Good morning.
Good morning. I thank you.
I think I heard the bell tolling, so I think that means it’s time.
If you’ll turn with me to Romans 3, this is a continuation of the Bible study in Romans. We’re further ahead sharing this with Pakistan, but this is essentially, with certain tweaks, what has been shared with them.
We’ll read Romans 3:1-20. It is a very important section of Romans, and I’ll explain that momentarily.
What then is the superiority of the Jew, or what the profit of circumcision?
Much every way: and first, indeed, that to them were entrusted the oracles of God.
For what if some have not believed? Shall their unbelief make the faithfulness of God of none effect?
Far be the thought: but let God be true, and every man false; according as it is written,
That Thou shouldest be justified in Thy words,
And shouldest overcome when Thou art in judgment.But if our unrighteousness commends God’s righteousness, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak according to man.
Far be the thought: since how shall God judge the world?
For if the truth of God in my lie has more abounded to His glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
And not, according as we are injuriously charged, and according as some affirm that we say, Let us practice evil things, that good ones may come—whose judgment is just.What then? Are we better? No, in no wise: for we have before charged both Jews and Greeks with being all under sin.
According as it is written,
There is not a righteous man, not even one;
There is not the man that understands;
There is not one that seeks after God.
All have gone out of the way;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is not one that practices goodness,
There is not so much as one.
Their throat is an open sepulchre;
With their tongues they have used deceit;
Asp poison is under their lips;
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness;
Swift their feet to shed blood;
Ruin and misery are in their ways;
And the way of peace they have not known.
There is no fear of God before their eyes.Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be under judgment to God.
Wherefore, by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified before Him; for by law is knowledge of sin.
Father, we again want to thank You for Your Word. Your Word is true. Your Word is truth. How we ask that You open Your eternal Word to us—that living truth, those words of Spirit and life, those words that can transform us from what we are, or what we were, into what You want us to be.
It is only in Your words and in Your life that power exists. So we come to You this morning, again bowing the head and saying, “Lord, would You speak?” We wait upon You. All we want to know, all we want to hear, is Your words. So open them to us.
For all this we ask in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Well, pardon me.
My new water bottle, by the way, so you won’t see me advertising anymore for that old water bottle I brought for years.
We are looking today at Romans 3:1-20. This is a very important section. It is the end of the section that deals with the judgment of God. You’ve got to remember that.
So the title is “The Judgment of God: God’s Closing Argument.” If you can remember that. You know I like long titles; they’re pretty descriptive.
This is very clear when you read this. This is what it concerns. It is the conclusion of this long section on the condition of man.
Some of you—and, by the way, I’ll include myself—might think when you read Romans 1:18 through Romans 3:20, it’s a bit tedious. You might believe that and think that. Of course, you would never say it in public, like I’m so foolish to do.
But you might think, “Why has God taken three chapters to pound us into the earth, telling us our terrible condition, how hopeless we are?” It is because unless we see our truly hopeless condition outside of Christ, we will never see that great hope that we have in Christ Jesus.
If we see who we are, and we see what God delivers us from and what He brings us into, we will begin to see the magnificent mercy that we talked about this morning.
No, Paul did not waste too much time of his sixteen chapters in these three chapters. Maybe he did not do enough. But he did more than any man in all the Scriptures, going into such great length and detail to show us the judgment of God.
We do not like that word judgment very much, do we? We would rather not deal with it. We would rather not talk about it.
I have always said—and I think I said this last time, by the way—every atheist and non-Christian knows the word from the Sermon on the Mount: “Judge not, lest you be judged.”
The moment a Christian opens her mouth, the moment we begin to speak, if we say anything about righteousness or holiness, immediately, somehow, magically, they know that one verse. They have hardly read the Bible. They do not read about it. They do not care about the Bible. But that one verse is on the tip of their tongue as their quick and only answer.
It was like that for me before I was saved. Somehow, this magic verse was at my disposal: “Judge not.”
But, you know, God is a righteous Judge. And you have to understand, the scene here in these three chapters is the divine courtroom, with the righteous Judge judging humankind.
At the end of Romans 3:20, He arrives at the divine verdict. That is the scene. Keep that in mind.
I remember when I first thought of that. I was so thrilled later to read about great men of God who came to that same conclusion. I thought, “How wonderful this is, that we have a righteous Judge. We have One who sees rightly, and we have One who sees and judges righteously.”
“The righteous judgment of God” is a phrase that occurs four times. I shared that the last time we were together: the righteous judgment of God.
And then there is another, even more forceful phrase: “the judgment of God,” which occurs twice. Then there is that phrase that expands it: “the righteous judgment of God.”
That is what we are dealing with in this closing argument, and how we need to see what God is saying. If we see it, we will not despair.
This morning we heard about coming to the mercy seat, where He will commune with us. We heard about coming to the mercy seat, where He will speak to us. He will reveal to us those overflowing mercies that lead us into His righteous ways.
Well, that is where we are headed.
Now, closing arguments are very important things in a court of law. They always end with the closing argument.
I have said this before. I do not want to take much time, but I will never forget seeing the closing argument in O. J. Simpson’s trial. Now, all the rest of you do not even know who O. J. Simpson is. What?
You have permission to correct me. Oh, Jack, I couldn’t think. My newest partner is A. J., and I could not get A. J. out of my brain. O. J. Simpson, number 32, the Buffalo Bills, one of the greatest running backs that ever lived.
Those closing arguments—all won in the closing arguments. The theatrical pulling on that glove and saying, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” The whole thing was won with theater, not fact.
This is the importance of closing arguments. It is the one opportunity at the end where the case has to be made. If the case is not made in those moments, the whole case is lost.
Do not take my word for it. This is the way Cornell Law School describes a closing argument: “A closing argument is the lawyer’s final opportunity in a trial to tell the judge or the jury why they should win the case by explaining the evidence.”
Now, I want you to remember that as we go on this morning: by explaining the evidence.
This is my definition: it is the final step before the trial goes to verdict.
The divine closing argument in Romans 3 is God’s final word about mankind—how depraved they are, how lost they are, how much they need something divine to bring them into all that God has.
Well, that is it. We will look at three areas this morning. I sent out an outline. I do not know if you bothered to read the email, but at least I sent out an outline.
So now you know where we are headed, and I hope you will have maybe a better view as we go through it.
Romans 3:1-8 continues with the judgment of the Jews. Earlier in chapter 1, we saw the judgment of the Gentiles. Then, when we turned to chapter 2, we saw the judgment of the Jews. Now we see further the full, complete judgment of the Jews.
The reason for this—and I will offer you an opinion, and you can debate it, question it, or have your own—is that religious people are the hardest people to deal with. They think they have got an idea. They think they know God. They think they have some reality, and they will be the first ones to fight you tooth and nail when you try to share with them the gospel.
Often the unbeliever, although they might quickly throw at you, “Judge not,” will listen. They will wonder, “Is this true?” But, oh, the religious—the religious—or shall I say, without offending some of you, impossible. Impossible sometimes.
Verse 1 of chapter 3 says:
What then is the superiority of the Jew? Or what is the profit of circumcision?
Man is always trying to justify himself. We need to understand this. We are always trying to justify ourselves. We are always trying to question God’s right to judge us.
If you look in this first part, Romans 3:1-8, man’s arguments put God in judgment. They are questioning God. How often that is the problem. We question God. We question what He says. We question, “Can You believe this?”
So all these questions are raised. They are man’s arguments, even to the point that they question what God would say to them.
The clear message of Romans is that only God is just. Remember that. That is the reason Paul went from Romans 1:18 all the way to Romans 3:20. He wanted to convince us and show us in light of the Holy Scriptures that only One is just.
That is the theme of Romans, certainly the theme of the early part of Romans. Man is always filled with excuses. You know, we love to make excuses, and a number of these questions and arguments put forth our excuses.
“Why should God judge us? Why should He extend wrath to us if this is true?”
You know, Linda and I have seven grandchildren. Parents love to talk about their children. Grandparents love to talk about grandchildren. I talk a lot about it.
I am not going to say anything good about them, as a matter of fact. Sometimes I look at our grandchildren, particularly the grandsons, and see them acting up in a foolish way. The first thing that happens is Grayson blames his brother and says, “Nathaniel did it.”
Jessica and Philip are going to walk out of the room momentarily. Then Nathaniel turns around and blames Grayson and says, “Grayson did it.”
We are always blaming others. We are always trying to push the blame off. That is the way we are.
When I look at those lovely grandchildren that Linda and I love, I say, “There is little Adam in all his glory—full glory.”
But Adam started this whole thing. We are sons of Adam, after all. Do you remember in the garden in Genesis, when the woman was truly deceived by Satan? At least she was deceived. What Adam did, he did willfully.
She took the fruit and ate that fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and she passed it on to Adam. That brilliant soul took and ate.
Willfully, willfully disobeyed.
Then when God came to him and said, “What have you done?” he said, “The woman gave it to me to eat.”
Men have been doing that throughout all history. How we like to blame everything on everyone else but ourselves.
But the clear judgment of God here is that it comes to our feet. God comes to us, and His concluding verdict is, “It is you. It is me. It is not someone else.”
Romans 3:1-8 is the last gasp of man trying to exonerate himself in the divine court.
You will never be exonerated in the divine court. You will never get off because some brilliant lawyer, in a theatrical moment, affected a whole jury and poisoned them, and the murderer went free.
Now, if you think that is too strong, talk to me later. I know there is a lot of opinion about that.
These overall questions show man’s arguments, man’s reasonings, man’s questionings. More importantly, I think we see God’s answers—the divine answers that destroy, absolutely destroy, and undo the reasonings of man.
Now, I know Bible study is a little tougher, okay, because we have to really get into the weeds. We really need to go into the heart of it.
There are four questions and four answers. I hope you have noticed that when you have read this section: four questions and four answers. Sometimes the way it is worded, you may not follow that. But let us try to look at that, because in that we see man’s arguments and God’s answers.
First of all, in Romans 3:1, we see the first question:
What is the superiority of the Jew? Or what is the profit of circumcision?
In verse 2, we see the first answer:
Much every way: and first, indeed, that to them were entrusted the oracles of God.
Brothers and sisters, the Jews had incalculable privilege. Now, I know you might argue that. The whole world is astir with this word that you have privilege.
I heard a presidential candidate—not Donald Trump, I assure you—say, “I grew up with privilege. I grew up with a father and a mother.” What privilege! I thought that was brilliant. What an answer. And a home where there was love—that is privilege.
But the Jews had incalculable advantage and privilege. Think about it. It says here that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. They were given the words of the living God. Can you think of more privilege than that?
To me, that is privilege. But it is more than that. They had the Holy Scriptures. God appeared to them personally. Can you think of more privilege than that?
God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai. God said, “I will appear to you.” We said it this morning: “At the mercy seat, I will meet with you.”
They followed Him around—or, rather, He led them—with a pillar of fire and the cloud by night. Everything they needed for food and sustenance was given to them. Can you find more privilege than that?
When they got so tired of the bread of heaven, manna, He gave them quail. And they still murmured.
If you think man is good, read the book of Exodus. You would quickly change your opinion when you read the book of Exodus. Seventy went down into Egypt, and two million were delivered by the greatest deliverance ever known. God delivered them from Egypt and made them a people unto Himself.
Do you not think this word that Paul inserts from the mind of God, “much in every way,” is a very full expression? That is what he means. Could there be any more privilege? Hardly.
The tabernacle, where God was in His very presence; the temple of Solomon, where God was in His very presence. They were instructed, “If you pray toward this place, confess all your evils, and repent, I will do all these things for you.”
There is privilege beyond what can be described. Yet it is these very ones, with all this privilege, who question God. “Is He right? Is He just? Is He kind? Would He inflict wrath on us, His privileged ones?”
Brothers and sisters, this is the first question and the first answer.
The second question is in verse 3:
For what if some have not believed? Shall their unbelief make the faithfulness of God of none effect?
Now, I have already told you: instead of “the faith of God,” put the word faithfulness in there. Darby puts it in his notes, and there are many good versions that read it that way. I think it is far better: the faithfulness of God.
The answer to question number two is in verse 4:
Far be the thought.
What a powerful word. Have you ever noticed in reading the book of Romans how many times the apostle Paul uses that phrase, “Far be the thought”? He uses it ten times. It is a Pauline phrase. It is only used three times in all the rest of the New Testament.
But you cannot go anywhere without noticing Paul advancing the argument in favor of God: “Far be the thought.”
I love the way William Newell expresses that in his commentary on Romans. He says, “Banish the thought. It is unthinkable.” This is unthinkable. Put it out of your mind.
If you thought God was this way, how wrongly you have ascertained, as Jerry once told us, the very character and nature of the living God. Banish that thought. That is the power of that word.
I have not finished reading verse 4, have I? Stop. I did not.
Far be the thought: but let God be true, and every man false; according as it is written,
That Thou shouldest be justified in Thy words,
And shouldest overcome when Thou art in judgment.
That phrase is so pregnant with meaning: “when Thou art in judgment.” Do you know man has become so audacious, so self-absorbed, and so, in the old expression, full of himself—and you know that has different meanings—that he puts God in judgment?
Far be the thought. That was the only appropriate answer. Banish that thought from your mind. Do not think like that. If you think God is like that, you are under the deceptive work of the enemy. That is exactly what it means.
The bedrock principle of Scripture is the faithfulness of God. The whole bedrock principle: God is faithful. No one else is faithful. We are not faithful.
When you read this more carefully, you begin to see the unfaithfulness of man, and you begin to see the faithfulness of God. No one is faithful like God. No one.
Do you remember what Paul wrote? This was his last communication, in 2 Timothy, written to his beloved son in the faith, Timothy. In 2 Timothy 2:13, he said:
If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.
That is exactly what this is talking about.
Brothers and sisters, the faithfulness of God is the theme of the whole Bible from beginning to end. Through all of man’s ruin, through all of man’s questionings, through all of man’s wanderings, through all of man’s doubts, there is one supreme message exerted over the whole Bible: the faithfulness of God.
In the end, we see Him coming on that white horse, and on His very garments is written, “Faithful and True.” Do you understand? They questioned the faithfulness of God.
Question three, if I do not lose my place—you will have to help me here; it is easy for me to do—is in verse 5:
But if our unrighteousness commends God’s righteousness, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath?
Then we read the answer at the end of verse 6:
I speak according to man. Far be the thought: since how shall God judge the world?
You know, this is clever. At least you have to admit it is clever, in the sense that it says, “If our unrighteousness makes God’s righteousness shine brighter, how can He judge us?”
Oh, do you not think there is a merit to that? At least diabolical merit to that. What an argument man has proposed when he talks about God. “If we sin, it makes His glory and His sinlessness look even better. So why would He judge us? How could He judge us?”
That is why the apostle said, “I speak according to man.”
Paul was either recounting his own understanding as a Jew—these questions and answers—or perhaps the questions with which the Judaizers constantly confronted him. Or, once he saw the light on the road to Damascus, he saw things in a very different way.
You remember, he went to Arabia, it says in Galatians, for three years, and relearned the entire Scriptures in the light of Christ. So I think these questions and answers are a combination of all three. Nevertheless, they reveal what man’s heart is and what God’s answer is.
Man’s diabolically inspired reasoning comes across when he says, “I speak according to man.” They are trying to escape the judgment of God. They are justifying that since their unrighteousness establishes God’s righteousness, they are actually thinking in their deceived way, “We are elevating Him.”
So you might think their appropriate question is, “Why should He judge us?” How inappropriate.
This is the third question. This is the diabolical nature of sin on the human mind. It gets all twisted.
I can tell you, people used to be more polite—particularly Southerners, if you let me make that observation. I am sorry for the people from Chicago. It will make you feel a little Southern hospitality. We are so cordial and polite, if you believe that. We are always so pleasant to people, but what is behind our words? It is quite a different thing altogether.
When we say, “Bless your heart,” we merely mean, “Put a knife right through you.” Do you understand?
We think we are so refined, and how darkened is the imagination of man.
The fourth question is in verses 7-8. This is very close to the one we just considered:
For if the truth of God in my lie has more abounded to His glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
Sounds good, does it not? There is some rationale to it—diabolical rationale.
“For the truth of God in my lie”—now, how can you connect those two thoughts? But somehow, in the darkened imagination of man, they can connect those two thoughts.
“Has more abounded to His glory.” It sounds like some excuse I would make to Linda: “I bought this. It’s good for us.” Never mind.
“Why yet am I also judged as a sinner?”
Verse 8 gives the answer:
And not, according as we are injuriously charged, and according as some affirm that we say, Let us practice evil things, that good ones may come—whose judgment is just.
That is man’s darkened reasoning. That is the fourth question. Do you know what the answer was? The answer was very simple: “Whose judgment is just.”
Now, do not think that is part of the question. That is the answer. Paul had little use—or, better stated, God had little use—for that argument. His only answer was brief and succinct: “Whose judgment is just.”
Never forget that.
I believe that is clearly what we are seeing here. We are seeing such dark thinking. I like what Griffith Thomas said. He called these “perversions of reasoning.”
Brothers and sisters, I hope you are not so offended this morning that you would rather I go quickly to chapter 5.
Our perversions of reasoning are part of the darkened mind. It is part of the judgment of God, and He does not hold back.
All their objections, all their reasons, all their questions, and all their judgment of God is silenced by these four answers. There is a hush in the courtroom. They have no other word to speak. They cannot justify themselves.
But man will always try.
I know you may have read the book of Malachi. Some people somehow do not read the minor prophets. I guess if they are minor, why read a minor prophet when you can read a major prophet? “I would rather spend my time in Isaiah and Jeremiah.”
But you ought to read Malachi, because the end of the history of God’s people, the Jews, was questioning God. That is what Malachi is all about. Read it.
In Malachi 1:2, God said to them:
I have loved you, saith the Lord.
But they said:
How hast Thou loved us?
Can you imagine saying that to God? “How have You loved us?” This is the darkened mind.
At the very end of the Old Testament, it comes to this point of a darkened mind that questions God. Malachi 2:17 says:
Ye have wearied the Lord with your words.
And it says that famous phrase:
Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied Him?
Can you imagine greater darkness than that? Can you imagine? That is how dark mankind is.
In Malachi 3, God says:
Will a man rob God? Yet ye rob Me.
And they say:
Wherein do we rob Thee?
We are not even aware, brothers and sisters—particularly the religious, who are on trial here. They are not even aware of their darkened state. They are not even aware of what they are saying.
But nevertheless, God is true.
This is the first part of Romans 3:1-8. Then you look at verses 9-18—ten verses—and this is God’s closing argument. This is the epitome of evidence.
Now, you know, I am not a lawyer. I do not even pretend to be, and I would not be a good one if I were.
But you cannot convict someone in a court of law—thank God, I think it is still like that in the United States; I am not so sure—without verifying evidence. You cannot do it.
You cannot go into a court of law as a person and give just hearsay evidence. “Well, I heard somebody say Kenny is a real slouch.” You cannot do that. It will not be accepted. It is hearsay evidence.
It has to be fact. It has to be fact that cannot be argued against. It has to be fact that removes doubt and makes it possible for one to be fully convicted in a court of law.
That is what these ten verses, Romans 3:9-18, are. Here God has a last opportunity to make His case through Paul. The outcome of the divine trial rests upon this argument. This concluding thought about man rests upon this argument.
Our God has all the answers. Are you not thankful for that, brothers and sisters? When we despair, we can remember: our God has all the answers.
I love that scene when the Lord Jesus was twelve years old and stayed behind in Jerusalem, camped out in the temple. You remember, He was talking to the teachers and authorities.
Do you remember His parents had a panic attack? I think they were three days out, if I am right, and they realized young Jesus was nowhere to be found. “Where is He? Where is He?”
It was not like us, where we could start up our SUV and be back in Jerusalem almost in moments. They had to make that long journey back. There they found the Lord Jesus sitting in the temple.
When He was sitting in the temple, He was asking questions. It says He was listening to their questions, and the last part says He was answering questions. They were astounded at the answers He gave.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, our God has all the answers. Even the Lord Jesus, at twelve years old, had the answers that astounded the teachers. They had no arguments for His answers.
So it is in Romans 3:9-18. We see it. It is the irrefutable conclusion.
Start with verse 9. This is back to verse 1 about the Jews, by the way, in case you did not know what this paragraph is about.
What then? Are we better? No, in no wise: for we have before charged both Jews and Greeks with being all under sin.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the eternal verdict in the divine court: all are under sin. Whether the religious Jew, who had every apparent privilege and advantage, or the Gentile—all are under sin.
This is what the closing argument is about. “Are we better? Are we better?” No, in no wise. We have before charged.
Notice that word, charged. These are the charges in the court of law. We have before charged everybody with all being under sin.
He heard the accused questions and their reasoning, their unenlightened responses and their diabolical mindset, and He gave His final summary of their condition.
You have to understand Romans 3:9-18, or you will never understand the righteous judgment of God.
If you look at them, they are unassailable charges. They are based on irrefutable evidence: the Word that is the Word of God.
It says at the beginning of verse 10, “According as it is written.” That one phrase repeats itself in the Word of God again and again, in almost every book of the Bible: “According as it is written.”
What does that mean? It means it is according to the Word of God. That is the answer. That is the evidence. That is the indisputable evidence. That is the irrefutable evidence. That is the evidence that can never be questioned.
You can question people’s thoughts. You can question people’s moods. You can question, sometimes, even people’s actions. But the Word of God stands forever. Do not ever forget that.
You remember when the Lord said—it is a remarkable verse in the Bible—“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My word will never pass away.” Is that not amazing?
How we need to know His Word.
That is what this irrefutable evidence is. It shows us the absolute depravity of man, and it is a searing indictment consisting of fourteen charges.
Now, lately, I am not going to mention any names, but there is a certain person in the news who has four indictments against him—her, him, whoever. And that person has many, many charges. Often when I read the news, they go on and on about the charges.
But here, these are the charges of God: fourteen charges.
You have to look at them. The first set of charges, the first six, have to do with our condition. Do we really understand our condition?
The next four have to do with our inward condition. Do we really understand our inward condition?
Finally, the last group has to do with our actions—what we do.
In other words, God judges us on what we are, and God judges us on what we do.
I know some people do not like the verse that we shall be judged according to our works. By the way, they particularly do not like it when it is talking about believers. They think, “Oh, no, no, no, no. You must interpret your Bible wrongly. It is all of grace.”
We can be judged according to our works, but we will, as Christians, be judged according to our actions. What did we do with what God put at our disposal? Were we faithful? The whole kingdom hangs on that answer.
I believe these are very clear. Listen to the first six concerning our condition.
Romans 3:10 says:
There is not a righteous man, not even one.
Can there be stronger language than that? There is not a righteous man, not even one.
That comes from Psalm 14:1-3. That is the infallible evidence, the indisputable evidence.
Romans 3:11 says:
There is not the man that understands.
How strong are those words? This is the charge. There is not the man that even understands.
It gets worse than that. The third element in Romans 3:11 says:
There is not one that seeks after God.
Now, you may dispute that, but this is God’s conviction. This is God’s charge. This is God’s summary in His closing argument to say, “This is who we are.”
The fourth one says in verse 12:
All have gone out of the way.
By the way, all of these come from those three verses in Psalm 14:1-3. Can you imagine Paul, in his wisdom, in his light, in his relearning the Scriptures in the light of the glory of the gospel in Arabia? He discovered the whole opening of the Word of God.
The fifth one says:
They have together become unprofitable.
I will never forget our brother Kong. I will tell you a story, since he is not here. Because we young brothers met with Brother Kong all those years, we were blessed—I will use the word privileged—to meet with him.
Brother Kong would pray first. He always prayed that prayer we read in Luke: “I am an unprofitable servant.”
I thought, “Good grief. Good grief, if Brother Kong says that, what am I?” Here is this man of God.
But, you know, we have together become unprofitable, as far as man goes. This is the clear convicting Word of Scripture.
Then it says:
There is not one that practices goodness,
Not so much as one.
Do you not think those are strong words? Incredibly strong.
Do you remember when the rich young ruler came to the Lord Jesus? By the way, I think he was so full of himself. He came to the Lord Jesus and said, “What must I do that I might inherit—” Oh, no, he said, “Good Teacher.” You remember that? He started with, “Good Teacher, what must I do that I might inherit eternal life?”
The Lord Jesus did not answer his question at first. He said, “Why do you call Me good? None is good but God.”
Then He told that rich young ruler what he could not do. He thought he had kept all the law and all the commandments. He said, “I have done all of these.”
So the Lord, in His searing eye of judgment upon the true condition of man, said, “Sell all you have. Give it away. And come, follow Me.”
Now, before you slip up and think that is a requirement for all of you believers to go out and empty your bank account, it is not. The Lord wants you to be gracious. The Lord wants you to be giving. But the point is, this man thought he had done everything required.
In the light of God, He had to expose it. And he went away sad. That is the story of the rich young ruler.
Then you look on. There are another four issues. This is our inward condition.
In Romans 3:13, it says:
Their throat is an open sepulchre.
I try to say that. Linda says that word perfectly. We read the Bible in the morning, and I always mess it up. She says it with beautiful English: “sepulchre.” One day I will be able to say it.
Their mouth—this is our inward condition. This is no longer merely our outward condition. We are not just outwardly totally corrupt; inwardly, we are totally corrupt. Our mouth is a graveyard full of death.
I remember going to Israel. You remember, we were up at the Mount of Olives, and we went down to the Kidron Valley. There were sepulchres everywhere—grave after grave, a sea of graves.
But our mouth is an open grave. This is our inward condition, our true inward condition.
He goes on to say:
With their tongues they have used deceit.
There is deceit in our tongues. You know, they say often of lawyers—I think it is a little unfair to lawyers—“How do you know a lawyer is lying? When he opens his mouth.”
Now, I know there is a lawyer on the video, so I apologize to him right away. This is true not for any class of people. It is true for every person. How do you know we are lying? When we open our mouth. Deceit comes out.
This is our true inward nature.
It says, “With their tongues they have used deceit.” I love what James says in James 3:5-6. He talks about the work of the tongue. He says it is a fire.
It is a small member of the body, yet it is a fire. It lights the whole world on fire. That is what we are. It is the defiler, he said, of the whole body. It sets fire to the course of nature and is set on fire by hell.
Our tongue. You know, I have discovered something. Some of the sweetest little sisters—I am going to pick on old sisters now; more to brothers—sweetest little sisters, you get around and personally talk, and you can find out what comes out sometimes is this fire: a flamethrower torching people.
It is true of all of us by nature. You need to understand this. If you are going to know the mercy of God, you must understand this.
Then it says, the ninth reason—asp, if I can say that without stuttering, asp. You know, it is a snake. You get it?
David is looking at me. Is that right? Can you—an asp is a snake, David? I do not know if I am translating right for the Chinese.
Asp poison is under their lips.
You think, beautiful little person, cute little one, and yet asp poison. It is the viper’s bite. Can you imagine? Naturally speaking, we have the viper’s bite in us.
Have you ever been bitten by a human being? It is a viper’s bite.
I remember we were giving this message in Pakistan, through Zoom in Pakistan. That very morning, the whole message was canceled because one of the brothers got bitten by an asp or viper. His foot was badly injured, and they were rushing him to the hospital to save him.
Well, in the Lord’s concluding argument, He says, “Asp poison is in our lips.” This is all right out of the Bible. This is Psalm 140:3.
Then the tenth one is:
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
This is our inward condition. You might not think that. He might not think that. But it is true, brothers and sisters, in our natural state.
I know that was true of me. I grew up in a household where everybody cussed. I did not grow up in a Christian household. I did not become a Christian until I was twenty.
I was prolific with seasoned words—salty words. I am not proud of this. It was terrible. I almost got kicked out of college because of a rumor about my salty words to an employer, and I was number one in my group.
It was not true, thankfully. But I will never forget standing before that dean as he said, “Why should you still be here?”
But when I was saved, God took away from me all of those words. They disappeared. When I try, when I slip and maybe say a salty word, pain shoots through me. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, cursing and bitterness fill them. This is the judgment of God.
Then the last few concern our actions. This is what we do.
It says in Romans 3:15:
Swift their feet to shed blood.
Men are bloodthirsty. Do you know that? If you doubt it, read history.
I will never forget C. S. Lewis, who lived through World War I and World War II. He was not a believer. He became a believer because he said he saw the cruelty of man in war.
What is it—fifteen to twenty-two million were killed in World War I? Can you imagine? What is it—forty to sixty million were killed, slaughtered by the bloodlust of man, in World War II?
Is there any reason for the human race still to be here apart from the mercy of God?
This is the truth. This is our actions. Think of China. Think of Communist Russia. How many millions?
It says in verse 16:
Ruin and misery are in their ways.
All of this comes from Isaiah 59:7.
It says:
And the way of peace they have not known.
That is the thirteenth charge. The fourteenth charge is:
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
You know, remember what Proverbs says in Proverbs 1:7:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
This closing argument of God makes all men and all women see who we are. This is our outward conduct. This is our inward character. This is our actions.
This irrefutable evidence comes in to show us that all are guilty. Everyone is guilty.
The divine verdict finally is read, and it says, “Guilty as charged.” It cannot be contested.
There is no one who will be acquitted apart from the mercy of God, and there is no favor that will be shown apart from the mercy of God. It is a full, unanimous conviction by God Himself.
That is what this second half does. Then, finally, just two verses: Romans 3:19-20. We read the purpose of the law.
Now listen to this. I think you need to listen very carefully.
Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be under judgment to God.
Listen to this: “That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be under judgment to God.”
That was the reason for the law. The law had one reason. It was to stop every mouth. It was that everyone would be under the judgment of God.
Look at verse 20:
Wherefore, by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified before Him; for by law is knowledge of sin.
Have you ever thought about the purpose of the law? Why did God give the Jews the law? He gave them the law so that they might see sin as sin.
He gave them the law so that they would not trust in themselves, and so that they would cry out, as they cried out in Egypt, for divine deliverance. They would cry out for a new divine deliverance from who they were, and they would find that divine deliverance only in God.
That was the purpose. It was to convict all men. If you want to use a more pleasant word, it was to convince all men. But it was certainly to bring all men under the judgment of God. In His light we see light.
This is the single purpose of the law. It was never meant that we would keep it.
You may argue with me, because the Lord said to keep the law. Well, He wanted them to try, to be convinced that they never could in themselves.
You remember the fatal mistake they made. Three times it is in Exodus. They said to Moses, “All God has commanded us, we will do.” You remember they said that?
Then they said it again: “All He has said, we will do.”
Then they said a third time, “All He has said, we will do and obey.”
They could not. They did not know.
God, in His great mercy, knew man would argue. He knew man would reason. He knew man would justify himself. He knew man would try to cast away even the thought of God. He knew it.
He gave the law so that by the law they would be convinced. When you read Romans 7 and see Paul’s experience of the law, you understand that was the thing that convicted him.
This is Romans 3:1-20.
You know, as I have gotten older, my eyesight is not so good. I think I am going to have to give up the little Bible. Linda keeps pushing her giant-print Bible. I am fighting it tooth and nail.
At work, they used to bring me these little plans. Well, I do not work any longer; you know that. These young engineers with good eyesight would bring me these little plans and hand them to me. I was supposed to check their work. Well, I think they did it so I would not see their work.
I had a secret. I had this giant magnifying glass. I almost brought it to show you—the giant magnifying glass. It had a special little place on it where there was even greater magnification.
Then, to beat that, it had an LED light on it. I could hit the LED light, and it would magnify those impossible-to-read drawings. I knew exactly what they were saying.
The law is God’s magnifying glass. That is what the law is.
Brothers and sisters, this is the righteous judgment of God.
Apart from a righteousness that is not in them, there is no hope.
Apart from a righteousness that they cannot produce, there is no hope.
Apart from a righteousness that they will only find in and through Another, there is nothing they can do but be charged and convicted guilty.
All are guilty. This is Romans 3:1-20.
Now, Lord, we confess: we do not see things the way You do. We are blinded by our own reasonings. We are blinded by our own questionings. We are blinded by our own unfaithfulness, or faithlessness.
But we thank You for Your light. Shine Your light into our hearts, that we cannot argue with what is true.
May we be able to give ourselves to You and say, “Have mercy,” like that tax gatherer prayed: “Have mercy.”
It is only by Your mercy that we can be changed from this entirely ruined condition in chapters 1 through 3. It is only by Your grace that we can be saved from what we are. It is only as You show us divine favor that we can be brought from death into life.
Lord, open our eyes. Shine Your light. Cause us to see.
And when we see how great the deliverance is, we will bow at Your feet and worship.
Amen.