Category: Christian Living

Romans 7:7-13

• Is God’s law bad for pointing out sin?  Consider why someone might think there is something wrong with the law.
• Is There Something Wrong With The Law?
  • What has Paul told us about the law?
  • The Spirit is more favorable 
  • It is unable to justify sinners
  • It is associated with sin
  • Believers die to it
• So after reading what Paul has written in this letter to Rome some might think that the law is no good for anything.
• Context:
  • Last week we saw that since we have died to the law we are no longer live under it. Does that mean that there’s nothing good with the law or that it’s all bad? What purpose do God’s precepts have? In our passage tonight Paul tells us why the law isn’t bad and helps us see what the results of God’s law are.
• Romans 7:7
• 7 What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! But I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.
  • Does Paul see the law as sinful?
    • No Way!
    • Paul begins this section with a familiar phrase: “what then shall we say?” He used it in chapters 3, 4, and 6. Paul is again anticipating a question from his readers and quickly answers it. He verbalizes what some may be thinking.
  • Who is the “I” here?
    • The best way to see it is Paul speaking of himself…If that is the case then are the spiritual events describes here just true for Paul or representative of what most of will experience.
  • According to what Paul says here, what does the law do?
    • The law makes sin known…the law illuminates sin or gives  us a knowledge of sin.
  • What stage of life do you think Paul is describing here?
    • As childhood innocence to the age of accountability, becoming aware of God’s law and the demand on him to keep it.
  • Did Paul covet before the law told him not to covet?
    • Yes, but he didn’t know there was anything wrong with coveting. However, after the law his coveting became apparent. So is the problem with the law? Some would think so. There’s nothing wrong with the law; the law is from God. The problem is with us and that problem becomes all the more apparent when we compare ourselves to the law.
  • Out all the commandments why did Paul pick, you shall not covet?
    • This is the 10th commandment…Here is the entire command  Exodus 20:17
      • You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
    • How would you define coveting?
      • “an intense desire to possess something (or someone) that belongs to another person.” It also means “to desire greatly, to lust after that which cannot be legitimately ours.”
  • Covet, then, is to want what belongs to someone else.
    • Maybe Paul chose coveting because is often the cause of most other sins. What we see is the sin, but if we could see the motives behind the sin it would often be a spirit of coveting. Some have argued that coveting was the root sin of Eve’s decision to disobey God in the Garden of Eden.
• Romans 7:8-9
• 8 And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life again
  • What is the next result of the law?
    • Paul says it produced in him every kind of coveting. So the law is pictured here as in some sense provoking sin.
    • Because the law is good, it shows that we are bad. The law illuminates the evil lurking in our lives and at the same time, it also stimulates sin.
  • There a hotel Galveston, Texas that sits right on the beach. They posted a sign in each room: “No Fishing from the Balcony.” Yet, every day, hotel guests threw in their lines to the water below. The management decided to try a different approach and they removed all the signs. I’m sure you can guess what happened. The fishing stopped immediately. The sign had ignited sin.
  • The Greek word translated “opportunity” is a military word,  it means a base or bridgehead  for military operations  for an attack. So sin is pictured as an enemy who is using the law itself to launch an attack upon us.
  • How can the commandment be an opportunity for sin?  Especially since the law was designed to prevent it?
    • Prohibitions awaken the desire to break them…we may think God is trying to, limit our freedom so we rebel.
  • How is sin dead apart from the law?
    • In the absence of law sin is not identified. Romans 4:15… And where there is no law there is no transgression.
  • When was Paul alive apart from the law?
    • Reference to his days of innocence childhood…once Paul became accountable and understood the law, sin sprang to life in  him…he violated the commandment and died  spiritually.
• Romans 7:10-11
• 10 and I died. The commandment that was meant for life resulted in death for me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.
  • What is the result of the law here?
    • The law brings death…In other words, the law tells us how to live and then condemns us for not living up to it.
  • Who deceived Paul?
    • He says sin here but he is personalizing it…Satan stands behind it.  Who was   doing the deceiving at the  very 1st sin…How was Eve deceived?  The serpent lied…you will be  like God…it  made Eve resent God for holding this back from her.
  • What are some ways that sin deceives us?
    • You’re not as sinful as the Bible says you are. In fact, you are really a good person.
    • Everyone else doing it, so why don’t you.
    • This will satisfy, fulfill and make you happy.
    • This isn’t really sin, anyway
    • Don’t underestimate the deceitfulness of sin. The author of Hebrews warns us about the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:13
      • But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 
  • After being deceived Sins brings what?
    • Death
• Romans 7:12
• 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.
  • Why is the law and the commandment holy, righteous and good?
    • Because God is holy, righteous and good and the law is a reflection of His character; the law came from Him. 
• Romans 7:13
• 13 Therefore, did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.
  • How can Paul say ‘By no means’ concerning the law bringing death to him?
    • Because the real culprit is not the law but rather sin…sin is the source of death.
  • What happens if we think our sin is no big deal?
    • Will we see we need a Savior?
  • In a sermon on sin, Andy Stanley made the point that most of us would rather use the word “mistake” instead of “sin” when we do wrong. He says,
  • If everything I do wrong can be dumbed down to where it’s just a mistake, that makes me a mistaker, which means I don’t have sin. If I don’t have sin, I’m not a sinner. If I’m not a sinner, I don’t have any need for a Savior. If you’re just a mistaker, then all you have to do is do better…[However] until you embrace the fact that you’re a sinner, you’re not open to embracing the fact that God sent you a Savior.
• SLIDE-TAKE AWAY
  • The law is there to make sin known
  • The law is  righteous, holy and good
  • Sin uses the law to bring death to the law breaker
  • Unless we are aware of our sin we cannot be aware of our need for a Savior.

Romans 7:1-7

• If Jesus were to ask you why you should be allowed into Heaven. What would say? Would you tell Jesus about all the good things you’ve done? Would you tell him about how often you go to church or how much money you give? Would you talk to him about how terrible some people you’ve known are and how much better you are? Or would you say  I don’t deserve it but  I love you
• Would you rather live under law or grace?
• How you answered the first question really answers the second. If we point to all the good things we’ve done, if we point to why we deserve to go to heaven, then we are choosing to live under the law. If instead we freely admit our sins and how we don’t deserve to be admitted to heaven, but then point to our faith in the death of Jesus on the cross for our sins we are choosing to live under grace.
• What might make the law attractive as a way of salvation? There is something I can do,  I am not depending  on anyone else. That’s the American way. Pull yourself up by your own boot strap. We can take pride and even boast  in what  we have done.
• What is the problem of keeping the law? Since we never keep manmade laws perfectly and are rarely punished for it many think God will be the same way. Some think God will let them off on the minor infractions. But that is not how it  works. The only way to be saved under law is to keep it perfectly. If you break one  part of it  you are guilty for all of  it
• For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:10) lawbreakers are sinners
• Context:
  • We ended last week on these words:
    • Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.   That gift is Jesus Christ and being  saved by grace thru faith in Him
  • Sally was married to Bill for many years. Then one evening Bill had a heart attack and died. Several years latter Sally remarried a man named Jack. Jack was different than Bill in many ways. Bill didn’t like to eat breakfast (he just grabbed a cup of coffee and headed out the door) while Jack liked to start his day with a big country breakfast. Bill didn’t care if the house was kept clean, but Jack wanted the house to be neat and tidy. After Jack and Sally had been married for a year, Jack was beginning to get aggravated. He came down the stairs hoping to find things different but the house was messy and as he went into the kitchen hoping to smell bacon and eggs cooking on the stove, he only found a cup of cold coffee. When Jack voiced his dissatisfaction with the situation Sally said “well that’s the way Bill liked things.” Jack said “Sally, Bill is dead. You are my wife now. You have to stop living like you are still married to Bill.”
    • Paul makes a similar comment to us about the law.
• Romans 7:1
• Since I am speaking to those who know the law, brothers and sisters, don’t you know that the law rules over someone as long as he lives?
  • Who are the brothers Paul is speaking to?
    • Christians, either Jew or Gentile…the law doesn’t have to be the law of Moses either; it could be whatever law you are trying to keep to make yourself acceptable to God
  • In what way does the law have authority over someone?
    • We see this as the way we relate to God…our concern each day is to keep from breaking this law. The primary motivation becomes to escape the penalty
  • Does it make sense the law cannot impact a dead person?
  • Now Paul gives us an example
• Romans 7:2-3
• 2 For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband. 3 So then, if she is married to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she is married to another man, she is not an adulteress.
  • Note: Paul is using this example to illustrate so death sets one free from the law
  • Is a widow free to marry again?
    • There is no law violated because her husband is dead.  Note the Greek word  Paul uses for marriage is “under husband” … he may have used this because he has been talking about being “Under law” & “Under Grace”
• Romans 7:4
• 4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in relation to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another. You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God.
  • When did we die to the law?  And How?
    • Romans 6:2-3 We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We are connected to Jesus death
  • The death of our old self…death to sin…this is also our death to law…How?
    • Because Jesus took the penalty of the law for sin.
  • Do we have power to do this?
    • The grammar in the Greek indicates the change within us was not something we could do on our own, from our own inner strength…It is a work of the God
  • What kind of Law is in mind here?
    • This would be more than the law of Moses…I am not a Jew I have never been under the law of Moses.  So it is any kind of law that applies to any  person
    • Being connected to Jesus death and resurrection changes our relationship to the law…objectively and subjectively. The law no longer controls our concept of our relationship to God and to salvation. We are no longer trying to earn acceptance of God measured by the law. 
  • So the law is like the husband that what?
    • Dies…and the new marriage is to who? Christ
• Romans 7:5
• 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions aroused through the law were working in us to bear fruit for death.
  • What does it mean to be in the flesh?
    • This means to be governed by our bodily desires in such a way that they are the center of our lives
  • How does the law arouse sinful passions?  
  • When we are told we can’t do something isn’t there something in us that wants to rebel…
  • What fruit did this bring into our lives?
    • Death
• Romans 7:6
• 6 But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law.
  • How do we get free from what bound us?
    • By dying!  Not physically but dying to the old self- 
  • How does this change the way we serve?
    • The way of the Spirit…We move from “have to” to “want to” from “got to” to “get to”…We serve from a grateful heart and love. We are now willing slaves who voluntarily attach ourselves to Christ because what He has done for us.
• TAKE AWAY
  • To break from sin, our old self and the law we must be connected to Christ’s death and new life
  • Is it possible to put myself under law again?
    • Just go back to trying to earn your salvation
  • Is freedom of the law, freedom from obeying?
    • No we must still obey God’s commands…but  it is freedom from a negative, legalistic attitude toward obedience… earning  our salvation

Romans 6:1-14

• Have you ever known someone who didn’t worry too much about how they lived, but claimed to be covered by the grace of Jesus?  
• Context:
  • Paul has made it clear so far in this Letter to the Christians in Rome that the law cannot save us and we are justified by faith in Christ and saved by grace. In chapter 5 Paul makes it clear that Jesus’ death on the cross takes care of our sin problem. And in in verse 20 writes, The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.  No matter how many sins we commit, there is more than enough grace to cover our sins. But what if someone misused that teaching? (If grace is good and glorifies God, no big deal I’ll just keep sinning. And God will give more grace.) 
  • We will see a major emphasis on 3 areas: Sin- sense as an active force against us- Death- Physical and Spiritual- Life or Resurrection.
• Romans 6:1-4
• What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? 2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.
  • What question does Paul begin with?
    • Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  How does he want us to answer? Absolutely Not!…is the harshest way Paul could say NO!
  • Does grace make sin irrelevant?
    • No…grace does not negate our obligation to obey the Lord and His commands. Grace help give us the ability to obey.
  • What has happened to us in our relation to sin according to Paul?
    • See verse 2  We have died to sin…when did that happen?   The words Paul uses point back to an event in the past in our own personal history. Died to sin…the verb is past tense.  Paul has mind when we are baptized into Christ we die that is the old sinful self-dies. This is important.
  • What are we connected to in baptism according to verse 3?
    • Paul is asking here in verse 3, don’t you know what happened in your baptism? The death of Christ. Here baptism is seen as a dying ceremony.  Paul also wrote Galatians where he says in Galatians 3:27 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
    • Baptism into Jesus Christ means to enter into a specific relationship with Him.
  • What else are we connected to in verse 4?
    • Christ’s resurrection. So we are united to Christ in His death and in His new resurrected life.
  • Was there such a thing as an unbaptized Christian in Paul’s day?
  • When do we start living this new life?
    • See verse 4  When did Jesus begin living a new life? When He resurrected…When is our spiritual resurrection? Is it not  when we come up out of the water…This all happens in God’s mind.  See 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
  • We don’t get to choose how God wants to consider us connected to His Son this happens in God’s mind it is all from Him…so in God’s mind when we take our faith in Christ and have our bodies immersed into water in Jesus name. In God’s mind we are connected to what Jesus did on the cross not only His death but our death…the old sinful self-dies…it is a double cure we get Christ’s righteousness freed from the guilt of sin but also taking away the power of sin in our new life in Christ.  Faith repentance confession are all important very important and part of the conversion process but it is in baptism we are connected to the cross.
• Romans 6:5-7
• 5 For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, 7 since a person who has died is freed from sin.
  • If we are united with Jesus in death, what else are we united to?
    • His resurrection. If we take part in His death, we also take part in His resurrected life.
  • Is it possible to have resurrection without a death?
    • So we need to die before we can live the new resurrection life this is not reference to when Christ return and the bodily resurrection but rather the new spiritual life we begin living.
  • What are we to know in verse 6?
    • That our Old Self was crucified with Jesus when we died with Christ.
  • Why was our ‘Old Self’ crucified with Christ?
    • See verse 6    Define the “old self”: (Who we were before Christ under the control of sin. The inner person, not our physical body.) Ephesians 4:22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
    • So we are no longer slaves to sin in other words sin is no longer our master…even the power of sin in our physical bodies is no longer ruling…we are freed from the power of sin. We will still struggle in theses physical bodies but sin no longer rules! The old self is crucified…so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
  • How does this happen?
    • The power of the Cross was applied to our fallen soul putting it to death. So in baptism Jesus has caught up all Christians into His death. We not only need forgiveness of sin, we need the power of sin over us broken.
  • Can dead people sin?
    • No…. So this is why the old self is crucified in being united to Christ in His death in the water of baptism. 
• Romans 6:8-11
• 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him, 9 because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over him. 10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
  • What are to know here?
    • Since Jesus was resurrected from the dead, He cannot die again.  Jesus has victory over death. All the other raised from the dead in the Bible eventually died again physically.  But not Jesus!
  • Jesus died to what?     
  • So He could live to what?    
  • Look at verse 11doesn’t this apply to us as well?
• Romans 6:12-14
• 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. 13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. 14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.
  • Based on our death and resurrection with Christ how are we to live?
  • Negative Commands                           Positive Commands
  • Do not let sin reign Offer yourself to God
  • Do not obey evil desires Be an instrument of righteousness
  • Sin not Master Implied Jesus is Master
  • Not under Law Under grace
• TAKE AWAY
  • Is baptism important?
  • How personally important is the death and resurrection of Christ to us?
    • Very we need to trust in and believe it because we are connected to it in Christ.
  • What are we to be dead to?
  • Have we been connected to Christ in this way and if so are we living like we are?

Romans 3:21-31

• What point has Paul made so far in the first 3 chapters of Romans when it comes to being righteous before God??
  • Job asked,  But how can a man be righteous before God? (Job 9:2)
• This is not just a question from Job, but it’s the crucial question of the Bible. How can a Holy God get a sinful people into Heaven and not compromise who he is?
• In our passage tonight from Romans 3 Paul tells us God’s answer for our righteousness. 
• This is where we left off  last week.
  • Romans3:20 20 For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.
  • There is no one who doesn’t deserve God’s judgment
• If law keeping cannot make us right before God, what can we do?
  • Nothing…God does something….God provides another way to be right with Him. If we are going to declared righteous before we leave the framework of the law and pursue another way….
  • The way of grace.
  • Here is how the grace system works:
    • Keep The Commandments, But suffer the penalty
    • Break The Commandments, But escape the penalty
    • Which part do we play in the grace way?
      • The 2nd line
    • Who plays the other part in the grace way?
      • Jesus He kept the commandment and suffered the penalty. 
• Romans 3:21-23
• 21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
  • Does this righteousness being given have anything to do with the law?
    • None at all…totally apart from the law…and that would be whatever law you think can save you. In other words, it will be apart from any human effort or ability. Therefore 100% of it will be based on the grace of God. Our salvation isn’t based on us or on the law or a combination of the two plus grace, but is 100% the grace of God.
  • Where does this righteousness found in grace come from?
    • Comes from God…Jesus satisfied all of the law’s requirement, even the part were sinners be punished, accomplished in our place. So this righteousness is bestowed upon us as a gift.
  • How has this righteousness apart from the law been made known?
    • The Greek word is where we get our word apocalyptic. It means to make known or reveal. God has revealed in the gospel…Jesus dying on the cross, Jesus’ resurrection
  • What or who is testifying to this righteousness from God?
    • The law and the prophets…The law? The law is a witness to the righteousness that comes from God. The purpose of the law is to show us our sin. The problem of the law is we can never keep it. So the law points to the coming of one who could keep it–Jesus–who would die for our sins. The promise of the law is God’s promise for a Messiah. The law and the prophets both testify to the coming of Jesus. When Jesus was transfigured which two Old Testament characters appeared beside him? They were Moses and Elijah–Moses the great law giver and Elijah the great prophet. They were putting their seal on the fact that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament. 
  • How do we receive this righteousness from God?
    • See verse 22 Faith in Jesus Christ in, who He is and what He has done…Faith is trust. Our faith is in Jesus who died for us. That have all sinned so the remedy is the same as well
• Romans 3:24-25
• 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith,
  • Who is justified?
    • All those who believe from verse 22
  • What does it mean to be justified?
    • Justify is a legal term it has to do to one’s relation to the law.  To justify mean to declare righteous…not make righteous but declared. We are justified in Christ, declared righteous as though we have keep right standing with the law.  Because of the righteousness of Christ who died for us God has declared us righteous. It’s like we’ve never sinned and kept all the laws perfectly. We are not righteous in ourselves but are declared righteous.
  • Do we deserve being justified by grace?
    • No…it is given freely, totally undeserved and unearned, that is why it is called grace…God’s favor to us.
  • What does it mean that Jesus redeemed us?
    • The Greek word refers to buying a slave in order to set the slave free. The slave has been redeemed. A payment had to be paid. In sin, there is a debt that must be paid because the wages of sin is death. Our debt is paid at the cross and we go free. Someone has to die and that someone was Jesus.
  • Justification from our point of view comes to us freely but what about God’s point of view?
    • It is anything but free…God the Son paid the ultimate price, the equivalent of eternity in Hell for the whole human race.
  • What does it mean that God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement?
    • Much the same idea as redemption but the picture here is something from the O.T. Blood was put on the atonement cover; the lid of the Ark of covenant the place where mercy seat was to avert the wrath of God. The word used to describe this is propitiation. Wrath averted from us and put it on God’s Son.
  • How is redemption and sacrifice to be received by us?
    • By faith. The results are not automatic or unconditional…Faith is needed
• Romans 3:25b-26
• to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. 26 God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
  • How could God leave sins unpunished?
    • God was waiting patiently. God will demonstrate His justice with Jesus on the cross. It’s work will be retroactive and future active. The sin left unpunished refers to sin God  forgave prior to the cross
  • Would God be righteous if He did not punish sin?
    • No
  • How is God just and justified?
    • Sin is punished on Jesus…justifying only those who have faith in Jesus
• Romans 3:27-31
• 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith. 28 For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
  • What kind of boasting is Paul referring to?
    • No one can say they are responsible for their own salvation.
  • How are we justified?
    • Faith in Christ. Is there any other way to be justified? No
  • We have one God and how many ways to be saved?
    • One. Faith in Christ
  • How do we uphold the law?
    • By not using it for something that is was not intended…the law cannot save…it shows our sin. Jesus fulfilled law as we live for him following Him we are fulfilling the law as well not for salvation by in the way we live.
• TAKE AWAY
  • Being good enough, earning salvation, having a special deal with God based on your own merit will not make you righteous before God
  • There is only one way to be  righteous and justified before God- Faith in Christ
  • Jesus took our punishment, we gain His righteousness?

Romans 3:1-20

• The Queen Mary was commissioned in 1936, twenty-four years after the Titanic. Like the Titanic it was the most awe-inspiring ship of its time. With twelve decks the Queen Mary was longer and heavier than the Titanic. But unlike the Titanic it didn’t hit an iceberg. During WWII it was transformed from a luxury liner to a troop transport and carried 750,000 members of the military to and from European war zones. The Queen Mary was retired in 1967 after making 1,001 trips across the Atlantic. The ship can now be found harbored in Long Beach, CA.
• After the decommissioning, work was done on the three smokestacks. The smokestacks, ranging in height from 62’ to 70’ tall, were made of sheets of steel one inch thick.  As the smokestacks were lowered onto the dock to be worked on they just crumbled. Over the years the thick steel had turned to rust. The only thing holding them together were the more than thirty coats of paint. The smokestacks looked good from the outside, but on the inside they had fallen apart.
• Sin does the same thing to us. It’s possible to look great on the outside while eaten up by sin on the inside. You’ll remember Jesus made similar comments about the Pharisees of his day comparing them to white washed tombs and dirty cups that had only been cleaned on the outside.
• Paul has said that the Jews were the most spiritually privileged people on earth, but they had become spiritual hypocrites and as a result God’s name was being blasphemed. They were more interested in the outside than the inside.
• Context:
• We are now in the third chapter of Romans. Just to remind you as we start this chapter, in chapter 1 Paul wrote that the Gentiles would be condemned because they rejected God who revealed himself in nature. In chapter 2 Paul wrote that the Jews would be condemned because they haven’t fully kept the law. So Paul has made everyone mad. There’s no one that’s not covered. Everyone deserves God’s judgment.
• What do we tend to do when someone criticizes you for doing something wrong? We defend ourselves. We make excuses. We try to place the blame somewhere else. Or we attack the one accusing us.
• In chapter 3 Paul begins by addressing four of these objections. These are probably comments he’d heard before. Ever since he’d started sharing the gospel some had offered excuses for why it was wrong or didn’t apply to them because they were Jews. The first argument asks if there’s any benefit to being a Jew if Jews are going to be judged.
• Romans 3:1-2
• So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Considerable in every way. First, they were entrusted with the very words of God.
  • How did the Jews view themselves in comparison to Gentiles?
    • That they were better and would be judged differently than the Gentiles. If the Jews have no advantage on Judgment Day what is the big deal about being a Jew?
  • What was the value of circumcision?
    • It was a sign you were in a covenant with God…well The Jews were counting on this special relationship with God to protect them from God’s judgment. They believed they wouldn’t face God’s judgment. But if they do face God’s judgment then what’s the advantage of being a Jew?
  • What does Paul say the advantage is?
    • The Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.  WHY is that an advantage? God had spoken to the Jews. He had given them his laws. He had shown them what he is like through his prophets. It gave opportunity to believe in The Lord and  know much of  His will…That is a very great advantage.
  • Do we ever hear a similar argument from the Christian?
    • They can’t believe that God would allow us to suffer. After all, we’re Americans. We’re Christians. If God is a God of love why would he allow…whatever terrible thing that happened.
• Romans 3:3-4
• 3 What then? If some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Absolutely not! Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar, as it is written: That you may be justified in your words and triumph when you judge.
  • What is the argument here?
    • Does the unfaithfulness of many of the Jews mean God has been unfaithful to His promises did His covenant promises fail?
  • Did God make promises to the Jews?
    • Yes; God had said that he would always love them, that they would always be his people, and that he would always be faithful. Again, because of these promises the Jews believed they would not face God’s judgment. In fact, there was a teaching that said Abraham sat at the gate to hell preventing any Jew from entering in. In other words, Jews wouldn’t face God’s judgment. However, if Jews will indeed be judged as Paul was saying, wouldn’t that mean that God wasn’t being faithful to the promises he had made to them?
    • There are many Christians that wonder about this.  There question could  be summed up; “Will God  save Jews in the  end  simply because  they are Jews?” But God’s word is clear; the only way to God is through Jesus. The truth is not all Jews even tried to obey God. Not all Jews even believed he was God. Why would God not judge them? Paul will answer this question in detail in chapter 9, but for now here is his answer: Of course not.
  • Is God faithful if judges those who have been unfaithful to Him?
    • Yes because that is what He said  He would do.  Paul quotes part of  Psalm 51:4 Here is what the entire  verse says Psalm 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
    • One day God’s judgment will come. That won’t prove God’s unfaithfulness. Quite the contrary, it will prove that God is just and does what is right, for we all deserve God’s punishment. Even if God has to condemn the whole world for being liars he will still tell the truth.
  • This leads to the next argument which asks that if our sins point out God’s righteousness and glory then isn’t it unjust for God to judge us?
• Romans 3:5-6
• 5 But if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what are we to say? I am using a human argument: Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath? 6 Absolutely not! Otherwise, how will God judge the world?
  • I don’t think Paul is making up these arguments. These are questions that he faced before.
  • What is the argument?
    • How can we be punished by God if our sin points out God’s righteousness…if  that was the case God would unable to judge anyone
    • Notice-Paul is making clear that he is not speaking for himself or for the Holy Spirit and sees this as faulty thinking.
  • The fourth and final question is an even more extreme form of the third question. If our sins point out God’s glory then shouldn’t we sin all the more?
• Romans 3:7-8
• 7 But if by my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, “Let us do what is evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved!
  • Does this type of thinking buy into, “The end justify the means.”?
    • If my lies show God’s truthfulness…then I should keep on lying.  We are never instructed to do evil to glorify God.
    • Some argued the gospel message of being  saved by grace rather than law keeping, made people sin more rather than less.
  • Those are the 4 arguments; Now Paul gives his conclusion which reflect thinking from Chapter 1 and 2. Now Paul quotes from the Old Testament to prove his point. He quotes from the Psalms, Isaiah, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs 
• Romans 3:9-12
• 9 What then? Are we any better off? Not at all! For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, 10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. 11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.
  • Who all is included in this?
    • Everyone Jew- Gentile-all mankind
    • Everyone is…what? Guilty
• Romans 3:13-18
• Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips. 14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, 17 and the path of peace they have not known. 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
  • What is the picture that Paul paints of humanity here?
    • How lost we are…does this depict human history for the most part
• Romans 3:19-20
• 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment. 20 For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.
  • Has Paul been speaking how everyone is in trouble?
    • So who is he speaking to here in verses 19 & 20?  Still everyone!
  • So if it is everyone what “Law” does Paul have in mind?
    • 10 Commandments- O,T, Law, Law written on people’s heart and conscious (Gentiles). You everyone one is under some  kind of law…Everyone’s religion is about making yourself acceptable to some  god 
  • Why is it important that every mouth be silenced?
    • Every person is silenced when confronted by the evidence there is no defense, no excuse we are absolutely guilty.
  • Who is accountable to God?
    • The whole world…We are all guilty before God
  • Does the law make anyone righteous?
    • No…we best not use the law to do something which it can not do…save us
  • What does the law do?
    • We become conscious of our sin. 
  • How is the only way to be saved under law?
    • Keep it perfectly
• TAKE AWAY
  • Are we all in trouble when it comes to law breaking?
  • Do you see a universal need for grace, for the gift of God’s righteousness?
  • Is it important that people see themselves as sinners?
  • What would you say to someone who is trying to earn their salvation by keeping  some law?

Romans 2:17-29

• Would you try to pull over a police officer who was driving faster than the speed limit?
• A woman pulled over a Miami-Dade officer, accusing him of speeding. Claudia Castillo was following the officer and thought he was going much faster than necessary.
  • “He passed me with so much speed, so much force, my car shook,” she said. She started recording him on her cell phone, which was mounted on her rearview mirror.
  • She said she tried to catch up with him and the officer finally pulled over, thinking Castillo was driving so fast to get to an emergency.
  • “I pushed 80 [mph] to try and catch up to you, and I was still eating your dust,” she told him.   By the way Claudia has her own problem with speeding and careless driving according to her driving record.
• Context:
  • Tonight we will see the keepers of God’s laws had their problems keeping them.
  • Do you think the Jews prided themselves in being of possession of the laws of God?
  • The law was delivered to the Jews. Thru the Jews it had been preserved and passed down. Could be that the Jews felt the mere possession of the Law equaled righteousness?
  • What is the only way to be saved by the Law? By keeping it  perfectly
  • Note: By Paul’s time the term “Jew” had replaced Israelite or Hebrew.  The Name came from the land of Judah which was all that was really left after the Babylonian exile.
• Romans 2:17-20
• 17 Now if you call yourself a Jew, and rely on the law, and boast in God, 18 and know his will, and approve the things that are superior, being instructed from the law, 19 and if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light to those in darkness, 20 an instructor of the ignorant, a teacher of the immature, having the embodiment of knowledge and truth in the law—
  • What do you think Paul means the Jews were “boasting in God” here?
    • Now there is nothing wrong in  boasting God but here the context seems to be negative,  like Paul is saying they are  boasting that they have  God and  you don’t
  • Do you think the Jews thought they were superior because they had the Law from God and the O.T?
  • Who would the blind and those in the dark, the foolish and the little children represent?
    • All these descriptions would be representative of Gentiles. They saw themselves as  the proper teachers  of the  non- Jews 
• Romans 2:21-24
• 21 you then, who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach, “You must not steal”—do you steal? 22 You who say, “You must not commit adultery”—do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.
  • The Jews would have been agreeing with Paul up to verse 21 but then what does Paul do to them?
    • He turns the tables on them…Paul points out that the Jews may have the Law  but that doesn’t means they are keeping it.
  • According to Paul’s questions were the Jews being hypocritical?
    • It certainly appears so Paul gives three different  ways, stealing, adultery and robbing of pagan temples which could mean some kind of action that was sacrilege (or robbing  idols of  precious metal and melting it down for  gain.)
  • How is God’s name blasphemed because of their actions?
    • Their sinful and actions and hypocritical behavior dishonors God but also causes the Gentiles who see their behavior… it is damaging to God’s reputation.  If Jews have this sense of superior religious behavior they are going to be very vulnerable to criticism if and when they sinned against the law they boast about.
• The Jews’ pride in the Law was ill-founded, for they did not keep the requirements of the Law. They not only failed to live by the Law, they failed to live righteously before the Gentiles
• Romans 2:25-27
• 25 Circumcision benefits you if you observe the law, but if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 So if an uncircumcised man keeps the law’s requirements, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 A man who is physically uncircumcised, but who keeps the law, will judge you who are a lawbreaker in spite of having the letter of the law and circumcision.
  • What is the sign of the Jews covenant relationship with God?
    • Circumcision…It was the concert, physical evidence that they were children of Abraham and were thus protected by the covenant the of God.  In the Jewish mind they could not be treated the same as Gentiles by God because circumcision showed they belonged to God.
  • When does circumcision have value?
    • If you keep the law of the covenant
  • When you break the law what do you become like?
    • Like you are uncircumcised
  • When the non- Jew keeps the law’s requirements what are the regarded as?
    • They are as if they are circumcised
  • If you are a Jew and break the law is circumcision going to save you?
    • Not at all
  • Why might a Jew be condemned by a Gentile?
    • See verse 27 Because they had  the  written law and circumcision but  yet they were still a law breaker
• Romans 2:28-29
• 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. 29 On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. That person’s praise is not from people but from God.
  • What radical thing is Paul saying here?
    • Physically descending, the physical sign of the covenant are outward what is important was what was on the inside
  • Being a Jew is not based on physical signs but on what?
    • Inwardly
  • Colossians 2:11 11 You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,
  • From where does their praise come?
    • From God Himself
• TAKE AWAY
  • Can anyone be saved when judged according to the rules of law?
  • If God treats people impartially why did the Jews think that they were special and would be judged differently?
  • What were the Jews chosen for?
    • Not salvation but service preparing a nation and people ready to receive the Messiah
  • If Jews are not special who is?
  • What are we relying on for right standing with God?