If you will, take your Bibles
and turn with me to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. I had an article in last week's
bulletin written by Pastor Scott Richardson. Scott went on to
be with the Lord now. But he had this little excerpt
from one of his messages, and I put it in the bulletin. It
was called, A Dead End Road. And those who seek to justify
themselves by God through their own merits, they're going down
a dead end road. And one of our young men brought
his bulletin up to me after Sunday school, and pointing to that
article by Scott, He said, is what he quoted there actually
a scripture? I said, it is. It's Romans chapter
3 and verse 20. So what I want to do this morning,
especially for our young people, is to look at Romans chapter
3, verses 19 through 26. And we're going to look at it
on this subject, the righteousness of God. Is this an important
subject? Is this just something we stand
up and talk about because we don't have anything else to talk
about or because it's the next doctrine in the line? Is this
really important, what I have to say this morning, on the righteousness
of God? Is it an important subject? Well,
in Matthew chapter 5, verse 20, our Lord said to His disciples,
they feared the Pharisees and the scribes, and they feared
them for more than just the fact that they were renowned among
the people, but they feared them because they were so godly, outwardly
godly. They wore those robes. They were
so intimidating. They kept the ceremonies. Nobody else could come close
to the Pharisees as far as outward living, as far as moral living,
as far as church attendance and tithing and all of these things.
They couldn't come anywhere near them. And whenever our Lord would
go contrary to something that the Pharisees said, the disciples
would just kind of duck and cover, you know, because they feared
those Pharisees. And in Matthew 5, verse 20, our
Lord said to His disciples, He said, Except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of God." Now you think about that. They
paid tithes of all they owned, they kept the holy days, the
feast days, they read the scriptures, they taught men what they read,
and they encompassed sea and land to make one proselyte like
unto themselves. They were renowned for their
zeal and strict obedience, and Christ said their righteousness
ain't going to get it. Except your righteousness exceed
theirs, you're not going to enter into the kingdom of God. So whatever
this righteousness of God is, I want you to understand that
you can't do it of your own self. You can't accomplish it. There's
no way. These men did everything humanly
possible. to have this righteousness. And Paul said that they did it
because they were ignorant of God's righteousness. Ignorant
of it. Is this doctrine important? As
important as your soul. That's how important it is. Paul prayed Over there in Romans
10, I read it to you a few minutes ago, He prayed for His kinsmen
according to the flesh that they might be saved. Well, all these things that they
did, why is He talking about them not being saved? Because
their righteousness was not sufficient to present
them before God and win His approval and His honor. Is it important? Well, it's as
important as your soul. It's as important as the death
of Christ. Paul tells us in Galatians, he
said if righteousness come by the law, if you're able to do
that, then he said Christ died in vain. So it's as important as the death
of Christ. It is as important as the purpose
and character of God. Now, there's four bold declarations
given to us here in Romans chapter 3, verses 19 through 22. And
in these four declarations, almost all of this world's religion
is exposed as utter heresy. That's a pretty bold statement,
isn't it? Well, it's true. In these four declarations, almost
all of this world's religion is exposed as utter heresy, and
the gospel of Christ is plainly declared in these four declarations. Here's the first thing. This
is over in Romans 3, verse 19. The reason for the law. Why was the law given? Why did
God give Israel the law? The law is given, he tells us
here, to shut our mouths. Ain't nobody telling me that. I listen to them all the time.
They tell me to keep it. They tell me it was given for
me to obey in every jot and tittle. and to produce a righteousness.
But that's not what Paul said. He said the law is given to shut
our mouths, to take away our excuses, and leave us guilty
before God. Now listen to this, Romans 3.19.
This is as plain as words can get. Now we know, that is believers
do, that what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them that
are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped. Got nothing to plead. Got nothing
to say. Nothing to boast of. Every mouth
may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. The law does not and cannot speak
peace to any man because it deals in strict justice and perfect
righteousness. The verse says, what thing soever
the law saith. What did the law say? What does
the law say that strips a man and makes him guilty before God?
What does the law say? Well, it says first, and if you
go back and read those verses prior to this, it says first
and foremost, there's none righteous. That's what the law says. The
law looks at everybody, judges everybody, judges them in perfection,
judges them in spirit and truth, exacting justice. And it looks,
and he said, there's none righteous. That's what the law says. You
can't look to the law for righteousness. When you look to the law, it
says there's none righteous. There's none righteous. That's
the law's accusation, and that's the lawgiver's judgment. There's
none righteous. Secondly, it says there's none
that understandeth. According to Romans 3, verses
24 through 25, the law was a figure for the time then present. It
was a type or a symbol by which men were instructed as how God
saved sinners. But they didn't understand that.
They didn't understand that Christ was that basis. Christ was that
propitiation. Christ is what enabled God to
be just and justify those who believe. Not the law. Christ. Christ was. And there's
none that understand it. None that understood it. And
to this day, that's not changed. And then thirdly, he tells us,
here's something else the law says. There's none that seeketh
after God. I get so tired of hearing that
people telling me how they were nine years old and got a vision
and began to seek God. That's not what this is. The
law says there's none that seeketh after God. None. That is none of themselves that
seek after God. The law exposes the self-righteousness
of men, exposes their pride and haughty nature. That's what he
says over there. Here's the condemnation. Light
come into the world. Men loved darkness because their
deeds were evil. They didn't want light. They
wanted darkness. And then the law says in verse
12, they're all gone out of the way. They are together become
unprofitable. What in the world is he talking
about there? Well, salvation is purposed of God to manifest
the glory of God, the glory of His mercy and the glory of His
grace. And if a man justifies himself by his own obedience
to the law, it defeats the purpose of God, don't it? It runs contrary
to the purpose of God. Salvation is purposed of God
to manifest the glory of His mercy and grace by saving chosen
sinners. through the person and work of
his son, not through their obedience to the law. Work salvation is
unprofitable to God because it does not glorify God and does
not glorify the person and work of Christ. It only serves to
glorify man. Listen to them. Turn your radio
on. Turn your TV on. Listen to them.
Don't take my word for it. The crowds are cheering, and
the crowds are smiling, and the crowds are clapping their hands
because the preacher is glorifying them. And then the law says this, there's
none good. No, not one. Our Lord defined
this word good. when he spoke to the rich young
ruler. That rich young ruler come running to him, and the
first words out of his mouth was, good master. And the Lord
stopped him dead in his tracks. And he said, why callest thou
me good? There's none good, now listen
to this, but God. Next time you use that word good,
you think about what I'm telling you. There's none good but God.
To be good, you've got to be equal with God. And then the law draws a picture
of man in his sinful condition over these next verses. Said
his throat's like a coffin without a lid. Right there, an old coffin
been laying there for months. Corpse is about half consumed.
It's like a coffin without a lid, full of corruption, rottenness,
and death. With his tongue, he's used deceit,
used it to win men's favor. And used it to make himself appear
better than he is. Used it to build a refuge to
hide from God. And then he tells us that the
poison of a viper is under his lips. Get too close to him. Break the boundary. He'll bite
you. And he'll infect you with his poison. His mouth is full of cursing
and bitterness. He's never satisfied, never content,
holds grudges, always bitter in his heart, his feet swift
to shed blood. You wound men with things other
than a sword. You can wound men with your mouth,
and men do. You can wound a man, hurt him
deep with your mouth. And you can kill him by cutting
him off. I just won't speak to him again.
You just killed him. That's what you've done. You
killed him. Men's feet are swift to do that. Swift to shed blood. Destruction. Listen to this. Here's another
picture of the sinner. Destruction and misery are in
his ways. All you have to do to a sinner
is leave him to himself. He'll self-destruct. Spiritually
or physically, either way. Leave him to himself. That's
all you got to do. Take a boy who's raised in a
nice home. He's been a nice boy all of his
life. Take him out here. Put him over there in the jungle
somewhere at war by himself out there with a bunch of men. He
comes home, and they have to actually take some time before
they get that boy home to get him back to normal. All you got
to do is leave him to himself. He'll self-destruct. destruction
and misery are in His ways, it's in His nature. And then listen to this, the
way of peace, they've not known. Now they've heard preachers talk
about peace, peace where there is no peace, and some of them
talk about having made their peace with God. But you can't
make your peace with God, only Christ can do that. We had peace through the blood
of His cross. That's how peace was made with God. You can't
make any peace with God. And the fact of the matter is,
even in reconciliation when we're talking about that part of it,
God has to come and reconcile you, don't He? You're never going
to come to Him. He has to come to you. The way
of peace they've not known. Now I'm going to tell you something. Man has to hear from God or he'll
lay in the tomb of his nature for all eternity." He has to
hear from God. God has to speak. And then he tells us this, there
is no fear of God before his eyes. There is no connection
between himself and God, no adoption, no loving father, no loving rule,
and no saving interest. That's what that fear is. It's
the fear of a son before his father. It's a reverential fear
and a loving fear. And these things are what the
law sayeth to fallen sinners, and those who are unable to hear
it are left without excuse. It takes away your excuses. I had two brothers, full-blown
alcoholics. There never was a time, every
time that they did something horrible, they'd say, well, I
wouldn't have done it except I was drunk. That's like saying, well, I wouldn't
have killed him, but I'm a murderer. Couldn't help myself. Huh? There's
no excuse. God takes away these excuses.
He takes them away from us. Takes away our excuses. Strips
us of all fleshly hope. We ain't got any hope. Boy, if
I can just learn enough, if I can just know enough, if I can just
do enough, all that goes out the window. All that goes out
the window. He leaves us stripped of all
fleshly hope and He leaves us guilty, guilty before God. Man, oh man. Don't fear man that
can destroy your body. Fear God who can destroy both
soul and body in hell. Guilty before God. I'll tell
you why men don't tremble anymore in church services. You preach
to them and they're just popping gum and having a good time. I
don't see anybody trembling. I'll tell you, you'll tremble
when He brings you to that place where you stand guilty without
excuse before your Sovereign. You'll tremble then. You won't
be able to hold your lips still then. You won't have no plea then.
You'd be shut up to the grace of God. All right, here's the
first thing. This is a bold statement, and
I'm telling you it exposes the religion of our day as utter
heresy. What thing soever the law saith,
it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may
be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. All
right, here's the second bold statement Paul makes concerning
the salvation of sinners. Romans 3, verse 20. By the deeds
of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. You mean no matter what I do,
I can't justify myself before God? That's exactly what I mean.
That's exactly what I mean. Now, the language of the verse
does not imply that men are anything but sinful, carnal men. He says,
no flesh. Huh? No flesh. Flesh is the word
chosen to describe man in his lost estate. Did you know that?
Over and over in the scripture, he uses that word flesh. He tells
us that which is spirit is spirit, and that which is flesh is flesh.
He tells us that in John chapter 3. That's why we have to be born
again. He tells us in Galatians 5 verse 17, he said, For the
flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.
And these are contrary, the one to the other, so that we cannot
do the things that we will. He tells us in Romans 8, verses
7 and 8, that the carnal mind is enmity against God. It's not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. And then he says,
so then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. To stand justified before God,
one must be righteous. Perfectly righteous, continually
righteous, inwardly as well as outwardly righteous. He must
be righteous in his motives and righteous in his thoughts and
righteous in his deeds. He must be righteous in his nature. Boy, that slammed the door, didn't
it? He's got to be righteous in his nature as well as his
walk. He cannot have spot or wrinkle or any such thing. He
can have no breach of conduct from the cradle to the coffin.
Not one breach. If we are to have this righteousness
by the deeds of the law, we must needs be righteous in our beings. But He's already told us. We've
been proven by the law to be under sin. Under the judgment
of it, under the influence of it, under the curse of it, and
under the penalty of None righteous, no not one, none that understandeth,
none that seeketh after God, all gone astray, none good. And no man with his fallen nature
can ever hope to obtain a righteousness by his obedience to the law.
There's no hope given, ever, not even a hint. Men are ignorant
of their fallen condition, and they persist in a righteousness
of their own doing. Unbelievable. Paul preached every
way by the Spirit of God to those Jews, and they persisted in trying
to work out a righteousness for themselves. They would not submit
themselves to the righteousness of God in Christ. And that's
why Brother Scott said, it's a dead end road. For by the deeds
of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Now,
your friends may justify you. They might. Ooh, what a change
I saw in him. What a change I saw. They might
justify you. Your religion might justify you.
A preacher might stand up and say, boy, he's a good man. He's a good man. If he does,
he's lying to you. But you cannot be justified before
God. by the deeds of the law. It's
not going to happen. I hear men talk about others.
Well, they've done some pretty good things. Not according to
the Word of God. All have sinned and come short.
Now listen. What did they come short of?
What other men did? No. They come short of the glory
of God. We're talking about righteousness.
We're talking about the glory of His righteousness. He said, we're all as an unclean
thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Isaiah 64,
6. And then Psalm 39, 5 says, every
man at his best stage is altogether vanity. He says, we all walk
in an open show. We showboat around like we're
somebody. You remember the story, they
may not tell it anymore, but there was an old story, there's
an old proverb they used to teach, a fable if you will, about the
king who the fellow weaved him an invisible set of clothes. And he said, now these men, they're
cursed men if they can't see this. You have to be good to
be able to see these clothes. And when the king couldn't see
them, he pretended like he did. And he marched around in an open
show, and he was naked as a jaybird. And finally, one of the little
old kids said, the king ain't got no clothes on. And everybody
began to laugh. That man, he walks around in
an open show. He's got nothing to show. He's
guilty before God. And that's what he tells us in
this psalm. We all walk in a vain show. Therefore, that is with good
reason and basis, By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh
be justified in his sight, for by the law, we've already proved,
is the knowledge of sin. You go to the law and all you're
going to hear from it ever is condemnation. Guilty, guilty,
guilty, guilty, guilty. And there's three things of which
men are ignorant who try to seek justification by the law. First
of all, they're ignorant of their own inability to keep the law,
which we've already talked about. Totally ignorant of that. They
don't know that they can't keep it. They're persuaded that they
can keep it. Secondly, they're ignorant of
the law itself. Somebody, I either read this
or somebody, I quoted it from somebody, but I wrote it down
in my Bible. There's 635 statutes in the law. To keep the law, you need a priesthood,
you need a high priest, and you need a tabernacle if you're going
to keep the law. You need to set it up with all
of its furnishings. You need to sacrifice whatever
beast that it commands when and where it commands it. All of
your unruly children, you have to take them out and stone them
because that's what the law requires. When that kid chases you across
the dinner table, You take him out back, get a pile of rocks,
and bash his brains in. You're going to keep the law. And you can do that along with
your unfaithful wives and husbands. You can take them out and bash
their brains in too. You must strictly keep all the
Sabbaths, the holy days, and the feast days. You must follow
the dietary laws. You can only eat certain things
on certain days. And many other things which men
are ignorant of. Paul said in Galatians 5.3, he
said, I testify again to every man that circumcised. You're
going to get circumcised for spiritual reasons. Paul said,
I'm going to tell you something. You're a debtor to do the whole
law. If you're going to win righteousness
by keeping the law, you're going to have to keep it all. And then
again in Galatians 3.10, for as many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse, for it's written, cursed is everyone
who continueth not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them. All things written in the book of the law. And then
thirdly, he's ignorant of the purpose of the law. Galatians
3.24, he said the law was our schoolmaster. to bring us unto
Christ that we might be justified by faith. And that's what the
law does. It shuts you up to Christ. It wasn't given to produce a righteousness,
but to shut us up to the righteousness of God in Christ. We know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to leave us guilty before God. And the
law leaves us stripped of any and all hope of self-righteousness,
strips us of all of our ties to God, and leaves us guilty
before Him. All right, here's the next thing.
There is a righteousness manifested. Oh, thank God. A righteousness
manifested, Romans 3.21. But now, the righteousness of
God without the law, without the law, had nothing to do with
the law. Nothing to do with it. Without consideration of all
the things that you did contrary to the law. There is a righteousness,
this righteousness of God, without the laws manifested, being witnessed
by the law and the prophets. Now this word is going all the
way back to Romans 1 verse 17, where Paul said that in this
gospel, The righteousness of God is revealed. Now, he said
a bunch of things all the way up to Romans chapter 3 after
he said that in Romans chapter 1. And now he's going back to
verse 17. He's going to tell you what he
means. It's the righteousness of God which the prophets and
the law testified of. And in the gospel of Christ,
we tell men that. In Daniel 9.24, the prophet said,
70 weeks are determined upon the people. Seventy weeks from
this day is determined on you. And upon that holy city to finish
the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation
for iniquity, and to bring in, now listen, everlasting righteousness. And to seal up the vision and
anoint the most holy. When Paul spoke over in Romans
10, 6-8 of the righteousness of faith, he quoted Deuteronomy
30, verses 11-14. It was testified by the law and
the prophets. Never a time when the law was
used of men and their obedience to it to produce a righteousness.
It wasn't given for that reason. It wasn't practiced for that
reason. It wasn't preached for that reason. If you'd have believed Moses,
our Lord said you'd have believed me because he wrote of me. That's
what he was talking about when he was talking about offering
that lamb. But I tell you the law, the law,
it did testify of a coming Redeemer. The prophets did tell of one
whose name is the Lord Our Righteousness, Jehovah Sidcanu. He's the Lord
Our Righteousness. The gospel of Jesus Christ is
where the righteousness of God is revealed. And then fourthly,
he tells us what this righteousness is. Jesus Christ is the righteousness
of God and the saving righteousness of all them that believe. Romans
3.22. Here's that righteousness manifested,
even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference.
That is no difference between Jews and Gentiles. Now I want
to break this verse down just a little bit so you can better
understand it. First of all, he tells us that
the righteousness of God is by faith. That's the only way you can have
it. You can't produce it. I can't produce it. The law can't
produce it. The only way you can have this
righteousness is by faith. Abraham believed God, and it
was counted to him for righteousness. It wasn't written for his sake
alone that it was imputed to him for righteousness, but for
us also who shall believe. This righteousness of God is
by faith. Paul asked the troubled Galatians.
Somebody come in and told them, well, yeah, you're saved by grace,
but now you have to keep the law. That's how you're sanctified. You keep the law. And Paul asked those troubled
Galatians. He said this, only would I have learned of you,
received you the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing
of faith. How'd this thing come to you? Huh? Where'd it come from? How'd you
get it? Where'd you get the idea that you're saved? You got it
by faith. Are you now made perfect by the law? In Galatians 2.16,
he says, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of
the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed
in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of
the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. And then he tells
us in Galatians 2 verse 21, I do not frustrate the grace of God,
for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead
and vain. Men are not made righteous before
or after conversion by their obedience to the law. They've
seen and understood by faith that Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. You mean to tell me that a sinner,
that's what we are. Laws already proved that. Past your wildest imagination
how evil you are. I read these things and you're
sitting there thinking to yourself, I've never done any of that.
No, but it's in there. It's in there. Out of the heart
proceed evil thoughts. It's in there. that cesspool of iniquity in
there. You mean to tell me that a sinner
like that can believe on Christ and be righteous before God?
That's exactly what I mean. And that's the only way you can
be righteous before God, by His righteousness, by His righteousness. And then he tells us this, this
is the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ. Now while it is true that righteousness
was wrought by the faithfulness and righteous obedience of our
Lord, this is not what he is talking about here in this verse.
When he says, by faith of Jesus Christ, he's talking about the
faith of which he is the author and the finisher and the object. The only way you can have faith
is for it to be given to you by God. That's the only way you
can have it. This faith is of Jesus Christ. He bought the right for you to
have it. And he dispenses it to whom he
will. In Hebrews 5 verse 9 it said,
"...and being made perfect." That is a perfect Savior. He
was already perfect in His nature. But He became a perfect Savior
by His sufferings. He became the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that obey Him or all them that believe. And then look with me quickly
over here at Hebrews chapter 12 and I'll wind this thing up.
Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2. Looking unto Jesus. That's how
you say it. You don't look and then go on
about your business. Looking. Constantly, continually
looking. Look today, look tomorrow, look
tonight. We're looking to Him. Looking
to Him. I don't have something sealed
and settled and put it in my pocket and go about my business
and not reach and get it. That's not what this is talking
about. This is talking about a continual looking, looking
unto Jesus. Now watch this, the author and
finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God. My friend, there's no
faith apart from Christ. But in Christ, faith finds a
full satisfaction and a full sufficiency. Ye are complete
in him, Paul tells us in Colossians 2. You're complete in him. Because in him, all the fullness
of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ. And you're complete
in him who's the head of all principality and power. And then
thirdly, Paul finishes verse 22 of Romans 3, saying that this
righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, is
unto all and upon all that believe. The gospel of God is to be preached
to every creature, not dogs and cats and pigs and goats, but
every fallen sinner who will take the time to sit and listen
to this gospel being preached. God's righteousness by faith
is unto Jew and Gentile, male and female, free and bond. It doesn't matter. There's only
one righteousness, one justifying righteousness, and that is the
righteousness of God, which is by faith, faith of and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And in the gospel of Christ,
the righteousness of God is revealed. And it's revealed, now listen
to this, Romans 1, From faith to faith. Not just revealed one time, it's
revealed faith to faith. This faith feeds on the righteousness
of Christ. It feeds on his death. It feeds
on his perfections. It feeds on his love. Faith to
faith. And freely given by the grace
of God. Our Father, we thank You for
such a free and glorious gospel that everything which God has
demanded from the sinner, He supplied in our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how our hearts ought to be
full and in full worship before You as we consider these things. And oh, what rejoicing we ought
to do. and of all the men and beasts
and things of this world that you've chosen us to reveal such
majesty and glory to. Be pleased this morning to open
the hearts of some here today and apply this truth by the grace
of God. In Christ's name we ask, amen.