David Henneke's Podcast

Most people think that God will accept them just as long as they do the “best they can”.  For many, they believe they can secure God’s approval by being good, by being respectable and honorable, by being an upright citizen, or by occasionally helping others who are less fortunate.  The tragic reality is that this thinking is simply not true. In Chapter 3, Paul says that God declares people righteous [justification] on the principle of faith instead of works. In Romans 4:1-8, he Illustrates this Biblical Truth using Abraham and David as his example. 

In this section of Romans, Paul explains HOW sinners can be saved. The theological term for this salvation is justification by faith. Make no mistake, this is the theological essence of Evangelical Christianity. the theological essence of evangelical Christianity. In John 3:16 we see the gospel declared in a single verse. Here we see the gospel defined in a two-paragraph summary.

Every single aspect of this world has been infected and affected by sin. Paul goes to great detail, in this first portion of his letter, to make it known that we are all guilty before God. Therefore, we are all in desperate need of divine intervention in our lives. In this next section of Scripture (vs.13-20) Paul takes a look at the conduct on the natural man. He starts with an emphasis on human speech, and he paints a disgusting picture, proceeding from throat to tongue to lips to mouth. Just as the words of the natural man are deceitful, the actions of the natural man are destructive.

The Law, The Sabbath, and the Festivals were all given to point us to Jesus. The Law, The Sabbath, and the Festivals are a “shadow”, but in Christ, we have the “substance”. Why pursue the shadows when we have the reality of Jesus Christ right before us?

In Chapter 1, Paul gave his attention primarily to the sinfulness of the Gentiles. In Chapter 2 (beginning in vs 17) he turned his attention to the sinfulness that is present among the Jews. The conclusion that follows in Chapter 3, verse 9 is: for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. To validate his accusation that everybody is “under sin” in verses 10–18 Paul quotes from 6 Old Testament passages. In doing so he gives a series of specific charges. These charges can be broken into two major categories: (1) concerning the CHARACTER of the Natural Man (10–12) and (2) concerning the CONDUCT of the Natural Man (13–17).

THIS WEEK we will look at the charges concerning CHARACTER.

Thru these 8 verses, by asking and answering three questions, Paul has further clarified the universal need of Salvation for everyone: 

(1)  What advantage is it to be a Jew? Every advantage, especially possessing the Word of God. 

(2)  Will unbelief cancel God’s faithfulness? Absolutely not—it establishes it. 

(3)  If our sin demonstrates His righteousness, how can He judge us? God’s justice is the demonstration of His perfect love. The cross was where God carried out His perfect justice upon His Son. The cross WAS where God displayed His perfect Love for mankind. The cross is the perfect demonstration of God’s love & justice

EVERYONE IS IN DESPERATE SPIRITUAL NEED OF THE GRACE OF GOD. We will see this even more in chapter 3:9-20.

There is no law, there is no practice, whether it is circumcision, baptism (or any other ritual) that is able to make us acceptable to God. Being acceptable to God is NOT an outward thing, nor is it about our nationality or spiritual heritage because being acceptable to God IS an inward reality. True salvation is a matter of the heart.

In this section, God is seen as the Sovereign Judge over Creation.  God dispenses His Judgement to EVERYONE on the Basis of Truth.  God’s absolute standards are known unto every one, “And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.” God PUNISHES the wicked and He REWARDS the righteous, He does so impartially and according to our works.

We will never get excited about the revelation of the grace of God until we fully understand that we stand condemned before God and are helpless and hopeless apart from His grace. God NEVER condemns WITHOUT just cause. In this text, Paul gives Three Reasons for God’s Wrath and Three Results of His Wrath.

Three REASONS for God’s wrath:

1.  For suppressing God’s truth 

2.  For ignoring God’s revelation

3.  For perverting God’s glory

Three RESULTS of God’s Wrath:

1.Abandoned to impurity

2.Abandoned to sexual perversion

3.Abandoned to a depraved lifestyle