Expound: Romans 3-4 - Part A

Making his case in chapter 1, Chapter 2, and as he does the rights to the antagonist and the moralist and the spiritualist anticipates especially from the religious Jew list of objections imagined tractors who are listening to what he has to say and would pose some objections questions. The apostle Paul was all about the good news of Jesus into Bayonne connect with Skip Heitzig's shares, hope objections to the gospel and his answers will reinforce your repeated to let you know about a resource that will deepen your knowledge of God's word even more joy in the midst of hardship is a hallmark of the Christian life. Is it really possible is when you height, sometimes what a happy tramp tended to be daunting road and we have to figure out how to navigate. A lot of times God's purpose in allowing trial is to get opportunities to grow to the point where we genuinely experience joy in the midst of trial were not of face trials with courage, wisdom yes joy with Linda's book with happy trials when you get $20 or more today to help keep this Bible teaching ministry of the air will send you a special bundle of three booklets by Linda happy trials don't test me and speak no evil. Picture bundle three booklets for gift of $20 or more by calling 800-922-1888, or give online securely connectwithskip.com/off skip.com/off Romans chapter Skip Heitzig to get into today's mess was Mark Twain who said, having spent a considerable amount of time with good people. I can understand why Jesus loved to be around tax collectors. I think those are the people that the apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote part of Romans. Those who were self-satisfied, very, very religious, good folks who looked to and boasted in and trusted in their own track record of good works, good deeds, he definitely has that in mind.

In chapter 2 he speaks in chapter 1 to the pagan. He speaks to the Gentile unbeliever. What you might call the antagonist toward monotheism things of God.

And then after the antagonist. He speaks to the root of the moralist person who has some kind of's belief system higher than unbeliever may be a Jew. Maybe not necessarily, but moralist person who would look down upon the behaviors that Paul mentioned in chapter 1 and then the third group is the religionist the Jewish person and he mentions those people by name in chapter 2 is, as indeed you call yourself a Jew and that's a good thing you boasting in certain things. But Paul, as we noted last weekend we kinda continue doing that until a certain point in our text tonight Paul is making his case that the entire human race is in really bad shape before a holy God and thus they need something they can never procure or produce on their own and that is a right standing before God that is conferred upon them that is given to them. That is a gift for them is nothing that they can produce on their own.

The theme of Romans is the gospel, he introduces that theme. At the very beginning in chapter 1 and the gospel is all about how people can be made right before God and the way they are made right before God is imputation he gives or imputes something that is not yours, but he puts it on your account and because of that he makes a declaration that's called justification. He justifies you makes a declaration that you are just that you are righteous that you are accepted, the way you are that that is monumental and it can never be overstated. As I mentioned couple weeks ago.

It is the truth of Romans that revolutionized Martin Luther's whole life because he thought that the righteousness of God was the place from which God judge the world.

He was absolutely righteous, absolutely just, and therefore had every right to condemn unrighteous human beings. But he didn't understand the meaning of of of God and his righteousness is that he is willing to to give or to impute to to freely place over your life.

The life of his son and look at you as if you had never sent when Martin Luther discovered that everything changed. Well, he's been making his case in chapter 1 and chapter 2, and as he does in his. He writes to the antagonist and the moralist and the spiritualist. He anticipates especially from the religious Jew a list of objections he imagined tractors who are listening to what he has to say and would pose some objections pose some questions to Paul and so Paul gives a list of these questions. Beginning in chapter 3, verse one there rhetorical questions. It is a method that was familiar to the rabbis, the rabbis would often ask a question and then answer the question. By the way, that is also the Socratic method.

The method taught by Socrates or used by Socrates to pose a question and then once the question is raised to provide answers in order to take the student from ignorance to knowledge of the truth now. I am thinking my belief.

It seems to me that the questions that Paul raises here were questions that Paul had heard when he went from town to town and he would first go to the synagogue, and then he would go to the marketplace.

It was to the Jew first and then also to the Greek.

So as he would go to the synagogue and preach Christ from the Old Testament is the fulfillment of messianic promise. He probably heard all sorts of questions all sorts of objections all sorts of rebuttals and so he brings them up here in the letter. Not only that, but I'm guessing that they were objections. Paul himself once had. Being a rabbinical Jew being a Pharisee.

When Jesus got a hold of his life in acts chapter 9 I'm sure he had a lot of yeah but moments with God will yeah but what about what about and so he had reason through the Old Testament and the understanding of Judaism when he asks and answers these questions and they'll be a few of them that are mentioned in chapter 3. Let me just give little bit of a piggyback on that for those of you who are teachers. Those of you who have some kind of a ministry, a Bible study class. Some kind of format or forum in which to share truth that what Paul does here, you should do. We should all do that is when you are preparing for a teaching preparing for a message to be able to think through the objections of people who may be listening. The young Christian.

The older season believer. The skeptic and the unbeliever, the teenage girl. The business guy, you know, the advanced Dr. Ya want to think of all the different people who might be in your audience who would hear the words that you would have to say and you reason through it that way, it helps in making the presentation so verse one first? What advantage then has the Jew, or what profit is there in circumcision. Paul, you spent an entire chapter talking down circumcision. It would seem, disregarding the Jewish law, it would seem now you are Jewish Rabbi Paul and yet you say that the law isn't enough to save a person, so the question would be what advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision is the answer. Much in every way, chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.

There are several advantages.

Paul would say to them being Jewish having that is your background, but of all of the advantages. He begins with the most obvious. The most obvious advantage is that you guys have a spiritual edge. God committed to you the oracles the revelation, the prophets, the law, all of God's written revelation was deposited in times past to the Jewish nation so you guys were steeped in this stuff you were raised in the synagogue you were raised with the law.

We we we don't have to convince you that there's a guy we don't have to convince you that the Bible is inerrant, you got that you understand that you have an edge much like it's an advantage to be raised in the church to be able to to me think of the incredible advantage we have of being able to every week. Go through chapter by chapter verse by verse and have a broad and deep understanding of God's will. Incredible advantage, but having the truth is not the same thing is heating the truth. James will make that abundantly clear. It's not hearers of the word is those who do it, what advantage much in every way because to them were committed the oracles of God. Next question. What are some did not believe will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect. Certainly not let God be true, but every man a liar as it is written that you may be justified in your words and may overcome when you are judged the history of the Jewish nation was a history of abject failure. God made covenants with them. Some of them unconditional, some of them very conditional and they failed on all of their part to keep their conditions so they went into captivity they were tased by their enemies. They lost land. They lost lives, they cried out to God. God brought them back. We studied out of the book of Judges. Their whole history is a history of failure from the golden calf. When they first got delivered out of Egypt all the way through, and especially when it came to the Messiah, Jesus wept over Jerusalem because his people did not understand the day of their visitation. The things that made for their peace that they failed in all aspects, but especially in the aspect of the identity of Christ. So does that negate the promise. The promises that God made to the Jewish people and the Jewish nation not at all because though we see a hardness and that we see a turning that's just temporary.

And Paul is going to make this abundantly clear when we get to chapter 9, 10 and 11 where he talks about the relationship of the Jewish nation to God in the promises that God has made to the nation and he will say in chapter 11 brother and I do not want you to be ignorant of this ministry or wise in your own opinion, but hardness or blindness in part has happened unto Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles are come in and then all Israel will be saved.

So what he is saying here is just because you have people who have largely pushed away the promises that God made and disbelieved in the Messiah, the fulfillment of all of the promises that God made to the Jewish nation is only on pause is just a not yet scenario it's it's pause, but not prevented.

It is going to come and he Paul will make that clear. As we get through and he is quoting in verse four that you may be justified in your words and may be overcome in your judge. That's a quote out of Psalm 51 you know that when Paul wrote he he quoted a lot of them. The Old Testament, he should.

I mean that's what he was raised with right at his frame of reference and if he's writing to Jewish people. It would be their frame of reference. It's interesting that the Psalm Psalm 51 was written by David after David's sin with Bathsheba and he was eventually heartbroken because of any wrote to Psalms Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 and it Psalm 51 aces against you and you only have I sinned and committed this great wickedness in your site and then this verse that you may be justified in your words and you may overcome when you are judged. In other words, you are right in your judgments. Next question verse five, but if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God. What shall we say is God unjust who inflicts wrath. I speak as a man, certainly not. Certainly not is sometimes translated God for bid a better translation would be, perish the thought or even nonsense. So, certainly not nonsense, for then how will God judge the world for the truth of God is increased through my life to his glory, why am I still judged as a sinner followed the rebuttal. Think of the argument here the objector might be thinking.

Wait a minute Paul if my badness makes God look good then how can God judge me for my badness. I'm a bad person using broadband but all were doing is making God look really good. So, for God to judge us for our bad behavior is wrong. It's incongruent. It's sort of like a jeweler who pulls out the most beautiful diamonds he'll show them to you, not on a white background, but dark background, dark velvet Mandy put out the black velvet then you you put those diamonds on at night while Ann and the wow comes from not just the diamonds but the contrast the brilliance of that sparkling diamond against the dark black background of that velvet so my life like black velvet just makes God look really really good that's that's the argument so is God unjust to inflicts wrath, certainly not for how then will God judge the world in other words, if God condones sin that he has no basis to judge at all. God has to be fair.has to be consistent. So God has a standard by which he judges all mankind and of God condones sin and winks.

That sentence is yeah you're right. You know your black background is makes me look good so I won't judge you because of it. After all you you're circumcising you have the law of Moses as well then how how can God judge at all. He would never write standard continues in verse eight. And why not say let us do evil that good may come as we are slanderously reported in a sum of the firm that we say, their condemnation is just so the next argument you know if I'm bad in my badness makes God look good. The next question is if my badness makes God look good then I should be as bad as possible and this is where Paul says there condemnation is just another word that's so stupid and I can even answer that question.

It's called argument add absurd him or or argumentative him add in for neato or some like that reject TOS. It is just you.

You come to a place in trying to reason or is like okay what you just said I missed your smart guys is really stupid so is that there condemnation is just now there are sometimes people who have this sort of thinking. Believe it or not you think you know if I really am a rotten sinner.

By the time I come to Christ him and have a really great testimony. Truth is, you could choose a practice that get you killed and you have no testimony. I remember a young man who was very, very talented.

His name is Johnny. He was a young kid when he came to Christ, a teenager and it was in the height of the Jesus movement and and and that in those days a lot of really raunchy people were saved a lot of people with pass a drug pass human trafficking pass. This also to street thugs and I knew a lot of there were good friends of mine came to Christ radical transformation radical conversion you hear their testimonies in Eagle. Wow, I was bad and simply times people tell their testimony to make you think while they were really bad.

Yeah I used to do this and that and that people may you really were back in Jesus save me but they spent 20 minutes talk about how bad they were in only one minute about the fact that Jesus save them from all that crud. So what that does it get young people like Johnny listening to that going.

I don't have that kind of the testimony, here's my testimony. I was raised in a Christian home by believing parents and I never blew it. I never rebelled and so I remember him distraught about anything you not because I think I need to sew some wild oats.

He said I need to do some bad things so that I also have a good testimony as a Johnny that's the stupidest thing of ever because right now you're one of the wisest young man I've ever met you at you have a better testimony than any of us. He was house so I said the keeping power of Jesus. You were saved at a young age. You stay true to his promises and he is kept you all the way through without going off the deep end. Your testimonies much better than mine is, why never thought of it that way.

That's why Paul says to that group of slanderers there condemnation is just then verse nine he says what then or what shall we conclude then he's giving a summary statement of all that he has set up to this point he's talked about the raunchy people he's talked about the religious people he's talked about the so-called righteous folks. He's talked about the self-righteous folks. What shall we conclude then. How shall we make a summary statement. Are we better than they not at all, for we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. Now before we read on.

I just want to give you a preview. Paul is going to lay down an indictment in the courtroom. He wants to prove once and for all that all groups are guilty before God before he gets to the grace of God before he pulled out the diamond you want to see how bad that black velvet really is so he pulls out several verses out of the book of Psalms and Isaiah quote after quote after quote a 14 count indictment and that he rests his case. These indictments can be divided into three categories.

What a person is what a person says and what a person does so is making his concluding arguments to say the whole world is guilty before God. Verse 10 as it is written here comes the prosecutor as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. There is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God. They have all gone out of the way they have altogether become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no not one. Their throat is an open tomb with their tongues they have practice deceit, the poison of asps is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood destruction and misery are in their ways and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes is not a pretty picture but this is an x-ray of my heart all say this again is monitoring your incidents and your you look beautiful on the outside. Don't get me wrong, this is this is the true you man. The real photograph of the x-ray of the basket height with a message from his series expounds moments who Skip to share how you can keep this broadcast going strong connecting you and others around the world with the gospel.

It's a great comfort to me that no matter where we go or what we do God's ever present in our lives or home ministry is based on the desire to connect friends like you. With God and with his word. But we need your help to keep these teachings going out to you and to others would be so grateful if you shared a gift today to keep this radio ministry going strong here so you can do that right now to give today simply call 800-922-1888 that number again is 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/donate.

That's connectwithskip.com/donate your generosity helps keep this biblical encouragement coming your way and going out around the world to help change more lies with the gospel, and did you know there's an exciting biblical resource available right at your fingertips through your you can find several of Skip's Bible reading plan to continue version Bible simply download the app and search for next Skip Heitzig six years Jesus advocates for God