Opening Prayer Pg.1
God of our salvation, We come into Your presence tonight with the joy of being in Your service, of spending time in Your word, learning in fellowship among like followers of Your Son Jesus. We are thankful for your word in our study of Romans. We pray that our fellowship today will bless each one here. We pray that you will Bless those of our group who cannot be here today, we pray you will share our blessing with them. Be with those of us who are suffering illness and those who care for them. Restore their health and bring them back into our midst. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen
Prelude
At the beginning of Romans 3, Paul takes a brief break from his argument that Jews and Gentiles are both equally under the condemnation of the Lord because of their sin. He explains that the Jews will not escape judgment merely because they are Jews. This is because, if one wants to rest in the Jewish privileges of the law and circumcision for justification, one must be careful to keep the commandments perfectly. There are, nevertheless, many benefits that Jews possess. Chief among these are the “oracles of God”—the living and active Word of God, namely, the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament.
Scripture reading; All are guilty, Romans 3: 1-8
Rom 3:1-8 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God's faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge." 5 But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) 6 Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? 7 Someone might argue, "If my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?" 8 Why not say--as some slanderously claim that we say--"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is just!
Discussion
Under the old covenant, the Jews rightly equated divine faithfulness with God’s blessing upon them. It is likewise true that God promised Abraham that He would curse those who did not keep His covenant, which ultimately means judgment on those who are uncircumcised in heart. To be faithful to His covenant, God must judge sin. In Christ, we are rescued from this judgment, but understanding the gospel starts with knowing that our holy God cannot be faithful to His Word without finding a way to judge our sin. Proclaiming His wrath is part of the gospel. God is faithful. He promises us forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus as our Savior. Even in the worst of times, Salvation is there for us with God’s call to repentance and faith in the saving grace of His Son Our Lord Jesus Christ. read Philippians_1:18
Q.1 Why do you feel Paul is questioning the faith of the Jews?
Q.2 Could it be possible that Paul’s questioning the Jewish faith also applies to us in our day?
Q.3 How would you feel if you were entrusted with the very words of God?
Q.4 In verses 3-8, Paul discusses our unrighteousness bringing out God's righteousness. What do you feel he means by this?
Q.5 Who do you feel is righteous according to Paul’s argument?
Pg.2
The Jews did not realize that God’s judgment was on them too. God would not show his kindness to one group of people more than to another. ‘Under the power of sin’ means that sin was like a master who had complete control over his slave. Everybody is like a slave because of the power of sin.
Scripture reading; No one is righteous. Romans 3: 9-20
9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is 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." 13 "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips." 14 "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." 15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not know." 18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes. 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
Discussion
Here in these verses, Paul clearly states the possibility of anyone keeping the law is totally discounted. In theory, and indeed in truth, such is not possible for human beings. Jesus, as the Son of God, yes. In any other consideration, that just is not possible. In practice, Paul says, no one does it, and therefore we are all silenced by the law. We know, and the law makes sure that we know, that we have forfeited our legal acquittal. We are all declared guilty.
People tell lies, spew curses, and gossip. Their words are like poison that can destroy other people’s happiness and character. (James 3:8-10).Evil actions are often the result of evil words, Isaiah 59:7-9 They do not try to live at peace. They cause trouble and pain wherever they go. Such behavior soon damages the rest of society too. All sin is against God. All sin comes from people’s lack of honor for God who created them.
Some Jews would think that these verses were only about wicked Gentiles. But the Gentiles did not have the law. Paul explains that the law cannot make people righteous. That is not its purpose. The purpose of the law was to show the meaning of sin and how to avoid being partakers of it, such as were Adam and Eve, who in their reasoning were doing no wrong, that is until the question of their sin was raised by God. . The law proves that everyone is guilty. So the Jews could not become righteous by means of their Jewish ceremonies. And nobody can become righteous by means of their own good works. No one has escaped the guilt of sin.
Q.1 Paul gets really descriptive of our sins in these verses, which ones get your attention first?
Q.2 A fair application of Paul’s descriptive remarks would best describe what type of person?
Q.3 Can you name some really good people who are constant in their faith and in their works,
and are they to be included in Paul’s scathing remarks?
Q.4 It takes God’s law to cause the recognition of our sin. Had we not considered God’s law as being our judgment, would there be sin?
This ends Paul’s criticism of the Jews and Greeks (Gentiles) in Rome. Next week we start with 3: 21-31 in which Paul begins our study of the righteousness of God.
Pg.3
Phlippians 1:18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,
James 3:8-10 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
Isaiah 59:7-9 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways. 8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace. 9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
Closing Prayer
Father God, we close our study tonight with this prayer for your protection of our souls from the wiles of Satan. Let none of us slip in our efforts to live a good and moral, God centered life. Be with those of our acquaintance who need your healing touch______________Bring to these our friends, and loved ones, Your healing touch give them strength and courage and rest. Help them to recover their health. Bless them Lord, and those who care for them. Be with us now as we go our separate ways, and bring us together again next week. We pray this in Jesus Name Amen
Pg.4
Meditation
Isn't there something deeply satisfying about someone who knows your flaws to the deepest level of your being. And even in spite of our flaws, will still reconcile us with God.
So as we finish this, Paul's final summary diagnosis of our condition,(it ends with Romans 3:20) keep thinking: this is good, this is good. Because for all this bad news about our true condition, there is good news coming. And the only reason for telling me the bad news is so that I will understand the righteousness of God, freely given to those who really trust in Christ. (starting with Romans 3:21), our next weeks study.
How does Paul support verse 9 and the sinfulness of all men from the Old Testament in all these quotations in verses 10-18? I think that Paul doesn't mean that every one of the six Old Testament quotes has the whole indictment in it, but that taken all together they have the whole indictment. When Paul quotes the Old Testament that "There is none righteous, no not one," he means that, by nature, apart from the saving grace, of Jesus Christ, we are unrighteous. Only when God breaks into our lives and gives the special grace of faith and forgiveness through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus who died because of our sin, can we get right with God, and be called "righteous”, because we are no longer under judgment, it is Jesus, He is the one, the only one, who is our righteousness.
And all the other Old Testament quotes in these verses referring to our sinfulness simply point us to the fact of our sinful nature when we are without God. I saw this most clearly in Psalm 5, which Paul quotes in Romans 3:13, "Their throat is an open grave." This is referring to God’s enemies. Paul does not mean that there are no redeemed and righteous people in the world. He only means that apart from God's mighty grace, we are, the whole world is hopelessly corrupt, Why? Because man is “under sin”. Man by nature, would not go in the way of righteousness, in fact if left to his own devices, without God’s law and God’s love, man would always choose the worlds way, Man without God knows no other way. God alone can deliver us from sin and set us aright and cause us to walk in the way of righteousness. Without God, that is not possible.
Sin is, first and foremost, a resistance to finding joy in God. And that resistance results in a darkened mind that then suppresses the truth and does not understand God. So the mind that is "under sin" does not seek God and does not know God and does not fear God. Being "under sin" means that our relations with people are ruined, even though God's common grace may restrain us from treating people as badly as we might. In verses 13-14, Paul describes the way sin ruins our words, and in verses 13-14, he describes the way sin ruins our actions - "throat . . . tongue .. . lips . . . mouth." Then, in verses 15-17, being "under sin" is not a way of speaking, but a way of acting: "Their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known." This is what happens when God is not sought or known or revered. The entire point of the book of Romans and the whole Bible and of Christianity is that God, in his great mercy, has made a way of salvation from sin - the power of sin and the penalty of sin.
And next week, Romans 3:21-22 - "But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe." Amen
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