A sermon preached at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana on Sunday, August 30, 2009 by Pastor, Joe Alain.
Scripture Reading: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 (Pew Bible, 678)
Introduction
We’ve been reminded lately how important washing our hands can be. Recent swine flu outbreaks have led some local Baton Rouge schools to close for several days so that they could be thoroughly disinfected. Hand sanitizers have become a part of our daily life. And of course, what child hasn’t heard a mother say, “Wash your hands before dinner!”
The text for today might leave some of us thinking that the Pharisees and Scribes (“Teachers of the Law”) are acting kind of silly and childish, making such a fuss. All that happened was a few of Jesus’ disciples neglected to wash their hands before they ate. But as usual in Jesus’ dealings with the religious rulers, there’s more going on here than simply hand washing etiquette.
The Setting (7:1-4)
Mark tells us in verses 3-4 that the Jews customarily wash their hands, “holding to the tradition of the elders” and that they hold to “many other traditions” as well (v.4). The tradition of washing one’s hands before eating was an old one. Since the Book of Exodus when the law was given to the Israelites, it was required that the high priest, before he even entered the temple, ritually washed both his hands and feet. Over the years it became the norm for all faithful Jews to wash their hands before eating as a way of identifying with the religious tradition of the high priest, and more importantly, as a way of making the common a holy act.
The Conflict (7:5)
“Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of
the elders?” In other words, “Why do they not do what we do?” Specifically, why do they not wash their hands before they eat? Because the disciples are eating with “unclean hands,” they are viewed as “unclean.” Their thinking is that if the disciples are unclean, they also must be unfit to God.
Jesus’ Reply (7:6-8, 14-15, 21-23)
A Scripture Quoted: Isaiah 29:13
Citing the prophet Isaiah, Jesus accused the religious leaders of honoring God with their lips but their heart was a million miles away. He also said that they were worshiping in vain because they were trusting in their tradition rather than God. What a rebuke against their worship! What about our worship? Do we give God only lip service? Do we trust in Him or our religious traditions? These are important questions to ask ourselves regularly.
Jesus Teaches the Larger Crowd (7:14-15, 21-23)
Jesus said that it’s not what comes from the outside that makes a person unclean, but what is on the inside. You can wash the skin right off your hands, but it will not clean your heart. It’s what comes out of the heart that makes a person unclean. So, if what comes out of a person makes him or her unclean, then what is needed is a clean heart, a new heart.
Jesus redefined what it meant to be clean before God.
A Principle Applied: A Clean Heart Makes for Clean Hands.
No amount of external washing can cleanse the heart, only God can do that. However, when the heart is clean, the hands will be too.
Tradition Gone Bad
On the surface of our text, we have an example of how a tradition, even one that starts off as good one can go bad. Traditions often evolve into something that they were never originally intended for. There are three stages in the evolution of a tradition that has lost its meaning.
1. Stage 1: Tradition as a Means to Glorify God
No doubt, this tradition of washing hands began as a way of making the common holy. The priests would wash their hands before entering into their priestly service. This naturally led to the understanding that all of God’s people should go through their daily lives with the idea that cleansing precedes our serving. But they also wanted to sanctify the common, the everyday. They were bringing a sanctity to the everyday affairs of life. We do this when we give thanks at the dinner table. We bring a sanctity to the most common and ordinary things of life, a meal.
2. Stage 2: Tradition as a Means of Judging Spirituality
There’s always the danger with religious traditions because of the tendency to make the tradition a standard of a person’s spirituality. No doubt that’s what happened here. So what started out as a practice to make the common holy, now has become a standard for what “holy” people do. That’s an altogether different meaning. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were judging their spirituality and the spirituality of others by their man made laws, “traditions of the elders.” The problem from their perspective? The disciples do not practice what supposedly “holy” people do.
3. Stage 3: Tradition as a Source of Fear.
How can a tradition be a source of fear? It creates in the mind of a person this kind of thinking. “If I do not keep the tradition, then maybe the whole faith is suspect and maybe I am suspect.” So we keep the tradition only because we have this deep inner fear that drives us to keep it. Instead of something that is meaningful (that glorifies God) and is a joy to participate in, the tradition becomes a burdensome law and obligation. At this level, the tradition simply becomes a boundary marker to identify who they are supposed to be.
The Pharisees and Scribes were upset with Jesus for several reasons. First, Jesus did not play by their rules, “the tradition of the elders.” “How dare Jesus teach and minister and do things without our permission, our stamp of approval.” But there is a deeper issue at play. They were afraid of Jesus because they were afraid of anyone that was free. Free people do not need boundary markers that tell them who they are supposed to be. Free people do not depend on externals to tell them they are right with God, they have an inner and abiding relationship with God. They have the witness of the Spirit of God living within them. Jesus and His followers were a threat because they were free and the Pharisees and the Scribes were not.
Fearful people become obsessive people! Fear does that to you. Fear turns minor concerns into obsessions. That same fear deludes us. We are afraid that if something in our system fails, then we will fail. If something in our system of belief is proven shaky, if something in our society changes, if something in our system of relationships or life is suddenly broken, then fear causes us to think we are failed, we are broken. Fear distorts reality so that the important concerns of life are missed. In short, fear distorts the truth.
How does this text speak to our observance of the Lord’s Supper? The Lord’s Supper is centered in the work of Christ, the finished work of Christ that brings us freedom, freedom from sin. It is because of His death and resurrection that we are free from our sins and we have been given a new life of freedom. “Who the Son sets free is free indeed!” (Jn. 8:36). This is why Jesus came! He came to set the captives free (Lk. 4:18), He did not come to put you in bondage. Christ sets us free from the fear of judgement and death. Christ liberates us from a small life of obsessing to a large life of blessing!
Furthermore, in observing the tradition we call the Lord’s Supper, we remember that in Christ God has truly cleansed us, He has washed our hands, He has given us clean hands so that we are free to serve Him. A Clean Heart Makes for Clean Hands. So the Supper declares to us, “Come to Me (Jesus said) and I will wash your sins away. I will set you free from yourself and your sin.” But the Supper also says to us, “Now that you are washed and free, go from this place with holy hands of service. You have been freed to serve Me with Joy! God has released you from a life of compulsive obsessive attempts to clean your hands. You are set free in Christ, now go in Christ and serve with Joy and wonder!”
God will never accomplish His work through people who serve Him from a motivation of fear. Fearful people are not more than conquerors, they are conquered. Fearful people are not open to God possibilities, their minds are set on earthly concerns. The Lord’s Table bids us to here God’s Word, “Do not be afraid!” We can bring our fears to Jesus and He will replace our fears with His presence, His presence that comforts, His presence that gives us peace, His presence that gives us abiding joy, His presence that makes us free! His presence that ends our obsessive and vain attempts at pleasing God in our strength.
Our deepest fear is that there really is uncleanness in us and we are afraid to face it. This fear prompts us to present false images of ourselves. That’s the fear that drives us to do all we can on the outside to clean ourselves up when the inside is still unclean. Maybe you’ve been trying to wash your hands yourself, but all your attempts have left you frustrated and even more tired and discouraged. Today, you can experience God’s grace that cleanses from within.
The Lord’s Supper is an invitation to you this morning that you can come to Jesus and be clean today. All souls come clean before God. Are you ready to plunge in to the pool of grace? Open your heart to God, tell Him what’s on your heart, give Him your failures, give Him your sins. What will He do? He will cleanse you, He will renew you, He will give you a new heart. There’s a healing flow from the cross of Calvary for “Mighty Is the Power of the Cross!”
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Hope For A Prodigal Planet (Romans 1:26-32)
A sermon preached at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana on August 23, 2009 by pastor Joe Alain.
Scripture Reading: Romans 1:26-32
Thus far, in Romans chapter one we have seen clearly that man needs God because . . .
1. There is moral order in the world and because . . .
2. Of man’s fatal attraction to God-substitutes.
Our text today continues to show our need for God because of . . .
3. Sin’s Enslaving Power. In seeking to be free, man apart from God becomes enslaved. Only in Christ are we truly free persons. Central Idea of the Text: Paul described the inevitable downward sinful progress that follows a person who has suppressed the truth about God.
Life Application: Abandoning God leads to being enslaved to sin. Our only hope for true freedom is to abandon ourselves to Christ.
Key Word:
Abandon: 1 To withdraw from. 2. To give up to the control or influence of another person or agent. 3. To give oneself over unrestrainedly (Webster’s).
As we consider this passage this morning, I want to use the story of the Prodigal Son as a backdrop, the canvas for this text. If you remember the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24), there was a progression of events at work in the story.
1. The son wanted to live independently of his father.
He was restless and rebellious. He demanded and received his inheritance and promptly left the father’s home in search of what he thought was real living.
2. The son discovered that life apart from the father was not all that he thought it would be. Freedom came with a high price. In fact, in the far country the young man quickly squandered his inheritance and found himself broke, friendless, and desperate with seemingly no way out of his predicament. His destitution led to desperation and the ultimate, degradation of his person, expressed by living in a pig pen.
3. But something beautiful happens in the story because the young man finally comes to himself, he comes to his senses.
He hits rock bottom and realizes the error of his ways. He remembers how good he had things when he was in his father’s house and he repents of his sin against his father and God and he determines to return to the father’s home.
4. What he finds when he returns home is probably not what he expected. I’m sure he expected a long lecture and some punishment. But the loving father with outstretched arms received and restored him to full rights and privileges of
son ship. There was redemption and rejoicing. The father was there all along waiting for his son to return home. I believe there was never a day that went by that the father thought “maybe today my son will come home.” What the son discovered when he returned was grace and mercy instead of harsh words and judgement. Because the son was convicted of his sin and confessed his sin to God, there was restored communion with his father.
It is with that progression of events as a backdrop that I want you to view Romans 1:26-32. How does the story of the prodigal son relate to our Scripture? We will consider this passage in three parts. First, I want to deal with this truth presented in our text of . . .
1. Abandoning God
This section of Scripture illustrates man’s independence from God. Here is independent living unrestrained, apart from God’s moral law. Here is a dark picture of life lived when one abandons God.
It’s important to understand this phrase repeated three different times, “God gave them over.” In what sense does God ever abandon people? Why would God do such a thing? The truth is, we abandon God who in turn abandons us to our determined (it’s a choice) course of action. Like the father in the story, God lets us go into our distant countries. He respects our free will. The awesome reality is that God will let us go. He will give us what you want even when He knows that our chosen course of action may bring us great harm.
This is the best way to understand these three “God gave them over” statements (1:24, 26, 28). Why does God allow people to continue in a course of action even though is may be harmful to them? Just as the father in the story allowed his son to go, even giving him his inheritance, so God will allow us to go and live independently from Him even though He knows that this course may lead to harm. Why does God do that? Because He hates us? No, because He loves you, and God will respect your free choice to reject Him. For God to override your free will, He would have to suspend His character, something that is impossible for God to do.
There is a dangerous piece of worldly wisdom that people buy into sometimes. It goes like this. “Well, God will let me know when I need to stop going down this path. God will stop me.” But the reality is, God may not stop you. He may let you continue on down the path that you have chosen. And if God is dealing with you right now about your present course of action, it’s a wake up call to you. God is saying stop, look around, listen! God may be trying to get your attention.
The truth of our text is that we can abandon God and He in turn will abandon us to our freely chosen course of action. C. S. Lewis said: “The lost enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and are therefore self-enslaved.” Abandoning God though is not without consequences. When we abandon God,
we live . . .
2. An Abandoned Lifestyle
That abandoned lifestyle is graphically portrayed in these verses.
In declaring our freedom from God and His moral law, we become enslaved to sin. Let me say several things concerning verses 26-27. First, it is clear that Paul is referring to homosexuality. This is not now nor was it then some new sin. It was common practice in the pagan world. Most of the early Caesars were homosexual. So it is not a new sin.
Second, it is also clear that from the Bible’s point of view, homosexuality is a perversion of God’s natural order (see the contrast between natural and unnatural). To pretend that it is normal is to plainly contradict God’s moral order. But it is also clear from this larger passage that all sin is a perversion of God’s design! Sexual immorality is but one expression of abandoning God and His moral law. All sin is dark because it is life lived in the dark.
Without God we are enslaved to our sinful nature expressed by any number of sins. What is a person capable of who has suppressed the truth about God? The answer – anything! Some people today are making great attempts to normalize sinful behaviors in order to make them feel good about living in the far country. We call sin an alternative lifestyle and here’s the truth – it really is! Living apart from God is an alternate lifestyle.
The prodigal son who abandoned his father was now living an abandoned lifestyle, completely unrestrained by moral constraints. He was really living it up. I can imagine that the prodigal son experienced everything life had to offer. He went to the Vegas of his day. The problem is what happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas! And it certainly does not bring life. Living without God is not freedom, it’s enslavement to a new master, sin. It’s a delusion that does not bring rest, but only ruin.
What hope is there for a person who has abandoned God and is living a lifestyle of reckless abandon? Our only hope is the Gospel of Christ. Your only hope is . . .
3. Abandoning Yourself to Christ
Only God in Christ is able to liberate us from the enslavement that sin has over us. The Gospel of Christ is the power of God (1:16-17) to set us free from our sin. Our great need then is to come to our self, to come to our senses, to trust in Christ who is our liberator. Jesus came “to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners” (Is. 61:1; Lk. 4:18). Jesus is the truth that “will set you free” (Jn. 8:32).
So how do you get off the treadmill of despair, break the chains of sin? There’s hope for prodigals today. As the prodigal son went through several clear stages that brought him back to the Father’s house, so the way back for you is made clear in Scripture. The first thing that is needed is . . .
(1) Conviction of Sin
Have you come to your senses? Do you sense that you are in the far country? Alienated from God and His life?
The second thing that is needed is . . .
(2) Confession of Sin
He knew that his sin was against his father and God Himself. The evidence that he was making a true confession was that he actually got up and made his way back to the father’s house. Confession is coming clean with God. Are you ready to do that? To be honest with God?
The result of the prodigal son’s confession was that there was . . .
(3) Communion with the Father
The son was welcomed and restored by the father. The father threw a party for his son. Once he was lost, but now he was found.
Summation and Invitation
Today, you are either a believer, you’re set free from sin, you’re saved or you are still living enslaved to sin. If you’re saved, it is because God has saved you in Christ. Now, He wants you to take this powerful Gospel of Jesus to people who are still enslaved by sin. The Gospel is the only cure for the sin sick soul. The Gospel has the power to break the chains of sin that bind us. Nothing else will dispel the darkness.
If you’re not saved today, you’re either in one of two places in your life. One, you’re in that distant country and right now things don’t seem too bad. But I can tell you, things are going to progress downward for you. Why do I say that? Because that’s how sin works. Sin always takes you farther than you want to go and keeps you longer than you want to stay. Some of you may think, “I’ve got this under control. I can handle it.” But entertaining sin is like playing with a rattlesnake. You’re odds are not good. Eventually, you are going to get bit! And the truth is you are powerless to overcome sin yourself. So you make promises to God that you are not going to do __________ (Fill in the blank). But what happens? You end up going deeper and end up under more condemnation. It’s a vicious cycle.
The other spot you may be in today, is that you are at a place where you can hear God speaking to you. You’re convicted about your sin. You know this is not the life that God designed for you and you like the prodigal in the far country are longing for something better, you are longing to be in the Father’s house because you were created for something far better than what you are living. You were created for eternity.
If that is where you are today, why not now confess your sin to God. He already knows where you are, but He wants you to realize where you are. That’s what confession really is. It is not telling God anything that He does not already know. It’s telling Him what He wants you to know. He wants you to be honest with Him about where you are.
If you’ll do that, God will immediately do two things (1:16-17). (1) First, He will rescue you from your sin, that’s what “salvation” means and that’s what we need. And (2) second, God will initiate a new relationship with you. He will make you “righteous.” No longer will you be at war with yourself and with God, but God will consider you a son, a daughter, a member of the family of God.
How could God do that for me? How could God forgive me? Because of God’s great love and mercy, that’s how. It’s called grace! What the prodigal son experienced, you too can experience today. God is here and He is not here to judge and condemn but to save. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (Jn. 3:17). It doesn’t matter how dark your sin, it’s all dark. God will forgive you. Prodigals can come home. The Father waits with outstretched arms. Will you come?
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Scripture Reading: Romans 1:26-32
Thus far, in Romans chapter one we have seen clearly that man needs God because . . .
1. There is moral order in the world and because . . .
2. Of man’s fatal attraction to God-substitutes.
Our text today continues to show our need for God because of . . .
3. Sin’s Enslaving Power. In seeking to be free, man apart from God becomes enslaved. Only in Christ are we truly free persons. Central Idea of the Text: Paul described the inevitable downward sinful progress that follows a person who has suppressed the truth about God.
Life Application: Abandoning God leads to being enslaved to sin. Our only hope for true freedom is to abandon ourselves to Christ.
Key Word:
Abandon: 1 To withdraw from. 2. To give up to the control or influence of another person or agent. 3. To give oneself over unrestrainedly (Webster’s).
As we consider this passage this morning, I want to use the story of the Prodigal Son as a backdrop, the canvas for this text. If you remember the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24), there was a progression of events at work in the story.
1. The son wanted to live independently of his father.
He was restless and rebellious. He demanded and received his inheritance and promptly left the father’s home in search of what he thought was real living.
2. The son discovered that life apart from the father was not all that he thought it would be. Freedom came with a high price. In fact, in the far country the young man quickly squandered his inheritance and found himself broke, friendless, and desperate with seemingly no way out of his predicament. His destitution led to desperation and the ultimate, degradation of his person, expressed by living in a pig pen.
3. But something beautiful happens in the story because the young man finally comes to himself, he comes to his senses.
He hits rock bottom and realizes the error of his ways. He remembers how good he had things when he was in his father’s house and he repents of his sin against his father and God and he determines to return to the father’s home.
4. What he finds when he returns home is probably not what he expected. I’m sure he expected a long lecture and some punishment. But the loving father with outstretched arms received and restored him to full rights and privileges of
son ship. There was redemption and rejoicing. The father was there all along waiting for his son to return home. I believe there was never a day that went by that the father thought “maybe today my son will come home.” What the son discovered when he returned was grace and mercy instead of harsh words and judgement. Because the son was convicted of his sin and confessed his sin to God, there was restored communion with his father.
It is with that progression of events as a backdrop that I want you to view Romans 1:26-32. How does the story of the prodigal son relate to our Scripture? We will consider this passage in three parts. First, I want to deal with this truth presented in our text of . . .
1. Abandoning God
This section of Scripture illustrates man’s independence from God. Here is independent living unrestrained, apart from God’s moral law. Here is a dark picture of life lived when one abandons God.
It’s important to understand this phrase repeated three different times, “God gave them over.” In what sense does God ever abandon people? Why would God do such a thing? The truth is, we abandon God who in turn abandons us to our determined (it’s a choice) course of action. Like the father in the story, God lets us go into our distant countries. He respects our free will. The awesome reality is that God will let us go. He will give us what you want even when He knows that our chosen course of action may bring us great harm.
This is the best way to understand these three “God gave them over” statements (1:24, 26, 28). Why does God allow people to continue in a course of action even though is may be harmful to them? Just as the father in the story allowed his son to go, even giving him his inheritance, so God will allow us to go and live independently from Him even though He knows that this course may lead to harm. Why does God do that? Because He hates us? No, because He loves you, and God will respect your free choice to reject Him. For God to override your free will, He would have to suspend His character, something that is impossible for God to do.
There is a dangerous piece of worldly wisdom that people buy into sometimes. It goes like this. “Well, God will let me know when I need to stop going down this path. God will stop me.” But the reality is, God may not stop you. He may let you continue on down the path that you have chosen. And if God is dealing with you right now about your present course of action, it’s a wake up call to you. God is saying stop, look around, listen! God may be trying to get your attention.
The truth of our text is that we can abandon God and He in turn will abandon us to our freely chosen course of action. C. S. Lewis said: “The lost enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and are therefore self-enslaved.” Abandoning God though is not without consequences. When we abandon God,
we live . . .
2. An Abandoned Lifestyle
That abandoned lifestyle is graphically portrayed in these verses.
In declaring our freedom from God and His moral law, we become enslaved to sin. Let me say several things concerning verses 26-27. First, it is clear that Paul is referring to homosexuality. This is not now nor was it then some new sin. It was common practice in the pagan world. Most of the early Caesars were homosexual. So it is not a new sin.
Second, it is also clear that from the Bible’s point of view, homosexuality is a perversion of God’s natural order (see the contrast between natural and unnatural). To pretend that it is normal is to plainly contradict God’s moral order. But it is also clear from this larger passage that all sin is a perversion of God’s design! Sexual immorality is but one expression of abandoning God and His moral law. All sin is dark because it is life lived in the dark.
Without God we are enslaved to our sinful nature expressed by any number of sins. What is a person capable of who has suppressed the truth about God? The answer – anything! Some people today are making great attempts to normalize sinful behaviors in order to make them feel good about living in the far country. We call sin an alternative lifestyle and here’s the truth – it really is! Living apart from God is an alternate lifestyle.
The prodigal son who abandoned his father was now living an abandoned lifestyle, completely unrestrained by moral constraints. He was really living it up. I can imagine that the prodigal son experienced everything life had to offer. He went to the Vegas of his day. The problem is what happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas! And it certainly does not bring life. Living without God is not freedom, it’s enslavement to a new master, sin. It’s a delusion that does not bring rest, but only ruin.
What hope is there for a person who has abandoned God and is living a lifestyle of reckless abandon? Our only hope is the Gospel of Christ. Your only hope is . . .
3. Abandoning Yourself to Christ
Only God in Christ is able to liberate us from the enslavement that sin has over us. The Gospel of Christ is the power of God (1:16-17) to set us free from our sin. Our great need then is to come to our self, to come to our senses, to trust in Christ who is our liberator. Jesus came “to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners” (Is. 61:1; Lk. 4:18). Jesus is the truth that “will set you free” (Jn. 8:32).
So how do you get off the treadmill of despair, break the chains of sin? There’s hope for prodigals today. As the prodigal son went through several clear stages that brought him back to the Father’s house, so the way back for you is made clear in Scripture. The first thing that is needed is . . .
(1) Conviction of Sin
Have you come to your senses? Do you sense that you are in the far country? Alienated from God and His life?
The second thing that is needed is . . .
(2) Confession of Sin
He knew that his sin was against his father and God Himself. The evidence that he was making a true confession was that he actually got up and made his way back to the father’s house. Confession is coming clean with God. Are you ready to do that? To be honest with God?
The result of the prodigal son’s confession was that there was . . .
(3) Communion with the Father
The son was welcomed and restored by the father. The father threw a party for his son. Once he was lost, but now he was found.
Summation and Invitation
Today, you are either a believer, you’re set free from sin, you’re saved or you are still living enslaved to sin. If you’re saved, it is because God has saved you in Christ. Now, He wants you to take this powerful Gospel of Jesus to people who are still enslaved by sin. The Gospel is the only cure for the sin sick soul. The Gospel has the power to break the chains of sin that bind us. Nothing else will dispel the darkness.
If you’re not saved today, you’re either in one of two places in your life. One, you’re in that distant country and right now things don’t seem too bad. But I can tell you, things are going to progress downward for you. Why do I say that? Because that’s how sin works. Sin always takes you farther than you want to go and keeps you longer than you want to stay. Some of you may think, “I’ve got this under control. I can handle it.” But entertaining sin is like playing with a rattlesnake. You’re odds are not good. Eventually, you are going to get bit! And the truth is you are powerless to overcome sin yourself. So you make promises to God that you are not going to do __________ (Fill in the blank). But what happens? You end up going deeper and end up under more condemnation. It’s a vicious cycle.
The other spot you may be in today, is that you are at a place where you can hear God speaking to you. You’re convicted about your sin. You know this is not the life that God designed for you and you like the prodigal in the far country are longing for something better, you are longing to be in the Father’s house because you were created for something far better than what you are living. You were created for eternity.
If that is where you are today, why not now confess your sin to God. He already knows where you are, but He wants you to realize where you are. That’s what confession really is. It is not telling God anything that He does not already know. It’s telling Him what He wants you to know. He wants you to be honest with Him about where you are.
If you’ll do that, God will immediately do two things (1:16-17). (1) First, He will rescue you from your sin, that’s what “salvation” means and that’s what we need. And (2) second, God will initiate a new relationship with you. He will make you “righteous.” No longer will you be at war with yourself and with God, but God will consider you a son, a daughter, a member of the family of God.
How could God do that for me? How could God forgive me? Because of God’s great love and mercy, that’s how. It’s called grace! What the prodigal son experienced, you too can experience today. God is here and He is not here to judge and condemn but to save. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (Jn. 3:17). It doesn’t matter how dark your sin, it’s all dark. God will forgive you. Prodigals can come home. The Father waits with outstretched arms. Will you come?
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Can Man Live Without God? Part II Romans 1:2125
A sermon preached at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana on August 16, 2009 by Pastor Joe Alain
Scripture Reading: Romans 1:21-25 (Pew Bible, 757)
Last week we looked at the truth that man needs God because . . .
I. There Is Moral Order in the World (1:18-25)
This moral order is seen in the testimony of God’s creation and in human conscience. Because we suppress this truth about God; that is, the truth about His moral order revealed in creation and in our conscience, a vacuum is created. And as we know, nature abhors a vacuum! This leaves us with the problem that we are spiritual beings without a God to worship. What do we do? We exchange the glory of the true God for images – God substitutes (vv.23, 25).
Man needs God . . .
II. Because of Man’s Fatal Attraction to God Substitutes
Apart from God’s grace, we possess a fatal attraction to God substitutes. This is why Paul deals with this exchange, this inclination that we have to substitute the real God for idols. God wants us to know the truth because it is God’s truth that sets us free. He wants us to flee from this fatal attraction to God substitutes and to help others escape this dead end that will never produce life!
Even though people had this general revelation of God through the testimony of creation (from without) and through the testimony of conscience (from within), they “neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened” (v.21).
Paul says that two things immediately result when a person suppresses the knowledge of God.
1. People Fail to Glorify God as God
What does this mean? Even though they had the knowledge of God, they did not honor Him and value Him as God. This is really the fundamental problem with the human race. People do not honor God by first acknowledging Him, and second, by valuing Him
as God.
2. People Fail to Give Thanks to God
People who fail to glorify God, who do not honor Him are ingrates. The great sin of living apart from God is that you buy into the big lie that you are the center of the universe, the creator of all that is good in your life, the master of your destiny. This delusional state we call human pride. God says of human pride that shuts Him out, “I hate pride and arrogance” (Prov. 8:13). There is a kind of pride that will cause a person to care about himself or herself and his or her surroundings. A kind of pride that gives a person a sense of what they ought to do. But there is a worldly pride that deludes man into thinking that He is the center of the universe. All things revolve around him. All good things happen because of him.
As it was in Paul’s day, so it is still true in our day. The twin sins of our day our man’s refusal to glorify His creator and to give thanks to God, acting as if God does not even exist. Question: Are you living a God-centered life? Seeking to please God in every area of your life? Are you living with a grateful heart to God? Gratitude to God is evidence that you know Him and are seeking to glorify Him. This shouldn’t be surprising as the words “grace” and “gratitude” are related in Scripture. Gratitude is the outflow of a heart that knows grace.
The Basic Problem: A Failure to Honor God (1:21)
Because people are in this condition, there are several things that Paul says occur. Here is the natural devolution of the person who will not glorify God or consequently be thankful.
This fatal attraction to God substitutes leads to . . .
1. Empty Speculation (v.21)
“Their thinking became futile.” Futile means empty, vain, useless. God created us with the ability to reason, to imagine, to speculate. He did so that we might use our mind to know Him, to glorify Him, to build a world that will honor Him. But when we use our mind apart from God, our plans and dreams are empty because we ourselves are empty. Paul is saying that their thinking process became “dialogismos,” speculation without perception, empty reasoning. Speculation that does not acknowledge God leads to God substitutes.
This fatal attraction leads to . . .
2. Living in the Dark (v.21)
“Their foolish hearts were darkened.” People who leave God out are destined to live in the dark because they lack spiritual understanding (1 Cor. 2:14). Why is the heart darkened when people exchange the glory of God for other things? The answer is that the only light in the universe that can fill the heart with light is the glory of God – the light of God Himself.
There is no light-producing element in the heart. All light comes from outside, namely, from the glory of God. Jesus is the spiritual light of the world (Jn. 14:6) because “he is the glory as of the only begotten from the Father” (Jn. 1:14). This is why Paul prayed that the “eyes of your heart may be enlightened” because only the prayer-hearing God can enlighten the heart (Eph. 1:19).
And in 2 Corinthians 4:6 Paul says, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” The only light in the universe that can bring light to the heart is the glory of God. If we exchange it for other things, we will live in darkness, no matter how brilliant we are or how many fires we may build or candles we may light.
This fatal attraction to God substitutes leads to . . .
3. False Wisdom (v.22)
“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.” People who leave God out of life live foolishly although they are perfectly content with the thought that they are very wise. Foolishness in the Bible has to do with moral deficiency rather than intellectual ability. Many intelligent people are parading around as wise people, but are living foolishly. Why do people without God think they are so wise? To the natural person, nothing seems more normal than devising a system of living on your own. What could be more natural to a person than to create their own god?
This temptation to be your own god is powerful and it has been a temptation from the very beginning. What did the serpent promise Eve in the garden? “You will be like God!” (Gen. 3:5-6). This desire to be your own God is so powerful because we are convinced it is the way of wisdom. But in reality it is a false wisdom, a devilish wisdom, a wisdom that condemns men rather than liberates them.
Where does this path lead a person (v.23)?
This fatal attraction to God substitutes leads to . . .
4. Exchanging the True God for a god (1:23-25)
Having rejected the sovereign creator who has made the heavens and the earth, man without God decides he is smarter than God, so he worships a poor substitute for God that is not God. The folly of idolatry is that you exchange the glorious for the inglorious, the mighty for the weak. The living for the dead. The immortal for the mortal. The eternal for the temporal. Accepting God substitutes is insanity. There is a downward progression to idolatry that we see in verse 23. Here we see how infinite the difference there is between the true God and a god.
Paul shows that this exchange is foolish by emphasizing the infinite difference in value between what you trade away and what you get in its place. Literally, verse 23 states: “They exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for a likeness of an image of corruptible man” (v.23). Notice how Paul highlights the tremendous difference in this poor exchange that we make when we fail to glorify God. According to Genesis 1:26-27, man is created in the “image of God” and not God. But that is not what the exchange of God gets. Rather, it is for an image of man and not even that, it is for “a likeness of an image of man” who himself is an image. Paul is basically saying, “You sell the original masterpiece for a copy of a copy of a copy!” We might say, “Why settle for Xerox copy of a copy when you can possess the real document?”
Instead of believing the lie, worshiping the creation rather than the creator, making poor exchanges for God, let’s determine that we will glorify Him and give Him thanks! When we do that, we will live lives filled with meaning instead of empty speculation. We will live in the light instead of the darkness. We will be following the path of true wisdom rather than the path of error. We will be honoring the true God rather than a poor substitute that can never be God.
John Piper relates the story of Secretary of State William Seward. He states, “let’s be like Secretary of State William Seward in 1867 who helped America buy Alaska from the Russians for $7,200,000. Some people ridiculed William Seward and they called this transaction, ‘Seward’s Folly,’ exchanging seven million dollars for ice! Well we know that in the last 140 plus years Alaska has yielded billions upon billions of dollars in resources to the United States. Things are not always what they seem. Do not exchange God for anything. Instead, exchange everything for Him.” Only then will we find our lives full of purpose and meaning.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Scripture Reading: Romans 1:21-25 (Pew Bible, 757)
Last week we looked at the truth that man needs God because . . .
I. There Is Moral Order in the World (1:18-25)
This moral order is seen in the testimony of God’s creation and in human conscience. Because we suppress this truth about God; that is, the truth about His moral order revealed in creation and in our conscience, a vacuum is created. And as we know, nature abhors a vacuum! This leaves us with the problem that we are spiritual beings without a God to worship. What do we do? We exchange the glory of the true God for images – God substitutes (vv.23, 25).
Man needs God . . .
II. Because of Man’s Fatal Attraction to God Substitutes
Apart from God’s grace, we possess a fatal attraction to God substitutes. This is why Paul deals with this exchange, this inclination that we have to substitute the real God for idols. God wants us to know the truth because it is God’s truth that sets us free. He wants us to flee from this fatal attraction to God substitutes and to help others escape this dead end that will never produce life!
Even though people had this general revelation of God through the testimony of creation (from without) and through the testimony of conscience (from within), they “neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened” (v.21).
Paul says that two things immediately result when a person suppresses the knowledge of God.
1. People Fail to Glorify God as God
What does this mean? Even though they had the knowledge of God, they did not honor Him and value Him as God. This is really the fundamental problem with the human race. People do not honor God by first acknowledging Him, and second, by valuing Him
as God.
2. People Fail to Give Thanks to God
People who fail to glorify God, who do not honor Him are ingrates. The great sin of living apart from God is that you buy into the big lie that you are the center of the universe, the creator of all that is good in your life, the master of your destiny. This delusional state we call human pride. God says of human pride that shuts Him out, “I hate pride and arrogance” (Prov. 8:13). There is a kind of pride that will cause a person to care about himself or herself and his or her surroundings. A kind of pride that gives a person a sense of what they ought to do. But there is a worldly pride that deludes man into thinking that He is the center of the universe. All things revolve around him. All good things happen because of him.
As it was in Paul’s day, so it is still true in our day. The twin sins of our day our man’s refusal to glorify His creator and to give thanks to God, acting as if God does not even exist. Question: Are you living a God-centered life? Seeking to please God in every area of your life? Are you living with a grateful heart to God? Gratitude to God is evidence that you know Him and are seeking to glorify Him. This shouldn’t be surprising as the words “grace” and “gratitude” are related in Scripture. Gratitude is the outflow of a heart that knows grace.
The Basic Problem: A Failure to Honor God (1:21)
Because people are in this condition, there are several things that Paul says occur. Here is the natural devolution of the person who will not glorify God or consequently be thankful.
This fatal attraction to God substitutes leads to . . .
1. Empty Speculation (v.21)
“Their thinking became futile.” Futile means empty, vain, useless. God created us with the ability to reason, to imagine, to speculate. He did so that we might use our mind to know Him, to glorify Him, to build a world that will honor Him. But when we use our mind apart from God, our plans and dreams are empty because we ourselves are empty. Paul is saying that their thinking process became “dialogismos,” speculation without perception, empty reasoning. Speculation that does not acknowledge God leads to God substitutes.
This fatal attraction leads to . . .
2. Living in the Dark (v.21)
“Their foolish hearts were darkened.” People who leave God out are destined to live in the dark because they lack spiritual understanding (1 Cor. 2:14). Why is the heart darkened when people exchange the glory of God for other things? The answer is that the only light in the universe that can fill the heart with light is the glory of God – the light of God Himself.
There is no light-producing element in the heart. All light comes from outside, namely, from the glory of God. Jesus is the spiritual light of the world (Jn. 14:6) because “he is the glory as of the only begotten from the Father” (Jn. 1:14). This is why Paul prayed that the “eyes of your heart may be enlightened” because only the prayer-hearing God can enlighten the heart (Eph. 1:19).
And in 2 Corinthians 4:6 Paul says, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” The only light in the universe that can bring light to the heart is the glory of God. If we exchange it for other things, we will live in darkness, no matter how brilliant we are or how many fires we may build or candles we may light.
This fatal attraction to God substitutes leads to . . .
3. False Wisdom (v.22)
“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.” People who leave God out of life live foolishly although they are perfectly content with the thought that they are very wise. Foolishness in the Bible has to do with moral deficiency rather than intellectual ability. Many intelligent people are parading around as wise people, but are living foolishly. Why do people without God think they are so wise? To the natural person, nothing seems more normal than devising a system of living on your own. What could be more natural to a person than to create their own god?
This temptation to be your own god is powerful and it has been a temptation from the very beginning. What did the serpent promise Eve in the garden? “You will be like God!” (Gen. 3:5-6). This desire to be your own God is so powerful because we are convinced it is the way of wisdom. But in reality it is a false wisdom, a devilish wisdom, a wisdom that condemns men rather than liberates them.
Where does this path lead a person (v.23)?
This fatal attraction to God substitutes leads to . . .
4. Exchanging the True God for a god (1:23-25)
Having rejected the sovereign creator who has made the heavens and the earth, man without God decides he is smarter than God, so he worships a poor substitute for God that is not God. The folly of idolatry is that you exchange the glorious for the inglorious, the mighty for the weak. The living for the dead. The immortal for the mortal. The eternal for the temporal. Accepting God substitutes is insanity. There is a downward progression to idolatry that we see in verse 23. Here we see how infinite the difference there is between the true God and a god.
Paul shows that this exchange is foolish by emphasizing the infinite difference in value between what you trade away and what you get in its place. Literally, verse 23 states: “They exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for a likeness of an image of corruptible man” (v.23). Notice how Paul highlights the tremendous difference in this poor exchange that we make when we fail to glorify God. According to Genesis 1:26-27, man is created in the “image of God” and not God. But that is not what the exchange of God gets. Rather, it is for an image of man and not even that, it is for “a likeness of an image of man” who himself is an image. Paul is basically saying, “You sell the original masterpiece for a copy of a copy of a copy!” We might say, “Why settle for Xerox copy of a copy when you can possess the real document?”
Instead of believing the lie, worshiping the creation rather than the creator, making poor exchanges for God, let’s determine that we will glorify Him and give Him thanks! When we do that, we will live lives filled with meaning instead of empty speculation. We will live in the light instead of the darkness. We will be following the path of true wisdom rather than the path of error. We will be honoring the true God rather than a poor substitute that can never be God.
John Piper relates the story of Secretary of State William Seward. He states, “let’s be like Secretary of State William Seward in 1867 who helped America buy Alaska from the Russians for $7,200,000. Some people ridiculed William Seward and they called this transaction, ‘Seward’s Folly,’ exchanging seven million dollars for ice! Well we know that in the last 140 plus years Alaska has yielded billions upon billions of dollars in resources to the United States. Things are not always what they seem. Do not exchange God for anything. Instead, exchange everything for Him.” Only then will we find our lives full of purpose and meaning.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Can Man Live Without God? Part I Romans 1:18-25
Scripture Reading: Romans 1:18-25 (Pew Bible, 757)
Can man live without God? Yes, if you believe what the atheists say. According to the American Atheists, “An Atheist loves himself and his fellowman instead of a god. An Atheist accepts that heaven is something for which we should work now - here on earth - for all men together to enjoy. An Atheist accepts that he can get no help through prayer, but that he must find in himself the inner conviction and strength to meet life, to grapple with it, to subdue it and to enjoy it. An Atheist accepts that only in a knowledge of himself and a knowledge of his fellow man can he find the understanding that will help to a life of fulfillment. (http://www.atheists.org, my emphasis; unless noted, quotations in this article were taken from the official website of the American Atheists Organization.)
Atheists “accept only that which is scientifically verifiable. Since god concepts are unverifiable, we do not accept them.” Furthermore, Atheists gladly concede that the individual alone is the determiner of what is right and wrong. Atheists contend that they are inner-directed “in distinction to being outer-directed as the theist is. We rely on ourselves for the solutions to our problems . . . we cannot rely on supernatural intervention into our problem - solving processes.”
A great number of people today are living lives without God. They may even profess faith in God, but they are living as practical Atheists. They may not be card-carrying members of the American Atheists Organization; but nevertheless, they have subscribed to its basic tenants: that man does not really need a god; that man is the center of the universe; and that humans alone can solve the world’s problems. However, increasingly many people are discovering the moral bankruptcy of this philosophy of living - it simply will not work!
Can man truly live without God? Central Truth: In Romans 1:18-32 the apostle Paul set forth the truth that all people need God and His salvation because all people are left to the consequences of their own freely chosen course of action, and unless this tendency is reversed by divine grace, their situation will go from bad to worse.
Never has the dimension of evil in the world been probed more profoundly than by Paul in this passage. It is a form of open-heart surgery that some people will chose not to undertake. It is bound to offend some people whose analysis concludes that human nature is essentially good and that humans alone must rely upon themselves for the solutions to man’s problems. While the world pledges allegiance to evolution (that man started low and climbed high), this passage teaches devolution: man started high and because of sin, sank into the depths of sin and degradation.
Why does man need God? Romans chapter one provides some relevant answers. First, man needs God because of . . .
1. The Truth about God’s Wrath (1:18)
We need to note that wrath is not anger as in the emotion that we experience. God isn’t sitting in heaven fuming or plotting revenge or throwing down lightning bolts. Wrath is the execution of God’s perfection. Because God is perfect, He must not tolerate sin or He would no longer be perfect.
Because God is God, because He is characteristically holy, God cannot tolerate sin, and the wrath of God is His “annihilating reaction” against sin.” God’s wrath is the display of His perfect justice. God’s disapproval of sin is not an arbitrary matter, for His very nature is one of holiness; it automatically rejects sin. You might say God’s character is such that He is “allergic to sin.”
The prophets in the OT spoke of the wrath of God in connection with the moral order that God had ordained in the world. This moral order is the present wrath of God at work. Wrath is both present, “being revealed” and ultimately future. God’s moral order is the expression of His wrath “being revealed” in the present. In other words, God made this world in such a way that we break God’s laws at our peril. Sin’s consequences are automatic responses to mankind violating God’s moral order. Now if we were left solely at the mercy of God’s unchanging moral order, there could be nothing for us but death and destruction. The world is made in such a way that the soul that sins must die. But Gospel of Jesus means that in this dilemma there comes the love of God, and that love of God by an act of unbelievable free grace, lifts man out of the consequences of sin and saves him from the wrath that he should have incurred.
What is God’s wrath directed against? God’s wrath is directed . . .
(1) Against “Godlessness” – Rejection “Godlessness” has to do with man’s rebellion and rejection of God.
(2) Against “Wickedness” – Injustice “Wickedness” has to do with man’s injustice to other men. Paul uses the two terms to show the failure of mankind in terms of God’s requirements in the original law – the Ten Commandments. Mankind is guilty of breaking both tablets of the Ten Commandments. We rebel against God and reject Him (1st tablet1-4) and we mistreat and murder one another (2nd tablet 5-10). Why do we need God? Because of the truth about God’s wrath. All men are under God’s wrath now. All people are guilty before God and therefore, God is completely just in His judgement of all men. See John 3:18, 36. The Gospel is God’s power to rescue us from wrath!
Man also needs God because of . . .
2. The Testimony of Creation (1:19-20)
Creation points to the creator who is worthy of worship. Creation, the world that we live in bears clear witness to its maker, and the evidence is “plain to them” (v.19). What is it that Paul says is plain? “God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature” (v.20). Nature reveals a powerful and wise creator who we are accountable to.
The fact that we can see God’s “invisible qualities” manifested in nature is sometimes called general or natural revelation. General revelation is what can be known about God by all people at all times. Since the beginning of time people have been able to know that there is a master designer – a creator behind what we see. Therefore, all people are without excuse. Next week we will look at what man does as a result of suppressing the truth about God. Man ends up worshiping creation instead of the creator.
Man also needs God because of . . .
3. The Testimony of Conscience (1:18, 21, 25)
Our conscience points to a standard of right and wrong and ultimately to the one who created us. Webster’s defines conscience as “the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one’s own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good.” We see evidence of conscience in this text in the following phrases: “suppress the truth” (v.18), “although they knew God . . .” (v.21), “exchanged the truth of God for a lie” (v.25).
What Paul demonstrates here is that all people have a sense of right and what is wrong. We have some inner knowledge of what is right and wrong. We have a sense of justice and injustice. This is universal although in some places among some people, the truth of conscience has been so suppressed that good has become bad and bad has become good. But that only illustrates the truth that when man rejects truth revealed in his conscience he descends ever lower into darkness and error.
R.C.H. Lenski describes this spiritual struggle that is going on in the hearts of men and women, the struggle that Paul is alluding to: “Whenever the truth starts to exert itself and makes them feel uneasy in their moral nature, they hold it down, suppress it. Some drown its voice by rushing into their immoralities; others strangle the disturbing voice by argument and denial.” How true! For most people, belief in God is not an intellectual problem, it’s a moral problem. People do not want to submit to God’s moral authority.
The truth is, we are hard wired for God but we suppress (hold down) the truth (v.18). Today, people are trying to remove God out of every area of life: out of the government, the schools, the workplace, out of all public areas. But they cannot remove God out of their mind – their conscience. Why is that? Because “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men” (Eccl. 3:11). The Bible declares that all people are created “in the image of God” (Gen. 1:26). What does that mean?
Rational – Think
Emotional – Feel
Social – Relate to Each Other
Volitional – Make Choices (this is where we lose the humanists and the atheists)
Spiritual – Relate to God
Moral – Knowledge of Good and Evil
If there is right and wrong, there must be a standard by which we make those judgements and that standard brings us back to our creator.
There are some characteristics about this testimony about God’s creation and human conscience that Paul brings out in this passage.
This testimony about creation and conscience is . . .
1. A Clear Testimony – “plain” (v.19, used 2x)
Look around and look inside.
2. A Conclusive Testimony – “understood” (v.20)
God says that people can perceive what I have created, they are able to reflect on what is created and they have the ability to reason and conclude that there must be a creator behind what is seen. People do have this innate sense of right and wrong.
3. A Constant Testimony – “since the creation of the world” (v.20)
See Acts 14:15-17; Psalm 19:1-6. Note the constancy of God’s testimony in creation with the words, “Declare,” “Proclaim,” “Day after Day,” “Night after Night.” There is no place where they (i.e., the sun and moon) are not heard (19:3). Their voice (testimony) is heard everywhere and at all times (19:4)! The message from nature about the power and glory of God reaches all nations, and is equally intelligible to them all.
4. A Conditional Testimony – “His eternal power and divine nature” (v.20)
This testimony in creation reflects certain aspects of God’s divine nature (v.20). In creation we have evidence of a powerful creator, a creator that sustains His creation (rain, crops grow), but we have to look elsewhere for the revelation (the knowledge) of God’s love, His grace, His mercy, and His salvation. For that knowledge we must look to Scripture, God’s special revelation of God in Christ (Jn. 1:1, 14; Heb. 11:1-3).
General revelation is sufficient to make all people responsible before God, but it is insufficient by itself to accomplish God’s salvation. However, God is just in condemning those who have never heard the Gospel in the full and formal sense. No one is completely without opportunity. All have known God; if they have not perceived him, it is because they have suppressed the truth. Thus all are responsible and are accountable to the knowledge that they do have. They are “without excuse” (v.20).
Recovering Our Sight (Rom. 1:16-17)
This passage then is a powerful motivation to us who are saved. To first see the lost condition of our world, of people without Christ under judgement. And to share the Gospel, the power of God. The Gospel glasses allow people to see clearly their sin and the savior (2 Cor. 3:14; 4:4, 6). This brings us back to the passage that is central to the entire message of Romans, 1:16-17. The Gospel is the power of God because when someone believes the Gospel, he or she is rescued from sin and brought into a right relationship with God. In this new relationship with God we are no longer under the wrath of God. “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9).
Prayer: Lord, thank you for not letting us continue without hope in our sinful condition. Thank you that you have provided grace and mercy so that we may be rescued from our sin and made right with you so that we are no longer under Your wrath. Give us a sense of urgency to share the Gospel which is Your power to rescue and make right people who are lost in sin and darkness. Amen.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Can man live without God? Yes, if you believe what the atheists say. According to the American Atheists, “An Atheist loves himself and his fellowman instead of a god. An Atheist accepts that heaven is something for which we should work now - here on earth - for all men together to enjoy. An Atheist accepts that he can get no help through prayer, but that he must find in himself the inner conviction and strength to meet life, to grapple with it, to subdue it and to enjoy it. An Atheist accepts that only in a knowledge of himself and a knowledge of his fellow man can he find the understanding that will help to a life of fulfillment. (http://www.atheists.org, my emphasis; unless noted, quotations in this article were taken from the official website of the American Atheists Organization.)
Atheists “accept only that which is scientifically verifiable. Since god concepts are unverifiable, we do not accept them.” Furthermore, Atheists gladly concede that the individual alone is the determiner of what is right and wrong. Atheists contend that they are inner-directed “in distinction to being outer-directed as the theist is. We rely on ourselves for the solutions to our problems . . . we cannot rely on supernatural intervention into our problem - solving processes.”
A great number of people today are living lives without God. They may even profess faith in God, but they are living as practical Atheists. They may not be card-carrying members of the American Atheists Organization; but nevertheless, they have subscribed to its basic tenants: that man does not really need a god; that man is the center of the universe; and that humans alone can solve the world’s problems. However, increasingly many people are discovering the moral bankruptcy of this philosophy of living - it simply will not work!
Can man truly live without God? Central Truth: In Romans 1:18-32 the apostle Paul set forth the truth that all people need God and His salvation because all people are left to the consequences of their own freely chosen course of action, and unless this tendency is reversed by divine grace, their situation will go from bad to worse.
Never has the dimension of evil in the world been probed more profoundly than by Paul in this passage. It is a form of open-heart surgery that some people will chose not to undertake. It is bound to offend some people whose analysis concludes that human nature is essentially good and that humans alone must rely upon themselves for the solutions to man’s problems. While the world pledges allegiance to evolution (that man started low and climbed high), this passage teaches devolution: man started high and because of sin, sank into the depths of sin and degradation.
Why does man need God? Romans chapter one provides some relevant answers. First, man needs God because of . . .
1. The Truth about God’s Wrath (1:18)
We need to note that wrath is not anger as in the emotion that we experience. God isn’t sitting in heaven fuming or plotting revenge or throwing down lightning bolts. Wrath is the execution of God’s perfection. Because God is perfect, He must not tolerate sin or He would no longer be perfect.
Because God is God, because He is characteristically holy, God cannot tolerate sin, and the wrath of God is His “annihilating reaction” against sin.” God’s wrath is the display of His perfect justice. God’s disapproval of sin is not an arbitrary matter, for His very nature is one of holiness; it automatically rejects sin. You might say God’s character is such that He is “allergic to sin.”
The prophets in the OT spoke of the wrath of God in connection with the moral order that God had ordained in the world. This moral order is the present wrath of God at work. Wrath is both present, “being revealed” and ultimately future. God’s moral order is the expression of His wrath “being revealed” in the present. In other words, God made this world in such a way that we break God’s laws at our peril. Sin’s consequences are automatic responses to mankind violating God’s moral order. Now if we were left solely at the mercy of God’s unchanging moral order, there could be nothing for us but death and destruction. The world is made in such a way that the soul that sins must die. But Gospel of Jesus means that in this dilemma there comes the love of God, and that love of God by an act of unbelievable free grace, lifts man out of the consequences of sin and saves him from the wrath that he should have incurred.
What is God’s wrath directed against? God’s wrath is directed . . .
(1) Against “Godlessness” – Rejection “Godlessness” has to do with man’s rebellion and rejection of God.
(2) Against “Wickedness” – Injustice “Wickedness” has to do with man’s injustice to other men. Paul uses the two terms to show the failure of mankind in terms of God’s requirements in the original law – the Ten Commandments. Mankind is guilty of breaking both tablets of the Ten Commandments. We rebel against God and reject Him (1st tablet1-4) and we mistreat and murder one another (2nd tablet 5-10). Why do we need God? Because of the truth about God’s wrath. All men are under God’s wrath now. All people are guilty before God and therefore, God is completely just in His judgement of all men. See John 3:18, 36. The Gospel is God’s power to rescue us from wrath!
Man also needs God because of . . .
2. The Testimony of Creation (1:19-20)
Creation points to the creator who is worthy of worship. Creation, the world that we live in bears clear witness to its maker, and the evidence is “plain to them” (v.19). What is it that Paul says is plain? “God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature” (v.20). Nature reveals a powerful and wise creator who we are accountable to.
The fact that we can see God’s “invisible qualities” manifested in nature is sometimes called general or natural revelation. General revelation is what can be known about God by all people at all times. Since the beginning of time people have been able to know that there is a master designer – a creator behind what we see. Therefore, all people are without excuse. Next week we will look at what man does as a result of suppressing the truth about God. Man ends up worshiping creation instead of the creator.
Man also needs God because of . . .
3. The Testimony of Conscience (1:18, 21, 25)
Our conscience points to a standard of right and wrong and ultimately to the one who created us. Webster’s defines conscience as “the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one’s own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good.” We see evidence of conscience in this text in the following phrases: “suppress the truth” (v.18), “although they knew God . . .” (v.21), “exchanged the truth of God for a lie” (v.25).
What Paul demonstrates here is that all people have a sense of right and what is wrong. We have some inner knowledge of what is right and wrong. We have a sense of justice and injustice. This is universal although in some places among some people, the truth of conscience has been so suppressed that good has become bad and bad has become good. But that only illustrates the truth that when man rejects truth revealed in his conscience he descends ever lower into darkness and error.
R.C.H. Lenski describes this spiritual struggle that is going on in the hearts of men and women, the struggle that Paul is alluding to: “Whenever the truth starts to exert itself and makes them feel uneasy in their moral nature, they hold it down, suppress it. Some drown its voice by rushing into their immoralities; others strangle the disturbing voice by argument and denial.” How true! For most people, belief in God is not an intellectual problem, it’s a moral problem. People do not want to submit to God’s moral authority.
The truth is, we are hard wired for God but we suppress (hold down) the truth (v.18). Today, people are trying to remove God out of every area of life: out of the government, the schools, the workplace, out of all public areas. But they cannot remove God out of their mind – their conscience. Why is that? Because “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men” (Eccl. 3:11). The Bible declares that all people are created “in the image of God” (Gen. 1:26). What does that mean?
Rational – Think
Emotional – Feel
Social – Relate to Each Other
Volitional – Make Choices (this is where we lose the humanists and the atheists)
Spiritual – Relate to God
Moral – Knowledge of Good and Evil
If there is right and wrong, there must be a standard by which we make those judgements and that standard brings us back to our creator.
There are some characteristics about this testimony about God’s creation and human conscience that Paul brings out in this passage.
This testimony about creation and conscience is . . .
1. A Clear Testimony – “plain” (v.19, used 2x)
Look around and look inside.
2. A Conclusive Testimony – “understood” (v.20)
God says that people can perceive what I have created, they are able to reflect on what is created and they have the ability to reason and conclude that there must be a creator behind what is seen. People do have this innate sense of right and wrong.
3. A Constant Testimony – “since the creation of the world” (v.20)
See Acts 14:15-17; Psalm 19:1-6. Note the constancy of God’s testimony in creation with the words, “Declare,” “Proclaim,” “Day after Day,” “Night after Night.” There is no place where they (i.e., the sun and moon) are not heard (19:3). Their voice (testimony) is heard everywhere and at all times (19:4)! The message from nature about the power and glory of God reaches all nations, and is equally intelligible to them all.
4. A Conditional Testimony – “His eternal power and divine nature” (v.20)
This testimony in creation reflects certain aspects of God’s divine nature (v.20). In creation we have evidence of a powerful creator, a creator that sustains His creation (rain, crops grow), but we have to look elsewhere for the revelation (the knowledge) of God’s love, His grace, His mercy, and His salvation. For that knowledge we must look to Scripture, God’s special revelation of God in Christ (Jn. 1:1, 14; Heb. 11:1-3).
General revelation is sufficient to make all people responsible before God, but it is insufficient by itself to accomplish God’s salvation. However, God is just in condemning those who have never heard the Gospel in the full and formal sense. No one is completely without opportunity. All have known God; if they have not perceived him, it is because they have suppressed the truth. Thus all are responsible and are accountable to the knowledge that they do have. They are “without excuse” (v.20).
Recovering Our Sight (Rom. 1:16-17)
This passage then is a powerful motivation to us who are saved. To first see the lost condition of our world, of people without Christ under judgement. And to share the Gospel, the power of God. The Gospel glasses allow people to see clearly their sin and the savior (2 Cor. 3:14; 4:4, 6). This brings us back to the passage that is central to the entire message of Romans, 1:16-17. The Gospel is the power of God because when someone believes the Gospel, he or she is rescued from sin and brought into a right relationship with God. In this new relationship with God we are no longer under the wrath of God. “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9).
Prayer: Lord, thank you for not letting us continue without hope in our sinful condition. Thank you that you have provided grace and mercy so that we may be rescued from our sin and made right with you so that we are no longer under Your wrath. Give us a sense of urgency to share the Gospel which is Your power to rescue and make right people who are lost in sin and darkness. Amen.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Monday, August 3, 2009
The Gospel, God's Power to Save! Romans 1:16-17
A sermon preached at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, LA on August 2, 2009 by Pastor Joe Alain.
Scripture Reading: Romans 1:16-17
INTRODUCTION
The Blessing of Mutual Encouragement (vv.8-12)
In the opening sections of this chapter, Paul describes how he has longed to share with the believers in Rome. They have been in his prayers (vv.9-10) and Paul has desired to be with them in person. He wants to impart to them “some spiritual gift to make” them strong (v.11). The gift that he desires to bring to the Roman believers is the gift of sharing and encouragement (v.12). Paul envisions that when he arrives in Rome and begins to share with them, both the believers in Rome and Paul will be encouraged by each other’s faith.
That’s how it works among believers and that’s why sharing God’s word and our faith together is so important. As we share with each other and serve alongside with one another, we encourage one another. In what ways are you sharing with other believers? Studying God’s word together? Praying together? Encouraging your fellow believers? Serving in a ministry together? All of these things bring the blessing of mutual encouragement.
Seeing God’s Purposes and Timing (v.13)
Even though Paul has been prevented from coming to share with the Romans, he is not discouraged. He sees this as working out for God’s greater purpose. He knows that God is in control and that having to wait sometimes is for God’s greater glory and for our good. Paul knows that these delays are only going to bring about a greater spiritual harvest when he does come to Rome (v.13).
It’s important for us to understand God’s purposes and His timing. We see unfulfilled dreams, delayed answers to prayers, roadblocks in ministry as hindrances – something that should not be in our lives. But God is at work and we need to grasp by faith that He is in control. Maybe you’ve been dreaming, praying and waiting and you wonder if God is hearing and working. I can assure you that He is. Stay strong in the Lord and keep your eyes on Christ. He will show you His greater purpose and it will always be for His glory and your good.
An Obligation to Preach the Gospel (vv.14-15)
Paul was saved by grace through faith, but Paul felt a deep sense of obligation to serve in the Gospel. The Gospel, the Good News of Christ that He paid for your sins and took your punishment and rose again is complete and the benefits of what God has done are freely given to you by grace through faith. But trusting in Christ leads to a life of gratitude and living out
God’s grace.
Paul said in Philippians 2:12 that we are to continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Not “work for” but “work out.” In other words, God’s salvation is a gift, but our lives our to be grace-filled and lived out in continual gratitude to God for His great gift. This is the new direction of our life – we have been changed on the inside and given a new power to please Him. Paul was saved completely by grace and he lived in complete wonder of that event. However, Paul sensed a deep obligation to all people, “both Greeks and non-Greeks” (v.14). Because of this deep sense of obligation, Paul was eager to “preach the gospel” (v.15).
Paul’s passion for the Gospel is especially seen in our text today (verse 16) when he says, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel.” Why was Paul not ashamed? Because the Gospel “is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” The Gospel is God’s power to save! By trusting in the message of the Gospel, God makes us righteous, something that we are unable to do ourselves. This is why Paul says, “I am not ashamed.” Instead, Paul is saying “I glory in the Gospel and I feel a deep sense of obligation to share its life-changing message with all people.”
As we look at these verses, there are some key words that we need to understand. These words are found throughout the book of Romans and in Paul’s other writings as well.
Key Terms
Gospel – The Gospel is the good news that God Himself has rescued us from our sin and its punishment through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection. See 1 Cor. 15:3-4.
Salvation – Means to heal, to rescue, specifically to rescue us and free us from our sin which holds us captive. Barclay: Salvation means to rescue from danger (Matt. 8:25), from life’s infection (Acts 2:40), from lostness (Lk. 19:10), from sin (Matt. 1:21), and from God’s wrath (Rom. 5:9).
Righteousness – In the Hebrew mind, righteousness was a legal term and had to do more with legal status than a moral quality. It means to be in the right in relation to God and His law. The same form of the word is found at Matt. 5:20; Gal. 2:21; 3:21; 2 Cor. 5:21. To be righteous is to enter into a new relationship with God, a relationship of love and confidence and friendship, instead of one of separation and enmity and fear. This right relationship with God is a result of a person casting himself on the amazing mercy and love of God.
Note: God’s righteousness is “Revealed” (v.17), a pres., passive, indicative (also at 1:18) which indicates that this righteousness comes from God alone. Man did not come up with the biblical idea of righteousness, it is revealed or unveiled from God.
Faith – Belief, total acceptance, absolute trust. A firm belief in God and His word.
GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS REVEALED (vv.16-17)
These verses form the heart of this chapter and the theme of the book of Romans. Behind the truth of this passage are several realities. The first reality concerns sin, a universal problem.
I. Sin: A Universal Problem
Paul had a world-wide outlook because he knew that sin was a universal problem. The Gospel is universal (for “everyone”) because the need that the Gospel addresses is universal. All people need the Gospel (Rom. 3:10, 23). What we found on our recent mission trip to Nicaragua you will find in every corner of our town and the globe – the universal problem of sin. This is why Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel, it is the answer to man’s problem. We too should not
be ashamed.
To compound our sin problem, we are faced with a second reality; that is, we are totally unable to do anything about our sin.
II. Human Effort: An Insufficient Cure
As intelligent as the human race is, we still have yet to find a cure for what ails the human heart. We’ve learned how to contain evil doers and enact external laws to keep people in some sort of check through human power. But man has still not yet figured out how to deal with the problem of the human heart. We are powerless to cure ourselves but that doesn’t stop us from trying.
How do people attempt to deal with their sin problem? There are some of course who deny the reality of sin. What we call sin is termed a sickness, a psychological problem, some deficiency that can be explained by medical science. Other people simply are swallowed up by sin. They know they have a sin problem but they have resigned themselves to being overcome by it. Then there are others who know that sin is a problem and they try to deal with it in some religious way. For example, . . .
* By keeping the 10 commandments or living a moral life.
* By doing good or living a good life.
* By undergoing some type of religious observance such as baptism or communion.
* By joining a church.
These things are not bad, they are good things. However, none of these things can do what Paul says God’s power can do; mainly, rescue us from sin and make us right with God.
What’s Wrong with a Salvation by Human Effort?
1. Assumes man’s efforts are what is required. I am making salvation a work, something that I do to please God, when just the opposite is true. God is pleased with the work of Christ on the cross. He simply wants me to trust in that finished work.
2. Assumes sin is an external problem. I wrongly assume that when the outside appearance (problem) is fixed, the work is done. Only stressing outward acts does nothing to address the inward heart but that is exactly where the problem lies. Common sense tells us that. You can take a pig out of the pigpen and clean him up and 10 minutes later he’s back in the pig pen. Why? He’s still a pig, you’ve only cleaned him up on the outside. His basic nature has not changed.
3. Limits God’s salvation. A salvation by works by its very nature limits salvation to those who are able to “do”something or measure up to some artificial human standard. What about the rest of us who don’t measure up to that standard? Is there no hope for us?
4. No faith or God is required. If I can fix my problem I certainly don’t need faith. No need for a crucified savior here! And even worse, I don’t need God. A works salvation breeds pride, hypocrisy and a check list mentality of salvation. Remember Jesus and the Pharisees?
The third reality brings us back to the truth of our passage. God’s power contained in the Gospel is the only cure for our condition.
III. The Gospel: God’s Power to Save
This word “power” (“dunamis” also at 1 Cor. 1:18) is an interesting way to express God’s salvation, especially since Paul is in Rome, the supreme earthly “power” of the ancient world. In Rome as now, the cross was offensive, it was a stumblingblock. Why? Because the cross glorifies the weak, the powerless, the foolish. People might understand a man who would give his life for some honorable and good person, but not a person who would give his life for a sinner. That’s what Jesus did. The world then and now views power as the right to control others or the power to destroy, but from God’s perspective, creation is the measure for power. The Gospel, the death and resurrection of Jesus, rescues us from sin and creates a new relationship and a new nature inside (2 Cor. 5:17).
What Takes Place in Salvation? These verses highlight two very important aspects to what occurs when we believe the Gospel.
1. God Rescues Us from Our Sin, “Salvation”
This is the heart of the meaning of the word “salvation.”
2. God Initiates a New Standing, “Righteous”
This is the heart of the meaning of the word “righteous.” But the question is raised, “How can the Gospel be good news when the righteousness of God (or rather my unrighteousness) is our problem? My unrighteousness is why I am separated from God and under His wrath. So how is this good news – that the righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel? Here’s the answer: John Piper writes, “What is revealed in the Gospel is the righteousness of God for us that He demands from us. What we had to have, but could not create or supply or perform, God gives us freely, namely, His own righteousness, the righteousness of God. This is how God saves us. God reveals as a gift in Christ Jesus what was once only a demand.”
Another Question: Why then did God chose to reveal His righteousness in the Gospel? Why this way, through a cross?
1. So that Salvation Is Completely of the Lord. If you and I are going to be made right with God, He is going to have to do it and He will!
2. So that Salvation Would be by Faith. This is what Paul is emphasizing in these verses. “Everyone who believes” (v.16) and “The righteous will live by faith” (v.17). A better translation is, “He who through faith is righteous shall live,” (v.17). God wants us to relate to Him on a personal level, that’s why it’s by faith because faith involves believing God, trusting in Him.
3. So that Salvation Would be Possible for All People
The ground at the cross is truly level. Because righteousness comes by faith in the Gospel, its message is available to all people for all times.
When Does Salvation Take Place? The Paradox of Power
The paradox of power is that God’s power to save is only activated or realized when we realize our utter inability to save ourselves. Literally, we must become powerless, so that God’s power may be experienced. The problem is that we want to help ourselves or help God out. However, His power contained in the Gospel is only activated when we cease trying to save ourselves through human effort.
William Barclay writes about the Steps in Faith: He says that Faith begins with receptivity, then leads to mental assent, and ultimately absolute trust. The ability to be receptive, give mental assent, and ultimately absolutely surrender is from God Himself. See Acts 3:16, “The faith that comes through Him.”
Two Practical Applications
1. Gratitude for God’s Grace
Look what He’s done for us! If you are a believer, God has rescued you from your sin and He has initiated a new relationship with Him. The realization of this should move us to a great sense of gratitude to God. If that sense of gratitude is not present in your life, have you truly believed in Christ? Or are you trusting in something else? Is God perhaps moving in your heart today to give you the faith to believe in Him? Your receptive and your giving mental assent to what God is saying, now go the distance – fully surrender to Him!
2. Burden to Share God’s Gospel
As Paul, we are obligated to preach the Gospel to all people. Like Paul, we too should never be ashamed of the Gospel for it is God’s power to save! We are God’s heralds of the good news of the Gospel, the message that God will rescue people from their sins and make them right with God. While in Nicaragua, I observed open bed trucks going through the city streets announcing something over the loudspeakers set up on their truck. I asked our group leader what they were saying. He told me that since they do not have any mass way of communicating news, this is how they announce the death of someone. Think about it. You and I have a message to announce, to preach, to teach, to share, to shout from the housetops (or even flat bed trucks), but it is not a message of death, but a message of life! This is why we are not ashamed of the Gospel, for it truly “is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” This is both our burden and our joy!
Scripture Reading: Romans 1:16-17
INTRODUCTION
The Blessing of Mutual Encouragement (vv.8-12)
In the opening sections of this chapter, Paul describes how he has longed to share with the believers in Rome. They have been in his prayers (vv.9-10) and Paul has desired to be with them in person. He wants to impart to them “some spiritual gift to make” them strong (v.11). The gift that he desires to bring to the Roman believers is the gift of sharing and encouragement (v.12). Paul envisions that when he arrives in Rome and begins to share with them, both the believers in Rome and Paul will be encouraged by each other’s faith.
That’s how it works among believers and that’s why sharing God’s word and our faith together is so important. As we share with each other and serve alongside with one another, we encourage one another. In what ways are you sharing with other believers? Studying God’s word together? Praying together? Encouraging your fellow believers? Serving in a ministry together? All of these things bring the blessing of mutual encouragement.
Seeing God’s Purposes and Timing (v.13)
Even though Paul has been prevented from coming to share with the Romans, he is not discouraged. He sees this as working out for God’s greater purpose. He knows that God is in control and that having to wait sometimes is for God’s greater glory and for our good. Paul knows that these delays are only going to bring about a greater spiritual harvest when he does come to Rome (v.13).
It’s important for us to understand God’s purposes and His timing. We see unfulfilled dreams, delayed answers to prayers, roadblocks in ministry as hindrances – something that should not be in our lives. But God is at work and we need to grasp by faith that He is in control. Maybe you’ve been dreaming, praying and waiting and you wonder if God is hearing and working. I can assure you that He is. Stay strong in the Lord and keep your eyes on Christ. He will show you His greater purpose and it will always be for His glory and your good.
An Obligation to Preach the Gospel (vv.14-15)
Paul was saved by grace through faith, but Paul felt a deep sense of obligation to serve in the Gospel. The Gospel, the Good News of Christ that He paid for your sins and took your punishment and rose again is complete and the benefits of what God has done are freely given to you by grace through faith. But trusting in Christ leads to a life of gratitude and living out
God’s grace.
Paul said in Philippians 2:12 that we are to continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Not “work for” but “work out.” In other words, God’s salvation is a gift, but our lives our to be grace-filled and lived out in continual gratitude to God for His great gift. This is the new direction of our life – we have been changed on the inside and given a new power to please Him. Paul was saved completely by grace and he lived in complete wonder of that event. However, Paul sensed a deep obligation to all people, “both Greeks and non-Greeks” (v.14). Because of this deep sense of obligation, Paul was eager to “preach the gospel” (v.15).
Paul’s passion for the Gospel is especially seen in our text today (verse 16) when he says, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel.” Why was Paul not ashamed? Because the Gospel “is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” The Gospel is God’s power to save! By trusting in the message of the Gospel, God makes us righteous, something that we are unable to do ourselves. This is why Paul says, “I am not ashamed.” Instead, Paul is saying “I glory in the Gospel and I feel a deep sense of obligation to share its life-changing message with all people.”
As we look at these verses, there are some key words that we need to understand. These words are found throughout the book of Romans and in Paul’s other writings as well.
Key Terms
Gospel – The Gospel is the good news that God Himself has rescued us from our sin and its punishment through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection. See 1 Cor. 15:3-4.
Salvation – Means to heal, to rescue, specifically to rescue us and free us from our sin which holds us captive. Barclay: Salvation means to rescue from danger (Matt. 8:25), from life’s infection (Acts 2:40), from lostness (Lk. 19:10), from sin (Matt. 1:21), and from God’s wrath (Rom. 5:9).
Righteousness – In the Hebrew mind, righteousness was a legal term and had to do more with legal status than a moral quality. It means to be in the right in relation to God and His law. The same form of the word is found at Matt. 5:20; Gal. 2:21; 3:21; 2 Cor. 5:21. To be righteous is to enter into a new relationship with God, a relationship of love and confidence and friendship, instead of one of separation and enmity and fear. This right relationship with God is a result of a person casting himself on the amazing mercy and love of God.
Note: God’s righteousness is “Revealed” (v.17), a pres., passive, indicative (also at 1:18) which indicates that this righteousness comes from God alone. Man did not come up with the biblical idea of righteousness, it is revealed or unveiled from God.
Faith – Belief, total acceptance, absolute trust. A firm belief in God and His word.
GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS REVEALED (vv.16-17)
These verses form the heart of this chapter and the theme of the book of Romans. Behind the truth of this passage are several realities. The first reality concerns sin, a universal problem.
I. Sin: A Universal Problem
Paul had a world-wide outlook because he knew that sin was a universal problem. The Gospel is universal (for “everyone”) because the need that the Gospel addresses is universal. All people need the Gospel (Rom. 3:10, 23). What we found on our recent mission trip to Nicaragua you will find in every corner of our town and the globe – the universal problem of sin. This is why Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel, it is the answer to man’s problem. We too should not
be ashamed.
To compound our sin problem, we are faced with a second reality; that is, we are totally unable to do anything about our sin.
II. Human Effort: An Insufficient Cure
As intelligent as the human race is, we still have yet to find a cure for what ails the human heart. We’ve learned how to contain evil doers and enact external laws to keep people in some sort of check through human power. But man has still not yet figured out how to deal with the problem of the human heart. We are powerless to cure ourselves but that doesn’t stop us from trying.
How do people attempt to deal with their sin problem? There are some of course who deny the reality of sin. What we call sin is termed a sickness, a psychological problem, some deficiency that can be explained by medical science. Other people simply are swallowed up by sin. They know they have a sin problem but they have resigned themselves to being overcome by it. Then there are others who know that sin is a problem and they try to deal with it in some religious way. For example, . . .
* By keeping the 10 commandments or living a moral life.
* By doing good or living a good life.
* By undergoing some type of religious observance such as baptism or communion.
* By joining a church.
These things are not bad, they are good things. However, none of these things can do what Paul says God’s power can do; mainly, rescue us from sin and make us right with God.
What’s Wrong with a Salvation by Human Effort?
1. Assumes man’s efforts are what is required. I am making salvation a work, something that I do to please God, when just the opposite is true. God is pleased with the work of Christ on the cross. He simply wants me to trust in that finished work.
2. Assumes sin is an external problem. I wrongly assume that when the outside appearance (problem) is fixed, the work is done. Only stressing outward acts does nothing to address the inward heart but that is exactly where the problem lies. Common sense tells us that. You can take a pig out of the pigpen and clean him up and 10 minutes later he’s back in the pig pen. Why? He’s still a pig, you’ve only cleaned him up on the outside. His basic nature has not changed.
3. Limits God’s salvation. A salvation by works by its very nature limits salvation to those who are able to “do”something or measure up to some artificial human standard. What about the rest of us who don’t measure up to that standard? Is there no hope for us?
4. No faith or God is required. If I can fix my problem I certainly don’t need faith. No need for a crucified savior here! And even worse, I don’t need God. A works salvation breeds pride, hypocrisy and a check list mentality of salvation. Remember Jesus and the Pharisees?
The third reality brings us back to the truth of our passage. God’s power contained in the Gospel is the only cure for our condition.
III. The Gospel: God’s Power to Save
This word “power” (“dunamis” also at 1 Cor. 1:18) is an interesting way to express God’s salvation, especially since Paul is in Rome, the supreme earthly “power” of the ancient world. In Rome as now, the cross was offensive, it was a stumblingblock. Why? Because the cross glorifies the weak, the powerless, the foolish. People might understand a man who would give his life for some honorable and good person, but not a person who would give his life for a sinner. That’s what Jesus did. The world then and now views power as the right to control others or the power to destroy, but from God’s perspective, creation is the measure for power. The Gospel, the death and resurrection of Jesus, rescues us from sin and creates a new relationship and a new nature inside (2 Cor. 5:17).
What Takes Place in Salvation? These verses highlight two very important aspects to what occurs when we believe the Gospel.
1. God Rescues Us from Our Sin, “Salvation”
This is the heart of the meaning of the word “salvation.”
2. God Initiates a New Standing, “Righteous”
This is the heart of the meaning of the word “righteous.” But the question is raised, “How can the Gospel be good news when the righteousness of God (or rather my unrighteousness) is our problem? My unrighteousness is why I am separated from God and under His wrath. So how is this good news – that the righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel? Here’s the answer: John Piper writes, “What is revealed in the Gospel is the righteousness of God for us that He demands from us. What we had to have, but could not create or supply or perform, God gives us freely, namely, His own righteousness, the righteousness of God. This is how God saves us. God reveals as a gift in Christ Jesus what was once only a demand.”
Another Question: Why then did God chose to reveal His righteousness in the Gospel? Why this way, through a cross?
1. So that Salvation Is Completely of the Lord. If you and I are going to be made right with God, He is going to have to do it and He will!
2. So that Salvation Would be by Faith. This is what Paul is emphasizing in these verses. “Everyone who believes” (v.16) and “The righteous will live by faith” (v.17). A better translation is, “He who through faith is righteous shall live,” (v.17). God wants us to relate to Him on a personal level, that’s why it’s by faith because faith involves believing God, trusting in Him.
3. So that Salvation Would be Possible for All People
The ground at the cross is truly level. Because righteousness comes by faith in the Gospel, its message is available to all people for all times.
When Does Salvation Take Place? The Paradox of Power
The paradox of power is that God’s power to save is only activated or realized when we realize our utter inability to save ourselves. Literally, we must become powerless, so that God’s power may be experienced. The problem is that we want to help ourselves or help God out. However, His power contained in the Gospel is only activated when we cease trying to save ourselves through human effort.
William Barclay writes about the Steps in Faith: He says that Faith begins with receptivity, then leads to mental assent, and ultimately absolute trust. The ability to be receptive, give mental assent, and ultimately absolutely surrender is from God Himself. See Acts 3:16, “The faith that comes through Him.”
Two Practical Applications
1. Gratitude for God’s Grace
Look what He’s done for us! If you are a believer, God has rescued you from your sin and He has initiated a new relationship with Him. The realization of this should move us to a great sense of gratitude to God. If that sense of gratitude is not present in your life, have you truly believed in Christ? Or are you trusting in something else? Is God perhaps moving in your heart today to give you the faith to believe in Him? Your receptive and your giving mental assent to what God is saying, now go the distance – fully surrender to Him!
2. Burden to Share God’s Gospel
As Paul, we are obligated to preach the Gospel to all people. Like Paul, we too should never be ashamed of the Gospel for it is God’s power to save! We are God’s heralds of the good news of the Gospel, the message that God will rescue people from their sins and make them right with God. While in Nicaragua, I observed open bed trucks going through the city streets announcing something over the loudspeakers set up on their truck. I asked our group leader what they were saying. He told me that since they do not have any mass way of communicating news, this is how they announce the death of someone. Think about it. You and I have a message to announce, to preach, to teach, to share, to shout from the housetops (or even flat bed trucks), but it is not a message of death, but a message of life! This is why we are not ashamed of the Gospel, for it truly “is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” This is both our burden and our joy!
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