Condemnation-v-Justification
Romans 3:21-23
Paul here in Romans is acting as a prosecuting attorney with man on trial and he is showing how all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. He showed how the unrighteous heathen have been condemned by creation. He then moves on to show how the self-righteous moralist and how he is condemned by his conscience. Then he speaks of the super religious person who is condemned by the commandments.
And if that was not enough, Paul puts God on the stand as a witness against man. And God gives a 14-count indictment against man showing that none are good, none are right before a holy and righteous God. As you can see, this section, from Romans 1:18-3:20 is not one of those uplifting sections and thus, I have called this section, CONDEMNATION because Paul is showing how the whole world is guilty before God, he is condemned before God!
This morning we are going to move from CONDEMNATION to JUSTIFICATION, as Paul will show us that the righteousness of God has been revealed from Heaven apart from the works of the Law. This section of JUSTIFICATION covers Romans 3:21-5:21 and it is an important section for us to understand.
VERSES 21-22
Paul is telling us that justification is apart from the Law and it is based upon faith. The Law can’t justify you, it can only show you your sin, that you missed the mark of perfection before God. And Paul is telling us that it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, every person in this world will be justified by faith and not by works!
VERSE 23
Now this seems pretty straight forward, it is not too difficult for us to understand! How many people have sinned? Paul tells us, “all have sinned.” Not just a few, or even many, he is telling us that all have sinned. In fact, in the Greek “fall short” is in the present tense stating an action or that we “keep falling short.” And the Greek word for “sinned” speaks of missing the mark. It was an archery term and thus, as you shot your arrow the mark would be the bull’s eye or right in the middle of the target, dead center!
Now some may argue that they can hit the mark, they are a good person. But, remember what Paul said, or really what God said against sinful man back in Romans 3:10-18 “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.’ ‘Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit’; ‘The poison of asps is under their lips’; ‘Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’”
Folks, to try to attain the perfection God wants would be like trying to jump across the Grand Canyon, which has an average distance of 10 miles from rim to rim and it is 1 mile down to the bottom. And let’s say we have three volunteers who would like to try and do this, make the attempt to jump across the Grand Canyon. Not a group of smart people, but they will work for our illustration.
The first guy is not really in shape and he gets a running start or maybe a fast walk and he jumps out there and makes it about 10 feet and then he falls to his death 1 mile down to the bottom of the canyon. Not a good jump.
The next guy is in a little better shape and he gets a good running start and jumps and he is off. And believe it or not, he makes it halfway out, but he too falls 1 mile down to his death. It was a good jump, but not good enough!
The last guy was an athlete. He looked like Charles Atlas. He had muscles everywhere. He stood about 62, weighing in at some 190 pounds, rippling biceps, just like me! Anyway, he gets a fantastic running start and he jumps and he is going, and going and going and he misses the rim by about 1 foot. He was so close and yet, there he goes, one mile to the bottom and he too died!
All three jumped and all three missed the mark. Yes, one made it closer than all the rest but he did not get any credit for it, his fate was just the same as everyone else who jumped. Folks, it doesn’t matter how close to the bull’s eye you come, perfection is the only thing that God will accept, and thus, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God! You can’t do it on your own, by good works, the keeping of the Law, only by faith in Jesus Christ!
I realize that I have used a three-letter word, a dirty word here this morning and I should have warned all of you who have those fragile self-esteems. Some of you are trying to figure out what word I used and if that is the case see me after the study! The word that is so offensive to many today is SIN! And folk’s, believe it or not, the word “sin” is being removed from our society! If you doubt that sin has been removed from our society, then listen carefully and see what has happened to sin.
What is the murder of unborn children called today? It is called “abortion” or even worse, the “termination of a pregnancy.” God calls it murder and thus, it is a sin!
What about fornication, adultery, sexual sin? Now we call it “making love” or “having sex” or a “love affair.” God calls it sin but we don’t!
It doesn’t end there. Homosexuality is a sin before God and yet, we call it, “gay” or an “alternative lifestyle” or even worse, a “life choice” or “life partners.” It is a sin before God, period!
Even alcoholism has been changed to a “disease” or a “problem” or an “addiction” and yet God condemns drunkenness. You see, we have removed the responsibility for the sin and blame it on our genetic make-up, which we will deal with in a minute!
Why do we see this happening today? Because by changing the name from sin we lesson the impact of our actions, we feel better about sinning because we no longer see it as a sin! God says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight! Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man!” Isaiah 5:20-23.
I guess God sees things a little differently than man does! You see folk’s, it doesn’t matter what you may call it, sin is still sin, it is still evil and it still separates man from God. Again, in Isaiah 59:1-2 we are told, “Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” That is what God says and yet, we still tend to think it is not our fault.
Dave Hunt wrote in his recent newsletter regarding the fact that it is not our fault for our sins, that we are programmed in our genes to do this. Listen carefully to what he said:
Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the language in the DNA molecule, was so enamored with science that he declared in triumph, “You, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.”
One is reminded of the man who, every time he went to a friend's home and was offered a drink of water, would throw the contents in the host's or hostess's face. After this happened several times, his bewildered friend said, “Do me a favor and go to a psychiatrist. I'm not going to allow you back into my house until you've been cured of this outrageous habit!”
Hearing that the man had been in intensive psychotherapy for six months, the friend invited him to dinner again. The hostess was a bit wary when she put some water at his place setting, and, sure enough, in the middle of the meal, he suddenly threw the whole glass of water into the hostess's face.
“I've never been so humiliated in my life!” she exclaimed. “This is a new dress. It can only be dry-cleaned and now you've ruined it!”
The apologetic guest explained, “I've been under intensive psychotherapy for six months and the psychiatrist said I was cured!”
“Cured? He must be crazy!”
“I am cured. I used to feel horrible about doing this, but now that he's explained why I do it, I don't feel guilty anymore!”
Psychologists want to create a guilt-free world where no one is ever at fault. Defense attorneys can always plead for their clients, “He couldn't help himself - it's in his genes!” Of course, this is simply a modern version of “The devil made me do it.”
- Dave Hunt, The Berean Call, True Love Part 1, March 2009, page 1
First of all let me dispel this notion that it is in our genes. Many of you remember when John Wayne Gacy, who was a mass murdering homosexual who raped and brutally killed 33 young men, was executed. Scientists extracted his brain and tested it! “Why,” you may ask. Because they were hoping to find some evidence of something gone wrong. They wanted to find some genetic reason for the atrocities that he did. That it really wasn’t his fault, but it was just his chemical makeup that caused him to commit these crimes. And what they found in the brain of John Wayne Gacy was that it was perfectly normal.
You see, the problem that these scientists had was that they were looking in the wrong place. I realize that some may not agree, but listen to what God declares in Jeremiah 17:9-10, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.”
You see, the problem is not in our genes, but it is in our heart, for God says that the heart of man is desperately wicked. And then, it is what is born in our heart that affects our mind and our outward actions. Thus, if the source of man’s wickedness is his heart, then no amount of reformation, education, rehabilitation, or institutionalization is going to help him!
What man does need is a heart transplant, one that is done by the Lord. For as we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior the Holy Spirit gives to us a new heart. The heart of wickedness, the heart that is full of sin is replaced with a new heart! In Ezekiel 36:26-27 the Lord is speaking to Israel, but I believe He is also speaking to every person who comes to Him. He tells us, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”