WEBVTT 00:00:00.940 --> 00:00:03.700 We are studying together the book of Romans so 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:06.099 that we might come to an understanding of this 00:00:06.099 --> 00:00:10.919 book for our Christian growth. This is a book 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:13.679 which tells us about the righteousness of God 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:19.579 in all of his relationships. Righteousness might 00:00:19.579 --> 00:00:25.019 be defined as God's holiness revealed in his 00:00:25.019 --> 00:00:29.660 actions toward anything and everything and everyone 00:00:29.660 --> 00:00:34.719 outside of himself. The last time we talked about 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:37.659 righteousness we said that essentially righteousness 00:00:37.659 --> 00:00:45.200 means conformity to a standard. All of God's 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:48.619 actions are conformed to the standard of who 00:00:48.619 --> 00:00:54.600 He is, His holiness. Thus God cannot ever be 00:00:54.600 --> 00:01:00.359 unrighteous. or unfair, God is always absolutely 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:04.560 just in everything that he does because all of 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:08.420 his actions conform to who he is. He is righteous. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:12.780 The clearest statement of the righteousness of 00:01:12.780 --> 00:01:17.659 God is perhaps in the Gospel and it is demonstrated 00:01:17.659 --> 00:01:22.099 at the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I invite 00:01:22.099 --> 00:01:25.689 your attention to the key verses of Romans 1, 00:01:25.890 --> 00:01:30.450 verses 16 and 17, where Paul says, I am not ashamed 00:01:30.450 --> 00:01:35.909 of the gospel, for it is the power of God for 00:01:35.909 --> 00:01:39.629 salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew 00:01:39.629 --> 00:01:44.290 first and also to the Greek, for in it the righteousness 00:01:44.290 --> 00:01:48.489 of God is revealed. The righteousness of God 00:01:48.489 --> 00:01:52.950 is revealed in its content. God was absolutely 00:01:52.950 --> 00:01:58.060 just. in the death of His Son. Because for our 00:01:58.060 --> 00:02:02.299 sake, His holy and innocent, His wonderful Son 00:02:02.299 --> 00:02:09.379 became sin. Therefore, God put Him to death. 00:02:11.479 --> 00:02:14.560 Because as He became sin, our Savior no longer 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:20.580 conformed in that sense to God. Therefore, God 00:02:20.580 --> 00:02:25.710 poured upon Jesus, His beloved Son. wrath. He 00:02:25.710 --> 00:02:28.330 was just in the treatment of his beloved son. 00:02:29.710 --> 00:02:32.250 The content of the gospel reveals the righteousness 00:02:32.250 --> 00:02:36.409 of God. God loved his son, but when his son became 00:02:36.409 --> 00:02:41.389 sin for us, God poured wrath upon his son because 00:02:41.389 --> 00:02:46.229 of the sin. God was righteous. We also see the 00:02:46.229 --> 00:02:50.069 righteousness of God revealed in the results 00:02:50.069 --> 00:02:54.159 of the gospel. He goes on to say, the righteousness 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:57.800 of God is revealed from faith to faith as it 00:02:57.800 --> 00:03:00.400 is written, the righteous man, the just shall 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:05.819 live by faith. The one who believes this gospel 00:03:05.819 --> 00:03:09.240 of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:13.199 Christ receives the righteousness of God because 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:17.080 of that faith. The faith itself is not meritorious, 00:03:17.259 --> 00:03:21.400 it's not works. It doesn't do anything to commend 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:26.020 the soul to God except that the faith receives 00:03:26.020 --> 00:03:30.280 God's gift of righteousness. And so in the gospel 00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:33.020 we see the righteousness of God revealed and 00:03:33.020 --> 00:03:36.039 demonstrated and exposed and made available to 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:40.599 all who will believe. We have said that the theme 00:03:40.599 --> 00:03:42.800 of Romans, at least as we're approaching it, 00:03:43.340 --> 00:03:46.280 is that God is at work in the world of humanity 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:50.009 and history. demonstrating his righteousness 00:03:50.009 --> 00:03:54.189 through those who believe the gospel. God is 00:03:54.189 --> 00:03:59.050 at work in our world today. He is at work demonstrating 00:03:59.050 --> 00:04:03.830 his righteousness through those of us who have 00:04:03.830 --> 00:04:08.509 believed this gospel we just talked about. The 00:04:08.509 --> 00:04:11.590 world in which we live, and by the term world 00:04:11.590 --> 00:04:14.530 we're not talking about the globe, we're talking 00:04:14.530 --> 00:04:19.050 about the system that is has organized humanity 00:04:19.050 --> 00:04:24.350 in opposition to God. The world in which we are 00:04:24.350 --> 00:04:29.209 pilgrims, in which we are asked to live out our 00:04:29.209 --> 00:04:33.050 lives, is a world that is not righteous. It is 00:04:33.050 --> 00:04:36.410 a world that is evil and wicked and opposed to 00:04:36.410 --> 00:04:41.790 God in every respect. But because of the response 00:04:41.790 --> 00:04:45.610 of faith in believers, God forgives the sin of 00:04:45.610 --> 00:04:49.620 believers. and counts them as righteous in Christ. 00:04:50.220 --> 00:04:52.420 And so though we live in a world that is unrighteous, 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.060 we are counted by God as being right with Him, 00:04:55.180 --> 00:04:59.060 righteous in His eyes. But what about the rest 00:04:59.060 --> 00:05:02.759 of humanity? What about those who have not believed? 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:09.100 What is God's relationship to the world? I think 00:05:09.100 --> 00:05:11.600 it can be summarized in one word. If you have 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:13.800 your outlines, I think that this will correspond 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:18.720 to one of the blanks there. God's relationship 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:21.300 to the world can be summarized in one word, and 00:05:21.300 --> 00:05:27.040 that is the word condemnation. The world is under 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:34.139 the condemnation of God because of its sin. God's 00:05:34.139 --> 00:05:37.300 righteousness on the one hand is revealed in 00:05:37.300 --> 00:05:41.500 the salvation of those who believe, but on the 00:05:41.500 --> 00:05:44.060 other hand, God's righteousness is revealed in 00:05:44.060 --> 00:05:48.790 the condemnation of those who reject the light 00:05:48.790 --> 00:05:53.370 that is given to them. That's why he begins the 00:05:53.370 --> 00:05:55.870 section we're studying tonight, chapter 1 verse 00:05:55.870 --> 00:06:00.310 18, with a statement regarding the wrath of God. 00:06:01.329 --> 00:06:04.149 He says, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven 00:06:04.149 --> 00:06:08.250 against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of 00:06:08.250 --> 00:06:13.939 men. The wrath of God. The wrath of God is itself, 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:19.279 the righteousness of God, expressed toward sin. 00:06:22.139 --> 00:06:25.800 It is the expression of God's perfect justice 00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:29.740 toward that which is out of conformity with who 00:06:29.740 --> 00:06:35.019 He is. The section we're looking at this evening, 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:37.779 beginning with this verse and going through chapter 00:06:37.779 --> 00:06:41.310 3 and verse 20, is a section that is actually 00:06:41.310 --> 00:06:44.629 an indictment of the whole world of humanity, 00:06:44.750 --> 00:06:50.870 without any exception. In chapter 1 verse 18 00:06:50.870 --> 00:06:54.269 through verse 32, we have the condemnation of 00:06:54.269 --> 00:06:59.790 the pagan. The condemnation of the pagan. The 00:06:59.790 --> 00:07:03.050 one who has no knowledge of the written revelation 00:07:03.050 --> 00:07:06.129 of God, either the gospel of Jesus Christ or 00:07:06.129 --> 00:07:11.800 the law of God. The apostle begins by giving 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:14.259 us the reasons for their condemnation. And there 00:07:14.259 --> 00:07:16.420 are two reasons for the condemnation of those 00:07:16.420 --> 00:07:20.620 who are pagan. In the first place, they suppress 00:07:20.620 --> 00:07:25.680 the truth of God. And secondly, they reject the 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:30.459 knowledge of God. Now notice this. They suppress 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:35.120 the truth of God. He says God's wrath is revealed 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:42.029 against men who suppress the truth. in unrighteousness. 00:07:42.610 --> 00:07:46.129 What is the truth here? The truth in this instance 00:07:46.129 --> 00:07:51.649 refers to the universal natural revelation of 00:07:51.649 --> 00:07:55.930 God that is available to all men. It is that 00:07:55.930 --> 00:08:01.610 truth that there is a supreme being who is worthy 00:08:01.610 --> 00:08:07.300 of worship and obedience. He says, that which 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:12.339 is known about God is evident within them. God 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:15.839 has made it evident to them. For since the creation 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:20.480 of the world, his invisible attributes have been 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:26.600 clearly seen. That is the truth. The truth here, 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:29.180 that is the truth that God has revealed in his 00:08:29.180 --> 00:08:33.990 creation. Invisible attributes are made visible 00:08:33.990 --> 00:08:36.809 and He names two of them, the eternal power of 00:08:36.809 --> 00:08:42.769 God and His divine nature. All men have that 00:08:42.769 --> 00:08:45.850 truth available to them because of the creation. 00:08:47.789 --> 00:08:51.830 It is not sufficient in itself to save a person, 00:08:52.909 --> 00:08:56.809 but it is sufficient to make a person responsible 00:08:56.809 --> 00:09:03.450 to God. for the light that he has. Reasoning 00:09:03.450 --> 00:09:06.429 from the law of cause and effect, all men are 00:09:06.429 --> 00:09:08.970 able to come to the knowledge of this kind of 00:09:08.970 --> 00:09:15.389 truth, that there is a God who is worthy of devotion. 00:09:17.149 --> 00:09:21.649 But rather than accept and follow and seek after 00:09:21.649 --> 00:09:24.110 this kind of truth that is clearly demonstrated 00:09:24.110 --> 00:09:29.080 in creation, what do men do? They suppress this 00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:32.899 truth. They hold it down, that is. They repress 00:09:32.899 --> 00:09:39.639 it. Why do they do that? Why do men, though something 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:42.480 of God's person can be seen in the universe around 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:46.600 them, turn from that and reject it and suppress 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:51.059 it? Well, he says that they do this in unrighteousness, 00:09:51.059 --> 00:09:53.360 which means out of their own unrighteousness 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:56.220 they do it. The point is they're trying to escape 00:09:56.220 --> 00:10:00.659 accountability for their moral actions. If there 00:10:00.659 --> 00:10:04.879 is indeed a supreme being, then man is held accountable 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:09.440 for what he does in this world. Man would rather 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:11.759 suppress the knowledge of God and not have to 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:18.500 face the issue of accountability. The pagan is 00:10:18.500 --> 00:10:23.320 lost. He is under the condemnation of God because 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:29.159 he suppresses the truth of God. But not only 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:31.840 that, he rejects the knowledge of God. In verse 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:38.059 19 it says that he can know God. That which is 00:10:38.059 --> 00:10:42.019 known about God is evident within him and without 00:10:42.019 --> 00:10:45.659 him, outside of him. Within him and his conscience 00:10:45.899 --> 00:10:49.500 outside of him in the creation around him. But 00:10:49.500 --> 00:10:52.980 man rejects that knowledge. He goes on through 00:10:52.980 --> 00:10:57.759 verse 23 to demonstrate this in what is seemingly 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:01.139 an historical example. And the question is, what 00:11:01.139 --> 00:11:04.720 is Paul thinking of when he writes about these 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:08.299 who though they knew God, they did not honor 00:11:08.299 --> 00:11:12.850 him as God. Who are these people? I think the 00:11:12.850 --> 00:11:15.409 best answer, at least to my satisfaction, is 00:11:15.409 --> 00:11:19.210 that he's talking about the civilization prior 00:11:19.210 --> 00:11:23.769 to the flood of Noah. Yet it is true of every 00:11:23.769 --> 00:11:28.490 pagan civilization. It is true of the Roman civilization. 00:11:30.149 --> 00:11:34.710 It is true of our civilization. But I think the 00:11:34.710 --> 00:11:37.570 apostle has in mind that particular civilization 00:11:37.570 --> 00:11:41.230 that lived prior to the flood. They knew God. 00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:45.440 He says. Not in a saving way, mind you, but in 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:50.419 an intellectual sense. They had to acknowledge 00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:55.559 that there was undeniable evidence of God. But 00:11:55.559 --> 00:12:01.039 did they then honor God? No. Man began to take 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:04.220 steps away from God. He lists six of them here. 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:07.399 He says they did not honor God, step number one. 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:10.379 Step number two, they did not give thanks to 00:12:10.379 --> 00:12:13.480 God. Step number three, they became feudal. The 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:17.399 word there means non -productive, speculative. 00:12:19.220 --> 00:12:24.000 I think here we have an insinuation regarding 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.419 the mythology that pagan people come up with. 00:12:29.860 --> 00:12:32.279 The damnable theory of evolution when applied 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:37.679 to religion says that man somehow developed this 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:41.500 idea of polytheism and mythologies and gods and 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:44.820 systems of religion like that and eventually 00:12:44.820 --> 00:12:50.500 evolved monotheism, the belief in one God, which 00:12:50.500 --> 00:12:54.559 is found in Israel and now in Christianity and 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:59.179 in Islam and so on. But the Bible teaches just 00:12:59.179 --> 00:13:02.159 the opposite, that man began with the knowledge 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:06.840 of one God. and then stepped away from that knowledge 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:12.220 to speculations and feudal thoughts and religious 00:13:12.220 --> 00:13:16.080 systems which man created these mythologies of 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:19.240 the various kinds of Greek and Roman gods as 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:22.879 well as the Hindu pantheon of millions of gods 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:26.980 and so on. It is the result of man's speculation 00:13:26.980 --> 00:13:31.139 turning from the god that may be known. The result 00:13:31.139 --> 00:13:35.299 of that, he says, step number four, they became 00:13:35.299 --> 00:13:39.519 foolish and their foolish hearts were darkened. 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:44.039 The word foolish here means stupid, undiscerning, 00:13:44.519 --> 00:13:48.639 not seeing. Step number five is that they then 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:52.639 became fools. The word means moron, literally, 00:13:53.720 --> 00:13:59.460 dull. So that despite their claim of intellect 00:13:59.460 --> 00:14:03.840 and mental superiority, Professing to be wise, 00:14:04.059 --> 00:14:09.220 he says, nonetheless they became fools. Learnedness 00:14:09.220 --> 00:14:15.519 does not mean that one is wise. And the final 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:18.779 step is that the exchange God's glory for idols 00:14:18.779 --> 00:14:23.899 in the forms of corruptible man and birds and 00:14:23.899 --> 00:14:26.480 four -footed animals and crawling creatures. 00:14:28.100 --> 00:14:31.200 So the steps away from God, they knew God, they 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:33.440 rejected the knowledge of God, they stepped away 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:36.720 from Him, and ended up worshipping the creation 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:40.200 rather than the Creator. And the result of this 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:46.919 is that they are without excuse. Having given 00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:49.360 us the reasons for their condemnation, they knew 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:53.259 God, but suppressed the knowledge of God and 00:14:53.259 --> 00:14:57.070 rejected it. He now tells us the result of their 00:14:57.070 --> 00:15:00.710 condemnation. Three times in the rest of chapter 00:15:00.710 --> 00:15:05.950 1, he says, God gave them over. That doesn't 00:15:05.950 --> 00:15:08.429 mean the same thing as saying God gave up on 00:15:08.429 --> 00:15:13.529 them. God doesn't give up. God doesn't grow weary. 00:15:14.970 --> 00:15:17.970 What is said here is an act of judgment on God's 00:15:17.970 --> 00:15:23.669 part. The pagans Turned from the knowledge that 00:15:23.669 --> 00:15:27.610 they could have of God Therefore says God gave 00:15:27.610 --> 00:15:33.149 them over He turned them over to something To 00:15:33.149 --> 00:15:35.870 someone what was it? Well it was to themselves 00:15:35.870 --> 00:15:40.590 and to their sin In other words God allowed the 00:15:40.590 --> 00:15:44.090 sin of their hearts to produce its natural consequences 00:15:47.529 --> 00:15:50.370 Some sinners pray, oh God, just leave me alone. 00:15:50.490 --> 00:15:52.350 Dear friend, that is the worst thing God can 00:15:52.350 --> 00:15:59.909 do to them. But when God gives one over, it is 00:15:59.909 --> 00:16:04.330 an expression of God's wrath. He says God gave 00:16:04.330 --> 00:16:07.590 them over in the first place to what seems to 00:16:07.590 --> 00:16:11.990 be a cultic kind of immorality. The lusts of 00:16:11.990 --> 00:16:15.539 their hearts, impurity. the dishonoring of their 00:16:15.539 --> 00:16:20.460 bodies, connected with their worship. You read 00:16:20.460 --> 00:16:23.059 about any system of idol worship and you will 00:16:23.059 --> 00:16:27.179 find exactly what Paul talks about here. It involves 00:16:27.179 --> 00:16:33.620 immorality of a gross sort. And then he says 00:16:33.620 --> 00:16:36.899 in verse 26, God gave them over to degrading 00:16:36.899 --> 00:16:41.720 passions, here to perversion and a general sort 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:46.440 of immorality. The result of which is that they 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:49.340 receive in their persons the due penalty of their 00:16:49.340 --> 00:16:53.039 error. God is just giving them over to allow 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:57.399 their passions and their sins to lead them on 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:00.720 downward away from Him. That's the way they want 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:05.500 to go. God says, go. And He gives them over to 00:17:05.500 --> 00:17:08.779 it. And the result of it is that out of their 00:17:08.779 --> 00:17:13.109 very sin, out of their very perversion, comes 00:17:13.109 --> 00:17:18.089 a consequence. E .H. Gifford says, the sin against 00:17:18.089 --> 00:17:22.109 God's nature, that is, refusing to accept who 00:17:22.109 --> 00:17:26.809 God is, entails, as its penalty, sin against 00:17:26.809 --> 00:17:30.470 one's own nature. Now why is that? Because we're 00:17:30.470 --> 00:17:34.529 created in the image of God. And therefore when 00:17:34.529 --> 00:17:41.299 we reject God, we reject ourselves. To sin against 00:17:41.299 --> 00:17:44.240 God's nature is to sin against our own nature. 00:17:46.599 --> 00:17:49.960 And he says, finally, verses 28 to 32, God gave 00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:52.660 them over to a depraved mind with all that that 00:17:52.660 --> 00:17:58.559 means. These people can no longer distinguish 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:03.660 between right and wrong. It's a fearful text 00:18:03.660 --> 00:18:07.339 that we look at here in the condemnation of the 00:18:07.339 --> 00:18:11.039 pagan. Again, I say I believe that the apostle 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:16.779 is really referring to that generation, that 00:18:16.779 --> 00:18:18.759 civilization that existed in the world before 00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:22.420 the Flood. But the same pattern is followed in 00:18:22.420 --> 00:18:24.980 every civilization that turns from the knowledge 00:18:24.980 --> 00:18:29.680 of God, including the Western civilization in 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:34.000 our contemporary world. We are marching down 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:37.900 the same path that Paul describes in this text. 00:18:39.230 --> 00:18:45.990 and it is evidence of the wrath of God. Men reject 00:18:45.990 --> 00:18:48.869 the knowledge of God, therefore God gives them 00:18:48.869 --> 00:18:59.190 over to the consequences of their own sin. Well, 00:18:59.269 --> 00:19:01.369 someone says, I'm sure glad I'm not a pagan. 00:19:02.950 --> 00:19:05.130 Takes care of me. I'm out of that scene. You 00:19:05.130 --> 00:19:08.650 know, that's not me at all. Well, the Apostle 00:19:08.650 --> 00:19:10.829 has some words to say to those who might respond 00:19:10.829 --> 00:19:15.069 that way. Chapter 2. For here we have the condemnation 00:19:15.069 --> 00:19:20.910 of the moralist. Those who would say, I'm not 00:19:20.910 --> 00:19:26.230 like those immoral pagans. I'm religious. And 00:19:26.230 --> 00:19:31.769 I do good. I'm a pretty fine guy. I'm moral. 00:19:33.289 --> 00:19:35.930 And yet they excuse themselves from the guilt 00:19:35.930 --> 00:19:38.809 of their actions and, in fact, are self -righteous. 00:19:39.069 --> 00:19:42.789 Not truly righteous, but self -righteous. He 00:19:42.789 --> 00:19:45.109 begins the whole chapter by saying these too 00:19:45.109 --> 00:19:50.730 are without excuse. God's judgment is upon the 00:19:50.730 --> 00:19:55.809 moralist who is self -righteous as much as it 00:19:55.809 --> 00:20:03.420 is upon the pagan in his gross immorality. God's 00:20:03.420 --> 00:20:05.660 judgment, he says in the first place, is according 00:20:05.660 --> 00:20:12.019 to works of man. God judges according to works. 00:20:13.339 --> 00:20:15.819 There can be no argument about this. The record 00:20:15.819 --> 00:20:18.720 is clear. Did you do this? Did you not do that? 00:20:20.619 --> 00:20:23.240 Notice it says in verse 6, who will render to 00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:27.940 every man according to his deeds? Paul's point 00:20:27.940 --> 00:20:31.910 here is that the moral man though he feels self 00:20:31.910 --> 00:20:34.369 -righteous, actually does the very same things 00:20:34.369 --> 00:20:38.490 as the pagan. Oh, his sin may be more discreet. 00:20:39.490 --> 00:20:42.750 He may seem to be more civilized. He may hide 00:20:42.750 --> 00:20:46.849 his sin better. He may couch it with religion. 00:20:46.970 --> 00:20:51.329 He may be refined or educated. What he does may 00:20:51.329 --> 00:20:53.730 be acceptable to the majority of the people. 00:20:53.910 --> 00:20:56.190 In other words, while everybody else is doing 00:20:56.190 --> 00:21:02.450 it, therefore it must not be sin. Paul says sin 00:21:02.450 --> 00:21:09.150 it is and God will judge according to works It 00:21:09.150 --> 00:21:11.950 is still sin to God and God will condemn the 00:21:11.950 --> 00:21:18.230 moralist based upon his life The truth of it 00:21:18.230 --> 00:21:22.789 Therefore God's judgment is also impartial verses 00:21:22.789 --> 00:21:28.380 11 through 15 Whether one is a moral Gentile 00:21:28.380 --> 00:21:31.319 or a moral Jew, it really doesn't make much difference. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:37.980 God is impartial about that. The Jew is moral 00:21:37.980 --> 00:21:42.279 because of the knowledge of the law, but he's 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:47.319 going to be judged by that law. The Gentile may 00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:50.579 be moral because of his conscience convicting 00:21:50.579 --> 00:21:57.009 him, but he will still be judged. Both the Jew 00:21:57.009 --> 00:22:00.849 and the Gentile who are moral, sin against the 00:22:00.849 --> 00:22:03.970 light that God has given them and will be judged 00:22:03.970 --> 00:22:08.029 accordingly. Let's try to pick up some verses 00:22:08.029 --> 00:22:11.410 that talk about this. Verse 11, there is no partiality 00:22:11.410 --> 00:22:16.509 with God. All who have sinned without the law, 00:22:16.509 --> 00:22:22.450 who is that? The Gentile will also perish without 00:22:22.450 --> 00:22:27.579 the law. Why? They've sinned. And all who sinned 00:22:27.579 --> 00:22:32.240 under the law, who's that? The Jew, will be judged 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:36.319 by the law. So God is impartial in His judgment. 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.259 He doesn't look at the exterior. He doesn't look 00:22:40.259 --> 00:22:43.160 at the pedigree. He doesn't look at the race 00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:47.740 or the nationality. God looks at the works. And 00:22:47.740 --> 00:22:53.619 He judges impartially. And in verse 16, He tells 00:22:53.619 --> 00:22:59.480 us that God's judgment is right. God's judgment 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:05.220 is right according to truth. He says there is 00:23:05.220 --> 00:23:08.039 a day when, according to my gospel, God will 00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:12.500 judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:16.380 God knows the moral man's secrets. The moral 00:23:16.380 --> 00:23:20.119 man says, nobody knows. I'm not like those people 00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:22.539 who are gross and open in their display of sin. 00:23:23.500 --> 00:23:29.220 I'm better than they are. Paul tells us here 00:23:29.220 --> 00:23:33.980 God knows the secrets. God knows what the moral 00:23:33.980 --> 00:23:38.319 man will not admit even to himself. And his judgment 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:40.640 will be according to truth. It will be a right 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:44.880 judgment. The moral man is under the condemnation 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:51.339 of God. Well, maybe the Jew sat back in his easy 00:23:51.339 --> 00:23:53.500 chair at this point and said, well, that's all 00:23:53.500 --> 00:23:58.390 great, but I've got the law and I am a Jew. I'm 00:23:58.390 --> 00:24:02.609 not a Gentile dog, and I'm certainly not a pagan. 00:24:04.269 --> 00:24:06.509 And so now the apostle wishes to address this 00:24:06.509 --> 00:24:11.049 group. He says, if you bear the name Jew and 00:24:11.049 --> 00:24:13.630 rely upon the law and boast in God, and he goes 00:24:13.630 --> 00:24:16.869 on to lay out for us the privileges of the Jews. 00:24:17.069 --> 00:24:20.150 There are at least ten advantages that Jews have 00:24:20.150 --> 00:24:24.789 over Gentiles here in verses 17 through 20. The 00:24:24.789 --> 00:24:29.720 privileges of the Jew. But after telling the 00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:32.319 privileges of the Jew, he goes on to lay out 00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:36.480 the problem of the Jew, verses 21 through 27. 00:24:39.220 --> 00:24:42.000 He says despite the advantages which the Jew 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:46.240 has had, he has failed to attain the righteousness 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:51.640 of God. Why is that? Because instead of heeding 00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:55.750 the message of the law, the Jew sought to use 00:24:55.750 --> 00:24:59.710 it to establish his own self -righteousness. 00:25:01.509 --> 00:25:03.829 Instead of heeding the message of the law, which 00:25:03.829 --> 00:25:08.390 was intended to point out sin and to bring one 00:25:08.390 --> 00:25:13.609 to the mercy of God, the Jew used the law to 00:25:13.609 --> 00:25:17.470 establish a certain code of self -righteousness 00:25:17.470 --> 00:25:23.210 and lived in hypocrisy. For example, the Jew 00:25:23.210 --> 00:25:28.069 said, Thou shalt not commit adultery, but committed 00:25:28.069 --> 00:25:33.529 adultery. The Jew said, you shall not worship 00:25:33.529 --> 00:25:38.529 idols that robbed idols' temples, he says. You 00:25:38.529 --> 00:25:44.349 boast in the law, but you break the law and you 00:25:44.349 --> 00:25:48.730 dishonor God. And he says in verse 24, the name 00:25:48.730 --> 00:25:52.549 of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because 00:25:52.549 --> 00:26:00.329 of you. He's talking to the Jew. And he lays 00:26:00.329 --> 00:26:06.789 the Jew out flat. The Jew has nowhere to stand. 00:26:09.089 --> 00:26:12.210 Advantages and privileges mean nothing if they 00:26:12.210 --> 00:26:16.289 aren't taken advantage of. Instead of using them 00:26:16.289 --> 00:26:19.630 the right way, the Jew used them the wrong way. 00:26:21.799 --> 00:26:24.400 I think there's a point of application here for 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:30.259 us who call ourselves Christians. The advantages 00:26:30.259 --> 00:26:35.339 that we have, the privileges and the advantages 00:26:35.339 --> 00:26:38.500 that belong to us as believers, if they're not 00:26:38.500 --> 00:26:41.339 used properly, only increase our condemnation. 00:26:47.630 --> 00:26:51.109 The true Jew, he says in verses 28 and 29, is 00:26:51.109 --> 00:26:54.109 not one anyway who is circumcised in his body, 00:26:55.710 --> 00:27:00.029 who has that outward mark of a covenant. He says 00:27:00.029 --> 00:27:04.910 the real Jew is one who is inwardly circumcised 00:27:04.910 --> 00:27:10.670 in his heart. That's the real Jew. As we come 00:27:10.670 --> 00:27:14.509 then to chapter 3, verses 1 through 8, the apostle 00:27:14.509 --> 00:27:19.180 seems to be here entering into a debate with 00:27:19.180 --> 00:27:25.839 some Jewish rabbi. And he begins to debate with 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:29.680 this imaginary rabbi with some responses that 00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:33.319 the rabbi might give to what Paul has said about 00:27:33.319 --> 00:27:37.700 the condemnation of the Jew. We don't have time 00:27:37.700 --> 00:27:39.720 to go into that except to point out in verse 00:27:39.720 --> 00:27:44.740 8, their condemnation is just, he says. That's 00:27:44.740 --> 00:27:47.400 the bottom line. He says, whatever the debate 00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:51.079 may be, the bottom line is this, the condemnation 00:27:51.079 --> 00:27:56.400 of God upon the Jew is a just condemnation. And 00:27:56.400 --> 00:28:00.619 so the apostle in writing to these Roman Christians 00:28:00.619 --> 00:28:04.480 has just addressed the whole world in these verses. 00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:08.720 A world that Romans were well familiar with, 00:28:08.759 --> 00:28:13.000 for there were pagans in that day as today. who 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:15.599 were open and licentious in their immorality, 00:28:16.579 --> 00:28:18.640 and there were those who were rather self -righteous 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:23.279 in their gentile morality. And, of course, there 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:26.700 were the Jews who likewise were very righteous 00:28:26.700 --> 00:28:31.259 outwardly. And Paul says regarding them, all 00:28:31.259 --> 00:28:34.539 they are condemned and without excuse before 00:28:34.539 --> 00:28:39.299 God. That brings us to verses 9 through 20, which 00:28:39.299 --> 00:28:45.240 is really his summation of all of this. The summation 00:28:45.240 --> 00:28:50.940 can be found in three words in verse 9. All under 00:28:50.940 --> 00:28:56.559 sin. That's it. That's the conclusion. Whether 00:28:56.559 --> 00:29:01.440 moral or immoral, Gentile or Jew, all are under 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:07.059 sin. Now he begins to gather some data from the 00:29:07.059 --> 00:29:11.539 Old Testament to back up this conclusion. He 00:29:11.539 --> 00:29:18.220 quotes from Psalms 14. 53, 5, 10, 36, as well 00:29:18.220 --> 00:29:23.019 as Isaiah 53. And he piles phrase upon phrase 00:29:23.019 --> 00:29:27.400 and verse upon verse to illustrate the fact that 00:29:27.400 --> 00:29:32.220 all are under sin, that all humanity is corrupt 00:29:32.220 --> 00:29:38.039 before God and worthy of His wrath. The humanity 00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:42.579 sin against God is monstrous and it is premeditated. 00:29:43.140 --> 00:29:48.460 and that God's righteousness demands a just response. 00:29:51.799 --> 00:29:54.460 One commentator said, evil can no more survive 00:29:54.460 --> 00:29:57.599 in the presence of God than a microbe can survive 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:03.839 in the light of the sun. God's righteousness 00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:07.240 demands response, and that is summarized in the 00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:11.809 word wrath. Sometimes we think of wrath as being 00:30:11.809 --> 00:30:17.150 a temper tantrum. It's not that at all. God's 00:30:17.150 --> 00:30:21.769 wrath refers to a settled disposition of judgment 00:30:21.769 --> 00:30:27.730 and anger. It is not some flare -up like a volcano. 00:30:27.849 --> 00:30:30.549 It is a settled disposition that flows right 00:30:30.549 --> 00:30:36.049 out of the righteousness of God. And in His righteousness, 00:30:36.430 --> 00:30:40.289 God has no choice but to condemn the whole world 00:30:40.289 --> 00:30:45.769 because all of sin. And he says that all the 00:30:45.769 --> 00:30:49.190 world is accountable to God. Verse 19, now we 00:30:49.190 --> 00:30:51.650 know that whatever the law says, it speaks to 00:30:51.650 --> 00:30:54.650 those who are under the law, that every mouth 00:30:54.650 --> 00:30:59.309 may be closed and all the world may become accountable 00:30:59.309 --> 00:31:03.250 to God. Indeed, the law was never given, was 00:31:03.250 --> 00:31:09.910 it? for man's salvation. He says, by the works 00:31:09.910 --> 00:31:13.190 of the law, no flesh will be justified in his 00:31:13.190 --> 00:31:17.289 sight. The law was not given for man's justification, 00:31:17.369 --> 00:31:21.710 but for his enlightenment, that man might understand 00:31:21.710 --> 00:31:26.430 his sinfulness. Man cannot be made righteous 00:31:26.430 --> 00:31:32.670 by the law. J. Verna McGee, in his own unusual 00:31:32.670 --> 00:31:36.170 way, said, to attempt salvation by the law, is 00:31:36.170 --> 00:31:38.410 like jumping out of an airplane and instead of 00:31:38.410 --> 00:31:40.910 grabbing a parachute, grabbing a bag of cement. 00:31:42.390 --> 00:31:46.430 Well said. For those who grab on to the law saying, 00:31:46.769 --> 00:31:49.970 by this I will be saved, are only dragging themselves 00:31:49.970 --> 00:31:52.849 to a greater condemnation. And so we come to 00:31:52.849 --> 00:31:56.529 the question, which is a key question in this 00:31:56.529 --> 00:32:02.390 book. If we are sinful and under the condemnation 00:32:02.390 --> 00:32:09.029 of God, And God who is righteous condemns us. 00:32:09.470 --> 00:32:16.569 How can we ever be made right with God? How can 00:32:16.569 --> 00:32:21.289 we ever escape the condemnation of God? For we 00:32:21.289 --> 00:32:25.170 look at ourselves, we are in fact sinners, and 00:32:25.170 --> 00:32:29.589 God's wrath is upon us. It's not just that it's 00:32:29.589 --> 00:32:31.490 going to come someday. The picture that Paul 00:32:31.490 --> 00:32:34.089 paints here is that the wrath of God is like 00:32:34.089 --> 00:32:37.630 a constant stream of pressure against the ungodly. 00:32:39.049 --> 00:32:43.029 And it is sweeping them away to an eternity in 00:32:43.029 --> 00:32:47.210 hell. If that's where we are in our sin, how 00:32:47.210 --> 00:32:51.990 can we be rescued? How can this God who is righteous 00:32:51.990 --> 00:32:56.650 reach down and save anybody? For we're all under 00:32:56.650 --> 00:33:00.849 sin. Well, that's the blessed story that we come 00:33:00.849 --> 00:33:03.650 to in the next section of Romans as we continue 00:33:03.650 --> 00:33:12.569 our study in it. Let's pray together. Father, 00:33:12.609 --> 00:33:17.309 we give thanks to you for the Lord Jesus. Because 00:33:17.309 --> 00:33:19.890 we know, most of us know who are here tonight 00:33:19.890 --> 00:33:23.569 that were it not for him, we would still be under 00:33:23.569 --> 00:33:28.579 your wrath, and justly so. and we would be without 00:33:28.579 --> 00:33:36.539 hope for eternity. Father, right upon our hearts, 00:33:36.680 --> 00:33:42.279 I pray, now that we've been redeemed, the predicament 00:33:42.279 --> 00:33:49.220 of those who are outside of Christ, may we understand 00:33:49.220 --> 00:33:54.859 the lostness of all men because all have sinned. 00:33:58.589 --> 00:34:01.450 When we understand that, give our hearts great 00:34:01.450 --> 00:34:08.269 compassion so that we might be motivated by the 00:34:08.269 --> 00:34:12.530 love of Christ to go to those who are lost still 00:34:12.530 --> 00:34:16.849 and share the news with them how they might be 00:34:16.849 --> 00:34:23.090 saved. I pray that you will write that upon our 00:34:23.090 --> 00:34:25.449 hearts individually and as a congregation, as 00:34:25.449 --> 00:34:29.389 a church. And may we increasingly understand 00:34:29.389 --> 00:34:31.489 that that is the focus of our reason for being 00:34:31.489 --> 00:34:36.829 here, our mission, that you've sent us here to 00:34:36.829 --> 00:34:41.730 be a witness of your saving gospel, which is 00:34:41.730 --> 00:34:50.010 the power of God for salvation. Lord, as we go 00:34:50.010 --> 00:34:52.789 out from here to our week of responsibility, 00:34:54.440 --> 00:34:58.179 Go before us and give us courage to use the opportunities 00:34:58.179 --> 00:35:01.500 you would give to share this gospel, this good 00:35:01.500 --> 00:35:06.699 news of rescue. In Jesus' name, Amen.