If someone is truly seeking to
know God, to know what God is like, to know who Jesus Christ
is, what eternal life is, if someone is truly seeking answers
from God's Word and asks me what to read from the Bible, I would,
without hesitation, tell them to start reading the book of
Romans. to start reading Romans chapter 1 and read on through. And while reading, ask God to
reveal the truth to you. The book of Romans is a clear
declaration of who God is, who Jesus Christ is and what He did,
who the Holy Spirit is and what He does, and what salvation is. I wish we had more time, In the
few minutes that we have, I want to look at Romans chapter 3 with
you. Romans chapter 3, I hope you
have a Bible and will follow along. Now, in the first two
chapters of Romans, the Apostle Paul clearly describes the state
of mankind, whether Jew or Gentile, that is, religious or irreligious. He says here in Romans 3, verse
9, beginning in verse 9, he says, we have before proved both Jew
and Gentile that they are all under sin, or that is, dead in
sin, he says in another place, in the grips of sin, under the
condemnation of God. Now, he says sin, or that is
singular, not sins, And the sin which he is speaking of, principally,
is the sin of unbelief. In chapter 1, he says that though
the eternal power and Godhead of God are clearly seen, that
is, that God is, his creation clearly reveals God is, so that
all are without excuse. All can see the handiwork of
God. is clear that God is. Man yet,
by nature, rejects God as Creator. And so he goes on to say God
gives man over to sins. That's in chapter 1. Now that's
the irreligious who is guilty of unbelief. And then he describes
the religious in chapter 2. The religious who profess faith
in God yet They think they are without sin, or that is that
God accepts them because they are better than the irreligious
or the non-churchgoer. He concludes that they are guilty
too. In chapter 3, verse 10, he says,
As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. Paul is going to speak a great
deal about righteous or righteousness. And he says there's none righteous,
no, not one. We've proved both Jew and Gentile,
religious and irreligious, that there's none guiltless, none
acceptable to God as they are. God looks on the heart. This
is what we're going to see. Not on the outward countenance.
All right. Verse 11. Romans 3, verse 11. He goes on to say, to describe
the religious and irreligious, verse 11, there is none that
understand it. Or that is, by nature, there
is none who understand who God is, what He is like, what sin
is, and how we may get to God. Now, as I speak, there may be
someone who rejects this notion of man being guilty, of God being
a judge. Well, that is proof of the fact,
because scripture says that very thing, that the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness
unto him. Well, neither can he know them because they are spiritually
discerned. That's what it says in 1 Corinthians
2, verse 14. Well, he says there's none that
understand it, and verse 11 goes on, there's none that seeketh
after God. Man is not interested in God
by nature. Man isn't born seeking God. No, no. but let him become sick
or someone die, and then he begins to get serious about what goes
on after this life. Then he begins to call on God
or seek what he thinks to be God. Well, go on. Read on. Verse 12, he says, they're
all gone out of the way. First, he says, there's none
righteous. There's none that understand Him. There is none
that seeketh after God. They are all, all gone out of
the way. What way is that? Well, it's
the way of all flesh that they go. The way, Scripture says,
that seems right unto men, but the end is destruction. And that
way is not the ways of God. God said, My ways are not your
way. Read on. He says in verse 12,
together, or that is all together, become unprofitable by nature. All of mankind, he says here,
is unprofitable to God. Now, I know that there's some
so-called preachers who tell us how much God needs us and
loves us and cannot do without us. But that's these blind leaders
of the blind. God's Word doesn't say that,
but rather says that they're all unprofitable. But then he
describes man in detail. He describes why mankind is unprofitable
to him. It says, read on, and I'm reading
verses 13 through 16. He says they're throats, and
he's describing mankind by nature. And these things are physical
descriptions of the attitude and nature of man. He says, "...their
throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have
used deceit. The poison of asps is under their
lips." whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their
feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways." He describes man in detail. Isaiah, the prophet
said in chapter 1 of Isaiah, he said the whole head is sick,
the whole heart is faint. He said, from the sole of the
foot unto the head, there's no soundness in it, no soundness
in mankind. From his thoughts to his actions,
man is a sinner through and through. Well, someone says, I don't believe
all that about man being a sinner and guilty before God and all
of that about judgment and so forth. Well, let me ask you something.
Do you know what is right and wrong in your heart? Why do you
feel it is wrong to lie, to steal, and so forth? And why do you
feel guilty when you do wrong? Well, Romans chapter 2 verse
15 says that this is the work of the law written in the heart.
And so everyone feels a certain amount of guilt. And everyone
tries to appease that guilt, whether it be themselves or appease
a god, they imagine. They try to obtain some sort
of peace of mind or conscience. And this is what he says in verse
17 of Romans 3. The way of peace have they not
known. The way of peace. how that man
may have peace of mind, peace of conscience, but principally
peace with God. Well, look at verse 18. I'm still reading Romans 3, verse
18. He says, "...there is no fear of God before their eyes."
This is man's chief problem right here. This is that which God
says, is the beginning of wisdom. He said that twice in Proverbs,
that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But
here he concludes that all mankind, there's no fear of God before
their eyes by nature. It's no mere coincidence that
this generation we live in has adopted as a popular saying,
no fear. That's no mere coincidence. Well,
some religious persons, they feel guilt over sins, and then
so they begin to read the Bible, and specifically read the law,
and try to keep that law or the Ten Commandments or whatever
is of the law. They try to live right. They
try to make themselves acceptable to God, trying to commend themselves,
their lives, to God so that God will approve of them and accept
them. But wait a minute. Paul said
in another place, you that desire to be under the law, or you that
try to keep the law in order for God to be pleased with you. He said, don't you hear it? Look
at verse 19. He says, Now we know that what
things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God. Verse 19, he says, by the law
is the knowledge of sin. Not the removal of it, but the
knowledge of it. Verse 20, he says, by the deeds
of the law. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law. Did you hear that? I hope everyone
who is listening to this hears this. By the deeds of the law. There shall no flesh be justified,
or that is, declared innocent, declared righteous, declared
acceptable to God, commended by God. There shall no flesh,
by the deeds of the law, and all the way through Galatians
he admonishes those who think that they can make themselves
pleasing to God by the law. He says, by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight. In chapter 7 of
Romans, verse 14, he says the law is spiritual, but we are
carnal, that is, flesh. In another place he says that
which is flesh is flesh. There are those who endeavor
to turn over a new leaf. The old saying is, well, what
do you have when you turn over a leaf? Well, all you have is
the other side of a leaf. And that which is flesh is flesh. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. The law is spiritual. All right,
read on. Verse 21. But he says, But now
the righteousness of God The righteousness of God, or that
is, the holiness of God, or that which God approves of, that which
God accepts, that which God demands, justification before God, being
declared innocent, holy, righteous, acceptable, commendable to God. The righteousness of God, he
said, without the law, verse 21, without us keeping the law. He says it is manifest, or that
it is revealed by the law and the prophets, he said, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets. While Moses, who wrote
down the Ten Commandments, Christ said, Moses wrote of me. Did you hear that? The righteousness
of God, holiness before God, acceptance with God, without
the law, without us keeping the law. is witnessed by the law,
by Moses and all the prophets who wrote of Christ, verse 22,
the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ. The righteousness of God which
is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto, or that is imputed unto. upon, or that is imparted unto,
all believers. Jesus Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. That is Romans
10.4. I insist that you go and learn
what that means. Read the book of Romans. Ask
God to reveal the gospel to you. Until next Sunday, good day. Okay. Okay. Thank you.