Saved to Sin? No, Saved to Serve! (3 Common Misconceptions of Eternal Security) (Rom. 6:1-2)

Saved to Sin? No, Saved to Serve! (3 Common Misconceptions of Eternal Security)

(Rom. 6:1-2)

Today, we are going to find out what eternal security is not. We are going to look at three common misconceptions of eternal security. Sometimes you have to see what something isn’t to truly understand what it really is.

I. It Isn’t “Fire Insurance” (Rom. 6:1-2 - What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?).

I’ve heard so many people say this about eternal security, “I got fire insurance!”; now when that is usually mentioned it is dealing with sin in their life of someone who is a Christian. This idea that it’s ok to sin since I’m a believer and nothing can separate me from salvation in God, it is a dangerous and destructive frame of mind. Eternal security does not give the Christian a license to go out and sin. Paul’s reply to such an idea is “God forbid (may it never be so). How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”, the result of receiving this gracious gift of salvation is a changed life. The Bible says about those who are saved are no longer slaves to sin, Rom. 6:18 says that, “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness”; we have changed masters and our spiritual condition has changed. We are no longer in spiritual darkness, we are now in His glorious light. We have been set free from the bondage and slavery of sin and are now free to live and serve and glorify Christ in all that we do. Eternal security gives us blessed assurance and not blessed insurance. The assurance I received when I found out that my salvation is eternally secure and eternally kept in the precious hand of Jesus and the Heavenly Father. When I finally found that out, I then began to understand that all the time I wasted to try and keep myself “saved” can now be used to live more productively for the Kingdom of God by serving Him without fear. Let me give you an example; In 1937, the Golden Gate bridge was built in San Francisco, spanning that great bay. It was a dangerous thing to work on because it rose hundreds of feet above those icy, swirling waters of the San Francisco bay. The workman were afraid for their lives. Some of them fell and drowned; in all 23 people lost their lives in accidental deaths. Management said they had to something about this, so they built a safety net underneath the workers. They spent $100,000 to build this net, and when they built the safety net, they found out it really wasn’t an expense. It was a great saving, because work went 25% faster, and far fewer lives were lost. As a matter of fact, only ten fell and they fell into the net, and of course their lives were saved. Why could these people work with more productivity? Because of their security! They knew the net was there. And that’s the way it is a Christian’s life. I’m not struggling to keep myself safe. I know that I am saved. I’m saved by the grace of God; so I can be productive with grateful service. When we are confident of the future, we can concentrate on the present. So the bottom line is that eternal security gives us blessed assurance and not ‘fire insurance’. We are saved not to sin freely but to serve freely. The life of the believer will show the fruits of salvation. Although we will never be sinless in this body, we can live a life of holiness, a life that desires to live for God, to serve and please Him. (Rom. 6:19,22- I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.; But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life). We are given the ability through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to live lives that are holy. It simply means that we are set apart from the practice of sin and set apart to the practice of righteousness. We have freed from sin to become servants of God because of the person and work of Christ we have new life and eternal life.

II. It Isn’t Cheap Grace (Rom. 5:8-10 - But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.)

Just because we believe in eternal security it doesn’t mean we make light of the glorious salvation that was attained by the suffering and death of Christ on that old rugged cross. Belief in eternal security in fact, makes us more aware of the wonderful work of salvation that Jesus has provided for us through His death and resurrection. It keeps us remembering that the work of salvation is only the wonderful work of grace and mercy that it is because He is the only one that can effect the work of grace in our lives. The familiar verse of the work of salvation by faith is found in Eph. 2:8-10 - ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them’; we are taught by this verse that this gift of salvation is in no way something that we can attain by our works or power. God chose to love us and provide the way of salvation through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. By faith we receive the salvation of our souls and the remedy for our sins and eternal life that is only found in God the Son. By the work that Jesus did by suffering and dying on the cross, by having my faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone, there I become a child of God. I was then put into an eternal relationship with God and He is my Father. I am in a relationship that cannot be denied or revoked. For example, I have a daughter and I am her father, that is the truth about our relationship and no matter how much she might want to deny it, the truth is that our relationship cannot be broken irregardless. Now the fellowship between us can be affected in our relationship. But it does change the fact of our relationship. Sin in the life of the believer can affect the fellowship we have with God but not our eternal relationship. Just like the verse we’ve read in Eph. 2:8-10, we see that we are saved by faith in Christ and we are the workmanship of Christ (we are saved and kept saved and completely saved) and we are saved for good works in Christ. If we are busy for the Kingdom of God then a Christian won’t have time for sin in their life.

III. It Isn’t Just Profession, It’s Possession (Luke 6:43-44 - For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. - James 1:22 - But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.)

I am not preaching perfection or trying to get people to question their salvation. I am just looking at the facts of scripture that say my life is supposed to have evidences that I am in Christ. For we are ‘known by his own fruit’ and our lives are changed when we are saved. 2 Co. 5:17- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”. We sometimes need to ask the hard questions about our Christian walk. Are we doing all we need to do for our Lord Jesus Christ? Do we reflect the glory of God in our lives? Is there evidence in our lives that can convict us of being a Christian? 2 Co. 13:5 “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” Security of the believer brings assurance of your salvation and the test is simply was your faith put in Christ for your salvation and if it was you will see evidences of that salvation. Our lives that are saved and changed by Jesus will reflect that change. A life that seeks to live and desire the things of God is a life that is saved from sin. It is not profession only it is also possession of salvation in Christ.

I hoped this has helped you see what eternal security isn’t so that you can understand better what it really is. And if anyone asks you can explain the wonderfully complete and secure salvation that we have in Jesus Christ.

Death in Adam; Life in Christ (Rom. 5:12-21)

Death in Adam; Life in Christ

(Rom. 5:12-21)

We are continuing our study of Romans. We are going to look at this passage in Rom. 5:12-21 and gain an understanding of the beginning of sin and the only cure of sin. Paul used an analogy of Adam and Christ to help us gain an understanding of sin and God's plan of redemption for man through Christ. Through today's study of this passage we are going to gain an understanding of where sin began, when sin entered this world, the consequences of sin to humanity, and God's plan to save men from sin. Today's sermon is “Death in Adam, Life in Christ”.

I. Adam (v. 12-14) “...just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned – v.12)

In the case of Adam, scripture says that “sin entered into the world”. But it does not say that sin originated with Adam. Where does sin originate? Let's look at scripture.

A. Through Adam – v.12a “sin entered the world”

1. Origin of Sin – The originator of sin is Satan. In 1 John 3:8 it says, “the devil has sinned from the beginning”. It doesn't say when the beginning was but it was before Adam and Eve sinned. In Ezekiel. 28, it talks of Lucifer's sin in the beginning (28:15 - “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you”), Lucifer's sin of pride and rebellion prompted him being cast out of Heaven; Jesus said of this in Luke 10:18, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”. Universally, sin was introduced by Satan, but sin in this world was introduced into the human realm by Adam; it began with him. In Genesis 2:15-17, Adam was given one simple restriction or prohibition and that was to not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But he disobeys God's one command and sins against God. Although Eve disobeyed first, Adam was held responsible because God had directly given His command not to eat of the tree and he was given headship over Eve and should have used his given position of authority to insist that they mutually obeyed God rather than allow her to lead him in disobedience. This act of sin changed his nature from innocence to sinfulness and that sinful nature was then passed on to all of his descendants (all humanity). The question that I have heard time and again is this, “why should Adam's sin cause me to be born sinful?” That's a good question and to answer that let's look at v. 12, it says sin entered this world through one man, Adam. Notice that it doesn't say sins but sin. That is singular because it is taking about man's sin nature and that nature was passed generationally and individually. Mankind is a single entity that are the descendants of our first parents, Adam and Eve. Adam represents the entire race of humanity and we possess the same sin nature and capacity to sin. Adam was representative of the whole human race; so when Adam sinned and his spiritual nature fell and became depraved then all of posterity received the same fallen nature. When Adam sinned in the Garden, he sinned not only as a man but as man. 1 Cor. 15 :22 says that “in Adam all die”, this speaks of the shared guilt of all mankind just like everyone was present with Adam and sharing in the very sin he did. If we didn't fall with the first Adam then we could not have been saved by the last Adam, Jesus (1 Cor, 15:21-22 - “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive”).

2. What is the meaning of sin? - There are a couple of words in N.T. Greek that are used to describe sin. The first is harmartia that shows sin to be pictured as “any attitude or act of man that does not hit the bulls-eye of God's glory target”¹(Romans 3:23 - “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”). The other word is parabasis which means “to overstep a forbidden line”. Sin thus describes man's inability to do right and his inclination to do wrong.² It shows our sin nature and our desire to willfully sin. Our sin or sinful nature is the root of our problem that was caused by Adam and our sins are the fruit of our problem caused by us. We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. That is our nature.

B. Through Sin – v.12b “death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” - Not only did sin enter into this world through Adam but also the consequences of sin: death (Rom. 6:23 - “For the wages of sin is death”; Ezek. 18:4 - “The soul who sins shall die”). God warned Adam in the Garden that if he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that Adam would die. If Adam had not have ate of that forbidden fruit then he and his descendants would have never experienced death. But Adam did sin and brought death to himself and all his descendants, mankind. Sin has brought three different kinds of death to humanity. Death is separation. The first death Adam experienced is spiritual. The moment he sinned he became spiritually separated from God. The apostle Paul reminds us of our lost condition in Eph. 2:1-2, we he describes us before Christ as “dead in our trespasses and sins”. The second death that has resulted from sin is physical death. It is separation from human beings. At the moment Adam sinned, the process of physical death began. Although he did not immediately die, he did become subject to death. We are all subject to death, we all will die and we have seen all have that others have died before us.

The third kind of death from sin is the worst kind kind of death and it is eternal death. This death is the eventuality of all who die without Christ. It is eternal separation from God. Not only eternal separation from God but also eternal torment in hell. Through the disobedience of Adam all have been born sinners and condemned. Through Adam, all are under judgment, condemnation, and subject to death reigning over all their lives because Adam sinned. And we are no better than Adam, it even seems that mankind has slid further into depravity than ever. But it is not hopeless. Our omniscient (all-knowing) God knew even before He made the world that when he made us that we would sin. Because of that, our Triune God purposed to provide salvation to us.

II. Jesus Christ, the second Adam. (v. 15-21)

This brings us to our Lord Jesus Christ. The promised salvation of mankind. In Rev. 13:8, it gives Jesus a certain title and it is this, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world”. The purpose and plan of God to bring glory to Himself by providing salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God had so lovingly and graciously purposed to save us through the death of His Son Jesus Christ. God chose to save us and to reveal His love even before the beginning of the world. God gave hope to Adam and Eve in Gen. 3:15 by promising the Seed that would crush the head of the Serpent. To Moses and Abraham and David and all the O.T. Saints the promise of the Messiah who would save them from their sins. To the time when He did come and die at the appointed time for the salvation of our sins (Rom. 5:6 - “when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly”). Where Adam had brought sin, death, judgment, and condemnation; Jesus brought righteousness and life (vv. 15-19, “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense (Adam) many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned (Adam). For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act (Jesus) the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous”). Adam brought sin and death into this world and Jesus Christ brought righteousness and life into the world (1 Cor. 15:21-22 - “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive”). Jesus brought to us the free and abundant gift of grace into this world. We can see the abundance of grace that Jesus has provided in verse 15, “much more the grace of God” and verse 17, “much more... abundance of grace” and in verse 20, “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more”. Whatever had been lost in Adam, God had provided even more grace. We, as repenting sinners, have received much more in Christ tan we ever lost in Adam. Christ not only has reversed the curse of death by forgiving and cleansing from sin, but He has also provided the way for saved men to share in the righteousness and glory of God. Even though in Adam sin increased but through Christ grace abounded even more.

We can see in this analogy of Adam and Christ, that in Christ is the answer and remedy for sin. There is no other way of salvation but in the person and work of Christ. Our sin left unresolved, will bring death to us in our body, soul, and spirit. If we are born again in Christ by putting our faith and trust in Christ then we will receive abundant grace and eternal life. But if we reject the free and abundant grace of God through Jesus Christ then we will not only die physically but eternally, we will be eternally separated from God in the fiery torment of hell. When we face eternity, we will face it as a child of Adam or we will face it as a child of God. In Adam is death, in Christ is life. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” - John 14:6.

1Willmington's Guide to the Bible

2Willmington's Guide to the Bible

Whose Slave are You? (Rom. 6:15-23)

Whose Slave are You?

(Rom. 6:15-23)

The other day, I read an article on the Civil War. I was surprised and bewildered by what I read. It said that there were slaves who fought on the Confederate side during the war. I could not fathom how slaves willingly fought with their masters against the Union Army. They fought against the very people who were trying to emancipate them (to set them free from their slavery). I then began to think about how sinners in the world today fight against Christ, the One who can set them free from their sins. This sinful world is at war against God and against His Gospel that can set them free and emancipate them from their slavery to sin and their master Satan. Today, we are going to study this passage in Romans 6:15-23 and see that Paul is going to use the image of slavery to determine who your Master is and just who is Lord of your life. Today's sermon is “Whose slave are you?”.

I. Freed from sin not free to sin (v. 15 - “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!”).

We have earlier studied about the devastating and destructive power of sin. Sin is the reason for our human condition today of sickness, evil, and death; the fallen condition of this world. Sin is rebellious and hateful towards God and anything that is of God. Sin cannot be cured or overcome by any of man's effort or power. Mankind is enslaved by sin and that brings about satanic control. Sin serves the purpose of Satan and makes a sinner a spiritual child of the devil. It sends unredeemed men to Hell. It controls the sinner's mind, thoughts, and actions. Sin is humanly inescapable. Mankind cannot by ourselves escape from sin or the guilt of sin (even if we genuinely desire to do so). Sin stains and mars everything that we are and do. It is like the growth of an incurable cancer that grows blackly in our hearts till it finally destroys us. That is the hopelessness of sin and without the intervention of God we cannot overcome sin and its deadly effects. Because of sin we cannot have a relationship with God because sin cannot come into the presence of our holy God (Hab. 1:13 - “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity”). It is from this wretched state of slavery to sin that God has provided freedom through the greatest gift God could ever give mankind. That very gift of freedom from sin is the gift of salvation He offers through His Son, Jesus Christ. When we are saved through faith in Christ, Jesus frees us from the power of sin. This is because we have died in Christ to sin and risen with Him in righteousness (Rom. 6:11 - “also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord”); that was our last study in Romans. If we through Christ have died to sin then we are no longer under the lordship of sin (Rom. 6:6 - “our old man (sinful nature) was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin”). The relationship of the believer has changed towards God and our relationship to sin has changed also. This means we have a new Lord and we are under the lordship of righteousness (but more on that later). Because of this new relationship to God and towards sin, Paul asks a question and answers it in verse 15, “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!”. Paul is dealing with those who thinks “if I'm free from the power and penalty of sin then I can sin and do as perfectly as I please”. Paul is showing them that Jesus has freed them from their sins and not given them a license to sin. It's the wrong idea about eternal security from those who think they have “fire insurance”; those who see God's amazing grace as cheap grace, believing that since they have prayed the sinner's prayer that they can go out and live how they want to and not reap the consequences. From this verse we can understand that this is not the intention of God's grace at all. God's purpose of His grace is to free man of sin. God's grace through Christ justifies a life and also transforms that life (2 Cor. 5:17 - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”). If there is no evidence of a life that is changed morally and spiritually, transformed through salvation in Christ, then that person is most likely not saved. Christ has freed us from sin, not freed us to sin. Sin can never glorify God, it can never be a product of grace. The grace of God has freed us to give us the ability to not live sinfully and the ability to began to live life righteously for Him. That is the work of sanctification in the believers life, less like the sinner we once were and more like Christ, who we need to be. Salvation in Christ transforms your life and if there is no evidence of transformation then there is no salvation.

II. Who's your Master (v. 16-18 - “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness”).

Paul uses the picture of slavery to see who our allegiance is to. Paul's picture is of someone who is a slave that has willingly given their life in total obedience to their master. He says that we can be slaves of sin which leads to death or become obedient to God which leads to righteousness. If our pattern of living is sinful then we are sin's slaves but if we live our lives for God's glory then we are being obedient to His will and we are God's slaves. Our lives will reflect who is lord of our lives. Slavery to sin brings about physical and spiritual death while slavery to God brings about righteousness, the earmark of eternal life. There is a lie that we can be master of our own life and destiny, but that is just a delusion. We need to understand we are never really free. Either we are mastered by sin under the lordship of Satan or we are mastered by righteousness under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Those are the only two influences that determine our lives. Our habitually sinful life needs to be in the past and buried while the new life in Christ needs to be our present and future, alive and maturing. I think it needs to be reiterated that we will never be without sin in this body but we are as Christians need to be growing and maturing spiritually. We will never be sinless till we are glorified but as we walk in sanctification we sin less, we allow the Holy Spirit to conform us to the image of Christ. But how is it that we have come to the place of being under the Lordship of Christ and slaves of righteousness? Evidently it has nothing to do with human determination or knowledge or wisdom or effort but only because of the gospel message of Jesus Christ that has saved us from the slavery of sin. Through Christ we have become the children of God, we are God's very own. When we saved, we are positionally placed in Christ's righteousness because that's what makes us acceptable to God and in a right relationship with Him. It is solely through the person and work of Christ that we are saved us and it sets us free from sin. But when we are saved God's grace changes us and we are enabled to begin to live out a righteous life. Let's look at verses 19-22 to see how we are enabled to live.

III. Living for the Master (v. 19-22 - “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life”).

When we are saved, we are eternally saved. Our spirit (inner man) has been eternally redeemed and it is no longer subject to the power of sin. But our outer man, our flesh, is subject to defilement by sin. It will always be a struggle and a place of battle as long as we are living in this temporary body of flesh. As I have just stated that we are positionally placed in Christ's righteousness but because of our position in Christ we know are enabled to live out a practical righteousness. We are to first dedicate ourselves daily to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Paul said in Romans 12:1 that we are to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God”; so now let us present (give willingly and obediently) our bodies (or like it says here in verse 19) presents the members of your body in obedience of God's word to His work and will. It simply means to daily give yourself and your life over to the righteousness of God, to live out practical righteousness. Don't allow yourself to give place to sin (don't... give place to the devil – Eph. 4:27) but keep your heart and mind on Christ and His Word then by the power of the Holy Spirit you can live righteously. When we were sinners, we could not help but to sin (when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness), that means we were nowhere near righteousness. We were on that slippery slope of destruction but thanks to God, He chose to reveal His love to us through Jesus Christ. Through the enabling power of Christ, it is now possible for us live righteously and we should present our members as slaves of righteousness. When we were sinners, our sinful lives lead to more sin, but when we became saints, our lives as slaves to righteousness should lead to even further righteousness. The practice of righteousness (that's a good way to say it), will lead us into deeper walks of righteousness and holiness. A child of God, if he is growing in this grace walk, will be maturing more and more into righteousness. But if a believer, is not growing or progressing, although they will fall back altogether out of righteousness, will slip back further into sin. We need to keep the eyes of our heart fixed on Christ so that we will not lessen in our commitment to our Lord and Master. Let's commit to being His slave, obedient to His will which is His Word.

I want to finish this sermon with this verse, verse 23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”, an unrepentant heart that is still enslaved to sin will find that the end of that sinful life is a judgment of condemnation. The result of sin, the payment (wages) for the life of sin is death, both physically and spiritually. Hell's down payment is the knee that will never bow in faith and repentance to Jesus Christ. God's gift of salvation through Christ is freely offered today. Come to know Christ as your savior and Lord today.

Excuses of the Guilty (Rom. 1:18-21)

Excuses of the Guilty

(Rom. 1:18-21)

Last week, we dealt with what the wrath of God is and what that means in relation to mankind; that our holy God hates sin and because he is holy and just He must punish sinners. God has revealed to the entire world through the scriptures His wrath and His salvation from the condemnation of sin. Because of this knowledge God has pronounced judgment against sinful man. This verdict of His wrathful judgment against lost mankind has indicted all those who reject God and His remedy of mercy and grace found in His Son, Jesus Christ. The high, holy court of Heaven has called three defendants, representative of mankind, to stand and receive their day in court to answer for their sins. These 3 defendants are here in chapters 1&2 and they are the heathen man, the moral man, and the religious man.

Introduction: God’s indictment (v.18)

God’s fierce wrath is revealed against all ungodliness (sins against his Person) and unrighteousness (sins against his will). The first category is vertical (faulty relationship towards God) while the second is horizontal in nature (faulty living & faulty relationships with fellow man due to our faulty relationship with God). Because of our sinful nature we are unable to have a right relationship towards God and if we are unable to have a right relationship we certainly cannot live according to the righteous standards that God has set forth in His divine, moral Law. Because of our sins we are indicted under the wrath of God. The indictment against mankind is specifically listed in verses 18, it begins by saying they, mankind, “hold (or suppress, smother) the truth in unrighteousness”; in other words, men suppress the truth of God by steadfastly clinging to their sins. Man’s sinful nature desires to naturally oppose God and his truth. The truth that they are sinful and unable to not sin and need God to save them from themselves and the end results of their unrepentant hearts. All of humanity is under God’s condemnation and they are found guilty by two things: 1. God’s Law (2:12 – “For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law”; 2. their own deeds (2:6 – God “will render to each one according to his deeds”). You could say that ‘God’s Law’ and ‘their deeds’ are their jury. So let’s begin with our defendants.

I. Defendant #1: The Heathen or Pagan Man (vv. 19-32)

The heathen or pagan man is representative of those who claim ignorance of the knowledge of God. They are in different religions or they could be atheists or they just reject the Christian concept of God. The generation coming up today could be counted among these. They have decided to call this generation the “Y” generation. They are called this because they always say “why should we believe in God, especially the Christian God”. They have been brought up in homes that don’t go to church or read the Bible and have been brain washed in our public schools to believe only in themselves and whatever propaganda the TV and internet says is true. They are thought to question and be skeptical of whatever Christianity says is true. This “Y” generation is truly the ‘pagan’ generation that has forsaken the only true God of the Bible. This generation has chosen to serve a ‘god’ of their own choosing or even not to believe in anything at all. There has never been a time in our nation that we have had such a large percentage of people not in church of some kind. The percentage of people in the USA today are ignorant of what the Bible says and the real gospel message of salvation in Christ. In Amos 8:11-12, the Bible spoke of a famine of God’s word in the land. Here in our nation there seems to be a “famine of God’s word in the land”. There is a generation that does not know the Lord. A generation that wants to be ignorant of God’s truth and a desire to only smother their guilty conscious with false religion and in vile sins. They have chosen false religions and vain philosophies absent of the truth of God’s word. They have exchanged the holy glory of the one true God with the spiritual darkness of false gods and the giving of themselves over to evil desires and gross sexual sins. Verses 21-32 show their regression to viler and viler sins. The verses in 1:21-23 says, "although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man; and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things”. We see through history and even today people have chosen to serve a ‘god’ of their own making. Today, the New Age religions and atheists have chosen to worship themselves and the efforts of mankind. The ancient Greeks and Romans worshiped a pantheon of gods that were just as depraved as or worse than men. Ancient peoples like the Egyptians, had gods and goddesses that had features of animals and even considered certain animals sacred. Hindus even today worship animals. Our generation today considers themselves ‘spiritual’ but not specifically believing in any one religion. Modern man finds whatever spirituality that condones their sins and relieves them of the fear of consequences. They deceive themselves to believe that because of their supposed ignorance of God and His truth that He will acquit them of His judgment. Verses 1:19-20 refute their excuses. God’s twin witnesses of 1. Conscience (v. 19 – “what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them”) and 2. Nature (v. 20 – “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead”; they witness of the existence and God’s law, “so that they are without excuse”. No matter how much they deceive themselves or numb their conscience with gross sin, it won’t stop His judgment.

II. Defendant #2 – Moral Man (vv. 2:1-16)

I like to call this 2nd defendant the ‘good ole’ boy’. The reason that this 2nd representative of judged man thinks he is not deserving of God’s judgment is because he’s not as bad as other men. Most of the time, he is a decent, moral person and not too sinful in his eyes and mostly law-abiding, hard-working, relatively moral person in comparison to the thief, murderer, crack head, or low-life of society. His excuse is that in comparison of his life to others that he is not as bad as society’s criminals (ex. - kid’s grade on a test-not as bad as Billy). I’m not as bad as others so I’ll be alright with God because God grades on a curve. But God refutes their excuse by they do the same things but in a refined way (hide their sins, etc.). God does not judge them according to man’s best but according to His own standard of righteousness and holiness. But they will not escape God’s wrathful judgment (2:1-4, “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”).

III. Defendant #3 – The Religious Man (2:17-3:8)

The religious man Paul used as an example were the Jews. The Jews claimed to be the “people of God” solely on the fact that they knew the law of God and taught it, in other words they were righteous because they were religious (2:17-20 – “Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law”). They were outwardly religious but inwardly in the same condition as every other lost man. They did belong to those who had head knowledge about God but no heart knowledge (no personal saving relationship with God). But God refuted their feeble excuse by plainly telling them, “You don’t practice what you preach” (2:21-23 – “You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, "Do not commit adultery," do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?”). Instead of trusting God to save them from their sins they trusted in their own good works of their religion (ex. RCC, baptismal regeneration, etc.).

What is seen through all these defendants is this simply this that all people regardless of race, creed, color, or social status, that all are under sin and in need of a Savior. God has graciously extended His hand of grace through His Son, Jesus Christ and He is not willing that any should perish in their sins but come to repentance.

The Grace in Which We Stand (Rom. 5:1-11)

The Grace in Which We Stand

(Rom. 5:1-11)

The work of salvation has been accomplished only by Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection. It is our faith in Christ, what we know and believe about Jesus from the scriptures, that has changed us from sinner to saint. That salvation that God chose to reveal to us, has changed our condition from the condemned nature of a sinner to that of an accepted child of God. It is Jesus Christ alone that has made this possible. It is nothing we have done, it is awesome power of God through Jesus Christ that has saved us. It is God's grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone that has saved us. Today, we will explore “the grace in which we stand”.

I. Justified (declared righteous) v. 1a - “Therefore, having been justified by faith”.

The term “justification” means to be declared righteous. How is it that we who are unrighteous (sinful) can be declared righteous? Well, a good clue to this is that it says here that we are declared righteous by faith. We are declared righteous by our faith in Christ as our Lord and Savior. The reason I know this is that the word “therefore” here in verse 1 is referring to something that Paul has already mentioned previously. And if we look at chapter 4, in the final verses we can understand how we are justified by faith. The whole chapter talks about how Abraham was justified (declared righteous) by his faith in the promises of God (Rom. 4:3 - “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” and 4:9 - “For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness”). Abraham put his faith into the revealed plan of salvation God showed him in the person and work of Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:8 - “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand”). We just like Abraham are justified when we put our faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. If we look at the final verses of chap. 4 we can understand that better, 4:20,22-25 - “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God; And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification”. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins by His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. Is 53:4-5 says this about Christ, “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed”; this shows the work of justification by Christ's death. Dr. John MacArthur wrote in his commentary on Romans, that through the work of justification by Christ: “God credits the believer's sin to Christ's account, He can credit Christ's righteousness to the believer's account. God could not have justly credited righteousness to Abraham had not Abraham's sin, like every believer's sin, been paid for by the sacrifice of Christ's own blood. Before the cross, the believer's sin was paid in anticipation of Christ's atoning sacrifice, and since the cross the believer's sin has been paid in advance”. This is how we are justified (declared righteous), by faith in Jesus' finished work of salvation. “Faith is never the basis or the reason for justification, but only the channel through which God works His redeeming grace. Faith is simply a convicted heart reaching out to receive God's free and unmerited gift of salvation”. ---John MacArthur.

II. Peace with God. v.1b - “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Because we are justified by faith, we can now have peace with God through Jesus Christ. This peace is something we possess at the very moment we put our faith in Christ. This peace comes from the fact that we are saved and justified in Christ. The fact of the matter is that when we were lost sinners, we were hostile and against God; we were enemies (Rom 8:7 - “the carnal (sinful, fleshly) mind is enmity (hostile) against God”. Because we have been justified by Christ, we now have peace with God. We are now reconciled to God by Jesus Christ, v.10 - “when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life”. Jesus took upon Himself the full force of God's fury on the cross, that we as sinful humanity should have deserved. Because of our sinfulness we were against God, we were His enemies and undeserving of His grace and mercy he showed us through His Son. All of us who trust in Christ as Lord are no longer enemies of God and under His wrath, we are now at peace with Him through Christ (Col. 1:19-22 - “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight”). Being reconciled to God will bring peace with God. Because we are justified by faith, the immediate consequence of that justification is peace (reconciliation) with God. This peace or reconciliation has been made forever between the believer and God. We are eternally at peace with God. We cannot fall out of favor with God because we're saved, justified, and reconciled because of what Christ has done in our behalf, by His death and resurrection.

Christ not only brings peace to the believer but “He Himself is our peace (Eph. 2;14)”. The knowledge that we have peace with God should strengthen our assurance that we are eternally secure in Christ.

III. This grace in which we stand. v.2 - “through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

from what we have looked at, we can understand that because we have been reconciled to the Father through trusting the Son we have access into that grace in which we stand. Before we put our faith in Christ, sin denied us access to God. Sin would prevent us from ever enjoying the presence of God, from ever hoping to have salvation, and from ever having a true relationship with Him. The believer can now approach God because of what Christ has done for us. Our standing (our position) with God has changed through Christ. Once unrighteous but now righteous in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21 - “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”). This standing in the grace of God never changes even though our circumstances on this world change daily our position of salvation in Christ does not change. Nothing can change it, nothing can take us out of God's hand of salvation (John 10:28-29 - “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand”). The grace in which we stand shows us the completeness and fulfillment of Christ's salvation (Phil. 1:6 - “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”). The act of saving us, of keeping us saved, and completion of salvation is solely in the hands of the One who has provided that salvation. We are incapable by our strength or our will power or by our good works to save ourselves; we do not have the strength or power to do so. It says in 5:6, “when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly”. We are utterly and totally and completely dependent on Christ to save us and to keep us saved. Once we are standing in the grace we can never leave that place. What we can do is begin to live and operate in grace. Another thing we can do is to “rejoice in hope of the glory of God”. The hope that we receive from being in God's grace is not a wishful hope of this world but that know so assurance of hope in God. Knowing that once we are in His grace through faith in Christ, we are eternally in His hand of grace. It says in Col. 1:13, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed (transferred, translated) us into the kingdom of the Son of His love”. By awesome power of God through the saving power of Christ we are now declared righteous in Christ, reconciled to the Father, and permanently standing in God's grace. Now that should be grounds for us to glorify and rejoice in our God. But the question I want to leave you with today is this, are you standing in grace today? Do you have the joy of knowing the God of this universe through a saving relationship with His Son Jesus Christ? If not, today you can enter into His grace through faith in Christ.

Man’s Sinfulness: Doctrine of Total Depravity (Romans 3:10-17; 23)

Man’s Sinfulness: Doctrine of Total Depravity

(Romans 3:10-17; 23)

As we continue in our study of Romans, we see that we have looked at the wrath of God. We have seen that God’s judgment will be against all of those who do not receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, who are still bound in their sins. The question we want answered today is: how sinful is man; How does it affect us? Today we will look at man’s sinfulness and how it affects his character, conversation, and conduct.

I. Sinful Character (vv. 10-12 – “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."”)

Paul begins by seemingly answering the question “who is righteous” and the answer is very clear, Paul says, “There is none righteous”. No is sinless or righteous in the eyes of our holy God. Paul then goes on to answer another question that will naturally be brought up in relation to his previous answer, “well, what about Mary or Sister Theresa or Buddha or Gandhi or the Pope or Billy Graham, was she or he sinless or righteous” and his answer is an emphatic “no, not one”. There is not even one person there are no human exceptions. The only One ever born without sin was the God-man, the incarnate Son of God, our sinless Lord Jesus Christ. But other than Christ, mankind is universally evil and there are no exceptions. Paul is stating our absolute lack of righteous before God. Because of our sin nature our whole being is corrupt. The Biblical belief that our sin has tainted and corrupted our all that man is physically, mentally, and spiritually is call the total depravity of man. It doesn’t mean that we are as bad as we can be but that sin has infected every aspect of humanity. Sin has tainted and corrupted every thing we are and has made given us an inability to please God. There is no part of our being free from the stain of sin. The first thing it affects is our character. It has made us evil and separates us from acceptance with God. It affects in such a way that even the good that we humanly do is not even acceptable before God. The word ‘righteous’ that Paul uses is being understood as being right before God. Our evil, depraved nature robs us of pleasing God even in the best that we as humanity does. We have unsaved people that live pretty moral lives and that give help to the needy (like those helping in Haiti or Chile right now) but even in the best that humanity has to offer is still corrupted by our sin nature. There are great differences among people as to their love, kindness, generosity, honesty, etc. But even among the best there are none that come close to Christ’s righteous perfection. That is the standard that God demands, the righteous that God possesses, a righteous that was found only in Christ. Jesus Himself said in Matt. 5:48 – “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”. For man this is an impossible task. Our depraved, sinful nature prevents us from being perfect. Our inability to save ourselves from sin, to be able to be in a relationship with God is best seen in Rom. 3:23 – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. It’s like trying to jump from the Hawaiian islands to the coast of California. There are some athletes that can jump 25-30 feet; there are more people that can jump 10-15 feet, or someone like me that are out of shape that can barely jump 3 feet. Although many can do better than me it remains that we are all incapable to jump thousands of miles to the coast of California. Even though there are those who might be morally better people than others, good hearted sinners that have done great things from humanity, the sad fact is that there is none righteous, not even one; all people fall short of the glory of God. It evens says that we are spiritually ignorant (v. 11a), we don’t even have the ability on our own to know the way without God’s guidance (“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” – 1 Co. 2:14). It also makes our character rebellious, spiritually useless (“dead in trespasses and sins” – Eph. 2:1), and morally corrupt. We are totally lost, blind, and spiritually dead in our sins. We are doomed and there is nothing humanly possible that can change that fact, apart from a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

II. Sinful Conversation (vv. 13-14 – “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”.)

There is so much more we could say of man’s character but what reveals it best, is his conversation. Jesus said in Mt. 12:34, “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh”; and in Prov. 10:31-32, “The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, But the perverse tongue will be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, But the mouth of the wicked what is perverse”. There are so many, many more verses just on conversation that we don’t have time to quote them all but it suffices to say this that a person’s real character will certainly be revealed in their conversation. We can see the result of this in the filthy conversations and slanderous gossip on TV and radio. We can also see the results of depraved conversation in the deception of false teachers of cults and false religions. No other time in history has deception been more prevalent than in our times. Jer. 9:3-5 bests describes the deception on our land in these verses, “And like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know Me, says the LORD. Everyone take heed to his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; For every brother will utterly supplant, And every neighbor will walk with slanderers. Everyone will deceive his neighbor, and will not speak the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies”. Today, even politicians are noted for their lying and commercials lie about the products they sell. People openly talk of their sins and immorality and talk of the need of people to accept their perverse lifestyles. Corrupt hearts always will produce corrupt conversation.

III. Sinful Conduct (vv. 15-17 – “Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known”)

If sinful mankind’s character and conversation are corrupt then most certainly their conduct will be the same. The conduct of this lost and sinful and godless world is seen the daily news of the evils man has done against man and God. In the United States 3.2% of our population is incarcerated in our prison and jail systems, 1 out of 31 people, that equals roughly 22 million people in jails, prisons, or on parole/probation. That’s just against the laws of the land, the percentage of those sinful before the laws of God are 100%. We have seen great evil committed in wars (ex. Hitler), oppressive governments (Communist China, Muslim countries), and in the daily news (murders, rapes, robberies, etc.). Our own country has made killing unborn children legal, they say that woman have the right to murder their own unborn child. Three states have made it legal to have physician assisted suicide and some have made same-sex marriage legal. Our president on his inauguration day had a homosexual clergy pray for him and also had openly homosexual choir to sing in it. He has overturned by presidential powers the ban against gays in the military. The conduct of the people of this nation shows sins corrupt influence from the top down. The conduct of our nation and other nations are against the God of heaven whose Word condemns them all. God’s judgment is against all who profane and violate His holy Law. God will warn nations and people to repent before it is too late. I just hope that people’s hearts will turn to God in repentance. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

The picture of mankind’s sinful heart is reveled in three ways: their character, their conversation, and their conduct. It’s true that the entire world is born into total depravity and a total inability to reach God in our own strength and righteousness. But through the work of salvation by Christ, we have the remedy for a sinful heart. The blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse us from all sin and deliver us from the eternal judgment of sin.

The Wrath of God (Rom. 1:18-19)

The Wrath of God

(Rom. 1:18-19)

Today, we are going to see how the wrath of God is revealed to all mankind. We have heard many sermons on the love of God, the mercy of God, or the grace of God, but we will see another attribute of God today; it is God’s wrath. Today’s sermon is called “The Wrath of God”.

I. What is the wrath of God? (v. 18a)

It seems that no one wants to hear about this particular divine attribute of God. It is just as much an attribute of God as His love or His omnipotentance or His unchangeable nature. God’s wrath is not the idea of a mere man losing his temper; it is God’s hatred of sin and immorality. Because God is so holy, he cannot but hate sin and bring judgment against those who practice sin. We have a church world today where many of those who say they preach the Gospel seem to leave out the fact that God must punish sin, that there is an eternal penalty measured out against all who have not received Jesus as Lord and Savior. Remember that wrath is not the idea of uncontrolled anger or a temper tantrum of a mere man; God’s wrath is a settled, determined righteous anger against the offensiveness of sin. It seems that Paul’s sharing of the gospel message began with an introduction to that all mankind is under the wrath of God. If you remember in our witnessing training we went through that there is the bad news/good news approach to the Gospel. Paul made sure that this church understood that the reality that all men are lost and under the wrath of God then he would show them the way of escaping the wrath through Christ. We cannot truly understand and appreciate the love, mercy, and grace of God until we see the righteousness demands of God against sin or the fury of His anger against evil. We cannot appreciate His forgiveness or the great love of the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ if we cannot see how detestable sin, evil, and immorality is in the eyes of God. We cannot have the understanding of God’s gracious love through Christ if we do not know His hateful wrath against sinful men. God perfectly hates evil just as much as He perfectly loves righteousness. The fullness of the gospel message is most clearly seen when we show what scripture reveals about the spiritual nature of man (spiritually dead) is condemned by the righteous wrath of God; the Good News of the Gospel is more fully appreciated when we all understand that God wants to save us from our sinful nature (which incurs God’s judgment against us) through His Son, Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty of our judgment. Jesus met the righteous demands of God’s Law through his sinless sacrifice of His shed blood and life on the cross. When we just simply show that God’s wrath is against sin but God’s salvation from sin and judgment can be found through faith in Christ. The scripture reveals in John 3 both the salvation and the wrath of God. It says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” and it says in v. 36 of that same chapter, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him”. The revelation of God’s wrath helps lost man see more clearly see the need of God’s salvation and forgiveness. A sinner will not seek out Jesus as Savior if he does not know that he is sinful and his sin is what condemns him. The wrath of God is basically defined as God’s hatred of sin and the fact God must punish sin. Sinful mankind is condemned and under God’s wrath but God has made a way of escape through Christ.

II. Where and How is it Revealed? (v. 18b)

God’s wrath is revealed from heaven. Our holy God has revealed it from His holy Heaven. The word ‘revealed’ here in the Greek gives us an idea that it means it is being constantly revealed. We can see in the Holy Scriptures that God has revealed His wrath time and time again. From Genesis, we see that when Adam and Eve sinned, that immediately after their sinful disobedience of God’s command, God pronounced on them the sentence of death. It was not just on Adam and Eve, but on all their descendants (that’s us, all mankind) and the earth was cursed right along with them. We can also see God’s judgment upon the whole world in the Great Flood; God’s wrath was seen as judgment fell upon all humanity in a world-wide deluge that drowned all humanity except for eight people (Noah’s family) God saved in an ark. We can also witness God’s judgment against the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, upon the first born of Egypt and the drowning of Pharaoh’s army. If we look at the ‘curse of the Law’ and how we see in the sacrificial system in the Mosaic Law, that the untold millions of innocent animals killed and blood shed. That in all of those animals killed and bled it all revealed man’s sinfulness and unrighteousness but it pointed to the only One whose blood and death would save us from our sin and condemnation. In the death of Christ, we can see God’s wrath was also revealed. Jesus, God’s Son, while on the cross took upon Himself, God’s wrath for us. Jesus took upon Himself the sin of the world and bore the full effect of God’s wrath on the cross (2 Cor 5:21 –“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”). That penalty that God demanded for our sins, Jesus met on our behalf. God hates sin so much and His wrath demanded that its penalty be met that He chose to allow His only Son to be crucified and killed on our behalf. This was the only way fallen humanity could be redeemed from the curse of sin.

So, we see that God’s wrath has been revealed and it is still being revealed, and will be revealed especially in the End Times. Sometimes it seems that the wicked still prosper and prevail but it just seems that way. We must remember that the wicked will not escape God’s wrath. Here on this earth they may bribe, escape, or fool the justice system of this world, but God’s wrath and judgment will have no loop holes for the wicked to escape (Rev 20:12-13,15 – “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire”). God’s wrath has, is, and will be revealed.

III. What is the verdict of God’s wrath against? (v. 18c)

It is against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Ungodliness are sins against the very Person of God and unrighteousness are sins against God’s will. That just shows that we are simply sinful in all that we are and do. Sin taints and corrupts anything we do. So that any human attempt to span the divides that sin separates us from God always fails. Nothing worthy that we do as humans on this earth can accomplish salvation and acceptance by God. Rom. 3:10 says, “There is none righteous, no, not one” and 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”; our sinfulness means that we lack the means to truly reverence God, it means that we have a faulty personal relationship with God. If we have a wrong relationship with God then our actions will reflect that in unrighteous living towards God and our fellow man. Sin attacks the Person of God and His righteous Law. God only hates sin. He does not hate people but only the sin that they do. Sin will always bring about the wrath of God for our holy God must punish sin. Unrighteousness is so much a part of man’s nature that every person has a built in, natural desire to suppress and oppose God’s truth that we can’t save ourselves and that only God can save.

Today, we have seen that God’s wrath is against unsaved, godless mankind. We understand that God is so holy that sin and sinners are not allowed in His presence. We know through scripture that God is holy and just and because of that He hates sin and must therefore punish the sinner. But this brings us to the truth of scripture that God is love and because he loves mankind, He has provided a way of salvation through the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross of Calvary. The Bible wonderfully puts it this way, God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).