It is key
to understand that one is a sinner. If a person does not acknowledge that there
is a need, why would they want to accept anything?
Romans
3:10-12
10As it is written: “There is no one
righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who
understands,
no one who seeks God. 12All have
turned away,
they have together become worthless; there
is no one who does good,
not even one.”
Romans
1
18The wrath of God is being revealed
from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the
truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is
plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since
the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and
divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,
so that men are without excuse.
There are
things that God chose to reveal about Himself that are obvious to mankind –
General Revelation. Creation is often referred to (v.20), but it is important
to see that God reveals Himself within mankind (v.19), but it is suppressed by
the wickedness (v.18).
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave
thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were
darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and
exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man
and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them
over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading
of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God
for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who
is forever praised. Amen.
Because they did not acknowledge God, they turned the
created into their god. It is interesting to note that mankind has a desire to
worship something – they “exchanged the glory of the immortal God” (v.23).
26Because of this, God gave
them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for
unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural
relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed
indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for
their perversion.
As if worshipping creation wasn’t enough, they turned their
unfulfilled desire towards sexual lust.
28Furthermore, since they did
not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a
depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become
filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full
of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers,
God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil;
they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless,
heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree
that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these
very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Note that
God puts “severe” sins such as murder and depravity in the same context as envy
and arrogance.
Furthermore,
there is no way to escape this sin nature because it is genetically passed down
to us from Adam!
Romans
5:12-14
12Therefore, just as sin entered the
world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all
men, because all sinned– 13for before the law was given, sin was in
the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14Nevertheless,
death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who
did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to
come.
Romans
2:5-6
5But because of your stubbornness
and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the
day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God
“will give to each person according to what he has done.”
Does this
mean that if we keep the law we are righteous in God’s eyes?
Romans
3:20
20Therefore no one will be declared
righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become
conscious of sin.
Is there
anything we can do that is of any merit to God?
Isaiah
64:6
6 All of us have become like one who
is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy
rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
What about
those who have never heard the Gospel? How can they be judged for what they
have never heard?
Romans
2:12-15
12All who sin apart from the law will
also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by
the law. 13For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in
God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14(Indeed,
when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the
law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15since
they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their
consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even
defending them.)
6You see, at just the right time,
when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very
rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might
possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in
this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
How often
would someone die for another? Even for a good or righteous man, anyone would
be reluctant to give up their life for another. As sinners we only deserve the
punishment for our sin. We don’t deserve mercy – but Jesus took our place!
Jesus
became our sacrifice of atonement.
Romans
3:21-26
21But now a righteousness from God,
apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to
all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God
presented him as a sacrifice of atonement (one who will turn away his wrath),
through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in
his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished– 26he
did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the
one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Romans
5:18-19
18Consequently, just as the result of
one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of
righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19For
just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so
also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Romans
10:9-13
9That if you confess with your
mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that
you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and
are saved. 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him
will never be put to shame."[e] 12For there is no
difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly
blesses all who call on him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord will be saved."[f]
The
message is very simple, but there is a challenge!
Romans
10:14-15
14How, then, can they call on the one
they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they
have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And
how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful
are the feet of those who bring good news!"[g]