Introduction
From time to time I refer to the Heidelberg Catechism, which is similar to our church’s Shorter Catechism in that it’s a summary of what Christians believe and it’s in the form of questions and answers. There are lots of catechisms, but the Heidelberg Catechism is one of the best.
It begins magnificently by asking, ‘What is your only comfort in life and in death?’ And it gives this majestic answer:
That I am not my own, but belong — body and soul, in life and in death — to my faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has delivered me from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, also assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
It really is marvellous.
Anyway, the Heidelberg Catechism is divided into three main parts. The first main part is about our sin and guilt and misery and how we fall short of living up to what God requires from us. The second main part is about God’s kindness to us in Christ Jesus. It’s about what God has done for us in Christ to save us from our sin and guilt and misery and how we are justified — pardoned and accepted by God — through faith in the Lord Jesus.
And the third main part of the Heidelberg Catechism is our gratitude. It’s about the ways we demonstrate our gratitude to God for what he has done for us in his Son Jesus Christ.
These three parts are announced in question 2 of the Catechism. It asks, ‘How many things must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?’ And the answer is:
Three: first, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am delivered from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.
The reason I bring this up is because Romans follows the same threefold structure. The opening chapters are all about our sin and guilt and misery. And so, we’ve already seen how Paul wrote in chapter 1 about the sin and guilt of unbelieving Gentiles who know God — because God is always revealing himself to them through what he has made — and yet they do not worship God. Instead they worship other things. And then in chapter 2 he wrote about the sin and guilt of unbelieving Jews, who boast about having the law and about having circumcision and yet they do not keep the law. And then there’s the passage we’re studying today which concludes at verse 20, where Paul declares that no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. The Jews boasted that they had the law. But so what? So what, that you have the law, because you do not keep the law. And therefore the law — in which you boast — only condemns you as a lawbreaker. As we were just singing,
The Law discovers guilt and sin
And shows how vile our hearts have been…
So, that’s the opening of Romans. The middle part of Romans is about all that God has done to save us by his Son. And that middle part begins in verse 21 of chapter 3, where Paul announces that a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known. And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. Through faith in him, sinners are declared right with God for ever. And so:
The Law discovers guilt and sin
And shows how vile our hearts have been;
The Gospel only can express
Forgiving love and cleansing grace.
So, the first part of Romans is about our sin and guilt and misery. The second part is about what God has done to save us. And the final part is about how we demonstrate our gratitude to God for what he has done for us in Christ. And we demonstrate our gratitude by living lives of grateful obedience. And this part begins at verse 1 of chapter 12, where Paul writes: ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.’ So, in view of God’s mercy to you in Christ Jesus, devote yourself to doing God’s will here on earth.
And so, the book of Romans takes us from our guilt to God’s kindness to us in Christ and then to our grateful response to his kindness. And we need to keep that in mind especially as we work our way through this first part, because the first part is not good news. The first part is bad news. The first part is all about our sin and guilt and misery. And Paul presses home the point that there is no one righteous, not even one. There is no-one who understands. No-one who seeks God. All have turned away. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We all stand condemned. The first part of Romans contains the bad news about us. But there’s good news to come, because Paul will very soon unfold for us God’s great plan of salvation which he has accomplished for us by his Son.
Verses 1 to 4
Bearing in mind that there’s good news to come, let’s turn to today’s passage. In the previous one, Paul has been showing the unbelieving Jew that he’s no better off than the unbelieving Gentiles, because though Jews have the law and circumcision, they are still lawbreakers. So, unbelieving Jews are no better off than unbelieving Gentiles. And if that’s the case, then what advantage is there in being a Jew? That’s how Paul begins verse 1 of chapter 3.
And in the verses which follow, it’s as if he’s raising questions or objections which people might have to the things he’s been saying. And he then answers those objections. And who knows? As Paul travelled throughout the Roman Empire from place to place, preaching the good news of the gospel to Jew and Gentiles, perhaps there were people in the congregation or people who came to him afterwards with these very questions. Maybe these are the FAQs — the frequently asked questions — which Paul faced as he preached the gospel in various places.
And we can imagine it, can’t we? We can imagine Paul preaching to a Jewish synagogue and saying the sort of thing he said in chapter 2 about the Jews being no better off than unbelieving Gentiles, because though they have the law and circumcision, they’re still lawbreakers. And then, someone objects. This person wants to know what advantage is there in being a Jew. You know, if the Jews are no better off than Gentiles, then why did God create the Jewish people? Why did he set them apart from the Gentiles? If there’s no advantage in being a Jew, why did God make the Jews? Is there any advantage in being a Jew?
And is there any point in being circumcised? God gave the Jews circumcision. He commanded Abraham to circumcise himself and the members of his household. He commanded that his descendants should also be circumcised. But why? If Jews are no better off than Gentiles, then what’s the point in being circumcised? Is there any value in circumcision?
And Paul responds by saying in verse 2: ‘Much in every way!’ He’s saying that yes, the Jews have lots of advantages. There are lots of benefits to being a Jew.
And whenever Paul says that, we’d expect him to start listing them all. If there are lots of advantages to being a Jew, let’s hear them. Give us a few examples. But, in fact, Paul only lists one advantage here. He says there are many advantages, but he only gives us one. But it’s a big one. And it’s a good one. Here’s the big advantage the Jews have over the Gentiles: ‘they have been entrusted with the very words of God.’
When I preached on this passage at the midweek years ago, I quoted from Psalm 147, where the psalmist says about God:
He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and rules to Israel.
He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his rules.
Praise the Lord!
The psalmist is saying that God declared his word to the people of Israel and he has not dealt this way with any other nation. He has not done this for any other nation. He gave his word to the people of Israel and to them alone. And his word to them is a good gift. It’s a good gift, because do you remember how the psalmist praises God’s word in Psalm 19? He says the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. And so on. The law, the testimony, the precepts: these are all words for God’s word. And he’s saying that God’s word is wonderful. And God gave this wonderful gift to the people of Israel and to them alone.
I should perhaps add here that God has given his word to everyone now. But before the coming of Christ, he gave it to the people of Israel and to them alone.
And this was a great privilege for them, because in his word God recorded all the things he had done for his people in the past. Firstly, he gave life to his people by creating all things in the beginning. And then he chose Abraham and established his covenant with Abraham and his descendants to be their God. And as their God he rescued them from trouble. And so, he rescued them from their slavery in Egypt and be brought them through the wilderness and into the Promised Land.
And God’s word contains a record of those things and of many other things that God did for his people. And in his word God revealed his law to his people and he therefore showed them how they should live as his people. He showed them what is good and right and true. And he also told them what to do in order to obtain forgiveness when they did wrong. And his word contains promises of what God will do for his people in the future.
So, it was a privilege for them to have God’s word. And it gave them a great advantage over the other nations, because the other nations were in the dark about God and about his greatness and glory and power and might and holiness and justice and grace and mercy and his everlasting and abounding love. The other nations didn’t know these things about God, because they didn’t have his word. But the Jews had his word. The Israelites had his word. And it was a great privilege for them.
But then in verse 3, Paul asks, ‘What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?’ And here’s Paul raising another objection which he perhaps has heard many times before from the Jews he’s encountered in his travels. And it’s this: God is faithful. The Scriptures show that again and again. God is faithful to his people. And therefore our faithlessness will not nullify God’s faithfulness, because his faithfulness will triumph over our faithlessness. And so, even if we are faithless, God will remain faithful to his promise to us to be our God for ever.
So, nothing we do will nullify God’s faithfulness. Isn’t that right, Paul? That’s the objection. And Paul seems to agree. He says, ‘Not at all!’ That is to say, your faithlessness will not at all nullify God’s faithfulness. But then he quotes from Psalm 51, which is that psalm which David wrote after he had been confronted about his sin with Bathsheba. Do you remember? Bathsheba was Uriah’s wife and David committed adultery with her. And after taking Uriah’s wife, he then took Uriah’s life in order to cover up what he had done. And in the course of the psalm, David acknowledged that God is right when he spoke in judgment over him, because David knew that he was a lawbreaker who had done evil and that he deserved to be punished by God.
But when David bowed before the Lord to confess his sin, he didn’t boast about having the law. And he didn’t boast about being circumcised. He didn’t boast about being a member of God’s people. All he did was ask God for mercy.
God is always faithful to his people and to his promises to them. But what has God promised his people? He has promised to show mercy to the humble and to the lowly and to those who seek his mercy. And he will not show mercy to the proud who boast about having the law or who boast about having circumcision or who boast about anything else they have done.
Verses 5 to 8
And then there’s another objection in verse 5. ‘If our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us?’
Paul calls this a human argument and he means it’s the sort of argument that only a sinful human being would come up with, because it’s so devious. The argument is this: When I do wrong by breaking God’s law, then God has the opportunity to show his own righteous and holy character by condemning my sin. He can pronounce his holy judgment on me by saying, ‘What you have done is wrong!’ And that’s a good thing, isn’t it? It’s good when God gets to display his righteous character. It’s good whenever God gets to show the world how upright and holy he is. And so, if my sin has led to that, then why should God punish me? Why should he pour his wrath on me when all I’ve done is given God the opportunity to display his holy character?
It’s devious, isn’t it? And Paul repeats the same kind of argument in verse 7. He imagines someone saying that my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness. So, when you compare my deceit with God’s truthfulness, then God is glorified. And we could say the same thing about any other vice and its corresponding virtue. When you compare my selfishness with God’s kindness, then God is glorified. When you compare my hatred with God’s love, then God is glorified. When you compare my impatience with God’s patience, then God is glorified. And if God is glorified, why should I be condemned?
And once we start thinking that way, then the only conclusion is the one we have in verse 8: ‘Let us do evil that good may result.’ Let us do evil, because when you compare the evil I do with God’s holy character, then God is glorified. And that’s good, isn’t it?
And how does Paul respond to that kind of reasoning? Look at the end of verse 8: ‘Their condemnation is deserved.’ In other words, anyone who thinks that way — and who comes up with this kind of devious argument and who suggests that God would be unjust to punish them — deserves to be condemned. And the fact is that those who sin against God deserve to be punished by God. And God is right to punish them, because what they have done is wrong. And this is true for unbelieving Jews as much as it’s true for unbelieving Gentiles.
Verses 9 to 20
What shall we conclude then? That’s how Paul begins verse 9 and this is his conclusion to everything he’s been saying since verse 18 of chapter 1, Let me remind you once again that the focus in chapter 1 was unbelieving Gentiles. His focus in chapters 2 and 3 was unbelieving Jews. And now, what shall we conclude? Are unbelieving Jews any better off than unbelieving Gentiles? And the answer in verse 9 is: Not at all!
And then Paul says in the same verse that we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. And that’s an interesting way of putting it, isn’t it? All are under sin. That is to say, they are under the power of sin. Paul sometimes depicts sin as a power that stands over us. It’s our master and it bosses us around and it makes us do evil. Think of the Israelites when they were slaves in Egypt. Their lives were miserable because they were living under the power and authority of a cruel master. And then God set them free. Well, every person is living under the power and authority of sin. And sin is a cruel master. And we need God to rescue us.
And Paul will get to that. But for now he concludes that Jews and Gentiles alike are under sin. And then he puts together a chain of quotations from the Old Testament Scriptures which make the point that all alike are under sin. So, there is no-one who is righteous, not even one. That is to say, there is no one who does what is right in God’s sight. And there’s no one who understands or who seeks God. All have turned away from God and his ways. All have all become worthless, because there is no one who does good, not even one.
Is there really not one person who does good? Aren’t there lots of people who do good? What about doctors and nurses and emergency personnel? What about mothers looking after their children? What about teachers? Aren’t there plenty of people who do good in the world? And Paul would perhaps answer that people do good some of the time, but not all of the time and even our best deeds are spoiled by sin. And he might also say that people only do good because God enables them to do good. If it weren’t for God’s enabling power, all of us would only do evil all of the time. But God graciously restrains our natural sinfulness and enables us to do good. And if it weren’t for him, we’d only do evil.
When Paul refers to throats and tongues and lips and mouths in verses 13 and 14, he’s thinking about the ways we sin when we speak. And in verses 15 to 17 he’s thinking about the harm we do to one another and the violence we commit. And he finishes in verse 18 with the conclusion that there is no fear of God before their eyes. Left to our own devices, no-one would ever worship God or give him the honour that he deserves.
And Paul is spot on, isn’t he? Every day people sin against one another and they cause so much misery to one another by the things they say and do. Their words are unkind and cruel and cutting and their actions are selfish and mean and often violent. And instead of worshipping God, they disregard him. Instead of trembling at the thought of the judgment, they are scornful about it.
But before the judgment seat of God, every mouth will be silenced. That’s in verse 19. And when that day comes, no one will dare to argue with God and no one will make up any excuses for themselves. That’s what we do right now. When we’re found out, we make up excuses to try to persuade people that it wasn’t my fault. Someone else is to blame. Not me. We try to wriggle out of our responsibility. But when the day of judgment comes, unbelievers will fall silent, because it will be clear that they have done wrong and there is no excuse for it. It will be clear that they deserve to be condemned.
And on that day, no one will be declared right in God’s sight by observing the law of God, because all the law does is expose our sinfulness. The moral law of God is like a spotlight that lights up our sin and guilt. It exposes our wickedness. It makes clear that we’re lawbreakers who deserve to be condemned.
Conclusion
That’s the bad news. And it’s very bad. But the good news is that God loved this fallen and sinful world so much that he sent his only begotten Son into the world as one of us. And God’s Son came into the world as one of us in order to stand in our place and to bear in his body and soul the punishment we deserve, so that everyone who trusts in him as the only Saviour of the world receives forgiveness from God for ever.
And we not only receive forgiveness, but we also receive Christ’s record of perfect obedience. He’s the only person who obeyed God perfectly. He never did anything wrong and he always did what was right. And when we believe in him, we receive his record of perfect obedience. His record of perfect obedience becomes ours.
And so, for those who trust in Christ, there is now no condemnation. God will never condemn us, because our sins are forgiven and we have Christ’s record of perfect obedience. And God sent his Son to do this for us, because of the greatness of his love for us which overflows from him to us in Christ Jesus.
And so, instead of relying on the law or on circumcision or on baptism or on any other thing we may do, we’re to rely on Christ and on what he has done for us by his life and death and resurrection for sinners. We’re to trust in him alone. And once we’ve trusted in him alone for salvation, then we’re to give thanks to God by living a life of grateful obedience.
Sermons and Stuff 