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The first chapter first and.
And then see if we can.
Move along through it. If we get through it, then we'll start the second chapter.
Romans chapter one.
All the servants of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle.
Separated unto the Gospel of God, which he had promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
By whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name.
Among whom are ye also the call of Jesus Christ?
To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be Saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
00:05:07
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers, making requests, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
For I longed to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end you may be established, that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
I would not have you ignorant brethren, that oftentimes I purpose to come unto you what was let hitherto, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise.
So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew 1St, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them.
For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power in Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image.
Made like 2 Corruptible man and to birds.
And four footed beasts and creeping things.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who was blessed forever. Amen.
For this 'cause God gave them up unto vile affections, for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature.
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one toward another men, with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meat.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whispers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud boasters, inventors of evil things.
Disobedient to parents without understanding, covenant Breakers without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
I wonder if it would not be helpful to give an outline of the book very rapidly.
So that.
We can. It's always been helpful to me to have this outline of the book. It's an outlinable book. Some books are a little harder. I wouldn't. I wouldn't have the foggiest idea how to outline Ezekiel. I'm sure some brethren here could do it, but the book of Romans is a book which lends itself to it.
And I'd like to say this that the.
The the book is sets out in the first.
17.
Excuse me, the 1St 17 verses. It's introduction. It tells you what the book's about.
The book is about the Gospel of God.
You see that in the first.
Verse.
And continued on to the third verse. Verse two is parenthetical. It's the gospel of God concerning His Son.
00:10:02
And that's the theme of the book.
And in that book.
I mean in that theme is set out in verse 17.
The righteousness of God. And that's an important term and we're going to have to define it because.
There's terrible confusion in in the Christian community today as to what that term means.
The reformers, I don't think understood what that meant, and we're going back to what the reformers held on it.
So the 1St 17 verses are the introduction to the book.
Then the apostle arraigns humanity before.
God's judgment throne.
He brings them before them, and he brings them in the order of.
The Heathen First, what we would call the Heathen Chapter one.
Chapter 2. The moralist Gentile. The beginning of Chapter 2.
The one who knows a little better.
Who constructs a civilization that judges?
And then?
Goes on to indict the Jew.
And perhaps that's the strongest indictment of all.
But at the end of it is that all are without an excuse.
All of them are without excuse, whether it's the Pagan.
Heathen, the marvelous Gentile, civilized Gentile, or the Jew?
And.
That starts the Jew starts in verse 17 of chapter 2 and the runs on.
Through.
To.
Runs on through to the verse 20.
What It's made very clear that no flesh will be justified by works.
Well, how then can they be justified? And then that argument is brought in?
In the first.
Part of the book, which is the doctrinal part of the book.
From chapter one to chapter 8.
There's a natural division at the end of it. There's kind of a doxology at the end of it. But in that part of the book, two things are dealt with. The first, which you and I would first be concerned about, would be the fruit of our evil nature, the sins.
And that's dealt with up to the end of verse 11 of chapter 5. Our sins. How can God deal with our sins? Is there any hope? Can they be put away?
And of course, that's part of the gospel.
But then another thing is taken up, starting with chapter 5 and verse 12.
You'll notice the change.
Chapter 5 and verse 12 Another word is used, Sin.
Sin.
It's not so much the fruit as it is the root that's dealt with.
God Forgives the one and he condemns the other.
But it's both in the work of Christ.
And of course, that's taken up then in the rest of the doctrinal part of the book.
Chapters 910 and 11 are natural. Question is raised then, well, if that's how God justifies people, what about where does the Jew fit into all of this?
And so that's the dispensational part of the book is 9:10 and 11:00.
First part is doctrinal.
I was talking about this one time up in Worcester, MA and I mentioned that.
The last part of the book.
The chapters 12131415.
Are have to do with our?
With the practical part of the of our of the doctrine of the gospel, I said, I wish I had a word for that started with D because sometimes it's easy to remember the things that have the same letter starting it. Ken Kiesling spoke up and said doing.
Doing.
And I believe that's what it is. It's our do it what we do. So the first is a doctrinal, then comes the dispensational, and then doing.
And the 16th chapter is kind of an appendix. It's a letter of commendation, but it's, it's an epilogue to the book. Now, having said that, thank you, brethren, for allowing me to go on that line with that. But having said that, I, I think it would be nice now to, to get some of these things defined and down and careful.
00:15:17
But remember that in verse 16 of chapter one.
Verse 16 of chapter one. I am not ashamed of the gospel.
It says Gospel of Christ in our common translation, but I believe it's really just the gospel because while it certainly is the gospel of Christ, not in this book, it's the gospel of God.
It's the gospel of God.
So Paul says I'm not ashamed of the gospel, the good news.
And then we get to this point and I think maybe it would be good at the end of to look at verse 17 and say what is the righteousness of God?
What is it? The common thought is that it's the Lord's personal righteousness and his life down here.
May I just say.
That isn't what it is that condemns me.
That suits him to be the savior, but it condemns me.
The righteousness of God is something totally different from that.
Now.
Some of our brethren will help us as to what it is.
The reformers.
They believe that the Lord Jesus kept the law.
And that is put to our account, but the law would still be, with their doctrine, the basis for our righteousness.
But Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.
God no longer looks to man. He's no longer testing man to see if he can, by keeping the law, obtain A righteousness that will be acceptable before God.
And it isn't our keeping the law, nor the Lord keeping the law.
Justification is based on believing.
In the person and work of the Lord Jesus. That's the basis for our justification as it is stated in the third chapter, that God is just and the justifier of him that believeth on Jesus. So the law is not involved anymore. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.
So justification is also good to mention.
It does not mean that we stand before God as if we had never sinned.
That would put us in the position that Adam was in before the fall.
He was still able to sin at that time.
We stand before God in a life to which sin cannot attach itself. We stand before God as justified in a way that as if he could have never sinned.
We have justification of life, this new life that we have received. Sin cannot attach itself to that. Now young people might say, now wait a minute, brother, aren't we still able to sin?
Yes, but it's a question of how we stand before God. Not only.
Were our sins dealt for in the death of Christ? We ourselves were dealt with, and we were put to death. In the death of Christ. We no longer stand before God.
In our old responsibility, creature responsibility, we are no longer in the flesh and we are now a new creature in Christ and we have an altogether different standing.
Before God, and that is all connected with the justification.
Wonderful truth to lay hold of. Not only my sins were dealt with, I myself was put to death. I no longer exist before. God is a Sinner and you and I have to learn to look at ourselves the way God sees us.
That gives peace.
To our souls.
Let's define the righteousness of God.
The righteousness of God is His perfect consistency with Himself.
In all his dealings with men.
Now when he sends a soul to hell, his righteousness does that, because that soul is lost. It has not been sheltered by the blood of Christ. When he brings a soul to heaven, his righteousness does that.
00:20:13
Because the blood of Christ has cleansed us from all our sins, we sing tis in the cross of Christ. We see how God can save yet righteous be. So it's I never forget the impact that had on my soul as a young man.
When I got a hold of that truth, it isn't just His love, His mercy, His grace.
His compassion, His kindness, that has saved me, that's all true. But His righteousness, I used to be terrified to think of what if He would deal with me in strict righteousness? You'd have to send me to hell. Well, that's true, but for the cross, the cross of the Lord Jesus has enabled Him now to justify me, to account me righteous before God and be righteous in doing it.
God is righteous in justifying the Sinner. So the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel is his justification of the Sinner, and he's righteous in doing that. How God can save yet righteous be?
So we shouldn't take away from the fact that in everything that God does, he has to be righteous. He is the the righteous God.
He has to be holy, He has to be consistent with himself. And that's the wonder of the gospel. How can God be holy and just and righteous and bring sinners like you and I are to heaven? How can you do that? Because He's provided A Savior who shed his precious blood and that has put those sins away, that has met the eye of God. He's glorified. He's judged sin in the cross. And now his very righteousness, which would have sent me to hell, now sends me to glory.
If you go over to chapter 3 for just a moment, not to anticipate.
Too, too much. But I'd just like to point something out there that.
In chapter 3 and verse 25.
We have him set forth as a mercy seat or propitiation. The Lord Jesus is.
And it says, for the showing forth of his righteousness.
And it has to do with the sins that are passed. Now don't think to yourself that's my sins that are passed.
That's not the question here.
There's a whole epic from.
Adam until the cross where God passed over things.
And he's passed them by through his forbearance.
And sometimes people said, how could he be righteous?
People said regarding David.
That is a man of God, what he did, and God loves him and God Forgives him.
How could he do it?
And there were others of all the sins from Adam until until the cross God passed by.
On the basis of the work of Christ.
And so you put a big cross between 25 and 26.
Because.
When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, that displayed the righteousness of God, and having passed by all those sins.
It it showed forth his righteousness.
Ah, he wasn't. He was righteous.
And all of those, all those things that were passed over during that period. Now it says in verse 26.
For the showing forth of His righteousness in the present time.
So you have this man who acts like he is.
A holy man, and you know that his life.
Is, I mean you see his on the board of this and that and he and charitable organization and he he.
Isn't saved and then you see this drunk that staggers into a mission and and.
00:25:05
With the with the half understanding he.
Reaches out in simple faith and takes the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior and he saved.
And God just justifies him. How can that be? Well, it says that he should be just and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus.
So the cross sets out that God was just before the cross.
All those people that he.
He Best Buy their sins over all those years.
And showed that he was righteous by the death of Christ. And then at the present time, he's just and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus. That's glorious, that's wonderful.
And that's what's set out here. And the Apostle Paul sets it out in a way that.
Is just amazing. I don't think any any lawyer.
Human lawyer could ever do it.
Better than he could because the Apostle Paul was inspired of the Spirit of God, but he sets it out.
And that's what this book is all about. And do you want to understand the gospel?
It's not from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They understand the Gospel. You Get the facts of the Lord's life and his death.
But the doctrine of the gospel you get in Romans.
How could he do it? What does it mean?
And it's so good to get established in it. Oh, I just want to plead with our young people, if you haven't gotten established in Romans, do so.
The Lord has given us some very good ministry on it. One book that's very inexpensive is is.
Charles Stanley's For a while it was called Life Through Death. It's got another name now, but.
It's his book on Romans. It's hardly. I think it's just a couple of dollars to buy it.
But it really sets out the doctrine of Romans.
So you have just to summarize what you said, you have two groups. You have the Saints of the Old Testament and the Lord passed over their sins, didn't judge them, and then you have the Saints of the New Testament. What he says of that first group that he is just, He's righteous, and having passed over their sins, how can that be? Because the cross is now an accomplished fact. He was looking forward to it.
Now he doesn't pass over our sins. He justifies this on the spot, and he's righteous in doing it. He accounts us righteous because he's looking back to the to the cross.
That seems to present a problem to us because we're creatures of time. But God is a timeless being, and the future is as sure to Him as the past. So whether he was looking forward to the cross or back to it, the the purpose of the cross was determined before time began.
The mind of God. So it's a work which is timeless in his extent, and it embraces both the Saints of the Old Testament and the Saints of the New. I had a brother write me once that his understanding was that the Old Testament Saints were justified by the law and the New Testament Saints were justified by grace. And I wrote him back quickly and said, no, that's dead wrong.
Saints in all ages, at all times, have been justified by grace.
Justified by grace, founded upon the precious blood of Christ and the death of the Lord Jesus.
Always Adam, Abraham is used in chapter 4 as an example that he believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. And then the question is raised, was it in connection with the law? Nor it was before the law. Was it in connection with circumcision? No, it was before circumcision, so at all time.
Those who had living faith in the Word of God, they were justified on dead faces. They didn't know about the Lord Jesus, but they had nevertheless the Word of God and they accepted His word and were based a blessed based on their faith in the Word of God. Wonderful. Now in our day we could not take a scripture such as what was promised to Abraham.
00:30:01
For our justification, we have to believe in the Lord Jesus. We have to, by faith, accept Him and the finished work of Calvary's cross. And let me just make one thing clear for those who might not know this that justification or righteousness in English, these two words convey the same truth. We don't have that in German and in other languages, you could say.
As we have it in verse 26 of chapter three that God is just and the justifier of him that believeth on Jesus. You could also say that God is righteous.
Righteous, the one that believes in Jesus. And that's wonderful that a guilty Sinner deserving to go to hell is declared righteous. And God looks down and sees the faith and he says that's a righteous person apart from anything that any of us have done.
Wonderful truth, to be cleared of all guilt, and to stand before him in a new way altogether.
The illustration that I use for young people is the Old Testament people would be like if I were went into a department store and I didn't know it, but a detector store detector was watching and so I.
Buy some things and I hand the card to the girl and she puts the card through and she.
Hands me the goods. So a few minutes later they the detective comes along and touches me on their shoulder and said sorry, excuse me, but you didn't pay for those goods. Yes, I did. No, he said I was watching you and you didn't pay a cent for those things. You have to come with me to the office. Well, what had I done? I had put it on my charge account. Now that's a simple illustration.
But that is the condition of the Old Testament Saints.
If every act of those who had put their faith in God.
That was put to the account of the Lord Jesus, and when he came, he paid that account.
Thinking of David, brother Norman in connection with that when the prophet Nathan came to him and of course David said the men that have done this thing.
You know he shall surely die. And I was thinking how the Prophet said, thou shalt not die.
God hath put away thy sin. And I've thought about that, you know, years later on a cross great David's greater son took that very thing that David did, and he made it his own. It's, it's so touching to think of that. And we look at ourselves.
How grand and how great the cross is, because not only were the Old Testament Saints, as you say, the charge account for us, we look back and we could say how can any of us ever stand? It's because of the grace of God. And how big is the cross anyway?
I like to think that it's comprehended in a sense in the 90th Psalm where Moses, the man of God, says from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. I suppose we have a tendency to look at that verse and think of it in the aspect of creation, but I believe the Spirit of God has tucked away in those lines.
The beautiful aspect of the cross of Jesus, because it not only reaches back to the beginning of time, yeah, on into eternity itself, but it goes on to the close of this present day, the millennial reign of Christ and the new heavens and the new earth where grace will reign through righteousness, which is interesting.
Just want to turn over to a verse that we noticed earlier.
Or I'd like to bring out the 5th chapter of Romans.
The 21St verse.
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even soul, my grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. That is a beautiful verse. That 21St verse. Grace reigns through righteousness. That's right now.
Today, right? Not future, right now, right now. But in the eternal state, righteousness will dwell. The Millennium. It will rain on it.
May I just add to Brother Norman's comment?
When you pay with your charge account, you know you have paid for it. The Old Testament sayings did not have the understanding that the Lord Jesus would pay for their debt. They did have the assurance of forgiveness like the prophet told David that his sin was forgiven and he expresses that in Psalm 32. Blessed is the man.
00:35:16
But they didn't know how God could do that. That's why they didn't have the certainty and the same measure of assurance that we have in Christianity. We know who paid for it and we know why God is able to be righteous. Of course, it was all foreshadowed in the sacrifices that they brought. And we have a better understanding of these sacrifices, what they foreshadowed then those who brought them. But what a blessing it is.
To live at this time.
To have that assurance and be better by faith, accept it because what a joy it gives to our souls. Already David rejoiced in the forgiveness that he had been assured of without really knowing how God could do it. We know it today. He has a righteous basis for it. His Holiness has not been compromised and we see it in the cross in dealing with His Son, what he thinks of sin.
Holiness and righteousness dealt with him.
The way you and I deserve to be dealt with. But he dealt with him so that he didn't have to deal with us in that way. What love and grace.
If you if you just, if you understood what Heinz just said, I'm going to say that a little different way. Those that wrote the Psalms.
Were not in a known, settled, established relationship with God. As to their knowledge work of Christ is not finished yet.
The Song of Solomon presents a bride that is not in a known, established relationship yet with the bridegroom. We are. That's the difference. So when we read those books, if we don't realize that, we will appropriate to ourselves some things in those books that don't belong to us.
We know better. We know our sins are gone. We're not hoping for it. We know it.
And that's the difference between Christianity and what preceded it. Now, it's true there are multitudes of Christians that are in the Old Testament state as to their soul's understanding. That's true. But that's not Christianity. And so much of what is called Christian and Christianity in Christendom is not Christianity at all.
It's, it's a, it's a, it's a form of Judaism and paganism mixed up.
But no one established relationship founded upon the work of Christ being indwelt of the Holy Spirit. They didn't have that in the Old Testament. And have Him teaching us these wonderful things. That's what we have. Our blessings eclipse the blessings of any of the Saints in former dispensations, and future dispensations, I might add, we have the highest book.
People ask you the question was so and so in the Old Testament saved and.
The answer can be confusing, but I think in the context of what's been brought out this morning, people can understand that better. It's been brought out very nicely and very clearly several times already that the Old Testament Saints laid hold by faith of the promise of forgiveness, as Pints was already saying. But they didn't have as someone also put in a settled sense, as it was just put that if you walked up to them and say, are your sins forgiven?
They might say, I hope so, I'm trusting that they will be, etc. But that was what that's what God put before faith and faith laid home of that and went on in our day. If a person says that, like some of our relatives, you know, we labor with them in the gospel and then you're leaving and you say, well, will I see you in heaven? Well, I hope so. And your heart sinks and you feel like you've got to start all over again because what God puts before faith today is not a laying hold of a promise of something future.
Present possession of forgiveness as something I have now.
And that the in the New Testament word, whatever it is in the original that is translated in our Bible saved, is connected with that known assurance of the forgiveness of sins received now by faith and enjoyed as a possessed thing. And that is the state, the normal state of a, of a Christian, of a believer today. And there's a difference. One was something future that was promised, and one is something that's already, that's already been revealed in the Gospel.
00:40:05
To God's joy, God's delight and satisfaction, and we laid hold of it by faith. Now possessing, if you think about the sacrifices that were offered all through those Old Testament times, you might say to yourself.
And I've heard this said, and it's a wicked thing to say it, that God had some sort of a bloodthirsty attitude.
But that's not it at all. In every one of those, Christ was brought before it.
Everyone of those sacrifices, and those sacrifices can never put away sins.
They never put them away, but what did they do? They brought before God and before the offer the fact that there was a coming sacrifice. Now how intelligent they were as to that coming sacrifice.
Depends on each one, but in general we'd say they were not intelligent about it, but they in faith brought that sacrifice.
And God not liking the death of animals and.
Being pleased with them because he makes it very clear in the 40th Psalm with them. He wasn't pleased. That wasn't what his what his pleasure was. His pleasure was in the one who came to do his will, which was Christ. And yet in those in that symbolic way, they brought those to God and God said, all right, I'll pass by. I'll pass that by now I I know I'm being very simplistic about it, but.
As Chuck said before, we're creatures of time. God is not for God. The work of Christ was.
Something he was slain from the foundation of the world, wasn't he, and so that work of Christ was was a completed thing in his in his mind, but as to actuality, knowing he had to go to the cross and when he went to the cross.
You might say all those chips that were accumulated, all those charge accounts that you're talking about, they were all settled, weren't they?
One action and now from here on it's a direct payment.
When someone receives the Lord Jesus Christ, their sins are put away. And so it's foundational. You see in in first John it says, I read unto your children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.
That's that's part of the foundational thing in the family of God. You have your sins forgiven for his namesake. They're put away. I've used this illustration sometimes, and I hope you'll pardon me if you've heard it before, but.
I used to go up every summer to my grandmother's house in Albany, NY, just outside of Albany.
And.
My brother and I and my Uncle Tom would get to.
Playing with some apples that were growing on a tree and they were terrible apples. Gnarled, sour, wormy apples.
They were only good for ammunition. It was about all they were good for and that's what we used. We throw them at each other and have a fight.
And finally, Grandmother said, let's shut that tree down and we cut it down.
Now what did we do?
Well, it wasn't long when I went back up there and I noticed that old tree had shoots growing out of it, and they grew up and pretty soon they were producing apples again. Now they were going to be good apples, right?
Do you think so?
They were just as gnarled and and sour and and unsuitable for eating as the first crop were because they came from the root.
And that's what God takes up from chapter 5 and verse 12 onward is dealing with sin, which is what produces in me those things that are displeasing to Him.
Now God never pardons the nature.
It's important to see that he condemns the nature.
But he forgives the sins and so chapter 5 and verse one says, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ having been declared righteous.
00:45:01
All of that, all those sins have been forever removed from before the face of God. What happened? Jesus bore them on the tree.
Jesus bore them on the tree who his own self bear our sins.
In his own body, on the tree. They're gone. They're gone.
And I have peace towards God through the Lord Jesus Christ. But now that that old nature, that question of what produces the sins, the word is used sin, sin, the sin nature.
That's that's troublesome. What does God do with that? Well, Romans 8 and verse four says what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and poor sin forgave sin in the flesh. No condemn sin in the flesh.
And that's what my baptism is a picture of.
It's put in the place of death, all that I was.
And God isn't looking for some good fruit from those things that might come up from the from that old nature.
There's no good thing that'll come up from it. That's what Paul says in the 7th chapter. I know that in me that is in my flag.
Apples.
But he also deals with that which produces.
Verse 17 The righteousness of God is revealed.
The principle of faith to faith and that's been we've taken that up. I wonder if we could get some help on verse 18. How is it that the gospel reveals the wrath of God from heaven?
What? What does that verse mean?
Does it say that doesn't say that the Gospel reveals the wrath of God?
See in verse 17 it says therein is revealed the righteousness of God, but verse 18 is really there is revealed wrath from heaven.
Something else that God has revealed. It starts the substance of the book. Verse 17 ends the introduction to the book.
And the one is not revealed in the in the gospel, the wrath of God, just wrath of God, is revealed from heaven.
And it's a serious thing.
That profits.
Into reviewed work. You know, I also think better that we should not ignore.
A very important point in the beginning of the chapter, the Gospel of God is concerning His Son. Already we have.
Somebody mentioned that verse 2 is really a parenthesis and in verse 3 explains more about this sun.
And verse three gives him to be a man.
The son of David.
You know.
According to the flesh, he was a true man, but he was more than a man.
He is the Son of God.
And he was proven to be the Son of God by resurrection.
We cannot separate the divine and human nature from the One who is our Savior.
And even when we look at him on the cross.
He didn't just die as a man. He couldn't have died had he not become a man. But he never gave up what he always was, the Son of God. Paul says, love me and gave himself for me. And it has been said, could a mere man exhaust divine wrath against sin in three hours of judgment? Could he bear all our sins, the sins of all the redeemed in his body on the tree?
And answer for them in three hours.
Where the eternity of our judgment in three hours, if he would not have been more than a man.
Beloved young people get a hold of it. The one that went to the cross is God's Son.
He became the Lamb of God. That's how he's presented in John's gospel. It's the Son of God that became the Lamb of God and he was the only one that could answer to God and enter into that sin question and settle it for the eternal satisfaction of a thrice holy God. So how important it is that we are sound as to the truth of the person of Christ that he is.
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Man, but a sinless man, A man who never could have sinned.
And that He is God's Son who became the Lamb, and He has accomplished atonement. He did more than just bear the judgment for our sins. If we end up in hell, we get punished for our sins and never pay for Him. The Lord Jesus poured the judgment, but He did more. He made atonement for sin. And it was in those three hours of darkness when He endured the wrath of God against sin.
And when he laid down his life.
And shed his precious blood. These three things have accomplished atonement.
Made full satisfaction to a holy God.
The Israelites in the glory.
When he realizes his life.
And to realize that God has punished his Son, that will be overwhelming. But to realise, for that person to realize that they put their Messiah, they killed him.
And what overwhelming grace and love is going to just fill them forever in the glory to realize that they killed that one that paid the price for their sins?
Rather than we're not expounding Romans 1.
Let's get back to the chapter.
Bruce mentioned verse 18.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, Two classes of humanity, ungodliness, the Gentiles, unrighteousness of men who hold the truth and unrighteousness. The Jews. They had the truth in the Old Testament. Gentiles didn't have it.
So he includes the whole human race here, and he says the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the evil things that the Gentiles and the Jews are doing.
And then he says, because now he gives 2 reasons why his judgment is hanging over this scene. Because that which may be known of God is manifest among them. I think it should read for God. It showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. There isn't a man, woman or child on the face of planet earth.
That is not without excuse. He can look up into the starry sky at night, he can look at the trees, he can look at the birds and the plants and the animals, and he can see the hand of God.
There God has manifested his glory. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day utter a speech night and tonight showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. That voice is heard everywhere. And so man is without excuse and he's going to be come under the wrath of God if he doesn't repent of his sins. There's another reason and that's verse 21 because that when they knew God.
Every one of those eight souls that came out of Noah's ark knew God as a God of judgment, a God who would judge and penalize sin. He had wiped out the whole human race except 8 souls. When they knew God in that new way, they glorified Him, not his God. Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. And that's the rest of the first chapter where he's taking up the barbarian part of the Gentiles, the the heathen world and how they degenerated.
Into this, you look over in Australia today and go into the heart of it, the Aborigines there, the natives there, they're like this, they're just debased in that. Well, everyone that came out of the ark knew God and he had shown himself as a God that punishes sin. And how did they lose it? How did the human race lose that knowledge? Well, those of us who are living in a Christian, so-called Christian land.
We can see how they lose it.
They've just about lost it today in this land that has been so favored and so blessed with gospel truth, far more than just the knowledge of creation and that God judges sin. But we know the the full gospel and and you, you tell you stop people on the street and you can ask them the simplest questions about God and they're totally ignorant children, young people. They don't know anything about God anymore.
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They don't even know if there is a God that's number one. Is there a God?
Why his? His evidence is everywhere. When the Russian cosmonauts got up there they said we didn't see God. Stupid comment. He's the invisible God. How can you see the invisible God if you can't see him on earth where he has manifested himself in planet Earth? When John Glenn circled the earth, he looked down and he said I can't imagine anyone having a view like this denying that there's a God.
He could see the evidence right before his very eyes, and we can see it every day. And yet, man, it's the fool that says in his heart there's no God. God has given evidence. So here we have these two reasons. The testimony of creation, the testimony of God coming in in judgment as he did at the flood. It was universal. The whole human race was extinguished except 8 souls, and they all came out of the ark, and they knew God in a new way.
Where is that knowledge?
It's the wrath of God is revealed because of those two reasons. What you're saying, Chuck, is if somebody doesn't have more than the revelation of God in creation and he bows to that, he will be just in the sight of God.
People say well what about those people that never heard about the gospel? They have that the revelation of God in creation and one of the well known philosophers has made this statement. The starry sky above him and the conscience within him, truth to him that there is a God. I don't think that man came to know the Lord Jesus as his Savior. We have no assurance of that. But still it proves the point. He was an intelligent educated man, knew more about the universe than you and I do.
And he couldn't help but have to admit there was a God, a hand surgeon, who came to study how this.
Body part of our body functions. He concluded that must be a God that created such a member in a body to function. Just think, the thumb touches every finger, you know, And the fact that we have sensation and feel everything, we would burn ourselves and do all kinds of harm to ourselves. Anybody that objectively looks at creation cannot but admit there must be a creator.
The interdependence of nature.
The plant and animal life many times cannot exist unless the order is from the beginning, the way it is now, you know. So the interdependence, all of these things should convince a man. But why do they not want to accept it? If there is a creator, they have to acknowledge that.
They have to answer to him, but we do not have to trouble ourselves about souls that have not heard the gospel they have.
The revelation of God in creation, you know, that historical knowledge has been lost, you know, but the knowledge in creation is available for anybody that would open eyes want to look at it.
May I just say this? I think I agree with what Brother Heinz has been saying. But when he says we don't need to trouble ourselves with him, he's not saying we don't need to go take the gospel present. What he's saying is the all these questions, well, here, these are difficulties we put up. Well, why didn't? Why didn't what? What about those people?
I find that the same people who who say that to you, well what about the heathen? They say leave them alone.
They're worried about them, but they said don't go and bring the gospel to them, let them alone with their own superstitions and things.
In school you've been taught, I'm sure some of you have been taught that.
Man saw forces and he like ice and and fire, and he and he deified them, and that was his first concept of something greater than himself. And then he saw the cobra come out and bite and he had a power and so he deified the cobra, and then he came up a little bit further and he he.
He took birds and he honored birds. The Aztecs still do that, I guess, in Mexico. And then.
Gradually they took four footed beats and finally.
Man, and they had this severe.
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God of the Old Testament and finally they got the the idea that God was not that way at all and in Christianity and now we don't need them at all.
We don't need God at all. Have you heard that scenario? I have. I was taught that in college.
Is rubbish.
It's the opposite way. Read it here in first. Read it in verse.
23.
They changed the glory of the incorruptible God, the glory of the incorruptible God. They changed it into what?
Into the image of corruptible man.
And birds.
4 footed beasts and finally reptiles.
Snakes.
That's how these religions came about. They didn't come about through an ascendancy. It's a decline, and if you don't see that, you're missing something very important.
It's sad, isn't it, that men gave up God?
But in the end of that first chapter, we have God giving up man, don't we? And we know that we're in three parts, every being human being as a body.
As a soul, as a spirit, and when God refers to it he goes spirit, soul and body. But here I believe we have God giving up man in the body in verse 24.
And in the soul of all affections in verse 26.
And in verse 28, the Spirit, they did not like to retain God and their knowledge. That's a very solemn and serious condition for mankind to be in, and we see that.
The things that shock us in the news.
Are already recorded here in Romans one, aren't they?
So the New Age movement's been around for a long, long time.
At least we can see from this 21St 25th verse it was there at least in the apostles day because he says in verse 25 who changed the truth of God into a lie. Notice this right here. Worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator you know.
In this country at the present time that they're saying that everything around us is God, the trees and the rocks and the water. And, and by the way, that's the reason why Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth and World Wildlife Federation and all of these different groups.
You know, it's interesting, right? Say now it's even animal rights. Where does all this come from? This is where it comes from. It's the worship of the creature. I had a brother-in-law that was.
A missionary to the Korean Indians in northern Quebec, Canada.
And when the gospel was taken to those people, what did he find? The worshipping Beaver skulls.
This is right in Quebec, Canada. Interesting. You don't have to go to Africa to find these things. It's right in this country and the country to the north. And by the way, it's coming in more and more and more and more.
Turn away from the light. You turn to darkness, don't you?
There is nothing new under the sun or this new age movement is not new. Nothing new under the sun.
And we see, like you, Chuck, mentioned earlier, we see the effects of turning from the light of the gospel. Why do you think there is such an increase of immorality and incest and homosexuality in these lands of ours? It is because God has given them up to their lust. It's a very solemn fact. I think what has happened in the history before Christianity is repeating itself now after the light of the gospel has been rejected.
It's very solemn, Young people realize that.
That what you see round about you is the effect of apostasy, the Spirit already manifesting itself, and we better cling with the help of the Spirit of God to the truth of God in order that we be preserved. Because we have later on in this epistle not only the doctrine of justification presented, it also shows what is consistent for those who have been so blessed. You know we are no longer slaves of sin.
We have died to sin and we live unto righteousness. Righteousness is very much needed to be stressed in Christianity.
It's not law, but righteousness.
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Notice the last version of the chapter, and I believe this is an indictment of our civilization.
It says.
That knowing the righteous. I'm reading it from Mr. Darby's translation because I believe it's helpful there.
Knowing the righteous judgment of God.
That they who do such things are worthy of death. They not only.
Practice.
But have fellow delight in those who do them. Our whole entertainment industry is built on fellow delight in those who do those things that are worthy of death. And we're if we're not careful, we'll buy into that situation too.
Magazines that are sold on.
711 S and other places.
Horrible things? What is that? It's fellow delight in those who do the wicked things.
What a what an awful judgment awaits this thing.
309 Three O 9.
He goes before.
I.
Place me.
All over the Lord.