Romans 3:1-20Guilty or Not Guilty

WREFC 7/29/18

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, writer of the Sherlock Holmes novels, was quite a prankster. One day he played a prank on five of the most prominent men in England. He sent an anonymous note to each man, which simply said, "All is found out. Flee at once." Within 24 hours, all five men had left the country.

In a similar way, the apostle Paul sent a signed note to his readers Roman readers. In the first 3 chapters of Romans he’s been saying “All is found out. There’s no excuse for your sinful behavior. You’re guilty as charged. Flee at once to the mercy of God and find forgiveness in Jesus Christ. This was no religious prank on Paul’s part. He was dead serious.

What we’ve seen so far in Romans is a portrait of human depravity. That makes us uncomfortable. We don’t want to hear it, much less accept the fact that Paul is talking about you and me.

The setting of Romans 1-3 is a courtroom. Paul is the prosecuting attorney. He’s been building a case against the human race—Gentiles, Moralist, and

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Jews, they all guilty of sin and fall under God’s just judgment:

The Gentiles are guilty because they rejected the revelation of God in creation and turned to idolatry. (1:18-32)

The Moralists are guilty because they sinned against their innate moral code of right and wrong. (2:1-16)

Even the Jews, God’s chosen people, are guilty because they hypocritically condemn Gentiles for breaking the same commandments of God they themselves fail to keep. (2:17-29)

Paul anticipated that his Jewish readers would come up with a list of excuses as to why they should not be included in the category of the condemned. In chapter 3:1-8, Paul responds to the Jew who is trying to argue his way out of judgment. Open your Bibles to Romans 3:1:

Rd Rom.3:1

Paul’s Jewish readers were arguing “If what you say is true—that we Jews are just as guilty as Gentiles—then being a descendant of Abraham is meaningless. Circumcision is worthless. You’re throwing out the O.T. What good are the covenant promises of God?” Paul’s response is immediate and direct in v.2:

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Rd Rom.3:2

What a privilege! God overlooked the educated Egyptians, the philosophical Greeks, the sea-fairing Phoenicians, and He entrusted His infallible Word to the self-righteous Jews.

For the Jews, the written version of God’s Word is the O.T. It sets forth an inspired record of God’s faithfulness to His people, the standard for holy living, and prophecies that predicted the advent of Jesus Christ. William Cowper praised this Jewish privilege in a poem:

They, and they only, amongst all mankind,Received the transcript of the Eternal Mind;Were trusted with His own engraven laws,And constituted guardians of His cause;

Theirs were the prophets, theirs the priestly call,And theirs, by birth, the Savior of us all.

Being the guardians of this treasure was not only a unique privilege, it was a great responsibility. Sadly, the Jews enshrined their biblical treasure instead of sharing it with the spiritually bankrupt nations around them.Ray Stedman gives a helpful illustration. (1) Let’s imagine a remote island permanently enveloped in darkness. There is only one way off the island of

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darkness—a narrow footbridge that stretches across a deep chasm. Everyone on the island is given a tiny flashlight; but it can only illuminate a small space around them.

Another group of people are given a powerful searchlight with a beam so strong it can cut through the darkness for miles and miles. The searchlight was given to this group to help them find the bridge and to show others the way out of darkness. Instead, they use it to search for needles in haystacks. They wasted the light they were given.

That’s what the Jews were doing. The Law of Moses was like a searchlight to help people find God. But instead of lighting the way to God, the Jews used it to argue over trivial matters. The rabbis debated about how far you could walk on the Sabbath or whether it was a sin to spit on the Sabbath. Consequently, the Jews guilty on two fronts: They didn’t obey the Word of God; and they essentially hid it from others.

So objection #1 doesn’t cut it. The Jews do belong in the category of the condemned because they didn’t live up to their unique privilege of being entrusted with God’s Word. Guilty as charged!

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We can easily fall into the same trap. We are privileged to have the Bible in many translations. We are privileged to have hundreds Bible study tools within easy grasp. We are privileged to have church services, Bible studies, and discipleship groups to help us understand the Bible.

Many admire these privileges; they tap into these privileges; but they fail to see the goal of these privileges—to know Christ and to make Him known. God gave us the searchlight of Scripture. It tells us how to find the bridge of salvation and show the way to others.

Are we guilty of doing the same foolish things the Jews did? Are we shining the spotlight on trivial matters while the lost remain in darkness wait for a clear gospel presentation? Has the Great Commission become the great omission?

Paul responds to another objection of the Jew who tried to argue his way out of judgment:

Rd Rom.3:3

The fact that the Jews were entrusted with the Word of God raised another question: What about the Jews who did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? Does unbelief mean

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that God broke His promise to preserve His Chosen People?

Paul responds in v.4 with a resounding “Certainly not”. This is a strong negation in the Greek. It means "May it never be; perish the thought; God forbid!" The Word of God did not fail; the Jews were the ones who failed to live up to the standards of God’s Word. God was faithful; the Jews were unfaithful!

You can throw pearls to pigs that trample them into the mud, but this does not change the fact that they are still pearls. Likewise, the Jews can trample God’s Word in the muck and mire of sin but it does not change God’s Word; it does not alter His promises; and it does not negate His faithfulness (2Tim. 2:13).

Paul advances his point a step further in v.4 by saying “Let God be true and every man a liar…”

Jews can lie and so can Gentiles. People may be liars but this does not make God a liar! People may be unfaithful but this does not make God unfaithful! Even if every person in the world believed in the theory of evolution, this would not make it true. The creation account in Gen.1-2 would still be true and every man would still be a liar!

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Paul defends the faithfulness of God by quoting Ps.51:4: “As it is written: ‘That You [Lord] may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.”

Do you know what Psalm 51 is all about? It’s David’s confession of sin and plea for God’s mercy. David is without excuse. He was guilty of adultery and murder. He deserved death. Although God was faithful to forgive David and spare his life, his sins had long term consequences on his reign as King.

In Psa.51:14, David is saying "Lord, You are right in judging me and I am wrong! I am guilty. I need your mercy." If God judged David’s sin, then God is not unjust in condemning the sins of other Jews. What Jew would dare say that he was better than David?

The Jews not only used the excuse that God would be unfaithful if He were to judge them, they also said it would be unfair for God to judge them. Objection #3 asks the question “Is God’s wrath unfair?”

Rd Rom.3:5

Follow the logic: The unrighteousness of man helps us to see more clearly the righteousness of God.

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Like a diamond that shines more brightly against the backdrop of black velvet, God’s righteousness shines more brightly against the dark background of man’s unrighteousness.

The argument goes like this. “Paul, you just quoted Psalm 51:4 where David’s sin gave God a chance to demonstrate His justice and His mercy. If David hadn’t sinned, God would never have had a chance to judge him or forgive him. So why not sin more so God can forgive more? If David was helping God out by sinning, then whenever I sin, I’m also helping God out. But if my sin helps God out, how can he judge me for being a sinner? That would be unfair.”

Here’s another way to say the same thing: “If our badness shows that God is really, really good, then why should God judge us sinners if we are only making it plain just how much greater He is. Why does God punish us for making Him look good? Distorted thinking like that reflects a blasphemous bumper sticker that reads: "Christ died for our sins … Let’s not disappoint Him!"

When Paul said “I speak as a man” he’s essentially apologizing for stating the objection: “Pardon me for this faulty line of reasoning, but this the way some people rationalize their sin.”

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One commentator said “It’s a slick argument. It’s also a sick argument, because the person who talks like this is really accusing God of using sin to His own advantage.” (2)

Paul is quick to shoot down that line of reasoning with another “Certainly not!” in v.5: Should we sin all the more to magnify God’s mercy? Certainly not; perish the thought; may it never be, God forbid, “for then” Paul says, “for then, how will God judge the world?”

In other words, “If God winks at the sins of the Jews, then He has no right to judge the sins of the Gentile world. The point Paul makes here is that God’s wrath is impartial. Nobody gets a free pass. All will have their sins judged by the Lord. There’s a price to pay; the wages of sin is death (Rom.6:23)

That’s the bad news. But, thank God, there’s good news. Our sins were judged at the cross. Christ shed His blood to pay for sin’s penalty. Anyone who believes that Christ died for their sins and rose again is saved from the wrath of God. (Rom.5:8-9)

Paul’s Jewish critics are not ready to throw in the towel . They make one more attempt to weasel out of being judged by God. It’s similar to the previous argument that God’s wrath is unfair:

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Rd Rom.3:7

Grammatically speaking, Paul now shifts to the first person. Some, like Pastor John Piper, think that Paul is using himself to refute his Jewish critics. Paul is essentially saying “Take me for an example. If you think that I’m teaching lies, but at the same time suggest that my lies result in God’s greater glory, then how could God judge me? If you don’t think that God should judge your sin, then neither should He judge me for your perceived notion that I’m lying.” (3)

The critics were accusing Paul of antinomianism. Antinomianism is a disregard for God’s righteous standards. They accused Paul of teaching that the more sinful a person is, the more he glorifies God. The more faithless a person is the more he makes God look faithful. The more a person lies, the more he magnifies God’s truthfulness.

Now carry this train of thought to its distorted conclusion. If God is ultimately glorified by our sin, then why should our sin be condemned?—to condemn our sin would be to condemn that which glorifies God?

If Pharaoh had followed that same perverted logic he could have said "Lord, what right do You have to judge me? I’ve done You a service! I helped bring

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glory to Your Name by refusing to let Your people go! Your power was magnified by my disobedience. If I had released the Israelites, You would not have been able to perform all of those mighty signs and wonders upon the land of Egypt! You should thank me for my sin, not condemn me for it."

Paul adds a logical extension to this twisted point of view in v.8: “And why not say, ‘Let us do evil that good may come’?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say…” In other words, if our sin glorifies God, then we should just go out and sin a lot!

Paul was falsely accused of teaching this. Why?  Because Paul said that salvation was by God’s grace apart from human works. When we get to Rom.4-5, he’ll explain that salvation is an unmerited gift to receive, not something we earn or deserve.

But for now, it’s easy to see how Paul’s teaching on grace could easily be twisted: "Let’s do anything we want because salvation is by grace. The darker our sin the brighter His grace. The more we sin, the more we exalt the grace of God! Let’s do evil that good may come!” Uhh, I … don’t … think so. In Paul’s terms, certainly not … perish the thought … God forbid!

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Paul did not teach that grace was an excuse to sin. He actually taught the opposite. In Titus 2, he said “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It [the grace of God] teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,” (Titus 2:11-12)

“Let us do evil that good may come!” This is the biblical version of saying that the end justifies the means. The ideology of Communism is built on the foundation of that wicked premise. Communists do evil things to promote what is good. For the Communist, good means the spread of communism. They think nothing of lying, stealing, and murdering as long as it furthers the cause of communism. To them, anything that hinders communism is sin. Telling the truth would be sin if it hindered the spread of communism.

It makes you wonder about politics in our own country. Politicians are notorious for saying one thing to get your vote; then when they get in office they do what they had planned to do all along. The philosophy of “the end justifies the means” to advance globalist agendas seems to be spreading like a cancer throughout our constitutional republic.

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Suppose the early Christians reasoned that way: "I’ll deny Christ to avoid martyrdom. That way I’ll have more days to live so that I can tell others about Jesus!" Paul says this kind of thinking is wrong and never right.

The last statement Paul makes is short, but not sweet. It’s terse and rather shocking. Paul says “Their condemnation is just.” In other words, those who embrace this wicked philosophy of life; those who make exuses for their sins; those who do evil that good may come; those who believe that the end justifies the means; they will be judged by God and get what they deserve!

Since God is Righteous, He cannot condone unrighteousness. Since God is Holy, He must judge sin. The person who keeps on making excuses for sin is doomed. If he clings to his sin till the day he dies, he’ll wind up in hell. But the person who accepts God’s gracious gift of forgiveness in Jesus Christ is heaven bound.

The bottom line is this: you can raise all the arguments you want against the wrath of God, but in the end, He’s right and you’re wrong. You can rationalize sin till the day you die, but One day you will stand before God without excuse and the gavel of judgment will fall—guilty as charged!

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Are you guilty of rationalizing your sins? If we’re honest, we Christians fall into that trap more than we think. Here’s a few to consider:

“It was a good thing I got divorced because now I am able empathize with and minister to divorced people.” It’s true that working through your personal pain may help you touch the lives of people who hurt for the same reason. But if a divorce was obtained on unbiblical grounds, it’s still sinful. Here’s another one:

“It’s a good thing that the TV preacher’s sexual misconduct was exposed because now he won’t be asking for money all the time.” Maybe it’s good that the Televangelist won’t be begging for money, but that doesn’t justify his immorality, nor does it lessen the damage done to the cause of Christ.

How about this one: “I’m glad I lost my temper. I’m glad that I cussed out that store clerk because it really helped me deal with my anger.” Verbally abusing someone is inexcusable even though it contributed to your victory over anger.

“I went to the bar and had few drinks with the guys. Now that they know I’m not a goody two shoes, it’ll be easier for me to witness to them.” That’s like saying “Pray for sickness so doctors can heal people” or “Pray for more fires so firemen can put them out” or “Pray for

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more robberies so judges can put thieves in prison.”

Keep in mind: Sin is the reason for the incarnation. Sin is why Jesus had to suffer and die on the cross.

Yes, God is able to bring about something good from our mistakes. That’s what redemption is all about. That’s why we sing:

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through his infinite mercy,

His child and forever I am.

Yes, Paul later says in Romans 5 “…where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” (v.20). That’s why we sing:

Amazing grace how sweet the soundThat saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now am found,Was blind, but now I see.

But please understand this biblical reality. Redemption cannot turn bad choices into wisdom! And grace doesn’t justify sin! Sin is always sinful! Sin is a bad thing; never, ever, under any circumstance, is sin a good thing!

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It is never right to do wrong to do right. Our attitude should be "Lord, I‘m going to do right no matter how hard it is and I’m going to leave the results with You.  

Sometimes people go through a season of sin and then come back to the Lord. They might repeat the process several times. They sin, repent, find forgiveness and come back to the Lord; they sin again and come back to the Lord; they sin yet again, and come back to the Lord. Finally, they break the cycle of sin and testify that falling in and out sin all those years was the best thing could have happened, because it brought them back to the Lord for good!

Now, I don’t mean to be offensive or unsympathetic, but it needs to be said: It’s foolish to hold that point of view. Substitute the word stupid for foolish. I’s stupid to think that way.

Instead repeating those sins, would it not have been better to avoid those sins in the first place? Wouldn’t it have been better to follow Christ instead of pursuing sin? Does not a life that demonstrates the sufficiency of God’s power to keep a person out of sin glorify God more? Yes, God is glorified when He forgives our sin, but God is not glorified when we live in sin.

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And what about the consequences of a person’s cycle of sin and forgiveness, sin and forgiveness, sin and forgiveness? It can do irreparable harm in the lives of the people closest to him. Think of those young, impressionable children who watch you live for the Lord, then live for the world, then for the Lord, then for the world? They will probably grow up to be just like you. God won’t get much glory from that, now will He?

Has anyone ever come up to you and said “I have some good news and some bad news”? I don’t know about you, but I always want to hear the bad news first so that the good news can cheer me up.

A Doctor said to his patient: I have some good news and some bad news. The tests showed that you have 24 hours to live. The patient said “What's the good news?” The Doctor said “That was the good news. The bad news is that I forgot to call you yesterday!”

In a similar way, Paul first gave his readers the bad news in Romans 1-3. The bad news is really bad—everybody is sinful and falls under God’s wrath.

But Paul ends with the good news in Romans 4-5. And unlike the Doctor with his patient, the good news is really good. Sinners can escape the wrath of God. The wages of sin is death (that’s the bad

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news), but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (That’s the good news). This is an important evangelistic principle to remember in witnessing situations: first the bad news; then the good news. Until people hear how bad the bad news is, they won’t appreciate how good the good news is. The bad news is that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. The good news is that God demonstrated His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom.3:23; 5:8) 

Dr. James Kennedy developed an effective witnessing tool called “Evangelism Explosion”. On one occasion, Dr. Kennedy was talking to a man who insisted that all men are basically good. Kennedy asked to see the man’s keychain. The man showed the chain full of keys. Kennedy asked, “Why do you have keys if man is good?”

The reason that we have keys is because we live in a fallen world. The reason that we have law enforcement officers is because we also have law breakers. The reason that God is justified in judging us is that we’re sinners in need of a Savior. Jesus is the Savior. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

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Instead of rationalizing your sin, repent and turn to Jesus Christ. Believe that He died on the cross for your sins, and rose again. First, come to Christ. Glorify God’s forgiveness by being forgiven. Then glorify God’s faithfulness by being faithful to God. ______________________________________________________________________(1)From Guilt to Glory, vol 1, p. 58) (2)https://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/1992-03-15-I-Object/ (3)https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-14-objections-answered-romans-31-8