Romans Chapter 3:3-10

Is that Bible on the coffee table profitable?

It is if you open it and read from it. I want you to get the maximum benefit from this book because this book has the power to change lives. This book has the power to change the way we think, the way we act, the way we live, the way we love, if we open it.

Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. It's true that most of us have Bibles all over our houses.

But the question is, do we read them? Find out why a Bible is better for you if you open it up today as Pastor David continues in the book of Romans chapter 3. But before we get into today's teaching, from beginning to end, the Bible shows the special nature of God's relationship with the nation of Israel.

But what does that have to do with you today? Romans chapter 11 tells us that God's covenant relationship with Israel has huge implications for you. To help you understand more, Pastor David wants to send you his teaching video recorded in the Holy Land called Israel, the Bible and You. This powerful resource will encourage and strengthen you as you learn how connected you are with God's chosen people. Israel, the Bible and You is our gift to thank you for your donation to help more people on this station and beyond cross the bridge from death to life. So visit crossthebridge.com to request your copy.

Again, that's crossthebridge.com. Now here's David McGee with part two of his teaching, The Word of God. Turn with me to Romans chapter 3. And we talked about before that this book of Romans has impacted not only personal lives, but it's also impacted human history because Martin Luther was so impacted by this that he helped fuel the fires of the Reformation a few hundred years ago. And the whole landscape in Europe changed. Church government changed.

Human governments changed. The awesome thing is, same Bible, same Holy Spirit is here today to change your life through these same words. Let's go to verse 3, chapter 3, verse 3. It says, For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?

Certainly not. Indeed, let God be true in every man alike, as it is written that you may be justified in your words and may overcome when you are judged. Verse 5, But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say?

Is God unjust to inflict wrath? I speak as a man. Paul is engaging in what we term rhetoric or his persuasive argument or kind of guiding the thought process of the reader by asking questions. And rhetoric, that's where we get the term rhetorical question. In other words, sometimes you'll ask a question that you really don't want an answer for. That's a rhetorical question. If you, you know, talking about a parent, if you ask your child, haven't I told you a thousand times to clean up your room? You know, you're not really wanting an answer, are you?

You're not wanting your child to look back and go, actually closer to 665, I think. But no, no, no, you're really not wanting an answer. That's a rhetorical question. So what Paul is trying to do is trying to get us to think.

And he says, hey, because we mess up, does that mean God is unjust? Absolutely not. Some people use this argument. It takes a different form. It's like, well, if God knew we were going to mess up and he created us with this free choice, isn't that like God creating evil?

Absolutely not. God created us with this ability to choose. We are responsible for our choices.

What happens is you have children and as they grow up, they become responsible for their own choices. And certainly if somebody, well, God committed me with the ability to commit murder. So if I commit murder, it's God's fault.

Well, no, no, no, no, it's not. And people try to discuss this and argue this. No, God gave you the ability to choose. Now, if God created you where you didn't have a choice about not committing a murder and then held you accountable for committing murder, that would be unfair. But God gives us choice. He gives each one of us the ability to choose.

Verse six, certainly not. Then how will God judge the world? In other words, if God is unjust, how can God judge the world? And again, we hear this flawed logic from people sometimes. Well, and this is at the heart of the question, people go, well, what about the people who haven't heard? And what they're saying is there's a flaw in God's plan that other people haven't heard and yet he's holding them responsible for knowing the truth. To me, that's kind of a painful discussion because if there's somebody on the face of this planet who hasn't heard about Jesus Christ right now, today, that's not God's fault. Friend, that has more to do with you and I, whether we support a church, whether we support missions. Does church heavily engage in the missions? Why?

Because we want everybody to hear. But that discussion is almost like, well, you know, there's a flaw in God's plan. No, no, no, no, no. There's not a flaw in God's plan. There may be a flaw in us acting out God's plan, but there's not a flaw in his plan. Let's read on. Verse seven, for if the truth of God has increased through my life to his glory, why am I also judged as a sinner? Continue verse eight. And why not say, let us do evil that good may come.

Look at this. As we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say their condemnation is just. If we were saying these things, then that would be bad. See, people were slandering Paul and going around saying, well, Paul is saying this and Paul is saying that.

And can you imagine? People used to do this. So glad they don't do it anymore. Slander and men of God and pastors. I just can't imagine people doing that. Somebody told me they still do that. Not, not you guys.

The 1130 service. Some of those I've heard stories. No, but it's interesting.

Paul, great man of God. People are running around, run their mouth about it. So why should I be surprised?

Why should you be surprised if that happens? Guys, that's just part of it. People are always going to, as a matter of fact, you know what I found the more effective God uses you, the more people will run around and run their mouth. Paul here is communicating the problem and he's going to come up with the answer, but he's, he's kind of, he's walking us through this thing.

And let's understand too, because I've got to, I need to balance this out as we, we go through this. There are people that say, well, we are under grace and we are. And therefore, since we're under grace, there's no accountability. There's no responsibility to do anything that the Bible really says to us because we're under grace.

That is bad teaching. There's a, the view is called antinomianism. It's a long, complicated word, but that basically means because of grace, you can now do whatever you want to do. Marconian and other people, second century on taught this heresy. It is heresy. There is a responsibility.

There is accountability. The book of James points out that no, because of that grace, we now are responsible and accountable to start doing the things that the word of God talks about. We need to begin to die to our old selves, die to our selfish ways, die to our old life and begin to live the new life that Jesus has called us to live. We see that picture in the book and in the act of baptism and baptism, you're symbolized. You're going down with the death of Jesus into the water. That's the burial of Jesus Christ. When you come back up, that's the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And now you're going to live for him. Die to the old, live for the new.

It's been called a watery grave. You're dying to your old self and living for the new. Romans chapter six, verse one says this. Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more kindness and forgiveness?

Of course not. Since we've died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Romans six, 15. So since God's grace has set us free from the law, does this mean we can go on sinning?

Of course not. See, when grace happens, now you're set free. Set free to do whatever you want to. No, set free to love God, love people.

Your past is now pardoned, so you're free to do that. Now some of you are going, well, but I still struggle with sin. Me too. Me too.

Why? Because the old nature just tries to cling to us, doesn't it? Is that just me?

No, it's all of us. That old nature tries to cling. It's like you've got a dead man clinging to your leg and you're trying to walk around. It's like, dead guy, let go of me. I mean, that's kind of a weird visual, I guess, but I mean, that really is what's going on. And, you know, apparently the dead guy, he kind of acts like he's alive, doesn't he?

I mean, you can look at him and go, well, it looks like he's just sleeping. No, he's dead. Let him stay dead. But what we do sometimes, we get around, we start playing with our old lives and maybe we move his arms around and we make him look like he's alive.

Let the old way, the old nature die and live in the newness of life. You're listening to Pastor David McGee on Cross the Bridge. He'll be back with more powerful insight from God's Word in just a moment. But first, God's grace and mercy is greater than any of us could ever fathom. That's why he's been so faithful to the nation of Israel throughout the ages.

And he's not finished. He's promised to remain true to them to the end. We want to show you what God's faithfulness toward Israel says about his relationship with you by sending you Pastor David's teaching video, Israel, the Bible and You. In this exciting teaching recorded in the heart of the Holy Land, Pastor David unpacks important truths from God's relationships with Israel that impact your life today. Israel, the Bible and You is our gift to thank you for your donation to help more people on this station and beyond cross the bridge from death to life. So visit crossthebridge.com to request yours.

Again, that website is crossthebridge.com. Now, back to today's teaching. Verse 9, what then are we better than they? Not at all, for we've previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.

Now, this is interesting. First of all, let's understand, in a system, the biblical system of grace, you understand there is no place for spiritual pride? You cannot have spiritual pride on a system built on grace.

You can't do it. If you have spiritual pride, that's a stench to God. Because, friend, if you could earn your salvation, if you could earn your forgiveness, friend, you'd have changed the face of the planet. If there was one person that could live a holy life, never messing up, not only not doing what he shouldn't do, but doing all that he should do, you would have changed the face of history. Why? Jesus Christ would have never came to this planet. He'd have never died for us.

Why? He wouldn't have had to. But, no, that's not what happened, is it? There's no way. There was no way for us to get it. You could not earn your way to God. Well, friend, if you couldn't earn your way to God, how can you take a bow for it after he so graciously gives you forgiveness? Of course, when I put that away, well, no, no, no. Nobody would do that.

We do it all the time. Friend, let me put it like this. If you're sitting in here this morning, you believe in Jesus, you've asked him to forgive you of your sins, what is the difference between you and an unbeliever, somebody that rejects Jesus, rejects God, maybe he's doing all sorts of horrible things. What's the real difference between the two of you?

A short, simple prayer. That's it. Not that you're a better person, not that God looked down and he saw that spark of innate human goodness in you and decided somehow you were worth saving, but the guy or the girl you work with, yeah, they're just not going to cut the mustard.

That's not what happened. So Paul is saying, let's look at this. We're all condemned. We're all condemned under the law. I want you to notice the pronouns in verse 9.

Look at this. What then are we better than they? What's Paul talking about? Paul was Jewish. This is years after his conversion, and he still considered himself Jewish, a Jewish Christian, but he didn't feel like he needed to not consider himself a Jew to become a Christian.

Paul is trying to deal with the spiritual pride that had crept into the Jewish people. Now we can sit there and go, oh, those silly Jewish people, or we can, again, let's bring it into personal application. You think we have any spiritual pride about being an American? Yeah, we do.

We do. We have a spiritual heritage. Praise God we have a spiritual heritage. But as time goes on and revisionists move us further and further from that spiritual heritage, we get further and further from the source of the blessings that God has placed upon this land.

We need to be real careful in this area. Now, Paul is saying we're all condemned. We're all under this pronouncement of guilt. The life lesson here is no one can achieve forgiveness through the law. No one can achieve forgiveness through the law. We all stand condemned under the law. We all stand justly accused, condemned, and guilty, and the only question left is who's going to pay the sentence.

That's the only real question. You're guilty, friend. And if somebody, it's rare, but occasionally you'll run across somebody that will try to have the discussion whether they're guilty or whether they've ever sinned, which is just an interesting discussion. But occasionally you'll run into people. You know, the sad thing is there are usually church people that will question that. As a matter of fact, there is a group out there that believes once that they're a Christian for very long that they get to the place where they don't sin anymore. But according to the Bible, we all stand condemned. Galatians 3.22 says, But the Scriptures have declared that we are all prisoners of sin, so the only way to receive God's promise is to believe in Jesus Christ. Again, I mean, are Christians better than non-Christians? Is it because we just are so much better people that God is going to honor us by granting us access into heaven and forgiveness?

No, it's not. It's by His grace, and that strikes at the heart of religious pride. And all of us, all of us want to engage in spiritual pride. We do.

Why? Because we feel like we've done something to earn our way into heaven, that God set up the system so beautifully, so masterfully that it doesn't work like that. In His wisdom, Ephesians 2, 8, 9, He tells us, He said, You know, it's by grace, so you can't boast, so you can't brag about it.

He knows us, folks. If you could earn your way into heaven, He knows you would brag about it. I know I would. If I could earn my way to heaven, I would walk around. And it would be a bizarre form of witnessing, wouldn't it? I'd walk around and go, Well, I got mine. You got yours. Have you earned your way yet?

Oh, I can tell by looking at you, you don't have it yet. But we do a mild form of that, don't we? The difference between a believer and an unbeliever? Oh, our eternal destiny is radically different.

But at the heart of it, that short, simple prayer, asking God to forgive us and give us His grace, telling Him we believe He died for us, asking Him to give us the power to live for Him. Imagine, if you will, you're on a plane. You've got a parachute. The person beside you does not have a parachute. The fact that you have a parachute doesn't make you better than the person beside you that doesn't have a parachute.

But here's what it means, friend. If the plane is going down, it means you are prepared for what's coming in your future. And the person without the parachute is not prepared.

That's a graphic difference. And the reality is all of us are in a plane at some point that's going down. Everybody will die. In the history of mankind, there was only one that beat death, and that was Jesus.

Nobody else will ever do that unless it's through Him. And when we begin to understand that, when we begin to understand that the foot across the ground is all level, it begins to change the way we think, change the way we live. And this is why Paul beautifully, beautifully, Romans chapter 1, deals with the unrighteous, but then he goes right into chapter 2 and begins to deal with the self-righteous, and then in chapter 3 begins to deal with those who are religiously self-righteous and says, you know what, you're still a sinner. It doesn't matter what your heritage is.

It doesn't matter what you know, what you don't know. You're still a sinner. See, because they started believing that they were justified by what they did. Now, before you go, well, they're silly Jewish people. I haven't met so many church people that do this. The two-question test, are you going to heaven?

Yep. But then you ask them, why do you believe that? And you'll get some interesting answers. One thing that I hear a lot is, because I go to church. Well, that's great you go to church, but going to church doesn't make you a Christian. You've probably heard the analogy, but if going to church makes you a Christian, I guess then going to Krispy Kreme makes you a doughnut.

And then you go to McDonald's, now you're a Big Mac, so you've got a really weird life. But going to church doesn't make you, it helps strengthen you as a Christian. Another one I hear, well, I'm a Christian because I believe in God. That's the answer, not the right one. Book of James records that even the demons believe in God and tremble.

There's none of them. Or the ever classic, I've kept most of the Ten Commandments. Nobody's kept most of the Ten Commandments. Most people, and if you're sitting here thinking, well, I've only broke one or two. No, you've broken more than that. Okay, let me ask you a question. Have you ever told a lie? Some of you told one this morning when your wife said, does this look good?

Sorry. We even have little white lies and lies that, you know, it was kind of weird that remake of Miracle of the 34th Street. The guy said, what's better, a truth that brings a tear or a lie that brings a smile?

I thought, man, how sinister is that? I'd rather have the truth that brings a tear. So you've lied. What does that make you, a good person?

No, it makes you a liar. You ever taken something that wasn't yours? Yes, you have. When you're in school, you borrowed paper. That was a weird, can I borrow a piece of paper? Did you ever give that piece of paper back? Some of you have tools in your house that don't belong to you.

That's stealing. What does that make you, a good person? No, it makes you a thief. You ever use God's name inappropriately, blaspheme the name of God, hit your hand with a hammer, said something you shouldn't have said?

What does that make you, a good person? It makes you a blasphemer. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Now, some of you sitting here go, well, I've never committed adultery. Jesus said if you looked at somebody in your heart and lusted after them, you've committed adultery. So with a show of hands.

No, I'm kidding. So how are we doing on the Ten Commandments so far? Well, so far, you're a lying, thieving, blaspheming adulterer. Do I need to continue or can we stop there? I think we stop there. See, this was a problem that Paul was dealing with then.

It's a problem we deal with now. And Jesus pointed us out in John 5, verse 45. He says, do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believe Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? Jesus says you're trusting in the Ten Commandments. You're trusting in legalism to get you to God, to get you into heaven, to get you forgiven.

That's not going to happen. That's something Jesus was dealing with. That's something Paul was dealing with.

That's something we deal with now. Because the next verse takes everybody out. Verse 10, and we'll end with this for a minute. It is written, there is none righteous. No, not one.

Not one. In this room, right now, not one person can be self-righteous. Not one person is righteous in and of themselves. Not anybody who's listening. Those who are watching on television, those who are listening to radio, those who are in different parts of the building, not one. No person can say, well, I can earn my salvation. Not one person. We need to remember that when God got ahold of all of us, any of us, we were a mess. Because, see, I can begin to think, well, I'm a pastor.

Kind of heard this. No, no, no, no. Through God's grace and his grace alone. Final life lesson here. We are all sinners in desperate need of a Savior. We are all sinners in desperate need of a Savior. See, when you go to lunch or whatever you do after you leave here, and maybe you sit down in a restaurant, and you look at somebody maybe that hasn't been to church, maybe they look a little hungover.

Maybe they were out late last night doing things they shouldn't do. There's a tendency for us to look at that person and go, oh, they really need Jesus. Oh, they do. Just like you.

No more, no less. We're all desperate for Jesus. We all need Jesus. And this is what Paul is presenting here. And if you've ever gotten the idea that Christians are better than you if you don't consider yourself a Christian. And, friend, if you don't think that's a truth, you go ask people out in the world why they won't come to Jesus. This is a big barrier.

This is a big wall. They'll say, well, because I can't be like them. What do you mean, can't be like them? Well, I can't act like they do. What do you mean, can't act like them? Well, I can't do the right things and say the right things like they do. They don't understand how desperate we are for Jesus.

See, that's why at the foot of the cross the ground is all level. It doesn't matter if you're rich, poor, tall, short, where you were born, how old you are. It doesn't matter. We all need Jesus. It doesn't matter if you've been mostly good all your life.

You've never done drugs or drank or been thrown in jail or heard of people like that. You still need Jesus. You still need Jesus.

Or maybe you have done those things and more. And the awesome thing is one of our Savior's favorite words is come. Come.

I love that. Jesus, come. Jesus doesn't say you need to get things squared away. Jesus, come. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Now, God wants you to pray this prayer so much that He died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask Him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe You died for me that I could be forgiven. And I believe You were raised from the dead that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned.

And I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for You all of my days. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. Jesus said He would not turn anybody away who comes to Him.

And He came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness, those who were sick, not the righteous. So congratulations, friend. You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can call us toll-free at 877-458-5508 to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ. Before we go, we want to encourage you in your faith so that you can experience more of the grace and love of God for you. That's why we'd like to send you Pastor David's teaching video recorded in the heart of the Holy Land called Israel, the Bible, and You. This encouraging look into the history of Israel and God's covenant faithfulness to His chosen people will help you take bold new steps in your relationship with God. Israel, the Bible, and You is our gift to thank you for your donation to help more people on this station and beyond cross the bridge from death to life. So visit crossthebridge.com now to request your copy. And be sure to join us next time on Cross the Bridge with David McGee to hear more from the book of Romans. See you then.