Romans 3:1-8 "Answering Objections" - 5/11/2017

all right as we get started here I've got a book for you guys I've written a commentary on Philippians that has come out and I've got some up here so I'm gonna please grab one they're free you want to leave $5 that's fine you wanna leave 20 that's fine no the point is I just want you to have a copy I think you would enjoy it and it would be a good personal Bible study for you to go through the book of Philippians and if you teach a class or small group or your kids or whatever to be very helpful to you so as we get started want to welcome not only the men in the room here but everyone watching by livestream around the world and just as I've been traveling different places people just come up to me and say hey we're part of the Bible study we're following with you and so that's a great joy and encouragement to me so as you're watching this morning we love having you be a part if you want to send us any questions we're going to have question and answer at the end of this session you can send us your question and we'll be glad to answer it live here in the hour at the end so just send that let us know that you're watching let us know where you are in the world and people literally are just on all over the globe watching us so let us know it encourages us greatly so today we are in Romans chapter 3 so we've made progress Romans 3 and we're going to be looking at the first eight verses and let me just start with a word of Prayer father as we come to your word now we ask that you would give us eyes to see what you have put in your word I pray your Holy Spirit would teach and guide us into the truth of your word and I pray that that there would be much relevancy that we would see for own personal lives so incorporate this into the very fabric of our being we pray this in Christ's name Amen all right as we look at romans 3 1 through 8 this is a final section before paul will wrap up the entire section on condemnation in chapter 3 beginning in verse 9 and extending to verse 20 is his summation of total depravity and his summation of the condemnation of the human race but before he comes to the summation starting in verse 9 and the first eight verses he wants to answer answer some objections and so Ivan I've titled this message answering objections and what we learned from this is every teacher of the word can be easily misunderstood and every teacher can be subject to false conclusions that the hearer will draw like based upon if you say a and B there are listeners who will get out ahead of you and we'll assume wrongly therefore you must be saying D and E and so Paul answers these objections because every teacher can have his words twisted and every teacher can have words put into his mouth that he never said and I have certainly faced that and in my many years of ministry I have answered this in congregational meetings in front of the entire church as false accusations have been brought against me regarding things that I have taught and said I have faced them in elder meetings I have faced them in Deacons meetings I have faced them in the lobby I faced them in the parking lot I mean I I have faced them all my life in it and it really goes with the turf that if you're gonna stand up and be a teacher you are a target and there are people who do not listen well and there are people who do not think well and they jump to wrong conclusions based upon what you have said well that was what was happening with the Apostle Paul and in these verses he's put in the somewhat awkward position of having to answer his critics and to answer and imaginary objectors it's almost a conversation that's going on between Paul and Paul within himself but he's getting it out on the table as if I know exactly what some of you people are thinking but he does actually know what some of them are thinking and actually will say in verse eight verse seven and eight you you brought some slanderous charges against me and falsely accused me based upon what I have talked so I want to just read these verses and when we first read them that there's somewhat difficult to understand and to to get into the flow of thought so let me begin by reading it and then I want to give a simple framework for these verses so let me reintroduce you to these verses beginning in verse 1 romans 3 then what advantage has the Jew are what is the benefit of circumcision well great in every respect first of all that they were entrusted with the Oracles of God what then if some did not believe their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God will it verse 4 may it never be rather let God be found true though every man they found a liar as it is written that you may be justified in your words and prevailed you are judged but if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God what shall we say the God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous is he I'm speaking in human terms may it never be for otherwise how will God judge the world but if through my lie the truth of God abounded to his glory why am I still being judged as a sinner and why not say as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say let us do evil that good may come their condemnation is just now just an initial reading of these verses it's it's kind of hard to untie the knot here what's going on and here here's what's going on this is a Q&A session with the Apostle Paul question-and-answer session and Paul is raising the questions that are on the minds of many of the people he gets inside of their thinking and I know what you are thinking some of it he is simply anticipating what they're thinking some of it he has actually heard what they're thinking now there is a back and forth almost like a tennis match here volley back and forth Paul will raise eight questions and they are in the odd number verses verse 1 verse 3 verse 5 verse 7 there are two questions for each verse two questions in verse one two questions in verse three two questions verse five two questions in verse seven you can see that these are questions that Paul knows are being raised so Paul is like an attorney who puts a witness on the stand and will raise the shoes before the other attorney can raise it so he's in control the answers are in the even number versus there's two four six and eight so there will be eight questions for answers the eight questions come in pairs and the eight questions are in reality four questions stated twice there will be a ninth question as Paul will answer a question with a question very Jewish so he will answer a question with a question which is in reality a statement so that's how the flow of this unravels so the first objection is in verses 1 & 2 the second objection in verses 3 & 4 third objection in verses 5 & 6 and the fourth objection in verses 7 and 8 so let's walk through these and I think that there's a plication for us and I have found as I have studied the Bible sometimes it's passages like this that appear to be most obese most obscure that once we crack the nut yields the greatest blessing because there's a joy of discovery of what's going on here because it forces us to think so this is one of those you're gonna we're gonna have to think with the Apostle Paul it's not just laying on the surface so here is the first objection that Paul addresses beginning in verse 1 and it is that he has been falsely accused of being against the people of God against the Jewish people by your anti-jewish based upon what he just said that in chapter 2 he just said if you're Jewish that's not going to get you anywhere with God unless you believe in Jesus Christ Paul's gonna address that now so beginning in verse one then and I just want to pause for a moment the word then tells us what is in verses 1 through 8 is in response to what he has just said it's in response really to verses 17 to 29 in in the previous chapter then what Vantage advantage what advantage has the Jew what profit is it to be a Jew if just being Jew does not guarantee your salvation well what good was that to be Jewish if just being Jewish doesn't automatically mean salvation he then Falls up with a second question and what advantage of the Jew that really addresses verses 17 to 24 in the previous chapter now he goes to circumcision which is a follow up verses 25 to 29 in the previous chapter of what benefit or when is the benefit of circumcision I mean Paul is just belabored this that circumcision does not say circumcision is only a symbol and a sign circumcision is simply the cutting of the human body but it does nothing for the soul so what advantage was that and Paul can anticipate that people are going to construe and misconstrue that Paul is against the Jew and Paul is against you know what the Old Testament required for their circumcision so that's what's on the table and we could ask the same question this way for us so what advantage was it to grow up in a Christian family if that doesn't guarantee your salvation what advantage is it that you went to a Christian school if that doesn't put you in the kingdom of God what advantage is it for you to go to a good church a Bible teaching Church if you can be in church where the Word of God has being preached and you still are not saved so what was what was that advantage and I think that's a question that that that every one of us should ask ourselves Paul will answer that and he gives actually a positive answer in verse two he goes great that's what the advantage is great in every respect it's it's it's a huge advantage Paul says to be Jewish and to be subject to even circumcision and he now it's noise he goes first of all now this is number one on the list and it so number one on the list he never even gets to number two three four or five he just is stuck on number one first of all that they referring to the Jew who is circumcised were entrusted with the Oracles of God the Oracles of God referred to the Bible it refers to the Old Testament it refers to special revelation it refers to to the message of the gospel and the way of salvation made known to you and Paul says it was an enormous advantage that you grew up hearing the Word of God because you cannot be saved unless you know the gospel unless you've heard the truth so Paul answers this first objection that he is even maybe anti-semitic being anti-jewish to say that well just being a Jew doesn't make you a Christian well the application for us is hey just being a Baptist doesn't get you in heaven just being a presbyterian doesn't get you anywhere as far as the kingdom of God however or let me just add going to a Bible teaching Church doesn't get you into heaven but it does give you a great advantage because you have now had an exposure to the truth of the gospel and you are responsible to believe in the gospel but an advantage and a profit has been afforded unto you that other people have not had you have had an advantage of all advantages because you have been exposed to the truth so before I move on I just want to make a very simple statement the mere fact that you're in this Bible study is isn't an enormous blessing from God that this very millisecond you are exposed to that which billions of people in the world have never heard you are in a very privileged place that you have access to this book and for this book to be opened and to be explained to you so this is the first objection that Paul has to answer he's not down on being Jewish he is saying wow you've had an advantage that that that the Egyptians never had that the Babylonians didn't have that the Assyrians didn't have that the the Romans didn't have until the gospel finally was there but the the Aztecs never had the Eskimos never had that I mean we just go around the globe so before we move on let's just pause here and and really internalize this and and most of you in this room go to churches where there's a pastor who stands up with an open Bible and who reads the text and explains the text and applies the text and most of you go to a Sunday School class or some kind of teaching beyond the pulpit in which the Word of God is made known to you you are privileged you you are you you are the tip of the iceberg and the whole rest of the human race is submerged below water level you are blessed and favored by God just like the Jew was who had the Oracles of God entrusted to him so that's the first objection Paul addresses now let's move on to the second so in verse 1 was the objection and two questions the answer is in verse two so as we come to now to verse three here is the second objection and it is stated in two questions what then if some did not believe and the some refer to Jews we're still in this context of talking about those who are born according to the flesh as sons of Abraham if some did not believe their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God will it now here's what's going on behind this question God has promised in his word that he will save Jews that's a part of the Abrahamic covenant I mean that that's that that is going back to Abraham and God's saving Abraham and and God saving a remnant in every generation down through the Old Testament there have been those that God has saved and Israel was to take this message to the world however the majority of the nation of Israel has been in unbelief have been apostate the entire generation in in the wilderness wandering was basically lost in unconverted so does that therefore mean that the word of god has failed does that therefore mean as verse three would raise the question that the faithfulness of God to his own word and to his promises has failed and that was a question in the first century that needed to be addressed because that was the very generation that crucified the Lord Jesus Christ so Paul's answer in in verse four is a very important answer he says may it never be in the Greek language it is Maegan oído which is the strongest most emphatic know that there can possibly be in the Greek language it is a no way not at all it is the it's a it's a dogmatic negative it is an emphatic negative may it never be and what may never be is that God is not faithful to his word and faithful to his promises he says may it never be rather meaning on the other hand let God be found true though every man be found a liar and what he is saying is God will fulfill all of his promises to the Jewish people though every men in the entire world was to say that God is unfaithful to his word all that matters is what God says it doesn't matter what man says that's the argument that Paul is setting forth that's an important truth for us to be reminded it doesn't matter what the opinion polls say it doesn't matter what the majority say the majority have always been wrong the majority has never been right all that matters is what does God say and as you and I live our Christian lives we are easily squeezed into the mold of the thinking of this world and we must remember that even if the entire world was to speak with one voice and God was to say what was contrary God is true and the whole world is full of liars that's how faithful God is to his word the integrity of the Word of God so that is what Paul is is addressing here because Paul is said in Chapter two well Israel is is lost without Christ what is God not gonna keep his word Paul just just he just cuts that off he just nips that in the bud and he says listen before we go any further with that kind of foolish talk you just need to understand if the whole world were to speak with one voice and God alone said something is true just be assured God is true and the whole world is full of liars so we just need to know what God says and it is impossible Titus 1:1 for God to lie verse 2 Titus 1:2 so may it never be rather let God be found true verse for though every man be found a liar and now Paul quotes from the Old Testament which is kind of an interesting way to make his point he now quotes from scripture to show that Scripture is true as it is written any now quote Psalm 51 verse 4 that you referring to God may be justified in your words justified here means to be proven to be right and prevail when you are judged what are you saying here God's Word will prevail in judgment on the last day not what man says or what man misconstrues every judgment will be according to the Word of God so the application for us is very self apparent what confidence we should have in the Word of God and how reliable and how faithful are the words of God and as we live our Christian lives and as we chart the course for the path that we follow all that matters is what does God say on any matter whatsoever and I know that you believe that that's why you're in a Bible study and you're not off at a coffee shop someplace pulling people on what they think about a particular issue so that's the second objection that Paul addresses now we move on now to the third objection and that is found in verse 5 and it is an objection that people are assuming that Paul is making against the righteousness of God the first one was against the people of God the second one was against the Word of God or the faithfulness of God this is now Paul's having to answer what people are assuming that he is attacking the righteousness of God so here's the objection in verse 5 it again comes in the form of two questions but and so this now anticipates the imaginary objector this anticipates what his critics are saying but if our unrighteousness meaning the sin and unbelief of the Jewish people if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God meaning enhances the glory of God now this is just a really nutty logic that if our sin brings glory to God then why don't we just send more if God is glorified in everything and if God's even glorified in in and through sin and the damnation of sinners then why don't we just send all the more and he will address this later in in chapter 6 what shall we say and the we refers to the imaginary objector he's in essence quoting them the God who inflicts wrath he's now quoting the imaginary objector again is not unrighteous is he and some were drawing the conclusion that God's judgment is unjust and that God's wrath is unjust because if God's righteousness is demonstrated in man's unrighteousness then how can God be righteous to pour out his righteous judgment how can man be responsible is is really the the the logic and I understand that these are kind of dense verses but but that's the tract that he is on and then in parentheses Paul says I'm speaking in human terms meaning human logic is not divine reasoning it's human logic would come to that conclusion so Paul answers that now in verse 6 and he says it again what he said in verse 3 or what he said in verse 4 may it never be and Paul just like brings the sledgehammer down on that faulty argument and may it never be could be translated nonsense with an exclamation point god forbid may it never be for otherwise how will God judge the world then God would be barred from judging the world following your logic that well if the unrighteousness of man enhances the righteousness of God then God could never judge and fairly and justly and rightly and so he says may it never be because God will unleash his judgment on all unbelieving Jews just like all unbelieving Gentiles so let there be no mistake there's no special category for anyone to be who will escape the judgment of God who is outside of the Lord Jesus Christ so that's the third objection now the fourth objection is in verse seven and it too comes in the form of two questions and it is a supposed attack by Paul against the holiness of God and so in verse 7 but if through my lie the truth of God abound abounded to his glory in other words if the more I tell lies that just causes God's truth to stand out even more it's the old illustration of the black velvet backdrop and the sparkling diamond the darker the velvet black dropped the more the diamond sparkles and so the objection that is being raised against Paul in fact in verse eight is so serious that it's not an imaginary objection this is what people are actually slandering against Paul and falsely accusing Paul of teaching now Paul's never said this but people are are not connecting the dots correctly on it on his teaching and so look at verse seven again but if through my lie the truth of God abounded to his glory in other words if my sin glorifies God if the more person lies the more the truth of God is enhanced he answers that or that the the logical conclusion is why I am why am i also still being judged as a sinner why does God still want to judge me if my sin would bring greater glory to God because it's in such stark contrast with who God is I mean it's really bizarre how some people will take your teaching and then extend it out to false conclusions and then lay that at your feet it's almost hard to get into the mind of verses one three five and seven because people have so exaggerated what what Paul has taught as found in verse in chapters one and two that that it's hard to actually get into the mind of these questions because they're so far away from the truth and so far away from what Paul was saying yet nevertheless that's the reality of the jungle that Paul's having to hack his way through so verse eight and why not say and in parentheses as we are slandered slanderously reported and as some claim that we say you know you just can't stop the rumour mill and you just cannot stop people talking behind your back and you cannot stop people's erroneous thinking when they're away from you and how it's exasperated when they come together and talk among themselves which only intensifies how far away they are drifting from what the teacher actually said and the truth that was put forward that they actually have a leverage principle at work as they talk among themselves they're just getting further and further away from actually the sound teaching that was being said and I know that for example anytime I teach on let's say the doctrine of sovereign election people oh he's anti evangelism he's anti missions he he's anti prayer he's anti personal holiness he's anti human responsibility no I never said that I never even implied that I never even came close to implying that but people will take what you say and then come to wrong conclusions and then as they talk among themselves they catapult themselves further away from the truth until it comes to such a point they actually slander the teacher because they've gotten so far away from what his words even actually were and quite frankly they weren't even well taught enough to be able to rightly connect what he was saying there were so many gaps in their understanding they were incapable of being entrusted with what they were hearing they were like little children playing with a loaded revolver I mean they knew enough to be dangerous because they were drawing wrong conclusions based upon the truth that was being talked that's the dynamic of what's going on here and I and I do understand in these verses it's it's kind of hard to get into the middle of pulse thinking because it's kind of like some of us may be thinking well who in the world would think of that I mean that's as Jay Vernon McGee would say stinkin thinking I mean that's just so far off that's just this is hypothetical isn't it no it's not hypothetical Paul wouldn't waste eight verses in the book of Romans to talk about something that's superfluous there's only so much everything is important and this was obviously important enough that it finds itself in the book of Romans that every time this book is opened there it is teaching every generation down through the centuries of these erroneous false conclusions that people come to based upon sound teaching and based upon sound doctrine so back back to verse 8 Paul will answer at the end of verse 8 in fact Paul answers so abruptly that he really doesn't even want to honor the bad questions the questions are so bad that he doesn't want to waste ink to answer them and it's kind of like what he does in Romans chapter 9 he just cuts off you know how does he still find fault who are you oh man to answer back to God and Paul just abruptly cuts off in Romans 9 this imaginary objector that's what he does here and so he gives the answer to the two questions that are in verse seven and and then in verse a their condemnation is just now we would ask the question whose condemnation the people that are answering this stupid asking these stupid questions that's whose condemnation is just in other words don't lay this at my feet this is late at their feet this isn't a reflection on me this is a reflection on them their condemnation is just meaning they will be judged by God for such foolish miss understood misconstrued conclusions Paul just cuts it off right here and just in essence this is the end of this discussion I have nothing more to say other than to turn you over to God and their condemnation is just so I understand that these are kind of challenging verses they are for me if that's any comfort to you to get into the argument that Paul is making before he will bring his summation which we will look at next time in verse 9 so let me wrap this up and I'm going to open it up for questions and comments and insight that here's kind of the the application the so what and I've already said it but I some of these but I want to make sure we get this number one how privileged you and I are to have been taught the Word of God I am in all that God has so favored me that I have grown up in a Christian family with Christian parents and was exposed through Christian ministries and sound churches the truth of the word of God let us not let that pass our notice this morning and the argument that he makes here with the Jew is the same argument to be made for each and every one of us and we are an island we are on an island of truth in the midst of an ocean of lies and apostasy I mean we're like on a tiny little island in the Pacific Ocean an island of truth in the midst of an ocean of lies and apostasy what a privileged small little plot of land we're on we're not the only one and that their God has a remnant but relatively speaking in this world right now I don't know that we can fully comprehend how privileged we are that's number one you need to thank God that in the goodness of his Providence he has put you in Dallas Texas United States of America and given you access to churches and Bible studies where the truth has been made known to you second I want to remind you of how trustworthy this word of God is that God is true and let every man be found a liar who disagrees with God all that matters is what does God have to say a one word synonym for truth is reality it's the way things really are and the way things really are is what God says in his word man is what God says man is sin is what God says sin is salvation is what God says salvation is salvation is received as God says it is to be received heaven and hell is what God says heaven and hell is the final judgment is what God says the final judgment is that is reality and anything that disagrees with the Word of God is a lie it is a lie from the pit of hell that's the second thing that we take from this the third is the certainty of the wrath of God and that's how Paul began this whole section in chapter 1 verse 18 and he comes back to it now in verse 5 and 6 but God is the God who inflicts wrath hell is not air-conditioned hell is a real place that will go on forever and the Vengeance and the fury of an angry god will be poured out with full vengeance unmitigated vengeance upon damned souls in hell forever and ever and ever and the final thing is their condemnation is just and we see that at the universe ate all of God's judgments are right and they are true there is never any injustice with God there's never any inequitable handling that God carries out with sinners it is always an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth the punishment will always fit the crime perfectly and that's what an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth means and it's still in effect that there will be perfect justice and judgment administered by God on the last day and their judgment and condemnation is just so this is this kind of difficult section these difficult verses and there's still a challenge to me in some ways to totally wrap my mind around what all is going on here I have more questions than I have answers but what I have said is true so let me open us up for any questions or thoughts any down there your way Jonathan okay good first one out yeah this is from Karen sue Coley she says why is it so hard for so many Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah and the Savior why they insist their Messiah is still to come well first of all as we will learn later in the book of Romans that God has blinded their eyes and deafened their ears and put a veil over them as his just judgment for rejecting the prophets and for crucifying the Messiah and so they are in a place of hardened reprobation their will yet be a day when all this row will be saved according to Romans 11 and that is yet future but it is God's just judgment for rejecting the light that has already been given to them in addition to them it's just the doctrine of total depravity the same could be said of Gentiles why do Gentiles reject the Lord Jesus Christ many people in Dallas Texas reject Christ is because of the hardness of their own hearts and it's because of the radical corruption of the human nature so thank you for that question yeah someone else anyone around the table even David would it would it be accurate to say that these objectors are not these are not honest well-meaning objections they are willful rejection of the truth particularly with Apollo's noting their condemnation as just yeah it's not just stupid questions yeah people seeking the truth yeah I think you're correct on that David especially as we get to verse 8 where we see that they are slanderous they're kind of nation is just that this is not an innocent little discussion how many angels can dance on the head of a needle type of thing these are people who are intentionally evasive and pushing away from the truth which is why Paul must stop and address this because it's not mere innocent discussion yeah thank you and I think your observation helps clarify even a little bit more clearly and what's being said here yeah as I've started looking at these verses starting in verse one I didn't get the knockout punch until I got to verse eight it starts off seemingly innocent and then as you get to verse a it's like oh wow there's a depth here that I did not initially see yeah someone else thank you for that another one from yeah we got Paul Young on beer and Ruiz from Venezuela tremendous it's a bit of a longer question but he says does verse six have to do with the Armenians objection which attack the doctrines of grace on the base that God would be unfair to select people to go to hell no matter what they do because they just simply were not elect before the foundation of the world how can we answer to that objection yeah I I think Paul does address that in Romans nine Romans nine at the very center of Romans nine becomes an extension of this same kind of the same argument in verse six and answer in verse six you know then then how can he still find fault is what he will say in Romans nine but the answer to that is man is 100% responsible for all the choices and decisions he makes while at the same time God is 100% sovereign and there endwise the tension of mystery and unresolved mystery but we cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater any more than we could be confirm every major doctrine has this same tension I mean let's just take the hypostatic even in Christ he was truly God and truly you go well that's impossible and how he can be fully God fully man well he is and and you can't discard one in favor of the other are you are you're a bona fide heretic you you have to accept both though in our finite mind and how can it be both we'll just trust me it is or we could say how can there be one God who exists in three persons you know it's the other thing define the holy trinity and you lose your mind deny the Holy Trinity and you lose your soul I mean we can't totally wrap our mind around how God is one of three yet he is our who wrote the book of Romans well you say Paul wrote it well I thought it was the Word of God well it is the Word of God it's but well how can it be both did Paul write one word and then God write the second word and been alright the third and then God the fourth no it's 100% God breathed yet Paul of his vocabulary with his personality with his temperament wrote it so it's the same with this I mean how can God be sovereign and judge sin and yet man at the same time be held accountable for his choices and in a strange way God is glorified even in the judgment of sin because he puts his wrath on display he puts his vengeance on display well you know we can't cut off one for the other we have to believe the full counsel of God and put our arms around it all and be content to live with some degree of attention these lines intersect far above our head that's a great question that we just had their from Venezuela so thank you for your question someone else there there are three things that three things that really jump out at me number one you're right about the privilege you talked about growing up in a Christian home going to a church where the Word of God has expounded I think all of us around the room could go could tell the path looking backwards it why we are here now and some of us didn't grow up in a Christian home some of us didn't go to a church where the Word of God was expounded and it's just a beautiful picture to praise the Lord of his Providence how he has guided us on this often not straight path to where we are now yeah I think that too you cannot echo the point enough how blessed we are number two it's interesting the alignment of the unsaved mind the logic of the depravity of man it makes no sense yeah and all the wisdom that is eternal is hidden in the Lord Jesus Christ it's revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ and you can just it's so interesting how we see it on display in life every day we see people that are rational creatures they're smart but they make utter foolish eternally damning decisions because there is no light there is no spiritual light there is no indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the third the third point is the arrogance of man and when I say the arrogance of man as if our opinion on what God should do what is just and what isn't just if it has any airing on the reality of God we wear the creature and we're telling we're defining the Creator the infinite and the Almighty yeah and we're we're approaching God as if somehow our opinion or our actions are going to affect him it's so arrogant and prideful yeah it's it's lowering God to our level right and but then you see in Isaiah 6 when a vision of the Lord is seen Isaiah drops and he says woe is me no that's very good mark I love all three of those observations and sites and yeah I'm just still processing in my mind even when David said earlier just I'm just still thinking about birthday I can't get first eight out of my mind that first eight really ends up being like the interpretive key to understand the tone and the trajectory of what's being kind of thrown at Paul as he's having to answer and then mark what you said about just unbelievers in the irrational illogical conclusions to which they come based upon when they hear certain Christian truths then they take that to ridiculous conclusions as the old saying sin makes you stupid I mean sin will always lead you to draw wrong conclusions from what little truth you hear and what you and David have said have actually helped even clarify in my mind even better what all the dynamic of what's going on here yeah it's interesting the placement of this at the end of this section before he does the summation it's almost like someone preaching a sermon and after the sermon is over just opening it up you know for questions you know from the floor and but Paul opens it up but there's no microphone out there Paul just asks the question himself based upon these slanderous reports that have come to him of conclusions that people are are drawing so it's just an interesting section to me yeah someone else missing you yeah I'm gonna go ahead yeah oh yeah I was just going to say just piggybacking off that I heard a lecture the other day from dr. are seaspar oh he was talking about how you know you have kind of two sides of the spectrum some of the greatest minds in human history reach to vastly different conclusions you have believers who have come and it evaporates the full council God's Word and submitted themselves to it unbelievers who who don't they flat-out rejected brilliant minds and with what he said that I thought was fascinating was when you started a foundation that there is no God you build that on the lie the more consistent you are moving forward from there the further and further away you get the more you're going to distort your own worldview in the morning things just won't make sense cuz of no cohesion you build your foundation on quicksand essentially said the foundation of God's truth so I just kind of see that with these distortions in the text you know you just select the further along you get throughout the text the distortions grow grow grow grow and they're just the inconsistency if you have an unbelieving world view or an unbelieving frame of mind you have no choice but to get to those crazy conclusions because if you're consistent that's where you're gonna end up that so I thought that was coming up yeah now that is a very good observation and there maybe a progression here of going further and further away from the truth even from the first the second to the fourth objection strain further and further away no that's that's that's excellent I like that what were you gonna say well just about your application that you know we're privileged but it is a tremendous responsibility that we have we've been entrusted with the scriptures and now if we do not remember and stay put on the the idea or the reality that all that matters is what God says we are in danger of folding like many denominations and many churches have that they have been entrusted with Scripture and they have caved to the pressures of being inclusive and being more open to change and now all of a sudden what is wrong is correct and they preach that from the pulpit yeah and and you know that's the danger we all have that in the world in that danger because the world is coming after us yeah and if we don't stand firm on the reality of Scripture if we do not remember the Rattus is coming and that whatever the judgment of God is just will be no better than those who have folded backs no that is very good that with this privilege comes great responsibility and and a responsibility to hold the line and drop anchor and not move and it doesn't matter what the denomination says that America world says that nervous Society says all the matters is what does the word of God say and if you're in disagreement with the Word of God then you're just all a bunch of liars because God is true so I think that's a good place for us to draft us uh but Alan thank you for that I'm looking at my friend the clock here and we actually do have a clock now so we're going to be here in two weeks I'm going to be gone to Germany next week to bitten berg Martin Luther and preaching there so I'll be gone for a week be back in two weeks and we'll we'll put a bow on this whole section as Paul will summarize this entire section on condemnation and it is a signature text in the entire Bible on total depravity from the top of man's head to the bottom of his feet every inch every ounce his eyes his ears his mouth his feet his hands the poison of sin has has permeated the entirety of his being so that's what we're going to look at next time and it is the black velvet backdrop that then this diamond is going to be placed and it's going to be so bright and so sparkling that we're going to be in awe that a God would be this gracious and this loving to such undeserving rebels and as we are so that's what we'll look at in two weeks so thank you for joining us via our livestream and I look forward to seeing you in two weeks which will be May 25th 7 o'clock Central Standard Time so look forward to seeing you then maybe it's closing prayer God thank you for this study weave it into our hearts and soul cause the seed to grow in Christ's name amen

Channel: OnePassionMinistries

Views: 6,321

Rating: 4.927928 out of 5

Keywords: Bible, Study, Men's, Men, Word, Scripture, Verses, Romans, Teach, Preach, Steve Lawson, Steven J Lawson, One Passion, One Passion Ministries, Christ, Jesus, Church, God, Believers

Id: GkpuPw2dvgw

Length: 62min 18sec (3738 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 07 2017