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Romans 3 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00So, we're going to be [music] in Romans
0:01chapter 3.
0:03And the theme of Romans 1 and 2 thus far
0:07>> [music]
0:07>> has been
0:08Paul is a steward of the gospel.
0:14And the [music] stewardship of the
0:16gospel is to bring about the obedience
0:19of faith.
0:22And
0:23the overarching theme that he is giving
0:26us in chapter 1
0:28and chapter [music] 2
0:30is that
0:32we are either living for the glory of
0:34God
0:35or we are committing idolatry
0:38by living for ourselves.
0:40And all of the egregious sins
0:43>> [music]
0:43>> can be contained in one of those two
0:46containers.
0:48It's either starting from a place that
0:50acknowledges the creator
0:53by seeing his works
0:56in what he has made or it is starting to
1:00worship the creature
1:03and starting to rob temples, the temple
1:06[music] of our bodies which is made for
1:08his glory by taking it away from the
1:11glory and purpose of God and using it,
1:14stealing it for our own ambitions. That
1:18is the overarching theme of sin and
1:21righteousness that he has given us in
1:23chapter 1 and chapter 2. Toward the end
1:26of chapter 2, he introduces the law, but
1:29he's not using it primarily in a
1:32negative sense as in referring to the
1:34Levitical law. He's talking about the
1:37law of what is right and wrong, and he
1:40says the Gentiles who don't know the
1:43Levitical law, meaning the law that
1:45Moses gave in Leviticus from Mount
1:47Sinai, they do the deeds of the law
1:51because their conscience and their
1:53thoughts are bearing witness and either
1:56condemning or encouraging them. And he's
1:59saying, "These kind of Gentiles who are
2:01living by conscience, who are
2:03surrendering their lives to the glory
2:04and purpose of God, are better Jews than
2:07those who have the law and don't live
2:10true to conscience and to the
2:11requirements
2:13of the word of the Lord." So, that kind
2:15of sums up where we've been, and we're
2:17going to start in mid-stride, Romans
2:20chapter 3, verse 1.
2:23"Then, what advantage has the Jew?"
2:27So, Paul has said, "The Gentiles are
2:29better off if they're living by
2:30conscience than the Jews who have the
2:32law and are not." So, he asks the
2:34question, "So, what advantage
2:37does the Jewish person have?
2:39Or what is the benefit of circumcision?
2:43Are you in any advantaged position to
2:46have the culture and history and
2:48tradition
2:49of Judaism behind you, or would it have
2:51been better to be coming from a pagan
2:53culture?"
2:55He answers the question in verse 2.
2:58He says, "What benefit is circumcision?
3:02What advantage does the Jew have?
3:04It is great in every respect.
3:09First of all,
3:11that they were entrusted with the
3:14oracles of God."
3:16So, he says, "What advantage is it to be
3:18Jewish?"
3:19He says, "It's a great advantage in
3:21every respect, because first of all,
3:24they were given the word of God. They
3:25were entrusted with the oracles, meaning
3:28the spoken utterances of God."
3:31"What then?
3:33If some did not believe, their unbelief
3:36will not nullify the faithfulness of
3:39God, will it?"
3:40So, he's saying, "Just because some
3:42aren't living true to what God gave,
3:45that doesn't mean God didn't help all of
3:47humanity through the cultivation of the
3:49Jewish people." He did.
3:53"May it never be. Rather, let God be
3:56found true,
3:57though every man be found a liar. As it
4:00is written, that you may be justified in
4:03your words and prevail when you are
4:07judged.
4:09But, if our unrighteousness
4:12demonstrates the righteousness of God,
4:15what shall we say?
4:17The God who inflicts wrath is not
4:21unrighteous, is he? I am speaking in
4:24human terms.
4:26May it never be.
4:27For otherwise, how will God judge the
4:30world?
4:31But, if through my lie the truth of God
4:35abounded to his glory, why am I also
4:39still being judged as a sinner?
4:42And why not say, as we are slanderously
4:45reported
4:47and as some claim that we say, "Let us
4:49do evil that good may come."
4:52Their condemnation is just.
4:55What then? Are we better than they? Not
4:58at all.
5:00For we have already charged that both
5:02Jews and Greeks are all under sin.
5:07So, let me explain to you what he's
5:09saying. This is a little bit involved.
5:11He's asking the question,
5:13"What advantage is it to be Jewish?" And
5:15he's saying, "It's a great advantage
5:17because you're part of a culture that
5:20acknowledged Yahweh. You're part of a
5:23culture that pointed in the right
5:25direction, and you had the word of God.
5:28You had the Bible, the Old Testament
5:29scriptures.
5:31This is a big advantage." And then he
5:33says, "And truth be told,
5:36the unbelief of the Jews actually just
5:39served to prove God's faithfulness even
5:42more."
5:43So, he says,
5:44"And then you could ask the question,
5:45well, does God benefit from our sin?
5:49And he says, we, the Christians of
5:51Paul's day, are slanderously accused
5:55of saying,
5:57let us do evil that good may come. So,
6:01basically, way back in Paul's day,
6:03people were already claiming that
6:06Christianity
6:07was celebrating
6:10liberty in the flesh in order to magnify
6:13the goodness of God. And Paul finds that
6:16absurd, and he says, the people who are
6:18saying that
6:19are going to be condemned, and their
6:21condemnation is just.
6:24He says,
6:25are we better off
6:27than those who say this, or than those
6:29who didn't have it? In the end, we're
6:31all sinners. We're all under sin. The
6:34culture of Judaism is an advantage. The
6:37tradition of Judaism is an advantage.
6:40The law and the truth and the oracles of
6:42God that came through Judaism is an
6:45advantage, but each one is an
6:46individual, and as an individual, we're
6:49all equally sinners.
6:50That's the point.
6:53As it is written, there is none
6:55righteous, not even one.
6:57There is none who understands, there is
7:00none who seeks for God, all have turned
7:03aside, together they have become
7:05useless.
7:06There is none who does good, there is
7:09not even one.
7:12Their throat is an open grave.
7:15With their tongues, they keep deceiving.
7:20The poison of asps is under their lips.
7:24Whose mouth is full of cursing and
7:28bitterness.
7:29Their feet are swift to shed blood.
7:33Destruction and misery are in their
7:36hearts, and the path of peace they have
7:39not known.
7:41There is no fear of God before their
7:45eyes.
7:47So, Paul says, Jew
7:49and Gentile
7:51are sinners.
7:54And this is the plight of man. This is
7:56the diagnosis from the Old Testament,
7:59from God's mouth, of the condition of
8:02fallen man.
8:05There's nobody who's righteous.
8:08No one who seeks God. This is what
8:10righteousness looks like, seeking God.
8:14They turn aside, and they become
8:16useless. Nobody who lives for God's
8:19purpose, that's what righteousness would
8:20look like.
8:24Their throat is an open grave.
8:28Through the things they speak,
8:31they kill people.
8:32They kill love. They kill hope. They
8:34kill joy.
8:36With their tongues, they deceive.
8:38Righteousness would look like bringing
8:40grace with your tongue, but they bring
8:42deception.
8:44The poison of asps is in their lips.
8:48Instead of the the honey, the fruit of
8:50our lips being the praise to the Lord,
8:53and the honey of sweetness of the lips
8:55that the Bible speaks of.
8:58Whose mouth is full of cursing and
9:00bitterness.
9:02We speak things that snare us. The words
9:06of our mouths snare us. That's the
9:08cursing.
9:09It's bitterness. We gripe. We complain.
9:12We murmur.
9:15Their feet are swift to shed blood.
9:19We're quick to accuse people, to hurt
9:22people, to pile on, and be part of an
9:25attack.
9:27Destruction and misery are in their
9:30hearts.
9:31Their hearts are hurting others, and
9:32they're unhappy. They're miserable
9:34people.
9:37And the path of peace they have not
9:40known.
9:42There is no fear of God before their
9:44eyes.
9:46>> [snorts]
9:47>> Now, we know that whatever the law says,
9:51it speaks to those who are under the law
9:54so that every mouth may be closed and
9:56all the world may become accountable to
9:59God.
10:00Because by the works of the law
10:04no flesh will be justified in his sight.
10:07For through the law came the knowledge
10:11of sin.
10:14Paul is saying, "None of us are going to
10:16be good enough to go to heaven because
10:18of our observance to the law.
10:21We better be grafted in
10:24to the fellowship and oneness and
10:26relationship of faith with Jesus Christ
10:30where his blood can cover us because by
10:32the works of the law we can't make it."
10:36But then he tells us what the purpose of
10:38the law was.
10:40The purpose of the law was to give us
10:44the knowledge of sin. The law could not
10:48bring us to righteousness. The law could
10:50not bring us to faith. The law could not
10:53bring us to heaven, but the law could
10:56teach us how broken we were without
10:59Jesus.
11:00It was to teach the knowledge of sin.
11:05But now apart from the law, the
11:08righteousness of God has been manifested
11:11being witnessed by the law and the
11:14prophets.
11:15So he's saying, "Apart from the
11:17Levitical law, we do have the
11:20righteousness of God
11:23manifested in the law and the prophets.
11:26Even the righteousness of God through
11:28faith in Jesus Christ for all those who
11:33believe, for there is no distinction.
11:36For all have sinned and fall short of
11:40the glory of God.
11:43Here he's returning to his theme, you
11:46were made for a purpose. Selfish
11:49ambition steals your life from the one
11:52who made you for his glory and it
11:54harnesses it to your own glory. And
11:58that's the ultimate big sin that all
12:00other sins fit inside of, right? So he
12:03says, all have sinned and fallen short
12:06of the glory of God. Righteousness is to
12:09live up to the glory of God.
12:12We were made, when God made us, he said,
12:14let us make man in our image and he
12:16said, scripture says we were made in the
12:18image and glory of God.
12:22But we have stolen our faculties, stolen
12:25our time, stolen our affections from him
12:28who made us for his glory and we have
12:30squandered them on our own glory.
12:34That's the big sin. All have sinned and
12:37fall short of the glory of God
12:40being justified as a gift by his grace
12:43through the redemption which is in
12:46Christ.
12:47So Jesus came
12:49as this perfection. He fulfilled the law
12:53in his perfect love.
12:55>> [snorts]
12:55>> Because what fulfills the law?
12:57Does is the law fulfilled by keeping
13:00every tiny ordinance in the Levitical
13:02system? No. Jesus broke those ceremonial
13:06systems.
13:08He and he fulfilled the law in this that
13:11love fulfills the law.
13:14All the law and the prophets are
13:16fulfilled in this, you shall love the
13:19Lord your God with all your heart, soul,
13:20mind and strength and you shall love
13:22your neighbor as yourself.
13:24So Jesus gave us this new commandment
13:28that love changing our motivation from
13:31being selfish to being giving and
13:34serving and loving that would help us
13:38attain to the glory of God through him.
13:40And he fulfilled the law by living for
13:43love.
13:44And even when love demanded death on a
13:47cross, he became obedient to that, even
13:50to death on a cross.
13:54Being justified as a gift by his grace
13:56through the redemption which is in
13:58Christ
13:59whom God displayed publicly as a
14:02propitiation
14:04in his blood through faith.
14:07So Jesus
14:08came [snorts]
14:10to pay the price.
14:12We were all condemned.
14:14We all stood before the court of justice
14:17and we had no answer.
14:19We were worthy of death, death of our
14:22souls in hell.
14:24And Jesus came as the kinsman redeemer
14:28and he said, "I will purchase their
14:32freedom so that they will be freed from
14:34the demands of justice."
14:36And that purchase was not made in 30
14:39pieces of silver.
14:41That purchase was made with his own
14:43life.
14:44He died and satisfied
14:48the demands of justice.
14:50And he purchased us out of the courtroom
14:53of condemnation.
14:55And when we exited the courtroom of
14:58condemnation, we are not free to live
15:01for ourselves. We are the bond slaves of
15:05the one who just paid our bond.
15:08We are bound to obey him.
15:11And if we violate that covenant of
15:13faithful obedience with him, not perfect
15:16obedience, but faithful
15:19continuing to seek for glory, honor, and
15:21immortality through through patient
15:24continuance in doing good. If we violate
15:27that,
15:28then we have violated the terms of our
15:30redemption.
15:31So, an ongoing faith with the one who
15:35redeemed us is what allows us to receive
15:38the purchase that he paid
15:40as for us.
15:43God displayed him publicly as a
15:45propitiation in his blood through faith.
15:49This was to demonstrate his
15:50righteousness because in the forbearance
15:53of God, he passed over the sins
15:56previously committed.
15:58So, passed over. This is the Passover.
16:01The judgment of God passed over the sins
16:04that we had previously committed. And he
16:06looked upon the sacrifice of the lamb,
16:08just like the lamb that was slain at
16:09Passover, when the blood was put on
16:11their doorposts. Well, judgment passes
16:14over our previously committed sins.
16:20This was to demonstrate his
16:21righteousness.
16:23What we saw at the cross was unjust for
16:26Jesus,
16:27but it was righteous for us. He was
16:30suffering unjustly what we deserved
16:34righteously.
16:35That's what our sins did to love. That's
16:38what our sins did to God.
16:42That's what we deserved. So, God's
16:44righteousness is revealed in that's what
16:46we deserve.
16:48But God's mercy is more revealed, more
16:50more fully revealed in him saying,
16:53"Mercy has triumphed over what you
16:55deserve." And taken upon himself what
16:58you deserved, so that now you must
17:00submit to him
17:01and be called by his name, be integrated
17:03into himself.
17:06>> [snorts]
17:06>> For the demonstration, I say, of his
17:08righteousness at the present time,
17:11so that he would be just and the
17:13justifier of the one who has faith in
17:17Jesus Christ. He's the priest who's
17:20making the sacrifice. He's the temple
17:22where it's being made. He's the altar
17:25upon which the lamb lays. He's the lamb
17:28upon the altar, and he's the God to whom
17:31the sacrifice is offered.
17:34All on behalf of us, he became
17:36everything
17:37that we needed to escape our
17:39condemnation.
17:42So that he would be just and the
17:43justifier of the one who has faith in
17:47Jesus.
17:48Where then is boasting?
17:52It is
17:52>> [music]
17:52>> excluded, Paul says.
17:57By what kind of law? Of works? No.
18:01But by a law
18:03of faith.
18:06For we maintain
18:08that a man is justified by faith apart
18:12from the works of the law.
18:15The law cannot save us anymore. It's
18:20over.
18:22You can keep it to the T, or you can try
18:25[music] and fail, and both have no
18:27avail.
18:28You have got to walk in complete trust
18:32and faith
18:34in Jesus as Lord of your life
18:37if you want to receive what he gave to
18:39you.
18:43Or is God the God of the Jews only?
18:47Is he not the God of the Gentiles also?
18:50Yes, of the Gentiles also.
18:53Since indeed God, who will justify the
18:56circumcised by [music] faith and the
18:58uncircumcised through faith, is one.
19:01He's saying he's going to justify both.
19:04One God is going to justify both parties
19:06only by faith.
19:08The covenant of the law
19:10can no longer broker salvation [music]
19:12for anyone.
19:14It's now going to be a covenant of faith
19:16in his blood.
19:19Do we then nullify the law through
19:21[music] faith? May it never be. On the
19:23contrary, we establish the law.
19:26So, he says, "Does the law have no
19:28purpose because faith has come?" No, no,
19:29no, no, no. No. The law now finds its
19:32purpose because it was to teach us the
19:34knowledge of sin
19:35>> [music]
19:35>> so that we would trust God
19:38after discovering that the law couldn't
19:39make us righteous.
19:41But faith can make us righteous.
19:44A relationship with Jesus can make us
19:46righteous.
19:47>> [music]
19:47>> And when we stand before justice, we
19:50will not plead our own worthiness. We
19:52will plead his blood
19:54in our place.
19:57>> [music]
20:07[music]

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