- The Rotten Sinner of Rom1
- The Self Righteous Sinner of Rom2
- The Religious Sinner of Rom 2
Chapter 2 ended with the religious sinner: the Jew, who founded their claims to salvation on a 3 fold cord (v17):
- Jew – Racial Claims
- Law – Righteous Claims
- God – Religious Claims
In all of this however we saw:
- Jew – Racial Claims – there was no real relationship To be born is one thing but, as the Lord taught Nicodemus to be born again is another all together.
- Law – Righteous Claims – it was a great Law: it contained the Desires of God, the Discernment of God and the Direction of God. The law did not bring them righteousness.
- God – Religious Claims – but no reality
All claims to salvation apart from Christ tend to lay hold of these 3 strands: Race, Religion and Rules:
- Race: I was born into it!
- Rule: I deserve it!
- Religion: I have paid for it!
But when these claims were scrutinised they were found wanting:
- Rules: But have you kept them (2:21-23)?
- Race: But it was not unconditional (2:25), we saw the character of Abraham, the man God gave His promises to, Abraham was a man: justified by faith (Gen15:6) sanctified from defilement (Gen14:23) consecrated to God (Gen17:1) separated from the old world (Gen12:1) It was not automatic: the blessing went to Isaac the son of promise rather than to Ishmael.
- Religion (2:24) – but do people see in me the character of God? Do I cause them to bless God and to glorify my Father or do I cause them to curse? We have outward formality but no inward reality We have religion but no relationship We have a church but no Christ
v1 – there is one obvious problem with the conclusion Paul has so far drawn in chap 2:17-29. If this it is indeed true that the racial claims, religious claims and righteous claims of the Jew are of no effect to salvation then what exactly has God been doing for the preceding 3,000 years with the people of Israel?
- Making a covenant with Abraham
- Redeeming a people out of Egypt
- Giving His Law
- Speaking through the prophets
Why bother if the end point is the same for everyone? If despite all of this Divine intervention, purpose and providence “all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God” (3:23) and if indeed there is “no difference” between Jew and Gentile then has the OT been one colossal waste of time? The Jew would have been as well following the Hindu Vidas, they would as been as well turning to pagan idol worship for all the good it has done them. Is not the whole of the OT scriptures about:
- Gods chosen people - Racial Claims?
- The law – Righteous claims?
- Worship and offerings – Religion?
Well yes it is, but it is also about:
- Righteousness
- Relationship
- Reality
The Bible is not primarily about me, it is primarily about God and it leaves me a question to answer do I want anything to do with God? If my answer to that question is yes I do – the scriptures set out that path to Him! “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?” (Rom 3:1) The Jew has a covenant, a law, a Bible, a circumcision, a history and is Gods chosen people but was there any point to it all? So either Paul is wrong in his conclusion or there is more to the story than has so far been revealed in chapters 1 + 2, there is more to the covenant, the law and the prophets than simply the condemnation of sin! It is that later point that Paul will now make in Romans chps 3 + 4. The purpose of Gods dealings with His OT people went beyond the demonstration of failure and the conviction of sin by the rules that He gave. If we miss this we miss the whole point of the OT scriptures and frankly Paul contends that the Jew did just that, missed the point! Although importantly Paul will show that not all Jews missed the point, at least 3 groups got the point:
- the Priest (3:25ff),
- the Patriarch Abraham (4:1ff) and
- the Psalmist / Poet David (Rom4)
What is the point? The point is that Gods dealings in covenant, in law, in scripture and in prophet only began with:
- Rules – that convict of sin (3:19-20) but led onto
- Repentance from that sin “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” (Rom 2:4)
- Relationship with God – Romans 4. - justification by faith.
- Revelation of Christ in the “oracles of God” (3:2)
Simple point of our message: 'don't miss the point' The point of Gods dealings then:
- Rules – that convict of sin, we have already touched on the subject of sin and the law in chp 2:21ff and we will deal with it some more (3:19-20)
- Repentance from that sin “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” (Rom 2:4) – we have already seen this in Rom 2:4.
- Relationship with God – Romans 4. - justification by faith will be the subject of the latter half of chapter 3 and then chapter 4.
- Revelation of Christ in the “oracles of God” (3:2) – the subject here in 3:1-8. What has God been doing as He has been speaking?
Simply providing rules to convict of sin? No something far more precious than only that: “unto them were committed the oracles of God” (3:2) Given to the nation of Israel were the very words of God! With those “oracles of God” we can either:
- Treasure the Oracles of God (v2)
- Trust the Oracles of God (v2,3)
- Trifle with the Oracles of God (v3)
- Tested by the Oracles of God (v3-4)
- Tragedy of the Oracles of God (v8)
Treasure the Oracles of God (v2)
“committed” - “faith” - “entrusted” A picture of the Ark of the Covenant A precious box of gold, most sacred item of furniture in the tabernacle reserved as the residing place for the law Hidden from human eyes Over that foundation of Gods Word would sit the mercy seat (3:25) – salvation founded upon the Word of God! What was the purpose really of these oracles? They were 1st and foremost a testimony to Christ: “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luk 24:27) “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” (Joh 5:39) “Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” (1Pe 1:11) “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious” (1Pe 2:1-4) In John chapter 10 we have a picture of just that: The Characteristics of the Shepherd: How we recognise the true Shepherd of our Souls, the diference between the true and the false, the shepherd and the thief, the one who gives life and the one who takes life away. Ever before we make any choices in life we would do well to ask do I pursue that which is: true or that which is false, one who cares or one who is cruel, a Shepherd or a thief, one who gives life or one who takes life?
In this chapter we have the character of the Shepherd:
- The Coming of the Shepherd (10:1-2)
- The Companion of the Shepherd (10:3)
- The Call of the Shepherd (10:3)
- The Care of the Shepherd (10:4,9)
The Coming of the Shepherd (10:1-2)
He would come by the “door” (10:2)
In 10:9 He is the Door but in verse 2 He comes by the door! How can He both come by the door and yet be the door? His coming through the door was a defining characteristic of the Shepherd! They would recognise the Shepherd by the fact that He came through a door, specially constructed for Him. No one else but the true Shepherd could come by this door! It was specific for Him!
I can see that door being carefully fashioned and constructed in the OT scriptures:
- “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isa 7:14) – How He would come!
- “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Mic 5:2) – Where He would come!
- “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” (Psa 40:6-8) – A body prepared to come!
- Daniel chp 9 would tell us when He would come
- Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 would tell us why He would come.
- There is a door through which Christ would come!
That door was specific to Him.
The Written word, the door of 10:2 can only be fulfilled by the incarnate Word of 10:9, Christ both comes through the door and He is the door!
The Companion of the Shepherd (10:3) Christ does not work alone! “The porter” opens the hearts door for the sheep to hear His voice The Spirit of God makes the voice of God real to the human soul Cf. Rev 3:7 – God controls the opening of the door The Call of the Shepherd (10:3) When the porter opens and when Christ speak we “hear His voice”
- Personal “by name”
- Powerful “leadeth them out”
- Practical – results in action
The Care of the Shepherd (10:4,9)
Trust the Oracles of God (v2,3)
Trifle with the Oracles of God (v3) “did not believe” - wilful rejection of His Word To reject Gods Word is to reject God.
Tested by the Oracles of God (v3-4) “Faithfulness of God without effect” Rejecting Gods Word is the other side to the sharp two edged sword (Heb4:12) Gods Word is two-edged, it cuts both ways! Gods Word either acts to my Salvation or to my Condemnation “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?” (2Co 2:15-16)
Tragedy of the Oracles of God (v8) Gods Word either: Justifies me by faith to my salvation Justifies Gods judgement to my condemnation Verse 5 contains a strange argument but one that does often creep into peoples thinking. If Gods revelation is simply to prove that I am a sinner and if Gods revelation successfully proves that I am a sinner then by sinning I am fulfilling the purpose of His revelation, so am I saying that I should just sin some more and prove God right? “Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?” (Job 40:8) Sometimes it creeps in as a kind of passive view of Christianity; that Christian faith and growth in Christ is something that just happens to you by accident one day you get out of bed and if it doesn't well I suppose that's just the way its going to be, after all I'm just a sinner anyway, so I may as well keep on doing what I'm doing! Above all else this nation was the Nation of the Book! It was a nation that ought never to have survived: The product of 3 barren wombs: Sarah, Rebekah and Rachael Surviving the persecution of Pharaoh in Egypt Preserved through Babylon and returning to the land even after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple! Preserved from destruction by Rome even after the destruction once again of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70 Surviving Pogroms in Europe and Russia Passing through Hitlers final solution and the holocaust Back in the land in AD 1948 What a nation! What held them together? More than anything else: the Book! They were the people of the book! A book that contained a unique set of laws, prophecies, and instructions for life, it recorded both their history as well as their destiny, it gave identity to a displaced people as belonging to God Himself! A book that tells us where we came from, where we are going to, why we are here and how we can know the God who made us! Someone has well said that if asked for proof that there is a God he would reply in 1 word: Israel. That nation was not only to be Gods channel of communication to a lost world preserving and ultimately conveying His Words to the whole of mankind but that nation would also possess the oracles of God by means of preparation for the coming unique Word of God. Israel would provide both the root and the soil for His advent (Isa53:1) They would be able to identify the coming Messiah as the the unique Son of the one and only true and Living God (Isa7:14; Isaiah 40:9;Micah5:2; Psalm 110). The trouble is having the revelation or the oracles of God is not of itself enough, there is a:
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