Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans chapter 3 as we continue our study through Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.  As we have seen, starting in Romans 1:18 and continuing on through Romans 3:20 Paul is showing how the whole world is guilty before God and thus, they not only deserve God’s righteous judgment, but they will receive His righteous judgment!

            And here is how Paul is doing it. Paul, in a sense, is acting like a prosecuting attorney and man is on trial.  And we have seen how the unrighteous heathen are condemned by creation in Romans 1:18-32. Then Paul moves on to the self-righteous moralist who is condemned by his conscious in Romans 2:1-16. And then Paul speaks of the super religious person who is condemned by the commandments of God in Romans 2:17-29.

            Now, in Romans chapter 3 Paul is going to cover in verses 1-20 how all are guilty before God, no one is good, not even one person is good before a holy and righteous God. And once Paul has shown that the whole world is condemned before God, he will move into a section we might call JUSTIFICATION. In Romans 3:21 through Romans 5:21 Paul will show how the righteousness of God is revealed from heaven apart from works, apart from the Law.

            Before we begin reading in Romans chapter 3 this morning, listen to these words from R. Kent Hughes in his commentary on Romans. He wrote:

            Hans Christian Andersen’s story of The Emperor’s New Clothes is among everyone’s favorites because of the point it so aptly makes. We probably all know the story: A certain emperor was very found of appearances and clothing. So when certain clever philosophers (actually they were con men) offered to weave him a rare and costly garment, he was quite receptive. He especially liked their promise that the garment would be invisible to all but the wise and pure in heart. The delighted emperor commissioned his new clothing at great cost, and the con men sat before the empty looms and pretended to be weaving.

            Soon the emperor’s curiosity became such that he sent his chief minister to see how things were going. Seeing no cloth on the busy looms, and not wanting to be thought unwise and impure in heart, the official returned with a report about the fabulous beauty of the cloth. After a time the weavers asked for more money. Again the emperor became impatient, sending his second chief minister, who returned with an even more enthusiastic report. Next the emperor went himself. Though he too saw nothing, he did not want to appear stupid, so he proclaimed the clothing excellent and beautiful. He even gave the weavers medals.

            Finally, on the day set for the grand parade, the con men dressed the emperor in his nakedness and then skipped town. As the emperor paraded before his people au naturel, the whole populace joined in praising his beautiful new clothing, lest they be thought of as fools and knaves. Thus the absurd parade continued – until in a moment of quietness a child was heard to say, “The emperor has no clothes!” At once everyone knew the truth, including the emperor. One innocent but honest remark by a small child who did not know enough to keep his mouth shut stripped away the hypocritical pretense of the entire nation.

            The Emperor’s New Clothes is such a great story that we use the term proverbially to describe a common tendency: We remain quiet while a fallacy is being promoted to which everyone is subscribing, because we do not want to be thought of as fools.

            As we approach the third chapter of Romans, we must keep in mind that it well describes the condition of the Jews whom Paul has just been addressing. The Jews imagined themselves to be clothed with a righteousness that was actually nonexistent. They were duped by a misleading religious confidence. So Paul, like the little boy, stripped away their layers of delusion. They believed that because they possessed the Word of God they were safe. They saw themselves as guides to the blind, correctors of the foolish, teachers of the immature. But Paul undressed them, proving that having God’s Word is no guarantee of life. Paul also stripped away their errant confidence in circumcision, showing that their religious affiliation would not save them.

            As he undressed his fellow Jews, he also undresses us, stripping away our misleading confidence in having God’s Word and our “right” affiliations. For all mankind, Jew and Gentile alike, true righteousness is a matter of the heart! “ . . . a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code” (2:29).

            Paul’s argument was devastating! It really did leave his religious kinsmen naked. And Paul, who was widely experienced in this particular debate, anticipated the reader’s reaction, which he voiced for them in the first verse of chapter 3: “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?” This was not a frivolous objection. Today we would phrase the question differently: “If being affiliated with God’s people through such things as baptism and church membership will not save us, and if having the Word is not enough to ensure our salvation or holiness, what is the advantage of being under the umbrella of the Church and Christianity?” I think this is a fair question, especially for those of us who have not benefited from being raised in a church. As we will now see in verses 1-20, [we will be looking at verses 1 through 9 this morning] there were substantial advantages in being raised a Jew, and there are likewise solid advantages in being raised under the teaching of the Church today.

- R. Kent Hughes, Romans, pp. 71-72

            With that said, let’s begin reading in Romans chapter 3, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us as we study His Word and look at the subject of GOD’S JUDGMENT DEFENDED!

            Now as I read through these verses it seems like Paul is running into some objections by the Jews regarding what he previously said in Romans 2:17-29.  Obviously Paul is writing this letter but I think he is anticipating what some of the Jews might say regarding those comments he made back in Romans chapter 2. Remember, he condemned the super religious people, the Jews back in his day by the commandments of God. They were secure in the Law, in the right of circumcision, that they were born Jews and-so-on. And Paul tells them they are not safe; salvation does not come through those things!

            So, in a sense, Paul writes this section as kind of a cross-examination.  There is the Jewish objector who will throw out these questions to Paul and then Paul will answer them. You see, Paul wants to dispel any notion of a salvation by the Law, by circumcision and for us, by the church, by baptism and-so-on. It is a masterful piece of work that will close the door on that line of reasoning and then, Paul will put God on the stand, in a sense, and God will give a 14-count indictment against man to close the case for Paul, and we will see that next time in Romans 3:10-20.

            With that said, let’s break down these verses we have read this morning and see what we can glean from them, what we can learn from them to help us in our walk with the Lord.

VERSE 1

            Here we see the first objection that some Jews may have regarding what Paul said in Romans 2:17-29.  If this is all a matter of the heart then there is no advantage of being a Jew, there is no profit in being circumcised. That is an honest question and Paul will answer that in the next verse.

VERSE 2

            Paul answers their question by telling them that the Jews do have an advantage in that the oracles of God or the Scriptures were committed to them. The Jews not only received God’s Word but also they took great care in preserving God’s Word not only for them but also for us! From Genesis through Malachi we see God’s character, His love, His plan, His promises, not only for the Jews but also for all of us. And yet, all that God gave to them, they did not walk by faith, they lacked the faith that God was showing them. They not only had God’s Word but it was God who was speaking to them and yet, they did not believe!

            Now, before you point your finger at the Jews because of their lack of faith even though God gave to them His Word, we too are a people of special privilege in that God has also given to us His Word and what are we doing with it?  Here we are this morning, gathered together and we are not talking about some book but we are reading and studying God’s Word! Paul told Timothy, a young pastor, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  II Timothy 3:16-17.

            You see, God has given to us all of Scripture, from Genesis through Revelation and it is profitable!  I realize that many don’t think it is, but God says it is and thus, I will trust Him rather than the words of men! It is profitable to show us what is right – DOCTRINE! It is profitable to show us what is wrong – REPROOF! It is profitable to show us how to get right when we have gone astray – CORRECTION! And it is profitable to show us how to live – INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS! And the outcome of reading, applying, walking as God has instructed us to, is “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” II Timothy 3:17.  You see, God’s Word is profitable if we apply it to our lives!

            Folks, God’s Word is not a book to read once and place on the shelf. God’s Word is living and powerful as Paul tells us in Hebrews 4:12-13, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”  God’s Word cuts right to the heart of the matter, cutting away the hardness of our hearts and making us more sensitive to the things of God so that we can hear the voice of God!

            But, like the Jews, we don’t have to keep God’s Word. We don’t have to live by God’s Word. And if that is our attitude with God’s Word, then it too is of no advantage to us. But we are even more accountable before God for we not only have His Word, but His Spirit to open His Word up to our hearts and lives.  And if we negate God’s Word, it can be deadly to us as this story illustrates for us. We are told:

In January 1997, according to Moira Hodgson in the New York Times, Sam Sebastiani Jr., a member of one of California's most prominent winemaking families, died from eating poisonous mushrooms that he had gathered near his home in Santa Rosa, California.

"The mushroom Mr. Sabastiani is thought to have eaten," writes Hodgson, "was an Amanita Phalloides, also known as the death-cap mushroom. It is the cause of 95 percent of lethal mushroom poisoning worldwide and is fatal more than 35 percent of the time; toxins in its cap destroy the victim's liver by rupturing the cells.

"Experts…are warning inexperienced mushroom enthusiasts to leave the picking to trained mycologists, who will not be fooled by poisonous varieties that closely resemble their nonpoisonous cousins."

Roseaane Soloway, a poison-control-center administrator, says, "A level of presumed expertise is not enough to save your life."

"One of the most sinister aspects of deadly mushroom poisoning," writes Hodgson, "is the delay between ingestion and onset of symptoms. The stronger the poison, the longer it takes to show itself, and by the time a patient is aware of the problem, it may be too late."

Some things you shouldn't attempt to learn by trial and error, for the price of a mistake is far too high. That's the way it is with our beliefs about the meaning of life and our choices about right and wrong. Much is at state, and the full consequences of our actions may not be seen until it is too late. The only expert you can fully trust is the Bible.

- Craig Brian Larson, Choice Contemporary Illustrations For Preachers, Teachers, & Writers, p. 26

            So for the Jew, yes there was an advantage in that they had the oracles of God entrusted to them and so do we. And we must not only allow God’s Word to shine in our lives and transform us, but we need to share God’s Word with others for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes!

VERSE 3

            Here is the second objection brought before Paul. If God’s Word has been entrusted to the Jew, with all the promises made to them, then if some Jews don’t believe, will that cause God to break His Word, to be unfaithful to them?  That is another good and honest question, it is an important question that Paul is going to answer in the next verse.

VERSE 4

            Paul answers this question about the unbelieving Jew making God unfaithful to His Word by saying, “Certainly Not!” or “Perish the thought!” And just in case it does not come across strong enough in English, in the Greek it is in the strongest negative Greek expression they had. In other words, it is impossible for God to be unfaithful, to go back on His Word. If He did He would not only be unfaithful but His name would be meaningless, you couldn’t trust Him! It is as David said in Psalm 138:2, “I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.”  The Amplified Bible puts this verse like this, “I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!”

            Folks, God’s promises to Israel are not all based upon their faithfulness.  Some were, but the unilateral covenant that God made with Abraham was based solely upon God’s faithfulness. Think about it. Even in their rebellion against God He sent them the Redeemer, Jesus. In fact, all His promises that He has made to the Jew will come to pass in spite of their unbelief today!  Paul tells us in Romans 11:25-27, “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.’”  God is faithful and what He has promised He will bring it to pass, for the Jew and for us; you can take that to the bank! Maybe not a good expression with the bank’s of today but you know what I mean!

            And folks, it doesn’t matter what man may say about God. If you don’t believe in God it doesn’t mean that there is no God! Now you may not agree with that but look at it this way.  If I tell you that 2 plus 2 is 4, and you tell me that you don’t believe that, it is not your reality or whatever, does that mean 2 plus 2 is not 4?  “Certainly Not!” as Paul would say! It only proves that you are a fool and that is what the Scriptures tell us, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.”  Psalm 14:1. Thus, it doesn’t matter what you say you believe or don’t believe, God is not a liar but man is, case closed!

            And to prove his point Paul quotes David from Psalm 51:4, as David came face-to-face with his sin with Bathsheba and is praying for God’s forgiveness. And the point that Paul is making is that God is faithful, He will forgive and when He judges, He is fair, He is righteous. The bottom line is this. Whenever there is a question who is right and who is wrong, God or man, God is always right and man is a liar. That is what I have said and it is what we have seen here in the Scriptures!

            Folks, God can never be unfaithful to His promises, it is not in His nature, and it is not in His character. It is as Psalm 119:89-90 says, “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides.”  I am so thankful that I can trust God’s Word, aren’t you!

            You see, if our salvation was based upon our faithfulness, we all would be in big trouble! But it is not based upon our faithfulness but upon the faithfulness of God and His Word to us, and thus, we can be assured that the work God has begun in us, He will complete! We can be assured that God will lose none of us!

            Peter put it like this in I Peter 1:3-9, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith — the salvation of your souls.”

            God has begotten us; we are born again, born into the family of God by faith in Christ. And the inheritance we have received will not perish, it is undefiled, it will never fade away. And I like this, God has a place reserved for me in heaven and it is not based upon my good works or my faithfulness but it is accomplished “by the power of God through faith.” Notice, my part is faith and God’s part, the POWER and in the end, we will be raised in glory! Folks, I don’t care what people say, I will trust in God’s Word and have that assurance of my salvation based in what God has done and I will thank Him for what He has done, not only in my salvation, but all His promises that He has made to me in His Word and you should do the same!

VERSE 5

            Here is the third objection that some Jews may have regarding what Paul has said. If our unrighteousness causes the righteousness of God to shine more, to shine even brighter, more gloriously, then how can God pour out His wrath upon us?  It makes no sense, from a human perspective that is, for God to do that to us. Let me give you this example and I think you will see what I mean. Think of it like this:

“Can you hear Judas make his case?  ‘Lord, I know that I betrayed Jesus, but You used it for good.  In fact, if I hadn’t done what I did, Jesus wouldn’t have gone to the cross at all. What I did even fulfilled the Scriptures.  How can You judge me at all?’  The answer to Judas might go like this: ‘Yes, God used your wickedness but it was still your wickedness. There was no good or pure motive in your heart at all.  It is no credit to you that God brought good out of your evil. You stand guilty before God.’”

                                                                                                - David Guzik, Romans 3

            I think that drives the point home!  And isn’t it amazing how man will use foolish things like this to justify his sinful, his wicked behavior. It is amazing the things we will use to show we are not wrong, but in the end, it is just foolish.  Thus, Paul is going to respond in the next verse to this foolishness of thinking our sin brings glory to God and thus we shall sin so God is glorified even more, and listen to what he has to say.

VERSE 6

            Paul once again tells us that this is impossible, “Perish the thought!” you might say. You see, with that kind of thinking, if our sin makes God’s glory shine more, then God could not judge us, He could not judge anyone. In fact, He would encourage us to sin more so His glory would shine more!  Do you see how warped that line of reasoning is! And yet, Paul understood that some in his day would feel this way and I am sure there are some today that also feel this way, and it was wrong then and it is still wrong today!

            That is one thing we do see over and over again in the Scriptures, that God’s judgment is fair, it is righteous, there is no darkness in God at all! And the Jews did understand this, that God was a perfect judge.  They did not always like the judgment of God upon them, but God did give them exactly what they deserved, not more than they deserved and often times it was seasoned with His grace and mercy!

            In Psalm 50:4-6 we are told, “He shall call to the heavens from above, And to the earth, that He may judge His people: ‘Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.’ Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is Judge.”  Also, in Psalm 94:1-2 we are told, “O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs — O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth! Rise up, O Judge of the earth; Render punishment to the proud.”

God’s judgment is fair, it is righteous and our sins do not enhance God’s glory, but His grace and mercy shines forth to us even though we are stiff-necked rebellious sinners. It is as Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”  John 3:16-17. That is the love that God has for us!

VERSE 7

            The fourth objection to what Paul has said is this. If my sin brings glory to God, if my lies vindicate or prove right His truth, then how can God consistently find fault with me as a sinner? All I am doing is helping God out, helping His cause!

            How can a person even come to a conclusion like that?  Because Satan takes what God has given to us and twists it, he perverts it. God has given to us eternal life, salvation that is only found in Jesus Christ as Paul tells us in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the [free] God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

            You see, a beautiful gift and then Satan comes along and says that we can do whatever we want, we have a license to sin and as we do, God gets the glory! Yes, Satan is wicked but how depraved is man!

VERSE 8

            Paul dismisses this kind of logic as foolishness and deserving of the judgment that is coming upon them. Yes, we as Christians can do whatever we want but here’s the thing. If you can sin without any conviction, you have no remorse; you need to do a heart check because I don’t believe you are a Christian. We have freedom in Christ but we don’t do those things that would dishonor God, that would hurt us because we love the Lord and we want to obey Him. There is no Law, but there is grace!

            Paul picks up on this in Romans 6:1-14 as he tells us, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

I think that is very clear and yet in some churches, they condemn grace for they see it as too much freedom for us to handle!  How ridiculous, God’s gift to us is free and we have liberty to do whatever we want, but our desire is to do those things that are pleasing to Him, our works don’t save us they just show that we are saved! And our sin does not bring glory to God, it gives the enemies of God a chance to mock and put down the God we serve and say we love!

The redemption through Jesus Christ is wonderful.  And it’s especially glorious when a person whose life has been so totally destroyed by sin, when they are really at the bottom of the barrel.  It’s glorious to see the grace of God extended to such a person and their lives transformed miraculously.  It’s wonderful to see God take someone whose life is worthless according to the world’s standards and make of them an instrument of His glory.  We sort of call them trophies of grace.

And we look to what God has wrought and we rejoice together.  We see so many of our pastors of Calvary Chapels who God rescued from the junk heap.  And God has raised them up and is using them mightily now in ministering the gospel around the world.  And we see these men whom the grace of God has just been magnified because they were so low and God has lifted them from the pit, the miry clay.  And has established their feet upon the Rock and now they are being used by God in a powerful way!

Does that mean that I should go out and just really destroy my life in sin and take all of the drugs that I can get hold of and all so that then I can be saved and then God's grace might be demonstrated?  “Oh praise God, look at what he did for that poor soul!”  And so people will glorify God because His grace is sort of exalted in that He reached to the depths…. No, no, no.  But you see this is the kind of foolish reasoning that sometimes people have.  Paul is saying, “Let us do evil that good may come.”  Some are saying that I’m saying that. He said, “Their condemnation is just.”  End of story!

VERSE 9

            The last objection in regards to what Paul has said is interesting. Now you can look at this two different ways. The first is saying, “Are we then, being Jews, better than those sinful Gentiles?”  I don’t think that is what Paul is saying here, the point he is making. I think it is better translated something like this, “Are we Jews worse than the Gentiles?” The answer is simply, they were not better than the Gentiles nor where they worse than the Gentiles. “Then what are you saying Joe?” That both Jews and Gentiles are sinners separated from God, that is the problem!

You see, the Jews were privileged to be the instrument that God was using to speak forth His Word and to point people to the true and living God but it is not because they were better than the Gentiles. It is as we read in Deuteronomy 9:5-6, “It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Therefore understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.”  You see, the bottom line is that all have sinned, both Jew and Gentile, and sin has them in bondage with no way to break free on their own.

This will end this objection to what Paul has said and next time we will see God taking the stand, in a sense, and He will give a 14-count indictment against man! It is a picture of how God sees man apart from Christ and it is not good. And thus, Jews and Gentiles are no different in this respect, we are all sinners separated from God!

As I close this morning, let me share this story with you. We are told:

The story is told of a little girl whose mother planned to celebrate her fifth birthday by impressing all the relatives. The mother dressed her daughter in fine clothes and said, "Now, here's what I want you to do. You're going to sing a song."

When it was time for the little girl to sing, her mother says, "Honey, what are you going to do?"

The child says, "Nothing."

The mother finds a convenient spot to pinch her and says, "Weren't you going to sing?"

The child says, "No."

The angry mother takes the child upstairs and shuts her in a closet. About half an hour later, the mother goes up and says, "What are you doing up here?"

The child says, "I've been having a great time. I've been spitting on your clothes. I've been spitting in your shoes. I've been spitting on your walls. I've been spitting on the carpet. Now I'm waiting for some more spit."

That attitude of waiting for some more spit is what sin is all about. For man, sin is not just an act. Sin is an attitude. Man is not a sinner because he is a transgressor. He is a transgressor because he is already a sinner. The offense is not only in the transgression but in the intention. Sin is not merely the violation of law but in the disposition of the heart.

- Preaching Today

            You see, if that is where you are at this morning, your sin does not bring glory to God but His wrath will be revealed from heaven because you are naked before Him! But that is your choice; you don’t have to go down that path for Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’”  Romans 1:16-17. Won’t you receive the righteousness of Christ into your life by faith, asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins and enter into that eternal life with Him?

If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, if you have been clothed in His righteousness, you are no longer naked before Him and thus, walk accordingly. Walk as a child of God and don’t forget to thank God for all He has done, is doing and will do in your life. He loves sinner and saint both! The sinner needs to come to Him and the saint needs to walk with Him!  Thus, I will leave you with this question, “Are you walking in your own righteousness, walking naked before God or have you received the righteousness of Christ in your life, clothed in His righteousness?”