The Word Made Plain

Guest (Male): Welcome to the word made plain with senior pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, pastor Tony is teaching through the book of Romans. Please open your Bible to Romans chapter 3 verses 1 through 8.

Tony Clark: God is not like us. In other words, this protester is saying, can the unbelief of some cause God to break his word to the whole nation? Paul answers in verse 4. Certainly not. Indeed, let God be true and let every man be a liar as it is written that you may be justified in your words and may overcome when you are judged. Paul says, certainly not. He uses the strongest terms he could by saying the self- justifying of the entire nation could not stand up to God's truth. Let God be true and every man a liar.

Then Paul uses scripture to justify his position showing that he wasn't coming up with something new that there is scripture in the Old Testament to back this up. He quotes David in Psalm 51 and verse 4. And Paul uses verse to show that even though David sinned, watch this, God judged him. It didn't change God's plan for David's life. This is so important for us to see what Paul is saying. Yes, as believers, we're going to blow it. We're going to sin and God is going to judge us for our disobedience. But it is not going to change God plan for our lives.

This is the whole reason why God judges us here upon the earth to bring us to repentance and back in line with his will for our lives. Hebrews 12 and verse 6 says, God disciplines those he loves. God loves us and has a wonderful plan for us. Uh Jeremiah 29 verse 11, I know the thoughts I think towards you said the Lord, thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Yes, God has a wonderful plan for our lives. Yes, we blow it. Yes, we sin. He disciplines us to put us back on track with his plan and his will for us.

This is why God disciplines us when we sin, when we blow it because he doesn't want us to miss out on the wonderful plan he has for our lives. So when we get crazy and start doing stupid boneheaded things, he spanks us to bring us back in line with his plan for our lives. Now the protester continues in verse 5. Look what he says there. But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, well, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? I speak as a man. Now Paul anticipates the protester wanting to rationalize their sin instead of repenting of their sin.

Huge difference. Notice what I said. He wanted to rationalize his sin instead of repenting from his sin. Or does this describe you? Are you trying to rationalize and justify your sin of why it is okay to live with someone you're not married to playing husband and wife claiming economic reasons, claiming love, we're in love, claiming, well, the wedding is just around the corner. Well, when is it? Well, it's 5 years from now, but it's just around the corner. So we we might as well or or or or you justify by treating that person like a used car lot.

You said, what do you mean? Well, you go to used car lot to buy a car and before you buy the car, you test drive it. So you want to test drive each other first before you walk down the aisle and say I do. See, that's rationalizing your sin. Instead of repenting, you're constantly trying to rationalize and justify why you're doing it. You know, trying to make it right in your own mind. This is what we constantly constantly do when God's word tells us one thing when we want to do something different or contrary. So this protester was saying if God's faithfulness is not dependent on my faithfulness, then why should I be faithful?

And if my sinfulness makes God look good, then why should he punish me? I'm actually helping him out. I'm helping him to look good. In in so many words, this person was trying to make the judgment of God seeing unjust to punish sinners. Paul seemed to even be embarrassed to bring this kind of reasoning up that he says at the end of the verse in that parenthetical sentence, I speak as a man. Meaning only sinful man can try to make a holy God look bad. Oh, please put on your ears right now. Anytime we as humans try to make God look unjust, unfair, or unrighteous for judging us, it is always wrong.

God will always be right and we're the ones who will be wrong. Simple as that. Whenever you begin to start rationalizing in your mind why something in the Bible God said or why a certain thing you heard from the word of God and you trying to rationalize why that's not right, why would God do that? If God is such a God of love, then why and all that kind of stuff, let me tell you something. Just realize you're always wrong. Always. Whenever we try to make God look bad, make him look unjust, unrighteous, just know, look in the mirror and just say, you're wrong.

Because that he already said, let God be true and every man a liar. He've already said that. Now Paul answers this protester's objection in verse 6. Look what he said. He said, certainly not. For then how will God judge the world? Paul is saying, certainly not. He was saying, if there is any unrighteousness with God, he will be unfit to judge the world. However, we all know that God will judge the world. Let that sink in for a minute. God will judge the world. God will judge the world. Look just look at our world today.

How fast we're going down to hell itself. God will judge this world. I'm telling you. I look at things from the time I've been saved a little less than 40 years ago to to right now. God will judge this world. He will. He will. 2 Timothy 4:1 says, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. John 16 verses 8 and 9 for you notetakers says, and when he has come, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.

Verse 9, watch this. Verse 9 of sin because they do not believe in me. Let me blow you away really quickly here. The one sin that the Holy Spirit is convicting the world of right now is whether you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior. To go to your grave saying, I don't want Jesus Christ in my life is to commit the unforgivable sin. Why is it unforgivable? Because you go to your grave with these words on your lips. I do not want Jesus Christ in my life. The last verse I will bring up of God's judgment is Acts 17 verses 30 and 31 which says, truly the of these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.

Why? Verse 31. Because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained referring to Jesus Christ. He proves it by the end of this verse where he says, he has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. The world will be judged by one thing. What did you do with Jesus Christ? Did you accept him or reject him? Did you live for him or not? To believe in Jesus is more than mental acknowledgement. There's still a few. It used to be when I first got saved, there were around 70 to 80% of Americans say that they believed in God.

But that that's way not the case now. I mean, you talking 35 or 40 years later that that's just not the case. Many people believe that they're a believer because they said, well, I I I believe in Jesus. What do you think I'm a heathen? Yeah, but that's another story. But I believe in Jesus. I I I believe in the Bible. Well, some of it, but you know, and and they think because of that, because they heard if you believe in Jesus, you will be saved. They're like, well, I believe so I must be saved.

Oh, no, let let we got to take a little trip and we got to go a little bit deeper on that. The Greek word for believe is is pistis. And you know what it means? It means to trust in, to rely upon, to adhere to. Let's take it a little bit deeper. To trust in him as your Lord and savior, to rely upon him alone to save you and to adhere to the teachings of the entire Bible. That's what it means to believe, not just acknowledging some biblical facts in the Bible. And many people believe that and they think that they're saved or they're a Christian because they believed in some some some mental they acknowledged some mental some mental facts about the Bible.

No, it's more than this. This is what it means to believe in Jesus Christ. To trust in, to rely upon, to adhere to. Another definition of the word pistis means to place all of one's weight upon. Are you placing all of your weight upon Jesus Christ alone to save you? See, this is how God will judge the world. What did you do with Jesus Christ? Did you occasionally make a pit stop at church or tune in now I got to add this in, tune in online to a message? There's one lady you say, I'm closer to God now that I ever been before the pandemic.

You know, I I I go to three different churches and I watch their broadcast. So because she watched three services on Sunday, she says she's closer to God. We we we the Bible is clear. Don't be a hearer of the word only deceiving yourself. The Bible says, be you doer of the word and not hearer only deceiving yourself. So because we we deceive ourselves and thinking because I came and sat in the chair or I tuned in and I heard the word that I'm good with God. Me and God we good. That's not The Bible says, be doer of the word.

See, so what did you do with Jesus Christ? He's going to judge the world. The question is, are you ready for this judgment? Oh, I I I pray that you are. I pray that you are. This protester isn't done. Look what it says in verse 7. For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to his glory, then why am I still judged as a sinner? It says, if you would notice if you would notice, this is the same argument that was brought up in verse 5, but with different words. The protester is saying, if my sin brings glory to God, if my lie, you remember verse 4, let God be true and every man a liar.

If my lie vindicates or prove God's truth, then how can God uh consistently find fault with me as a sinner? I'm only proving what his word says about me that I'm a sinner. Then why is God don't don't judge me because he he told me I'm a sinner and I'm with my sin. I'm proving he's right. There are people today who believe that they don't have to worry about sin and they give four sorry excuses that many people believe one or all four. Number one, it is God's job to forgive us. I'm a sinner, but God said he forgives.

I run into people like this on the streets talking to them. Yeah, but yeah, yeah, I sin. Yeah, but but God forgives. Number two, God is so loving that he won't judge us. Oh, a lot of liberals and and quote unquote progressives. God is so loving. He he he won't judge us. Number three, sin isn't so bad because it teaches us valuable lessons. Number four, we need to stay in touch with the world around us. So we you know, we got sin a little bit. So we can be in touch with them, you know, with the world around us.

All of these awful excuses are taking advantage of God's grace or like Jude 1:4 says, turning the grace of God into a license to sin. And a lot of people, old King James says, into lasciviousness which means a license to sin. New King James or the newer version says, turn the grace of God into lewdness. It it it it it just speaks of giving you a license, turning the grace of God because we're saved by grace. God loves he his grace. We have a license to sin. Now what we failed to realize is God cannot overlook sin.

Because of this, no matter how many excuses mankind tries to give, they will have to answer for them. The question is which one of these four excuses are you resting upon? Number one, it's God's job to forgive. Number two, God is so loving that he won't judge us. Number three, sin isn't so bad because we can learn some tough lessons from them. Number four, we need to be relatable to the world around us. So in order for us to relate to them, we must do what they are doing, go where they go, say and speak like they speak.

And all of these are lies Satan tell us about God. Lies, just lies, just lies. God cannot overlook sin. And he must punish sin. It is believed when Jesus was on the cross and he cried out it it it it cried out in Aramaic it says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It is believed when the sin of mankind was upon his son, the father could not look, could not look upon your sin and my sin upon his sinless son. And he turned. Christ said, why why have you forsaken me? God will not and cannot overlook sin.

He must punish sin. He punished sin that was upon his son. He did that for us. Look at the last verse, verse 8. It says, and why not say, let us do evil that good may come as we are slander slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say their condemnation is just. This is what the protester protesters were slanderously reporting about Paul's teaching on justification by faith. In other words, if God justifies or saves us uh whether we are faithful or not, well, let us do evil that good may come. In other words, if because of our sin, God's glorious grace was given to us, then why don't we just sin that some more of God's goodness and his grace can come upon our our lives?

And this is what they were saying about Paul's teaching and then he protest and say, that is slander or what you're saying. I am not teaching that. See, there were people saying that Paul was teaching lawlessness, that we don't have to obey God's word and it doesn't matter how we live. God loves us and God loves and God forgives. But we failed to realize that God also judges. That's the part we leave out. Paul said, this has been slanderously reported about us. And Paul said at the end of this verse, their condemnation or judgment is just or fair.

Or those who think like this, their judgment by God will be well deserved. And this is why it is so important that we have a correct understanding of God and his ways. We can't claim ignorance. Well, God will see will see what had happened. I didn't know. I didn't understand. No, no, no, no. You remember Romans 1:20? God said man will be without excuse. We can't claim ignorance. This is why by the grace of God, I'm going to teach you his ways and his word from Genesis to Revelation as we will pick it up in verse 9.

God's will next time. Let me conclude with this. In this message, I protest. We saw how many people were protest the ways and the word of God. We saw how many people protest about the judgment of God because number one, it's God's job to forgive. Number two, God is so loving that he won't judge us. Number three, sin isn't that bad. It teaches us some tough lessons. Number four, we need to stay in touch with the world around us. If you're holding on to one or any of these things, you're putting your eternity in the hands of a lie.

Put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and what he did for you on Calvary's cross and he will soundly save you for all eternity. I I just thought about this. The Lord just impressed upon my heart. I just thought about this. We we talked about judgment and and how God is going to judge the world. So often we look at this as this far away future event that God's going to judge us one day. Did you know that when you die, there the judgment is there? Hebrews 9:27 says, it's appointed unto man to die once, then come the judgment.

See, we think of judgment, well, this far away event in some galaxy far away, we will be judged. No, if you die this afternoon, then the judgment is this afternoon for you. If you die tomorrow morning, then the judgment for you is tomorrow morning, not some future event that's in some galaxy far away. No, it's for you then. See, this is why you can't play with the judgment of God cuz it's coming no matter what. It's coming. It's coming no matter what. And you have to make sure that you're right with God. So as the worship team is making their way on out and as those who are uh in leadership be available for prayer, we're we're we're we're we're going to pray because you want to make sure that your heart is right with God.

You want to make sure that you have a right relationship with Jesus Christ because we used to say a long time ago, you don't know around what corner death is. And it's amazing that I'm getting up there in the years as far as Christianity is concerned that you know, I'm sounding like the the old timers that used to tell me this stuff. But we want to make sure that we're right with God. We want to make sure that our hearts are right with him. We want to make sure that if we die and stand before the Lord that we're right with him.

Not just being a hearer of the word or I I have to add this as well. Not just a hearer of the word or a watcher of the word. The Bible says, be you doer of the word and not a hearer only. And then he ends by saying deceiving yourself. You don't want to be deceived today. Look at your life. Is it right with the Lord? If not, this is your time to come. This is your time to come forward to pray with someone to make sure that your heart and lives are right with him.

Father, I just pray for your precious people here and online who are watching around this world. Lord, I pray that your Holy Spirit would just move at this time. Lord, we've been praying Friday for revival. We've been praying last night. We've just been praying for your precious people and for you to move in our midst. Lord, move by your spirit. Draw your people to you right now. Draw them to your throne of grace and do a work that only you can do. Lord, there's some who have backslid and need to come home to you. There's some who read need to recommit their lives to you.

Lord, there's some who are finally getting an understanding of true salvation and what it means to be saved, what it means to be a child of God. So Lord, move by your spirit. Move by your spirit, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

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