IS GOD A JUST GOD?
Text: Rom. 3:1-8
INTRODUCTION
1. Illustration: "A god who is all love, all grace, all mercy, no sovereignty, no justice, no holiness and no wrath is an idol." (R.C.Sproul)
2. Many people want to know the answer to the question: is God just?
3. Romans chapter 3 is a series of six rhetorical questions that Paul then answers.
4. Today we will deal with the first 3 questions. The basic idea in this section is this: if there is no advantage in being Jewish, and if God can reject one of his chosen people, then how can we say that God is faithful in keeping his covenant?
5. The answer to that is simple, in Deuteronomy 28 the curses of the covenant are declared to the people.
6. Basically, if you keep the covenant you're blessed, and if you don't, you're cursed. So, God made this clear and now he is just living up to the stipulations of the covenant.
7. Here are the three questions...
A. Question 1: What's The Benefit Is Being A Jew?
B. Question 2: Is God Faithful?
C. Question 3: Should We Sin More?
8. Let's stand together as we read Rom. 3:1-8.
Proposition: If God isn't just then he's not loving.
Transition: The first question asks...
I. Question 1: What's The Benefit In Being A Jew? (1-2)?
A. What The Advantage
1. In the previous chapter, Paul makes it clear that neither the law or circumcision gave any advantages to the Jews because they failed to keep the law, and as a result, both Jews and Gentiles were on equal footing before God as sinners.
2. So, this brings out the question, "Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the ceremony of circumcision?"
A. The Jews believed that since they had the law that they were God's chosen people.
B. Now if Paul is correct that they have no advantage in being Jewish, and true circumcision if circumcision of the heart, like we talked about last week, then what's the point of circumcision?
C. Maybe it's just an unnecessary operation?
3. Paul response to this question is, "Yes, there are great benefits! First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God."
A. Paul never said there was no benefit in having the law, he only said that having the law gave them special privileges over the Gentiles.
B. They both would stand before the judgment seat of God based on whether or not they had kept the law and not on who possessed it.
C. So here Paul states the primary advantage in having the law in that they had been entrusted with the whole revelation of God.
D. Since Paul begins with, first of all, it makes sense that he would then produce a lengthy list of benefits like, divine glory, worship, covenants, and God's precious promises.
E. However, Paul only talks about the privilege of being entrusted with the whole revelation of God.
F. The key point is that they had the promises of God that were the basis of his faithfulness (Osbourne, 79-80).
4. Therefore, he could confidently state that being a Jew and being circumcised did have meaning, but only as part of God's total plan. The Jews were entrusted with God's words, preserving them until the coming of Christ, who was the fulfillment of the prophetic Scriptures (Barton, 590).
B. Power Of The Word
1. Illustration: "One of the greatest needs in the Church today is to come back to the Scriptures as the basis of authority, and to study them prayerfully in dependence on the Holy Spirit" (Billy Graham).
2. It is ESSENTIAL that we have the power of the Word in our lives!
A. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
B. You have heard me say this over, and over, and over again, stay in the Word!
C. It teaches us how God wants us to live.
D. It corrects us when we are wrong.
E. It trains us how to do God's work.
F. If we fail to read it, study it, meditate on it then we are doing our selves a great disservice. And we have no one to blame but ourselves.
G. We have a great blessing that many other Christians around the world do not have, and we are taking it for granted.
H. Let's get back to the Word!
Transition: The second question that Paul deals with is...
II. Question 2: Is God Unfaithful (3-4)?
A. Does That Mean God Will Be Unfaithful
1. Here Paul turns to a second question dealing with the faithfulness of God in light of Jewish unfaithfulness.
2. In v. 3 he says, "True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful?"
A. He asks the question, if some of them were unfaithful does that mean that God will be unfaithful?
B. Can people's unfaithfulness really nullify the faithfulness of God? In other words, does our unfaithfulness let God off the hook?
C. This idea of nullifying the promises of God is a favorite topic of Paul's, he mentions it 25 times, and it means to "render powerless," or to "wipe something out."
D. In Genesis 15 God had Abraham sacrifice a heifer, a goat, and a ram and then lay the halves opposite each other.
E. Then God caused a deep sleep to come over Abraham at which time he had of a vision of a smoking firepot and a blazing torch that passed between the parts.
F. This was a symbol of God walking between the parts, which was a symbolic way of saying, "May this happen to me if I do not fulfill my covenant."
G. God is guaranteeing his faithfulness, and nothing can change that fact.
3. His response to the question is, "Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him, “You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in court.”
A. Paul's answer to this question if an emphatic Of course not!
B. Or as the NASB puts it. May it never be!
C. This is the strongest negative response to a question possible. Jewish unfaithfulness can never cause God to be unfaithful.
D. The term true is the OT term for faithfulness, meaning God is true to his promises.
E. Again, this refers to the covenant promises of the OT, which contained blessings for the those who were faithful and curses to those who were not.
F. So, God is true in judging Israel. In contrast, Paul says Even if everyone else is a liar! Then he quotes Ps. 51:4,
G. Psalm 51:4 (NLT2)
4 ...You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.
H. This was David's confession of his sin with Bathsheba, and he says that because of what he did God was just in judging his actions.
I. Paul applies this same confession to Israel's sin, and implies that God's judgment of Israel is also just and fair.
J. Now Israel did think they had done anything wrong, but Paul, acting like a prosecutor tells them that they are wrong.
K. If God does not judge Israel then he cannot be considered just, but only when he does judge them is he proven faithful to his covenant promises (Osbourne, 82-83).
B. He Remains Faithful
1. Illustration: "The glory of God's faithfulness is that no sin of ours has ever made Him unfaithful" (Charles Spurgeon).
2. Nothing in all of creation, not even our unfaithfulness, can make God unfaithful.
A. 2 Timothy 2:13 (NLT2)
If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.
B. If we sin, God remains faithful!
C. If we turn our backs on him, he remains faithful.
D. When things look bleek, God remains faithful.
E. When we are depressed, God remains faithful.
F. When we have problems within our families, God remains faithful.
G. When we have money problems, God remains faithful.
H. God will always be faithful because that is his middle name!
I. He will always be faithful because he doesn't know how to do anything else!
J. OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL!!!
Transition: The third question that Paul deals with is...
III. Question 3: Should We Sin More (5-8)?
A. Our Sinfulness Serves A Good Purpose
1. This question actually is in two parts and both are based on their objections to Paul's statements in vv 1-4.
2. In v. 5 Paul writes, “But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.)"
A. Their argument is our sinful behavior serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn't it unfair, then, for him to punish us?
B. Paul response is that no, God is not unfair for judging us when we sin. How can our sin ever explain the righteousness of God?
C. When God judges people it is because of his sense of justice and righteousness.
D. He is merely being faithful to his covenant promises, again, it goes back to blessings vs. curses.
E. Then he adds (this is merely a human point of view. When he raises the question of God's injustice, he has to do it from a human point of view, because the mere thought of God being unjust is irrational.
F. Simple logic dictates that when God judges sin it is because we deserve it.
3. Then in v. 6 Paul responds like this, "Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how would he be qualified to judge the world?"
A. Paul's response to this question is, again, a very emphatic, "NO!"
B. He says, Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how could he be qualified to judge the world?
C. It's unthinkable that God could be unfair!
D. If he's not fair then he is unqualified to judge the world, but, in fact, God is a righteous and fair judge.
4. Paul then continues to refute their argument in vv. 7-8, “But,” someone might still argue, “how can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” 8 And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned."
A. The two verses in the section deal with the same basic Jewish objection just phrased a different way.
B. The argument is, how can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonestly highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory.
C. The point they are trying to make if our sin shows how holy God is how can he punish us for it? So, if human lies demonstrate the truthfulness of God, that's a good thing, right?
D. The emphasis here is on the word glory because the Jews were so concerned about the glory of God.
E. That should be the highest goal of every person, so if sin really brings glory to God, how can we be judged for it?
F. The argument is taken a step further in the beginning of verse 8 with, And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, The more we sin, the better it is!
G. This is so illogical that it scandalizes Paul. His response to them is in two parts.
H. First, the rumor had spread that Paul was teaching blasphemy because the charge they were making went against God and the Gospel he had given Paul to preach.
I. Second, he says their condemnation is well deserved for they have insulted God and the Gospel.
B. May It Never Be
1. Illustration: "Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of his mercy, the jeer of his patience, the slight of his power, and the contempt of his love" (John Bunyan).
2. It is never a good thing to continue or practice sinning.
A. Romans 6:1-2 (NLT2)
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?
2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?
B. Sin is never a good thing!
C. Sin is never a beneficial thing!
D. Sin doesn't benefit you, and it certainly doesn't benefit God!
E. Sin in the church is an insult to compassion and mercy of God.
F. But the Good News is that there is forgiveness of sin.
G. We serve a God of infinite compassion, mercy, and about all, patience.
H. We serve a God of grace and forgiveness who is just waiting for us to return to him in repentance.
Conclusion
1. Here are the three questions...
A. Question 1: What's The Benefit Is Being A Jew?
B. Question 2: Is God Faithful?
C. Question 3: Should We Sin More?
2. THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER...
A. It is ESSENTIAL that we have the power of the Word in our lives!
B. NEVER FORGET THAT OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL EVEN WHEN WE ARE NOT!
C. SIN IS NEVER A GOOD THING, BUT GOD WILL ALWAYS FORGIVE US WHEN WE ASK.
