Intro. There Is No One Righteous Romans 3:9-20 February 28, 2016 There is a saying that hard words make soft hearts and soft words make hard hearts. o We have some of those hard words in front of us this morning. o It s not that they are hard to understand. o It s that, for many people, they can be hard to accept. o Do these words really mean what they sound like they mean? These verses are a summary of all Paul has been saying since 1:18. o As we look at this section, it isn t hard to imagine someone saying, Why are you harping away so strongly on this, Paul? We get it. People are sinners. o You can almost hear Paul at this point reply, Let me remind you why I wrote you this letter. o I know that you know Jesus, but there are so many people that haven t heard about him yet. o Remember my mission? Romans 1:5 Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. Paul wrote this letter as an advance communication before he actually came to Rome, but he had his sights set further than Rome. Romans 15:23-24 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. o Paul wants these Christians to catch a vision for unreached peoples. o He wants them to understand the desperate situation of lost people and help them to understand that unless they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, they have no hope of being set right with God. As we look at this text this morning, it is vital we understand Paul s heart behind it and that we let God s Spirit use his Word to shape our hearts in the same way. o I want to summarize this section this way: o Everyone has been completely wrecked by sin and is completely unable to save themselves. o I want to break this statement down into two parts for you, show you where they are in the text and conclude with why this matters. 1. Everyone has been completely wrecked by sin (vs. 9-18). a. Last September on a Monday morning as I was driving my daughter to school, we were hit from behind on 217. i. The damage was significant, but our van was still driveable. ii. However, when I took it to a body shop, the guy giving me the estimate looked underneath the van and noticed that the frame had been bent. iii. When I gave the estimate to the insurance company, the gal simply said, Oh, my! That s a total loss! b. Those words describe the condition of every human being on the planet. Beaverton Christian Church Scott 1
i. Our lives are still driveable, but we have been damaged underneath, and as a result, we are a total loss. ii. This is Paul s point in v. 9. iii. Look at verse 9 with me. iv. We have all been completely wrecked by sin. v. As we explore further what this means, pay close attention to the last two words of v. 9. c. All people are under sin. i. Sin is not so much an action as it is a condition. ii. Our fundamental human problem is not what we have done but who we are. iii. Our main crisis is not an action crisis but an identity crisis. iv. Every single person is under sin. d. In Romans 6:17 Paul states that your original condition is to be a slave to sin. i. Our situation is even more bleak that that. ii. Look at Eph. 2:1. Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, iii. Because of this, we all stand condemned. iv. Look at Romans 3:10. e. I want you to see how completely we have been wrecked. i. Every single part of a person s life has been affected by sin. ii. Paul establishes his case by quoting from the Old Testament and shows five different areas that have been affected. f. Now before we look at these, I want to take on an objection that is sure to come. i. Isn t this just hyperbolic language and poetic imagery used to make a point? ii. Behind this figurative language is literal truth. iii. The truth that Paul quotes here is found in other places in Scripture as well. iv. After God wiped out the world with a flood, we find these words: Genesis 8:21 The LORD said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. v. For this reason, we have to take seriously the depth of our depravity that is reveal to us here. g. First we see that our minds have been wrecked by sin. i. Look at v. 11: There is no one who understands. ii. This lack of understanding is not talking about the ability to gather and retain information. iii. This refers to an inability to grasp and accept ultimate truth about God, life, and reality. 1 Corinthians 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. h. In the Bible, understanding is not simply a mental process, it is also a response of our heart. Beaverton Christian Church Scott 2
Beaverton Christian Church Scott 3 i. To properly understand something is to ether be drawn to it in love or be repulsed by it. Proverbs 10:23 A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom. ii. Our brains have an incredible capacity for learning and gaining knowledge, but sin has corrupted our ability to rightly interpret the meaning of all that we know. iii. There is no part of our minds that has not been affected by sin. i. Not only have our minds been wrecked by sin but our intentions have been wrecked by sin. i. Look at what the Bible says next: no one who seeks God. ii. This doesn t deny that the world is full of religious people. iii. When my wife and I lived in Nepal, we got to know a wonderful woman named Yeshi. iv. Yeshi had been exiled from Tibet and was living in a settlement with other Tibetan exiles. v. She was kind and hospitable and she was faithful to go to the Buddhist temple and light a lamp and pray. vi. Yeshi listened to the teachings of the Dalai Lama and was quite spiritual, yet as the Bible says here, she was not truly seeking God. j. There are many people today in the U.S. that cry out to God but are not truly seeking him. i. Jesus gives us insight into this: Mark 7:6 These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. ii. Unless your heart is pursuing God, outward actions are of no value. iii. The seeking that is addressed here in Romans is this seeking from the heart. iv. No one seeks God from their heart when they are under sin. v. After Adam and Eve sinned by eating the fruit, it was not Adam but God who called out, Where are you? vi. Under sin there are people who desire God s power, but they are not seeking God s presence. vii. No one seeks God. viii. Our minds and our intentions have been wrecked by sin. k. Because of this, our actions have been wrecked by sin. i. Look at v. 12. ii. The inward turning of the heart away from God always results in outward actions turning away from him. iii. The language is strong here, and we have to consider it carefully. l. All people are image bearers of God and because of this everyone, regardless of age, status, or other capabilities is valuble in God s sight. i. This does not mean that the inherent value of human life is lost. ii. Instead it is saying that everything that anyone does is ultimately unprofitable. iii. Why is that? 1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
iv. This is the standard of value in God s eyes. v. This is what makes an action good. vi. In our natural state, under sin, we do not do things to glorify God. vii. We can do things that benefit others. viii. We can feed the hungry and be advocates for the oppressed, and we should do these things. ix. However, the Bible says that if they are not done for God s glory, they are not ultimately good. Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. Beaverton Christian Church Scott 4 x. The verdict is definitive in Romans 8:7-8 Romans 8:7-8 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. m. This is really shocking to our modern sensibilities. i. Really? No one does good? ii. I have wonderful neighbors who are friendly and helpful. n. However, think about this for a minute. i. Imagine a deadbeat dad who doesn t pay child support and never remembers his kids birthdays, but when the Cub Scout comes knocking on his door, he is generous in his donation. ii. Would we suddenly say he is a good dad? iii. God is the one we should be ultimately seeking to please with our actions, so if we are not motivated to honor him, we cannot really claim to be any better than this dad. o. Our minds have been wrecked, our intentions have been wrecked, our actions have been wrecked. i. Now we see that our words have been wrecked. ii. If v. 12 sounded harsh in generalities, verse 13 turns the screws tighter. iii. Notice how we see corrupted speech in its path of boiling over from the throat to the tongue, passed the lips and out of the mouth. iv. These different body parts drive home the message that the corruption is complete. v. These are not careless words. vi. They reflect a corrupt heart. Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. p. Finally, our social interactions have been wrecked. i. We do not pursue the good of others. ii. There is a three-fold repetition of violence in verses 15-17. iii. Murder is listed here as the ultimate expression of the breakdown of relationships. iv. Life outside of Eden rapidly declined as Cain murdered Abel. v. Under sin, relationships break down. vi. There are no human relationships that are untainted by sin. q. Throughout these verses there is a repetitive use of they.
i. For as much as we might want to believe this is referring to someone else, the most natural reference is back to verse 12. ii. Who are they? iii. All are they. iv. We are they. r. Verse 18 comes full circle with the assessment of why everyone has been wrecked by sin. i. Look at v. 18 with me. ii. What this highlights is that our problem is not a physical problem. iii. We are able to choose our actions and our words. iv. Our problem is a moral problem. v. We are unable to please God because at the end of the day we don t want to please God. vi. We love our sinful condition. vii. It is not as if sin had us chained to a chair and God told us to get out of the chair. viii. If that were the case, our inability to do good and please God would not be culpable. ix. Instead, sin has corrupted our hearts to the point that we hear God s call to get out of the chair, but we respond by saying, I don t want to get out of the chair. It s so soft and comfortable. It feels so good; I can t get out. x. This is a moral inability to do good, and we are completely culpable for this. s. We could be worse. i. We are not utterly depraved but every part of us has been affected, so as Christians have held for centuries, we are totally depraved. ii. Everyone has been completely wrecked by sin. 2. Everyone is completely unable to save themselves (vs. 19-20). a. For a moment, Paul returns to the Jews, but in using them to make his point, he indicts the whole world. i. Look at v. 19. ii. Paul s logic is fairly straightforward. iii. He has just been quoting from the Old Testament which was often called the law. iv. Paul reminds the Jews that this was spoken to them under the law. v. They are not exempt from the all and the no one of this section. vi. Therefore, both Jews and Gentiles stand condemned before God. vii. The picture here is of a defendant standing in court. viii. He hears the mountain of evidence against him and is unable to speak a single word in his defense. b. We reach the final conclusion of the argument in v. 20. i. The law is not able to save. ii. It can only reveal sin. iii. Look at v. 20. iv. There are not enough good deeds that we can do for God to declare us as innocent. v. God s law is like a plumb line. vi. It cannot make a crooked wall straight. Beaverton Christian Church Scott 5
vii. Its job is merely to show the standard of straightness and reveal clearly when a wall is crooked. c. The conclusion is inescapable: i. Our greatest need is for God to give us his righteousness because we are completely unrighteous and are completely unable to be righteous on our own. ii. Everyone is completely unable to save themselves from sin and the just wrath of God. 3. (Implications) a. I want to conclude with four implications from this text. b. First of all, you must be sure that you have put your trust in Jesus Christ alone. i. There is no hope in this text that what you need is to simply feel better about yourself. ii. Our culture has lied to us and set us up for judgment by always wanting to make sure everybody gets a trophy. iii. This text should undo us. iv. However, the bitterness of this bad news makes the good news that much sweeter. c. I don t relish standing up here declaring that every part of you has been wrecked by sin. i. However, if you will accept this and confess it before God, it will give you an even greater assurance that when you call out to Jesus, he will really save you. ii. This text proves to us that God is not expecting us to contribute a single thing to our salvation. iii. As a matter of fact, the only thing you can contribute is your need to be saved. iv. That is exactly why Jesus died for you. v. This is exactly why Jesus offered his blood to his Father in heaven and said, Use this to wash away all their sin. vi. This is exactly why the Father sent his Son to earth and joyfully received this offering. vii. Do not waste your energy trying to scrub the stains out of your life. viii. Instead, let Jesus wash them clean in the fountain of his precious blood. d. Second, those who have been saved must never forget that it is all by grace. i. We must always fight against the temptation to think that we are just a little bit better than the unbeliever. ii. We are not Christians because we do the good we ought to do. iii. We are Christians because God poured out his grace on us and declared us righteous innocent in his sight. iv. We must constantly push back against the idea that some people are farther from God because they commit more sins than we do. v. Apart from Christ, we are all hopelessly under sin. e. Third, no one will find God on their own. i. No one is a blank slate and there is no neutral ground in the world. ii. If a person has not put their faith in Jesus Christ, they are lost under sin. iii. This means that we must commit to raising up new missionaries. Beaverton Christian Church Scott 6
Conclusion iv. We need high school students who will dream of Bible translation and go to college to study linguistics. v. We need moms to read stories to their children about missionaries like William Carey and Adoniram Judson. vi. We need dads who will teach their children to pray for the Maninka people of West Africa and the Azeri people of the Caucuses. vii. We need people who will give generously to supporting missions efforts in these places. f. Because no one will find Jesus on their own, we must tell those we know about Jesus. i. You haven t presumed Jesus grace in your own life, have you? ii. Don t presume it in someone else s life either. iii. Don t be someone s excuse when they stand before Jesus. iv. Instead, pray that you would be their source of gratitude and share with them. In many ways, this morning is like the spiritual version of a colonoscopy. o But wait it gets worse. o The doctor has called you back into his office to tell you that he has discovered cancer. o As you deal with the diagnosis, he tells you that there is a course of treatment involving radiation and chemotherapy that is usually effective. It is at this point that what the Bible says to us about the condition of our souls is even better than what the doctor could tell you about your body. Physical treatments are not guaranteed to cure, but Jesus is the Good Physician, and his treatment always cures. Beaverton Christian Church Scott 7