Questions & Answers, Bad News & Good News
Romans 3:1-31
Slide
Intro
Questions, Questions.
We all have questions sometimes.
Sometimes when we have grown up believing something or living a certain way and someone comes and contradicts what we learned growing up or what we have believed for most of our life, we have a few questions, don’t we.
Baptism Example
For me, I was raised in a religious system where people were baptized as infants. I was baptized as an infant. I remember when I started attending a church that was preaching the Bible, and I saw a baptism by immersion, I was like, what in the world, that is crazy that grown people would do get into a tub of water and do that.
Why would someone do that?
What did they think it accomplished?
I had some questions because it was different from what I learned my entire life up until that point.
Well, Paul has been confronting the Jews with some news that if they did not trust Christ and repent, they too would be facing judgment.
The Jews had believed that they were special and that they would not face judgment simply because of their heritage so it did not matter how they lived.
Paul tells them otherwise.
And now the Jews have some questions and Paul begins answering their questions and gives them some bad news but then leads them to some very Good News.
Turn with me to Romans 3.
Slide
We are going to look at some of these questions and the bad news and good news that Paul has for all of us.
So, after telling the Jews that they too will face judgment just like the Gentiles, he states some questions they have, he begins in Chapter 3 responding to some of the questions they have.
Let’s read together Romans 3.
Romans 3
3 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written:
"So that you may be proved right when you speak
and prevail when you judge."
5 But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) 6 Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? 7 Someone might argue, "If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?" 8 Why not say — as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say — "Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is deserved.
9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10 As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."
13 "Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit."
"The poison of vipers is on their lips."
14 "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know."
18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. 29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. NIV
Pray
Questions & Answers
Slide
Ok, so Paul starts out dealing with a couple of questions the Jews have.
Now the questions that they have are specifically about and related to their Jewish identity.
I want to look at Paul’s response and then generalize a bit for us today, because I believe there is application for the Christian church today.
So, first, the Jews want to know, if they are going to be treated just like others, then what is the advantage of being Jewish, if any.
Is there an advantage to being a Jew?
Slide
Paul says in Romans 3:2 that there is advantage.
Romans 3:2 - Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
The Jews had been entrusted with the very words of God.
Not only did the Jews possess the Old Testament Law, but they were entrusted with it.
They were given a stewardship over His word to hear it, learn it, obey it and example it to the rest of the world.
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe … 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you … 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
NIV
The Jews had been entrusted the words of God to know how to live life and to fear God so they could enjoy long life.
The Scriptures tell us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (proverbs 9:10) and adds length to life (proverbs 10:27)
The Jews were entrusted with the very word of God so that people could learn it and know it and have a fear of the Lord and live.
We might ask today,
Is there an advantage to a godly heritage?
Slide
I believe the response would be the same. There is great advantage in a godly heritage.
Having a godly heritage, being raised in a Christian home is of great value, because we have the word of God.
Having the word of God will guide us in our living to fear the Lord and to Know the Lord and to experience life to the full (John 10:10)
Now, being raised in a Christian home is no guarantee of salvation, just like for the Jew who lived in disregard to the word of God.
I have encountered people who think like the Jews did.
Well, I was raised in a Christian home and my parents baptized me. I have always been a Christian.
Being raised in a Christian home does not make you a Christian. It is an advantage to becoming a Christian because, hopefully you are learning about Christ and what the word of God says about Him and then you are acting on that but repenting of your sin and turning to Christ for your salvation.
So just like the Jews Paul was talking to, having the word of God is a great advantage for those being raised in Christian homes today.
Transition
Paul goes on to address certain promises that were made in God’s word to the Jews.
They are basically asking if there isn’t faith in some of the Jews, does God’s promises not apply to them?
Does our faith affect God’s faithfulness?
Slide
Romans 3:3-4
3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written:
"So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge."
God’s unconditional promises are not dependent upon man or man’s faithfulness or unfaithfulness. They are only dependent upon the faithfulness of God which is sure.
There are promises that have been made to the nation of Israel which are still yet to come.
When we look back at the Abrahamic Covenant, there were some unconditional promises made to Abraham and his offspring which came through Isaac and then Jacob.
Simon will be talking more about Abraham next week in Romans 4, but those promises are not conditioned on the faith of the Jews or their ability to obey.
Scripture tells us that God’s attention will again turn to the Jews in the last days because of God’s faithfulness, not because the Jews deserve it.
None of us deserve God’s blessings. But God is true to His promises always.
Now, not all of God’s promises are unconditional. He does have conditional promises that are made, obey and receive blessings, disobey and receive curses, but those were not in regard to salvation and those were clearly spelled out.
But we can trust God to be faithful to His word always, no matter what.
Transition
Then Paul goes on to bring out a false implication that was being made by some of the Jews.
Does our Unrighteousness help to show God’s righteousness?
Slide
Basically in Romans 3:5-8, the argument would go, if our unrighteousness shows God’s righteousness more, then God shouldn’t judge me and in fact, let’s do more evil so God can be glorified!
Paul doesn’t give any credence to the questioner by even providing a response, only a rebuke, “Their condemnation is deserved.” (Romans 3:8b)
It might be like people saying, if God is in control of everything, then He has caused me to sin so why will I be judged for that which God made me do and furthermore, if God’s grace is shown more due to my sin, I should sin more for God’s glory!
God forbid.
You do have a will and you have choices. Yes, God is completely sovereign, but in His sovereignty, He has given his human creation, made in His likeness, a will to respond to His leading or reject His leading.
You glorify God by living in His strength and power to follow His leading and to overcome sin, not commit it.
Transition
Paul does not spend much time on these questions, particularly this last one, but moves on to some conclusions.
And the conclusion shows first that there is some
Bad News
Slide
The Bad News is that
No One is Righteous, not even One
In the verses in Romans 3:9-20 Paul quotes numerous Old Testament verses that confirm this to his Jewish objectors and says the law is not going to make anyone Righteous, but the law only shows us that we are sinners.
We see in these Scriptures that Paul quotes that we sin by following our own way.
We sin in what we say
We sin in what we do.
And it is because there is no fear of the Lord before people’s eyes.
Remember the advantage of being raised Jewish?
It is that they had been entrusted with the word of God and that they were to teach it to their kids and others so that they “may fear the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:2)
But in
Romans 3:18 what does it say?
That “There is no fear of God before their eyes."
People pursue their own way because there is no fear of God.
The Law was not given to gain righteousness by living according to it.
It was given so that man could see how desperately they needed saving because they could not live according to the standard.
Then they could have a proper respect and fear of the Lord.
The bad news is that none of us have any hope in ourselves to live righteously.
His word helps us to recognize how far short we fall and shows us our need for a Savior.
That is what the Old Testament Law did. It was not plan A in regards to salvation. It was to show us our need and lead us to Plan A, the only plan, Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice for our sins.
The Bad news is that you aren’t good enough and you never will be.
You are a sinner in need of a Savior.
But that leads us to the
Good News
Slide
The Good news is that
Righteousness is available for free to all who have faith in Jesus Christ
Romans 3:21-24
21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
This is very good news.
We need to understand the bad news, before we can truly comprehend the good news.
If we don’t recognize our utter need for a Savior, the impossibility of us attaining our own salvation, then we won’t truly understand the good news that Christ died for us and has freely given those who trust in Christ and walk in His ways, the ability to live righteously.
Justice in the Past and Present
The Jews may argue that it is not just for those Jews of the past who had to live under the law, but Paul argues and he will go on to further explain in the next chapter when he talks about Abraham, that salvation has never been of works, but has always come through faith and that salvation for the Old Testament saints was by faith and not by works and that the Father was looking ahead to the work that Jesus was going to do.
Look at verse 25 and 26.
Romans 3:25-26
25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
NIV
It says he left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. God had known from the beginning how salvation was going to be accomplished.
As I said earlier, It is not if God started out with a plan, giving the Old Testament Law, and then discovered that nobody was going to be saved by keeping the law because nobody could keep it, so He came up with a plan B.
The law, as Paul will confirm later, was put in place to show man that He was a sinner and could never be good enough to earn salvation.
The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was all a foreshadowing of the ultimate sacrifice that Christ would make upon the cross and a help in showing the Jews and everyone that nobody could keep the law.
There is no one who can boast about the deserving or earning their salvation.
Romans 3:27-31
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. 29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
NIV
There is one God and He is the God of all creation, whether people believe in Him or not. But He is glorified by when, in man chooses, according to the Sovereign will of God, to trust in and receive Jesus as Savior in faith, trusting by faith in the work Jesus did on the cross for salvation.
Conclusion
Have you trusted in Jesus for your Salvation?
I am going to give you an opportunity to do that, to do what the Bible says, so you can be assured of your salvation.
But I want to ask a question of the Christians here.
Have you been trusting in Jesus for your righteousness, your ability to live a righteous life, or have you received Christ as Savior and now been trying to live righteously in your own strength and power?
We are going to be taking communion as we close today.
For those Christians here who have been trying to live righteously in your own strength, repent and ask for forgiveness and ask for the Lord to strengthen you to walk in the Spirit. As Paul writes to the Galatians, Since you live by the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25).
And for those who have never made a conscious decision to trust in and receive Jesus as Savior, you can do that today. Communion only has meaning for those who have received Jesus Christ as Savior.
The Bible tells us in
Romans 10:9
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. NIV
I am going to pray and if you have never received Jesus as your Savior, why not do that now as we prepare for communion.
Pray.
Worship team comes up.
Communion Slide
If you received Jesus this morning, we invite you to participate with us during communion. In fact, all who have received Jesus as Savior are invited to join us as we commune together with the Lord.
If you have not received Jesus as Savior, then you can just pass the tray as it comes.
It is only by the grace of God that we can experience salvation and live righteously in Christ’s strength and power.
The worship team is going to begin leading us in Amazing Grace as the ushers pass out the communion elements. There are 2 cups stacked, the bottom one has the bread and the top one the juice. Take both and hold them and we will partake together.
Amazing grace
Pray for Communion
Partake
Finish song.
