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Total Depravity, Part 2 --- Romans 3:10-18 September 3, 2017

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Total Depravity, Part 2 --- Romans 3:10-18 September 3, 2017 Total Depravity, Part 2 --- Romans 3:10-18 September 3, 2017 Introduction Turn to and read Romans 3:10-18. 10As it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; 12ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” 13“THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; 14“WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”; 15“THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, 16DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,17AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.” 18“THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.” Early in the book of Acts, the Jewish leaders accused Peter and John of filling all of Jerusalem with the teaching of Christ and of “bring[ing] this man's blood upon us.” Later in the book of Acts, Gentile leaders in Thessalonica will accuse Paul and his associates of “upsetting the whole world” with the message that they preached. What was the powerful message that the early church preached that could have such an impact? A close examination of the message of the early church in the book of Acts reveals that the beginning of their message was a focus on the sinfulness of man before they presented Christ as Savior. The first message of the church was preached by Peter and is recorded in Acts 2:22-23 Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— 23this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death [essentially, “You killed God”]. Acts 2:36-38 records the end of this message, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ— this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” 38Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The second message is recorded in Acts 3:13-15 where Peter says, “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. 14But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.” He further says in Acts 3:19, “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away.” Acts 3:26 “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.” In Acts 5:28-33, Peter and other apostles were brought before the Jewish religious leaders, and the leaders said, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. 31He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. 32And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” 33But when they heard this, they were cut to the quick and intended to kill them. By the way, there are two responses that you will get when you preach the Gospel beginning with sin. The people in chapter 2 were cut to the quick and said, “What must we do?” Here, the religious leaders were cut to the quick and wanted to kill. Stephen preached the Gospel in Acts 7:51-54 “You men who are stiff- necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; 53you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.” 54Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. We could spend all morning today just going through the book of Acts and finding this consistent practice of confronting the sinfulness of men before presenting Christ as Savior. I just want to mention two other examples. First, in Acts 17:30-31, Paul was preaching to the philosophic elite on Mars Hill in Athens. Having presented a presuppositional apologetic, he concluded with, “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” Second, in Acts 24:24-25, Paul spoke the Gospel to Governor Felix and his wife who was a Jewess, “But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. 25But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, “Go away for the present, and when I find time I will summon you.” Didn't Paul know that message was not too seeker sensitive and user friendly? Didn't he know that would frighten Felix and possibly push him away? I have told you repeatedly in our study of Romans--and by the way, it was encouraging to hear Mark reiterate it last week--that we cannot begin to understand or rightly appreciate Jesus and what He has done on our behalf until we understand the depths of our depravity and the depravity of mankind. Man is far from being basically good. The apostle Paul has taken extreme measures in the beginning of Romans to describe mankind in terms of total depravity. Now listen, this is important to understand. This Gospel message that begins with the total depravity of man and the judgment of God and then leads to the good news of Christ's death, burial and resurrection, is the message that the Holy Spirit uses to draw His elect for salvation. The doctrine of election is taught throughout the Scriptures. We will have plenty of time to study election later in Romans. Suffice it to say that no one denies election and predestination. No matter what your understanding may be, God the Holy Spirit uses the message of total depravity and judgment to draw the elect to salvation. In John 16:8, Jesus refers to sending the Holy Spirit, “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” The prevalent messages today of “Your best life now,” or the prosperity gospel, or “God has a great plan for your life”, or whatever modern message are received readily by people many of whom will eventually end up in eternal judgment. These messages are not the Gospel and cannot save. The message that we must preach is the message that begins with total depravity, the justice of God, and then the tremendous good news of grace in Christ Jesus. That is the message that the Holy Spirit uses to save. At the core of God's nature is that He forgives sin. His very nature is that He pardons those guilty of sin. In Exodus 34:6-7, God described Himself to Moses saying, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” Christ came to die to forgive sin. So when we fail to preach sin and judgment, we are denying the very foundation and message of God to the world. We are failing in a primary purpose for which we exist as a church; namely, to make disciples. We have spent a number of weeks and months in a careful study of the first chapters of Romans that focus on a true view of the heart of man. Paul has laid a foundation of the plight of man before he points to the incredible and marvelous good news that God has provided: A glorious avenue of salvation through Christ Jesus from the consequence of eternal judgement of sin. So this morning, we conclude our study of the first section in Romans concerning the depths of sinfulness in which all of mankind find themselves. Review In our last study, we saw that Paul sums up his argument concerning the total depravity of man in Romans 3:9-ff.
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