Last time we shared a message from Hebrews 12 called A Tale of Two Mountains.
We learned through this message that:
* At Mt. Sinai God revealed Himself to His people with thundering and lightening, smoke and fire…At Mt. Zion, God revealed Himself through His love and compassion
* At Mt. Sinai God revealed Himself to the patriarchs through the prophets….At Mt. Zion, God has spoken to us by His Son Jesus
* At Mt. Sinai, God revealed Himself through the Law of Moses….At Mt. Zion, God revealed Himself through grace and truth…through His Son Jesus.
John 1:17 says, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Today we are going to see the purpose of the Law that God gave through Moses. It is also my intent that by the end of this message two things will have been accomplished:
We will have a better grip on how to use the Law of God in our evangelism.
We will have a better appreciation for the grace of God in Jesus Christ
I. God’s Revelation Through the Law
The Law of Moses is commonly known as the Ten Commandments and found in Exodus chapter 20.
I. I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:2-3)
II. Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)
III. Thou shall not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)
IV. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shall not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11)
V. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God gives thee. (Exodus 20:12)
VI. Thou shall not kill. (Exodus 20:13)
VII. Thou shall not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)
VIII. Thou shall not steal. (Exodus 20:15)
IX. Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
X. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's. (Exodus 20:17)
Have you ever wondered why God gave the Law to His people? What is the purpose of the Law?
It was through this “Law” that God revealed to His people His ways, His morals, and His character. They would learn from this Law what God says is right, true and honorable and what God says is immoral, wrong and sinful.
Up until this time, they instinctively knew His law—the Bible says in Romans 2 that God’s law was written in the hearts of all people:
Rom 2:14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,
Rom 2:15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
No one has to tell us that it is wrong to take what doesn’t belong to us—you feel the pain of loss when someone or something is taken from you. No one has to tell us that it is wrong to lie—you feel the injustice when someone lies to you. Your conscience bears witness that it is wrong to take someone’s life in cold, premeditated murder.
The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 3:19, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” However, before Paul writes this, he shows how both Jew and Gentile are all under sin:
Rom 3:10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;
Rom 3:11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.
Rom 3:12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one."
If this doesn’t convince you of your guilt before God let me ask you a few questions:
* Have you ever told a lie? (You’ve broken the 9th commandment)
* Have you ever stolen something? (You’ve broken the 8th commandment)
* Have you ever committed adultery? Jesus says in Matthew 5:28 that "whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
* Have you ever looked at someone lustfully? (You’ve broken the 7th commandment)
Our text in Roman 3:19 says, “the whole world is guilty before God.” You are guilty before God. I am guilty before God. The Law has done what it was designed to do—reveal our sin and guilt before God.
And so verse 19 also says “that every mouth may be stopped.” In other words, the Law renders us speechless. The word “stopped” is from the Greek Word (phrasso) that means “to fence in, block up, stop up and close up.”
This is the kind of thing that you see at the end of a Perry Mason or Columbo episode, or for some of you younger viewers—a NCIS episode. There is so much evidence against the killer that he or she is rendered speechless!
This is the effect the Law has—it reveals our sin and guilt before God. Paul says, “Every mouth will be stopped, and all the world will become guilty before God.”
Paul goes on to write in Romans 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight…” This is a convicting statement to those who think that by being a good person they can get on good terms with God so that He will let you into heaven.
You have many people who believe they can obtain a good standing before God by their good deeds or their attempts at being a good person.
It is as if they imagine God saying: “Look at Johnny, he doesn’t smoke or drink. He goes to church each Sunday. I’m going to give him a 10-bedroom mansion. No, wait! Angels hold that order! He’s about to write out a check for a thousand dollars to help the homeless—give him a 20 bedroom mansion!”
There are those who follow the Koran that think this way. The Muslim believes that a large scale will be set up on what they call, “The Day of Religion” (Sura al-Shura 42:17). On this day they believe that all the good deeds of mankind will be weighed against the bad deeds and the Muslim hopes that his good deeds will outweigh his bad ones (Sura Hud 11:114).
But he fails to understand that his whole nature is evil and corrupt from birth. He rejects the biblical truth of original sin or total depravity that is passed down to all their descendants, as a result of Adam and Eve's sin.
Islam is based on justification by works. They hope that by repeating the Fatiha seventeen times during the course of the day's five prescribed prayer-times, they will erase, by these prayers, several negative entries on the black slate that records their sins.
But Paul writes, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight…” There is no way you and I can work enough or perform enough deeds or pray enough prayers in order to meet God’s righteous standards for entry into Heaven.
So the purpose of the Law is to reveal that we are sinners and in need of a Savior. We are dirty and in need of Someone to clean us up. The Apostle Paul summarizes this truth in Galatians:
Gal 3:22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.
Gal 3:24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
This is the purpose of the Law! It first reveals our sin and tells us we are guilty before a holy God. But then there is another purpose…the Law serves as our tutor to bring us to understand our need for Jesus Christ.
In Romans 7:7 Paul writes, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."”
Again, Paul is saying that the Law reveals to us the fact that we are sinners. He was rejecting the notion that some had when they said that the Law was bad because it brought the worse out of us. On the contrary, the Law is good! Try to imagine Liberty Road if it had no camera lights, no traffic lights and no speed limits. If there was no law there would be chaos; civil unrest.
In Romans 7 Paul tells us that the law reveals to us that we are sinners. In fact, Paul goes on to express the frustration that he personally experienced when confronted by the Law with the truth that he was a sinner:
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I do not find.
Rom 7:19 For I do not do the good that I desire; but the evil which I do not will, that I do.
Rom 7:20 But if I do what I do not desire, it is no more I working it out, but sin dwelling in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law: when I will to do the right, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man;
Rom 7:23 but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin being in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
The Law reveals that you and I are sinners and need a Savior.
Rom 3:19 But we know that whatever things the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law; so that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may be under judgment before God,
Rom 3:20 because by the works of the Law none of all flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law is the knowledge of sin
II. God's Righteousness Through Faith
Paul goes on to give some very good news! The good news is that although our unrighteousness is revealed by the Law, there is a righteousness that is revealed apart from the Law—this righteousness, Paul discloses, is the “righteousness of God.”
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
The expression, “the righteousness of God” refers to a “right standing” with God. Because God is holy, because He is set apart from sin, sinners cannot come into His presence. Since the Law has revealed that you and I are sinners, we have a big problem.
Paul gives the solution to our problem. He writes of a righteousness of God apart from the law. The Greek speaks of a righteousness that is in a different sphere from that in which the law says, “Do this and do that.” We would say, “He’s from a different neighborhood…”
The is a righteousness that is from a different realm that that which is produced by the Law. Someone has written a rhyme that goes… Do this and live, the law commands, but gives me neither feet nor hands. A better word the Gospel brings. It bids me fly and gives me wings.
There is a righteousness or “right standing with God” that has been revealed. This righteousness is in a different realm than that of the Law. It is God’s righteousness and it has, according to Paul in Romans 3:21, it has been witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.
When Jesus took Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Bible tells us in Luke chapter 9 that both Moses and Elijah were on the mountain with them.
* Moses testified of the righteousness of Christ in the tabernacle where the bloody sacrifices were offered and pointed to Christ.
* Elijah and the other prophets testified of the righteousness of Christ when they prophesied of the coming of Christ, His death and resurrection.
But Moses, representative of the Law and Elijah, representative of the Prophets, could only point to that which was to come. This is why God had them on that Mountain of Transfiguration…to personally witness that which they long ago had testified of and pointed people to…the glory of the righteousness of God that is found in Jesus Christ, the Son of God Himself.
And so the book of Hebrews says that…God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high… (Heb 1:1-3)
So the good news is that although our unrighteousness is revealed by the Law, there is a righteousness or “right standing with God” that is revealed apart from the Law—this righteousness, Paul says in verse 22 of our text, is the “righteousness of God” that is revealed through faith in Jesus Christ.
Rom 3:22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.
* This means that one doesn’t have to strive to keep the Law in order to be in right standing with God.
* This means that one doesn’t have to keep to a list of do’s and don’t in order to find favor with God.
* I don’t have to pray five times a day in order to expunge my list of sins from God’s record book.
* I don’t have to, even if I could, dot every “i” and cross every “t” and meet every iota of regulations, rules, parameters, ordinances, precepts and guidelines in order to make it into heaven.
What a life of misery this kind of striving would be!
Working at a university I’ve heard horror stories of students getting through four or more years of study only to hear just before graduation day that an advisor overlooked a course required for graduation. This is the kind of thing that happens to a person who is banking on his ability to keep the Law with its rules and regulations.
You die and stand before a holy God and He pulls out your “file.” Upon checking your “permanent record” you discover that although you strived to keep the Law and to be a good person, there was that time you told a lie about Sally in the third grade or stole that pack of gum from the store when you were 14 years old.
You’ve broken both the 8th and 9th commandments…You lied about Sally and you stole that pack of gum. But then you also broke the 5th command because you dishonored your parents by lying and stealing. Good gravy! You also broke the first command because made yourself more important than God. Too bad—no heaven for you—you get to go to that other place.
You say, “That isn’t fair! I’ve lived most of my life a good person.” Fairness has nothing to do with it. If God is going to be a good judge He must be righteous and just. A good judge wouldn’t bend the rules just for you. A good judge wouldn’t make some pay the penalty and others not have to—he would no longer be considered “good.”.
You think that by keeping certain rules and regulations you are right before God or that God is pleased with you or that God will love you more. Even with the best of computers, no one has the ability to keep track of their violations of the holy Law of God, yet some have tried.
The truth of the matter is that the righteousness of God is revealed by faith in Jesus Christ! You and I (because we have broken the Law of God) do not qualify as righteous folk. We have to get our righteousness from another source…we need to have righteousness given to us by Jesus Christ.
Because Jesus never sinned He alone is qualified to give us His righteousness.
* His righteousness is given to us by grace (that is we do not deserve it).
* His righteousness is given to us through faith (we have to trust Him for it.)
We can’t demand it. We don’t deserve it—we deserve wrath and punishment.
We can’t work for it. Our hands are dirty.
We can’t earn it. It’s cost is infinite.
It is “by grace through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Many songs have been written to extol the grace of God that justifies by faith. One that comes to my mind is Wonderful Grace of Jesus written by Haldor Lillenas in 1918.
Wonderful grace of Jesus, Greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it, Where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden, Setting my spirit free;
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
Wonderful grace of Jesus, Reaching to all the lost,
By it I have been pardoned, Saved to the uttermost,
Chains have been torn asunder, Giving me liberty;
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
Wonderful grace of Jesus, Reaching the most defiled,
By its transforming power, Making him God’s dear child,
Purchasing peace and heaven, For all eternity;
And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
Refrain
Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus, Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Wonderful grace, all sufficient for me, for even me.
Broader than the scope of my transgressions, Greater far than all my sin and shame,
O magnify the precious Name of Jesus. Praise His Name!
The Apostle Paul bore witness to this wonderful, matchless grace of God in verse 24 of our text.
Rom 3:24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…
The word “justified” means “declared righteous.” Those of us who have trusted Jesus Christ as Savior have been “declared righteous, freely by His grace.” We, who the Law has declared “sinners” have been “declared righteous.”
Here in Romans chapter 3 we have a court room scene—it is the court of heaven where the majestic, holy, righteous God sits as Judge. The Law serves as prosecutor against you and me.
The Law accuses us of breaking the first commandment—we have exalted other gods over and above the One and Only True God.
The Law accuses us of breaking the second command—we have created idols in the form of our bodies and cars and houses and clothes and sex and relationships and bowed down to them and served them.
The Law accuses us of breaking the third commandment—we have taken the Name of the Lord in vain—we have used His holy Name as a cuss word. We have cried out His worthy name when we were excited about something or disappointed and disgusted and we really weren’t serious about calling on Him.
The Law accuses us of breaking the fourth commandment—we have not remembered Sabbath to keep it holy—this day to us has become nothing more than any other day—for we work on the Lord’s Day—we shop on the Lord’s Day—we party on the Lord’s Day and many of us forsake to assemble ourselves together for worship on the Lord’s Day.
The Law accuses us of breaking the fifth commandment—we do not honor our parents—we talk back to them—we tisk our lips at them—in their old age we do not care for them.
The Law accuses us of breaking the sixth commandment—we murder some with our hands, others with our mouths. Jesus says in Matthew 5:22 that “whoever is angry with his brother without a cause is guilty of murder.”
The Law, as prosecutor, accuses us of breaking the seventh through tenth commands—we have committed adultery with our lustful gazes—some of us have committed the very act of adultery—we have stolen, we have lied and we have coveted what belongs to another.
To each charge the Holy Spirit as Jury convicts and convinces that we are guilty.
I. Thou shall have no other gods before me. Guilty
II. Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image. Guilty
III. Thou shall not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain. Guilty
IV. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Guilty
V. Honor thy father and thy mother. Guilty
VI. Thou shall not kill. Guilty
VII. Thou shall not commit adultery. Guilty
VIII. Thou shall not steal. Guilty
IX. Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Guilty
X. Thou shall not covet. Guilty
The case against us is great. There is no disputing it…we are guilty. The Law has declared us as guilty sinners deserving of the wrath of God and the penalty for our sin is death.
But our Defense Attorney, Jesus Christ steps forward to plead our case. Did you know that Jesus is a Defense Attorney?
1 John 2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Jesus goes into His briefcase and pulls out a book and hands it to the Bailiff, the Holy Spirit. The Bailiff hands it to God the Father, the Judge. The Judge opens the book and hands it back to the Bailiff to read for everyone to hear:
Isa 53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Isa 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
1 Pet 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God…
2 Cor 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
But the Law responded, “Your Honor! They are guilty!”
“Yes they are indeed guilty”, Jesus says, “But I have paid the price for their sin in full—It is finished!”
The Law appeals to God the Judge, “But they are unrighteous!” Jesus responds by quoting Romans 8:3-4:
“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in those who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
The Law says one more time: “What about what Paul said in Romans 7: “
Rom 7:19 For I do not do the good that I desire; but the evil which I do not will, that I do.
Rom 7:20 But if I do what I do not desire, it is no more I working it out, but sin dwelling in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law: when I will to do the right, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man;
Rom 7:23 but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin being in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
The Jesus says, “What about what he said in Romans chapter 8:
Rom 8:1 There is, then, now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit;
Rom 8:2 for the law of the Spirit of the life in Christ Jesus did set me free from the law of the sin and of the death;
Rom 8:3 for what the law was not able to do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, His own Son having sent in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, did condemn the sin in the flesh,
Rom 8:4 that the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
After this God, the Judge of all, motions to everyone that He has reached a verdict. Paul records it for posterity in Titus 3:3-7. Thinking about his own bout with the Law and falling under the condemnation of sin and death, Paul writes:
For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
We were guilty before God but Jesus bore our guilt.
We were sinners but Jesus (who was innocent) was made sin for me.
We were children of wrath deserving of death but Jesus was executed in our place.
We were unrighteous but Jesus gave us His righteousness.
We had no standing with God but because of Jesus, God has adopted us as His sons and has given use His signet ring and has put a coat on our back.
He has given us redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace! We have an inheritance!
There are some who are still trying to live under the letter of the Law. Stop it!
There are some who are striving to be a good person hoping that your “goodness” or your good deeds will grant you a place in heaven. Stop it!
There are some who are presuming upon the grace of God…You think that since “God is love so he can’t possibly allow anyone to go to a burning Hell.” Stop it!
The Law declares that we are sinners before a holy God and since God sent Jesus to bear our sins and pay the penalty of death for us, He alone is the way, the truth and the life so that no one comes to the Father but through Him!
