THE apostle introduces Romans 3 with “Let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, that thou mightiest be justified in thy sayings, and mightiest overcome when thou art judged” (vs. 4).
We have to do with God. “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked, and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:1313Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13)). “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:1212So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. (Romans 14:12)). No unreality will do―no outward cloak of religious profession. God desires truth in the inward parts. “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom” (Psa. 51:66Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. (Psalm 51:6)). He knows me through and through from the beginning―my thoughts, my motives, the very springs of my whole being are laid bare before him. He searches the hearts, he tries the reins” (Jer. 17:1010I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:10)). He knows me much better than I know myself. And therefore, though I make fresh discoveries about myself, God makes none; and though I may deceive myself as to my condition, I cannot deceive Him.
Well, then, has He deigned to express Himself about me? He has weighed me in the balances. Do I come up to His requirements? He gives His answer, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)). “There is none righteous, no, not one” (vs. 10). He has patiently applied the test to every soul of man, and His conclusion is that they are all gone out of the way, and become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Man is charged with failure to meet the just and holy claims of God. “For there is no difference: for all have sinned” (vers. 22, 23).
Now, depend upon it, even if we do not understand God, yet He is justified in His sayings. He can render a reason for what He says, and I desire to look at one or two of His sayings, to prove that they are facts with each of us.
It is indeed a dark picture that is drawn of us. If man had invented the Bible, he would have drawn a very different picture from this. He would have told of man’s deeds of philanthropy to his fellow-men; he would have lauded his almsgiving, and have recorded the progress he could make, so as to flatter him and make the Bible acceptable. But God does nothing of the kind. He draws a life-size portrait of the sinner, and sets it before him in Romans 3. From top to toe the whole man is depicted by the finger of God. If the King or the Prince of Wales had painted a picture, and exhibited it, how the multitudes would have stopped before it and gazed upon it as the veritable work of Royalty! Or if a poor man had been introduced to the Emperor of Germany, and the Emperor had learned to love him so much that he had deigned to paint a picture of him and hang it in some public place, how that man would have delighted to go and gaze upon it! My friend, God has taken a photo of you and put it in His album―the Bible. He has photographs of many of His saints there―David, Samuel, Moses, Joshua, Abraham, Isaac, and others―prophets, priests, and kings―men in humble and men in exalted positions, and we love to gaze upon them there. But here is the picture of the sinner as such, and that is you.
Now, what does he say of us? “They are all under sin.” This sounds simple enough, for everybody admits that he is a sinner; but, oh, my friend, if under sin, we are under its curse and doom. It has cast an awful gloom over this poor earth, and its shadow rests on every one―we are all under sin. Jews and Gentiles, outwardly religious and outwardly profane, without Christ, are alike UNDER SIN. Sin has obtained a terrible mastery in the world, and, alas, men and women are its willing slaves. Oh, is there one that longs to be delivered from its bondage? Our Redeemer is mighty. He has died unto sin once, now He liveth unto God, and delivers every soul that looks to Him.
But some may say, “Wherein have we sinned?” There is none that understandeth. The mind is wrong. It is perverted from the thoughts of God, and does not understand the ways of God. It loves the pursuit of things that cause it to forget God. It aims at drowning the voice of God. “The carnal mind is enmity against God.” The natural man discerneth not spiritual things, they are foolishness unto him. It is only by God’s Holy Spirit that a man can understand the things of God. And it is because the wise refuse to become as little, weak, foolish children that not many of them are called.
“There is none that seeketh after God.” The heart is wrong. We do not like to confess we are in the wrong. Naturally speaking, we do not say with Job, “Oh, that I knew where I might find him.” We would fain content ourselves with staying away from God, happy enough, in a way, if we may only banish Him from our thoughts. And yet true happiness is found only with God. If we knew what it really was, we should seek after Him. But the sadly true statement of Him who knows the heart is that “it is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,” and “there is none that seeketh after God.” Thank God, He seeks us.
“They are all gone out of the way.” Isaiah 53 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way,” and that means we have preferred walking by ourselves to walking with God. Sin makes us dread the presence and company of God. How I used to hate the gospel meeting, or the prayer-meeting, and the conversation of the “saints.” I had no love for God nor His ways, and if He had not arrested me, I should have preferred evil companions and their occupations, till my own way landed me in hell. But God sent His Son Jesus, to reach me in my wanderings, and He who has saved me, can save you.
“They are together become unprofitable.” God gets no revenue from a sinner. Like the young man in the parable, instead of being a comfort and an honor to the Father, we have squandered our substance in riotous living. We have spent on ourselves that which was given us for His glory. In short, “the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, thou hast not glorified.” The solemn conclusion is, “there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
The corrupt heart within puts the language of corruption on the lips. Blaspheming the holy name of God or uttering dark oaths; lying one to another, or, shall I, say, worse than all, telling a living lie to God, by a life of sin; speaking idle words, for all of which an answer must be given in the day of judgment—these things mark the unsaved, and these only? No. The lie of a religious profession without the knowledge of Christ, the idle words of a glib acknowledgment of sin that never touches the core of the heart, the total ignorance of the way of Divine peace, perhaps the suicidal rejection of God’s Word altogether―these are terrible indicators of your alienation from God and of the fact that you are not yet right with Him. Sinner, face the truth, and face it now.
The defiant heart replies, “Who is the Lord, that I should serve him?” and braves the conflict with the God of Pharaoh, and the God of the great white throne. May God arouse any infidel reading this paper.
The unbelieving heart replies, “Let my thoughts of my condition be true, and let God be the liar.” BEWARE, SINNER, lest wrath consume thee in a moment, and thou be found in hell with the unbelieving (Rev. 21:88But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)). May God awaken and convict any unbeliever reading this.
The anxious heart says, “Woe is me, for I am undone.” It is all too true. I am discovered to God. He knows me, and what He says of me is only the awful truth. Oh, what shall I do to be saved? Listen, dear anxious one, to the blessed word of deliverance: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (vs. 24). You seek pardon, you want justification, you need peace. Then boldly take the plunge of faith into this blessed verse. God has most graciously put it on the very edge of that awful tale of my guilt, in order that my next step might be into that fathomless grace that obliterates from His sight every trace of my guilt.
“Being justified.” Cleared from every single charge. Instead of appearing before God in my sinful condition, and under Divine judgment, I am righteously acquitted and justified now. How?
“Freely.” Without claim or merit on my part, without my earning it by prayer, or tears, or repentance (though each of these are tokens that God is arousing we to a sense of my condition), without money and without price.
“By his grace.” Pure sovereign grace, which abounds where sin abounded, but in such a wondrous measure as to cover all my sin—grace which is the expression of His unbounded love, that yearns to bless me.
“Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” for, in no other way could it be done righteously. Yes, Jesus must die the sinner’s death, and bear the sinner’s judgment, that God might be just, and the justifier of Him that believeth in Jesus. Jesus has done so, and now God is free to bless you. Oh, come now, as you read these blessed words, come and prove the glorious power they have, and blessing that they reveal, and then praise the thrice precious grace of which they speak.
“Come sing, my soul, and praise the Lord,
Who hath redeemed thee by His blood;
Delivered thee from chains that bound,
And brought thee to redemption ground.”
W. H. W.