We're going to pick back up on
our study of Romans in the third chapter, beginning with the 13th
verse. The title of my message this
morning is going to be All Under Sin. This is a part two of a
previous message that we had. And what we're going to do this
morning is we're going to talk about that fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. We're going to talk about Christ.
We're going to talk about a gospel that reveals him and how he saved
the sinner based on what he did, not based on our works in any
way. So as we begin this morning,
I want to remind everyone about what we're talking about here,
having to do with where Paul was at here writing this letter
to the church here at Rome. He's writing to this church,
and he hasn't had the opportunity to go there and visit them yet,
so he's writing this church. In this whole writing in the
Book of Romans, he's introducing himself as an apostle, and also
he's telling them about this gospel. that he preaches. Now,
within this church here at Rome, you had Christians that were
Jews, and then you had all other nationalities, which were known
as Gentile believers. Now, if you were not a Jew, you
were Gentile, whether you were a Greek or any other nationality. As he was writing this, Paul
began chapter 2 dealing with some of the confusion that was
in the church at the time concerning the differences between these
Jews and these Gentile believers. And I don't have time to go over
all the things that we've discussed in some of the past messages
concerning all of these differences, but the main thing and the conclusion
of the matter of what we're talking about has to do with the centerhood
of man, whether you are Jew or Gentile, as represented by our
father, Adam, in the fall. Now, as we begin here, there
in Romans 3, 9, I want to go ahead and mention this. It says, what then? Are we better
than they? No, and no wise, for we have
proved before both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin.
And that is talking about a Jew saying, well, are we better than
they? And Paul says, no, in no wise. Romans 3.23 says, for all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So we're all
in the same condition in Adam as far as sinners. And in Ezekiel
18.20, It says, the soul that sinneth,
it shall die. So once again, here, we're talking
about that penalty for sin, which is death. Now, you're going to
have to either represent yourself before God
at judgment because of this, or you're going to have to have
a substitute to represent you before this holy God that we
all must deal with. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
representative and substitute for the sinner. This is who we
must have to represent. He is that surety for that debt
that we all owe because of Adam's sin. My statement to all men
and women without exception, because of that, is to flee to
Christ for refuge from the wrath to come. We will now take a look
at some of the verses that we're going to be dealing with this
morning, and I might get off track a few times, but bear with
me. We're still going to be dealing
with these verses here that I'm talking about, verse 13 through
20. Now, in Romans 3, beginning at
verse 13, 14, it says, Their throat is an open sepulchre,
which is a tomb or a grave. With their tongues they have
used to seek. The poison of asthma is under
their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." Now,
this describes all men without exception, represented by Adam. This is all of us without exception,
represented by Adam. Now, these verses here pick up
from Romans 3.12, where it says, "...there is none that doeth
good, no, not one." Paul continues quoting from some of the Old
Testaments to prove that all without exception, both Jew and
Gentile, all men are fallen in Adam and born spiritually dead
in sin, and that they are all under sin. In other words, they
are all under the penalty of death and condemnation as represented
by our father Adam in the fall. And the most religious Jew who
seeks salvation and righteousness by deeds of law is just as deserving
of eternal damnation as the most immoral Gentile who scorns the
law. Now, salvation is by grace alone,
through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The descriptions
of fallen men and women in verses 13 and 20 apply to all who are
under sin, not only the open and moral persons, but also the
self-righteous religious person. those that seek to be saved by
their works or by their keeping the law in some way. Now, in
verses 13 and 14 in Romans 3, Paul lists all the organs of
speech, the throat, the tongue, the lips, the mouth. We would
all agree that people who are total liars, whose mouths are
nothing but cursing and bitterness, they deserve judgment and death. Paul, however, proves that the
best words of men, his religious words, his doctrine, what he
believes about God, his theories and philosophies, can only bring
eternal death, as stated in Proverbs 14, verse 12, where it says,
There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof
are the ways of death. And we talked about this in our
last study. That by nature, it just seemed
right that we have to do something to get back in good standing
with God. There's something that we've got to do, some work. And
in religion today, they'll give you plenty of works to do. Whether
it's your coming to church, whether it's your praying, whether it's
your giving your money, It's according to what religion
you belong to, on what condition they put on you. It might be
just your faith. Oh, I believe. But they'll give
you plenty of things to do, because it just seems right that we've
got to do something. That's what this is talking about.
There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof
are the ways of death. Now, this language would apply
to false preachers, as I said, who promote their false gospels.
That is, any gospel. that does not glorify God in
a salvation by Christ alone, and not based on your works in
any way. In Matthew, in chapter 23, beginning
in verse 27, this is Christ speaking here of the religious men of
His day. Now, these religious men, called
the Pharisees and the scribes, you look around us today and
nobody could really come up to their level in most cases, in
what they did. And they thought they did it
for God. They were doing it for God. He says, Christ did. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you are likened to a whited sepulchre. That's
those tombstones that we're talking about, those graves. This is
how they appeared, which indeed appear beautiful outward. but
within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. Even
so, you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within
you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. So outwardly, they
did appear righteous among men. If you looked at them outwardly,
if they can't be saved, who can be? This is what they said of
these men. In the next verse, We will see
that men must have a righteousness much greater than what these
religious leaders had. Matthew 5 20. For I say unto
you, this is Christ speaking, that except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of those scribes and Pharisees,
you shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven. So we must
have a righteousness and it must exceed the righteousness of those
scribes and Pharisees. if we're going to enter heaven.
So it would behoove us to find out something about this righteousness
that we must have to stand before God. This scripture points out
that the most obedient men, those scribes and Pharisees, that ever
lived on this earth, and that was born of Adam, did not possess
a righteousness whereby they could stand before a holy God.
Christ tells us that unless we possess a righteousness that
exceeds theirs, that we won't enter heaven. Now, in contrast
to the false gospel, the gospel of words, we have the gospel
of grace. Now, this false gospel is a gospel
of words, and it's not of grace. We will speak more of the righteousness
of God that you must have to stand before God without blame.
God's gospel is salvation by grace alone, which is the power
of God unto salvation. In Romans 1, 16, 17, Paul says, For I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to
the Greek. For therein, therein this gospel message. You hear
people talking about, Oh, I believe the gospel. Well, tell me something
about this message. What's in this gospel you believe?
Is it a gospel of words or is it a gospel of grace, free grace,
unmerited? He says, For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the
just, those that are justified before God shall live by faith.
Now here in verse 17, where it says, For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed, By the righteousness of God is not meant God's essential
righteousness, which is God's perfection of character and of
nature, and him being a just God in his essential nature,
even though God's essential nature is revealed in the gospel that
we believe and we preach. It is not the righteousness of
God spoken of here in verse 17, nor is this righteousness of
God the righteousness by which Christ himself is righteous,
inherently, either as God or as mediator. Now, folks, I want
you to pay close attention to some of the things that we're
going to be talking about right now. Concerning the gospel that's
preached here in this place, is we just got through saying
that this righteousness of God is not the essential righteousness
of God. But the righteousness spoken of here in Romans 1 and
verse 17 is the righteousness which Christ wrought out by his
perfect obedience, even his bearing the penalty for sin, which was
his shed blood on the cross of Calvary as he substituted himself
for his people, his sheep, as he stood in our place, as he
represented us. and by which those that he substituted
himself for are justified in the sight of God. And this is
called the righteousness of God. This is what Christ worked out
as he came to this earth. He came here for a purpose, to
obey God in every way, every jot and tittle, and shed his
blood on that cross. Now, this righteousness of God
is in total opposition to the righteousness of men. The righteousness
which is called the righteousness of God justifies men in the sight
of God. This righteousness of which Jehovah
the Father sent his Son to work it out, and being wrought out,
God the Father approved it, and he accepted it. Christ was raised
from the dead. This is the righteousness that
is imputed to God's elect, charged legally. This is the righteousness
that we must have to stand before God. It's a righteousness that
must be imputed and charged to your account if you're going
to have it. Jehovah the Son is the author of it, by his obedience
unto death, and Jehovah the Spirit reveals it to sinners, works
faith in them to lay hold upon it, and pronounces the sentence
of justification by it in their minds and in their affections.
He convinces them that this is the way God saves sinners. It's
Christ's righteousness alone. He convinces them of that. He
causes us to be willing to flee to this Christ I'm telling you
about. In the day of his power, he causes us to flee to it. Now, this is said to be revealed
in the gospel. That is, it is taught in the
gospel That is the word of righteousness, the administration of it, or
the administering of it. It is manifested or made clear
in and by this gospel that I'm telling you about, our God-saved
sinner. This righteousness is not known
by the light of nature. You can't see it by looking at
creation, nor by the law of Moses. It is hid under the shadows of
the ceremonial law in the Old Testament. and all those pictures
and types, and is brought to light only by this gospel. It is heard from every natural
mind, even from the most wise and the most prudent, and from
God's elect themselves before conversion, before God comes,
regenerates, and converts those individuals. And it is only made
known to believers to whom it is revealed. This righteousness
of God, spoken of in Romans 117, is God's perfect and just way
of redeeming sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ. God must always
be true to himself. He is a loving, a merciful, and
a gracious God. But he is also a righteous and
just and truthful God. He cannot ignore sin, and all
sin demands eternal death. According to God's law, as we
will see in some of the following scripture, God is clear concerning
his justice in punishing sin. If you are a sinner, and we all
are by nature and by practice, then either we must die an eternal
death or a suitable substitute must take our place. In Genesis
2, verse 17, says, But of the tree of knowledge,
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day
that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. That is God's
testimony as he said these things to Adam in the garden. And then
in Romans 5.21, the Apostle Paul tells us, That as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6.23 For the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Man's righteousness always falls
short of the requirement of perfection that God requires. In Romans
3.23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
It always falls short. God requires perfection. Now,
you say, well, I know that can't be so. None of us can be perfect. None of us. No, that's what I'm
telling you. He's a holy God, and he requires
perfection in every way. We must have that to stand before
this holy God. And this is what we're talking
about and what's revealed in the gospel. It's where this perfection
is found. It's found in that righteousness
that Christ worked out. As I said, man's righteousness
always falls short. In Romans 3 in verse 23, as we
just read, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God, the righteousness of God revealed in this gospel always
opposes, and it cancels out man's attempts at righteousness. In
Romans 3.15, it says their feet are swift to
shed blood. Paul begins to quote from Isaiah
59, 7, and 8. while Isaiah is showing the guilt and depravity
of Israel, a religious, but most of them were lost. This would
certainly apply to murderers, men, but it also applies to those
who bring blood sacrifices seeking to be accepted of God, to their
words, without knowing the purpose and heart of those sacrifices. An example of what this verse
is speaking of is in Isaiah 1.10-15. Now what these Israelites were
doing is they were swift and ready to come and bring those
sacrifices. And all these things God required
of that nation. All of it pointed to Christ,
the Messiah. It pictured and typified him.
But they went about doing all these things, not seeing that,
but as it were, by works of law, by their deeds of law, by what
they were doing. these activities that they were doing. In these
verses it says, Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom.
Give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To
what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifice unto me, saith
the Lord? I am full of the burnt offerings
of rams, and the fat of fed bees, and I delight not in the blood
of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When you come to
appear before me, who hath required this at your hand to tread my
courts? Bring no more vain oblations,
offerings, or sacrifices, is what we're talking about. Incense
is an abomination to me. The new moons and Sabbath, the
calling of assemblies, I cannot away with it. It is iniquity,
even your solemn meetings. Your new moons and your appointed
feasts, my soul hated. are troubling to me, I am weary
to bear them. And when you spread forth your
hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. Yea, when you make
many prayers, I will not hear your hands are full of blood."
There are three things wrong with Israel's worship and service
that we are talking about here as we look at their feet are
swift to shed blood. First of all, It was a worship
without truth. Second, it was a worship in pride
and self-righteousness. Thirdly, it was a worship without
heart, without spirit, and without love. Now, as we look at that
first point, it was a worship without truth. That means it
was a lie. They did not see the ultimate
purpose of all those things that God had given them in that old
covenant law. Those things were meant to convince
them and to convict them of sin and lead them to Christ. In Galatians
3.24, wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ that we might be justified by faith. And the second point,
it was worship in pride and self-righteousness. They were quick to shed the blood
of animals But they did not trust God's promise to save them by
the blood of Christ alone. It was pictured and typified
in all those sacrifices. Hebrews 10, 4 through 6 says,
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should
take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offerings thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me, and burnt offerings and sacrifices
sin, sacrifices for sin, thou hast no pleasure. And the third
point here on what we're talking about as far as those things
wrong with the worship of Israel, it was a worship without heart,
without spirit, and without love. It was hypocrisy. Look at Matthew
15, 8. It says, This people draweth
nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips,
But their heart is far from me. Religious ceremonies and exercises,
no matter how many or how sincere, without Christ, without grace,
without heart and humility, are an abomination unto God. In Luke
16, 15, this is Christ, and He said unto them, Ye are they which
justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts.
But that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in
the sight of God." These verses give us some idea of how God
looks upon such works of religion, which is religion by works. Now, in Romans chapter 3, the
next couple of verses that we'll look at, it says, "...destruction
and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have
not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Such false
doctrine and religion put sinners on a broad road that leads to
destruction. It keeps sinners ignorant of
the narrow way of peace, the way of Christ and Him crucified,
the only way of peace and of salvation. In Matthew 7, verse
13 and 14, it says, For wide is the gate, and broad
is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in
thereat. Because straight is the gate,
and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that
find it." Well, we're talking about a straight gate, and we're
talking about a wide gate. This straight gate is Christ.
This great gate is salvation based on what he did alone. This
wide gate is a religion of works. And anything that's not of grace,
anything that's not of what Christ did in his righteousness alone.
And it's a wide gate. That's the reason you have so
many different religions today. It's a very wide gate. And in
John 14, verse 6, Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me." Now, it is clear what the only way of salvation is. But when sinners go the way of
false religion, the way of works religion, they are blinded by
Satan to the glory of God and Christ alone. In 2 Corinthians
4, verses 3-6, says, But if our gospel be hid,
is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
we preach not our works, but we preach Christ Jesus the Lord.
And ourselves, your servants, for Jesus' sake, for God who
commanded the light, to shine out of darkness, has shined in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Now, in Romans chapter 3, 18
through 20, it says, There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Now, we know that whatsoever and what things soever the law
saith, it saith unto them that are under the law. that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before
God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be
justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin." Now, Paul draws three awesome conclusions from the
truth revealed here in these verses here. You have the first
one, is there no fear of God? Second one, all are guilty before
God and ourselves under the law. And thirdly, no sinner is justified
before God by works. Now, under the point of no fear
of God, as it says that here in verse 18, men by nature fear
punishment and death and hell. That's the reason they go about
trying to establish righteousness of their own, trying to get back
in good standing with God. They fear death and hell. This
is one reason that man is so naturally religious, and he's
so self-righteous. The problem is that man by nature
has no reference or respect for the honor of God. He will not
seek the true and living God, and he does not trust and worship
the true and living God. Men invent many ways to avoid
hell and to attain heaven. Look at the many religions that
we have today. All the ways of men dishonor
God, though they exalt the flesh. They exalt man in some way, to
some degree. None even consider the issue
of how God can be just can remain a just God and justify an ungodly
sinner. To fear God is to trust and to
worship and to serve Him according to His way, not our own way of
works. His way is the way of salvation
by grace in and by Christ alone. His way is the way of righteousness
by the death of Christ on the cross. His way is the way of
grace and of mercy by Christ. In verse 19, all are guilty before
God and ourselves under the law. To be under the law means to
be condemned under the covenant of works and Adam. To be deserving
of death and hell. The psalmist stated it this way
in Psalms 130, verse 3. If thou, Lord, should mark iniquity,
O Lord, who should stand? He's saying if you're going to
charge iniquity, Nobody can stand. If you're going to charge sin
to somebody's account, who could stand? And you know, because
of what Adam did in the garden, that's what happened. Sin was
charged to our account. When a sinner is convinced of
sin by the Holy Spirit under the law, he stops trying to justify
himself and maintain his innocence. And he admits that he deserves
death and hell and cries out for mercy. Have mercy on me,
God. We also know that by nature even
God's elect deserve, we deserve condemnation, death, and hell.
But God in his mercy has revealed Christ to us, caused us to see
how that Christ took on our condemnation and our wrath before this holy
God as he hung on that cross and shed his blood. Those that
flee to Christ alone for refuge are not under law, they are under
grace, free and unmerited. The third point here, verse 20,
no sinner is justified before God by their works. Because we
all fell in Adam, because we are all born dead in trespasses
and sin, and because all our deeds, even our best, are defiled
by sin, There is no possibility of being justified before this
God by our efforts to keep the law. We all fall short of the
righteousness, even at our best. The law cannot make us righteous
He can only expose our unrighteousness. That's what the knowledge of
sin is. It tells us that we're a sinner. That's what the law
does when God calls His elect to see what that
law really says, the spirituality of it. And the fact that we deserve
hell, even at our best effort. After seeing that God cannot
justify a sinner based on that sinner's works, we must ask ourselves,
how can God be both a righteous judge and a loving Father then? If the soul that sinneth shall
surely die, how can a sinner be just with God? Back in the
Old Testament, Job asked this question when he says this in
Job 25 and verse 4. How then can man be justified
with God? Or how can he be clean that is
born of a woman? Behold, even the moon in it shineth
not, yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less that
is a worm, and the Son of Man which is a worm. It is easy to
see that Job was convinced that God was a just God in all his
actions. And since this God that we all
must deal with is just in all his ways, then how should man
be just with God then? If not the angels, and if not
man in his best estate, in which he is vanity or worthless when
it is compared with God, this God that we worship, then much
less frail and feeble and mortal sinful men, even the best of
considered in themselves and with respect to their own righteousness,
which are nothing but filthy rags, scripture said. Anything
that we bring can bring before God. Anything that we might do
or be unable to do. That's what they are. Anything
other than the righteousness of Christ. Father, for to be
just. is not to be so through an infusion
of righteousness. Somehow or another, God imparts
or infuses or puts in you this righteousness or this holiness.
But to be just is a legal term and stands opposed to condemnation.
For a man to be pronounced righteous is a judiciary or legal way. He cannot be reckoned or accounted
by God by any works of righteousness done by man, since man's best
works are imperfect, not answerable to the law by way of fulfillment,
for our works are very defective, and therefore not able to justify
before this holy God. It is a certain thing that a
man can never be just or justified with God in such a way or through
any righteousness wrought out by man, by us in any way. For
if the inhabitants of the heavens are not pure in the sight of
God, which are the holy angels, and if any man at his best estates
was altogether vanity or worthless when compared to God, what must
sinful morals be? If God should mark iniquities,
should charge sin, or enter into judgment with us based on things
that we do, we could not stand before him without blame. A man
can only be just with this God, this holy God, through the imputation
of righteousness, that imputation of righteousness, the righteousness
that Christ worked out by his obedience unto death. And so
reckoning and pronouncing us righteous to it. Now, this act
of God, wherein he reckons his elect is righteous, is entirely
consistent with the justice of God. Since by this righteousness,
the law is fulfilled, is magnified and made honorable and justice
satisfied. So that God is just while he
is the justifier of him that believes in Jesus. Now verse
20 also proves that Paul's description of sinners from chapter 1 verse
18 through chapter 3 verse 19 includes even the most religious
as well as the most open and moral. Deeds of law here spoken
of in verse 20 that we're dealing with describe those who are seeking
salvation and righteousness by their efforts to obey the law.
You see these people that have those signs up in their yard,
those Ten Commandments signs, they're proud, and they're thinking
that they're keeping the law. They wouldn't have them up in
the yard if they didn't. They'd be fleeing to Christ for refuge.
Paul has already shown, and will go on to show even more, the
only way of salvation and righteousness, which is by the obedience unto
death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Salvation is by
God's free and sovereign grace in Christ alone. Would you like
to know right now God's standard of judgment? I would, before
you get there. Look at Acts 17, beginning at
verse 29. Forasmuch even as we are offspring
of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto
gold and silver, or stone graven by art and man's device. In the
times of this ignorant God winked at, but now commandeth all men
everywhere to repent." Change your mind. Change your mind about
how God saved His Son. Change your mind about you thinking
that some way or another I'm going to be able to stand before
this God by doing the best I can do, as preachers tell you today. Change your mind. Repent. Because
he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world
in righteousness. This is this righteousness we're
talking about. This is this righteousness that we must have to stand before
this holy God. We see that by the next part
of this verse. judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance
to all men, and that he hath raised him from the dead. So
we're talking about Christ. We're talking about that righteousness
that he worked out by his obedience unto death. Christ's righteousness
alone is God's standard of judgment. The question is, do you have
that righteousness right now? If you do, how did you get it? Was it by your works under the
law, or was it imputed or charged to your account? What are you
trusting in? Is it your works, or have you
fled to Christ for all of salvation? Are you pleading Christ's righteousness
alone, and have you repented from ever thinking that God could
have saved you based on something done by or in you? There is no other way of salvation
for sinners who are by nature all under sin.