Sermon Tone Analysis

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you.

But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”[1]

Such were some of you.”

These are assuredly dark words that could easily condemn many of God’s beloved saints.

However, note that these words are written in the past tense, indicating that the condition no longer holds true.

Therefore, what appears dark and despairing is transformed into that which is comforting and joyous.

The transforming power is the Lord Jesus Christ, working in the life of His saint by the Spirit of God.

There is no need for anyone to labour under the sentence of death when life is offered to all in Christ the Lord.

Certainly, there is no reason that any of God’s people should ever fall into despair, believing that they are doomed in the sight of the Living God.

If salvation depended upon living a sinless life, none of us would have a hope of reaching heaven.

No Christian can claim to merit God’s mercy or grace.

No saved individual can state that God was compelled to grant her life because of her goodness.

We are saved precisely because we were lost.

We have sinned—wilfully and wantonly—against the Infinite God.

Thus, our sin is not a trifling thing; it is monstrous, horrendous, offensive beyond comprehension.

Yet, if we have life in the Beloved Son, we can say with confidence that God has forgiven our sin, cleansed us of unrighteousness and brought us into His Family as His dear child.

*Unrighteousness, the Characterisation* — “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?” Generally, people imagine that unrighteousness, or wickedness, is defined by certain acts that are disapproved by God or that dishonour God.

However, unrighteousness is not defined by specific acts; it is a general condition affecting all mankind.

“I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” [*Romans 7:21-23*].

An unrighteous person is one who has no standing before the Living God.

Many people, perhaps even many who profess faith in the Son of God, live by a code that allows them to believe that because they avoid certain activities they are pleasing to God.

I got into serious trouble with a congregation that adhered to such a philosophy on one occasion.

I noted that they were proud of their “pure lives” that was best summarised by an old couplet:

We don’t smoke, and we don’t chew;

We don’t go with girls who do.

I continued by pointing out that they were vicious toward fellow Christians, inconsiderate, and intolerant.

Those dear folk were enraged, which only substantiated the point I was making.

One of the great doctrines of the Faith that is woefully neglected in this day is total depravity.

The term can be misleading; however, it does not mean that individuals are as mean as they can be, or that people indulge in every sin they can imagine, or even that people never try to do what is right.

It does mean that every aspect of our being has been contaminated as result of sin.

Our lives are fully corrupted by sin, and there is nothing that we can do that will make us acceptable to God.

Thus, we are incapable of holding pure motives for any spiritual action and unable to please God through our own efforts.

The situation is not that some parts of our being are sinful and others are pure; every part of our being has been affected by sin—intellect, emotions, desire, goals, motives and even our physical being.

Indeed, the Apostle has identified our situation in darkest terms when he writes, “I know that nothing good dwells in me” [*Romans 7:18*].

Had our first parents never sinned, you and I wouldn’t struggle with ageing.

In fact, there would be no “old age,” or “middle age,” if Adam and Eve had obeyed God.

We wouldn’t need bifocals or hearing aids; we wouldn’t need joint replacement surgery.

Moreover, these signs of ageing are evidence of our fallen condition which points to death—the separation of the soul from the body; and death is the result of sin.

We are taught that “Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” [*Romans 5:12*].

As bad as it is to know that our bodies are corrupted by sin, the graver consequence is that we are spiritually dead.

This means that apart from God, we can do nothing, which is precisely what Jesus taught His disciples when He said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” [*John 15:5*].

Again, the Word of God teaches that “to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled” [*Titus 1:15*].

Any action generated by the flesh is incapable of pleasing God or ensuring a relationship with Christ!

The biblical statement of this condition is provided in *Romans 3:10-12*.

“None is righteous, no, not one;

no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

I believe you would agree with me that these are strong statements that the Apostle has made.

Perhaps you are prone to dismiss what he has written as hyperbole.

You would be in error if you did so.

He is making a statement concerning our inability to please God, or even to pursue God.

No Christian sought God—He sought us when we were lost sinners.

Notice that Paul says, “None is righteous.”

Then, to make the statement stronger still, he adds, “No, not one.”

If it is true that none is righteous, then it must be that we are inherently unrighteous.

On one occasion, when a rich young man approached Jesus, he used flattery to gain an audience with the Master.

Perhaps we need to recall the Lord’s response to his approach.

“Why do you call Me good?

No one is good except God alone” [*Luke 18:19*].

Take note of that statement, for it is an indictment of the race.

We are not righteous; we are not good.

“But,” you may protest, “It is wrong when it says that ‘no one does good,’ I know that even pagans do good occasionally.”

Throughout the world are people who perform heroic deeds, they make sacrifices that benefit others; they are industrious, prudent and honest.

Even some of us are scrupulous in obeying the speed limit!

Surely this counts as good?

However, the way in which we use the concept of “good” is relative.

In common usage “good” is used to compare people and their actions.

When we say someone is “good,” we mean that they are good in comparison to other people.

So we are using a standard that is restricted to human activity; and that standard cannot survive this life.

However, we are not judged by the standard of how others live—God does not grade on the curve.

Each of us is judged by God according to the standard of His holiness and the perfection of His own being.

God is the ultimate standard for goodness.

Therefore, we are judged by His standard; and none of us are able to measure up to that standard.

R. C. Sproul addresses this issue concerning man’s goodness when he writes, “In biblical categories a good deed is measured in two parts.

The first is in its outward conformity to the law of God.

This means that, if God prohibits stealing, then it is good not to steal.

It is good to tell the truth.

It is good to pay our bills on time.

It is good to assist people in need.

Outwardly these virtues are performed every day.

When we see them we quickly conclude that men do in fact do good things.

“It is the second part of the measuring that gets us in trouble.

Before God pronounces a deed ‘good’ he considers not only the outward or external conformity to his law, but also the motivation.

We look only at outward appearances; God reads the heart.

For a work to be considered good it must not only conform outwardly to the law of God, but it must be motivated inwardly by a sincere love for God.

“We remember the Great Commandment to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, all our strength, and all our minds… and love our neighbours as much as we love ourselves.

Every deed that we do should proceed from a heart that loves God totally.

”From this perspective it is easy to see that no one does good.

Our best works are tainted by our less than pure motives.

No one among us has ever loved God with all of his heart or with all of his mind.

There is a pound of flesh mixed in with all of our deeds, rendering them less than perfect.”[2]

Though goodness is not precisely the same as righteousness, the concepts are related in that one who is righteous is good according to God’s standard.

Precision in use of the terms is helpful, then, whenever we speak of being good.

Though we are usually comparing individuals when we speak of goodness, we ultimately discover that we can go no farther because we must defer to the goodness of God.

In light of this knowledge, we are compelled to admit that God alone is righteous, and thus only God is good.