Sin is a problem for everyone
Notes
Transcript
This morning we begin Chapter 2 of Romans
As I read though this section of scripture that we will look at today
I can’t help but notice that it is a continuation of our last Sermon from Romans
If you will recall from a few weeks ago we got to see an accurate description of our world today
In the description we see that God is righteous in pouring our His wrath and judgement on those who openly reject God
These are people who know of God and yet still reject Him
This week as we will see it is a continuation of that
For those who read Romans 1 as a them problem
this week you will see it is a you problem as well
1 Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
Paul continues that first and foremost you are without excuse
Everything points to God as the creator
everything points to Jesus the Son of God
The savior of the entire world
And church you are without excuse
You neighbor is without excuse
The people around the world are without excuse for knowing Jesus because He has revealed Himself to them
But that does not give us a pass in the evangelism department
No church we are still called to go and share with them what we know about Jesus
What we can testify to about Christ
To teach them what we have been taught and to baptize them and disciple them as they grow in Christ
Then Paul goes right into those of you who read Romans 1 and think it is a them problem you will be judge by the way in which you judge others
When you sit back and look at the way the world is and go that is all them I got it together, I am fine
Then you are bringing condemnation on yourself
Church the way the world is is not a us or them problem church it is not a lost or saved problem
It is a sin problem that plagues us and we know because we have read the entire book the answer the Sin Problem that plagues all of us is the Gospel Message
Paul is saying that you who sit back and think it is a them problem do the same things yourself
2 And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3 But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?
Paul is making it clear that it is an us problem
That sin does not pick and choose
Paul explains that it doesn’t matter those who practice evil will be punished
Paul sort of gets you to agree that of course those who practice such things will be punished
Paul gets you to agree with him and then drops the bomb that you do the same thing
Then he sort of puts it off
Do you really think you will escape punish for doing the same thing or passing judgement on people
Do you think you will escape
Sort of playing on the heart strings a bit
Because earlier we are without excuse
We should not presume Gods grace
We should presume that God will at the end of time just allow everyone to come in just because
This is a theory that is taught
Rob Bell thought and wrote a book Love Wins
From what I could gather it was that thought
That at the end it doesn’t matter if you ever repent because God is a god of Love and His love will eventually win out in the end
Meaning that God will allow everyone into heaven because God is love
4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
It would see that Rob Bell didn’t finish reading
That yes God is love and Yes God is a god of grace and mercy but that as scripture clearly puts
Gods kindness expressed through love, grace and mercy leads us to repentance
There are people and churches that preach and teach
That you can absolutely sit back and judge others
That sin does not bother you
That God is love and His love will win out
Church the truth of the matter is from Gods word itself
is that you cannot continue to sit back and judge people because you will bring about wrath on yourself
That sin is real and does affect you
Sin is a problem that plagues you
That Gods kindness leads us to a repentant heart
The more we get to know or I would argue experience the kindness of God the more it leads us to hate sin and a repentant heart
5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who will render to each person according to his deeds: 7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.
But
See the kindness of God leads to repentant heart
But changes things
Things were going great and we were being lead to repentance
But because of our hardness and stiff necked stubborn people
We like what we read in Romans 1 think we know better and possible know more about God
Because we refuse to believe sin is a problem that plagues us
We sit back and judge others
Paul is saying that God will pour our wrath to each person according to his own deeds
To the Person who does good and seeks glory and honor
And to the person who lives for themselves and does not obey truth
We know that each and every person saved or not will have to answer for what you did in your life both good and bad
And the difference is not that the people in heaven had more good but at the end of it God will either say welcome home my son or daughter
or depart for me I never knew you
9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.
Just like the last few verses
Punishment will be poured out on those who do evil
Wether it be jew or greek
Paul makes that clear
That it doesn’t matter you family background
We have said it here before that you family background does not get you into a right relationship with heaven
I alway find it interesting that when you meet people and talk with them and start to bring up Christ or religion or church
Someone always has a grandfather who was a pastor
Like that seals them with Christ
Like that keeps them from having the wrath of God poured out on them
In Pauls day the jewish people would tout around thinking they had it all together because they were God’s chosen people
And I think there are some Chrsitians who do the same
Well i go to this church or that church
Or my grandfather was a pastor so I am covered
There is no family salvation plan
Its not you pay for the plan and get to pick 5 friends who are covered by your salvation plan
The Jews were Gods chosen people because it was going to be through them that salvation would come to the whole world
Church that happened
Jesus was a Jew and He came to save the whole world for those who believe in Him
Just like the Gospel message that came first to the jews has now spread to the gentile
Paul is saying that punishment will also be poured out first to the Jew and then to the Gentile
God does not have partiality with people group
You will be punish for your own deeds
It is all about what you are doing before God
That is why the Gospel is so very important
It is not what your parents did or your grandparents did
It is not what your friends did
But it is all about how Jesus died for you and your response to it
And Jesus gave us the answer
Repent and Believe is the correct
Church it is only response to the Gospel Message
12 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; 13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.
Paul continues to explain the difference and that it is no longer about the old
The Old Law or the Old Covenant
Rather it is about Christ and the New Covenant in Christ
Did you catch how sin is present even without a law to define it
Mean they are wrong in and of themselves
Church meaning before the law it was written on our hearts a desire to have relationship with God
A god sized hole that only God can fill
Did you also notice that the law cannot save you
Paul will later expound on this idea in a letter to the Galatians
If the law saved us then Christ did for nothing
And Christ did not die for nothing
So the Law cannot and would not and will not save us
The Paul explains that it is the doers of the law who are righteous before God
But what a minute I thought the law didn’t save us it doesn’t
It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance
To repent and believe because of the kindness of God
The kindness of God is shown through Jesus on the Cross
It no longer about sitting in church and listening to a really good sermon or speech
But rather it is about the Gospel Message getting inside you and I
And church when the Gospel Message gets inside us it compels us to obedience with what God has called us to do
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
James gives a good illustration of a hearer vs a doer of the law
The hearer is the person who looks at his face but as soon has he has left the mirror he somehow forgets what he looks like
A doer of the law is someone who has spent time with the law
Read the law memorized the law church and dare i say it but put it into practice
This is a doer of the law
A hearer of the law is someone who comes to church and even Sunday school or bible study and listens
Maybe sometimes shares something but that it is
They don’t spend time with the Word, they don’t memorize the word, they don’t put it into practice
Church we need to be doers and not hearers
14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
Church Paul wraps up this section of the letter
Maybe this would have been the end of page 1 or the end of page 2 even
But he wraps this section up with explaining that it is no longer about the law itself
He shows that even though they follow the law without having the law
Church it was written on their hearts from before they were thought of
We know that God has revealed himself to everyone through His creation
Church
Sin is a problem that plagues humanity
IT is not a them problem with sin
It is a me problem with sin
Your family history will nat save you from the sin problem
Your ability to know Bible History will not save you
Church we said this a few weeks ago but the answer to the sin problem
is this
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
I found this from John McArthur and we have shared it before but how fitting of a description of the Gospel it is
John McArthur 2 Corinthians 5:21
“The Greatest Gospel verse in the Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:21.
He made Him who knew no sin, sin for us.
That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
Let me unpack those 15 Greek words
He, God made Jesus sin.
What do you mean He made Jesus sin?
Only in one sense
He treated Him as if He had committed Every Sin ever Committed by Every Person who would ever believe though in fact He committed none of them.
Hanging on the cross He was Holy Harmless Undefiled
Hanging on the cross He was a spotless Lamb
He was never for a split second a sinner
He is Holy God on the cross
But God is treating Him, I’ll put it more practically
As if He lived my life
God punished Jesus for my sin
Turns right around and treats me as if I lived His life
Thats the great doctrine of substitution
And what you get is complete forgiveness
covered by the Righteousness of Jesus Christ
When He looks at the cross He sees you and when he looks at you He sees Christ”
Church that is the Gospel Message that Paul is trying to teach to the church at Rome
It is the Gospel Message that to this day is still in the business of taking dead men and women and bringing them back to life
Church is the same Gospel Message that we as believers continue to dwell that causes us and compels us to live our lives for Him rather than the world
Closing
So as we move to our time of invitation
I would invite you this morning to experience the Gospel Message
Maybe you have never repented of your sin and after today understand that its the kindness of God that leads us to repentance
If you have never repented of your sin and trusted Jesus
Would you do that today
Or maybe you are a believer and you simple need to spend sometime in prayer dwelling on the Gospel
The Good News that saved you
the alter is open
Thoughts
If the previous was about those who practice evil God will judge this seems to be about the Christian who think they are better and yet still practice evil
Those who practice evil will be punished
Just like the Gospel to the Jew first
Punishment will also be poured out first to the Jew and then to the Gentile
God does not have partiality with people group
It is no longer about the family history with God
It is all about what you are doing before God
And those who practice evil will be punish, no matter who you are
Hearer vs doer of the law, James 1:23-25
vs 14 shows that it was written on their hearts
God has revealed himself to you through creation