Bible Study Romans Part 62-Yes You

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The following program is an edited recording of the regular Bible studies we hold.

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In this lesson, we are still studying Paul's letter to the Romans.

We're in the midst of a masterful discourse.

Masterful yes, pleasant no.

If we ran a poll that asked what people wanted out of their religious experience, we'd hear things like comfort and peace and love.

But but no one is going to say that they want honesty from their preachers.

In fact, listen, if you're going to preach honestly, you're going to be finding yourself doing so to empty buildings.

Listen, all of those other things can be lovely elements of an honest portrayal of Scripture, but none of that is the primary reason, theme, or aim of the Bible.

The entire purpose of Scripture is to convey the seriousness of the fall of mankind.

Mankind was mankind fell directly because of sin.

And we have the Bible because without it, we'd be completely unaware of how much trouble we're in and no way of knowing how to get out of it.

So the thing is full of references to our sinful nature, and no one likes to hear such things at first.

But a good preacher must try.

And that's what we have here in this third chapter of the Romans letter.

Paul is pulling out all the stops, and it's been rough.

In this section, he's reaching back into the Hebrew scriptures and he's bringing out references to our sinful nature, not to be unkind, but in an effort to wake up the self-righteous crowd in Rome and everywhere else.

So let's read from the beginning of this section through the verses we've already covered, and then we'll pick it up where we left off last time.

We won't be doing any review.

There's no time for that.

But if you've not done so already, let me suggest that you go back and listen to our past installments on Paul's letter.

Every lesson is self-contained for the most part.

But if you want to keep up with the flow, that's what I recommend.

Go back and review what we've already covered.

So here we go.

We're going to start at verse nine.

What then?

Are we better than they?

No, in no wise.

For we have before proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin, as it is written.

And then from here, Paul starts quoting from a source his audience knew very well, Holy Scripture.

Again, go back and listen to our previous lessons so you can find out exactly where these references come from, because we won't be going over that again in this lesson.

Verse 10 As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one.

There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

They are all gone out of the way.

They are together become unprofitable.

There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Brutal, yes, but that's only the beginning.

Here's where we'll pick it up today, verse 13.

Their throat is an open sepulchre.

You know what a sepulcher is, don't you?

It's a tomb, it's a grave.

Paul is saying our throats are like open graves.

What are you talking to?

Me?

Yes, and me and him and her and everyone.

Listen, nothing and no one has gotten any better since that day Adam and Eve got kicked out of paradise.

The Darwinists have been spinning that nonsense since the middle of the 19th century.

The Bible lays out the entire record of mankind's existence on this earth, and it notes that if anything, things get worse and worse until Jesus comes back and makes everything right again.

So, yes, this applies to all of us.

Verse 10 again, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one, there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God, they are all gone out of the way, they are become, they are together become unprofitable.

There is none that doeth good, no not one.

Their throat is an open sepulchre.

You know, the one characteristic of an open grave that everyone notices, don't you?

The smell.

Open graves stink, and they stink because what's inside is dead.

This is vivid and harsh imagery straight from God's word.

But not even that is the harshest thing he has to say.

Their throat is an open sepulchre, with their tongues they have used deceit.

The poison of asps is under their lips.

The consistent theme of the past couple of chapters is the propensity mankind has for lies and hypocrisy.

We go around all pious and spiritual, all the while our hearts are full of treachery and sin.

We say one thing but mean another.

In fact, we'll say whatever it takes to get what we want.

Like the stench that comes from an open grave from our mouths and past our deceitful lips precedes the most noxious dishonesty.

And these aren't little white lies.

The falsehoods we utter are as dangerous and destructive as the bite of a deadly snake.

And listen, that's not just me expressing my grumpy old vet syndrome.

This is the word of God.

Listen, Paul is not messing around anymore.

He's no longer mincing his words.

I'm getting the impression he's just about tired of trying to be polite.

He's on the attack.

He's done wasting time.

Their throat is an open sepulchre.

With their tongues, they have used deceit.

The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

Now you may think Paul is just being a cranky old fundamentalist preacher, but believe it or not, these aren't even Paul's words.

He's quoting Psalm 10, verse 7.

Psalms 10:7

This is what it like sounds like in the King James, and it's describing the wicked man.

His mouth is full of cursing and deceit.

This is Psalm 10:7.

Psalms 10:7

His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud.

Under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

Sure, Paul mixed it up a little bit.

This is a little different than what we had in Romans, but Paul's actually quoting further from the Septuagint and adding a little bit of editorial from the Holy Spirit, which is rather genius, if you ask me.

The Septuagint is the Greek language translation of the Hebrew Scriptures.

For the Jews who lived outside Judea, this would have been their Bible.

That's why Paul is quoting from the Septuagint.

He's quoting it to those who are living in Rome.

As a Pharisee, he was, of course, familiar with the original Hebrew language version of the Bible, but he knew his audience wasn't.

His primary concern was to get those who would receive this letter to relate intimately to what he was so desperately trying to communicate.

And the best way to do that is to quote their Bible.

Verse 13 again, their throat is an open sepulchre.

With their tongues they use deceit.

The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

The point Paul is making is that everyone is wicked.

Everyone, both Jew and Gentile, all are under sin.

Though we may be tempted to think that the cursing that's mentioned here in verse 14 just means foul language.

But what Paul is really referring to is the expression, either vocally with words or silently in heart, hateful thoughts and desires against God and mankind.

Being so angry with others and with our master that you conceive in your mind thoughts of bringing harm to someone.

This is wanting the one whom you perceive as doing you wrong to suffer.

We see a lot of that today, don't we?

People taking out their anger on society.

Now, the word bitterness is most likely related to the cursing.

It's more of an outward public expression of anger and hostility toward someone and even toward God.

This is coming right out with the hatred and the vitriol.

Their feet were swift to shed blood.

That's verse 15, verse 16.

Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known.

Paul continues to use masterfully the Jewish scriptures.

He's making this Roman congregation face the fact that although they may think that they're above the judgment of God, that they're innocent of wrongdoing, that God views them favorably, despite what they tell each other, their beloved scriptures paint a vastly different picture.

Even their cherished prophet Isaiah doesn't spare them.

This is where Paul got his latest accusation.

Chapter 59, starting at verse 7.

Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood.

Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity.

Now, at this point, you may be thinking that Paul and Isaiah are being a bit dramatic.

Come on, guys, really?

Our feet are swift to shed blood.

We make haste to shed innocent blood.

That may have been the case when we were cavemen, but you know, we're enlightened now.

The average Joe may get himself, you know, involved in little petty theft or some minor tax evasion, but murder?

Yeah, this is a little bit over the top.

I'm going to repeat a story that I shared some time back because I think it's rather appropriate to this discussion.

In 1939, the Nazi regime of Germany established Reserve Police Battalion 101.

It was one of many similar squads whose mission it was, whose stated mission it was to round up Jews and send them off to a brief life of slavery to the German state.

And the only reason it was a brief life of slavery was because that's all a captured Jew could expect in those days.

Either they were worked to death in short order, or they were executed once their usefulness was exhausted, or simply executed just because they were Jews.

Either way, once a Jew entered the Nazi system, their time on earth was severely limited.

And sometimes, often in fact, these special units were ordered to skip the rounding up and shipping out part and just murder the Jews where they stood.

Within only a few years, Reserve Police Battalion 101 became one of Nazi Germany's most prolific killing units.

From July 1942 up until almost the end of 1943, this group alone was responsible for 83,000 deaths.

43,000 of those happened in one operation, largely consisting of shooting the victims one by one, mostly point blank.

Even though the entire battalion was involved, it still took two days.

Now there are several shocking aspects to the story of Reserve Battalion 101, but perhaps chief among them is the fact that these men weren't soldiers.

They were police officers.

Yes, this was wartime, and so they were functioning as a paramilitary force.

Nonetheless, they were not soldiers.

So well, to me, what makes that so unsettling is that their mandate to kill was established as a matter of law and order.

The murders they committed were sanctioned by government edict and not on any battlefield strategy or protocol of military law.

Again, you may say, so what?

Well, the way I see it, this meant that there were few restrictions, no long-established honor code, no agreed-upon international rule of armed combat.

Those sorts of limitations have been imposed over the centuries to basically reign in the barbarity that so often occurs during military conflicts.

Well, no such thing exists for these types of operations.

And what makes this worse, if that's even possible, is the fact that at least on the battlefield, all the participants are on a relatively even plane.

Most of those involved have a fighting chance.

They're trained and equipped for whatever is coming after them.

For these poor people, there was nothing like that.

The victims were all innocent, all unarmed, and mostly non-aggressive, except for maybe some sort of action brought on by survival instincts.

And listen, I know this is hard to hear.

Imagine what the creator of all things must have felt.

Now, something else to consider about the intended targets of these police actions, since there was no consideration of whether or not the person was a combatant, an enemy soldier, this meant that the majority of the victims, and I'm sorry to bring this ugliness up, but the majority of the victims of this undeserved violence were, of course, the elderly, the infirm, women, and sadly children.

The point I want to make about this tragic story and how it relates to what Paul is saying is that historians and researchers have determined that these police officers were not a collection of recently released ex-felons with a history of violence and ferocity.

These weren't hand-picked assassins because they were skilled and experienced murderers.

They weren't ravening ideologues willing to do what it took to protect the fatherland from any and all who threatened Hitler's ambitions for advancing the master race.

These weren't dangerous and violent mentally disabled maniacs hearing voices urging them to kill.

The experts say these were ordinary men.

They were simply shopkeepers and professionals, educated, normal, everyday citizens pressed into service for the war effort, no different than anyone else, except, of course, they became mass murderers.

And by the way, I was just follow the I was just following orders defense was offered years later when these men were bought brought to trial.

Hey, I was just, I was just following orders.

Well, during the trial, the trial these men went through as war criminals, as so has happened so many times before, that defense was rejected.

As a matter of fact, the records show that no man in that unit could be forced to take part in these heinous acts.

If one of them for any reason wished to refuse to murder, they couldn't be punished for that refusal.

A few took that route, but the vast majority did not.

Now, none of this would surprise Paul.

He would just say, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one.

There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

They are all gone out of the way.

They are together become unprofitable.

There is none that doeth good, no not one.

Their throat is an open sepulchre, with their tongues they have used deceit.

The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

Can you imagine sitting in a church listening to this?

Can you imagine having your preacher pointing at you and saying, their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known?

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Can you imagine that?

It doesn't happen today.

The prevailing notion among the bold and the beautiful, the educated elite, the ones that are now integrating into our churches, is that mankind is steadily and surely moving towards some higher ideal, that humans are improving, evolving is the word they like to use.

They've convinced themselves and are trying to convince you that with the passage of time, we humans are getting better and better.

That as the centuries roll on, people are getting smarter and nicer and more civilized.

Another favorite word of theirs.

Well, those of us who live in the real world just can't see that.

Paul seemed to Be describing police battalion 101 when he said their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their ways, the way of peace have they not known.

And we can confidently say there is no fear of God before their eyes, and they're no different than you.

Those smart, educated elites said they're no different than you are.

Those men who became heinous murderers are the same as you.

Yeah, that's what Paul said.

And actually, let me remind you that what Paul said 2,000 years ago, as recorded in this letter to the Romans, he was actually quoting from much earlier sources.

Verses 16, 15, and 16 go all the way back to Isaiah, some 700 years before Paul's time.

Let's read the original again, Isaiah 59, 7 and 8.

Their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed innocent blood.

Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, wasting, and destruction are in their paths.

The way of peace they know not, and there is no judgment in their goings.

They have made them crooked paths.

Whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

Verse 20 of Paul's third chapter to the Romans goes another 200 years back from even Isaiah.

There he's quoting King David from Psalm 36.

The transgression of the wicked saith, Within my heart, there is no fear of God before his eyes.

These are very old sayings.

3,000 years, and mankind hasn't made one tiny bit of progress toward that promised ideal.

Oh, well, John, these things they take time.

How much time do you think we have?

And wouldn't your point be a little easier to agree with if it didn't seem so obvious that we're actually getting worse instead of better?

Now, I suppose their answer to that is that evil is in the eye of the beholder.

They might may not agree that mankind seems to be heading in the wrong direction.

They may try and convince you that although things do look pretty bleak out there, they might admit that to you, but they're gonna just say, well, it's only because the world is still full of ignorant people.

We haven't reached to the ends of the earth with the message to be kind.

They tell us we need to be patient because eventually, when everyone is smart enough, the pace of evolution will accelerate and we'll be at that ideal in no time.

It's just a matter of education, that's all.

Remember those murderous police officers from earlier?

Experts agree they were that the German society at that time was one of history's most educated of all time.

And a quick check, by the way, of the records will reveal that more blood was shed after the so-called Age of Enlightenment than before.

Since the 18th century, we've had countless bloody revolutions, two world wars, ethnic cleansings, too many to count, the development of the most deadly weapons ever conceived, devices that can wipe out and have wiped out entire city populations, and on and on it goes.

It would seem that as time goes on, about the only thing we're actually improving on is our ability to kill one another.

Now, why do you think that is?

Besides the fact that sin is in our nature, why are we so bad at being good or so good at being bad?

Well, how about we tackle that question next time?

I think we could all use a break.

Join us next time, and we'll see what else Paul has to tell us.

See you then.

We hope this study has blessed you.

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It is our prayer that this will be so for all of our listeners.

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