Finding Purpose- Romans with Kenny Jones: 5

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I can do this, but I can't do that. Do you feel like your efforts to reach God, find God, and please God are futile? Do you feel like your faith is dead or alive? Looking at scripture will help us answer these questions. Join us on Finding Purpose, glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living.

For more information on the ministry, please visit online at findingpurpose.net or connect with us on Facebook. Let's listen to guest speaker Mr. Kenny Jones as he leads us through Romans, teaching us how to be a Christian without putting on that last layer of bread before he puts that little toothpick in the sandwich and serves it to the crowd. Because what he is doing one more time is making sure you understand and the reader understands that there is no one on the face of the earth who is righteous before God apart from Christ.

There is no one on this earth that has been born or has been passed away that was born perfect outside the Lord Jesus Christ. And as you've just unpacked together in your small group and even in your individual time for preparation for tonight, it's not an easy message, Romans 3, 1 through 20. But it's one nonetheless that you need to understand and in fact all of the world understands. Tonight what we're going to see in these first 20 verses is a message that is crystal clear. When you hold up the righteousness of God and you put man in front of it, you realize that everyone is guilty.

Everyone is guilty. But the reality is of what we face and you can see it on the news, you can see it on social media, you even see it in the day to day activity of just your everyday life. People don't want to hear this message. It's one of the hardest things to do when you're sharing the gospel or inviting someone to church or just trying to tell people about your faith. As soon as you begin to talk about Christ and as soon as you begin to talk about sin, what happens?

People begin to back away. I told you guys a couple of weeks ago that, or a couple of months ago now, I was sharing the gospel with a guy in Cameron Village. And as soon as I got to the sin part, guess what happened? He bolted.

Literally left. And that's the reality of what Paul's message brings to the forefront of everybody's mind and heart. No one is righteous, no not one. And so tonight, as Paul's making that final argument before we get to the gospel, right before he gets to that sweet part there in verse 21 and forward into chapter 3.

Tonight we're going to be looking at three points together and I pray that you've got an outline. So what we're going to see tonight is one, how Paul, still writing to his Jewish brethren and as well as to the Roman Christians, he first writes for them to understand the privileges they have of being Israel. The privilege, the advantage they have of being a Jewish man or woman. So we're going to see what it means if one of the privileges they had was having the word, having the Old Testament. The second thing is even though they had the law, even though they had the word of God, they broke it.

But that raises a question. Since they broke it, does that mean God is broken or is God unfaithful? And Paul answers in the most emphatic way, no, no, no. And then the third thing we see as his argument continues to move forward, he then writes, and with icing on the cake and with every single candle on the cake, he then writes from verses 9 through 20, there is no one who is righteous. And what he does is he goes back to the scriptures to prove his point.

And that's what we're going to see this evening. So I pray that you've got your Bibles with you and let's begin our journey in verses 1 through 20. And before we go any further, like we do every time, we need God's help to understand the word. And so we need, and I need his help as I'm going to be preaching the word tonight. Let's go to Lord in prayer and ask for the Spirit's help tonight. So if you will, let's bow our heads and let's go to the throne of grace.

God, we need you tonight. Lord, this is not a tough and easy message. Lord, it's a tough message for the world to hear and even for those in us in this room to realize once again the severity of sin and why your wrath is being poured out upon sinners. God, I pray for tonight that the man in here, or maybe the man watching online who doesn't know you, and once they hear this message, they realize, I am a sinner.

What am I to do? Father, I pray that they will see Christ, see his grace, see his mercy, see what the cross did for him. God, I pray that as we open up your word, Lord, teach us by your Spirit. Lord, apply the word onto our hearts. Father, sanctify us in your truth. Lord, grow us where we need to grow and encourage us where we need to be encouraged. I pray that for myself. Father, help me to disappear. Lord, may you increase and I decrease, and may in everything that we learn tonight be for the honor of your great name. Lord, we love you and we pray these things in Christ's good name.

Amen. Let's look at our first point. Our first point is the privilege of having the word of God. I know a lot of you watch TV like I do from time to time, and if you've watched any legal TV show, you probably, or some of you in here are attorneys yourself, but you've probably heard the phrase, object. And if you're an attorney, you know when someone says it on TV, or even if you are a practicing attorney, you know that's always what an objection does. It's the protest raised by an attorney when they think something has been done in error.

That's why you hear on Law and Order or Perry Mason, I object. They're objecting to what has been said. And Paul here, in verses one through two, begins to raise these objections.

And I believe it's a two-fold thing. As his argument is being sealed shut, I think he's raising logical questions to make sure that his argument is crystal clear. But I also think on the other side of it, he's also hearing from his writers, from his Jewish brethren, from his brothers, that there are other objections that they are raising to the forefront to Paul, to trick him and make sure he understands the word, making sure he knows what he is talking about. And with these objections, what we see is that the first thing he's facing here is the privilege of what it means to be a Jewish person. He says then, in verse one, what then advantage has the Jew? What advantage has the Jew? They are a chosen people. They are Israel.

They are, even though they have the law, even though they have circumcision, that within itself is a blessing. But what Paul has been saying over the last couple of chapters is that doesn't save apart from Christ. Paul's wanting them to see that there is an advantage to being a Jewish person. They are to be a light to the Gentiles. They are to help. Their lives are to be consumed with God.

But what we have seen over the last couple of weeks is they are actors. They are hypocrites. What Paul wants them to see of having the advantage of being a Jew is that their whole life is to be consumed with God. If you were to go back into the Old Testament, specifically Deuteronomy, when you start maybe in chapter four or five and go all the way through chapter eight, you can write that down. What you find in those chapters is when they eat, when they sit, when they sleep, when they work, everything is to be consumed with the worship and the honor of God.

And with that, that is an immense advantage. That is a blessing for the Jewish person. And Paul says the reason why that's one of the advantage of how their life is an all-consuming worship and honor of God, look with me in verse two. You have the word of God.

That's his first objection. You have the word of God. You have the Old Testament.

Some of you, I'm reading from the ESV, which says that they were to begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. I like how the NIV says the very words of God and the NASB, which some of you may have, says the actual words of God. Paul says there in verse two, he says, what Paul is saying there, if you were to look at it in the Greek, you would see that the word first is mentioned there. But Paul is not talking about showing a sequence. What he is showing is an order of importance. For example, if you go back to Matthew chapter six and specifically verse 33, what you would find there is that when Jesus is giving or explaining the discourse to his disciples on not to worry, he says how you don't worry is you seek first the kingdom of God.

That is a priority for you in order for you not to be anxious. And that's what Paul is saying here. You first, or with more of much importance, you have the oracles of God, the actual words of God.

That is an advantage. And in fact, the Old Testament ascribes to that. They even show that they are a people with a distinct privilege. It says in Deuteronomy chapter four, it has all the law that is set before you today. And Psalm 147 verses 19 through 20, he declares his word to Jacob, his statutes, his rules to Israel.

Has he not dealt thus with any other nation that they do not know his rules? Praise the Lord. What the Psalmist is saying, Israel, you have the law, nations, surrounding nations, you don't have it.

What a blessing it is. And they have the Old Testament and it contained how to live. It also contained, as we saw in Romans chapter one, the echoes of the Messiah, the promises of the Messiah. It prophesied that Jesus is coming and in the Old Testament foretold of all those Old Testament promises of a coming Messiah. But it also told them in the Old Testament that they were to believe just like their father Abraham.

But guess what? And I'd be remiss not to say it again. They failed to obey the law. And I want to center on those words there of God. Because Israel, they were custodians of the word of God. Of God, there in verse two. Because I want you to see, men, that it is the actual words of God that they had. Men, when you come to the scriptures, I want you to see that it's by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, taking men like Paul, taking men like Moses, who wrote the first five books of the Bible. And you see the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of these men to pin the actual words of God.

When the word of God is being proclaimed, just like now, the Holy Spirit is always going to be accompanied with it. The same thing in the Old Testament. When the law was being preached, just like if you were looking Deuteronomy, you were always going to see an active work of the Spirit helping people to be conformed more into the image of the Lord.

It's always going to be coming hand in hand. In the Old Testament, you see people, it told them how to live, how to worship, how to honor God. The word drove Israel to God himself. That's what we see with the power of the word. And men, to give you a point of application here, what an immense blessing and advantage that you have for having the entire canon of scripture. Men, do you realize that the 66 books that you have are the actual words of God? They are the infallible word of God, which means they are without error. They are sharper with any two-edged sword. They were perfect. They were living. And they are active.

And they never return void, even now. Men, don't ever forget the advantage of what the word of God is to you. It's October. In the month of October, yes, we celebrate Halloween, but someone who's like me, a preacher, you also want to celebrate the Protestant Reformation. One of the firing rods for the Reformation there, probably one of the early fathers of it, was stood on the word of God. And this is what he said to echo what Paul is saying. He said, Scripture, although also written of men, is not of men nor from men, but from God. Going back a couple hundred words previously to Irenaeus, who was an early church father in the early centuries, said this, Scriptures are indeed perfect, since they are the spoken word of God and His Spirit. Men, there has always been and will be a battle over the Bible.

Always has been. You probably may or may not know, but of course during the 80s there was a battle of the Bible between the Presbyterians and a lot of Southern Baptists out there trying to hold on to the word of God. Some lost, some won. The Baptists won. But men, there are two things you need to understand when it comes to the Bible.

And the good thing is, I'm a Baptist preacher, so I won. But here's the reality. There's always two beliefs. One is the infallible word of God. Two, this book that you have here is just relevant stories to help you live a good life.

It's always going to be that case. Men, there's always those two beliefs when you come to the word. The question you need to ask yourself, and this is a serious question, do you believe this is the word of God? Do you believe this is the infallible word of God? Do you believe that this is the tool that God has given us, given you, given me, to be able to shape our lives? To be able to grow us in our sanctification?

To transform us from one glory to another? Men, you need the Bible. You need the Bible like the breath in your lungs. Because let me tell you this, when times get tough, and they will, just like Job's friends, your friends are going to tell you all these worldly things to do walking through the valley of the shadow of death. I tell you from my own personal experience that it is the promises of God that are going to hold on deeper than a friend's words when you are going through what it seems like death itself. Because when you do go through the other end of the tunnel, what always recalls in your minds is the Bible.

That's what you hold on to, men. And that's what we see here from Paul's argument. You have an advantage. You have the Bible. Believe in it.

Read it. And obey it. Which leads us to our second point. So they have the law. They have the Old Testament law. But since they are hypocrites, as Paul calls them, since they are actors before God, since they don't obey the law, does that mean the person who gave them the law is unfaithful? As Paul said in the beginning, in the most emphatic terms, no.

No. And what he does here with these objections, just like an attorney, he then wants to defend two different attributes of God. The first is God's faithfulness. The second is the righteousness of God. And both of them he upholds as what the scripture upholds as God is faithful and God is altogether righteous. He is holy.

And God's attributes up. So the first one he takes is the faithfulness of God. When you think about faithful, you have to think of one who is trustworthy. One who is going to hold their end of the deal. One who is going to, you can trust them and hold on to their promises no matter what happens. It's very much, for example, if you think about a parent to a child. I told you a couple of weeks ago, I've got three girls and when someone, one of my girls disobeys, it's not as when I'm going there to discipline them and I talk to them. I go to my oldest Eleanor, Eleanor, listen, you're mean to your sister. I don't love you for the next 12 hours. And tomorrow we'll reevaluate and we'll see how you do. No.

It didn't work that way. The reality is, is though I discipline, though I talk to her, she knows her dad loves her. She knows her mom loves her. No matter what. I will always love them.

I'll always love them no matter what they do. And that's exactly the picture that Paul is painting for us here in verses three through four. Even though some of the Jews are unfaithful, does that mean God is unfaithful?

No. And that needs to be stated at the get-go. What Paul says here with this idea of some Jews, does it mean that all Jews are doomed? Paul says no. And what he's doing here is he's laying the groundwork to chapters nine through eleven, which men, that is some heavy, heavy material to go through.

We'll get to it, Lord willing, together. What Paul says here is he's laying the groundwork to distinguish between a Jew and a Jew. Let me say it another way for us to understand that. Those who are found faithful and those who are found unfaithful. Those who believe in the Lord and those who don't believe in the Lord. Let me say it even a third way. Because what he's setting the stage for, as he's going to get in much more detail, as he says in Romans chapter nine verse six, but it is not as though the word of God has failed.

Sound familiar? That's what he's saying here. Those who believe in the Lord will belong to Israel. What Paul is showing us is that though despite the Jews unfaithfulness, there are some who do believe by faith in Christ.

They do have a glorious future. They will be in heaven with God forever. But the logical question comes to mind for Paul. If you're God's chosen people entrusted with the law, yet you break it, does that mean God is wrong? Does his word return void? I think Paul answers this in the best way.

And write this down underneath your second point. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verses 11 through 13. Go back and re-read these verses.

Because this is what he says. The saying is trustworthy. For if we have died with him, we will also live with him. Already see his faithfulness? God's faithfulness? If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful.

For he cannot deny himself. Isn't that a good promise to hold onto? Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when we were walking through Genesis chapter 15 with God's covenant with Abraham? And you remember God told Abraham, I want you to get some animals. We're going to cut them in two. And then when Abraham falls into a deep sleep, do you remember what happens?

The smoking pot goes through those dead animals. And what that shows is this. God says to Abraham, Abraham, when you are unfaithful, I will be faithful. God will. He says to Abraham, if I'm unfaithful, let me be like those dead animals.

Cut in two. What a dramatic statement coming from the eternal God himself. But what we find is just like Paul says, if we are faithless, he remains faithful because he cannot deny himself. God is eternal. He is holy. He is perfect. He cannot go against himself.

R.C. Sproul says it best. This is how we live as Christians. We trust God that he is not like us. We break our promises. We lie to each other. But God cannot lie because of his eternal being and his character is truth. Amen.

That's good as gold, isn't it? That God remains faithful. Here's the second thing he does. He now raises the objection by the righteousness of God because then Paul goes into quoting Psalm 51 verse four. He says that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged. So why does he quote Psalm 51?

First of all, I need the context. Psalm 51 is the great confession psalm of David. He had just committed the murder of Uriah, adultery with Bathsheba, and if you want to know more about that, you can write this down as well.

Second Samuel chapter 11 and chapter 12, if you want to read that account there. But David there, as he is confronted with his sin, he is driven to his knees in his confession. Yes, he has committed sin against his wives, his kingdom, Uriah's family, but what it comes down to is more than anything, as he says in Psalm 51 verse three, For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is always before me.

Against you and only you have I sinned. He can't escape it. And just like Jean Beaujean, remember that in Les Miserables? Remember his whole life he is just engulfed and running away from his guilt.

Remember, Jean Beaujean can't escape his guilt. Same thing here with David. And what David is saying here before God, before you God, I can't hide.

I can't hide. And so what he says is this, I want the judgment of God to stand out with my sin. That is what he is saying here. I want God's righteousness to be seen first. What a statement to make in that confession. And that is why Paul throws himself down on God's mercy and his steadfast love. But David wants, he wants his righteousness to be seen. Which is why David says in his confession that God is just to punish him however he wills. Because he wants his righteousness to stand out. What a confession. So often when we confess our sin we are holding something back. But here David lays everything on the line.

All of his cards are on the table before God. Men, we have a human tendency to justify ourselves. What Paul does here is he hits back with a one-two punch. And he goes on further to defend the righteousness of God in verses five through eight.

And here he addresses just, I mean just nasty thinking. Because to the Jew they say well this, sin is good. Because what it shows is God's righteous standard.

Let me say it another way. It is okay for me to sin because God has already forgiven me. God will be glorified even though I'm going to sin.

What a nasty thought. What Paul is coming to bat for and defending against with the scriptures is his idea of cheap grace. He doesn't want them to see that they can make light and throw and just step on God's mercy and grace.

So he defends it. And he says to the Jew, okay sin is good. It's going to show God's righteous standard. Is that good Paul? Paul says no. By no means.

He hits it right to the chest. Paul echoes this in Acts and Romans chapter six verse one. What shall we say them? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it? Men, do you realize what you have been saved from? Do you realize you have been saved for the wrath of God?

Do you realize that the wrath of God is being poured out even now? When you understand the concept of hell. Men, do you realize that hell is separation from God? And when you don't believe, that's where you were sent. It's a reality that the Bible paints pretty clear for us gentlemen. But if you were a Christian, do you realize what you've been saved from?

That wrath? So why do you keep on sinning? Why do you make light of sin? Because the Bible is clear. The wrath of God is being poured out on sinners. We might think we are good.

In fact, that's probably the silent hope of every human being. That we can be justified by our works. But Paul even says in verses five and six, have you even lost your mind? God is not unfair. God is just and he will judge the world according to his righteous standard. He says that even in Genesis 18 verse 25, should not the judge judge all the earth and do what is just?

Yes, he is. Because he is perfect and he is holy. And then Paul says there, that if you are going to turn the grace of God upside down and flaunt your sin before him. He says their condemnation is just. Meaning they get what they deserve. What a charge. What a charge.

I mean the application is pretty simple. If you find yourselves in that and those shoes by wanting to flaunt your sin and just step on the grace and the mercy of God. Man, I'll be honest with you to be just totally point blank with you. I doubt your salvation. Because what you realize that you've been bought with a price by the blood of Christ. Man, you realize that's a gift. That is a mercy. That is a grace of God. Don't take like the grace and the mercy of the Lord Jesus.

And man, if you are a Christian today, don't ever forget the severity, the weightiness, and the terrible nature that sin has. Listen, I know I joke that I'm perfect. I'm not. I'm far from it. I'm growing in grace just like you are. I'm growing in sanctification just like you are.

And man, when you are stumbling, when you're falling, don't begin to twist truth like these objections Paul's facing. Don't begin to suppress your conscience like we learned in Romans chapter 2. Man, run from sin. Flee from sin. If you're struggling right now with something in your life, man, come to me. Go to one of your leaders. Call out for help.

Flee it now. Being a Christian is not about being religious, but about having a dynamic, alive relationship with Jesus Christ. You've been listening to Finding Purpose with Pastor Russ Andrews, glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living. You can discover more about finding your purpose in life by checking out the resources at findingpurpose.net or connect to Finding Purpose on Facebook. Pastor Russ would also like to extend a special invitation for you to join him and over 300 other local men to study God's Word together every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in downtown Raleigh. Find out more at findingpurpose.net.