The Guilt of Mankind vs. the Glory of God

An important truth that you need to admit about yourself is that you are a sinner.

Everyone is under sin, enslaved to sin, which means will never own one inch of the Father's house. Jesus Christ came into the world to save those kind of people, right? He didn't come into the world to save victims. He didn't come into the world to save those with addictions.

He came into the world to save sinners. Most people are willing to admit that some of their fellow human beings don't deserve to go to heaven. Your list might be different from your neighbors, but it's often people like murderers and rapists and terrorists. We typically think that people like that deserve to go to hell.

But what about the rest of us? What about people who are nice and kind and who try to live by the golden rule? The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 3 that even the most religious person doesn't stand a chance of heaven apart from grace. Here's Stephen Davey with a lesson for you called the guilt of mankind versus the glory of God. For centuries, the Jewish nation has been celebrating their apparent victory over all other peoples and they have been celebrating their position as sons of Abraham. They believe they had an edge over the rest of the world and the Gentiles they believed were losing and they were winning. In Romans chapter 3, the Apostle Paul has just announced to them the shocking truth and let's rejoin his announcement in verse 9. Romans chapter 3 verse 9 where we left off last Lord's Day where he delivers the astonishing news, what then are we better than they?

That is, are the Jews really beating the Gentiles? Not at all, for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks or Gentiles are all under sin. All are under sin.

Now if you take a closer look at this verse which is what I want to do, this morning you discover that Paul is making two rather sweeping, broad categorical statements or declarations. First of all, Paul here in verse 9 is declaring the verdict of universal depravity. Look again, we have already charged, that's a legal term by the way that speaks of incriminating someone else by virtue of evidence, we have already incriminated both Jew and Greek that all are under sin. No one is exempt from the verdict.

Nobody has an edge in this game. No Jew or Gentile has any reason to celebrate. The truth is everyone is guilty of breaking the law and everyone is therefore in deep trouble with a holy and righteous God. The world of course doesn't really appreciate this message. A number of years ago a book was written entitled I'm Okay, You're Okay.

You probably heard about that. It's basically a book that taught the humanism of the day and still the humanism of today that mankind certainly might have a few problems but they're going to work through them because ultimately at the heart of man he is good and everybody is going to turn out alright because everybody is okay. And what most believers or unbelievers would appreciate us believers not doing is coming up to them and telling them stop the party, stop the celebration, stop jumping up and down for joy. There's nothing to celebrate about, in fact you're in trouble with God the holy judge. And that's exactly what Paul does here in verse 9 as he summarizes and he makes this sweeping declaration that all of humanity is guilty as it were of universal depravity.

Nobody is okay. In fact I'll add to this in verse 23 you ought to circle by the way the word all in verse 9 and draw a line to verse 23 and circle the word all there because it appears there for all have sinned and all fall short of God's glory, God's perfect standard, God's holy being. What Paul will do in the next verses is he will simply lay out 14 indictments on the human race. If you feel like he has pounded upon humanity up to this point just wait.

There are 14 statements of indictments, really four expressions of mankind's depravity. In the first few verses he describes the evil condition of mankind verse 10 he says it's written there is none righteous not even one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God.

All have turned aside together they have become useless. You catch the sweeping statement all have done this none are good none are right with God. The next few verses describe the evil communication of mankind verse 13. Their throat is an open grave with their tongues they keep deceiving. The poison of asps is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. And then in the next few verses he will simply express the evil chaos of mankind verse 15.

Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their paths and the path of peace have they not known there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law that every mouth may be closed and here's another all and all the world may become accountable to God because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight. No wonder the human race wants to get rid of the objective law of God. No wonder it wants to condemn as non-existent the objective standard of holiness they cannot keep that condemns them and leaves them without excuse. Kent Hughes wrote in his book entitled The Disciplines of a Godly Man that only 13% of people in this country only 13% of Americans believe that all Ten Commandments are now binding. We've sort of been whittling away at the list and now only a handful believe that all of them are binding on humanity today.

No wonder God is dishonored and parents are dishonored and relationships are dishonored. He went on to reveal that this same survey posed the question to people at random perhaps you've heard of this what are you willing to do for 10 million dollars and then they asked a series of questions would you be willing to do this for 10 million dollars. 25% of the people who were promised anonymity of course said that for 10 million dollars they would abandon their families entirely. 23% said they would become a prostitute for least a week. 7% said that they would be willing to consider killing a stranger for 10 million dollars.

Imagine that in a crowded section of a mall containing a hundred people seven of them would take your life if they could just get enough money for it. You sell people would do that. Well people are doing it for less are they not? Are not people abandoning their families for much less than 10 million dollars? Are they not abandoning their morals for far less than 10 million dollars? The truth is we're cheap.

Cheap. Survey also found that 91% of the respondents lied regularly at home and at work. Lying the author said has become so much the American way that even in the highest places of leadership honesty is becoming more and more the exception and that's true.

In the last 20 years we have developed a cynicism have we not? If somebody tells you something we immediately think they're probably not telling the truth no matter who they are. I pulled a quote some time ago from Fred Holloman. He's a rather outspoken chaplain of the Kansas Senate. He crafted an interesting prayer which he prayed as the Senate open session.

He said this. He prayed this, Omniscient Father help us to know who is telling the truth today. One side tells us one thing the other side tells us the opposite. And also if neither side is telling the truth we'd like you to tell us that too. And if each side is telling only half the truth give us the wisdom to put the right halves together in Jesus' name Amen.

Isn't that a great way to open the Senate? Well back in verse 9 Paul has declared that basically everyone is filled with lying. Everyone is filled with deceit. Everyone is filled with dishonesty.

Everyone is filled with immorality. Everyone is guilty of universal depravity. Depravity by the way is a word that simply means wretchedness. You could use other synonyms like ruined, sinful. We use the word depraved, degenerate. Webster correctly defines it as wicked perversion. I've met a lot of people in my life who've been willing to admit they're not perfect. Everybody is willing to admit they're not perfect but few would be willing to admit that they're wickedly perverse and they certainly wouldn't appreciate you going up to them and even suggesting that they might be wicked and perverse. No one is exempt.

No one has reason to celebrate. Everyone is in deep trouble with God and that is one side of the Gospel and that is the verdict that Paul has just delivered. The declaration from Paul in verse 9 is not only the verdict of universal guilt but secondly the evidence of universal dominion.

Paul wrote for all are under – what's the next word? Sin. For all are under sin.

Now there's a word that's disappearing from the English vocabulary is it not? The little three letter word sin. Say it with me. Sin. Say it again. Sin.

See even to say it imitates the sound of the serpent doesn't it? Sin. We don't like that word. For one thing the word doesn't leave us any loophole. There's no way around it.

There's no way out of it. In fact it relates us to the activity of the serpent. We'll do anything but admit I have sinned. Donald Gray Barnhouse wrote in his 1953 commentary on this text.

I've enjoyed reading him as he describes some of these scenes with vivid illustrations. He described the man here who has a hard time saying he's sinned or coming under the condemnation of depravity. He says that man is like a little boy. That man stands before God like a little boy, stands in front of his mother and swears with crying and tears that he has not been anywhere near the jam jar and who with an air of outraged innocence pleads the justice of his position in total ignorance of the fact that a good spoonful of the jam has fallen on his shirt just under his chin and is plainly visible to everybody but himself. I haven't had any jam. He doesn't see it.

It's right there. I have sinned. I'm not a sinner.

I mean I'm not perfect but I'm not a sinner. That's why Paul as he drives this summary home will give the evidence in these 14 indictments of sin. I want you to know that this is the first time in the book of Romans that the word sin has appeared. You would probably think as I had that we talked a lot about sin haven't we? Well in the first two chapters Paul certainly has discussed sin. He's graphically described even sinful behavior and sinful thinking but now however for the first time the word itself appears.

It's the Greek word hamartion. It simply translates to miss the mark to miss the mark. The mark or the target is God's holy standard and he in effect declares that everyone on planet Earth is a terrible shot. We've all missed it. We've missed the mark somewhere. The world insists that it hasn't.

In fact it wants to move the target to wherever it has displaced its arrow. It wouldn't admit that it sinned. The world admits to mistakes. You know we've made some mistakes. We've committed some errors in judgment. We've made some some wrong miscalculations some some boo boo you know some blunder but not sin. What are you Victorian or something?

You from the dark ages? So guilty mankind in his supposed sophistication simply replaces that little three letter word with a variety of more comfortable words. John MacArthur published a book entitled The Vanishing Conscience in which he just explains this this entire issue in that volume talks about how sin and guilt have become public enemy number one. Let's get rid of sin. Let's get rid of any talk of sin. Let's get rid of any guilt or talk of guilt and we'll feel better. Do we feel better? No we don't feel better but he goes on to say these days in his volume everything wrong with humanity is likely to be explained as an illness, an addiction, a result of some pre-existing disability. What we used to call sin is more easily diagnosed now as a whole array of disabilities. All kinds of immorality and evil conduct are now identified as symptoms of some disorder. Modern culture has created thus a new gospel. Man is not a sinner but a victim.

A couple of illustrations that I have filed away that reveal this kind of thinking that has now swept our culture away. One man who was shot, paralyzed while committing a burglary in New York sued the store owner who shot him. They went to trial. His attorney told the jury that the man was first of all a victim of society driven to steal by his economic disadvantages. Then the lawyer said his client was a victim of the insensitivity of the store owner who shot him who had no regard for his plight as a victim and now he would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He deserves some redress and the jury agreed and the store owner had to pay the thief a settlement. An FBI agent was fired some time ago after he embezzled two thousand dollars from the bureau and then gambled it away in one afternoon in a casino. Later he sued arguing that his gambling was an addiction thus a disability.

Being fired was thus an act of discrimination and he won the case and was rehired. One man wrote that this victimism has so infected our culture that one might even say the victim has become the mascot of modern society. Ladies and gentlemen Paul does not refer anywhere to victims. He doesn't even refer to addictions by the way. He refers to sinners and he calls it what? He calls it sin. He says all are under sin. What does it mean when he says all are under sin? Well the word translated under is the original word hupo which means it's an interesting word that means under the power of under the dominating influence of under the authority of. In fact it's used in Matthew chapter 9 verse 6 of the centurion.

He uses it when he tells Jesus I have soldiers under me hupo. In other words I have soldiers under my command. They are under my authority. They do my bidding.

They are dominated by me by rank. It was also used in Greek writings of a student who was under the tutelage of his teacher his professor. That is he was under the direction. He was under the leading the authority of his professor. So here Paul says in effect all of mankind is under the authority is under the tutelage is under the direction is under the command is under the leading is under the dominating force of sin.

You see how foolish it is for a person to say well I'm going to do some good things over here and that'll compensate. No no no no. We are under sin. John wrote in first John 5 19 that the whole of humanity lies under the power of the evil one.

Jesus himself had well on earth announced the same truth in his message to Jewish leaders. Turn back to the gospel by John for a minute. Look at Chapter 8. John Chapter 8 where he says exactly the same thing that Paul says only uses different words. John Chapter 8. Look at verse 34. Jesus answered them truly truly I say to you everyone who commits sin and how many people commit sin.

Tell me all. So all who commit sin are the what slaves of sin enslaved to sin. He says here this is the absolute truth. In fact whenever Jesus Christ says truly truly it's not that he just likes the word and he wants to repeat it. He's in effect saying take note now truly of a truth.

I tell you this. This is something that I want you to mark in your minds. You are not free. You are enslaved as it were to sin and you reveal that by what by sinning.

Then he speaks specifically to the people in his audience which were the Jewish leaders and he says in verse 35 something that's a little difficult to understand and I'll explain it. He says and the slave does not remain in the house forever. The son does remain forever if therefore the son makes you free. You shall be free indeed. You're enslaved to sin but the son will set you free. What's this about being in the house. Where'd that come in. Well let me illustrate his illustration. Basically what he's he's saying is that the Jews believe they own the house by virtue of their relationship to Abraham being of his seed they believe that they own the father's house and Christ here informs them they're just servants.

Let me illustrate what he's saying with an illustration of my own. When I was in Dallas with my wife in our last year of seminary training Marcy delivered our twin boys into the world and we thought we wouldn't have kids until after school and God had other plans so we had them in the last year which is really interesting. As a result of that in fact several months before that she had to go to bed because of a difficult pregnancy and so I had taken a part time job to put a little food on the table and make ends meet until graduation and then we'd be out on our own in ministry somewhere and I was able to land a job with a very prosperous commercial real estate firm in North Dallas as a courier. What I did was basically run errands for these men.

There were about 11 of them. These men were making two, three, four, five hundred thousand dollars in one commission check and this was in the 80s, mid 80s when everything was incredibly rosy and then it went bust and they all pretty much lost their shirts but I ran errands. I would run contracts between them and other buyers, bankers, attorneys and such and so I'd go after classes and just spend my time in the afternoon on the road. Well one day I came to work and after class and the president of the company pulled me aside and he handed me the keys to his car and he said Steven I want you to take my car over to the dealership and have the tires rotated and wait there while they're doing it okay. I said sure and I thought well it's gonna be a good afternoon.

I'm not gonna be on the road but then it hit me. Wait a second I'm gonna take his car. I'd seen his car. It was a limited edition Mercedes sports coupe not nearly as nice as a Chevy pickup but anyhow this is what he drove. It was a hard top convertible. It was white.

I remember it had a deep blue roof. It was virtually brand new. I had seen a description of the car in the office as all the guys were hovering around it and knew that it cost nearly a hundred and fifty thousand dollars and that was 16 years ago. So I very gingerly slipped into the driver's seat and I prayed Lord I'm in seminary I can't afford diapers much less a dent a ding a scrape even even swift air you know please do a Red Sea moment and part the traffic as I drive north Dallas you know to this dealership five was about five miles away and so I eased out of the parking lot and on to the the parkway and began this five mile trip. It wasn't long before I noticed something. I noticed that people were looking at me as as they drove by. I remember pulling up to the red the first red light and people on both sides of me looked at me. It was a different kind of look than I'd ever had. It was it was envy. They looked at that car and they looked at me and I could tell oh man was I making people guilty of deep sin and coveting that day. I never had that look when I drove down the parkway in my green Volare. No one ever looked at me in any way other than sympathy. But here I am and I pull up at this red light people on both sides are looking at me and I know they're thinking this guy has made it to the top.

He is somebody. You know what I did? I nodded back. Fix the rearview mirror you know pick up the car phone. Yeah I was going to get everything out of this now man. This was great. He had told me on my way there or on my way back whichever to to get some gas to fill it up and I had been worried about that but now man I was looking for the busiest gas station I could find. I'd pull in there and I did. People everywhere I got out and the guy next to me immediately said man that is a beautiful car. I said thanks. He said how long have you had it? Now what do I do? You know temptation. I did the right thing.

I said I've had it about 10 minutes. It's not mine it's my boss's car and he goes oh. I wanted to let the air out of his tires when he went to pay for his gas but in five seconds I went from being somebody to nobody. I got to admit though it was fun acting for a few minutes like that car belonged to me. I didn't own one shiny inch of that car. I was a servant. I was a hired hand.

None of it belonged to me. This is what he's saying. The Jewish leaders in effect had this smirk on their faces.

This sense of confidence. We own the house and Jesus says no you're just the hired servant. The only people that get to stay in the house are those who are sons but you're slaves to sin. You're slaves to sin and slaves don't stay in the house.

See Paul will amplify that in chapter 3 of Romans and he will say it's not just the Jew it's the Gentile. Everyone is under sin enslaved to sin which means we'll never own one inch of the Father's house. We're not getting in. We're headed in the wrong direction. We have nothing for which to celebrate. We haven't won anything.

In fact unless something dramatic happens when the final score is tallied we're going to lose again. All of humanity is sinful and guilty and under this irresistible pull this undertow this domination of sin. What's the evidence Paul for you to make that kind of sweeping statement that covers everyone on planet Earth who's ever lived who lives and who will ever live in the future.

He will give it in those 14 indictments. He will deliver them to the human race as he describes the depravity of man the evil condition of man the evil communication of man the evil chaos of man and ultimately the other side of the gospel which is the deliverance of God through Christ. Jesus Christ came into the world to save those kind of people right. He didn't come into the world to save victims. He didn't come into the world to save those with addictions. He came into the world to save sinners. He came to save sinners and he saves them even today. Today's message is entitled the guilt of mankind versus the glory of God.

It comes from a series out of Romans 3 called the depravity of man the deliverance of God. This was lesson 2 in that series and I hope you'll be with us for all of it in the days ahead. This is wisdom for the heart with Stephen Davey.

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