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Why We Are All In The Same Boat - Romans 2

The Word Gospel literally means Good News. This is a translation from Greek. Similarly the English word Gospel is derived from two Anglo-Saxon words meaning good story. However whilst the Gospel is undoubtedly good new Paul begins his letter to the Romans with bad news. If you look in 1 verse 18 you read the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all Godlessness and wickedness of men?.

For Paul the starting point for our relationship with God is one of alienation. God is rightly angry with our sin. We are his enemies not his friends. Paul begins with the idea that it is self evident from creation that there must be an all powerful all mighty creator. As a consequence we are without excuse for failing to believe in him or follow him, and so (1 verse 32) we deserve death.

That may sound very stark, shocking, frightening or offensive to us. If so it probably would have done to those who first heard it. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a radical message that claims that Jesus is the sole way of getting to God. In doing so it disproves, demolishes and exposes all other approaches as at best inadequate, and at worst there demonic, dangerous and evil.

I recently went to another Church to worship. After the service I noticed that the servicehad neither begun with nor did it included at any point a confession. As I though about I wondered was that just an oversight or did it reveal a deeper problem, namely that the people planning the service didn't really have a biblical and Christian view of humanity. Did they really believe that God was angry with sin and that it was a problem that had to be dealt with?

Last week we were looking at Romans Chapter One. After the Service someone told me the story of a Somali Muslim man who came into a Christian meeting and announced that he had become a Christian. People asked why and he said "I have read this book its all about me." The book he had actually been reading was Romans Chapter One. As he read he found that it was an accurate description of his sinful state and that God provided the answer to that in Jesus Christ. Now as much as then, the fact of sin is a problem that sometimes people don't want to accept. Having described the depths of human sin Paul now deals with some objections that people may have to the Gospel. He goes on to show why we are all in the same boat and all without exception sees us facing God's wrath. Chapter Two deals with two kinds of people. First verses 1 to 16 the moral Gentile and then verses 17 to 31 the Jew. Now you might make a parallel and call the first a generally non religious person and the second the overtly religious person.

The Moral Gentile verses 1 to 16.

In Chapter One of Romans we have a description of people who blatantly breaks God's Law and do their own way. Here, in this Chapter, the rebellion against God is more subtle and may be much nearer to home. The person described here is one who perhaps is not generally and obviously breaking the Law of God (ie: The Ten Commandments). It is someone who has a strong sense of right and wrong. Not all the people of Paul's time were wildly immoral as described in Chapter One.

Sometimes in the Book of Acts we meet people described as God fearers. Not all may clearly identified with the God of the Bible, but some would. Greek history was full of famous philosophers who were concerned about right and wrong, and by the meaning of life. This is not just the case in the first century, there are many people like that today. If we think about some of the big issues that stir people we see many people who are concerned about justice. We can see this for instance in people concerned in animal rights, people who campaign for fair trade and debt relief, the hard working politician passionately concerned to impress minorities, etc. Equally close to home we may good nieghours who look after the elderly and involved in the community or deeply concerned about some community issue such as vandalism.

Many years ago I worked in Belgium reaching out to Students. One Student who I visited was a very clear atheist we also had a very great love for plants. Following a conversation I had with him one evening he invited me to take some home. He immediately filled a large box full of roots and shoots and helped me to carry it downstairs and fix it onto my bicycle. He was a very good and generous person. Yet he to needed the Gospel.

If such a person were to look at their behaviour in the light of that described at the end of Romans Chapter One (eg: verses 29 to 31) they might think how terrible is the behaviour of other people. They might think I don't do things like that. But Paul turns the finger round and says "if you judge and by implication think ourselves purer and holier than others, actually you are condemning yourself because you too do the same things." I am not saying that literally do the same things but in the general sense that we all sin too.

The problem with these people is not that they were rebels against God, but rather ironically they identified themselves to closely with God. So much so that they might have thought themselves as God's allies and as such that he had nothing but compliments for them. It is if unconsciously they have built little religious platforms to look down on others. Even if they are not as high as God they certainly are not as low as many other people! If we look a Chapter Two verse one we see that the problem is they act as judges over others. However judgment is something reserved for God alone. The attitude here we do what is right and you do what is wrong, This is a mistake because God's judgment is first of all based on truth. He sees people absolutely for what they are. He sees right into the hearts and minds of everyone. As a consequence we are foolish to imagine that we can pass judgment on others and yet escape judgment ourselves. How dare we stand alongside God as judge.

Sometimes we harden our hearts to God's conviction, but we see (verse 4) it is out of God's kindness that he convicts us and leads us to repentance. Moral people are sometimes good amateur theologians and use theological arguments against God's judgment. We argue that God is too kind and too compassionate to judge especially people like ourselves who are "good."

The problem of course is by what standard do we judge people by? Ultimately it is by God's standards which are perfect. God's kindness (verse 4) does not lead him to say "ok lets forget about sin it doesn't matter." On the contrary, there is no forgiveness without owning up in confession and repentance. If we stubbornly refuse to admit we are in the same boat we are simply building up God's wrath (verse 5). That may seem very hard. We all probably know many "good people" who do not profess any Christian faith. Are they really facing God's wrath is they do not repent? The answer is yes, God is fair. If you look at verse 6 we read "he will give to each person according to what he has done." In other words God is fair, he knows everything, is perfectly good and thus able to be absolutely fair and just. To those who are good he grants eternal life (verse 7) on the other hand (verse 8) to those who do not do good there will be wrath and anger. Where does the good moral person stand here? They may not think they are very self seeking, but God's standard is perfect. He is absolutely Holy. Have they never been self seeking at all? Did they never do a good deed and think I hope someone sees that, or when we have done good deeds have we never sat back a lapped up peoples praise and thought didn't I do well? All goodness comes from God the honour and glory is his alone.

This is the problem. We cut God out of the picture. We can reject the truth without actively denying it as is seen in the sort of militant atheism of people like Richard Dawkins. However that is not what most people do. Alternatively we can reject the truth by simply quietly day be day ignoring it. Say nothing and get on with everyone. However it is just as bad for it fails to give God the glory due to his name. Imagine for a minute some great sporting event. A team wins a major football cup and they go home to a victory parade. Imagine if they got home and the President of the country or the Mayor of the town said to the team "only players who scored goals will be allowed to take part in the victory parade." And then he insisted he himself must stand at the front of the open top bus and all the players must stand at the back or go downstairs. He will be claiming the players glory and suppressing the truth. It would be outrageous. However this is what we do when we claim that the goodness of God comes from ourselves. Just as God's salvation is for all so God's judgment is for all both Jew and Gentile. Paul concludes in verse 11 "God does not show favouritism." Note that Paul is not describing a sort of salvation by works here. If he did so it is against all that he clearly says elsewhere. Rather he is describing the general principle by which God works and his justice. God is fair and blesses what is good.

Now a moral person may sometimes take great pride in knowing what is right and wrong and indeed in letting others know. At least some people who claim to be Christians, and maybe even are Christians sometimes do an awful lot of this. But we read in verse 13 "it is not those who hear the Law who declared righteous in God's sight but it is those who obey the Law who will be declared righteous." Even those who have never had the privilege of the Ten Commandments know what is right and wrong. No one is without excuse.

The Religious Jew ? verses 17 to 29.

Paul moves onto a second group of people who may think that Paul's devastating assessment of human kind does not apply to them. In this particular situation that was the Jewish people. If we wanted a parallel today that of course may include Jewish people but it might include any deeply religious people as well.

Paul anticipates two objections that these people may have to the Gospel. They are two physical defenses. The Jewish people were entrusted with the Law and were rightly proud of it (verse 17). However it is one thing to have Law and quite another think to live it. We can see this in verse 21 "You yourself then who teach others do you not teach yourself? You preach against stealing do you steal? You say people should not commit adultery do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols do you not rob temples?" You might put it this way today, do you walk the walk?

Now when we read these things it may not have been true of the typical Jew of the time. Many were very moral people. Probably would not generally committed adultery, stole or been Temple robbers. Outwardly they may have seemed much more moral than their neighbours. Question is though how deep does the Law go? If we look in the Sermon on the Mount we see how Jesus redefines murder and adultery. Simply to be angry (without cause) is to murder or to look lustfully is to commit adultery.

The gap between knowing God's will and doing it has always been a temptation for religious people. One of the best sellers of the middle ages (and indeed of all times) is a book called "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis. He wrote about this problem "of what use is it to discourse learnedly on the Trinity if you lack humility and therefore displease the Trinity. Lofty words do not make a man holy, but a good life makes him dear to God. I would rather fell contrition than be able to define it. On the day of judgment we will not be asked what have we read but what have we done. Not how eloquently have we spoken but how holy have we lived." (Book 1 Chapters 1 and 3).

This is our problem we do not do what we know we should do. Another way people try to make themselves righteous or to deny the need of the Gospel is through religious activity. We see in verse 25 that all male Jews were required to be circumcised. It was a badge that said they belonged to God. As a badge it only had value in as much as it was a reminder. It was like wearing a cross and having a fish sign on your car or a prayer on the wall of your kitchen. Fine but does your life or your driving or your cooking match it?

God looks on the heart. We read in verses 28 and 29 "A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly, and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit."

Everyone needs the Gospel. Don't let the devil fool you into thinking that some people are so nice they don't need to hear. Perhaps for those who have no obvious sins we should pray for them even more. When we share the Gospel with people please remember that God does not show favouritism. Everyone stands under the wrath of God and is in need of salvation.

What is that Salvation? What hope is there for us? Robert Murray McCheyne was a Church of Scotland Minister in Dundee. He died in 1843 aged just 30. He was very much a man of prayer and a very powerful Preacher. Outwardly he looked like the epitome of a Saint. One Sunday morning a woman shook his hand at the Church door and said "O Mr, McCheyne you're a saint." His reply was "lady if you could look into my heart you would spit in my face!" He knew his worthiness before God had nothing to do with his saintliness but everything to do with his Saviour. That is the hope that is for all of us. Let us look less at ourselves and more of Jesus.

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