The Roman’s Road to Righteousness (Chapter 3:1-20)‏‏‏‏‏

Hello Friends!

Welcome Back! Let’s continue our journey through the book of Romans – “The Romans Road to Righteousness.”

The Roman’s Road to Righteousness (Chapter 3:1-20)

This week we will begin reading chapter 3 verses 1-20 which speaks to God’s Righteous judgment, the “advantage” of being Jewish and the fact that all have sinned…

 

You'll notice that verse 1 begins with a question:

What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? – Romans 3:1

What is the advantage of being Jewish? Is there an advantage? That's the question being posed by the Apostle Paul.

 

If we trace the story of the Jew historically, we might conclude that there was little or no advantage at all. Theirs is a sad saga of struggle, war, captivity and death. They have been hated, persecuted, slandered, imprisoned, slaughtered repeatedly through their history. And yet they live on almost defiantly as an indestructible seed. Today rebuilding their small piece of land in the center of the world, they are a noble people made even more noble by their struggles.

 

They were slaves in Egypt for over 400 years under the bondage of Pharaoh who were given the most menial tasks and they were given circumstances which made those tasks even more difficult. When they were dispossessed from Egypt they wandered in the desert for 40 years until an entire generation of them died off in the wilderness without ever having a home. When they finally entered into the land of Canaan, they had to “save” themselves from the destruction of the surrounding peoples who constantly attacked them religiously, morally and in warfare. They were slaughtered and taken captive finally by the Assyrians first and then the Babylonians. From the Assyrian captivity they never returned and from the Babylonian captivity it was 70 years before a remnant began to come back.

 

After returning from the captivity in Babylon, they set out to rebuild their land from the rubble and were mocked and harassed and hindered and unaided in their efforts. They were dominated by the Greek Antiochus Epiphanes when they were under Greek rule and he took liberties to desecrate their religion, desecrate their priesthood, desecrate their holy place, quell their rebellions by slaughtering many of them. Their babies were massacred by Herod. Their land was oppressed by Roman legions. They were utterly devastated under the power of Rome and other enemies throughout the next two millennia.

 

And, of course, it all came to a horrifying climax in the 1940's when six million Jews were systematically exterminated. Anti‑Semitism was no longer religious as it had been in the Middle Ages but it became racial. Sadly, the Jewish people today again find themselves in many cases to be hated, slandered, defamed, misunderstood and mocked.

 

But here Paul is not really dealing in terms of history. So what about a spiritual advantage? Do they have an “in” with God that no one else has? Do they have a security with God that no one else has? After all, they are His chosen people. Right? Yes indeed – they are the apple of His eye! However, being a Jew and being a member of the chosen people of God is of no spiritual advantage. In fact, the answer to this question is found in the last section of chapter 2 verse 29 - For a true Jew is a true Jew inwardly. So, what is the advantage to being Jewish? Here is Paul’s answer:

Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God – Romans 3:2

“Much in every way!” They had the privilege of proclaiming the true God. They had the privilege of revealing the true Messiah. They had the privilege of blessing from God as they served faithfully. They had the privilege of a land. They had a privilege of an ultimate restoration and glory in the final Kingdom. But their primary advantage was they received the “oracles” – the Scriptures, the very Words of God! That's the greatest advantage anyone can have. 

 

In the Old Testament, we read repeatedly of the tremendous and consistent blessing of God upon the Jews. The very Shekinah glory of God led them by day, led them by night, was in the midst of their holy places. They received the covenants – Abrahamic, Davidic and Mosaic. They were given the law and served God through the priests and the prophets. They received God’s promises through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph – and ultimately their Messiah Jesus Christ!

 

However, as the Prophet Hosea proclaims, where there's no knowledge the people of God – the Jews – perish:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children – Hosea 4:6

The Jews had all of these privileges and knowledge but they denigrated them. And what if they do not believe? Paul addresses that question as well:

 

For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar – Romans 3:3-4a

So, shall the “unbelief” of the Jew make the “faithfulness” of God ineffective? “Certainly not!” This is the strongest negative in the Greek language! What it says simply in English is: "No!” “Never!” “Impossible!” Now that’s good news!

 

Then Paul uses a marvelous illustration – “As it is written” – he now calls the Scripture by quoting David in Psalm 51 verse 4 to make his point:
 

“That You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged” – Romans 3:4b

Although David sinned greatly and lived a life of pain and anguish, he upheld the character of God and that's why Paul quotes him. King David would never speak against God or impugn the character of God. David will not say God is unfair or God is unkind. In fact, he might say, "God, I've deserved everything You've given me." David even acknowledged that God was without flaw. In spite of David's sin, God fulfilled the Davidic covenant in the coming of Jesus Christ the Messiah. In spite of Israel's sin, God will ultimately fulfill the Abrahamic covenant during the 1000-Year Millennial Kingdom. God's Word is true. God's true is valid. God's character can always be upheld!

 

God is even glorified in spite of the sins of Israel. Their unfaithfulness does not make God unfaithful. In fact, by contrast it will reveal His great faithfulness! God will be glorified even in the midst of their unbelief and in the midst of their sin:

But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world? For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just – Romans 3:5-8

NOTE: In the end of verse 5, we find a little parenthesis – “(I speak as a man)" What Paul is saying here is “I'm using typical human logic and reasoning as men might reason – just so nobody will think this is good reasoning!” This is typical of depraved human thinking. A sinful man would argue in this blasphemous argument and Paul wants no one to think this reflects righteous reasoning. 

 

Then Paul says “And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?” The Jews accused Paul’s gospel of grace, mercy, forgiveness and freedom as being a license to sin and was speaking against the holiness of God. In other words, if sin is another way to bring God glory, then there's no such thing as sin. And if there's no such thing as sin, then how can I be judged a sinner? When we become a Christian, that isn't license to willfully sin over and over again just to be forgiven. When we become a Christian we come under the lordship of Jesus Christ and we become desirous above all things of obeying His Word. And so there are those today who turn grace into gross immorality.

 

Paul knows that men tend to resist the reality of their sinfulness, so in summing up this portion of Scripture, he wants to make a strong final statement about the utter and total sinfulness and depravity of man. Up to this point, Paul has argued that man is sinful from the testimony of creation. He has argued from the testimony of history. He has argued from the testimony of reason. He has argued from logic. He has argued from conscience. And now he argues from the Scriptures.

 

Verses 9 through 20 are a very famous portion of Scripture. Let’s break these passages down a little…

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin – Romans 3:9

Immediately we're faced with one question: who is the "we” of whom Paul is speaking? The only remaining people that he hasn't addressed up to this point would be himself and the Roman believers to whom he writes – Christians. And he's simply asking “Are we Christians any better than the immoral pagan, the moral religious man or the religious Jew who are condemned before God? Are we some kind of elite group who are intrinsically better than everybody else?” Paul’s answer: “Not at all.”

 

Now the Apostle Paul will argue directly from the very Word of God! Once again he uses the marvelous illustration – “As it is written.” Here are nine very vexing verses 10 through 18 and their respective Old Testament references: 

 

As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.”  (Psalm 14:1-3, 53:1-3 & Ecclesiastes 7:20)

“Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit” (Psalm 5:9)

“The poison of asps is under their lips” (Psalm 140:3)

“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” (Psalm 10:7)

“Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known.” (Isaiah 59:7-8)

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Psalm 36:1)

Remember, the entire book of Romans presents the true saving Gospel – good news – of salvation in Jesus Christ! The first part of the good news is bad news... The bad news first then good news. The bad news is that man is a sinner and is condemned by God for his sin. That is the theme of chapters 1, 2 and 3. The good news begins in the middle of chapter 3 and stretches on through the remainder of the epistle. But before one hears the good news, he must first understand the bad news. You can't take the cure until you realize you've got the disease…

 

It all comes to a telling climax at the end of verse 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 – Romans 3:19

That "every mouth may be stopped. " What does that mean? It means there's no defense. There's nothing to say. And “all the world may become guilty before God." You might ask, "Well, what about the people who do good things?" Again, that's answered in verse 20:

Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin – Romans 3:20

Man cannot be made right with God through his own efforts. All men are sinners. All men are under condemnation. Whether they're religious or irreligious, they will be judged according to the facts of their unrighteousness. And so the Apostle Paul penned these three chapters condemning man. He has brought men to the judgment bar of God and “every mouth is stopped”... dead silence… nothing more to say.

 

This is the heart and soul of the Gospel message of grace – In our sin, God forgives us and gains all the glory because of His forgiveness. AMEN!

 

In closing:

There are some people today who teach what's known as the “two people” doctrine in that a Christian has an “old person” and a “new person” – the “old person” fights against the “new person.” This teaching is quite common today but it’s not a true New Testament view. The Bible teaches the Christian is one new person, not two people fighting against each other! Lord willing, we shall discuss this issue in more detail later in our study of Romans chapter 7. 

 

In this erroneous “two people” doctrine, when you do right it's your “new person” and when you do wrong it's your “old person.” Here's the ultimate reasoning: When you sin, it is only your “old person” acting out – therefore you're not responsible because it's your “old person” doing the sinning and not the “new person!” So the thought here is that there should be no discipline or chastisement necessary because it's only your “old person” acting wrongly – not your “new person.” Besides, the “old person” can’t really be changed – Right? Wrong!

 

This error is subtle, but very important! This sort of dualism makes for a convenient place to “hide” sin and go on excusing and tolerating it without any necessary change taking place in the life of the Christian. These folks also deny the absolute sovereignty of Jesus Christ in their life which is calling them to holiness. They deny the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the life of the believer. They turn His wonderful grace into license to sin and lasciviousness living. Friends, this is nothing less than cheap grace…

Please begin by reading verses 1-20 of the third chapter of Romans.

We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com

I love hearing from you. Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!

Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

Encouraging Concepts

Truth for Today

"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"

Lighthouse Publications <><

The Roman’s Road to Righteousness (Chapter 2:17-29)‏‏‏‏

Hello Friends!

Welcome Back! Let’s continue our journey through the book of Romans – “The Romans Road to Righteousness.”

The Roman’s Road to Righteousness (Chapter 2:17-29)

This week we will begin reading chapter 2 verses 17-29 which is the second half of this rich chapter addressing false security. 

Here in Romans chapter 2, Paul speaks specifically in our verses today to destroy the false securities of the Jews. But in so doing he also lays bare the inadequacy of the many false securities of people today. Remember, the Apostle Paul has already indicted the pagan immoral irreligious people in chapter 1 verses 18 to 32. And then as we discussed in our last group, Paul indicted the religious moral people in chapter 2 verses 1 to 16 (the Jews were also included there). 

But now having dealt with irreligious people and generally religious people, now in verses 17 to 29 Paul zeroes in specifically on the covenant people – the Jews. In fact, this is the first time we see the Apostle Paul use the word “Jew” in this epistle.The word "security" is a word we all understand. It hits us where we live. We seek that comfortable sense of freedom that comes when we are confident there is no threat of danger or trouble. It is that comfortable freedom that says everything is under control. People talk about economic security and job security.

They want marital security – the confidence that they are loved and beloved by a trusted and faithful spouse. Everybody wants security. But what about security in God?

Man knows that God will judge their sin. Remember back in Chapter 1 it says that even the immoral pagan man who lives under the curse of a reprobate mind knows “the righteous judgment of God”:

who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them – Romans 1:32

It is innate in man to have a sense of right and wrong and where he understands wrong there is a guilt “trigger” that sets off fear in the face of judgment. In other words, you've done something wrong, you're going to be judged for it so you feel guilty about it and consequently afraid. Men often live in fear of the consequence of their sin and they know there's going to be a judgment. So, in some way or another they have to deal with that element of security.

Paul is now embracing everybody! He catches the pagan, the moral person and the Jew and all of them are brought to the “tribunal” to be told that they are sinful and come far short of God's glory – No one escapes!

Jesus Christ is the perfect model of this fact. As He arrived on the Judean scene in the Gospel of Matthew, He gave His first sermon in chapters 5 through 7 – famously known as The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus spends the entire sermon literally demolishing the religious, legalistic walls of Judaism. For example, He essentially says in Matthew chapter 5:

"Your righteousness is not adequate to get you into the Kingdom. Your attitudes are wrong. Your view of Scripture is wrong. Your human relationships are inadequate. Your words are inadequate. Your praying doesn't cut it. Your fasting doesn't cut it. Your giving doesn't cut it." – Shane’s paraphrase

Well, there goes all their security! Jesus literally strips Judaism bare of their religious securities. And that is the approach that we must always take in a presentation of the Gospel message to a lost sinner. The person has to be led to the place where they know they have no resource, no protection, no hope, no solution, no security apart from Jesus Christ. Therefore, we should not be surprised to see Paul do this very thing.

In these thirteen verses Paul deals with the Jews who had the highest and greatest privilege and who at the same time felt themselves the most secure. However, Paul devastates their false securities – which is an act of great kindness. We do people a tremendous favor when we lovingly tell them that their “security” is actually insecure. That's loving kindness. And so Paul is very honest, forthright and gracious in so indicting the Jew and makes them face the inadequacy of their false securities.

The Jew had three “great privileges” which gave him a false sense of security:

• Heritage – The Jew was part of the nation of Israel.
• Knowledge – The Jew possessed the law of God.
• Ceremony – The Jew was circumcised.

Therefore, based on the nation, the knowledge and circumcision, the Jew having these three “great privileges” felt himself greatly secured by them.

He believed that because he was a Jew, because he possessed the heritage of their Nation and the law, because he had the sign of the covenant in circumcision, he was therefore free from any fear about God’s judgment. So what Paul does here in these verses is to take each of these three privileges and systematically destroy them all – striking a killing blow at the supposed security of the Jew. And in so doing he strikes a killing blow at the supposed security of many so-called Christians and religious people in the church today!

In verse 17 it says that the Jews “rest on the law.” This is the major portion of the passage, it runs all the way down to verse 24:

Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written – Romans 2:17-24

This is the second security in their knowledge. Their confidence was that they were secure because they had that knowledge. There are four points that Paul makes in these verses – what they learned, what they taught, what they did and what they caused with that knowledge flows through this section. They had the knowledge, no question about that. They were instructed from the law – katecheo. This is where we get our English word catechism. It means to be taught something orally. In fact, as Nehemiah states, they had received the truth directly “from heaven” by God:

You came down also on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them just ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments – Nehemiah 9:13

There are a lot of people in that same category today because they know the Bible. Because they know of what it teaches. Because they may understand God's will. Because they have the capacity therefore to know what right and wrong is and maybe even to live a moral life. Because maybe they've been raised in a Christian family where they've been instructed. Because maybe they've even gone to a Christian school – perhaps even gone to a Christian college. Because they’ve been taught in a church. They feel themselves secure because they have that knowledge. Knowledge alone is no security – none at all. 

Later in the book of Romans Paul states:

Israel who followed after the law of righteousness hath not attained to the law of righteousness – Romans 9:31

In other words, they also had security in their “law.” They pursued the “law” but they never attained it because they sought it not by faith but by the works of the law. They knew it in their minds but they never apprehended it in their hearts and it simply meant greater judgment.

Finally, the third security was the security of ceremony found in our final verses:

For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God – Romans 2:25-29

The Jew thought just because they were circumcised, they were okay. It's actually a perfect parallel to the ceremony of infant baptism. In fact, infant baptism cannot be found anywhere in the Bible. It is simply translating the concept of circumcision into the church and instead of circumcising a child, they simply baptize a child as the sign of the covenant. But it has no New Testament teaching. It's strictly an extension of Old Testament circumcision. And here Paul says if you don't keep it, it doesn't mean anything.

In closing:

The obedience of an uncircumcised Gentile is proof of the responsibility of a circumcised Jew. They held on to circumcision like people do to infant baptism today. The Roman Catholic Church thinks people are saved by the sacraments. And there are many sacramental Protestants who believe that your baptism at your birth was redeeming. Not so! The theologian Hodge rightly said:

"Whenever true religion declines the disposition to lay undue stress on external rites is stressed. The Jews when they lost their spirituality supposed that circumcision had the power to save them."

The liberal Protestant dominations are also quickly moving away from the Word of God and the Biblical gospel of Jesus Christ. They are more and more trusting their salvation to the sacraments – as does the Roman Catholic Church. They are trusting in Baptism, Communion, Extreme Unction or whatever else “saves” you because, as the Bible declares:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? – Jeremiah 17:9

There are people like that today. They've been baptized. They belong to a church. They keep all the “rules” and act on a good moral basis outwardly. They're self-righteous. They try to do what's right and don't think they're going to be judged. So, when it comes to the “moral man” and the “religious person” who has identified with Christianity outwardly, Paul wants him to know that he's going to be judged too – because it's just an outward religion. 

However, the whole basis of the Christian Gospel is only understood insofar as people understand that they are guilty before God – whether they are the immoral Gentile of chapter 1 or the moral Jew of chapter 2.

Theses final thirteen verses of Romans chapter 2 represent a single section of Scripture and they too present to us the principles for divine judgment on which God judges men – understanding this truth will be the goal of this week’s session…

Please begin by reading verses 17-29 of the second chapter of Romans.

We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com

I love hearing from you. Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!

Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

Encouraging Concepts

Truth for Today

"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"

Lighthouse Publications <><