The Book of Romans: Escape Tactics - Part 2 (2:12-16)

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God has given the Book of Romans to Rome, but to us, that we might learn to be established, that we might have some stability and kind of have that foundation laid in our Christian experience.

And that begins with a right relationship with God.

An individual needs to be saved to be established.

That's where it begins.

And Paul begins to bring us into a discussion ultimately on men's responses, or men and women's responses, to the knowledge that they have the wrath of God abiding on them.

What will men say when they finally realize that there is a judge in heaven who they can't escape?

Will they begin to create ideas and worldviews, you know, webs of ideas that they, you know, in a crafty way and beautiful way sew together to try to have a safety net when they fall.

And those solutions, though they may appear really impressive to other men, or to me, or to anyone looking on, they're not impressive to God.

And so the conclusion of this series we're in in Romans chapter 2 and 3 is found in, I believe, Romans chapter 3 and verses 19 and 20.

Romans 2 · chapter mention Romans 3 · chapter mention

And the point is made here, we'll just read it together.

Paul says that all that every mouth would be stopped and all would become guilty before God.

Okay, so I believe that's verse 19.

Um, but that that is the conclusion that Paul's trying to lead us to.

All of this content in 2 and 3 is really getting there.

And trying to help someone see that they cannot escape the truth that they do have.

And one of the excuses that men make is, well, they don't have the truth of God's law.

And what we're going to learn this morning is that ignorance of the law does not give you a free way out.

A unique, circumstantial excuse for why you don't deserve the wrath of God.

Because the law can't produce righteousness, it only reveals it.

That's the premise.

Let's pray, let's ask God for understanding that's impossible for us to get by just talking about things.

Father, we trust you.

Uh, we trust your spirit to do its perfect work in our hearts and minds.

Um, for as precise of language that you've preserved and that Paul uses here, and as intricate as the arguments are in two and three, Lord, make them simple to our minds.

I've looked personally looked at these texts uh hundreds of times, and they're they're still yet confusing.

As I observe them and I consider them, um, I have questions.

And I'm just praying for myself and everyone in the room that you would continue to just make these ideas simple to us.

Um, help us not overcomplicate what it would mean to be in a right relationship with you and to do the work of an evangelist.

And so, Lord, help us.

Help me this morning communicate well.

Um, help me talk past myself and ultimately speak for me, Lord.

Um, we love you so much.

We we thank you for this time and humble our hearts as we listen and attend to your word.

Amen.

Alrighty, let's read together the text.

I think that would be best.

Um we can start in verse one and we'll read up through verse 15, all right.

So Romans chapter 2, starting in verse 1, it says, Therefore, thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest, for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judgest doest the same things.

Romans 2 · chapter mention

But when we are sure, uh I'm sorry, but we are sure of the judgment of God according to the truth against them which commit such things, and thinkest thou this O man that judges them that do such things, that and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God, right?

And we we learned a few weeks ago that this is kind of the the beginning idea of a man trying to create escape tactics in the way in which he's thinking.

And so the lit that list of ten things in front of you is a list of ten ways that people think they will escape the judgment of God.

Verse 4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.

But after thy hardness and impotent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds, uh to them who, by patient continuance and well doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality and eternal life, but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of a man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also the Gentile.

But glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, for there is no respect of persons with God.

The point Paul is ultimately making here is that if a man is going to utilize the law as his means of salvation, then he is going to have to fulfill the law at every point.

And as soon as he fails at one, he is guilty of the whole thing.

And that if a man could pursue these good qualities like glory and honor and immortality and eternal life perfectly, continually, then great.

Jew or Gentile alike, that man could be justified.

But if he fails, right, he's guilty of all.

We saw some passages on that.

We now pick up this morning, coming off of this verse in verse 11, for there is no respect of persons with God.

The beauty of that is that while judgment comes upon all men, no matter your social status, no matter how you were born, no matter if you have money or you don't have money, no matter if you grew up in this country or that country, God is not a respecter of persons.

His justice meets everyone.

And you think, man, I'm thankful that it does.

Well, the gift of everlasting life does too.

And I am grateful that the justice of God is pure, that I can trust God's judgment.

Here in verse 11 again, right?

There is no respective person.

Verse 12, this is where we we pick up.

Let's read now, verses 12 through 15.

It says, For as many as have sinned without the law, shall also perish without the law.

And as many as have sinned in the law, they shall be judged by the law.

And then here's a parentheses.

Right, we got to clarify some things.

For not the hearer of the law are just before God, but the doer of the law shall be justified.

For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves.

With shew the work of uh work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile, accusing and else excusing one another.

Here's the there's the close of the parentheses.

In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

So there's our section this morning I want us to consider.

The first escape tactic I want to talk to you about is this idea.

I'm sorry, the fourth escape tactic is this idea of ignorance, an appeal that because God has withheld truth from some people, he therefore can't judge them.

This might sound like, well, I did not have the law, and so therefore the law can't condemn me.

And because the law can't condemn me, then I won't be under the wrath of God in the day of judgment.

Do you see the kind of series of thinking?

And the way that gets articulated today might sound like, well, what about those isolated tribes in Africa or India or who knows where in the world, those people who've never heard the gospel?

How can God judge them if they've never received it?

I mean, fair enough.

It is true, how could God judge them according to a standard he hadn't given them?

He couldn't.

But he's given them not all truth, but some truth, and the truth he has given.

And the truth that they express is written on their heart and that their conscience bears witness to condemns them.

And so even though they don't have the law of God, they do have a law in them that they fall short of.

And Paul's point is, even though you're ignorant of God's great standard or God's law, you still have something that is actually revealing to you and to God that you're guilty.

What are you going to do about it?

It's not a good plea.

It's not an escape tactic that will actually work.

And so Romans chapter 2, you know, 2, 12 through 16 is this idea.

Romans 2 · chapter mention

An appeal that God can't judge us because he's withheld truth from some.

This plea appeals ultimately to extenuating circumstances.

This idea of a man or woman trying to show why their mistakes and crimes don't deserve blame, or they just deserve less blame because they were ignorant of certain truths.

This type of appeal or excuse as we minister to people might come in the form of something like that islander or that tribal person who doesn't hear.

It might also come in the form of something like, well, I wasn't raised in a Christian home.

So how is it fair that I will be judged by the same standards that you're judged by?

Or I wasn't raised, you know, in a country or culture that had access to the Word of God.

So how would, you know, how would God judge me?

I was ignorant.

And the point I hope is clear.

And that is ultimately that even if you don't have the law, the issue isn't you being a hearer of the law, a doer.

And so the the duty piece, the work piece is important if you're if you're going to use good works as a means to justification.

And so being a hearer of the law doesn't matter.

And verse 14 it says, For when the Gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, that is the Gentiles, are a law unto themselves.

God here is not saying we all get to choose our relative standard of righteousness.

The point is that God has written on the heart of men a moral code, and we all know that there are things that are fundamentally wrong.

There are absolutes, right?

So when you're when you're talking with someone, a very modern idea, I've heard this from so many people on the streets.

I see it all over the on online.

It's a consequence of postmodernism in the art world, but it's it's this idea that everyone has the ability to define truth for themselves, right?

Relative righteousness.

I get to decide what is morally good and morally bad, and you do, and you can't tell me what's wrong.

Don't tell me what I can do with my body.

As if to say there aren't absolutes in the world, but there certainly are.

What about the abuse of a little girl?

I had a young man about five years ago sit across from me at a table, and because he was so unwilling to acknowledge that the wrath of God abided on him, he told me, I don't know if I can say it's absolutely true that it would be wrong to abuse a little girl.

And he made that claim intellectually.

He doesn't actually believe that.

I know that.

I know he lied to me when he said it.

But he said it to me because it's the only thing he can believe to remain consistent in his position.

Right?

As soon as he acknowledges that there's a moral standard in his heart, then he has to acknowledge that there's a moral lawgiver that wrote it on his heart.

And that it's not just materialism and experience and this idea of the environment that we were raised in that caused me to believe certain things.

It's like, no, no matter where you're at in the world, you know that there are certain truths that are true regardless of whether or not you have the Bible as your standard.

And the human heart knows that.

And so the man or woman has to lie to themselves to say that this doesn't exist.

And Paul's point is, no, the Gentiles who have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law, and these having not the law are a law unto themselves.

So you can make your excuse, there are some people ignorant of all things that God has revealed, but they're not ignorant of some things.

And the some things that are revealed, they fall short of.

You guys see the argumentation here Paul's making?

Verse 15, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing.

Okay.

It's one thing to have the law of God written on your heart, but Paul goes on to say, God's also given you a conscience that observes.

The word also is here in verse 15.

Their conscience also bearing witness.

Paul's trying to get them to realize that it's not just that you have a moral standard in yourself, it's that there's your design, there's a part of you called your conscience that actually observes that law within you.

And you're able to reason with it.

He goes on, he says, their thoughts, the meanwhile, you're able to think about what your conscience knows.

I know this is weird, it's hard to make sense of who we are and how we're created, but I think in our own experience, we know that we kind of operate with two minds.

Right?

There's a mind in us that is able to observe information, and there's another part of us that is able to agree with it or not.

You guys understand that?

And it's hard to nuance these things.

I get, I don't even want to get into that conversation.

I just want you to see that all of us know that there are standards inside of us because God has given us a conscience bearing witness of that thing, testifying to us that it's true.

So you can come along and say, I no moral standards exist.

I don't think that anything matters, but just because you say that, it doesn't make it any more true.

And this is what he goes on to say, you know, the meanwhile.

While all of this is happening inside of a man, he's also doing this, or a woman.

He's excusing accusing or excusing other people.

Accusing or excusing.

So he know he has a law, he knows he has a law, and so he's very aware that there are things that are right and wrong, and then he's gonna, he's, he or she is gonna do something to try to relieve themselves of the burden of that law that's in them.

And that is accuse other people and excuse them.

We'll get there in a moment.

Romans chapter 2 and verse 12.

Romans 2 · chapter mention

I want to back up and read this verse to you.

It says, For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law.

And as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.

Alright?

I just want you to see that repeating phrase, have sinned.

That's the issue.

Whether you have the law or not, we all have sinned.

We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

We're all guilty, and we need to know that.

And so whether you're a Gentile or a Jew, you're guilty because of sin, not because of whether or not you have the Bible in your hands.

Having a Bible doesn't automatically make you righteous.

Being a part of a church does not automatically make you righteous.

Knowing the right things doesn't automatically make you righteous.

Just because Jews have the law doesn't make them righteous magically.

And we gotta really understand that this whole section is just trying to do one thing.

Get a man or woman to say, I'm guilty before God.

So that they can be prepared to receive the free gift of Jesus Christ.

Alright, I want you to think of this example.

You're driving on the road and you hear the whoop whoop, god dang it.

And you roll down your window, and you the cop comes up on you, and he's like, you know what you're doing?

You were speeding.

And you go, well, I didn't know that there was a law for speeding.

Or maybe more realistically, I didn't see a speed limit signed.

I I didn't know what the law was.

My question to you is, does it matter whether or not you were ignorant of the of the law for your guiltiness or your innocence?

It does not.

Whether you're ignorant of the law or not, or the speed limit, you're still you still broke the law, you're still guilty of it.

And hey, sadly, if if it hasn't happened to you yet, uh Lord have mercy on you.

Because I it has happened at least twice to me.

I remember being pulled over like early on in my, like I was probably 17.

And um I'd driven through a construction zone like kind of unknowingly.

And uh it did not matter that I was ignorant of that, I got a double fine.

You guys get the point.

My ignorance did not magically give me an escape route for the fact that I broke the law.

And that, yeah, that's hard, that's a hard word, but it's still true.

You still broke the law, and that if you're gonna appeal to good works to save you, whether it's God's law or the one that's written on your heart, you're gonna have to actually give an account of whether or not you've done perfectly or not.

And if any man or woman is honest, you're gonna come to the place where you realize, yeah, I've sinned, I've fallen short of God's glory.

Yes, again, notice the words on both sides of this conversation: men have sinned, Gentiles have sinned, Jews have sinned.

And so God is, remember, not a respecter of persons.

That judgment comes no matter who you are.

And praise the Lord, uh, that also means the offer of salvation is a free gift, given without partiality or respect of persons.

And so, if a man is willing to humble himself, if if this young lady is willing to humble herself, um, this old woman, this old man is willing to humble themselves, they can have salvation because of the free gift of Jesus offered to all.

Here's our first key point for study, and that is those who have sinned without the law, the Bible says, shall perish without the law.

Isn't that what the text says in Romans chapter 2?

Romans 2 · chapter mention

And those who have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.

Both are guilty.

It's a simple point.

I just want you to see it, right?

And I want you to see it using the words of Scripture.

If you don't have the law, well you still you still perish.

You need Jesus Christ.

You need to believe upon the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You know, John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

You've got to believe, and we've got to go out in this world and preach the gospel that some who are without the law perish not.

But also those who have the law, the Bible says shall be judged by the law.

And that standard is even higher as it relates to the holy standard of God's word.

Paul does not say that the absence of the written law makes the first group innocent.

Okay?

Man's actual sin is the issue, and possessing a copy of the law is not the thing that makes the person capable of wrongdoing.

They're doing wrongdoing without the law or not.

That's an issue of nature.

That's why in Ephesians 2 it says that we're children of wrath by nature.

This is something that is explicitly wrong with us.

Rather, the law does not come in to make us righteous, but reveal that we're unrighteous.

That's its job.

It does it very well.

The law as you drive on the road is not helping you drive better.

It's telling you how not to do something.

It's telling you that if you break it, if you're driving fast, you're doing wrong.

Not that you, you know, I know it's an appeal to doing right, I get it.

But it's revealing to you that you can't be perfect.

Romans chapter 7, and in the context of sanctification, it says this.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

What shall we say then?

Is the law sin?

God forbid.

If the law reveals unrighteousness, is it sin?

God forbid.

Nay, I had not known sin but by the law.

So the law is good, it's really good.

It's just good at doing what it does best.

Reveal sin.

It's not given to us as Christians to obey and pretend to be good enough for God.

That is an exhausting human experience that you will never be able to fulfill right now.

And so Jesus Christ came and fulfilled the law that you might live in him and have everlasting life because of the Son.

Praise the Lord.

I'm so thankful for Jesus being my, you know, coming, living a life in my stead perfectly, so that I can take hold of his righteousness in his death and resurrection.

I'm so grateful for it.

For I had not known lust except the law said, Thou shalt not covet.

And we'll get into that text once we get to Romans 7.

Romans chapter 2 and verse 13, look at it with me now.

Romans 2 · chapter mention

It says, For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

Understand, Paul's point, once again, is not to say, he's not saying this to encourage men to do the law to be justified.

He is making a point about justification requiring the doing of the whole law, not just having access to it.

And I think I've exhausted this point, and I don't want to do that.

And so I want you to see that out of context, this verse could be twisted to try to teach this idea that a man is justified by his good deeds or his fulfillment of the law.

Okay, but but just look at with me real quick in chapter 3 and verse 20.

Okay, this is kind of the conclusion of the series, just so that we, again, understand that this is not the ultimate point that Paul's making, right?

It's in the parenthetical.

But chapter 3 and verse 20 says this therefore, by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.

Now, on the initial reading, doesn't that sound like a contradiction to the verse in chapter 2 and verse 13 that says, For not the hearers of the law are justified before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

It's almost an immediate contradiction if you read it out of context.

But if you understand why Paul is bringing up this idea in verse 13 of chapter 2, you realize he's not doing it for the purpose of showing a man how to be saved or justified.

He's doing it for the purpose of showing a man that he can't be.

And this is where the Bible, right?

If we're not patient with the words of Scripture, we can have anybody come along, quote a verse out of context, and convince us of anything.

I'm fully convinced of that.

For real, I think that any satanic, devilish doctrine could be preached from the Bible out of context.

We have to be patient with the word of God.

We have to be humble as we approach it.

We have to say, God, give me understanding of the context and the points that are being made from Scripture, not the ones I feel comfortable with.

Or even what makes sense to me.

Give me what your word says and help me receive it in faith.

You guys hear the point?

Our second thought here.

It's a simple one, but it's this.

The man without the law cannot turn the absence of the law into innocence.

That's the idea.

Not having the law doesn't automatically make you innocent.

The man with the law cannot turn the possession of the law into righteousness.

He doesn't have the ability.

I don't have the ability just because I have a right standard to do right.

And even if I don't, right?

The man without the law has a law written on his heart.

And this is kind of that argumentation, right?

Think about that example again when you're on the road and you get pulled over.

I think it's a great illustration of what we're finding in chapter 2 and 3 of Romans.

When I'm using this phrase, escape tactic, somebody trying to weasel out.

This idea of wrath consciousness.

Whenever a man or woman finally comes to terms with the truth, and they begin to think the wrath of God abides on me, their immediate response is, I've got to escape that.

I can't bear the thought that God's wrath would abide on me and I would be judged eternally in hell.

I've got to do something about that.

I've got to get out.

I've got to find a way to tell the cop why I don't deserve this ticket.

Even if I know I was speedy.

And I think the kind of the corner from Romans chapter 1, Romans chapter 2 reminds me of a lot when you're on the road and the lights come on.

Romans 1 · chapter mention Romans 2 · chapter mention

And you hear the siren and you're like, dang it, what am I going to tell him?

I really have to use the restroom.

I'm speeding because my wife's pregnant.

I'm I don't like I don't know what you you think about.

I'm just going to tell him the truth.

Maybe you're a good person and you're not coming up with escape tactics.

But right, the human heart thinks, how can I get out of this?

Maybe he'll just be merciful.

Maybe I'll plead with him.

Maybe I'll argue with him, tell him I have a family, I haven't been making much income.

I'm not, I don't know how I'm going to pay my bills.

I just lost my job.

What's your escape tactic?

You see what people are doing here?

That's what we're walking through in Romans 2 and 3 by way of illustration.

Creative ways, ideas, ways of thinking that people use and sew together to have a safety net for this idea of the wrath of God being on them.

That illustration comes to mind every time I am in this text.

Paul says here in verse 14, having not the law, they are a law unto themselves.

And I already mentioned this, but in context, this does not mean people have the ability or authority to create a moral law for themselves, but rather that their moral conduct and judgment is known by the conscience that God has given them.

A person may say, You cannot steal from me, even though he has never read a commandment against stealing.

Isn't that true?

A man in some who knows part of the world may say, It's wrong for you to take from me.

And yet he's never had the Bible opened and learned that command of God.

Another knows that they've been wrong when somebody lies to them.

Betrayed in an agreement, treated without mercy.

Somebody says, You shouldn't treat me that way.

Right?

That is an appeal, that is an accusation, as is used, that word, accusing and excusing.

It's an accusation, declaring, I know what's right, and what you did was wrong.

It's the law written on the heart.

They're a law unto themselves.

These responses matter.

A person's appeal to a it appeals to a standard when he or she calls another person's conduct wrong.

Okay, so look it with me in verse 15.

The conscience bears witness.

Romans chapter 2 and verse 15, which shoe the work of the law written on their hearts, their conscience bearing witness also, and their thoughts, the meanwhile, accusing or else excusing one another.

Romans 2 · chapter mention

And I really want you to think about these two ideas: accusing and excusing.

A law's in your heart.

You know it's in your heart, because God's given you a conscience to testify that that's true or bear witness of it.

And meanwhile, while all of that's happening, you begin to go about your life and tell people that they're wrong.

Or maybe you don't verbally tell people they're wrong, but in your mind, silently you judge people.

You think the way that your husband spoke to you was wrong.

Or you watched a husband or a wife.

Maybe you watched a wife at the coffee shop or at the grocery store, like speak harshly to the kids or the spouse, and you think that's wrong.

You don't say it out loud, but you think it.

That is you declaring to yourself and to God, I know what's right.

I know what's right.

That was wrong.

The only way you can declare something to be wrong, right, is if you have a standard to appeal to.

Does this make sense?

I can't tell you you're wrong unless I'm suggesting that I have a compass for what is true and good.

And so when a person goes about their day silently and judging other people, accusing people of doing wrong, saying, that's awful that this is happening.

That politician shouldn't have behaved this way, or my neighbor did this or that.

You are telling yourself, you're affirming to yourself, and you are declaring to God in the day of judgment, I knew exactly what was right.

And God says, you failed that standard.

You failed your own standard.

And this is what we're trying to help men and women see, right?

I know that I pray to the Lord that you've trusted in Jesus Christ for your salvation.

I pray that you don't use this type of thinking to try to relieve yourself of the burden that the wrath of God does abide on you if you're a sinner.

But man, I really hope that this room is filled with a bunch of people who say, Man, I I have nothing in myself that I can offer God.

I've accepted the free gift of Jesus Christ who poured his blood out for me.

By faith, I believe that that is my righteousness.

And so if that's your story, I want I want you guys to know this stuff so that when you're interacting with people, and somebody says something like, Well, that's great that you think that, but I have my own truth.

Or there's no absolute truth in the world.

You can't tell me that homosexuality is wrong.

Who are you?

To make some absolute statement of truth.

Who are you?

When you begin to hear these ideas, that is an individual saying, What are they saying in that moment?

You you shouldn't have, you shouldn't believe that.

I think it's right.

They're excusing it, aren't they?

So sometimes we accuse people, we say, that's wrong.

They shouldn't have said that, they shouldn't have done that, somebody shouldn't have treated me this way in business.

But other times people go into this world, and though they may never struggle with homosexuality, what they're gonna do is they're gonna look at that sin and say, you know, it's not that big of a deal.

They're gonna excuse it away.

Why are they gonna do that?

Well, because if they begin creating standards for other people and saying, this is wrong, then that means they're gonna have to chase that logic down and begin to ask the question, what does it mean for something to be good or bad?

And is and are there any absolutes?

And at the end of that whole series of thinking, they're gonna realize those are against me.

I'm guilty.

And so let's just not even go down that path.

Let's just excuse sin away and pretend like it's not that big of a deal.

Because if I do that, then maybe the judge will never be able to get to me.

And it's just like a false blanket of comfort that that actually doesn't accomplish anything, makes somebody feel good.

And we can catch people, right, in this way of thinking.

People accuse, right?

They say, you know, you should not do that.

They appeal to what is right, and ultimately you can't accuse or tell someone that they're wrong unless you're appealing to that standard of right.

But as I just mentioned, people also excuse.

They say things like, you shouldn't feel bad for that.

That's not that big of a deal.

God understands.

When people excuse others' sins, they are silently declaring to God what they know to be wrong.

What they know to be wrong.

When I make like, it's impossible for me to excuse away sin if I don't acknowledge that it is sin.

It's hard to articulate this idea.

But if I didn't first realize or process in my own thinking, yeah, that's probably not right, then I would have no ability to just say it's not that big of a deal.

Or write it off.

So here's another key point for study this morning, and that is that the man who accuses declares to God, I know what was right.

And when a man excuses sins in his own life, in her own life, and other people's lives, then declare to God, I know what was wrong.

And God says, Okay, so if you didn't, if you don't have the law, it doesn't matter.

The law is written on your heart.

And when you accused and excused, you declaim plainly to yourself and to me, you know what's right and wrong.

And guess what?

God says, by that, by your own standard, you're guilty.

And you're under the wrath.

And pray again, seriously, I want you to understand, praise the Lord that the conclusion of the book of Romans is not chapter three.

It's not this verse.

Like Paul's just trying to get a man humble, a woman humble.

Acknowledge that you're guilty.

Stop trying to be good enough for God.

Receive his grace, receive the gift of life, believe on him.

This type of thinking manifests in so many ways.

People changing, creatively crafting worldviews so that they ultimately don't have to be under the wrath of God.

But those well-crafted, creative worldviews don't change the righteousness of God.

So you can think however you want, but it doesn't all of a sudden make God unrighteous for your sake.

A person may construct a worldview that makes his or her preferred conduct feel acceptable, but that doesn't mean that all of a sudden it is acceptable.

It just makes them feel acceptable.

This person's reason is that if he or she removes a moral standard from their own beliefs, then God is no longer able to hold them responsible to it.

The absence of the law means God can't hold you responsible to it?

No.

And here's just another way to say what I've said now for the last 30 minutes.

Giving excuses might change your sense of accountability, but it won't change the one whom you have to give an account to.

It'll just change your sense, the feeling that you won't have to come under that accountability.

But when you stand before the unchanging, God in whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, whose righteousness doesn't change with the fleeting, changing, creative, well-crafted worldviews of men, were found guilty.

And it is God who resisteth the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Let's be humble.

Let's just surrender to God and say, Lord, help me.

Give me wisdom I don't have.

Help me see what the cross has accomplished for me.

So much here that can be said.

Look at with me the last verse of Romans chapter 2 and verse 16.

Romans 2 · chapter mention

That's the last verse of our time this morning.

It says, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of the men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

God's judgment reaches the secrets of men.

He knows more than just the public explanation, the online debate, the social media comment thread that you articulated so perfectly about why your position is right.

He sees that when you say something like, there are no absolute truths, that that was a lie.

And that in your heart you actually believe that there are things that are true, that it is wrong for a man to abuse his wife, that it is wrong for somebody to falsely accuse her.

It is wrong to behave certain ways in war.

It is wrong to.

A man can say whatever he wants, but God, in the day of judgment, judges the hearts of men.

It doesn't matter about what you look like in the public space or what you say to people.

It matters what is true of your heart before the living God.

This individual may think he's hiding, but God understands.

He sees it all.

There's nothing hidden from him.

Proverbs 15 and verse 3 says, the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

That includes your thought life.

So it's not just about living, right?

The righteousness of God is so good and pure that he will not just let lingering dark imaginations and lies and ideas and attitudes into heaven.

It's all getting chased down.

When the lights get turned on, the darkness flees.

It's not there anymore.

It does not exist.

It's nowhere to be found.

And praise be the Lord.

Jesus Christ has become our sin and crucified all of those wicked thoughts and deeds and secrets on the cross.

And so if we come under that banner, we come under that righteousness.

2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 1.

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

Paul said to his son in the faith, I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at the appearing of his kingdom.

There is a judgment coming, and as Christians, we should never have to be worried about whether or not we will be judged for sin, because that was judged in the person of Christ.

There is a judgment coming for us, referred to as the judgment seat of Christ, where God will not judge us for our sin but our service.

And it'll be a judgment unto reward or loss of reward.

But for those that have not found their new identity in Jesus, and have had their sin judged there on the cross, and had their sin buried with him in the tomb, and had new life in him risen from the grave, they will stand before God and give an account for how they lived, and all will fall short.

This is all Paul's trying to get people to see.

That a man or woman cannot establish innocence simply by claiming ignorance.

Okay.

Somebody might say, again, I wasn't raised in a Christian home or a Christian country, therefore God can't judge me because I wasn't revealed all truth.

But you were revealed some.

And that some you did not you did not steward well.

You rejected, you hardened your heart.

You were found guilty.

Okay, so ultimately we proved in our lives that we lived by certain unspoken standards.

And when we find ourselves in that day of judgment lost, if that's true, then we give an account of the fact that we're guilty and uh what a what a day of fear and trembling.

Um my burden uh this morning is for us as we work through this content to not just understand these things, but to become more effective ministers of the gospel.

And as I began the message this morning, I I don't want another intellectual feather in your hat.

I don't want another badge showing that you went through the class.

You know, who cares about the plaque on the wall?

Whatever.

Like if we're not effective ministers and we're not taking the truth of God and help helping others uh be brought out of darkness, we're we're illuminating their situations and their thoughts, helping them see their thoughts before they have them, then um I think we're failing at the one one of the main reasons, at least God has left us here on earth, right?

To still have an opportunity uh to witness to people to share the love of Christ.

Um so why does this escape tactic ultimately fail?

It fails because men who have sinned without the law remain accountable to the law in their hearts, and a law which they fall short of fulfilling perfectly.

Look at with me as we close.

Romans chapter 2 and verses 12 and then 16.

Romans 2 · chapter mention

Remove the parentheses and just see the continued thought.

For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law, and as many as have sinned in the law shall perish by the law.

Then 16, and the day, when shall they be judged by the law?

In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 27, as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

The question this morning is: Do you know where you are going to go when you die?

When judgment day comes and you stand before the Lord, what are you giving an account of?

Is it the free gift of Jesus Christ that you've accepted in this life by faith and his shed blood?

Or are you going to be giving an account of the fact that you're guilty before God?

I want to make an invitation to you this morning in your heart and mind to believe the gospel if you haven't.

Now, as I look around the room, I think I've spoken to most people, but I don't know.

I can't judge the secrets of your heart.

I don't know what you've trusted in.

I can't make you work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Meaning, I can't prove whether or not the faith that you say you've declared in the gospel is genuine and true, but you can.

And you think, man, I don't know.

Maybe I maybe I should.

Am I saved?

Hey, just believe the gospel this morning.

And the Bible says if you believe on the name of the Son of God, you can know that you have everlasting life, right?

You can know.

You doubt your salvation, well, believe today.

And walk out of these doors, knowing that because of your faith in Jesus Christ, apart from works of any kind, you can have everlasting life with Jesus Christ.

You can be sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, and He'll keep you under the day of redemption.

Yeah?

Believe that.

Let's pray.

Once again, thank you so much for listening in.

We pray that these words were a challenge to you, but also a great encouragement in your walk with God.

May the Lord bless you and lead you further into his will as you're conformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

God bless.