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Romans 3:1-8 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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So Romans chapter 3 verses 1 through 8 will be our text today.
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! My hope for this morning is to keep my comments brief, as I know many of us have good post-church plans,
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and so we're going to get right into it. But I do want to say, as I was joking about rebuking fathers,
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that I am generally and largely encouraged by the fathers of our church.
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It doesn't go unnoticed that you men are working hard to lead your families well.
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We always have improving to do, certainly things that could be addressed, but broadly I just want to say,
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keep it up. Keep pressing. Rely on the grace of God to parent well in your homes.
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So we're going to continue in Romans chapter 3. I have a sabbatical plan for July, and Lord willing,
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we will finish Romans chapter 3 before I leave for that. And so today we're going to look at the first eight verses.
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Before I read them, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us, that it was written for his glory and for our good.
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And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and to obey its commands.
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And Paul writes,
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Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
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Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.
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What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?
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By no means. Let God be true, though everyone were a liar, as it is written, that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged.
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But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say?
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That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? I speak in a human way.
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By no means. For then how could God judge the world?
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But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?
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And why not do evil that good may come?
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As some people slanderously charge us with saying,
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Their condemnation is just.
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In today's text, Paul anticipates and responds to three potential objections to the doctrine he has taught in chapters 1 and 2 of his letter to the Romans.
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Paul has a wonderful way of doing this all throughout this letter, as we'll see again and again.
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And just coming to the first occasion of it, right, his anticipation of objections to what he's saying,
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it just causes me to pause and consider the grace given to such a man as Paul.
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His unique ethnic background, his training in the scriptures, and his intellect and ability to write.
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I just hope for a moment you can appreciate, too, Paul himself and the way that God used him as he's laying out this treatise on the Christian faith.
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He's in his own mind going, oh, people aren't going to like this, and I know exactly what they're going to say,
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and more than likely had experienced these objections.
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And so he's answering them right here in the text for his original readers and for us.
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Moreover, his anticipation of objections causes me to pause at the grace given to us,
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as we have the opportunity to study this letter together.
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God is just truly gracious to his people.
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I'm thankful for the clarity of the Bible and the labors of its writers moved by the Spirit
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to help us to rightly understand all that's necessary for life and godliness.
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So, in a sweeping summary fashion, there's a bit of me that wants to totally go through chapter 1 and 2 again
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to help you understand why Paul will bring up these matters, but we can't do it with great length.
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So, in a sweeping way, let's think together what Paul has taught so far that might elicit some objections.
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Let's do so by reading a selection of verses from chapter 1 and 2,
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and you may want to flip back pages and follow along with me.
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We do well to begin with Romans chapter 1, verse 16 and 17.
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I have said this is the thesis statement for the entirety of the letter.
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There Paul says,
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For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,
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to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
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For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written,
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the righteous shall live by faith.
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Paul is proud of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation.
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Not the law, but this good news of Jesus Christ.
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This power is not limited to Jewish people only, those of Jewish descent,
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but it is also efficacious for other ethnic groups as well.
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The Jew first and also to the Greek would have been a broad extension of the gospel to all peoples.
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And we see in just these two verses that we are saved by grace alone,
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through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.
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This is the total theme of the book of Romans.
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So he lays it out quick.
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He's really unpacking the argument found in these two verses
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all throughout the rest of the letter with their implications.
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So he goes on, Romans chapter 2, verse 12 and 13.
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Here he says,
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For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law.
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He's there talking about those who are non-Jewish people,
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who weren't aware, didn't have the Torah.
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And all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
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Verse 13, chapter 2,
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For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God,
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but the doers of the law who will be justified.
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Declared righteous before God.
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Those who perfectly keep the law.
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And he's established at great length through the last half of chapter 1
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and into the beginning of chapter 2 and on to its end
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that no one has kept the law perfectly.
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Next week's text, he's going to continue to drive that very point.
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You must keep the law with perfection in order to be justified.
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We have justified before God and we can't.
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And it leaves us in a great problem.
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Romans chapter 2, verse 25.
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There he says,
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For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law.
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But if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.
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So if you have Jewish ethnicity, if you've been circumcised,
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it's of value to you if you have perfectly kept the rest of the law.
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But if you have not, then it becomes uncircumcision,
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as if you're not God's people.
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Skip down to verse 28.
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There he says,
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For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly,
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nor is circumcision outward and physical.
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But a Jew is one inwardly,
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and circumcision is a matter of the heart by the Spirit,
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not by the letter.
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However, his praise is not from man, but from God.
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And this is what leads him here to the beginning of chapter 3.
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To begin with the question then,
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what advantage has the Jew?
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Is there any advantage of all?
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If circumcision is a matter of the heart,
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then is there any advantage?
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And Paul here, as the great apostle to the Gentiles,
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will take up this defense of the Jewish nation
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quite regularly throughout this letter,
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as he's arguing that the gospel goes beyond just ethnic Israel.
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He'll also say,
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but let's not forget about the Jews.
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So the three potential objections that Paul anticipates
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and responds to are as follows.
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Has Paul offended God's people?
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That's number one.
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Has Paul offended God's people?
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And I mean that broadly.
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Certainly individuals were offended,
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but I mean broadly.
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Is he speaking antagonistically against the Jewish people?
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Secondly, has Paul offended God's promises?
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And thirdly, has Paul offended God's holiness?
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He knows his readers, at least his initial ones,
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well enough to think these are the kinds of questions
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that are going to come to their mind.
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Let me just go ahead and address them.
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So firstly, has Paul offended God's people?
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He says, then what advantage has the Jew?
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Or what is the value of circumcision?
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It's as if he is saying,
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you will say to me then,
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which he actually says later on in the letter.
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But Paul, people might say,
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the Jewish people are God's people.
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What do you mean a Jew is one inwardly
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and circumcision is a matter of the heart?
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Jews, after all, are an ethnic group.
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They're descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
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The ones to whom the promise came.
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Abraham, the recipient of the grand promise of God
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to make a mighty nation of his descendants,
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is their forefather, right?
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They saw themselves as those descendants.
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That promise of God.
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Their mind may have gone,
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as Jewish readers,
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to all sorts of texts.
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Let me just give you two.
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Deuteronomy 10, verse 14 and 15.
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Behold, to the Lord your God
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belong heaven and the heaven of heavens,
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the earth with all that is in it.
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Yet the Lord set his heart in love
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on your fathers
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and chose their offspring after them.
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You above all peoples,
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as you are this day.
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But wait, Paul.
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Well, isn't our ethnicity significant
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in God's plan for his people?
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Elsewhere, Psalm 78, verse 5 and following.
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There it says,
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God established a testimony in Jacob
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and appointed a law in Israel,
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which he commanded our fathers
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to teach their children,
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that the next generation might know them,
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the children yet unborn,
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and arise and tell them to their children,
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so that they should set their hope in God
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and not forget the works of God,
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but keep his commandments.
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A thing that has been established
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to be passed on from generation
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to generation to generation.
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Are you saying now
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that's of no value at all?
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And of course, Paul says,
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no.
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Does the Jew have an advantage?
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Yes, he says in the beginning of verse 2.
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Much in every way.
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And then he gives us one
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and the most significant advantage.
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To begin with,
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the Jews were entrusted
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with the oracles of God.
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This is an advantage
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to ethnic Israel.
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Paul will develop this case
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further throughout his letter,
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but he begins significantly
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with this,
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entrusting with the oracles of God.
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An incredibly significant thing.
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The word here translated oracles
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is a diminutive of the word logos,
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which is often translated word.
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This diminutive form
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emphasizes the supernatural nature
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of what they have been entrusted with.
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So the point he's saying
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is that it is an inspired word.
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It's a miraculous thing
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that they have this word of God.
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Oracles makes it feel rather mystic.
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Greek.
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I'm not sure it's the word
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I would have chosen,
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but I'm also not a Greek scholar.
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But it has that sense to it,
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this form of that word,
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that it's a miracle.
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It's an incredible thing
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that men were carried along
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by the Spirit
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to give to them
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the Old Testament scriptures.
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They had the Old Testament,
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all of which designed
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to point them to this coming Messiah,
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to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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They had the very utterance of God
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for their benefit.
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They were taught it.
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From babies,
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they were told,
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like,
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look for this Messiah,
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for this Christ.
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They were told to put their faith
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in the future hope
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that Christ would bring.
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Now,
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how can I know
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that Paul is referring
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to what we call
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the Old Testament,
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which is not what it had been called
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in his day?
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Bear with me for just a moment
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and I'll show you.
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I want you to have a confidence
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in the canonicity
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of the Old Testament.
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This is what Jewish people
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held as their scripture.
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So,
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Jesus validated
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the Old Testament's inspiration
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by quoting from
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all three sections,
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the Law,
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the Prophets,
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and the Writings.
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You can see this in Luke 24,
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verse 44.
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He endorsed the inspiration
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and authority
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of the Old Testament
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in detail.
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Matthew 5,
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verse 17 and 18.
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What is he specifically talking about?
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Well,
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we have a significant clue
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that the Bible of Jesus' day
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was our Old Testament.
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And we find it in Luke 11,
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and verse 49.
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I invite you to join me there
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if you would like to.
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Certainly don't have to.
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Well, I drink water.
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Luke 11,
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verse 49.
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There Jesus says,
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Therefore,
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also the wisdom of God said,
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I will send them prophets
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and apostles,
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some of whom they will kill
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and persecute,
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so that the blood
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of all the prophets
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shed from the foundation
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of the world
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may be charged
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against this generation.
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So,
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pause for a second.
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This is the point
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of what he's doing here
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in this text,
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is he's placing
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the guilt
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of the persecution
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of the apostles
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on the generation
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that he's speaking to.
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So,
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the primary thing
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he's doing is that.
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But then he says something
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very interesting
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in verse 51.
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So,
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it's the blood
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of all the prophets
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from the foundation
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of the world
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charged against this generation
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from,
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verse 51,
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the blood of Abel,
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the blood of Zechariah,
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who,
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a specific Zechariah,
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who perished
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between the altar
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and the sanctuary.
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He's giving us a clue there
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from Abel
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to this specific Zechariah
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who perished
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between the altar
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and the sanctuary.
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He says,
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yes,
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I tell you,
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it will be required
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of this generation.
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So,
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he calls Abel
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the first prophet.
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This is the Abel
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of Genesis chapter 4.
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There in verse 10
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we can see,
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and the Lord said,
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what have you done?
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The voice
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of your brother's blood,
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the blood of Abel,
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is crying to me
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from the ground.
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Here,
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Jesus is saying
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that that was
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a prophetic work
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of Abel,
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his blood crying out
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guilt against
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his brother Cain.
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Okay,
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so there's Abel
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the prophet
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early,
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early in the history
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of the world.
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But then we have
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this Zechariah,
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and he's the bookend
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of Jesus' speech
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in verse 51
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of Luke 11.
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He says,
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from Abel
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to the blood
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of Zechariah.
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But why?
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Why is he the bookend?
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We can read of him
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in 2 Chronicles chapter 24,
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verse 20 through 21,
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where it says,
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the Spirit of God
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clothed Zechariah,
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the son of Jehoiada,
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the priest,
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and he stood above
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the people
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and said to them,
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thus says God,
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why do you break
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the commandments
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of the Lord
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so that you cannot prosper?
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Because you have
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forsaken the Lord,
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he has forsaken you.
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But they conspired
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against him,
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and by command
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of the king
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they stoned him
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with stones
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in the court
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of the house
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of the Lord.
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This is where he dies
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there between the altar
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and the sanctuary.
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Now,
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chronologically,
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the last martyr
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of the Old Testament
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was Uriah,
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whose death
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is described
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in Jeremiah
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chapter 26.
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So,
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why does Jesus
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not say
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from Abel
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to Uriah,
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but from Abel
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to Zechariah?
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I hope you already know.
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I hope you're going,
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oh,
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I know the answer to this.
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It's very cool
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if you don't.
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So,
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you're going to know it
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at the end of today.
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The Jewish Bible
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of Jesus' day
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was ordered
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differently
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than ours.
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Historical fact.
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Our Old Testament
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is grouped
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by literary type.
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Jesus' Bible
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was ordered
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differently.
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1 and 2 Chronicles
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were one book
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just called
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Chronicles
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and was written
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as an overview
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of Israel's history
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with a particular
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emphasis on David
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and the temple.
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It was placed
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at the end
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of Jesus' canon
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to help God's people
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look forward
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to a better David
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and a better worship.
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They read it
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from Genesis
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through the book
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of Chronicles.
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It was setting them up
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to expect
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this coming
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Messiah.
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So,
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in Luke 11,
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when Jesus says,
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from the blood of Abel
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to the blood of Zechariah,
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he's indicating
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the generation
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that he is in
18:41
for the death
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of the prophets
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of his Bible.
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They knew exactly
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what he was talking about
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because they had read
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that canon,
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right?
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They knew
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who these prophets
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were.
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Abel
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all the way
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to this specific
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Zechariah
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who died
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in this particular
18:57
way,
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right?
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He was indicting them
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for all of those.
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This was the Bible
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of Jesus' day,
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right?
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So,
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if you believe
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Jesus at all,
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you have to believe
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in the Bible
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of Jesus,
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which is our
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Old Testament,
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right?
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This is what
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the Jews
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had.
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These oracles
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of God,
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they were entrusted
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with this very
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particular
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special word
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for them.
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But just because
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they had God's word
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did not mean
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they listened
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to or
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obeyed
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God's word.
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There's
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much evidence
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of this,
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tragically.
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A couple of
19:37
evidences
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of Jesus' day.
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In Mark 12
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and verse 24,
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Jesus says
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to the scribes
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and the Pharisees,
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is this not the reason
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you are wrong?
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Because you know
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neither the scriptures
19:47
nor the power
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of God?
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You have them,
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but you do not
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know them?
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Or in John 5,
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verse 39 and 40,
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there he says,
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you search the
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scriptures because
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you think that
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in them you have
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eternal life.
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And it is they
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that bear witness
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about me,
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yet you refuse
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to come to me
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that you may
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have life.
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Beloved,
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it is altogether
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possible to have
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a Bible,
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to read that
20:15
Bible,
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to attend church
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and listen to
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the Bible taught,
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to listen to
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sermons from
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the Bible
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throughout the week,
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to read articles
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and listen to
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podcasts that
20:23
discuss the
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Bible,
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and to not
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heed its warnings,
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believe its promises,
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or obey its commands.
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The Bible itself
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will not save you.
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It's telling us
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a story
20:38
and a message
20:39
that we must
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place our faith in
20:41
and ultimately
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in a person
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that we must
20:45
place our faith in.
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So,
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Paul offended
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God's people.
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Is he saying
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that God's people
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don't have a
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special place
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in God's
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redemptive history?
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No,
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absolutely not.
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And we'll get to
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see more of this,
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particularly into
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chapter 11.
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So,
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a year from now,
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I'm going to
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guess.
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He'll continue to
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work this truth
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out for us.
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But I appreciate
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Paul is going to
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get it in there,
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right?
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He's not going to
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let somebody linger
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until chapter 11.
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He wants to be sure.
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No,
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no,
21:19
God's people.
21:20
God's people,
21:21
much in every way,
21:22
they were entrusted
21:22
with God's word.
21:26
Secondly,
21:26
though,
21:26
has Paul offended
21:27
God's promises?
21:30
Beginning in verse 3,
21:31
what if some
21:32
were unfaithful?
21:33
He's talking here
21:34
about the Jewish people.
21:35
Does their faithlessness
21:36
nullify the faithfulness
21:38
of God?
21:40
If some of those
21:41
declared God's people
21:42
showed themselves
21:43
not to be God's people,
21:45
does that make God
21:46
unfaithful?
21:48
And he says,
21:50
by no means,
21:51
and he's going to
21:51
say this phrase
21:52
over and over again
21:53
throughout the letter,
21:55
me denoito,
21:56
is the strongest
21:58
of negative Greek
21:59
expressions.
22:00
He's saying,
22:01
rather emphatically,
22:03
impossible.
22:04
Absolutely not.
22:07
Just because
22:08
those people
22:09
of ethnic
22:10
Jewish descent
22:11
were unfaithful
22:12
to God,
22:13
he remains
22:14
faithful.
22:15
It's not possible
22:16
that God
22:17
would cease
22:17
to be faithful
22:19
to his promises.
22:20
He goes on to say,
22:21
let God be true
22:22
though everyone
22:23
were a liar.
22:25
That is to say,
22:26
if God were accused
22:27
as faithless
22:28
by every human
22:29
who ever lived,
22:31
God would be found
22:31
true and everyone
22:32
else would be found
22:33
to be a liar.
22:36
As it is written,
22:37
this is from Psalm 51
22:38
and verse 4,
22:40
that you may be
22:40
justified in your words
22:41
and prevail
22:42
when you
22:43
are judged.
22:44
God is true
22:46
to his word
22:47
all the time
22:48
because he is
22:49
God
22:50
and he cannot lie.
22:52
We have to be
22:53
so very careful
22:54
that we don't
22:55
personify God
22:56
and think that
22:57
it's even possible
22:58
for him to not
22:59
be true
23:00
to his word.
23:02
So how do we think
23:03
then of these
23:05
Jewish people
23:06
that were unfaithful
23:07
and how that relates
23:08
to God's promises?
23:10
Now,
23:12
God's promise
23:12
to Abraham
23:13
was an
23:14
unconditional
23:15
promise.
23:17
If you will,
23:18
please join me
23:18
in Genesis chapter 15.
23:21
I'm going to read
23:21
the entirety
23:22
of the chapter
23:22
so you may
23:23
appreciate being
23:24
there with me.
23:33
I'll begin in verse 1.
23:34
You'll be able
23:35
to catch up to me.
23:36
After these things,
23:37
the word of the Lord
23:38
came to Abram
23:39
in a vision.
23:39
Fear not, Abram.
23:41
I am your shield.
23:42
Your reward
23:42
shall be very great.
23:44
But Abram said,
23:45
O Lord God,
23:46
what will you give me?
23:47
For I continue childless
23:48
and the heir of my house
23:50
is Eleazar of Damascus.
23:52
He's already
23:53
gotten this promise
23:54
that God's going to
23:55
make a great nation
23:56
of him,
23:56
but he has yet
23:57
to have any offspring.
23:59
And Abram said,
24:00
Behold,
24:00
you have given me
24:01
no offspring
24:01
and a member
24:02
of my household
24:03
be my heir.
24:05
And behold,
24:05
the word of the Lord
24:06
came to him.
24:07
This man shall not
24:08
be your heir,
24:08
your very own
24:09
son shall be your heir.
24:11
And he brought him
24:12
outside and said,
24:13
Look toward heaven
24:14
and number the stars
24:15
if you are able
24:16
to number them.
24:17
Then he said to him,
24:18
So shall your offspring
24:20
be.
24:21
And he believed the Lord
24:23
and he counted it to him
24:24
as righteousness,
24:26
his faith.
24:28
And he said to him,
24:29
verse 7,
24:30
I am the Lord
24:31
who brought you out
24:32
from Ur of the Chaldeans
24:33
to give you this land
24:34
to possess.
24:36
But he said,
24:37
O Lord God,
24:38
how am I to know
24:39
that I shall possess it?
24:41
He said to him,
24:42
Bring me a heifer
24:43
three years old,
24:44
a female goat
24:45
three years old,
24:46
a ram three years old,
24:47
a turtle dove,
24:48
and a young pigeon.
24:50
And he brought him
24:51
all these,
24:53
cut them in half
24:53
and laid each half
24:55
over against the other.
24:56
But he did not
24:57
cut the birds in half.
24:59
And when birds of prey
25:00
came down on the carcasses,
25:01
Abram drove them away.
25:03
And we won't get into the details
25:04
of all those animals
25:05
and what they mean.
25:06
But this was a common practice
25:08
in the day
25:08
of making a promise
25:09
with somebody.
25:10
You would cut an animal
25:11
in half
25:11
and you would walk together
25:13
between those animals.
25:15
And it was saying,
25:16
if I don't keep my end
25:17
of this bargain,
25:19
let me become
25:19
as these animals
25:20
have become.
25:21
So this is the significance
25:22
of this affirming
25:26
of the covenant
25:26
that God has made.
25:28
There's something
25:29
very particular
25:30
that happens
25:30
that's unique
25:31
in this case.
25:32
Verse 12,
25:33
As the sun was going down,
25:34
a deep sleep fell
25:36
on Abram.
25:38
So he's having now a dream.
25:40
And behold,
25:41
dreadful and great darkness
25:42
fell upon him.
25:44
Then the Lord said to Abraham,
25:45
Know for certain
25:46
that your offspring
25:47
will be sojourners
25:48
in a land that is not theirs.
25:49
There will be servants there
25:50
and that they will be afflicted
25:51
for four hundred years.
25:53
But I will bring judgment
25:54
on the nation
25:55
that they serve
25:55
and afterward
25:56
they shall come out
25:57
with great possessions.
25:58
He's talking about
25:59
their slavery in Egypt.
26:01
Know for certain
26:02
this will come to pass.
26:04
Verse 15,
26:04
As for you,
26:05
you shall go to your fathers
26:06
in peace.
26:07
You shall be buried
26:08
in a good old age.
26:10
And they shall come back here
26:11
in the fourth generation
26:12
for the iniquity
26:13
of the Amorites
26:14
is not yet complete.
26:16
When the sun had gone down
26:18
and it was dark,
26:18
behold,
26:19
a smoking fire pot
26:20
and a flaming torch
26:21
passed between
26:22
these pieces.
26:24
These things signified
26:25
God himself.
26:26
On that day,
26:28
the Lord made a covenant
26:29
with Abram saying,
26:30
To your offspring
26:30
I give this land
26:32
from the river of Egypt
26:33
to the great river
26:34
to the river Euphrates,
26:35
the land of the Kenites,
26:37
the Kenizzites,
26:38
the Kadmonites,
26:38
the Hittites,
26:39
the Pesaites,
26:40
the Raphaim,
26:41
the Amorites,
26:42
the Canaanites,
26:43
the Girgashites,
26:43
and the Jebusites.
26:46
This particular land,
26:47
he's marking it off for him.
26:49
And what God is doing here
26:51
is he's saying
26:51
that I will make of you
26:53
a great nation
26:54
and you will dwell
26:55
in this land
26:56
and I am going to accomplish it.
27:00
Notice that the fulfillment
27:01
of the promise
27:01
is out beyond Abram,
27:03
even his life.
27:04
God is going to do this thing.
27:06
It is not conditional.
27:10
For the nation,
27:12
it's going to happen.
27:13
This in totality
27:14
is going to come to pass.
27:17
And praise be to God
27:17
that it also comes to pass
27:18
in the inclusion
27:20
of the nations
27:21
amongst those peoples,
27:23
those stars,
27:24
too many to number.
27:26
That's part of the fulfillment
27:27
of this unconditional promise.
27:31
But, individually,
27:33
there is a conditionality
27:35
to God's promises.
27:38
Let me give you one example.
27:39
Isaiah 55, verse 6 and 7.
27:42
Verse 7,
27:43
Seek the Lord
27:44
while he may be found.
27:46
Call upon him
27:47
while he is near.
27:48
Let the wicked forsake his way
27:50
and the unrighteous man
27:51
his thoughts.
27:52
Let him return to the Lord
27:54
that he may have compassion on him
27:56
and to our God
27:57
for he will abundantly pardon.
28:00
We must believe
28:04
that God will deliver us
28:06
from our sin.
28:08
And we now,
28:09
standing in the position
28:10
we are today,
28:11
know that it's by believing
28:13
in the completed work
28:15
and the person
28:15
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
28:17
So,
28:19
there's an individual conditionality
28:21
to this.
28:22
Is every Israelite
28:23
ever born
28:24
justified before God?
28:26
No.
28:29
They are not.
28:30
Right?
28:30
So,
28:31
to his very question
28:31
at the beginning,
28:32
if some were unfaithful,
28:34
does their faithlessness
28:35
nullify the faithfulness
28:37
of God?
28:37
Absolutely not.
28:39
God always keeps
28:41
his promises.
28:44
God's promise
28:45
to Israel as a nation
28:46
will be fulfilled.
28:48
Again,
28:48
chapter 11.
28:49
We'll pick up that more.
28:50
But that promise
28:51
never extended
28:53
to specific
28:54
individual Jews.
28:55
Jews.
28:56
So,
28:57
has Paul offended
28:58
God's promises?
29:00
No.
29:01
No,
29:02
he has not.
29:03
Lastly,
29:04
has Paul offended
29:05
God's holiness?
29:08
Verse 5,
29:09
he says,
29:09
but if our unrighteousness
29:11
serves to show
29:12
the righteousness of God,
29:14
what shall we say?
29:16
That God is unrighteous
29:17
to inflict wrath on us?
29:20
And Paul inserts this,
29:21
I speak in a human way.
29:22
It's as if he's saying,
29:24
I know this sounds dumb.
29:26
If our disobedience
29:28
displays God's
29:30
perfect nature,
29:31
if when we don't hold up
29:33
our end of the bargain,
29:34
God's hold up his,
29:35
then is God unjust?
29:38
If our unfaithfulness
29:39
puts on display
29:41
his faithfulness,
29:42
isn't that a good?
29:44
Isn't that honoring God?
29:45
Doesn't that make him
29:46
look great?
29:47
Well,
29:47
it does.
29:49
And then the question
29:50
follows,
29:50
then why would God
29:51
punish us
29:52
for such a thing?
29:54
If his glory
29:56
is achieved,
29:57
then why are we
29:58
held accountable
29:59
for that action?
30:01
And once again,
30:02
we see this
30:03
strong phrase,
30:04
may genoito,
30:05
by no means
30:07
at the beginning
30:07
of verse 6,
30:09
for then how could
30:11
God judge
30:12
the world?
30:14
If God is unrighteous
30:16
in his judgment,
30:17
then he is not
30:17
a fit judge.
30:19
He is God,
30:20
therefore he must be
30:21
a perfect,
30:23
righteous judge.
30:25
Now,
30:26
the Jews understood
30:26
God as judge.
30:29
In Genesis 18
30:30
and verse 25,
30:31
he is called
30:31
the judge
30:32
of all the earth.
30:36
The psalmist
30:36
repeatedly referred to him
30:37
as judge.
30:39
Examples like
30:40
Psalm 50,
30:41
Psalm 58,
30:42
and Psalm 94.
30:45
The major theme
30:46
of nearly all the prophets
30:47
is that of God's
30:48
judgment.
30:50
Judgment past,
30:51
judgment present,
30:52
judgment imminent,
30:53
and judgment
30:54
in the distant future.
30:58
So all Paul is saying
30:59
is it's not possible
31:00
that God would be
31:01
unrighteous
31:02
in his judgment
31:03
of our unrighteousness,
31:06
even if it serves
31:07
to show
31:08
the righteousness
31:09
of God.
31:10
Because then God
31:11
would be disqualified
31:12
from being a judge.
31:15
And the reasoning
31:16
goes on,
31:17
verse 7,
31:17
but if through my lie
31:18
God's truth abounds
31:19
to his glory,
31:20
why am I still
31:21
being condemned
31:22
as a sinner?
31:24
And why not do evil
31:26
that good may come?
31:29
As some people
31:30
slanderously charge us
31:31
with saying
31:32
their condemnation
31:34
is just.
31:36
So the reason
31:36
goes,
31:37
if my sin
31:38
ends up bringing
31:39
God glory,
31:40
then why is my sin
31:41
considered sin?
31:43
this presents to us
31:46
one of the apparent
31:47
paradoxes of the Bible.
31:48
And I say apparent
31:49
because it seems so
31:51
at first consideration.
31:52
But we will see
31:53
in future study
31:54
that this isn't
31:55
a paradox
31:55
at all.
31:58
Paul will address
31:59
this potential objection
32:00
again in this letter.
32:02
And let me just give you
32:03
two examples
32:03
of where he does so.
32:06
1st Romans chapter 5
32:08
and verse 20,
32:09
he says,
32:09
Now the law came in
32:10
to increase the trespass,
32:12
but where sin increased,
32:15
grace abounded
32:16
all the more.
32:18
So here we see this.
32:19
The law comes
32:19
so that the trespass
32:20
increases,
32:21
and when the trespass
32:22
increases,
32:23
grace abounds.
32:24
And this seems like
32:25
a good result, right?
32:26
This is good in the end.
32:28
And then just a few
32:29
verses later
32:30
at the beginning
32:30
of chapter 6,
32:31
he says,
32:31
What shall we say then?
32:33
Are we to continue
32:35
in sin
32:35
that grace
32:36
may abound?
32:38
Should we go on sinning
32:40
so that God can show
32:40
himself to be gracious?
32:42
And then again,
32:42
chapter 6 and verse 2,
32:44
May genoito,
32:45
by no means.
32:47
How can we who died
32:49
to sin
32:49
still live in it?
32:53
Understanding that
32:53
we justly deserve
32:54
God's wrath
32:55
for our sin,
32:56
and having been
32:57
delivered from it,
32:58
why would we want
32:59
to go on living
33:00
in it?
33:02
And he'll make the case
33:03
that God continues
33:04
to show his graciousness
33:05
towards us
33:06
in that he helps us
33:07
not to sin.
33:10
We'll get all into that
33:11
at the end of chapter 7
33:12
and into chapter 8.
33:15
Another place,
33:16
Romans chapter 9,
33:17
verse 18 through 20.
33:20
In this chapter,
33:21
Paul has previously
33:22
cited the Old Testament
33:23
seven times.
33:25
Direct citations.
33:27
Seven times
33:28
up to this point.
33:29
And then in verse 18,
33:30
he says,
33:31
So then,
33:32
he has mercy
33:33
on whomever he wills,
33:34
and he hardens
33:35
whomever he wills.
33:37
And here,
33:37
Paul anticipates
33:39
the objection.
33:40
You will say to me then,
33:41
why does he still
33:42
find fault?
33:43
For who can resist
33:45
his will?
33:47
And this is my favorite
33:48
of all of Paul's responses
33:49
to these potential objections.
33:51
He says,
33:52
But who are you,
33:54
O man,
33:55
to answer back
33:56
to God?
33:57
Who do you think
33:59
you are?
34:00
Is what he says.
34:01
To even ask
34:02
these kinds of questions.
34:03
I have just told you
34:03
from the Old Testament
34:04
seven different times.
34:06
And I say to you,
34:07
he who has mercy
34:08
on whom he wills,
34:09
he hardens
34:09
who he wills,
34:10
and then at the end
34:11
of verse 20,
34:11
he says,
34:11
Well, what does molded
34:12
say to its molder?
34:14
Why have you made me
34:15
like this?
34:17
You are clay.
34:19
You have no right
34:20
to ask of the potter.
34:22
Why did you make me
34:24
in this way?
34:25
In Jude,
34:28
verse 4,
34:30
here Jude is writing,
34:31
speaking of the church
34:32
at Corinth.
34:34
He says,
34:34
For certain people
34:35
have crept in unnoticed,
34:38
who long ago
34:39
were designated
34:39
for this condemnation,
34:41
ungodly people,
34:43
who pervert the grace
34:44
of our God
34:45
into sensuality
34:46
or licentiousness,
34:47
and deny our only
34:49
Master and Lord,
34:51
Jesus Christ.
34:52
Christ.
34:53
So,
34:54
whose condemnation
34:55
is just?
34:56
That's the question
34:57
that we might ask,
34:59
right?
34:59
There at the very end
35:00
of verse 8
35:01
of Romans chapter 3,
35:03
these people
35:03
slanderously charge them
35:05
with saying,
35:06
Why not do evil
35:07
that good may come?
35:10
Here,
35:10
Jude finds himself
35:11
having to address
35:12
some people
35:13
who had come in
35:14
at the church of Corinth,
35:15
making that very case.
35:17
Ungodly people
35:18
who pervert
35:19
the grace of God
35:20
into sensuality.
35:21
This is what they're doing.
35:22
They're asking
35:23
and answering
35:24
that question
35:25
in the affirmative,
35:26
right?
35:26
We should live
35:27
however we want to live
35:28
because then God's grace
35:29
would abound.
35:32
So,
35:32
whose condemnation
35:33
is just?
35:34
Those who play
35:35
with the words
35:37
of God.
35:39
So,
35:40
Paul,
35:40
in just such
35:41
a great labor,
35:42
an inspired labor
35:43
to be sure,
35:45
but I imagine
35:46
his pin hand
35:48
growing tired
35:49
to be careful
35:50
to be sure
35:52
that we have
35:52
a good and right,
35:54
clear understanding
35:54
of the gospel
35:56
of Jesus Christ.
35:56
It's a gospel
35:57
that goes to
35:58
all peoples
35:59
but has not
36:01
forgotten
36:01
the ethnic Jew.
36:05
So,
36:05
has Paul offended
36:06
God's people?
36:07
Has Paul offended
36:08
God's promises?
36:10
Has Paul offended
36:11
God's holiness?
36:13
And the answer
36:14
is an affirmative
36:15
no.
36:16
Let's pray together.
36:18
Let's pray together.