Only when you place all of your sins and guilt under the blood of Jesus Christ will he deliver you here and now and for all of eternity. Only when you close yourself with his transforming power every moment of every day will you be set free. Up next, how you can be set free.
Thank you for joining listeners around the world for this episode of Leading the Way Audio. Today in incoming days Dr. Yousef walks you through the pages of the challenging and the encouraging book of Romans. He unpacks Paul's words to the church in Rome and the church today with incredible insight into foundational principles of faith.
Here is Dr. Michael Yousef to begin. In the last message the Apostle Paul tells us that the moralists, the moralists, people who think they're good and they're better than others and they compare themselves with the worst in society so I'm not as bad and he's talking about these moralists, both Jews and Gentiles by the way. He said they will be brought before the courts of justice of heaven, before the heavenly judge at the end times. He said neither of them have any basis or should have any basis for security. Any security that they may devise to convince themselves is a false sense of security. Any security that they devise other than being saved through the shed blood of Jesus Christ is a false sense of security and here beginning in this passage the Apostle Paul turns from talking to the moralists, both Jews and Gentiles and he focused exclusively upon the Jewish people of his day, the religionists, those people of the Covenant.
Why? He said because they have greater measure of light, they have greater measure of God's knowledge, they have greater measure of God's blessings, they have greater measure of privilege to know God and so with all of that he says comes a stricter judgment, is going to come a stricter accountability and therefore he turns onto them like a laser beam in order to remind them that any security they have other than coming to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ is a false sense of security. Three things that we can see in this passage, false sense of security, verses 17 to 29, personal responsibility, chapter 3 verse 1 to 8, accountability, chapter 3 verse 9 to 18. First he's saying it is dangerous, it is dangerous to have this false sense of security. In fact if it is so dangerous to have a false sense of security about your job or about your finances or about your future, in fact not anywhere near as dangerous as having a false sense of spiritual security. Hear me out please, when it comes to salvation, when it comes to eternal life, when it comes to where you're going to spend your forever, you cannot count on anyone or anything other than faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything else will be false sense of security. Baptism will not save you, church affiliation will not save you, going to mass and confession will not save you, going to church once a month or even ten times a day will not save you.
Only a complete faith and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ will save you eternally. The Jews at the time of Paul had this false sense of security that stemmed from the fact that they know all about God, that they know all about the law, that they know all about their history and God's dealing with them, that they know all about the temple, that they know all about what God has permitted and what God has forbade. But all of that knowledge Paul is saying only gave them a false sense of security. Verse 19, you are confident that you yourselves are guides to the blind and the light to those in darkness?
Here's the most fantastic thing and fantastic irony. Being light to the Gentiles or those in the darkness is what God wanted Israel to be. That's what he called them to be, to be a light to the nations, to be light to the Gentiles. But instead of being light to the world, these realize that we're being a Jew is sufficient, is like a Christian is that I'm saved and sanctified, I don't have to do anything and they resisted the sharing of God's knowledge with the others. In fact, many of them joined the darkness.
They enjoyed it too much. See, it's right the Bible throughout the Old Testament. Beloved, there are so many professing Christians today who think that they can live any which way they want. If they tip their hat to God once a week or whatever, they okay. I had the conversation again not long ago with a professing Christian and I said to him, what on what basis will God let you into his heaven? He said, well I've been a member of such a such church for 40 years. Now I know the church but I didn't focus on that, I just let that go. I said, well how often do you go? He said, well I go a few times a year but I was baptized as a baby in that church and I give them a thousand bucks a year to just keep my name in the books for two reasons.
One, so they can do my funeral and two, they may be able to help me with a man upstairs. Now beloved, if you don't go out very much, this is more common than you realize. You'll be stunned by the number of people who think this way.
You'll be stunned. The Apostle Paul having dealt with the moralists in Roman society, he turns his attention to the religionists of his day. Instead of allowing what the prophets have been saying to them in their Bible about pride and guard against pride, they allowed that very pride to possess them. You see, when Jesus said to the Jews in John chapter 8 verse 31, when he said to them, if you abide in my word you will be truly my disciples and you shall know the truth and the truth will set you what?
Free. You know what happened? Most of you know, they got apathy. You know what I mean by that?
They got apathy. They really will become angry and they said we are the descendants of Abraham. We're always free. We're not slaves. Listen, this is pure fantasy.
It is really fantastic when you think about it. They're double slaves. They were slaves to sin and they're also slaves to Rome. They were not free. But Jesus went on to say to them verse 34 of John chapter 8 34, everyone who keeps on committing sin is a slave to sin and Abraham won't help you one bit. Now the last part is a use of thing, not in the Bible.
Here's what Jesus is saying, which is exactly what Paul is saying here. Religious heritage, family connections, ethnic heritage, all of that blinded them to the real needs. It really did. All of this created a false sense of security.
Why? Because having the Old Testament and being circumcised and practicing some religious rituals, being physically descendant of Abraham, all of that will not help them escape from the judgment of God. Listen to me, in the same way today, believing in the existence of God will not get you to heaven. The devil, the Bible said, believes. He not only believes, he trembles.
Something we don't do these days. Being baptized as an infant is not going to get you to heaven. Being baptized as an adult, just with water without the heart being circumcised, being born again will not get you to heaven. Going to confession and mass every week will not get you to heaven.
Trying to be an out-and-out religious person will not get you to heaven. Denying the power of God that changes lives and that can change your life. Denying the power of God to transform you. Wanting to live any which way you want to live and want God to give in to you and say, okay, this is the way you are. I'll leave you alone.
You're fine. Thinking that believing Jesus Christ just gives you a license to live in sin against his word, shopping around until you find a pastor who agrees with you, none of that is going to help you. None of that's going to help you. Only when you place all of your sins and guilt under the blood of Jesus Christ will he deliver you here and now and for all of eternity. Only when you acknowledge that you are helpless without his power. Only when you close yourself with his transforming power every moment of every day will you be set free, as most of us who came to the Lord from sin and guilt can testify. Any earthly connection other than to trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ will only give you a false sense of security.
Secondly, nothing and no one will be able to absorb you from your personal responsibility. Look at verses 1 to 8 of chapter 3. By the way, I want to make something very clear at the outset before I get going here, okay? The Mosaic law and the Old Testament are important. Paul is not saying they're not important. Listen to me very carefully. This is important because they are God-given.
Therefore, they are important. In fact, I'm going to make a startling statement. I'm going to be startling to some of you. You can be saved by keeping the law.
I told you're going to be startled. You can be saved by keeping the law. Am I right? Yeah, of course I'm right.
You did not mishear me at all. You heard me right. You can be saved by keeping the law 24-7 all of your life. Hello. Even if you say like so many people that I talk to and say, well, you know, I'm going to be in heaven because I keep the golden rule.
Really? Do unto others what you want to do to yourself. Number one, nobody ever kept the golden rule perfectly anyway. It's wide open for abuse.
It's just a red herring. The law of God, beloved, is perfect. Can you say that with me? The law of God is perfect and it is used by God to remind us of how sinful we are. And the commandments show us how desperately we need a perfect Savior to save us because we cannot save ourselves. The only Savior who kept all of the law all of the time perfectly for thirty-three and one-third of a year. Beloved, the task of the Lord is to tell us to turn to Jesus for forgiveness.
That's the task of the law. To turn to God for salvation because we can do it. To turn to God for mercy and grace.
To turn to God for true righteousness that is right standing with Him. The law should send us running to Christ and that is why they do not want to see the Ten Commandments in public because they know if people see them, they recognize they are sinners and they need a Savior and they will run to Christ and they don't want that. And here in chapter three of Romans, Paul anticipates his fellow Jews objections. Paul would have made a fantastic lawyer. I mean he anticipated their objections and he said what advantage is there for being a Jew? What value is physical circumcision? Now this is not a frivolous objection by the way on the part of those objecting to Paul.
Listen carefully. Today we would parcel that question this way. What value is growing up in the church? What value is church attendance? What value is infant baptism or is participating at communion if they were not necessary for salvation? And that is a valid question.
It's a valid question. For the Jew knowing the Old Testament gave them a tremendous advantage. Look how Paul had to really explain to first the Old Covenant then the New Covenant and how the New Testament fulfilling the Old. He didn't have to do that with the Jews. And in the same way in the Christian community a child growing up in a Christian home is a tremendous advantage.
It's a wonderful advantage. For a Jew in knowing the Old Testament he would have learned about the character of God, the love of God, the justice of God and more importantly God's promise of the coming Messiah. All that was there, something a Gentile did not know and had to start from below zero. Tragically the Jews had focused so much of their attention on their privileges, very little attention to their responsibilities and that's what Paul is doing here. He is reminding them of their personal responsibility. Today this is happening in a professing church all over the place yet no one can shrug off his or her personal responsibility for the need to know and believe and obey the truth of the gospel. Listen to me, we are thankful for Christian family upbringing, we are thankful for Bible believing churches, we are thankful for baptism and communion. All remind us again and again and again that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone. But none of these, none of these will replace or take away the absolute necessity of each person's responsibility when they stand before a holy God on that great day.
Every single, every individual will stand before the God of heaven. False sense of security, personal responsibility, thirdly accountability. Look at verses 9 to 18 of chapter 3 of Romans. Here's the problem today, guilt is quietly destroying millions of lives. Guilt is driving people to all forms of addictions. Guilt is driving a lot of people into despair and even insanity. Guilt is leading more and more young people into suicide and beloved listen to me, we can play all of the philosophical blame game all we want but at the end of the day no one, no one, no one escapes the inner feeling of guilt. Trust me when I tell you this, you can watch them partying hard, having fun and they look very happy but I promise you when the lights are off and they're all alone they are guilt-stricken. They're guilt-stricken just as we saw in the last message by virtue of the fact that the law of God written on the heart of his creation.
It's what the Bible said but also I have seen it experientially. In fact the more we have sophisticated psychological services in society the more guilt ridden society becomes. Beloved here's the truth, guilt is a mere symptom of the problem. The problem is sin but they want to call it everything except that but that is it, that's the disease and my beloved friends all of the secular counseling in the world is not going to help alleviate that guilt or sin. At best secular counseling will offer temporary relief, the best but in the long run the blame game will intensify the guilt.
You say why? Because it adds dishonesty to the sin which is the cause of guilt from the first place. Here's a fact, all of us your pastor included have suffered from this dreadful pain of guilt. We all have experienced it in the past and all of us who have experienced the joy of the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ we can testify that until sin is dealt with permanent relief from guilt becomes impossible, becomes impossible. That is why the word gospel means good news.
What is that good news? Is that not only sin but also guilt that stems from sin can be washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. Amen belongs here. Barnhouse a wonderful preacher in Pennsylvania many years ago made the statement, he said our society is like a little boy who swears with tears that he has not been anywhere near the jar of jam. He with air of outrage innocence pleads the righteous rightness of his position.
Well at the same time he is totally oblivious to the fact that there is jam on his shirt, jam on his chin and jam on his fingernails. That's what the Apostle Paul is saying he is aware of man's disposition to deny sin and try to deal with guilt of sin some other way. To refuse to be held accountable for their actions and so he says all of the denying in the world will not absorb you from accountability. Look at Romans 3 10 to 18 coming toward the end now watch the last few verses. Here Paul introduces evidence. Evidence presented before the courts of heaven. Evidence that says no matter how much people deny their accountability they are guilty as charged. All of the moralists among both Jews and Gentiles have 13 counts of indictment against them. Please look with me verse 10 particularly verse 10. There is no one not even one. And he repeats that six times. There is no one not even one.
Say it with me there is no one not even one. Those 13 charges indictments are parceled under three categories. Verses 10 to 12 indictment against our character. Verses 13 to 14 indictment against our speech our words and verses 15 16 indictment against our conduct. And the verdict is this the person who is not redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross has no defense.
They're guilty as charged. I want to make a statement. I hope you memorize it. You must understand that we are not saved by obedience to Christ. We obey Christ because we are saved. I want you to say that with me. We are not saved by obedience to Christ.
We are obedient to Christ because we are saved by Christ. You're listening to Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yusef. Now if your schedule doesn't allow you to listen each day please consider subscribing to the Leading the Way podcast. You can listen to any of the messages that Dr. Yusef has taught on a variety of subjects all grounded in the truth of God's Word.
Search for Leading the Way in the app you use for your podcast or you can use the link at ltw.org. We went in a poor section of Amman and went into a extremely modest home and we met an elderly gentleman who was a refugee from Iraq who was blind who was poor somebody who in every way would seem unremarkable by the ways of the world. But this man had memorized 87 chapters of the Bible. He was convicting because you know for us sometimes we get in a really excited we memorize a couple of verses. I mean he had memorized chapters. He just meditates on Scripture day in and day out and since he's blind obviously he can't read the Bible using his eyes but when someone from the Leading the Way follow-up team provided him with a navigator so it's one of the solar-powered mp3 players that's loaded with a number of Dr. Yusef's messages.
He was so so overjoyed to receive that and day in and day out he just listens. The vision of Leading the Way through the navigator is changing hearts changing minds and glorifying God on the ground in the Middle East in a part of the world that is starving for God's love. This month marks 15 years of ministry impact of Leading the Way Navigators thanks to your generosity. Be a part of impacting lives around the world through all of the ministry arms of Leading the Way. Give us a call 866-626-4356 or ltw.org and keep in mind that all contributions designated for specific projects will always be applied to those projects. When we receive more than enough contributions to fund a project the Leading the Way leadership team will use the funds for other priority ministry needs. Thank you for your generous support of ministry happening in your neighborhood and around the world through Leading the Way. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yusef. Connect with us via television YouTube Facebook X and all of our social networks. Learn more at ltw.org
