith is being reported all over the world. 00:08:21.300 --> 00:08:24.379 God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching 00:08:24.379 --> 00:08:27.779 the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly 00:08:27.779 --> 00:08:30.800 I remember you in my prayers at all times. And 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:36.399 I pray that now at last, by God's will, the way 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:39.850 may be open for me to come to you. Paul had never 00:08:39.850 --> 00:08:42.009 been there. So the question arises, where do 00:08:42.009 --> 00:08:46.509 these believers come from? There is a vast multitude 00:08:46.509 --> 00:08:49.529 that says that the church in Rome was founded 00:08:49.529 --> 00:08:54.029 by Peter. And yet there is no evidence in Scripture 00:08:54.029 --> 00:08:58.389 or in any secular history that Peter ever visited 00:08:58.389 --> 00:09:01.470 Rome. In fact, there is good reason to believe 00:09:01.470 --> 00:09:04.289 because of some internal evidence in the New 00:09:04.289 --> 00:09:07.129 Testament. that Peter did not, in fact, ever 00:09:07.129 --> 00:09:09.629 visit Rome and was not the founder of the church 00:09:09.629 --> 00:09:13.629 there. I'm referring to the fact that Paul did 00:09:13.629 --> 00:09:16.029 not go where others had already laid a foundation. 00:09:17.129 --> 00:09:20.289 You'll recall that one of the principles of his 00:09:20.289 --> 00:09:22.750 ministry was that he did not go to where other 00:09:22.750 --> 00:09:25.450 men had labored. He went to fresh territory. 00:09:26.330 --> 00:09:29.309 And had Peter already been there in Rome and 00:09:29.309 --> 00:09:31.409 ministered to them and laid the foundation, Paul 00:09:31.409 --> 00:09:34.039 would have found no reason to go there. But in 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:37.460 fact, he wanted to go. He might be able to teach 00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:39.639 them the truth as he had received it from the 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:42.320 Lord Jesus Christ. How then were these people 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:45.440 saved? The best answer to that seems to be that 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:50.279 they were saved through the ministry at Pentecost. 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:54.000 In fact, in Acts chapter 2, it specifically mentions 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.360 that there were people there in Jerusalem on 00:09:56.360 --> 00:10:00.960 that occasion from Rome. They were saved undoubtedly, 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:05.740 those Jews. or Jewish proselytes, and carried 00:10:05.740 --> 00:10:08.539 the gospel as they understood it in its embryonic 00:10:08.539 --> 00:10:12.039 form back to Rome. And there shared it with others 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:15.000 of their faith, Judaism. And undoubtedly there 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:18.419 were many people saved as a result of that. But 00:10:18.419 --> 00:10:20.779 the Roman church was made up as well of many 00:10:20.779 --> 00:10:24.279 Gentiles. In fact, in chapter 16, there's a long 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:28.639 list of some 27 individuals that Paul greets 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:32.110 in the church in Rome. Examining that list will 00:10:32.110 --> 00:10:34.409 reveal that two -thirds of those people have 00:10:34.409 --> 00:10:39.470 Gentile names, indicating perhaps that the majority 00:10:39.470 --> 00:10:43.009 of those believers in Rome were not Jewish but 00:10:43.009 --> 00:10:47.309 rather Gentile. So probably as Paul was preaching 00:10:47.309 --> 00:10:50.509 the gospel throughout the Roman Empire up to 00:10:50.509 --> 00:10:54.230 this point, there were those who traveled from 00:10:54.230 --> 00:10:57.309 these cities to Rome and took the gospel there 00:10:57.309 --> 00:11:01.299 as well. Rome, of course, was the heart of civilization 00:11:01.299 --> 00:11:05.580 in that day, and it would only be expected that 00:11:05.580 --> 00:11:07.899 the gospel would eventually circulate through 00:11:07.899 --> 00:11:12.519 the city because of commercial travel and so 00:11:12.519 --> 00:11:19.120 on. The theme of the Book of Romans is designated 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:23.480 by most Bible teachers and scholars as the righteousness 00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:28.809 of God. You'll notice that that is the theme 00:11:28.809 --> 00:11:30.490 that we have assigned to the book as we're going 00:11:30.490 --> 00:11:34.250 to study it during these next few months. The 00:11:34.250 --> 00:11:38.649 word righteousness, in some form or other, is 00:11:38.649 --> 00:11:43.990 used some 67 times in the Book of Romans. Sometimes 00:11:43.990 --> 00:11:48.710 it is translated right, righteous, righteousness, 00:11:49.269 --> 00:12:00.549 just, justify, justification. Greek word. So 00:12:00.549 --> 00:12:03.549 dominating is this theme of God's righteousness 00:12:03.549 --> 00:12:07.990 that I think it deserves a careful examination 00:12:07.990 --> 00:12:11.330 in this book as it is revealed. To understand, 00:12:11.330 --> 00:12:13.029 though, a little bit of the background of the 00:12:13.029 --> 00:12:15.809 word righteous as the Greeks understood it in 00:12:15.809 --> 00:12:19.610 that day, it might help us to see how the classical 00:12:19.610 --> 00:12:30.360 Greeks used this term. eternal principle of right 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:35.100 and wrong. They felt that was born within the 00:12:35.100 --> 00:12:40.460 human consciousness. They personified that principle 00:12:40.460 --> 00:12:44.179 of a difference between right and wrong by creating 00:12:44.179 --> 00:12:47.940 in their mythology a goddess whom they named 00:12:47.940 --> 00:12:53.240 Themis. Themis is pictured as a woman who stands 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:57.899 at a scale in her hands. on which scale, they 00:12:57.899 --> 00:13:04.179 say, was weighed out right and wrong. This principle 00:13:04.179 --> 00:13:08.679 of right and wrong to the Greeks required that 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:14.679 men should be shown or pointed to that which 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:19.399 is, according to it, proper. And so there developed 00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:21.700 out of this kind of innate sense of right and 00:13:21.700 --> 00:13:25.080 wrong a definite code of duties and obligations. 00:13:26.090 --> 00:13:30.029 And they called that which constituted right, 00:13:30.269 --> 00:13:35.649 dike. And that is the word that is the root word, 00:13:35.830 --> 00:13:38.309 etymologically speaking, of righteousness here 00:13:38.309 --> 00:13:42.429 in the book of Romans. It was a strongly moral 00:13:42.429 --> 00:13:46.929 term to the Greeks. A righteous person was one 00:13:46.929 --> 00:13:49.629 whose behavior fitted into the framework of society. 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:54.960 Eventually the word picked up a religious connotation 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:59.679 and it came to mean to fulfill one's obligations 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:06.080 to the gods. Now when the Hebrews translated 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:10.279 the Old Testament into the Greek language about 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:13.960 200 years before Christ, they used that term 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:20.139 out of the Greek heritage. They used it in a 00:14:20.139 --> 00:14:23.139 broader sense, though, than just right and wrong. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.940 They incorporated with it the meaning of mercy 00:14:26.940 --> 00:14:31.519 and of kindness as they translated the Old Testament. 00:14:32.340 --> 00:14:35.240 And so the word picked up that flavor as well. 00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:38.620 By the time that Paul uses that word in writing 00:14:38.620 --> 00:14:42.019 this epistle in the New Testament, that word 00:14:42.019 --> 00:14:45.080 applied in a number of ways. For instance, God 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:48.759 is called righteous in the New Testament. Jesus 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:53.559 prayed in John chapter 17 to the righteous Father. 00:14:56.679 --> 00:15:01.159 In 1 John 1 .9, John uses the term as he speaks 00:15:01.159 --> 00:15:06.759 of God who is just or righteous to forgive us 00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:11.480 our sins when we confess them. It is a term that's 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:14.279 also used in Jesus Christ, and again John uses 00:15:14.279 --> 00:15:17.629 it in 1 John 2 .1. He says, we have an advocate 00:15:17.629 --> 00:15:21.830 with the Father, Jesus Christ, the what? The 00:15:21.830 --> 00:15:25.649 righteous one. And so Jesus Christ is referred 00:15:25.649 --> 00:15:29.049 to with this same term. It is a term when replied 00:15:29.049 --> 00:15:33.230 to God that refers to impartial justice. The 00:15:33.230 --> 00:15:36.549 righteousness of God is his transparent holiness 00:15:36.549 --> 00:15:40.750 of character, which leads him to be absolutely 00:15:40.750 --> 00:15:46.610 fair in dealing with every man. No one can accuse 00:15:46.610 --> 00:15:50.570 God of being unjust because he is righteous. 00:15:52.490 --> 00:15:56.549 Everything about him causes him to be fair and 00:15:56.549 --> 00:16:01.509 just. When this term is used of man in the New 00:16:01.509 --> 00:16:04.429 Testament, and it is, it refers to one who is 00:16:04.429 --> 00:16:07.629 upright in life, who is virtuous, who is correct 00:16:07.629 --> 00:16:14.409 in his thinking. Paul uses it here to describe 00:16:14.409 --> 00:16:20.169 the standing or the state between a man and God. 00:16:22.269 --> 00:16:25.570 It is that state that must exist for a man to 00:16:25.570 --> 00:16:30.830 pass the test of God's judgment. For a man not 00:16:30.830 --> 00:16:35.909 to be condemned, he must be righteous in the 00:16:35.909 --> 00:16:39.830 eyes of God. And that's really the theme of the 00:16:39.830 --> 00:16:41.990 book of Romans. Because how does a man get to 00:16:41.990 --> 00:16:46.649 be that righteous? There's no man in the history 00:16:46.649 --> 00:16:48.889 of the world besides Jesus Christ, the righteous 00:16:48.889 --> 00:16:53.629 one, who can measure up to God's standard of 00:16:53.629 --> 00:17:02.250 perfect justice and kindness. Not one. And so 00:17:02.250 --> 00:17:04.670 the apostle develops through this book of Romans, 00:17:04.890 --> 00:17:08.410 how can a man be right with God? And may I suggest 00:17:08.410 --> 00:17:12.200 to you, that there is not a more relevant, pressing 00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:16.140 theme for any of us today to learn about than 00:17:16.140 --> 00:17:22.759 how we personally might be right with God. We 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:25.700 go up with the idea that somehow God is in the 00:17:25.700 --> 00:17:28.160 end going to measure out our bad deeds on one 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:31.180 side and our good deeds on the other, and if 00:17:31.180 --> 00:17:34.720 this gigantic heavenly scale measures our good 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:38.990 deeds to be weightier than our bad deeds, God 00:17:38.990 --> 00:17:41.289 will overlook the bad and say, well, come on 00:17:41.289 --> 00:17:46.269 in. But that is not God's thinking. That's man's 00:17:46.269 --> 00:17:50.490 thinking. In order for a man to enter heaven, 00:17:50.650 --> 00:17:53.609 he can have nothing on this side of the scale, 00:17:53.789 --> 00:17:58.049 the unrighteous side. He must have absolutely 00:17:58.049 --> 00:18:02.809 perfect righteousness to enter into heaven, to 00:18:02.809 --> 00:18:07.809 have eternal life. I think, I hope, that all 00:18:07.809 --> 00:18:11.509 of us know ourselves well enough today to have 00:18:11.509 --> 00:18:17.369 to confess that we are not that righteous. Then 00:18:17.369 --> 00:18:21.730 how can I be made righteous in God's sight? How 00:18:21.730 --> 00:18:27.730 can I know that I'm going to heaven? Or how can 00:18:27.730 --> 00:18:30.670 I be saved, as the Philippian jailer put it, 00:18:30.670 --> 00:18:33.730 to the Apostle Paul? Well, that is the theme 00:18:33.730 --> 00:18:37.029 of the book of Romans. When we talk about the 00:18:37.029 --> 00:18:39.230 theme of Romans being the righteousness of God, 00:18:39.309 --> 00:18:42.029 we are not talking about the attribute of God, 00:18:42.069 --> 00:18:44.150 which is righteousness, but we are talking about 00:18:44.150 --> 00:18:48.970 the relationship of being right into which God 00:18:48.970 --> 00:18:53.250 puts the man who believes. How to be right with 00:18:53.250 --> 00:18:57.750 God. Well, the first three chapters essentially 00:18:57.750 --> 00:19:01.849 deal with this theme of the need for God's righteousness, 00:19:02.130 --> 00:19:06.089 that man is a sinner. Getting in chapter 1, verse 00:19:06.089 --> 00:19:11.829 18, through chapter 3 and verse 20, the apostle 00:19:11.829 --> 00:19:14.890 deals with this matter of man's lost condition 00:19:14.890 --> 00:19:20.329 before a righteous God. Man is not right with 00:19:20.329 --> 00:19:27.710 God naturally, Romans says. He is a sinner who 00:19:27.710 --> 00:19:36.289 must in some way be made righteous by God. I 00:19:36.289 --> 00:19:38.509 think it's important for a man to know that he's 00:19:38.509 --> 00:19:44.630 lost before he's told how to be saved. I fear 00:19:44.630 --> 00:19:46.410 in the day in which we live, we have a lot of 00:19:46.410 --> 00:19:49.509 people who are quote -unquote accepting Jesus 00:19:49.509 --> 00:19:53.410 who don't really know why they're doing it, because 00:19:53.410 --> 00:19:56.170 they don't have a knowledge of how lost and undone 00:19:56.170 --> 00:19:59.849 they are in the sight of God. And so the apostle 00:19:59.849 --> 00:20:03.509 begins at the logical place by pointing out man's 00:20:03.509 --> 00:20:07.589 sin. I wish we had time to select a few verses 00:20:07.589 --> 00:20:09.329 through here, but we're going to jump to the 00:20:09.329 --> 00:20:14.170 end of this section, to chapter 3, and look at 00:20:14.170 --> 00:20:20.309 verse 9. Of course, in weeks to come, we will 00:20:20.309 --> 00:20:22.910 look at these intervening verses, one by one. 00:20:23.930 --> 00:20:26.990 But he says in verse 9 of Romans chapter 3, What 00:20:26.990 --> 00:20:30.869 shall we conclude then? Are we better than they? 00:20:31.009 --> 00:20:35.900 Not at all. we have already made the charge that 00:20:35.900 --> 00:20:43.660 Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As 00:20:43.660 --> 00:20:46.539 it is written, there is no one righteous, not 00:20:46.539 --> 00:20:51.500 even one. There is no one who understands, no 00:20:51.500 --> 00:20:54.160 one who seeks God, and that is true of every 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:59.680 one of us. We will not come to God unless he 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:03.529 draws us. Because we are depraved in our sin. 00:21:05.869 --> 00:21:08.329 Jesus said no one would come to him except the 00:21:08.329 --> 00:21:14.450 Father would draw him. Verse 12, all have turned 00:21:14.450 --> 00:21:17.650 away. They are together become worthless. There 00:21:17.650 --> 00:21:28.170 is no one who does good, not even one. Do you 00:21:28.170 --> 00:21:31.299 understand that? I want to ask you a question 00:21:31.299 --> 00:21:36.299 today. Have you ever faced your personal sinfulness? 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.619 Have you ever confronted what you really are? 00:21:43.539 --> 00:21:46.500 Or have you passed through life glossing over 00:21:46.500 --> 00:21:50.079 and making excuses for and trying to justify 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:56.359 yourself for the bad things you do? Have you 00:21:56.359 --> 00:22:01.579 ever confronted your sinful condition? and admitted 00:22:01.579 --> 00:22:04.960 before the righteous God of the universe that 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:11.740 you are unrighteous, that you're a sinner. None 00:22:11.740 --> 00:22:14.819 of us can be saved until we first come to that 00:22:14.819 --> 00:22:19.039 point of understanding how undone and lost we 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:22.559 are. But always say to someone, I'm pretty moral. 00:22:23.700 --> 00:22:27.440 As a matter of fact, I'm a good person. And I 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:29.660 look around me and see some people who call themselves 00:22:29.660 --> 00:22:32.440 Christians, and I live a better life than they 00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:36.119 do. Have you ever heard that? Have you ever said 00:22:36.119 --> 00:22:42.019 that? My friend, when you stand before a righteous 00:22:42.019 --> 00:22:45.440 God, it's not going to be on the base of what 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:47.680 somebody else has done. It's going to be the 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:52.259 base of what you've done. No matter how moral 00:22:52.259 --> 00:22:54.759 any of us have been or how good we have been, 00:22:55.240 --> 00:22:59.759 as we have grown up, or how faithful we have 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:03.799 been in our marriage, or how generous we have 00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:07.779 been with charity, or how sincere we have been 00:23:07.779 --> 00:23:13.200 with church ritual or any other good works. All 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:19.119 of that does not amount to anything when compared 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:21.380 to the righteousness that God demands for us 00:23:21.380 --> 00:23:27.279 to enter heaven. All have sinned and come short 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:33.259 of the glory of God. All of us. If we had to 00:23:33.259 --> 00:23:35.359 leave it at that point, it would be pretty depressing. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:39.099 The blessed truth is, in the second section of 00:23:39.099 --> 00:23:42.759 this book, that God has provided a righteousness 00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:47.500 for us, and by this we are saved. Notice in verse 00:23:47.500 --> 00:23:51.140 21 that he changes the whole direction of his 00:23:51.140 --> 00:23:55.599 thought. He says, but... 180 degree turn. Now, 00:23:55.599 --> 00:24:01.019 a righteousness from God, apart from the law, 00:24:01.019 --> 00:24:03.980 has been made known, to which the law and the 00:24:03.980 --> 00:24:08.099 prophets testify. This righteousness from God, 00:24:08.140 --> 00:24:11.759 that is a righteousness which God offers to us, 00:24:11.779 --> 00:24:15.200 a perfect righteousness, this righteousness from 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:20.000 God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:23.579 who believe. You know what he's saying here? 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:28.039 He is saying that God offers to you and to me 00:24:28.039 --> 00:24:33.519 perfect righteousness by which we can enter into 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:37.619 heaven and have eternal life. He can offer us 00:24:37.619 --> 00:24:40.660 that because of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ 00:24:40.660 --> 00:24:44.519 on the cross. We are coming into Passion Week, 00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:47.859 as it is called, and we are reminded during these 00:24:47.859 --> 00:24:54.049 days of our Lord's suffering. That is not just 00:24:54.049 --> 00:24:58.609 a cultural observance, I hope, to us, but I hope 00:24:58.609 --> 00:25:01.309 that annually this is a time when we reflect 00:25:01.309 --> 00:25:05.230 afresh and anew upon what Jesus did for our sake. 00:25:08.069 --> 00:25:11.990 He says in the middle of verse 22, there is no 00:25:11.990 --> 00:25:15.329 difference, for all have sinned and fall short 00:25:15.329 --> 00:25:19.970 of the glory of God and are justified freely 00:25:19.970 --> 00:25:23.289 by his grace. through the redemption that came 00:25:23.289 --> 00:25:27.690 by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice 00:25:27.690 --> 00:25:33.549 of atonement through faith in his blood. The 00:25:33.549 --> 00:25:36.670 Lord Jesus Christ is God's sacrifice so that 00:25:36.670 --> 00:25:40.069 the penalty for the sin, your sin and my sin, 00:25:40.250 --> 00:25:44.630 the sin of the world was paid by him. When he 00:25:44.630 --> 00:25:47.309 said on the cross, it is finished, he meant it's 00:25:47.309 --> 00:25:50.940 finished. The price has been paid for the sins 00:25:50.940 --> 00:25:56.740 of the world. Does that mean that all men are 00:25:56.740 --> 00:26:01.559 going to be saved then? No, it does not. For 00:26:01.559 --> 00:26:05.420 each man must appropriate for himself that forgiveness 00:26:05.420 --> 00:26:07.740 that God offers and that righteousness which 00:26:07.740 --> 00:26:11.519 he will give. In fact, in these verses, verses 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:16.640 21 through 26, at least nine times the word faith 00:26:17.130 --> 00:26:19.910 or some form of it is used, and that tells us 00:26:19.910 --> 00:26:24.390 how we are saved. He says we are justified freely 00:26:24.390 --> 00:26:28.329 by his grace. That word freely is an interesting 00:26:28.329 --> 00:26:31.309 word. It means that we are justified without 00:26:31.309 --> 00:26:35.089 a cause. You remember when Jesus met with his 00:26:35.089 --> 00:26:38.869 disciples in the upper room? He was explaining 00:26:38.869 --> 00:26:41.349 to them how the world was going to hate them. 00:26:44.589 --> 00:26:46.690 And he said, all of this is happening so that 00:26:46.690 --> 00:26:49.190 it will be fulfilled by the prophet, which says, 00:26:49.329 --> 00:26:55.849 they hated me without a cause. There was no reason 00:26:55.849 --> 00:26:59.309 for the world to hate Jesus, and yet it threw 00:26:59.309 --> 00:27:03.150 him on the cross and crucified him. There was 00:27:03.150 --> 00:27:07.150 nothing in him that deserved that. It was without 00:27:07.150 --> 00:27:09.210 a cause. And you see, that's exactly the same 00:27:09.210 --> 00:27:12.650 word used here. We are justified freely. In other 00:27:12.650 --> 00:27:14.890 words, it was not a cause. There is not a thing 00:27:14.890 --> 00:27:20.269 in you or in me that causes God to say, that 00:27:20.269 --> 00:27:27.529 person deserves salvation. If we are saved, it 00:27:27.529 --> 00:27:31.109 is by grace. We are justified or declared righteous 00:27:31.109 --> 00:27:33.890 in the sight of God without any cause whatsoever, 00:27:34.210 --> 00:27:36.910 except that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:41.900 Yet I hear someone say, well, I've believed in 00:27:41.900 --> 00:27:47.319 Jesus ever since I can remember. But I wonder, 00:27:47.380 --> 00:27:49.420 my friend, if it's the kind of faith that saves 00:27:49.420 --> 00:27:51.380 the soul. You see, there is a difference between 00:27:51.380 --> 00:27:55.740 an intellectual belief or knowledge and a personal 00:27:55.740 --> 00:28:00.480 trust in Jesus Christ. It is only the latter 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:05.660 which saves. Growing up in a quote -unquote Christian 00:28:05.660 --> 00:28:08.380 society, we hear about Jesus, and we go through 00:28:08.380 --> 00:28:11.359 Christmas and Good Friday and Easter from the 00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:15.640 youngest of our age. And we learn the name, and 00:28:15.640 --> 00:28:18.200 we learn something about the language. Jesus 00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:20.119 died on the cross. There was a resurrection, 00:28:20.359 --> 00:28:23.099 whatever that may mean to us as children. And 00:28:23.099 --> 00:28:25.279 we grow up with the idea that all this is going 00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:30.359 to save us, but it doesn't. We are not justified 00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:33.079 or saved until we come to that point in our lives 00:28:33.079 --> 00:28:35.599 where we realize how lost and undone we are in 00:28:35.599 --> 00:28:39.960 the sight of a holy God. And we turn to Jesus 00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:44.680 Christ and receive him as our Savior. Because 00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:48.319 we need him. And we give ourselves totally to 00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:53.059 him. I tell you, when that happens, there's a 00:28:53.059 --> 00:28:56.440 change in the life. That's what chapters 6, 7, 00:28:56.460 --> 00:29:00.690 and 8 talk about. That's what chapters 12 through 00:29:00.690 --> 00:29:04.809 15 basically talk about. It's the change, the 00:29:04.809 --> 00:29:07.170 transformation that takes place in the life of 00:29:07.170 --> 00:29:12.789 the one who trusts Jesus Christ. It is impossible 00:29:12.789 --> 00:29:15.390 for Jesus Christ to come into the life of a person 00:29:15.390 --> 00:29:20.049 if that life remains the same. That life will 00:29:20.049 --> 00:29:23.150 change. With some people it's a dramatic change 00:29:23.150 --> 00:29:27.750 that occurs instantaneously. It's like night 00:29:27.750 --> 00:29:33.630 to day with other people. It is a gradual change, 00:29:33.809 --> 00:29:37.829 but a definite one. But there's always a transformation 00:29:37.829 --> 00:29:40.190 because the life of God will make a difference. 00:29:44.210 --> 00:29:49.309 Do you have eternal life? I'm not asking if you 00:29:49.309 --> 00:29:52.130 have been dedicated as these babies were this 00:29:52.130 --> 00:29:54.049 morning, if you've been sprinkled. I'm not asking 00:29:54.049 --> 00:29:56.559 you if you've been baptized or immersed. I'm 00:29:56.559 --> 00:29:58.400 not asking if you belong to this church or any 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:01.039 other church. I'm asking you if you are right 00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:05.900 with God. Do you have confidence within your 00:30:05.900 --> 00:30:08.160 own heart that you stand in a right relationship 00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:12.059 with God? You see, all of heaven and hell depends 00:30:12.059 --> 00:30:15.700 upon the answer to that question. The only way 00:30:15.700 --> 00:30:17.700 that we can be made right with God is through 00:30:17.700 --> 00:30:20.900 faith in Jesus Christ, confessing and recognizing 00:30:20.900 --> 00:30:25.440 our sinfulness, our lostness, our undone -ness. 00:30:27.400 --> 00:30:30.859 when compared to his perfect righteousness and 00:30:30.859 --> 00:30:33.039 then receiving that perfect righteousness which 00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:38.420 he will give as a free gift have you ever received 00:30:38.420 --> 00:30:40.640 that righteousness have you ever received jesus 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:44.980 christ in your life if not i hope you will today 00:30:44.980 --> 00:30:48.700 then you will enter into the fullness of what 00:30:48.700 --> 00:30:50.839 romans is all about you will understand what 00:30:50.839 --> 00:30:55.319 martin luther experienced when i have a very 00:30:55.319 --> 00:30:58.430 religious life he was converted and saved by 00:30:58.430 --> 00:31:02.329 the grace of God. Because he understood for the 00:31:02.329 --> 00:31:04.950 first time what it meant to be justified by faith 00:31:04.950 --> 00:31:10.029 alone, apart from works. Let's pray together. 00:31:14.650 --> 00:31:19.609 As we bow together and wait upon God, I sense 00:31:19.609 --> 00:31:22.089 that the Spirit of God is speaking to some people 00:31:22.089 --> 00:31:26.970 here today. It may be that as a Christian, your 00:31:26.970 --> 00:31:33.910 life has been a sham. And the righteousness that 00:31:33.910 --> 00:31:36.369 God has been wanting to work out in your life 00:31:36.369 --> 00:31:43.829 has been held back and suppressed by sin and 00:31:43.829 --> 00:31:48.829 rebellion in your heart. As a Christian today, 00:31:48.930 --> 00:31:50.490 you need to make things right with your Lord. 00:31:52.299 --> 00:31:54.420 He has done something for you that no one else 00:31:54.420 --> 00:31:58.740 could do. Are you living a life that evidences 00:31:58.740 --> 00:32:04.200 gratefulness and love? But particularly, I am 00:32:04.200 --> 00:32:05.880 concerned today if there would be anyone here 00:32:05.880 --> 00:32:10.359 who has never truly been made right with God. 00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:16.119 Being made right with God is a legal transaction. 00:32:17.450 --> 00:32:19.869 It's a time when you add up all that you have 00:32:19.869 --> 00:32:22.549 on the one hand and see how short it comes of 00:32:22.549 --> 00:32:27.190 paying the debt. And you confess that sinfulness 00:32:27.190 --> 00:32:33.769 and that unworthiness before God. And you receive 00:32:33.769 --> 00:32:38.009 payment for your sins by the work of Jesus Christ. 00:32:39.130 --> 00:32:41.450 And you receive his righteousness as your own 00:32:41.450 --> 00:32:47.250 in the eyes of God. If you've never trusted Christ 00:32:47.250 --> 00:32:50.390 as your Savior, if you're not certain that you're 00:32:50.390 --> 00:32:52.349 right with God today, would you pray something 00:32:52.349 --> 00:32:58.390 like this quietly where you are? Now, the words 00:32:58.390 --> 00:33:00.049 are not that important, but the heart attitude 00:33:00.049 --> 00:33:04.150 is. So pray something like this. Oh, righteous 00:33:04.150 --> 00:33:08.869 God, I acknowledge before you my sinfulness. 00:33:10.529 --> 00:33:15.170 I am a sinner. I am worthy of your condemnation. 00:33:15.549 --> 00:33:20.809 and judgment. But I thank you that Jesus died 00:33:20.809 --> 00:33:27.170 for me, that I received Jesus Christ into my 00:33:27.170 --> 00:33:32.869 life. I ask you to forgive my sins and to give 00:33:32.869 --> 00:33:36.670 me that gift of perfect righteousness that will 00:33:36.670 --> 00:33:44.059 set me in a right relationship with you. My friend, 00:33:44.059 --> 00:33:48.859 if you prayed that within your own heart and 00:33:48.859 --> 00:33:54.019 you meant it, would you be willing to publicly 00:33:54.019 --> 00:33:58.579 confess that? I'm going to give you an opportunity 00:33:58.579 --> 00:34:03.339 to in a moment. Heavenly Father, I pray that 00:34:03.339 --> 00:34:05.619 across this auditorium right now you will do 00:34:05.619 --> 00:34:11.059 a work which no one else can do. I pray that 00:34:11.059 --> 00:34:16.619 you will... Give courage and faith to individuals 00:34:16.619 --> 00:34:20.059 to make a public profession and confession of 00:34:20.059 --> 00:34:22.099 faith in Christ who have never done that before, 00:34:22.280 --> 00:34:29.800 sincerely. I pray that there will be today a 00:34:29.800 --> 00:34:32.980 movement of your spirit in our midst so that 00:34:32.980 --> 00:34:35.159 there will be some here today who will be made 00:34:35.159 --> 00:34:39.619 right with you and given that perfect standing 00:34:39.619 --> 00:34:51.440 in the eyes of God. In Jesus' name, amen. I'd 00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:56.519 like for us to turn in our hymnal to a song that...