- The world we live in is definitely not a paradise. This observation is shared by everyone who has been around for a while. Christians and non-Christians alike do agree that this world in which we are living is filled with death, suffering, pain, injustice, violence, corruption, sexual immorality, hatred and the like. The Bible addresses the source of all these imperfections and attributes it to what happened in the Garden of Eden. It is there, a long time ago, that we witness the fall of man not long after he was created by God. In Adam and Eve's decision to dishonour God by violating God's command, sin entered the human race. Thenceforth, the descendants of Adam would be born in sin. Every human offspring would be spiritually dead right from birth, without an innate ability to honor God and to follow His commands. in Adam and Eve's separation from God came generations of men and women who would have a corrupted nature. Mankind in the line of Adam would no longer have the ability on their own to honor and praise God. Idolatry in the form of the worship of anything else except the true living God became the norm of human existence. It is against this backdrop that we identify the world we live in as a "fallen world”.
The apostle Paul addresses the human condition and gives his fullest
explanation of sin in Romans 1:18-3:20. Paul asserts that all men, both Jews
and Gentiles, are without excuse because all men have sinned and fallen short
of the glory of God. The day will come when all men will be judged for their
sin.‘The Gentiles dishonoured God by rejecting the revelation in nature and
turning to idolatry. The Jews , on the other hand, dishonoured God by failing
to keep his law. In both instances, bringing
dishonour on God's name is the fundamental sin.
- In these 6 verses, Paul refers to Gentiles and states that God can be known through seeing the wondrous creation of God in nature and men will face the wrath of God for suppressing this knowledge of Him and turning to idolatry and wickedness.
Rom
1:18-23
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all
the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it
plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities
— his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God,
they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking
became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.22 Although they claimed
to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds
and animals and reptiles.
- Both the Jews who have the written Mosaic law and the Gentiles who have the law written on their hearts will be judged accordingly
Rom
2:12-16
12
all who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who
sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's
sight. but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14
(lndeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required
by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the
law, 15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their
consciences also bearing witness, and
their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) 16This will take place
on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel
declares.
- Jews cannot claim protection from God's wrath just by virtue of their being elected as God's people because they will be judged according to whether they have obeyed the law.
Rom
2:25-29
25 Circumcision has
value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as
though you had not been circumcised. 26 If those who are not circumcised keep
the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were
circumcised? 27 The one
who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who,
even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. 28 A man is not a Jew if the is only one outwardly,
nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew if he is
one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not
by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.
- All men, both Jews and Gentiles alike, stand condemned before God because there is none who is righteous.
Rom
3:9-12
9 What shall we
conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge
that Jews and Gentiles
alike are all under sin. 10 As it is
written: "there is no
one righteous, not even one; 11 there is
no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they
have together become worthless,- there is no one who does good, not even one.”
- All men, both Jews and Gentiles, can only be declared righteous through faith in Christ Jesus.
Rom
3:21-24
21 But now a
righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known , to which the Law
and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in
Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Rom
3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Questions
- Do we become sinners because we sin or do we sin because we are sinners?
- Are the Ten Commandments still valid for Christians today since the Old (Mosaic)covenant is already replaced by the New Covenant?
- "I think the Christian concept of sin is a negative idea that is not suitable for a Sunday message. After all a Sunday message should be positive and uplifting.” Evaluate this statement from the viewpoint of Luke 7:41-43.
- Hypothetically, if a Jew were able to obey completely the Mosaic law and keep all its requirements by his own ability, can he then be saved by his own righteousness?
I want to
look at one of the questions here. Question 1. The answer here is that we sin
because we are all born with a sinful nature. This is the sin nature. There is
no other way for God to institute salvation for us unless the line of Adam is broken.
When
Admin sinned there are two ways to look at it. First on this one and Adam it
stood as a representative of the human race. So all behind him partake of that
nature.
The
second one is that we rightfully has Adam's seed. We all inclusively came from
that seed. The source is him and intrinsically we have his sin. At accountable
age, they affirm what Adam did. There is that personal sin and the inherited
sin. Where your personal choice agrees with Adam's choice.
==========
Today I
want to talk about the Ebola virus. It is contained now but the height of its
outbreak was in 2014. It was from 2013 to 2016. About 29,000 cases and 11,000
death. About one in three will die. They just isolate the patient and that's
it. No treatment or cure. It's very contagious. They will give you an IV drop
to maintain your fluids. Most go into fits and then internal bleeding before
they die. Why I talked about this? WHO encountered a problem in 2014 and
declared a national emergency. They stopped all flights because it became an
epidemic.
Those
times, when the WHO team went in, the family will hide the sick ones because
they thought these came to harm them. In the containment centres, they come to
liberate them and killed the medical team with machetes. The problem was these
people are in denial. They have their witch doctors whom they think can handle
the sickness. They even said they came with the suits to inject the Ebola virus
into them.
The good
news is the same. They are living a good life and you come with the gospel and
condemn them as sinners. You are coming to condemn us and to say we are wrong
when there is nothing wrong with us.
Here lies
the question. When is a person condemned to hell? This is a question the world
do not understand. Is he condemned when you preach the gospel to him or at the
time he was born. Or the day he reaches accountability age? People are born as
unbelievers and at an accountable age they face the condemnation to hell. So
what's the accountable age? Generally a Jewish child is considered accountable
at age 14. Plus minus around there.
Like the
Ebola case. The person already have Ebola without the doctors telling them they
have Ebola.
They
think they are condemned when you preach the gospel to them and it is you that
condemn them. They also think "accept Jesus go to heaven and don't accept
Jesus go to hell." Who are you to condemn me? They didn't understand that
Jesus did not come to condemn them.
Jesus came to rescue you because in the
first place you are already condemned before Jesus came.
I want to
start with this word Gospel. The Greek word is evangelion which literally means
good news. The gospel is actually good news. Take Ebola. When WHO came it is
good news. A team that came that can save them. It is good news. I want to
start with the good news first.
Romans 3:21-24
21 But now apart from the law the
righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets
testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all
who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by
his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Paul said
faith is Jesus Christ saves. This is the solution. If you have a solution there
must first and foremost be a problem. What's the problem?
It's at
Romans 1:18-3:20. The problem is sin. The solution is in Romans 3:21-24.
Harmatia which literally means "missing the mark". It's the word used
in bows and arrows. Missing the mark. What mark is it? The mark is the standard
that God has fixed. The standard of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is a
mark of perfection.
Matthew 5:17-20
The Fulfilment of the Law
17 “Do not think that I have come to
abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill
them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the
smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear
from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets
aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be
called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these
commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that
unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of
the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who
is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been
tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
Jesus was
sinless. He was without sin. His standard is perfection. So what is sin? It has
something to do with the law. Sin - violating the commandments of God and
thereby dishonouring him. Jesus Christ is the only one who actually have not
violated a single command of God. Sin do not bring glory to God but dishonours
him.
That mark
is an absolute mark and not a relative mark. It is a standard of Jesus.
Perfection. You break any one of God's commands you break every one. Paul
understands this. Sin preached without the gospel is condemnation. Sin must be
preached with the gospel. End with a victorious note. We have power from God to
give us victory over sin.
What's
the problem with the world? The problem is they don't think they have a
problem. So why need the good news? When we preach the gospel there are many
angles to work from. Common angle is that your life is not good and the gospel
is a solution.
The
problem with this is that they were not good when they accepted Christ. Then
things went well but after 10 years they are back to square one and life is not
good again. So they find the gospel irrelevant because it's according to his
state. The gospel is only relevant with sin. For God to send his son, he is not
primarily to enable you to buy a bigger car or house. If that is the reason, he
would not have to die on the cross. It has to be something deeper. Sin
separates you from God. And the world is already condemned so he had to come.
Paul sees
mankind in terms of two categories. Jews and Gentiles. The Roman church, the
Jews were a minority. While the Gentiles are the majority. The Roman church is
the only church that Paul writes to that is not established by him or his
co-workers.
When he
writes to the Romans he has to write from the beginning. Very systematic
because it was not under his tutelage.
Romans
1:18-23 are for the Gentiles. So what's the difference? The Jews had the law,
the Gentiles no. The Jews hence think they are better than the Gentiles. They
had the mark of circumcision so they have the mark to state they are a people
of God. The status is not about faith. So Paul was trying to address this. The
Gentiles think the Jews have no life because everything also cannot do. While
the Jews looked at the Gentiles as unbelievers.
To the
Gentiles he is saying that God has made it plain that they don't have an excuse
that they do not know God. But Paul says although they know there is a God,
they suppressed the truth. So they are without excuse. Paul says they build
images.
When does
a person become an atheist? Children naturally believe what you tell them. You
tell them to pray they will pray. But once they are 13 or 14, they start to
think and question. And when they go to university they think they are smarter
than us. Paul says they suppress the truth. Don't think that God will not judge
you. The result of suppressing this truth is images that were made. The word is
idolatry.
We are
made in the image of God. We are made with a vacuum that can only be filled by
God. We can put two things in his place. Idols we pray to which God calls
images or idolatry. The second is in Colossians 3:5.
Colossians 3:5
Put to death, therefore, whatever
belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires
and greed, which is idolatry.
You may
ask how can greed be idolatry? First Commandment is worship God alone and the
Tenth Commandment is do not covet. All the other Commandments you have to do
something external but this one is internal. Covetousness is internal. It's an
internal desire. Desire is what you put in the vacuum where God is supposed to
be. That is idolatry.
All of us
have to give first place to God. He is to be honoured and glorified in our
life.
Why was
God so unhappy with the Israelites? When you read carefully, you'll find it's
idolatry. That's why God ask choose you this day whom you will serve. The key
theme of the OT is idolatry.
In Romans
2 Paul handled the Jews.
Romans 2:12-16
12 All who sin apart from the law
will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be
judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in
God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things
required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not
have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on
their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts
sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16 This will
take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as
my gospel declares.
The Jews
have the written law (black & white) but the Gentiles had the law written
on their hearts.
Someone
asked me long ago, bro Koay, cannot divorce ar? So I told her unless he commits
adultery. She said she is emotionally abused but I told her that is not
adultery. So she said it's difficult to be a Christian because her non
Christian friends can easily divorce. What do they have in mind? Here is when
Paul addresses it. Take adultery. Adultery is always wrong whether you are a
Christian or not a Christian. Stealing is wrong whether you are a Christian or
not. Wrong is written in your heart. Jews or Gentiles will be judged
impartially and you cannot plead innocence. It's called conscience.
This word
conscience. The nearest word is guilt and different people have different
feeling towards guilt. Romans 8 said there's no more condemnation in Christ
Jesus. So the line of thinking is that we should not feel guilty because there
is no more condemnation. We call it a seared conscience or a soft conscience.
I take
this example. Murder. In the heat of the moment we commit a crime of passion.
It's extreme but what I want to put to you is that when it comes to guilt we
say a Christian cannot do certain things. How should the person feel in terms
of guilt? If he don't feel guilt, then he has a seared conscience. If you have
a soft conscience you will feel guilty. Romans 8:1 is not to give us the
liberty to sin. We think we feel bad when we feel guilty. Why did God put guilt
in our hearts? It's actually a spiritual pain. Guilt draws you back to God.
People
ask why pray when God already knows my problem. What is the primary objective
of prayer? It is to draw you back to God. God is more interested in you than
your circumstances. Once he changes you, your circumstances will change.
Guilt is
like your physical pain. When you have very bad pain, a bad doctor just give
you pain killers. The problem is still there. Is pain good or bad? It is part
of a system in your body to tell you there is something wrong with your body.
Pain is a warning sign language to warn you something is wrong. Why did God put
guilt into our conscience? It is a spiritual pain that God put in us to warn
us. The guilt can bring a person into remorse and like Judas committed suicide
or you can come to God for forgiveness and God gives you grace.
A son of
God must be someone with a soft or tender conscience. When he draws to God he
grows. You cannot say I can do what I want because I am not condemned. The
conviction of sin is through the Holy Spirit. When you say I have sinned you
draw near to God.
I would
be very worried if my son or daughter tells me,I don't feel guilt. It is true
that we are covered in the blood but God also wants to draw us near to him.
When sin abounds so does grace. That's how we grow.
Next Paul
handled the Jews. Romans 2:2-29.
Romans 2:25-29
25 Circumcision has value if you
observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had
not been circumcised. 26 So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the
law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?
27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn
you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a
lawbreaker.
28 A person is not a Jew who is one
only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a
person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the
heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not
from other people, but from God.
The Jews
think that by election they will be accepted even if they don't follow the law.
But God is impartial and whether you are Jew or Gentile you have to obey the
law. Election for the Jews does not negate obedience.
Are Jews
better than the Gentiles? The answer is no.
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