None are Righteous (Romans 3:1-20)

Romans chapter 3, starting in verse 1.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

So what advantage does the Jew have?

Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

Considerable in every way.

First, they were entrusted with the very words of God.

What then?

If some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness nullify God's faithfulness?

Absolutely not.

Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar, as it is written, that you may be justified in your words and triumph when you judge.

But if our unrighteousness highlights God's righteousness, what are we to say?

I'm using a human argument.

Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath?

Absolutely not.

Otherwise, how will God judge the world?

But if by my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?

And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, let us do what is evil so that good may come.

Their condemnation is deserved.

What then?

Are we any better off?

Not at all, for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin.

As it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one.

There is no one who understands.

There is no one who seeks God.

All have turned away.

All alike have become worthless.

There is no one who does what is good, not even one.

Their throat is an open grave, they deceive with their tongues, viper's venom is under their lips, their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known.

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut, and the whole world may become subject to God's judgment.

For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.

Let's pray.

Lord, I thank you so much for your word.

We I thank you that it is a living and breathing document that we get to hold in our hands here today.

Lord, that this is your word as we're going to be talking about here in this passage.

Lord, I pray that you would give us soft hearts and open minds and open eyes and open ears to the things that you have for us.

That you would be the one speaking here today, that you would use me as your mouthpiece, that you would help me to rightly divide your word here this morning, and that you would be glorified above all else.

Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

So I want to start off this morning with a question.

Should parents provide boundaries for their children?

Resounding, yes.

Is it good to change to train children to not chase a ball into the street?

That's a good thing to train a child in, right?

Is it good to train kids to not stick a butter knife in an electrical outlet?

Right?

These are good things we should be doing, right?

And is it good to make those boundaries clear to kids before they try to do those things?

Absolutely.

I want us to keep those things in mind as we go through this passage here this morning.

And we're actually gonna answer those questions of why it's good to provide those boundaries.

But first, I want to start off by looking at what we've covered so far in Romans, just to make sure that we're keeping everything in context.

In chapter one, Paul gives his introduction to the book, and then he paints this picture of what it looks like when God gives people what they really want in their flesh.

And we really see the depravity of man outlined in the second half of chapter one.

And then we go into chapter two and we see this concept develop that Jews are just as guilty as their Gentile friends that are in that same church that they're in in Rome.

That the Jews are just as guilty as those that have given themselves completely over to their flesh their whole life.

And Paul develops this concept that everybody is guilty without Jesus, that all have fallen short of the glory of God.

And it doesn't matter how many good works you've done, or if you've been circumcised, or if you've grown up under the law, or if you've grown up in a pagan culture under pagan influence, because all that God desires from us is a heart that is surrendered completely to Him, that is set apart for Him, as we talked about last week.

A heart that's walking with and following the Holy Spirit, a heart that's been circumcised and that's actively denying the flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So all of that has been developed in the first two chapters.

And what we'll see here in the first half of chapter three is Paul anticipating what counterarguments the Jews may have toward his argument that he's developed over these first two chapters.

Paul's anticipating what they're gonna ask, or maybe some of the things that are gonna come back to him about his argument that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

And we'll go over three anticipatory questions that Paul will answer before they even have a chance to ask those.

And I get that impression that Paul's writing and he's thinking, I know exactly what they're gonna think when they read this.

I know exactly the questions that are come back.

So instead of having them write a letter back to him, he's like, I'm just gonna answer these questions before they can uh, you know, send their counterarguments back to me.

So the first question is right there in verse 1 of chapter 3.

And that question is, so what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the benefit of circumcision?

So if we are all on the same playing field, you know we've been talking about that over the last couple weeks, you know, and Paul's laid that out in the first two chapters.

Is there any advantage to being Jewish and the practice of circumcision?

And that answer is verse 2.

He says, considerable in every way.

First, they were entrusted with the very words of God.

You know, God spoke to Abraham, he gave the law to Moses, he spoke through his judges and through his prophets.

You know, at the writing of Romans, the Jewish community had been entrusted with the entirety of the Old Testament.

The word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit was theirs.

And because of it, they could know God's heart.

They could know God's will.

They could know God's character.

You know, and that's a huge benefit in comparison to the other nations that are around them and throughout the world, because they were not aware of those things, but those things were entrusted to the Jewish community.

And then in Romans chapter 9, uh verses 4 through 5, and we have a slide for that, right?

Romans 9 · chapter mention

Yeah.

He elaborates even more about what the benefits are that the Jewish people have.

And I'll read that to you.

He said, They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises.

The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ who is God over all, praised forever.

Amen.

All of those things are an advantage to being Jewish.

The advantages are considerable, as Paul says, considerable in every way.

I think Paul maybe is anticipating that as he lays out everything that he's already laid out in the first two chapters, you know, that everybody's on the same playing field.

That um he's anticipating, I think, that some of the Jewish people might be feeling, well then, why did I grow up struggling under the weight of the law?

Trying to keep all of those things.

When in the end, we're all on the same playing field.

We're on the same playing field as the pagan Romans that are on the other side of the church from them.

So Paul reminds them of the advantages of being God's chosen people.

And then he says the advantages are considerable.

Then Paul moves on to the second question here in verse 3.

Look at it with me.

What then?

If some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness nullify God's faithfulness?

Remember, last week we talked about how Israel's unfaithfulness led to God's name being blasphemed.

Because God chose them to be the nation that He would reveal Himself through.

But their rebellion actually leads to the Babylonians and the other nations around them blaspheming God because the judgment on Israel made it look like God couldn't take care of his own people.

So Paul asks this question in verse 3.

What then?

If some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness nullify God's faithfulness?

And then he answers that in verse 4.

He says, Absolutely not.

Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar.

As it is written, and he quotes Psalm 51:4 here, that you may be justified in your words and triumph when you judge.

Psalms 51:4

So we're all liars.

And God is the perfect judge, and he administers perfect justice.

Which is going to be talked about in verse 5 when Paul asks the question, is God unrighteous to inflict wrath?

And the answer to that one as well is absolutely not.

He's perfect.

He's the perfect judge that administers perfect justice.

And God cannot tell a lie.

Even though all of us, everybody else, is a liar.

And God's perfection and perfect justice doesn't change.

Even when his followers are acting unrighteous and unfaithful.

Praise the Lord.

Amen?

And in a way, our unrighteousness provides a contrast to God's perfection, helping us set God apart and elevate him in our own minds.

So let's look at verse five, which is question number three.

But if our unrighteousness highlights God's righteousness, what are we to say?

I'm using a human argument.

Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath?

If our sin highlights and contrasts God's righteousness, and if God can make all things work together for our good and for his glory, then is God unrighteous to judge and inflict his wrath in judgment?

So that's the question we're looking at.

This is the question that Paul is posing here.

And the problem with this line of thinking, with this question as a whole, is that it looks at God from a perspective of a puppet master that controls everything, and therefore we're no longer accountable for our actions and our choices.

That's what that question really paints.

It's the attitude that we're going to sin no matter what, and God's still going to be glorified.

So why should I be punished and why should I be judged?

You know, I'm actually helping God when I sin.

If God didn't want me to sin, then he should have stopped me.

This is the attitude of this question.

I mean, you know, he's in control of everything, right?

And I'm just his pawn.

That's kind of what this question is looking at.

It not only removes our accountability for what we do, but it paints God into this corner and makes him look, like Paul says, like he's unrighteous to inflict wrath in that case.

So Paul asks, Is he unrighteous to inflict wrath?

Verse 6 is the answer.

Absolutely not.

Otherwise, how will God judge the world?

But if by my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?

And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim, we say, let us do what is evil so that good may come.

Their condemnation is deserved.

What then?

Are we any better off?

Not at all.

For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin.

So verses five through nine really come down to, you know, if we're all liars, for all sinners, and God is still righteous and true, and we're already forgiven, why do I need to try and stop sinning?

That's what that comes down to.

It's kind of like Romans 6, 1.

We have a slide for that as well.

Should we continue to sin so that grace may multiply?

Absolutely not.

How can we who die to sin still live in sin?

You know, in David Guzick's commentary, he uses this example, and I want to share it with you because I think it's just perfect.

And actually, I had this question asked to me a couple months ago and kind of fumbled through the answer with the person, and then he did it here.

I'm like, okay, this is really good.

He says, in theory, the most dramatic example of someone who might ask this question, you know, of should I sin more so grace abounds?

Is Judas.

Can you hear Judas make this case?

Lord, I know that I betrayed Jesus, but you used it for good.

In fact, if I hadn't done what I did, Jesus wouldn't have gone to the cross at all.

What I did even fulfilled the scriptures.

How can you judge me at all?

The answer to Judas might go something like this Yes, God used your wickedness, but it was still your wickedness.

There was no good or pure motive in your heart at all.

It is no credit to you that God brought good out of your evil.

You stand guilty before God.

Because you can't walk by the Spirit and also let your flesh do whatever it wants.

A submitted heart filled with the Holy Spirit of God cannot exist with our untamed, out-of-control flesh in the same person.

If we're truly submitted to God, we will allow Him to implant His desires into our heart.

If we're truly submitted to God, we will allow the Holy Spirit to convict and to direct us.

And he's never going to say, the Holy Spirit's never going to tell us, you know, sin all the more so that grace may abound.

You know, I asked you those parenting questions to start things off.

So I want to take a moment and talk a little bit about the purpose of the law, the purpose of God's boundaries for us.

So you don't have to raise your hand, but has anybody here ever read the first five books of the Bible?

You know, in it is the law that we've been talking so much about in Romans so far.

You get into Leviticus and into Numbers and into Deuteronomy and you get into some pretty detailed laws that seem extremely obscure.

You're thinking to yourself, why?

Like why can't you boil a goat in its mother's milk?

That's a law that was given to the Israelites.

And why can't they eat pork and certain types of shellfish and things like that?

And why is the law so detailed?

And I think it's important for us to understand that God never gave a single law to the Israelites without a reason.

Every command God gave them was for one of two things.

It was for their own protection and benefit, or it was to set them apart from the pagan nations that were around them, from their neighbors.

God gave them laws for their own good because he loved them.

You know, whether dietary law or civil law, it was to keep them healthy, both physically and emotionally, and to protect them from being influenced from the detrimental pagan practices of their neighbors at the time.

God's laws were given for the same reason that I give my kids boundaries.

Because I love them.

And I want what's best for them.

Because I love them too much to let them go into things unknowingly that will end in them being harmed.

So why am I telling you all of this regarding the law?

Because sinning so that grace can abound is ridiculous when you think about what sin is.

Sin is rebellion against God.

It's telling God, I know better than you.

It's saying I can do a better job on my own than God can in my life.

It's like if one of my kids told me, I'm going to throw a rock through the living room window so that all the neighbors can see how forgiving and long-suffering and patient you are, dad.

I'm going to be destructive and harmful so that my dad's good qualities can shine through.

But we have a rock throwing rule at our house for my kids' protection and for the safety of everyone.

Because if they throw a rock, they can hurt others.

They break a window, they're paying for it.

The rule is to protect them physically and to protect them financially.

But they can sometimes feel restricted with all of Dad's rules, can't they?

So when Paul asks the question in verse 8, should we do what is evil so that good may come?

Or should we sin so that grace abounds?

This shows a lack of understanding by the Jewish community of why the law was given.

Not understanding that the law came from a place of love.

Submitting to God is realizing that he knows what's best and always has what's best in mind for us.

And that his direction is for our good.

All of the boundaries that he gives us, it's for our good.

Walking by the Spirit and sin abounding in your life are two things that can't coexist in the same person.

If one's growing, the other one's shrinking.

They can't both abound at the same time.

Sinning so grace can abound is a complete lack of understanding of God's love for us.

It's like we sing around Christmas time.

His law is love, and his gospel is peace.

And when you see God's law is love, the desire to sin starts to diminish.

Because you start to see why God hates sin.

He hates sin because it hurts us.

He hates sin because it hurts others, the people that we sin against.

Now, Paul's going to change gears a little bit here in verses 10 through 18.

And before we read it, what it is, it's a cluster of a lot of Old Testament verses that point to how none of us are righteous or even close to being righteous aside from Jesus Christ.

Look at verse 10 with me.

As it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one.

There is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God.

All have turned away.

All alike have become worthless.

There's no one who does what is good, not even one.

Their throat is an open grave, they deceive with their tongues.

Viper's venom is under their lips.

Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

Their feet are swift to shed blood.

Ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known.

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

If you're a highlighter and underliner, do that with verse 18.

There's no fear of God before their eyes.

Most of these verses are from Psalms.

And then we have one verse in here that's from Isaiah 59.

And they're all pointing to what we look like when we're left to ourselves.

And verse 18 points to why we become like this.

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

When Paul looked around, and when he looked around, and when we look around at us here today, we can't see the fear of God in the world around us.

He's being mocked, he's being blasphemed, and it's just pure pride right in the face of God.

You know, do you remember the list at the end of chapter one that we went through where Paul was describing what it looks like when God gave people over to their lusts and to their passions?

It's a lot like this list that we just read.

So Paul ends.

That list in chapter one by saying not only do these people do those evil things, but then they applaud other people that are also doing those other things as well.

And that's exactly where we are in our culture today.

Not only are people given over to the lusts of their flesh, those lusts are being celebrated for doing these evil things.

And people are looking at these evil things that people are doing and saying, You're brave.

They're saying, you know, you do you.

That's like I hate that saying more than anything.

Like, oh they're saying things like, follow your heart.

And God's saying, no, uh-uh.

In Jeremiah, he says, the heart is deceitful above all things and is desperately wicked.

And the world is saying, yeah, do that.

Follow that.

And then we'll apply to you when you do.

God says, no.

You need a heart that is circumcised, that is cut off from the flesh, that's submitted to me, that's tamed and disciplined, obedient to the Holy Spirit, a heart and conscience that is informed with the truth of God's word, that's fearing the Lord.

That's what God wants.

He wants that heart.

Not to follow our old fleshly heart, but to allow him to give us that new heart that is informed by his word, that's filled with the Holy Spirit and acting in those ways.

Look at verse 19 with me.

Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God's judgment.

So verses 10 through 17 paint this picture of what someone looks like under the law.

You know, the Old Testament verses are aimed at Old Testament Israel, the ones that we just read, which were still under that law.

And if it's that bad under the law, who then could speak up in this group and say, you know, I think I'm okay on my own.

I think I can get through under my own works.

You know, I don't need Jesus' works or his forgiveness.

You know, I don't need to repent.

I'm good.

I got this on my own.

That's why Paul says in verse 19, so that every mouth may be shut, and the whole world may become subject to God's judgment.

Because there is none righteous, no, not one.

That's why the law cannot save us.

And that is confirmed here in verse 20.

Look at it with me.

For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law.

Because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.

You know, the law helps us see what's best for us, it helps us see what God desires for us.

It provides knowledge of what God sees as sin.

And it provides knowledge to know what's detrimental for us.

But it doesn't save us.

In reality, it just shows us that we don't measure up and that we've horribly missed the mark without Jesus Christ.

It shows us that only Jesus can save, and that's not something that we can do on our own.

Because Jesus fulfilled the law.

He fulfilled the need for death to atone for our sins.

The wages of our breaking the law was death.

And Jesus died that death in our place.

You know, the old covenant was God saying, You uphold these laws and you worship me only, and I'll be your God and I'm gonna take care of you.

The new covenant, which is in Jesus, is Him saying, I upheld all of those laws for you.

I paid the price for the death.

Not for my sins, Jesus is saying, but for your sins.

And now salvation is this free gift that I'm offering that brings peace between you and God.

And you just need to accept it.

Stop trying to do things on your own.

Just repent of those offenses and those sins and give your life to Jesus.

Stop trying to do things on your own.

You know, it doesn't work, and you're gonna be a miserable mess and have nothing to show for it if we try to do things on our own.

And Jesus is just saying, surrender.

Give me your heart, walk by the Spirit, and I'm gonna take care of the rest in your life.

That's what the new covenant is.

The old covenant was written in stone, and it was given to Moses.

The new covenant is written on our hearts.

Once again, it all leads back to our heart.

We keep seeing this theme throughout Romans, don't we?

And Jesus has made a way for our hearts to be right with God through his blood that was spilled on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.

The sacrifice to end all sacrifices, to end a covenant based on the law, so that he could begin a covenant that's based on grace.

Think about that.

Would you prefer the letter of the law or grace?

Next time you get pulled over for a traffic violation that you deserve, which would you prefer from the officer of the law?

The ticket or grace in being let go?

By choosing the letter of the law, you're saying, I don't want grace, I don't want forgiveness, give me the ticket, I'll pay the fine.

And God says, Well, the fine is death.

And because the wages of sin is death.

It seems foolish to choose punishment when grace is being so freely offered, doesn't it?

If you haven't ever chosen grace, God wants to set you free from the wages of sin here today.

He wants to extend grace and forgiveness to you.

He wants to give you a new heart and give you the Holy Spirit as a helper in your life.

And all you have to do is accept that free gift from Jesus.

Believe it in your heart, confess it with your mouth, and it's yours for all of eternity.

If that's you, would you please pray this prayer with me?

Lord, I recognize that I am a sinner, that I have a debt that I cannot pay on my own.

And Lord, I accept this free gift of Jesus Christ.

His death, burial, and resurrection that was done for me.

Lord, I accept that free gift, and I ask that you would be the Lord over my life.

That you would fill me with your Holy Spirit, that you would give me a new heart that is completely given over to you and no longer given over to the lust of the flesh.

Lord, a heart that is directed by the truth of your word and by the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of me.

Lord, I accept this free gift of grace that you bought with your blood through this new covenant that you're offering to bring peace between us and between God.

Lord, would you do that work in my life and may I every day forward, may I follow you every step of the way.

Lord, I surrender myself to you.

I think that's a prayer, Lord, that we can all agree with.

Lord, we need your grace daily.

Lord, we're still fighting our flesh in this old man, this body that we're living in, and we're gonna fight that till the day that we die.

But Lord, I pray that you would give us victory.

Lord, that your Holy Spirit would live stronger and stronger inside of us, that we would surrender deeper and deeper daily to the Holy Spirit inside of us.

That you would counsel us, that you would direct us, that you would convict us, that you would show us how to follow you the best that we can.

And Lord, that we wouldn't stop trying to take the wheel of our life, thinking that we know better than you, but that we would fully surrender and allow you to direct us and to guide us however you want us to walk.

Every step that you want us to take, every thought that you want us to think, every word that you want us to say, Lord, may it be directed by you.

May we just become more and more like Jesus on a daily basis.

We recognize that we can do nothing without you, Lord.