As we spend more and more time talking to people about Jesus, as we start to get better at recognizing those divine appointments God sends our way we often get knocked back. And that happens usually only for 1 or 2 reasons: either the person we’re talking to just seems to have no interest or because we get hit with a barrage of questions we may not have answers to.
Now sometimes, when we’re talking to people, the objections they have to the Gospel and the excuses they come up with are really just a way of saying hey guy, there’s some stuff I don’t understand, there’s some stuff I just don’t get yet and I need you to keep going until I do get it cos then I can make a proper, informed decision for myself. And then you get the excuses from people who are really not interested whatsoever and the stuff they come up with is not worth spending a lot of time on.
It’s a bit like kids trying to fob off the teacher with excuses as to why they didn’t do their homework or turn in an assignment. So rather than just throw up their hands and cop to the fact that they just didn’t get the work done, they come up with all sorts of stupid excuses. And each of their excuses is designed to either avoid or minimize the consequences of their actions. Here’s some may have heard – or maybe even used yourself!
“I was tidying my room the other day and I think I must have accidentally thrown it away while I was cleaning up.” Or “My computer crashed & I lost all my work.” Or “My printer isn’t working.”
And here’s the thing: the teacher knows that the kid is, in all probability, lying through his or her teeth. Now, you might smile or even laugh at that. But before you get too carried away with your own self righteousness what about you – when you’re talking to Jesus about your stuff and you know that you just don’t want to give up a particular sin? Or maybe when you’re not ready to repent of something or to trust in Jesus as your Savior,
See, it’s at times like those that people come up with all kinds of they excuses to avoid changing or accepting responsibility for their lives. Some people blame everyone else. Some will object or try to find flaws in the teachings of the Christian faith. And it’s the same today as it was back then. Now, if you can relate to any of that then Romans Chapter 3 is just for you. See, those verses we read earlier are Paul confronting the questions of the day
Now we have to remember that Paul was a traveling evangelist-missionary. In nearly every city he visited, he went to the synagogue and shared the message of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. And as Paul went around presenting the good news of the gospel, he would be confronted with all kinds of objections to his teaching. So, he had to defend his teaching and deal with the objections of unbelievers, who, in many cases we’re just looking for an excuse to reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here in Romans 3, it’s kind of like Paul was face to face with a heckler - some guy who kept interrupting him with questions and objections. Actually, what’s happening is that Paul is anticipating objections that he knew would spring up in the minds of his readers, and so by asking the questions himself he was able to provide the proper answers. So, as we think about these objections and the answers to them, there’s a message for us here as well.
Here’s the problem we face today. There are ever increasing numbers of people who just set out to criticize Christianity. And so we need to know how to answer them and how to defend our faith. If you want the technical term – its apologetics and apologetics is a science
So, lets look at 3 common questions about the Christian faith in Paul’s day, and see whether there’s anything we can learn that will help us today.
Q#1: Why Bother with religion?
In the last part of chapter 2, Paul said something very provocative . He said that from a spiritual perspective, some Jews are not really Jews at all while spiritually speaking, some Gentiles can really be Jews even if they are not circumcised. So what’s all that about? Well, he went even further and said that external things - stuff like where they were born, the fact that they possessed the Law and were circumcised don’t give you special advantage if you spend your life breaking Gods law or refusing to trust in Jesus Christ as your personal savior.
What Paul was saying was simply this:
- it doesn’t matter who you think you are
- it doesn’t matter where you were born
- it doesn’t matter what your nationality you are
- it doesn’t matter whether you’re male or female, young or old, fat or thin, rich or poor
Paul’s telling us that what we need is not some outward expression of religion, but an inward work of grace that makes us right with God. So this leads to the 1st question: IS THERE NO ADVANTAGE TO BEING BORN A JEW?
If being circumcised, and knowing the law, and teaching others about the Law, can’t save you – then what’s the point in being religious? The Jews wanted to know why they have to go through all they have to go through if it does them no good. See, that felt that because they were Jewish, they had a special relationship with God. They were God's chosen people.
But here’s the kicker: even though they were special to the Lord, even though He had a plan for them then (and He still does today), that doesn’t change the fact that they were still guilty sinners before the Lord.
Let me shoot straight forward to 2010. Considering the fact that just doing good things can’t save your soul, and that clean living doesn’t guarantee you a home in glory , and just coming to church 3x a week however committed you are doesn’t get you into Heaven in and of itself - then what is the point in being a Christian? Why join the church? Why come? Why bother with being a religious person, if being religious will do you no good?
A lot of people feel like that today and a lot of people felt like that back then. Fortunately, God has an answer for the Jews and He has an answer for people in 2010 to. See, people thought that Paul was making it sound like there was no advantage in being born a Jew. But Paul hammers his critics in v2 by reminding the Jews that they were blessed in every way. Here’s the deal:
- The Jews had the Law
- they had been given the Word of God
- They were circumcised
- And they were the children of Abraham
The Jews had all of the Old Testament. They had the record of God speaking to mankind. And that should have given them a tremendous advantage in finding the way of salvation. But, instead of this bringing them into a place where they walked in a special relationship with the Lord, it placed them in a position of greater responsibility! Because they had the truth, they were responsible before the Lord to live the truth! And we need to recognize that we are in a similar position today.
We live in America, where there are probably more Bibles per person than in any other nation. It’s a blessing to have the Word of God! Its a privilege that many people in the world simply don’t possess. But the trouble is this: people today think that their good deeds, their religious living, their activities, and so on will win them favor in the eyes of the Lord. But that’s just not true! In fact the opposite is true. See, the more exposure we have to the truth, the more responsible we become before the Lord. So, if you plan to live a sub-standard life as a child of God, you’d be far better off to going to a liberal church where they don’t preach accountability to the word of God
When you’re exposed to the truth on a regular basis, you’re responsible before the Lord to live that truth, and you’re responsible to show others the way. If we don’t do just that, we’ll be held accountable before the Lord. So, if you plan to go to Hell, please do it from a church where they don’t preach the Gospel
How are we using the privileges the Lord has given to us? Are we guilty of doing the same foolish things the Jews were guilty of? God help us to realize that souls are dying while we sit around and split hairs with each other. In the same way that we’ve been entrusted with the Word of God, so we have a responsibility to teach the Scriptures.
The responsibility to share Gods word passed from the Jews to the Church. But at times, the Church has been no better than the Jews. During the middle ages the Word of God was practically lost to the world. So God used the Protestant reformation to restore widespread distribution and teaching of the Word of God. But during the past 100 years much of Protestant Christianity has become unfaithful to the Word of God through its liberalism and unbelief. So that brings it right down to you and me on a personal level. Have we been faithful to our responsibility toward the Word of God? Do you share the Word of God with others?
Most of you were born in America, and some of you were even born into a Christian home. Some of you may have been brought up in church, some of you were baptized, and for some of you, your name is on a church roll somewhere. But Paul’s point is this: none of those things have the power to save you or to provide you with a key to the Kingdom of Heaven
I was born in a Christian Home. Does that give me any advantages in this life? You bet your life it does! But only if I make proper use of those advantages. For example, having the Word of God is a tremendous advantage, but only if you hear it, only if you read it, only if you believe it, and only if obey it. But if you reject the message of the Bible, which is salvation thru Jesus Christ, then having a Bible and being born into a Christian home will do you no good.In fact, it will only increase your condemnation!
So now in v.3, Paul anticipates another objection.
Q#2: Why Bother with responsibility?
The Jews were basically saying that since some Jews failed to live up to their end of the covenant, does that mean that God has written off the entire Jewish nation? What they are asking is, "Has the failure of some of the people ruined it for all of us? Has God forsaken all of His chosen people because some of them have sinned? And, if He has, then why should we bother to serve Him any longer?"
Paul's answer gives us tremendous hope and comfort: "God forbid!" Literally, this phrase reads, "May it never be!" It is a strong statement, made even stronger by the words, "let God be true and every men a liar!"
Paul means that in spite of what man does, God will honor His promise. Regardless of how bad you’ve been, God will never, ever give up on you. Think for a minute about all the times that you’ve sinned since you have been saved. If we’re honest this morning we’d all have to admit that we were guilty of many, many sins. But , that doesn’t change God's promise. God is faithful to us in spite of our sins!
Remember David? He was an adulterer, a liar and ultimately a murderer, but God forgave him and used David in a wonderful manner.
Remember Rahab? She was a prostitute, but God forgave her and used her for His glory!
Remember Peter? He sinned against the Lord big time. He denied even knowing Him yet the Jesus loved him and forgave him and used him in a great way.
The point is, God will judge your sins, this proves that He’s righteous. But once your sin’s been judged, He’ll will forgive your sins, and that proves that God is bigger than your sin! God is always ready to forgive, all He’s waiting for is for you to get to that same place . See, regardless of where life has taken you, and regardless of the sins you may have committed,there’s forgiveness and restoration in the Lord Jesus Christ!
And this leads to the 3rd question of the unbeliever:
Q#3: Why Bother with righteousness?
In verses 5-8, Paul deals with an objection raised by the Jews related to the issue of sin. He’s just told them that God is glorified through the forgiveness of sin. So some of them came to the conclusion that if that’s true - they should just keep on sinning because that would bring God even more glory. See, we human beings so badly want to lose the accountability to God we have for what we do. So that’s why some people just deny God exists altogether. Then there are those other people look for ways to be exempt from judgment . And so here the Jews think they’ve found a loophole!
Here’s the argument: since God was glorified through the sin of David, in that David's sin gave the Lord a chance to demonstrate both His justice and His grace, it stands to reason that David was helping the Lord out when he sinned. After all, God would have never gotten a change to show His justice or His grace if David hadn't sinned. Therefore, when I sin, I am really helping God out. That being said, it is unfair for God to judge me when I sin, because I’m giving Him a chance to prove His justice and grace.
It’s a slick argument. In reality they we’re saying that the end justifies the means. But here’s the problem - it’s accuses God of using our sin for His own advantage. The whole idea is one of promoting sin so that God would be glorified when He forgives us and even though this is diametrically opposed to everything God is, people still live by this philosophy today. They profess Jesus is Lord, and then they run out to sin. When trouble comes, they run back to God. They ask for forgiveness and testify that God has forgiven them. The church praises the Lord and the cycle begins again.
We need for some people to make up their minds that they had rather just be steady for Jesus. I think God is far more glorified when a person gets saved, then lives for Jesus until the end of his life. That’s Gods ideal plan for each of us.
Now, don't misunderstand me, God will forgive you if you fall. But the Bible says he’s equipped us with everything we need to prevent us from falling. So, people try to justify their sin on the basis that God gets the glory through the forgiveness of sin. It’s the kind of attitude that says we can do as we please. And since we’re saved by grace, it says that morality and lifestyle doesn't matter. Nothing could be farther from the truth! The truth is that it would always have been better for you to have not committed those sins to begin with? God gets more glory when he sees you walking faithfully and overcoming the sin in your life. See, even though God is exalted by the forgiveness of sin, He’s never exalted by sin itself.
The last statement Paul says is this: No one gets a free pass. If you play these kinds of games with God, you will end up in hell and when that happens you’re just getting what you deserve. Sin can never glorify the Lord. He can’t condone sin. Since He is holy, God has to judge sin, and since that is true, the sinner can rest assured that if he or she goes through life without a personal relationship with Jesus he will die and go to Hell.
The lukewarm Christian whom spends his or her life sitting on the fence, justifying their junk to themselves should know that a life lived half in and half out will result in a life filled with the consequences of his foolish choices. The fact of the matter is that all sinners will be held accountable by the Lord
But, it seems today that whenever a man is revealed to be a sinner, he can come up with some pretty creative ways to try and justify his sins. Several years ago, the House of Representatives voted 426-0 to reveal the names of all past and present members who have bounced checks at the House bank. They tell us that when the list was finally released it contained 355 names. Some of our elected officials evidently never bothered to balance their checkbooks. One wrote 972 bad checks while another wrote 716.
The man who wrote 716 rubber checks is from the Chicago area. He held an press conference at which he loudly proclaimed that since no public money was involved, it was nobody else's business. With an air of extreme anger, he proclaimed, "It's personal."
But the best performer was a man from Texas. He seemed to be making five different excuses for his bad checks.
"It's not a crime like child abuse."
Translation: "It's not so bad."
"My people knew I was sloppy when they elected me."
Translation: "They knew I was stupid when they elected me."
"If you've ever bounced a check, vote for me. If not, vote for my opponent."
Translation: "Everybody does it."
"The system was all fouled up."
Translation: "It's not my fault."
"It's no big deal."
Translation: "It's no big deal."
Today, we need to stop trying to justify our sins to ourselves and do exactly what the Jesus said to do with them - simply, confess them. The word "confess" is a word that means "to say the same thing about something." God says that my sins are wretched and filthy. He says that they harm His Kingdom and rob Him of His glory. He says that my sins hurt me in ways that I’ve never even thought about. He wants me to say the same thing about my sins that He is saying about them. He just wants me to come clean, and when I do, He’s promised to make me clean.
Guys, being religious will not save your soul and it will not buy you favor with the Lord. The only thing that brings us near to Him is when we put our sins behind us.
Remember this: it’s never wrong to do right
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