Sorry, no results.
Please try another keyword
Big Idea: All people, whether Jew or Gentile, are guilty of sin before a holy God and cannot achieve righteousness through their own efforts or the law.
I currently have no demerit points on my licence.
For the last 31 years I have managed not to get any driving infringement which attracts demerit points.
Speed cameras, seat belt cameras, mobile phone cameras, school zones, road works, average speed tracking system, radar traps. Somehow I have managed to not lose concentration, be caught unawares, or pulled over by the Highway Patrol. Despite their best efforts to the contrary my record is clean.
Although, I do realise that having mentioned this there could be an infringement just around the corner.
That’s the point – you never really know. One mistake, one lapse in concentration, one missed school zone sign and that dreaded window letter appears in the mail.
I wonder if that captures your feeling about your standing before God.
How do I avoid demerit points with God?
The Principle, the Problem, the Pronouncement and the Practice.
God’s principle regarding our standing with him
Romans 2:13b
… it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
Those who obey the law will be declared righteous.
That’s a concept we can understand. You drive past a speed camera hiding in the bushes. Instantly you’re declared in the right or in the wrong. Based on whether you are obeying the law.
Paul states the principle: Our relationship with the law determines our standing before God.
… it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
What’s at stake?
Our standing with God will determine our eternity. A day of judgment is coming (v5, 15). A court appearance prosecuting your whole life.
Read v7-8
To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
There is a day of judgment. Our lives will be held up to the light to see if there is any evidence of any stain of disobedience.
Like holding a white shirt up to the sun to see if that coffee stain is completely gone.
And God’s standard, his requirement, is perfection. There must be no evidence of wrinkle, blemish or stain.
God’s perfect law demands perfect obedience. There is no chance of getting away with any misdemeanour, mistake or misjudgment.
And he does not show favouritism (v11). Everything we need to point us in the right direction. He provided the law to Israel. He has given all people a conscience to live by (v14-15).
But there is a problem.
Read v3:9
For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin
There are over 7 billion people in the world today. That’s a lot of people. When Paul says all are under the power of sin he means every one of us; 7 billion out of 7 billion, in our natural state, are under the power of sin.
Sin means to miss the mark. God has set the target. No one has hit it. And there are no points for missing!
Worse still we read in v10-18 that we are facing in the completely wrong direction with, our eyes tightly closed, hands in our pockets, and no idea nor inclination to change.
Read v10-18
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,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.” p
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.” q
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.” r
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” s
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.” t
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Dreadful diagnosis. Fatal facts. Comprehensive condemnation. From the top of our head to the soles of our feet we are at odds with God, immersed in sin and rebellion.
This is not just me says Paul. As it is written … for the most part the content of these verses comes from OT book of Psalms.
This is God’s assessment of the whole of humanity, in our natural state since Genesis 3. No one, not one. All, everyone together.
This condition is known as … Total Depravity. Sin is the condition inherited by all humans, it taints our entire being. No part of us is untouched by sin. We are not as evil as we could be, but we cannot earn God’s favour through good deeds or self effort.
Bob Dylan captured it accurately when he sang;
I was blinded by the devil,
Born already ruined,
Stone-cold dead
As I stepped out of the womb.
We are not just sick we are spiritually dead; Ephesians 2 … dead in our transgressions and sin.
Because we are spiritually dead we are incapable of choosing God or pleasing him.
Roadkill cannot wriggle out of the way of an on coming Road Train.
Being dead in our transgressions and sins we cannot choose God ourselves.
Romans 8:7-8
The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
Our will to act is enslaved to sin, with darkened understanding and rebellious mind, corrupted heart, perverted emotions, affections which gravitate to evil and ungodliness, and untrustworthy consciences.
We are incapable of changing our character or acting in a way that is distinct from this corruption.
Now just to be clear … Paul is talking about you …
I was reading this passage with a guy and he expressed surprise that the Bible would say this about people.
It does not sound very affirming. That’s because in light of God’s requirements there is nothing about us to be affirmed. It is confronting because it is a horrid condition to be in. We should be confronted and concerned and cut to the heart. But we are too dead in our sin to do or really feel anything.
So the pronouncement, the verdict while confronting won’t be overly surprising.
Read v20
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
The law brings knowledge of sin but not the forgiveness of sin. No one will be declared right with God by the law.
I’ve been making a sandwich board welcome sign for Cait’s wedding. Assembled it yesterday. I dare not put a straight edge or spirit level up against it. Rustic is what we are going for.
The law is the straight edge held up to our crooked lives. The spirit-level showing that we are out of plumb. God’s standard is not rustic but righteous.
The law is not a checklist to keep … “I live by the 10 Commandments.”
It’s a target we miss, a KPI we don’t attain, a standard we fail.
Bathroom scales. This is your condition. But they offer no remedy …
Smoke detector. Danger, but does not address the threat.
Red light on the control panel of a bomber plane. Missile locked on to you. No defensive weaponry. “You’re dead”… cover it up with tape.
But don’t cover this truth up with tape …
Paul wants us to feel the full weight of our condition. The utter hopelessness, helplessness and the horror.
No one can achieve the requirement; righteousness before God. The pronouncement is demerit points; unrighteous, not in good standing.
We are given over to thinking that we can in some way make ourselves more acceptable to God by trying harder; when what we need to see is that our sin condemns us and there is nothing we can do to make things better.
Conclusion
Maybe you are sitting there thinking, brilliant! Today I needed encouragement and all I got was grief. Or maybe: You are checking out church and Jesus and now you are thinking, Yep! I knew it would be all fire and brimstone. Just as I suspected, I won’t be back.
Martin Luther was someone who really struggled with the understanding that he was unable to do enough to be right with God. As much as he did and as often as others told him how good he was compared to everyone else he knew that he fell short of God’s standard. This is what he came to realise, this is what I want you to see today.
The principle point to the law is to make people not better but worse, to show them their sin. That by the knowledge thereof they may be humbled, terrified, bruised and broken and by this means may be driven to seek grace and come to Christ.
In a few chapters Paul will write …
God shows his great love for us in this, that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
Admit your sin. It is simply agreeing with God, he knows you are a sinner.
Seek grace, God’s underserved favour. And come to Christ.
All those who trust in Jesus Christ will be clothed, wrapped in his righteousness which he won for us through his death.
What keeps me in the good books of the various traffic authorities is good works (and quite a bit of good fortune), avoiding demerit points.
Don’t let that mentality slip in to your relationship with God.
What keeps people from salvation is not so much their sin but their good works.
Trusting in ourselves rather than Jesus.
Morning Church: Sunday, 8:30am & 10:30am
Kids Church: 8:30am & 10:30am
Playgroup: Friday, 9:30am
Youth: Sunday, 3:30pm
Evening Church: 5:00pm
WATCH LIVE: from 8:30am
© 2022 Mitchelton Presbyterian Church.
Website By Leids Digital