His Perfect Love

Guest (Male): How does a person get right with God? That's a question you can't afford to get wrong, and Pastor Matt shows us next on his program His Perfect Love. The Bible makes it clear, the answer is Jesus.

Matt VanderVen: It's been well said forgiveness is man's greatest need and God's greatest achievement. Good to be with you. Welcome to His Perfect Love. As we continue in the Book of Romans, we'll hear about the one-way road to heaven and make sure we're on it or get on it today. I will emphasize that we all fall short on our own and salvation comes through Jesus Christ alone. Here he is in Romans chapter three, pointing out our complete inability to save ourselves.

While we've been making our way, we had justification by faith in chapter one, which is a legal term. And then we saw in chapter two, Paul, through the exhortation of the Holy Spirit, showed that whether you're self-righteous, a moralist, a Jew, or a Gentile, pick whatever you want to put into that bread basket, you're under sin. We have fallen short of the glory of God.

We see that if we just jump ahead for a minute, it all really comes to this summation in verse 19 of chapter three. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped. I joked with the first service that we all know people that we wish would have their mouths stopped. I mean that with all respect.

Circle the word "all" in your Bibles. The world may be guilty before God. That's what it's about, that we may be guilty before God. He's uniting us in this central point. As we've been making our way, we saw in verses one through eight of chapter three where Paul turned around and said, "Now let's deal with the skeptic."

We've dealt with the Jew, the Gentile, the righteous, and the self-righteous. We've dealt with everybody in between that believes they've done it on their own or are a good person. Now let's deal with the skeptic. He explains that if you play this whole skepticism out as though it were a math equation, it's beautiful because you have to check the formula.

He says if you're a skeptic and you believe that God's wrath is unjust because no matter how you live, ultimately you're always going to bring glory to God, that is because God is sovereign. No matter what you and I do, we certainly don't take away His glory. But the problem is when you follow that algebra equation all the way out to its intense degree, you start to see the illogical pattern.

Just because you follow it all the way out, it doesn't mean that God is saying we can do whatever we want, however we want, wherever we want, whenever we want. That is not what He's saying, nor would that be the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are disciples, we are to be obedient, and we are to be surrendered.

He said that condemnation is just because He's a just God and ultimately there is free will. His point is that you have sanctification and you have free will and it's beautiful together as a formula. One without the other is no good. Without grace, you're a robot. If God is in full control and everything is predetermined, it doesn't really matter. If it's all grace and there's no obedience or no looking to God as sovereign and supreme, then you have a lack of reverence.

He talks about that in verse 18. As he goes through and says all have sinned, he says it begins because there's no fear of the Lord. There's no reverence of God, no respect for God. You can't have one without the other in a proper reverence and respect. As he begins this, it comes to the conclusion of a universal guilt of mankind before God.

That brings us to verse nine. He says, "What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin." He did something interesting here. Paul unified himself with a group of people. Circle the word "we." Paul put himself in that. "Are we better than they?"

To understand who the "we" and the "they" are, we need to go back to Philippians chapter three verses four and six. Paul tells us, "though I also might have confidence in the flesh," in other words, self-esteem and self-righteousness. "If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so." He's going to explain his spiritual pedigree.

He says, "I more so. Circumcised on the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin." That makes Paul a Jew, a Hebrew. He says, "a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee." Not only was he a Jew, but he was also a Pharisee. He was one of the seventy as part of the Sanhedrin.

Why is he identifying with that? Because remember he's already made the conclusion that Jew or Gentile alike were under sin. He's using himself. He's saying "we" to the Jews. "We're no different." That's really a big deal. For us here today, we might think that's great. You can turn back to Romans three. You might ask what the big deal is.

How were the Jews identified? By the law. It was their nationalistic identity. Under the law, they believed that they were saved. They also attributed this to Abraham, whom Paul's going to get to in chapter four. He's going to discuss how Abraham was justified. It was not by the law because Abraham was a Gentile. He was the father of the Hebrews and the Jews, but he was a Gentile.

No one is justified by being under the law. The law can't save. He's putting himself in that same situation of saying, "Hey, look at me. I was a Pharisee of Pharisees. I'm no better, I'm no different. I'm in sin. I'm guilty of the same things that you all are being charged." Remember he hadn't been there. He's writing this letter to Rome, a place he hadn't visited yet.

He's writing it from Corinth on his missionary journeys, making his way back to Jerusalem. He's speaking to these people from his heart. He's saying, "I'm not pointing a finger. I'm as guilty as anyone and everyone else." He charged both the Jews and the Greeks. This would have been foreign. This is a big deal because he was basically contradicting everything that they would have learned in Hebrew school.

"I'm a Hebrew. I'm God's chosen people." And yes you are, Israel. The church will never replace that. But that in no way entitles me to salvation. Salvation comes by one thing only, through Jesus Christ. What about the Old Testament saints that didn't have Christ physically manifested? He deals with that in chapter four by saying that righteousness was accounted to him by faith. It's always been about faith.

This isn't a new covenant teaching. This is an underlying teaching through the new and old covenant. It's the entire counsel of God. The point is that by nature a Jewish person, a pagan, or a self-righteous person, when they're born, they're born not in right relationship with God. Original sin has created a spiritual divide.

When we were born, we were born into original sin. Through the sin of Adam and Eve, every single baby that's born is born into sin and we need a redeemer. So no matter what we did when we were born, we were already at enmity with God. According to the word of God, what we actually see is that we are a creation of God, not a child of God. It's not till we're born-again believers in Christ that we become a child of God.

That has everything to do with our identity in Christ. Paul demonstrates that we're under sin and therefore under condemnation and wrath. Remember he was building this case of wrath for those that would either reject Christ or even for the moralist who says, "I've done good things in my life." Even them. He says no, there's no one that's lived a perfect, good life.

It's not against your brother or sister's standard. You might think you're better than them, but first of all don't do that. Nobody's arrived. Number two, that's not the standard. The standard's God, Christ. If you're looking to your brother or sister, you're looking in the wrong place. Look to God and then measure by that same standard. How are you doing? We're all under sin. It's the way we were born.

In the Greek lexicon, it's this idea of being a slave to sin. When it says "under sin," it implies that one cannot break free on their own accord. If you're a slave, you're in bondage. If you're in bondage and you're held, it's against your will. There's a war going on between the spirit and the flesh. Just because we have been born again in Christ doesn't mean that the old man just went hands off and you'll never have temptation again.

You thought the first day you were saved that you were great, until the second day you woke up and the first time oppression and affliction came you wondered what happened. You thought you accepted Christ, and all of a sudden you feel like you didn't sign up for this. This is not part of the plan. I started recognizing this and realizing that it's a sanctification walk. It's a work from faith to faith.

Paul's going to build on this just in case we weren't already convinced. As we read verses 10 through 18, pay attention and examine the scripture before you. Look at what he's doing. He's physiologically going from head to toe. There's no coincidence in that. He's going to unite all the body parts. Jesus did the same thing. Remember when Jesus said if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out?

He didn't really physically mean to pluck it out because what was he trying to point to? If you pluck it out, you're still going to sin because you have another eye. What's the real issue? Is it the eyes or is it the heart? That's what he was pointing to. You can cut off your arm, but your other arm's going to betray you. Your emotions will betray you. Your feelings will betray you.

Paul, through the Holy Spirit, says, "As it is written..." This is important. He's going back into the Psalms and into the Old Testament, showing that this is nothing new. This is also what he's building for the case for the Jew. This was always prophesied and you shouldn't be surprised by it.

"As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have altogether become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Let that sink in for a minute. "There is no fear of God before their eyes." So what's he saying? Well let's start back at verse 10. "There is none righteous, no, not one." Again, this is not a new idea. This is brought up in three different places in the Old Testament, carrying a similar sentiment. If you look up Psalm 14 verse three, Psalm 53 verse three, and Ecclesiastes chapter seven verse 20. Solomon was inspired to write that as he was also saying there's nothing new under the sun.

You came in here this morning excited, and then you just got super condemned in your heart. You've got this pricking going on. All of a sudden we open the word of God and that two-edged sword so gently goes in and begins to remind us who we are without Christ. Who we were. And we have friends and family members that are still in that place without hope.

He wants us to understand our complete inability to save ourselves. He leaves no room for anything else. There's no room for anyone to come back and say, "I've arrived." Thank you, Jesus. One of the first early signs of sin that we saw was in Satan himself, Lucifer, in Isaiah 14 when he says, "I will be like the God Most High." Five times he speaks that. What is that called? Pride.

If we could do it ourselves, what would we be heaping up? Pride. He protected us from ourselves through His gift of grace. It's brilliant. It's just brilliant the way he did this. Obviously, we know that the Fall that's recorded in Genesis 3 has touched every part of the human condition. We see it here in verses 13 through 18, from the head to the toe as you look at that examination.

He says no, there's none who seeks after God. I think we deceive ourselves sometimes into thinking that man on his own really does seek after God. I mean, don't all the religion and rituals we see throughout history practiced demonstrate that man seeks after God? It would be the opposite of what God just said here in verse 10, that there is none who seeks after God.

I would say no, not at all. I don't think man seeks the true God of the Bible innately on his own. I think man typically in his nature without Christ seeks idols, things that he can make with his human hands. The first thing Aaron did is make a golden calf which he could worship, even though he had the living God speaking right before him.

Is it not a stretch? Is it hard for us to see that what God says here is true? People take beads and even the cross. It's a death instrument. It can be made an idol to look to. We have to be careful. What about your family? Your friends? What about your children, your spouse, your parents? Can we make them idols? Can we put them in places of esteem and authority that only God belongs?

I think the answer is yes, we can. I know in my life personally, I have. I love my boys, but I've certainly placed them in a position of worship before. I want the best for them and that's all wonderful. But where's my faith? Is it in God, or is it in what I can control and manipulate to invoke something for my children? It's something I've had to wrestle with over the years.

I thank God He wants to get a hold of our hearts. Now, is there anything wrong with loving your kids and being willing to die for them? Of course not. That's built into you as a parent. You just don't put them in the place of God. Is there anything wrong with having nice things? Certainly not. Some of you got into a nice vehicle this morning. It was even warm because in your house you hit a button and it started for you.

We have the technology. We can warm our cars, and I want to know why we can't remotely turn on the toaster. Put the bread in, set a timer. I've seen cartoons like the Jetsons where the thing comes up and the coffee gets made. I want one of those smart houses. My house isn't smart like that. My car doesn't even start on its own.

We can make those things idols, but there's nothing wrong with having a nice home. God's blessed you with it. It's what you do with it. There's nothing wrong with having possessions as long as they don't become the idol. We just have to be careful of that and be mindful not to let that switch happen.

I call it having one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom. It's the closest thing I can relate it to. I used to work for Microsoft and I had a very affluent job with them for 14 years. I didn't have a financial need or want. I could have multiple houses, cars, and boats. Whatever we wanted, wherever we wanted.

I understand what Paul says: "When I've had little, when I've had much." But in all things, contentment. Contentment in that because it's not that thing that brings me joy or completeness. It's Christ and Christ alone. Paul's going through this very clearly. We have to just be careful when he says there's none that seek after God. Share that with your friends who are moralists and think they've lived a good life. Have you never lied? Have you never coveted?

Guest (Male): Pastor Matt VanderVen has been in Romans chapter three. A section of scripture that reveals how a person is made right with God. Not through the law, our own ability, but through faith in Christ. This is His Perfect Love.

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