Roaming Through Romans Lesson 7: Romans 2:17-3:8

So yeah, so we come this morning to week 6, page 30, and we come to Romans chapter 2, verse 17, through Romans chapter 3, verse 8. Let me catch us up to speed real quickly. You'll remember at the end of Romans chapter 1, verses 18 through 32, Paul was speaking very directly to Gentile people.

And he was laying out a lot of the particular sins that would have been especially prevalent in the Gentile community, those who would be openly pagan, openly rebellious to the things of the Lord, and he lists a lot of the ways of that lifestyle. says that the wrath of God is coming on these people for their rebellion against him. And so then when you get to chapter 2 verse 1, he turns his attention to the Jew, to what we might call the moral man or the religious man. And he begins to address this religious man, this moral man, the Jew, from chapter 2 verse 1 through to chapter 3 verse 8. And the reason he does this is because The Jew, and again, I mean that in the religious sense, right, this morally seemingly upright man, this religious man, we might say that in our day and age, you know, the regular church attender who just sort of has an external morality about him, he's thinking to himself when he gets to the end of Romans 1 and he's reading this book, he's received this letter, he's a Roman person, he receives this letter, and he's thinking, man, you know, those rotten Gentiles, I am just so glad I'm not like them, right? He's looking down on these other people. And then Paul turns it on him and he says in chapter 2 verse 1, therefore you, so he changes it from they, them, thinking about Gentiles in verses 18 through 32 of chapter 1, to you, yourself. chapter 2.

Sinclair Ferguson said it's sort of like that story where Nathan the prophet addresses David, King David, after his sin with Bathsheba, and remember what he says to him, thou art the man? Romans chapter 2 is sort of like that. It's thou art the man. That's what Paul is doing.

He's saying, you just got really upset and you just got really full of yourself when I talked about all those people over there." And he says, and you know who I was really talking about? I was talking about them, but I was also talking about you. So he switches it on because these people are condemning all these other people, not realizing that they themselves are full of the same sorts of sins in need of the same Savior.

And so what Paul is really doing in chapter 2, verse 1, through chapter three, verse eight, is he is getting rid of any hiding place for humanity from the wrath of God. other than Jesus Christ. He's saying you can't hide underneath comparing yourself to other people and making yourself think you're better than other people. That's not going to save you. You can't find a hiding place in convincing yourself you've kept the law because you haven't kept the law.

He's trying to drive them out, to smoke them out, so to speak, so that they would be driven to Jesus. I mentioned before, but he doesn't do this because he doesn't like them. He does this because he does like them, because he loves them. He's not trying to be mean to them. He's trying to show them that if they look anywhere other than Christ, they will perish. And he wants them to know Christ. He wants them to delight in Christ. He wants them to find joy in Christ.

So that's what he's doing. Well, he continues that in our section today. We come to Romans chapter 2. beginning of verse 17. That's a little bit of a context of where we've been. Let's just read verse 17. We'll just kind of chomp through this a verse at a time. Romans chapter 2 verse 17.

But if you, so again he's talking to these religious morally self-righteous people, but if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God. So what does it mean when he says if you call yourself a Jew? Well, If we look here on our booklet, verse 17 tells you that external church blank is not the ground of your acceptance with God. External church membership. External church membership is not the ground of your acceptance with God. And you're going to see as we go through these verses that I'm going to keep saying this type of thing. External church membership isn't a ground for your acceptance with God. And then I'm going to say that again with other things. Blank is not a ground for your acceptance with God. Blank is not a...

And we're going to keep saying that over and over again. Because when he says, if you call yourself a Jew, in our language it would be, if you call yourself a church member. If you call yourself... Like, that's a good thing, right? To be a church member. That's a very good thing, right? We encourage church membership. But if you're relying upon that, oh, I'm calling myself a Jew, I'm calling myself a member of Second Presbyterian Church, I'm calling myself a member of First Baptist Church, that's not a bad thing. But if you're sort of looking to that as something that would be a ground for your acceptance with God, you are looking to the wrong thing. So you call yourself a Jew, that's not gonna be it.

They thought that they were boasting in God, but they were speaking of God's glory for their own blank, for their own glory. their own glory. So they're speaking of God's glory for their own glory. They're boasting in God on paper, but they're really boasting in God for their own reputation, for their own selves, which is actually not what we should be doing. Yes, we should boast in God, we should boast in the Lord, but we should boast in Him, not for our own Selves for our reputation to be thought well of that's not the point as Galatians 6 14 says this is B on your outline there page 30 You are to boast in the blank the cross right?

That's what Paul says boast in the cross Because the cross says you have nothing to in which to boast. That's what the cross says. You can't boast in anything. You've done nothing. Christ had to be crucified for you. Galatians there, so boast in the cross. And what do you boast, right? That's a question for us. And what do I boast? And what do I find my confidence? Is it in myself? Is it in what I have done? Or is it what Christ has done? That's where we have to boast.

J. Gresham Machen says, The Judaism of the Pauline period does not seem to have been characterized by a profound sense of sin, and the reason is not far to seek.

The legalism of the Pharisees, with its regulations of the minute details of life, was not really making the law too hard to keep." Isn't that interesting? The Pharisees weren't making the law too hard to keep. That wasn't their problem. That wasn't what the Pharisees were doing.

It was really making it too easy. Jesus said to his disciples, The truth is, it is easier to cleanse the outside of the cup than it is to cleanse the heart. If the Pharisees had recognized that the law demands not only the observance of external rules, but also, and primarily, mercy and justice and love for God and men, they would not have been so readily satisfied with a measure of their obedience, and the law would have then fulfilled its great function of being a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ.

So they thought they could sort of manipulate the law such that they could keep it. And in doing so, they were not receiving what we call the first function of the law. And the first function of the law is to show us that we're sinners that drive us to Christ. So in Reformed tradition, I think starting at least with John Calvin, we believe there are three functions of the law. The first is to show us our sin and to drive us to Christ.

And because they were manipulating the law such that they could convince themselves they could keep it, they were not actually being driven by the law to Jesus. And then the quote ends with this brilliant line, a low view of the law leads to blank in religion, legalism. A low view of the law leads to legalism in religion. A high view of the law makes a man a seeker after Grace. A seeker after grace. If you really understand the law, it will make you want God's grace.

Because it will show you, I absolutely have not, cannot, and I will not. I'm not saying I'm not going to try. It's not an excuse for disobedience, but I will not keep God's law. I will not do it. Not because I'm not going to make an effort, not because I don't care, but because when you realize the spirituality of the law, It's unbelievably obvious to any man with the slightest sense of himself that he has not kept it and he's not going to keep it. And that makes me go, have mercy on me, a sinner. I need your grace or I am lost.

Verse 18. Another way that these Jews were trying to find, think they could have acceptance with God is knowledge of God's word is not the ground of your acceptance with God. Knowledge of God's word is not a ground for your acceptance with God. Verse 18. and know his will and approve what is excellent because you are instructed from the law." So you were saying, I know the law. I know what the Bible says. Therefore, my knowledge of these things will make me accepted with God.

Well, mere knowledge of sort of the books of the Bible in a bare external sense is not going to make you accepted with God. Verse 19 and 20. Instructing others is not the ground of your acceptance with God. Instructing others is not a ground for your acceptance with God. So verses 19 and 20 say, And if you are sure 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 children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, So you can picture it here, you have these people, in verse 19 and 20, these religious people who are instructors, they're pastors, they're people who are teachers of the law, and they think in some way this will be a ground of their acceptance. Not only do I, I know the books of the Bible at some level, I even teach them.

And he's saying, that's gonna do you no good. You need Jesus. Your instruction will bring you no closer to Christ if you do not understand the point of it all, which is Jesus. I always love John 5 39 where Jesus says to these same types of people, you search the scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life.

It is they that bear witness about me. Jesus says to them, you search the Bible and you don't even know what it's about. These people, you gotta remember, these people literally probably had more of the Bible memorized than any of us in this room. I mean, these were not dumb people. And he says, you didn't understand what it was about. You search the scripture because in them you think you have eternal life. It is they that bear witness about me. They did not get it. They might have been instructors, but they didn't understand what the Bible was all about.

Verses 21 through 23. He condemns hypocrisy. Again, comparing yourself with others and convincing yourself you're better than other people is not going to be a grounds of acceptance with God. So he condemns hypocrisy is condemned in verses 21 through 23. They may not be doing these things outwardly, the things of verses 21 and 23, but in their hearts they commit theft, idolatry, and adultery. What was the result of this sort of heart is that the Gentiles Blasphemed God, chapter two, verse 24. They blasphemed God. So you're blank stare at hypocrisy and blasphemes. Let me read these verses.

You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? So you're over there telling everybody else where they're supposed to be, what are you doing, right? What does your life look like? Open your eyes, right? Like you've got like, it's just so, it's powerful stuff.

While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who uphold idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For as it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." So they're teaching and preaching, and yet they're doing the very same things, if not externally, certainly internally, and yet they don't have the humility to acknowledge it.

The truth is, guys, we realize that we do. I'm not saying it's the same thing to actually physically go do something and think it, but we've thought we have thought the very things that we would be absolutely appalled by that other people do. And frankly, we've done some of many of those things at some degree. And it's not to beat us up, but it's that we have to realize that this is the tendency of all of our hearts here to go, you know, Well, I'm not doing that. And the truth is, in our hearts, we are doing it. We've done those things. And again, at some level in our deeds, too.

And so we just have to realize this is what Paul is saying. hold on, check yourself, right? Watch out because, you know, I love again Acts 20 where Paul says, keep a careful watch on yourselves, he says to the elders. And then he says also keep a watch over the flock. But the elders, and that's of course applies specifically to those who are elders, but it applies to all of us. We need to watch ourselves before we're just, you know, shooting bullets at everybody else.

So verse 23 talks about the spirituality of the law, the spirituality of the law. The gospel is good news only to those who see themselves to be sinners. So verse 23 expounds the spirituality of the law because it says you who boast in the law, that is the external aspects of the law, dishonor God by breaking the law because spiritually you're not really keeping it. So it's talking about the spirituality of the law. Verses 25 through 29, tell you another way.

So you can't have acceptance with God by church membership as a ground for acceptance with God. You can't have acceptance with God because you have sort of the Bible, basically, externally. You can't be accepted by God because you're an instructor. That doesn't make you an accepted person with God. You can't be accepted with God by simply comparing yourselves with other people and being a hypocrite and thinking you're better than them. And then now he moves to another way. You can't be accepted with God in this way.

Verses 25 through 29. Circumcision is not the ground of acceptance with God. Circumcision. So let's read the verses. Verses 25 through 29. For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law. There's the problem. They don't obey the law. But if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart by the spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man, but from God."

So, This whole deal here on circumcision, A here under point five, you could apply the same thing to blank, to baptism. You can apply the same thing to baptism. Circumcision was never meant to save. Circumcision and baptism are not meant to save you. They are meant to point you to the one who can save you." So that blank there's can save you. They miss the entire point of circumcision as many do with baptism. So a lot of people miss the point of baptism as well.

None of these privileges, as real and valuable as they are, say they are valuable. Paul said they're valuable. the first part of chapter 2 verse 25. For circumcision indeed is of value, replace that with baptism. For baptism indeed is of value, is of value to have been baptized.

That isn't just a bare thing, it's a real thing. But it's only valuable if it points you to Christ. When you think of your baptism, what it's saying to you is, I need to be cleansed. I need the righteousness of Christ. I need the shed blood of Christ.

It's preaching the gospel to you. It's saying God set his stamp of love upon me, if you were baptized as an infant, before I was even capable of articulating anything. when I was at my most vulnerable, or even if you were an adult when you were baptized. It's saying, God set his love upon me, not because of anything in me. He set it upon me not because I'm so good, but because he's merciful. That's what baptism is preaching. Baptism is not so much about our faith as it is about God's faithfulness. He is saying, I am faithful. I care for my people. I am not I am not just sort of this tyrant. I care. I promise to be committed to my people. And so it is preaching this great message of sovereign free grace to undeserving sinners, whether as an infant or an adult or at any other point when someone is baptized. It's preaching God's faithfulness to that person.

But if we get caught up in the bare sign, oh, I've been baptized, and we think that somehow that in and of itself is going to save me, then we've missed the whole point. Oh, I've been circumcised. It doesn't matter if you haven't been driven to the one to whom all these things point. Ferguson says the misstep Paul's contemporaries made is always a danger.

Christians, too, can very subtly focus on and then rely on externals as a ground for their acceptance with God. We can receive baptism in the Lord's Supper, too. and substitute these things for faith and new obedience, being baptized, but not living the baptized life, receiving communion, but not living in communion with the Lord. Verse 28 and 29 teach that blank circumcision slash baptism does not do a person any good. Physical. So verse 28 and 29, physical circumcision slash baptism doesn't do a person any good if they do not, if they are not driven to the spiritual significance to which it points.

So we've got to be driven to the spiritual significance to which it points. Let me read that again, verses 28 and 29. Well, I mean, imagine, you know, I'm sure those people felt like it was pretty outward and physical, right? But he's saying, But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the spirit, not by the letter."

So we've got to be driven to the spiritual significance. And this is actually really interesting because it's obvious in the Old Testament, and especially when you get to the days of the Pharisees. the days of Christ, for example, it's obvious that the Pharisees did not understand that. It's obvious that they thought that their circumcision was, you know, automatically able to sort of, I mean, much probably like Roman Catholics would view baptism today, right? That, in their case, their view, right, is that baptism cleanses us of our original sin, and the language is, you know, that it works Ex operea operata, right?

It works automatically. That's the Latin phrase, right? It just works automatically. It just does. Baptism. Just throw the water on, boom. Job well done. And that's sort of the way that they would have viewed circumcision, right? You get circumcised, it just works. It just does.

But what's so interesting is, even though these guys clearly didn't know their Bibles very well, and I don't deny that, at least on an external level, they didn't know how to interpret it, apparently. I mean, at some level, it's very obvious they didn't understand the Scriptures. That's what Jesus says in, do you not understand the Scripture? Jesus is arguing with them at points, and he'll say, have you not read? And of course they had read, right? They probably even maybe had it memorized. And he says, have you not read? And they're thinking, I have read. He said, well, you didn't understand, right?

That's his point. Well, why do I say all that? Because circumcision, here on page 31, point I, underneath point B, circumcision always pointed to the blank, the heart. Circumcision always pointed to the heart. I'm not going to have us turn to all these passages, but Deuteronomy 10, 16, Deuteronomy 30, verse 6, Jeremiah 4, 4, and especially, probably the best of all, is Jeremiah 9, 25, and 26. All these Old Testament passages tell you that circumcision was about the heart.

What I love especially about the Deuteronomy passages is, do you remember who wrote the book of Deuteronomy? Moses, the same man who wrote the book of Genesis, Genesis 17, where circumcision was instituted. So why is that of some value for us to remember? Because when Moses wrote, by divine inspiration, Genesis 17, when circumcision was instituted, it's first instituted and he writes about it, He later writes books like Deuteronomy, and he writes verses like chapter 10, verse 16, and chapter 30, verse 6, which explicitly tell you, you can go look at it, but it explicitly tells you that it was about the heart.

So from the very beginning, the human author who wrote about circumcision, the first person who ever wrote about it, you know, in the Bible, writes about it in Genesis 17, institutes it, and then tells you a couple books later, that it's explicitly always about the heart.

So from the very beginning, it was always about the heart. It was never just a bare sign. The very first person who wrote about it said it's about your heart. So Ferguson notes, it was never appropriate to think that a circumcised body substituted for a circumcised heart. So a circumcised blank body substituted for a circumcised heart.

So Romans 3, so he's just continuing to smoke out any hiding places, and he's gonna continue to do that into chapter 3. Chapter 3, verses 1 through 8, this is the final section where he's directly addressing the Jews. Then next week, Lord willing, we'll see he turns his attention to both the Jews and the Greeks, and how they all need Christ. So it's what he's been building up to this whole time, that everybody needs Jesus. So chapter 3, in verses 1 through 8, We're going to see a pattern here. And to be frank, it's kind of complex, but the pattern isn't, but the particular verses can be complex, but the pattern is pretty simple. What he's going to do is he's going to say, here's an objection the Jews are going to raise. He's argued with these people.

He knows what he's going to say. He's going to say, you're going to argue this. So you're going to set forth their objection, and then you're going to answer their objection. You're going to set forth another objection, he's going to answer that objection. You can do that through verses, chapter 3, verses 1-3. He's going to do it over and over. He's going to say, here's your objection, here's my answer.

Here's your objection, here's my answer. So that's what's going to happen. That's the pattern. Some of the particulars can get complex, but that is the pattern, which is quite simple. Objection, answer, objection, answer. Verse 1 anticipates an objection.

Paul, this is basically what chapter 3 verse 1 is saying, Paul, you don't think the Jews have any advantages over the Gentiles. You're a heretic, right? We're the people of God. You don't even think we have any advantages. That's ridiculous. You know that's not true. You're a heretic. Look what he says.

Then what advantage has the Jew? So what advantage do we have? You're saying we don't have any advantages. Or what is the value of circumcision? And then he's going to answer that objection. So that's one of their objections. Now he answers it. Verse 2 answers the objection of verse 1 by stating that the Jews had many advantages. So Paul says, yes, you do have many advantages. I have many advantages being born a Jew. Chiefly, they were entrusted with the oracles of God. That's what verse 2 says. These oracles were the depositories of God's blank revelation. The depository of God's special revelation. The Jews were entrusted with the written word of God. So again, let's make this concept right into our own day and age.

Okay, so What advantage does a covenant child have? Do they have no advantages? They absolutely have advantages, right? It's undeniably obvious that they have advantages. They were Lord willing and raised in the church. They heard the gospel preached, hopefully hundreds, maybe thousands of times. They hopefully saw, obviously imperfectly, but they saw some example of it lived out by their parents. They would have been baptized, all these different things. They have tons of advantages. But But that doesn't mean they're going to be saved, right? They've got to trust in Christ. They've got to repent of their sins.

An old analogy I've always heard, which I found helpful is, and I'll try to be brief, but there's that analogy, which is who is more likely, from a human standpoint, to become a professional violinist? The child who is born into the family whose mom and dad are expert musicians and, you know, love to play the violin, and have every intention of teaching their child the violin as they grow up, or the kid who grows up with parents who don't play instruments and don't really care about music. Both of them could grow up to be professional violinists, it's certainly possible, but it's also not wrong to say this one has an advantage. This one was growing up in an environment where music was loved, the violin was played, it was appreciated, this one was not, God could bring people into that person's life, you know, who love violin and help them to see the beauty of violin. But just humanly speaking, they did have an advantage.

And so that's what we're saying here. But it's all, of course, with salvation, it is different. And, you know, I don't want to mislead us. It's all the sovereign work of God. He's the only one who saves anybody that are born into a covenant home or not. God is the one who does it.

But yes, the Jews had these advantages. They had the special revelation. They had Bibles, so to speak, in our language. They had copies of the word. they had heard it in a way that the Greeks, the Gentiles, would not have. Verse 3 anticipates another objection.

So, Paul, you claim that many Jews are not believers, even though God gave them many advantages. So if you do say they have advantages, if you do say that, Paul, then why aren't they believers? If God gave the Jews many advantages and yet many of them do not believe, does that make God unfaithful? So if you're gonna grant that they have advantages, why in the world aren't they all believers? Like, what's going on here, Paul?

Is God not being faithful? Well, then Paul answers the objection, verse 4. Verse four answers the objection of verse three by stating that God is always blank to his word. God is always faithful to his word. Even if every single person were to be a liar, God would always be faithful. The issue was not that God was unfaithful to the Jews, but that the Jews were unfaithful to blank, unfaithful to God. So Paul's answer is God is always faithful to his word. the reason that some of these Jews, many of them were not believers, is because they're being unfaithful to God.

They're the problem, right? Take that child who grows up with the parents who love the violin. That kid grows up and he becomes a violin smasher. He loves to break violins. You just, you know, you see the violin and he breaks it. Okay, that had nothing, well, you know, hopefully had nothing to do with the parents. Parents were hopefully great parents, but if the kid doesn't want to learn violin and he thinks music is stupid, I mean, that's not the parents' fault. You know, that's the child's fault. They've been great, you know, in this ideal situation.

So what does it mean to say that God is always faithful to his word, even to those who are outside of Christ? So Paul says God is always faithful to his word, even to those who are outside of Christ. Well, this means that he will be faithful to blank them justly, to judge them justly. God is going to be faithful to his word, either to judge or to save. he will be faithful. God is never unfaithful to his word.

So point three. Verse five is another objection. If you claim that our unrighteousness, we're the Jewish people, and if you claim that our unrighteousness shows how righteous God is, he would be unrighteous to condemn us for it." So this one is the most complex, I think, but hopefully we can try to catch it. This one is definitely the most complex, but what he's basically saying is, so here you are, you're saying that we are unrighteous, but that God will show his righteousness in judging us. So God will ultimately, it's sort of like the next one, God will in some ways be glorified even through our sin. So does that make unrighteousness, let's see how Ferguson puts it because he's better than I am, he says Does that mean it would be unrighteous for God to condemn us for it? Like, if God is going to sort of be glorified for this thing, does that mean that God would be unrighteous to condemn us for something that ultimately brings Him glory, is essentially what they're saying, which is basically what they say again in the next couple of verses.

So it's a bit more complex. I wrote this down. I will read it, and we might not really understand it, and that is okay, because I reread it this morning, and I thought, man, this is hard. And I remember when I worked on this, When I wrote this, I worked on it for a long time. That doesn't mean it's good, but I am just saying I worked on it for a really long time, and I tried to distill it the best I could, and I thought it was okay, and then I reread it, and I thought, man, this is tough. So I'm going to read it. We might just have to admit our limitations, at least mine, and move on.

But when Paul states, for how then could God judge the world, he is saying we all agree that God is going to judge the world. So everybody agrees God's going to judge the world, at least in this, these people did. They all agreed God is going to judge the world. That is a given.

But you suggest that God cannot judge the unrighteousness of the world because when he does it, when he does, it serves as an occasion to display his righteousness. But you and I both know that God is going to judge the world. You cannot deny that God is going to judge the world just because you don't like the fact that God will show forth his righteousness when he judges the world. God is going to judge the world, it's going to show forth his righteousness, you don't like that, therefore he's not allowed to do it, essentially what they're saying. And Paul is saying, no, he's allowed to do it, he's God. God will judge the world, it will show forth his righteousness, and he will not be unrighteous to do this. verses 7 and 8 anticipate, start of verse 8, anticipate another objection.

If God can be glorified, I remember asking my dad this and arguing with him as like a 13-year-old, if God can be glorified even when I sin, why am I still being condemned as a sinner, right? If I am saved by grace, I might as well live however I want. It's exactly pretty much what I argued with my dad. Verse, and who knew the Bible had already answered my question. Weird as a 13 year old, I didn't like my dad's answer. Isn't that weird? You'd think a 13 year old would love their father's answer. I didn't like my dad's answers. I didn't like my dad's answers. Yeah, turns out I was wrong.

Verse 8, last half of verse 8, answers the objection of the previous point by stating that this is slanderous and those who promote this type of thinking will be blank blank justly condemned. They will be justly condemned. Commenting on the words, their condemnation is just, Hendrickson states, he means those who flaunt this slogan, so those who flaunt this slogan, the slogan of antinomianism, and we'll comment on that in a moment, will receive their just retribution. the people who so wickedly misrepresent the doctrine we proclaim will get what they deserve. So these people who are twisting it and making it say all these horrible things, they're going to get their just reward, which will be not good for them. Ferguson says, the suggestion that one should sin in order to promote God's glory is manifestly false and indeed perverse.

There is no more to be said. and then I just have here Paul condemns blank Paul condemns antinomianism if you're not familiar antinomianism you may know but you know it's that belief it literally comes right from anti meaning like against and then nomos means law so against the law against the law is the sort of etymological you know understanding but the idea is antinomianism is, if I'm saved by grace, I might as well live however I want, right? Because God saved me, you know, he's redeeming me in his grace, therefore I can just go do whatever I want, which Paul condemns that idea many times, even in this very book, that that is not a correct conclusion. I mean, I think it should be, I mean, we can understand it maybe in our sinfulness, but I think it should be pretty obvious, right?

Like if, if somebody gave their life for you, and they told you, like, that they love you, and they died for you, and that this was a great way for you to live your life. And they were, you know, let's say they had all knowledge, and knew everything and knew what was best for you. And then they died for you and said, Hey, I'm dying for your sins. And this is the best way for you to live. He said, man, so glad they died for you.

I'm gonna go do whatever I want. That has nothing to do with what they told me. I think we should know, just intuitively, that that's not a good way to live. And again, we're not talking about somebody who's a fellow person just like us. We're talking about somebody who actually knows what's best for us, and they're saying, I'm willing to die for you and save you, and I'm telling you that this is the best way for you to live your life.

We should have a desire to obey that. That's my point. That should encourage obedience, not lawlessness. But here's just how we conclude. What we've seen again is Paul has been excluding every way of salvation because he loves us. He's trying to drive us to Jesus. There's nowhere else the religious moral man can go because Christ is the only way, and that's what we see here in our conclusion. Hide and seek is a children's game. You don't want to attempt that when you're thinking of eternity and thinking of God and how you can be accepted by him. The salvation of your soul is no small thing. What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Who is your refuge? How can I have a clean conscience? How can I be ready for the judgment to come?

Listen to the writer of Hebrews. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify you for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God. purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Hebrews 9 says, only the blood of Christ can save you. So you say, Pastor, how do I, how do I? It's done. You don't work for it. You don't earn it. You don't merit it. You simply believe and receive Christ as your Savior and Lord.

So Cooper was right when he said, there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins and sinners plunge beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. Hiding places? Is there no hiding place? Yes, there is one Jesus Christ who shed his blood for sinners like you and me, so that we could also sing with toplity While I draw this fleeting breath, when mine eyelids close in death, when I soar to worlds unknown, see thee on thy judgment throne, rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. Yes, there is a hiding place, and it is Jesus Christ, the rock of ages, the Savior of sinners. So do you see then what Paul has been doing since chapter 2 verse 1 through chapter 3 verse 8? He is showing there is no place for the Jew or the Gentile to go for salvation but to blank, blank, blank, to Jesus Christ alone.

You are condemned if you think comparing yourself with other people will make you acceptable to God. You are condemned if you think your background or upbringing will make you acceptable to God. You are condemned if you think your law-keeping will make you acceptable to God. You are condemned if you think your religiosity will make you acceptable to God. You are condemned if you think God's way of salvation is unjust and unreasonable. That's basically what they were saying in chapter 3, 1 through 8.

Paul has destroyed every conceivable refuge but one. Lord willing, we will turn to this one refuge next time. All right. Well, there's a lot there. Thank you for your time. It's exciting to see we're getting to this final point. He's been building this for this whole time. This next lesson will be the one he's been building through the whole time we've been meeting.

Let's pray. Almighty God, we do praise You that You love us enough to tell us that there is no refuge other than in Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and You love us enough to say, You can sit there and compare Yourself to other people and tell Yourself You're really good, but You're really no different in heart than that individual, and what You need is Christ, and what they need is Christ. We can't look to anything else, Lord. We praise you for the privileges and blessings of baptism. We praise you for the privileges and blessings of growing up in covenant homes, but no such thing can cause a person to be born again.

We must look to Christ, and with all those blessings, we pray that we will be driven to the one to whom they point. Our baptisms have pointed us to Jesus. The Lord's Supper has pointed us to Jesus. Every time we've heard the Word open and preached faithfully, it has pointed us to Jesus. Every time we've read our Bibles, it's pointed us to Jesus. Whether we've seen it or not, that's the point.

You search the Scriptures because in them you think there is eternal life. but it is they that bear witness about me. I pray that we would know the me to whom the scriptures point, that we would love the Lord Jesus Christ, that you would increase our faith and our delight in him, forgive us of our many sins, cleanse us of our unrighteousness, have mercy on us, and cause us to be the aroma of Christ in a watching and dying world. In Christ's name, amen.