We're looking this morning at
the book of Romans, chapter 3. Romans, chapter 3. And the subject
and the portion of Scripture which we're dealing with this
morning is difficult to teach, let alone understand. Difficult
to understand, yea, it's impossible to understand without revelation
from God. But this is so important, so
important, vital. In fact, this subject is throughout
the book of Romans, subject of God's law, subject of God's law. Now, chapter one of Romans deals
with the lawless or irreligious world, the world which never
gives God a thought, never gives God's word or God's law a thought
with the world which has rejected the word of God as the word of
God and had rejected God as God. In other words, it's a lawless
world. And he says they are under condemnation
and receive the just recompense of their unbelief in chapter
one. So that's to the lawless world,
or called the Gentile world. Chapter 2 of Romans speaks to
and addresses the religious world, the self-righteous religious
world or people, those who pride themselves in their religion,
their morality, or their law-keeping, those who think they keep the
law of God and therefore God is pleased with them. And so
chapter 2 ends up with the condemnation of these self-righteous law keepers,
or those who think they keep God's law. And then chapter 3
now. Chapter 3 is what we're going
to deal with this morning. Let's begin with verse 9. Paul,
who was himself a Pharisee, or thought he kept the law of God
at one time. He says in verse 9, What then?
Are we better than they? No, in no wise we before proved
both Jews and Gentiles. They are all under sin. Irreligious, religious. Those
without law, those under law, are under sin. And then verses
10 through 18, he is quoting Psalm 14. Verses 10-18 reads
this way, There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that
understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. There is describing and quoting
from Psalm 14 and describing all men and women, all human
beings by nature. There's none righteous. No, not
one. Not in the strict sense of the
word and according to God's absolute standard of holiness and righteous. There's none that understand
it. Not by nature. None that understand it. As Paul,
who wrote this letter, wrote in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14,
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
They are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them. So he says here, there's none
that understand it. And he said, there's none that
seeketh after God. No man, no woman, no young person. by nature seeks after God. God is not in all his thoughts,
the scripture says in Romans 1. And it goes on to say they
are gone out of the way. All men and women and young people
by nature are out of the way. They're not looking for the way.
They're not in the way. They're out of the way. They're together become unprofitable. put them all together, Scripture
says, they're unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Now, according to man's standard
of goodness, according to man, some do good, but not according
to God's absolute standard of holiness and righteousness and
purity. which requires perfection in
thought, in motive, as well as action and deed. There's none
that doeth good, no, not one. Now, that's what God's Word says.
Believe it or not, that's what this book says. None that doeth
good, no matter what anyone says. Now, it goes on to describe man's
corrupt, depraved nature. And let's skip over for sake
of time and get down to verse 18 says there's no fear of God
before their eyes. Right there, that describes our
modern generation more than any other birth. There's no fear
of God before their eyes. As a matter of fact, that's a
very popular slogan used these days. Is it not? Young and old
alike, no fear. Well, verse 19 now, Paul gets
into our subject, he says, Now we know that what things soever
the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law. The law, whatever God's law saith,
it saith to them under the law. Now, let's just use the Ten Commandments
as the example of God's law, which is not the only law he's
speaking of here. That's something that most people
are familiar with, so let's use that, the Ten Commandments, the
law. Whatever it saith, it saith to them that are under the law. I used to work on the railroad,
worked on the railroad for 12 years, and I was speaking with
a woman who was obviously religious, and she said to me one day, she
said, now I don't know much about the Bible, but she said, I do
know this, you better keep those Ten Commandments." Well, obviously
she didn't know much about the Bible nor the Ten Commandments,
because the Ten Commandments, God's law, requires perfection
not just outwardly but inwardly. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ
in Matthew 5 through 7 goes in great detail describing the righteousness
of the law, or that is, what the law demands of man, not just
outward performance of it, not just with the lips or with the
outward action, but in the thought. He said in Matthew 5, you've
heard it said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. I say unto you, whosoever looketh
on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with
her already in his heart. And he goes on to say about the
law several places that you've heard it said, Thou shalt not
kill, but whoever is angry with his brother without a cause is
in danger of the judgment. So our Lord says God, in effect,
God looks on the heart, on the motive, and none can say he's
pure in thought and motive. So whatsoever things, verse 19
of Romans 3 says, whatsoever things the law sayeth, It says
to them that are under the law, and what it says is, we're guilty. The law doesn't say, if you keep this, then you're
holy. As a matter of fact, the law
does say that. The law says if you can keep this, you'll be
accepted by God and holy before God. But now, the law condemns
all of us. What the law saith, it saith
to stop our mouths. Verse 19, I read, that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before
God. In other words, the law never
justifies anyone. The law says to everyone who
approaches it, guilty. You're guilty. You haven't kept
me perfectly. There are many throughout this
land who think they keep God's Sabbath. They pride themselves
in the idea that they are being true to God's Sabbath day, the
seventh day, when God's Sabbath is so very strict. God killed
a man one time for picking up sticks on the seventh day. Now,
do you understand why He did that and what that's all about?
Well, time will not allow me to go into that, but God's Sabbath
was so strict so very strict, and those who think they keep
it are not keeping it, are not keeping God's Sabbath day in
perfection. No way. It's not possible for
a human being to keep it. Well, go on. It says that by
the deeds of the law, verse 20, there shall no flesh be justified
in his sight. The law, he said in verse 19,
says you're guilty. All the world's guilty before
God. every point, and to offend in one point, James said, is
to be guilty of it all. And it says, therefore, verse
20, therefore, we conclude, therefore, by the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified in God's sight. Four, by the law is a
knowledge of sin. If you truly hear what the law
says, if you truly understand the law or right, what it will
do is convict you of not keeping it. It will convict you that
you're guilty before the law. It will show you the utter impossibility
of keeping it perfectly. By the law, he said, is the knowledge
of sin. Now, it doesn't go on to say,
well, now that you understand that, then you can keep it perfectly.
No. Paul, who was a doctor of the
law, a Pharisee who knew the law, who thought at one time,
before he really understood the law, he thought he was keeping
it. That's what he said over in Romans 5 and Romans 7. He said, I was alive without
the law one time, that is, without true knowledge of it. But he
said, when the commandment came, when I really understood the
law, when God made me to understand the spirituality of the law,
I died. It slew me. It killed me. It
convicted me. that sin might be exceeding sinful,
he said in verse 13 of chapter 7. He said, the law is spiritual. I'm carnal. Back in our text,
Romans 3, so Paul says, by the deeds of the law, no flesh shall
be justified in his sight. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. The law says, thou shalt have
no other gods before me. Well, covetousness is idolatry. Who among us can say we're without
covetousness or ever will be without covetousness. None. By
the law is the knowledge of sin. But now, let me go on. Our time
is almost up. I need to get to the conclusion
here. In verse 21, the Apostle Paul writes it, but now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested. In other words, the righteousness
of God, or that is That which God, the way in which we may be righteous
before God, the righteous, the way we are justified before God,
the righteousness of God, or that is, that way in which we
are considered holy and justified and declared innocent before
God without the law, or that is, without us keeping the law. Because it's impossible, we can't
perfectly. That doesn't mean we don't love
God's law, don't attempt to keep what God's word says, but we've
got to understand the righteousness of God, being accepted by God
without us keeping the law, which is impossible, is manifested,
he says, made clear. Read on, verse 22. The righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon
all them that believe." There is no difference. The righteousness
of God, holiness with God, being accepted by God, being declared
by God is justified from all unrighteousness. Holy with God
is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe,
Jew or Gentile, there is no difference, whoever believes. This faith
of Jesus Christ, that's not a misprint, it's not faith in, faith of Jesus
Christ. In other words, it's by the faithfulness
of Jesus Christ, His holy life, His righteousness imputed to,
charged to, reckoned to the account of those who believe Him to be
their righteousness with God. There's an Old Testament name,
Jehovah Sidkenu. Jehovah Sidkenu. That's the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 10 verse 4 says that Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes it.
Jehovah Sidkenu means the Lord our righteousness. By the faithfulness
of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ living as a man by faith, perfectly
keeping God's law. He did that on behalf of His
people. And by faith, God Almighty imputes
or charges or reckons that righteousness which Christ worked out to the
account of all of God's people. All who believe Christ, who trust
Christ, look to Christ to be their righteousness. Do you understand
that? And they are justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that's in Christ. It's all in
Christ. Well, I hope you understand that.
I hope God will make you to understand. And look to Christ and Him alone
as your righteousness, not the law. Until next Sunday, good
day. uh...