BASIC TRAINING: MAN IS A SINNER
Romans 3:9-18, 21-23
The Drama mentioned in this sermon is entitled "Man of the Year" and can be obtained from www.willowdrama.com)
INTRODUCTION:
Have you ever seen what happens to some animals after they are all cleaned up? When I was in high school I helped at a veterinarian’s office and later when we lived in Tennessee, I had the opportunity to work as a "flunky" at a stable. What do you think is one of the first things a horse will do after he’s washed down? Do you think he goes and looks for the cleanest part of the field so as not to get dirty? Do you think he looks for a mirror to admire his cleanliness? Or how about those prize winning pigs that you see at the County Fair? They’re all clean and brushed, some perfumed with ribbons in their tails. Do you think they go back to the farm and say, "I’ve never felt cleaner in all of my life.. I’m never going to be piggy again!" No.. one of the first things a horse will do after being bathed is find a good dirty place, lay down in the dirt and roll. That pig takes his blue ribbon and goes back to wallowing in the mud. Why do they do that? Because they are animals. It is in the horse’s nature to roll in the dirt, it’s in the pigs nature to go back to the mud. And all the cleansing on the outside doesn’t change the character of the animal. Now, we need to understand that man has a "sin-nature." Jeremiah tell us how it really is. Let’s read this one together. “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out.” Jer. 17:9 (Msg)
This, I think, is one of the most disregarded principles of our day. We think, if we can just clean up people on the outside we can solve our problems. Let’s educate people about drugs, AIDS, and provide good job opportunities and give the inner city subsidized housing and parks, give each family guaranteed health care and everyone will be happy and be moral and we’ll all live in harmony. Well, those things may be helpful to an extent, but they really fail to get to the core of the problem. We’re disappointed because no matter what we provide on the outside people go back to rolling in evil, to wallowing in the mud of the sin problem. Why? Because man has a sin nature. Charles Colson said, "The greatest myth of our time is that people are basically good. It is not true. We are bent toward evil." The apostle Paul said in Rom. 7:19- "I do not do the good things I want to do, but I do the bad things I do not want to do."(NCV)
Now, I’ll want you to understand this morning that I recognize this is not a popular topic. There are some churches that will not talk about the “three letter `S’ word” because they are concerned about offending people. But you know what? If you have serious physical problems you don’t need a doctor that is going to touch up the X-rays. You need a doctor that is going to tell you the truth. One who will diagnose the ailment and prescribe a cure. Man has a serious spiritual malady and we don’t need to be telling people.. "just think positive.." "look inside yourself for the answers.." So, this morning I want us to look at a New Testament passage that traces man’s responsibility in sin, man’s ruination by sin and conclude by looking at man’s response to sin.
I. MAN’S RESPONSIBILITY IN SIN: vss:9-12
The Bible clearly teaches that all people have sinned. Paul begins the 3rd chapter by saying that the Jewish people did have some advantages over the Gentiles. They were the nation that God called “His chosen people,” He moved through history through them and God’s own Son was a Jew. But in vs: 9 he says, "Well then, are we Jews better than others?" He responds, "not at all!" He is making the point that all people, both Jew and Gentile are under sin, that is, condemned. Paul says very dramatically,"No one is good - not even one."
Now, we don’t like that. Man does not appreciate being called a sinner. Much like Rich in our drama. Here he is getting an award for man of the year and he wants people to think he’s good - serving our fellow man and all that - yet, behind the awards and the outward shine are those dark spots he knows about that he’d rather keep hidden. And it’s the same with us. We don’t want our sins exposed and yet deep down we know we are not perfect. So, with that in mind I want us to do something a little different this morning. I’m going to ask some of you to stand and tell us a sin you committed last week. I think it would be helpful to get it off our chest and just admit it, expose our sin, be accountable, don’t you? Let’s see who can I choose? Now two things first.. (1) I’m not going to do that. It sure got quiet in here. (I am interested in why _____ _______ was squirming so much though.) (2) It’s natural for us to become uncomfortable because we know we all have the potential to be called on and if our sin is brought to light we will be exposed, we’ll be accountable for it and we really don’t like that!
But Paul reminds us that whether we like it or not - we are accountable for our sin. He does not want us to miss the fact that we are guilty sinners before God. But that’s one thing that man has always tried to deny. From the beginning of time man has tried to escape the responsibility of his sin. And in this day and age we have done a good job of negating blame for wrong conduct. And so we blame the food for our weight problems, we blame the cigarette for our cancer, we blame our parents for our faults. The alcoholic says, “It’s not really my fault, I’ve got sociological hang-ups from my youth." The back slider says, "I know I ought to be in Church but the reason I’m not there is because my fanatical parents forced me to go when I was young." The cheater at West Point blames the unrealistic honor code. The thief blames the ghetto that caused him to steal. I heard the other day of a man who shot both his mother and father and then stood in the courtroom begging for mercy on the grounds he was an orphan. No one is guilty.
But Paul insists that man is responsible before God for his sin. That this guilt is universal. Vs:10. “As the Scriptures say, “No one is good - not even one. No one has real understanding; no one is seeking God. All have turned away from God; all have gone wrong.” But man doesn’t like to face that reality. Someone asked the dying Thoreu if he had made his peace with God. He responded, "I’ve never quarreled with Him." That’s typical of man’s superficial view of sin. The sinner is the pervert or the murder or the thief and by comparison to them we are pretty good. But Paul says, "No! We don’t compare ourselves to others but to God and therefore, no one is righteous." In this whole room today there is not one righteous person because of their own goodness. In fact, Paul says the whole purpose of the 10 commandments was to make man aware of his sin. As we mentioned last week, God didn’t give the Law to make man good but to demonstrate to man how sinful he really was. By the Law we become aware that idolatry, and profanity and adultery and lying were sin. JB Phillips paraphrases 3:20 this way: "It is the straightedge of the law that shows us just how crooked we really are." So we are all responsible for our sin. It’s time we quit blaming everything and everyone else for our sin and with the prodigal son come before God and say, "Father, I’ve sinned and am not worthy." Because all, including me, have sinned. Rom 3:23 says, "All have sinned. All fall short of God’s glorious ideal."
II. MAN’S RUINATION BY SIN: VSS:13-18
And then in vss:13-18 Paul underscores man’s ruination by sin. It is important that we see how sin can ruin us because Satan always presents sin as attractive and glamorous. Have you ever seen a billboard advertising cigarette smoking by showing some homely, middle-aged woman, with her hair in curlers, wearing a faded sweatshirt and tennis shoes, with a half smoked cigarette butt, hanging out of stained teeth saying, "I smoke for taste!" Never seen it. I’ve never seen a liquor add with some broken down wino, unshaven, in a broken down apartment, with empties scattered all around, sitting on the edge of an unmade bed, slurring, "It just doesn’t get any better than this." Never seen it. I’ve never seen Desperate Housewives or a soap showing the children standing around a bed sobbing over the break up of their home, while one of their parents engages in adultery.
You see Satan always uses the most attractive people, the most beautiful music, the most passionate circumstances to sell his products. But Satan is a liar, he has never subscribed to the truth in advertising code. He is long on promise but short on delivery. And we need to remind ourselves of that constantly. There are some horrible consequences to sin. Our bodies, our health, our families are ruined by it! Charles Reade said, "You sow a thought and you reap a deed. You sow a deed and you reap a habit. You sow a habit and you reap a character. You sow a character and you reap a destiny."
So Paul here, starting with vs:13 quotes from the O.T. some passages that demonstrate that sin is not glamorous at all but it completely ruins a man when it’s fully exposed. “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their speech is filled with lies.” Remember President Clinton’s lying about having “no improper relationship” with Monica Lewinsky? After his lies were revealed I didn’t hear anyone say that was "gutsy" or "clever." Even the liberal TV commentators used words like "betrayal" and "cover-up." Vs:14 - “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” Howard Dean at a fund raiser during last years Presidential campaign let out with a stream of profanity, including the “F” bomb several times, not realizing his mic was on. When that was reported you didn’t hear people say Gov. Dean was “macho” or “bold.” No, you heard words like “disgusting” and “disrespectful.” Vs:15- “They are quick to commit murder. Wherever they go, destruction and misery follow them.” There is nothing glamorous about the Charles Manson’s or the Saddam Hussein’s or the Ted Bundy’s. They threw aside all restraints and spread misery and bloodshed and hatred wherever they went. That is sin, and that’s horrid. There is no glamour for the end result of sin. James says, “Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death. So don’t be misled." (James 1:14) Desire - Sin - Death. That’s the ugly progression of sin & man is ruined by it.
III. MAN’S RESPONSE TO SIN: VSS:27-28
Now, so far the picture Paul has painted is quite grim and gloomy. Man is responsible for his sin, he’s lost. Man is destroyed by sin, he’s ruined. A darker more hopeless situation could hardly be portrayed. Man is lost, the law cannot save him, one transgression and all chance is gone for any kind of relationship with the Almighty. It’s a dismal, dark and devastating description of man’s plight.
But then Paul bursts forth with great news! Vs:21 -“But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight- not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins.” A new way of salvation has been opened up, completely different than the legal obedience to the law. Jesus Christ in his death on the cross, has paid for our sin, taken on the punishment which we deserve.
But someone might say, "Why? Why did God have to allow his Son to die so that sin would be paid for? Why not just come down and call out, "Ollie, Ollie, in free - Divine Amnesty for everyone? And save everyone?" Because Paul says, in vs:25 that by giving Jesus God demonstrated that He is a God of Justice. Vs:25 - “This (giving Jesus) showed that God is a God of perfect justice, He always does what is right and fair, as in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins.”(NCV) Now, we don’t know much about justice today, with early parole, good and honor time, suspended sentences. But Paul says, God is just, He can’t lie. He couldn’t demand a punishment for sin and then reverse Himself. His righteousness demands a punishment so He gave us Jesus - God’s gift of grace.
That’s why I think it is very important in understanding God’s grace to comprehend the difference between three words- used in Scripture. Justice - Mercy & Grace. Justice is deserved punishment. Mercy is exemption from punishment, Grace is favor when punishment is deserved. (Repeat)
Let me share an illustration that for me, clears up the difference between these three concepts. If you don’t know I spent 12 years in law enforcement. So, let’s say I’m still a police officer. I arrive at a scene where through your carelessness you’ve jumped the curb, you’ve damaged your car and you’ve knocked down and destroyed a city sign. Now, I survey the scene and you admit that the accident was your fault so I give you a ticket for careless driving, I assign you a court date and I inform you that the city will be in touch with you so that you can pay for a new sign -that’s justice -deserved punishment. But let’s say out of the goodness of my heart I say, "Well, I know this can happen to anybody and you’ve already got to pay for the damage to your car so I’ll just let it go, no ticket and you don’t have to pay for the sign.” You’d say, "That’s incredible," but that’s MERCY - Exemption from punishment. But let’s say that I was really generous and I tell you, you’re not going to get a ticket; but not only that-I pull out my check book and I write you a check to pay for the full amount of the damage done to your car and further, I tell you that “I’ll pay the city for the damaged sign and your ticket too.” You say, "That’s impossible!” But that’s grace. Favor given when punishment is deserved.
But that isn’t a good illustration of God’s grace because God just didn’t give out of his riches. His grace cost Him everything He had. In order to give us His grace He had to pay our debt which is death. Remember what Paul has said, God is a God of grace but He is also a God of justice and sin must be punished. But instead of sentencing us, Jesus volunteered to undergo that punishment. Yes, God could of come down and simply said, " Divine amnesty." But by the cross, He punished sin and love was expressed. He was the just and the justifier. Some define grace as unmerited favor but I like the acrostic G-R-A-C-E - God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
Can you grasp what that means? It means that every person in this room, who has sinned, by putting their faith in Jesus Christ can be cleansed of their sin. That means anybody! Doesn’t matter how bad you’ve been. Doesn’t matter how unspiritual you feel. God’s grace is for everyone if they will put their faith in Jesus Christ. You see grace is unfair from a human viewpoint. Justice is fair. But God is so generous that He will rescue the blackest life from Hell if they will trust in the Lord. Isn’t that incredible? That’s the Great, Amazing, Grace of God.
Now, the most important question is how do we respond to that offer of grace and rescue from punishment? We must receive god’s grace. It wouldn’t make much sense for one getting into an accident to refuse the free offer of that police officer in our illustration. It is crazier still for a person in sin to reject Jesus Christ, trying to live on his own. Hebrews 2:3, "How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" (NIV) And if you have never accepted God’s offer of grace, you need to do that today. Don’t think you can wait to the last minute and then pull off some kind of death bed confession. Because the problem with that thinking is that none of us knows when we are going to die and further your laboring under the mistaken notion that the life of sin is the best life. That’s not true. Though accepting God’s grace does not promise you a life without thorns, I and other Christians are here to tell you that with Jesus Christ you can have the best life here and now! A life of peace, a life of freedom. So, the Bible says that we need to receive this offer of Grace. John 1:12 says, "To all who received Jesus Christ, to those he gave the right to become sons of God."(NIV) How do you do that? Well, Paul says here that you receive God’s grace by your faith in Jesus. He repeats that same thought in Eph.2:8 by saying, "For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved, through faith." (GN) If you put your faith in Christ you can be cleansed of all sin. It’s as simple as that.
But now, if you have faith in someone, you really trust them, and you’ll want to do what they say. The book of James makes it clear that faith is not simply mental assent. That is, simple belief. James 2:14 - “You believe there is one God. Good! But the demons believe that, too, and at least they respond. They tremble with fear. You foolish person! Must you be shown that faith that does nothing is worth nothing?” (NCV) You see faith is not just belief but it is trust and actions expressing that belief. So, someone might say, "Well, okay, I believe that Jesus died for me, so how do I express my faith, my trust in Him?" The Bible is very clear on that... If you have faith in Jesus, it says that you’ll turn from your sins, telling God that you don’t want to live just for yourself anymore, that you want to live for him. The Bible word for that is repentance. Further, the Scripture points out that those who place their faith in Jesus should say that with their mouths. Romans 10:9 - “For if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord and believe in your own heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (LB) And as you surrender your life to Him you will be obedient to Him in baptism. In Acts 2 when the people understood that their sin had caused Jesus to die for them they asked, "What shall we do to be saved?" Peter said, in Acts 2:38 - "Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." And all through the N.T. when people surrendered their life to Christ, they repented of their sins, confessed Jesus as God’s Son and were baptized into Him. That was the pattern then and God hasn’t changed it. Now, it’s important to realize that none of those things, repentance, confession, baptism, earn you salvation. If I as that police officer, wrote you a check to fix your car and pay for that sign you wouldn’t of earned that- it would be a free gift. But you’d have take it from me, you’d have to appropriate it by cashing the check. All of us got gifts a few weeks ago at Christmas, we didn’t earn them, they were given to us. But it wasn’t ours until we accepted it, received it. Jn 1:12 - “To all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust him to save them.”(LB)
My Grandfather Smith used to like to tell the story of how he dated my Grandmother "to br" in a horse and buggy. He would drop Mabel Lake off at her house, then he would head the horse for home. He would lay the reigns over the front of the buggy and lay back. Most of the time he would go to sleep. As the horse came into the yard, the buggy would run over a tree root that was there and wake Grandpa up. He knew he was home. My Grandfather put implicit faith in his horse. He knew the horse knew the way home. What a wonder it is to know that by putting our implicit faith in Jesus Christ that He will get us home. This may be the most important thing you ever hear: If you have never put your faith in Christ, if you have never repented of your sin, confessed Him with your mouth and been baptized into Him, you need to do that. And you can do it, even today!
You see, when I stand before God I’m not going to be able to say, "Well, God, I deserve to go to heaven. I became a Christian when I was 10 years old, I went to Bible College, I tithed, I gave up a solid career in Law Enforcement to reenter the ministry, I studied my Bible and preached a lot. So, I deserve to go home to heaven." No, I’m going to have to fall to my knees and say, "Oh, Lord I know my heart, I know that I am a sinner, falling short of your ideal." And I’m going to have to say with the hymn writer, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling." Where then is boasting? Only in the amazing grace of God. That saved a wretch, a sinner, like me.. Like us.
I’m going to ask that you bow your heads. In a moment of silence will you admit to God you are a sinner and then thank Him for His grace demonstrated in the giving of Jesus.
Pray
{All Scripture taken from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted}
