Many have a hard time imagining a God who wants to be close to us. They think that maybe God insists we clean ourselves up first. But God says don’t bother to get cleaned up. Just come as you are. Come with all your defects, faults and flaws. Come with your guilt and bad habits. Come as you are and experience God’s love and acceptance. That is what God is saying. And it’s what He wants to say through His people.
But even in church circles we’re tempted to pretend we’re better than we really are. When we give in to that temptation, we’re in danger of allowing religion to keep us from fulfilling our responsibility.
Whenever our true self gets cloaked in a religious facade, we’re on dangerous ground. This is what had happened to the people of Israel under the religious leaders of their day. We pointed out last week that Jesus ran the money changers out of the Temple two times - at the start of His ministry and then at the end of His ministry. Why?
The reason Jesus ran moneychangers out of the Temple was that their religion had gotten in the way of their responsibility - to point all nations to God. Selling animals for sacrifice was happening in the outermost court, the court of the Gentiles, the place where everyone was supposed to be able to go to meet God. Their religion was keeping them from fulfilling their responsibility. The same can happen to us.
I think this is why Jesus was especially angry with one kind of person in particular - the religious hypocrite. When our mindset is to embrace self-righteousness, we’re missing a powerful and life-changing truth: there are no perfect people. The only thing separating the Christian from the non-Christian is the forgiveness of God. As the old saying goes, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.”
Paul spoke to this point of there being no perfect people. A key phrase in this passage is “There is no difference.”
1. The law’s purpose - vs. 19-20
Paul says the law’s purpose is to make this truth clear - there are no perfect people! Through the law, we become conscious of our sin and our need for a Savior. Let’s think about this. Let’s consider how we might each measure up to the Ten Commandments, for example.
Most of us know about the Ten Commandments, but studies show that 90% of us can’t name them all. What’s the first commandment?
#1 - You shall have no other Gods before me. Can you say you’ve never put anything before God in your life? That He has always been pre-eminent in your thoughts, affections, and actions?
#2 - You shall have no carved images of me. It’s been said that most of our idols today are in the self instead of on the shelf. This command is about reshaping God according to our liking, instead of believing everything His Word reveals about Him. If you’ve ever had any mistaken or false ideas about God, you’ve broken this command.
#3 - You shall not take my name in vain. This has to do with more than not saying, “G.D.” It has to do with how we regard the name of God. For example, have you always lived up to the name “Christian?”
#4 - Remember the Sabbath. This is about honoring God with what belongs to him. We honor Him as the One who’s provided a living to us by giving Him a 10th of our income; and we honor Him as the One who’s provided life to us by giving Him one day a week. Have you consistently done that? Remember, the lesson of the Sabbath was to rest in God’s provision. When life gets tough, do rest and trust God?
#5 - Honor your parents. Have you never disobeyed nor dishonored your parents? What would they say?
#6 - You shall not kill. Jesus said if I’m angry with someone I’ll be subject to judgment (Matthew 5:22a). Can you say you’ve never been angry with anyone or taken pleasure in seeing harm come to them?
#7 - You shall not commit adultery. Jesus said to think lustfully about someone who isn’t your spouse is committing adultery in your heart (Matthew 5:28). Have you never looked at someone lustfully?
#8 - You shall not steal. Can you say, you have never taken anything that doesn’t belong to you? Whether it be money or credit or praise?
#9 - You shall not lie. Have you always told the truth? Have you ever exaggerated the truth for my own benefit or covered up your faults? Ever told a “half-truth?” Remember, a half-truth is a whole-lie.
#10 - You shall not covet. Have you ever wanted something not yours, or been jealous of someone’s abilities, looks, possessions or position?
“I’m pretty sure the entire HGTV network is built on coveting.” - J.D. Greear
It kind of leaves us speechless, doesn't it? Just like Paul says in verse 19, “every mouth is silenced.”
Kind of like everyone will be on the day of judgment: “When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour,” (Revelation 8:1 NIV).
Everyone stands condemned by the law. There is no difference.
2. Christ’s provision - vs. 21-22
A doctor called his patient and said, “I have some bad news and some very bad news.” The man said, “Give me the bad news first.” The doctor said, “The lab called with your test results. You only have 24 hours to live.” The man said, “24 hours! That's terrible! What could be worse? Well, what‘s the very bad news, Doc?” The doctor said, “I've been trying to reach you since yesterday.”
Well, the depth of our sin is indeed, bad news. But there is Good News! We can be made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ. This righteousness is given by God, the very One before whom we stand condemned by our sin. It is available to all who believe on Jesus Christ, and there is no difference! Jesus is an equal opportunity Savior!
Jesus’ life completely measured up to the standard of the law.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” - Matthew 5:17 (NIV)
His sinless life made possible His substitutionary death.
“God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.” - 2 Corinthians 5:21 (The Message)
“When a person is sick, the doctor may prescribe medicine. What heals the man? Is it the medicine, or his reaching out for the medicine? Christ is the only solution for your problem of sin and judgment. He is the medicine. Who else but Christ can rescue you and bring you into the forgiven family of God? He is the exclusive way to God. He is a narrow way, but a sufficient one. But how do you reach out to Christ? By repentance and faith.” - Jim Elliff
His sinless life made possible His substitutionary death, which provides salvation for every person who believes, there is no difference.
3. Mankind’s problem - v. 23
Why did we need Christ’s provision? Because of our problem. Paul says that man’s problem with sin is . . .
A. Pervasive - “all” are guilty.
B. Plain - “have sinned” not might sin, or could sin. We are guilty!
C. Paralyzing - “fall short of the glory of God” We cannot never live lives in such a way as to honor our creator.
Some who think they’re better than others might be. But it doesn’t matter if I’m in a valley and you’re on a mountaintop, neither of us can get to the moon without some help. And neither of us can get to heaven and a right standing with God without help. That help is Christ. There is no difference.
4. God’s promise - v. 24
Because the price for redemption was paid by Jesus at Calvary, God promises if we believe on Christ, turning from sin to trust in Him, we’ll be justified freely by His grace. Christ’s sinless life and substitutionary death makes possible the gift of God’s grace, which results in our being justified (just as if I never sinned). This is given freely to all who turn to Christ and trust in Christ, but though it is free, it’s isn’t cheap.
If you looked in your mail today and found a free gift waiting for you, it wouldn’t really be free. Someone paid for it at some point. The same is true of God’s grace whereby we are justified before God. It’s totally and completely free to you, but someone paid for it - Jesus. And that is true for everyone. There is no difference.
Conclusion: When I went to college, there seemed to be a world of distance between me and my professors. Then when I went to seminary to work on my master’s degree, again, there seemed to be a world of distance between me and my professors. But when I studied for my doctorate degree, things changed. My relationship with my professors was not near as distant, because there was only one degree that separated us.
When it comes to me and those who aren’t saved, there is no difference. We’re condemned by the law as sinners, we’re lost apart from Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we’re unable to do anything to save ourselves, and we’re only saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ. There’s only one difference between me, as a Christian, and those who aren’t Christians. But it’s a difference that makes all the difference - I have trusted in Jesus Christ as my one and only Savior. And as I seek to fulfill the mission my Lord has given to me to share Jesus with others, if I am to be effective, I must never forget that.
“Evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” - D.T. Niles
