God's Charge: All Mankind Under Sin

So Hal was supposed to teach today. So he said, well, Bob, I've started on the lesson. He said, how about if I send you my notes? And he did. And he had one verse done. But it was fine. It was a great start. Hal is a great way of kind of setting the stage for what's to follow. So I'm thankful for the preparation he had time to do. You know, there's this kind of anxiety when you're teaching a class to say, gee, I'm not very well prepared.

It's late in the week. I was gone until Thursday night. I've gone all week. Yesterday was a blitzkrieg, but it fell into place. You know, as I was saying, there's this ambivalence. One is, do I have enough time? And then the second is, I love being in the Word of the Lord. I mean, so, you know, it's a pleasure to say work is gone, travel is gone, I have a lesson to teach tomorrow and I can't wait to get into it. And so that's what you're going to experience today. Now you can make the conclusion whether I got into it well enough that that same passion is extended to you here today.

So let's set the stage about God's charge. And that charge here in the lesson from Romans 3 to 13 to 18 is that all mankind are under sin. This is a message we've been building in the Book of Romans since its inception, since the very early part of chapter 1, and that's going to be culminating what Jim's going to do next week in 19 and 20. Then we're going to transition into 21 and after that, everything's good news after that. I mean, everything at that point brings man to saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then even the falling astray and the power of the flesh of Romans 7 were lifted up by Romans 8 to follow. So, it's all good news.

And this is the end of this kind of negative aspect of man being under sin, and all men are guilty before God. So here's the background. God gave his overall assessment of unbelieving mankind's sin nature in the verses that have been taught leading up to today's lesson. So what's God's assessment of mankind? First, is all are under sin.

Let's turn to our text in Romans 3.9.

And it says, what then, are we better than they? We're looking at here, comparing the... I mean, how Delilat would we? And I missed that lesson, but I sense that we, historically, has been interpreted as the Jewish nation. But I think how appropriately, and I think correctly, interpreted that we as the saving body, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's a much better translation.

But it's amazing, the commentaries, none of them go there. So all mankind is under sin, Romans 3, 9. We didn't finish the verse, did we? So we, they, know in no way, for we have before proved both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. And obviously when Paul's talking about we, if he's talking about the body of Christ, he's talking about Jews and Gentiles. He's talking about pagan moralizers. He's talking about pagans. He's talking about self-righteous Jews. We, the church, we're all under sin. Some of us were Jews, Some of us were Gentiles. Everybody is under sin. We're told in 3.10, a verse we often quote is, there's not one who's righteous, and not one seeks after God, verse 11, and not one does good.

What's the world view on this? Let's say tomorrow you engage in a conversation with somebody in the workplace, and it's an average Tom, Joe, Dick, Mary, Sally, Sarah, and you enter into this conversation about this principle. What's kind of the expected response? Carol? But you may have a few bad habits, right? There are things that kind of eke out there a little bit and show up. Absolutely.

Boy, if that's not the worldview. Have you ever had a conversation with non-believer people who care less about faith and spiritual matters? That's the message and it's 90 percent of the time that's their view. Boy, are we putting too much emphasis on a small section of Scripture here? And then you take them here and they say, well, you know, that's one place in Scripture. I can find other places about man's goodness and I mean, I don't think so.

I mean, I always think that the Old Testament, God's given us so much Old Testament that we've got to learn a lot about sin and law before we come to the principle of grace, right? I mean, why is the Bible two-thirds, three-fourths Old Testament and just the rest? In fact, I consider the Gospel, and I think you do too, in many ways Old Testament, right? It's before the cross for the most part. John's the exception. But for the most part, the Gospel is Old Testament. But this principle, the world is unwilling to accept.

You know, this conversation I had with this fellow colleague and scientist in San Diego a couple weeks ago, let me remind you, I was there to give a dedication lecture for a new science building at San Diego State University. And we were in the car driving into his workplace that morning, and ultimately he made this statement that he believed that the Jewish faith, the Muslim faith, and Christianity were all out of the same root, just out of Abraham, that they were all kind of equally based on fallacy, and he was expecting me to agree with him. He had no idea, maybe that's my fault, he had no idea that I tracked a different path. And I said, but Roger, what you do with Christ makes Christianity different. He said, what do you mean?

And so at that point the Lord gave me that privilege of sharing the Lord with him. And the principle of sin was one he got caught up on, and he wanted me to define sin. And I told him, to the best of my ability, what sin was. And he had no concept and no belief that what I was sharing with him had anything to do with what sin was.

His view of sin from an earthly person's perspective was a rock that wasn't perfectly formed. Can you believe that? Here's an intelligent scientist that sin was something physical that wasn't perfect. rather than the nature of mankind. So, that was a shut door. We didn't have too much more to talk about at that point. We return to the ways of science and medicine. Well, I described God as perfectly righteous, holy and just. I mean, I described God first and then I said anything that falls short of that is sin. I mean, that's a paraphrase of a longer conversation.

So God is God, and then everything less than that is sin, because it's not of God, you know, in his nature, etc. And that was unacceptable to him. Again, man basically is good, was his view of the world, right? But don't you think the reason why the world says that is because if they acknowledge that they are sinners, then they need to be rescued from being And what keeps people from reaching out for a Savior? What keeps people from going there?

Pride. Exactly. And think of what John said in 1 John 2, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. He's talking to believers. But then you put that in the mindset of the world. At least we confess and are forgiven and move on, right? If we have the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. What about that pride of life? We all know people in our own spheres and families who their pride keeps them from salvation. The idea that they would admit these truths.

That's basically good. Yes, he, she falls into error occasionally. But these principles are not owned. And I think to come to saving nature, one needs to incorporate these principles. You don't have to be a student of the Bible. but you have to come to the place that man, through his works and good deeds, can't please God. So these principles are all-encompassing to every human soul.

Now, God who knows the heart of mankind, as articulated in the verses that preceded our lesson today, gives the specifics of unbelieving mankind's sin nature, and that's the topic for us today. Man's heart is darkened, we can turn back to chapter one, 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. That suggests kind of a progressive sequence of events, doesn't it? Only God knows the darkened heart. Jeremiah 17, 9 gives us a hint of that, and this is scattered throughout the entire Old Testament. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?

God now gives the objective facts concerning man's sins in three categories. First, the relationship of their speech, which is their day-to-day conversation or talk in verses 13 and 14. Secondly, the sins of their way, which is basically their walk, and that's verses 15 through 17. And the third is the sin of their relationship, or their faith, or lack thereof, in verse 18.

Let's take a look at these now in a little bit more detail. Romans 3, 13, and 14, in the New King James Version, their throat, notice the graphic nature of these terms now, their throat is an open suffocator, or tomb. Think about a tomb a second that's open, and you start to get the sense of what we're talking about here. With their tongues they've practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their throats an open sepulcher or grave.

Psalm 5.9 says, for there's no faithfulness in their mouth. What is that? Their inward part is very wickedness. Their throat is an open suffocator. They flatter with their tongue. So, in context, it says that their throat's identified as an open suffocator, and this is a perfect passive participle. Why passive? Their throat is an open suffocator or tomb. Why is this a passive participle?

They don't have an option. Is God making their throats at open sepulchre? That's just their nature. They're receiving from the sin nature. Their throat is receiving the actions, so to say, of the sin nature. And there's that issue of a free gift, isn't it? And there's the pride that ultimately comes with the sin nature that prevents us from having our throats changed. in terms of being an open tomb.

That's great, Jim. Good, thanks. So why passive? Because we inherit throats as an open sepulchre. You know, when we look at these words, we tend to think of something pretty hideous and thinking about, is that the way most people are expressing themselves day in and day out? And as you interact with the world system around you, are you seeing people whose throats you're perceiving as an open sepulchre in day-to-day conversation? sometimes, but not very often, I don't think. There's what we call the social domain of acceptance. We can't carry ourselves with bitterness and cursedness outwardly.

We're going to look at the context because it's going to show to us that that's not necessarily the way this open tomb is expressing itself. So what's an open sepulcher like? I've asked you to ponder that here a little bit. Well, we get a hint from a couple of other verses in the New Testament, the Gospel account. So as you think about this, I want you to think about an open sepulcher physically, i.e. an open tomb with bodies that are being destroyed, to what one is spiritually.

And that's the analogy that the text is trying to portray for us. What a vivid picture, I think. how God looks at man's ability to express himself in a godly manner. So we think of things like death and decay and stench, physically. And the interpretation here is consistent with that as God's viewpoint of the capability of man in doing right things. Equally is death directed, equally is odorous, equally as decaying.

So Bishop Howe, I'm not sure whether this was a bishop. I pulled this, I think, out of Newell's commentary to Romans. I'm not sure he was a bishop or whether his first name was Bishop. But anyway, it's Bishop Howe. And he said something, I think, fairly graphic.

Emitting the noisome exhalations of a putrid heart. How's that for prose? Look at that. Emitting the noisome exhalations of a putrid heart. That's pretty impressive language. So here's the idea that maybe the world around us doesn't seem to be perceived as having a throat that's an open suffocator. With their tongues they use deceit. And it's interesting as you look at this in more detail, deceit is kind of a concept of luring by bait or beguiling.

And think about the way Satan approached Eve. Was that an obvious suffocator? open sepulcher? I mean, Eve bought the bait, didn't she? That bait was very tasty. I'm not sure what was on that tree, but I think the way the world carries themselves often is very, very deceitful and that's what the nature is that we call sin.

In the Hebrew this means they smooth their tongues and the imperfect tense denotes kind of the perseverance in their hypocritical professions. Their words aren't so harsh and cutting at times, but they were in fact flattering or schmoozing, if you will. And if that's not diplomatic politeness, the way we all carry ourselves on a day-to-day basis.

Now, how does the behavior of a believer differ from one that's an unbeliever in terms of social interactions? I mean, are we perceived to be any different than someone who's walking in the flesh? and is unsaved? No, I think not. So, how do you know a rose when you see it? No answers here, just getting your thoughts.

What's different about a Christian than an unbeliever who walks with their throats as an open suffocator? Or the open sepulcher will have a stench of death. It can be, not always, but it can be the sweet aroma of Christ. That's a difference. And who smells that? The other people. Do you think the world can sense this difference, or is it more the church themselves, the body of Christ, that is able to detect these differences?

Or are we spending too much time in trying to analyze human behavior? I think so. I think all of those are true, and I think it's not a matter of trying to analyze and judge every sentence or every word of a person who we interact with, but ultimately, as you continue to know Rachel better and hang out with her, you get a feeling that there's a different flavor here. This is why I think in evangelism, having frequent and intimate contact with people is the best pathway to get somebody interested in the Lord Jesus Christ.

That doesn't mean there aren't people. I mean, you go to the Rockies games, there's always somebody in the corner with Jesus saved signs, screaming the gospel out, which again, maybe God has them there. He probably does. And maybe occasionally somebody comes to get saved. But that's not the way usually we reach people for Christ.

I'm just praying that that brief conversation with Roger Davis of 15 minutes a few weeks ago is ultimately going to plant a little bit of a seed that maybe he'll come back with more questions. Who knows? Maybe never. Keep in mind that interpreting these schmoozing words, this flattery, the Satan to Eve approach, we're not in a position to necessarily judge motives, but we are in a position to get to know the world around us better, to try to sense whether or not a person knows the Lord Jesus Christ or not, and if not, we pray for the opportunity to share the Lord Jesus Christ with them. I know Hal has expressed to me how much he feels like he's in a position now to share a lot of truths because of his situation.

That is a great opportunity. Alright, the poison of their asses is under their lips. What do you think of when you read this phrase? Keep in mind, they may be sharing in a way that's deceitful, meaning it's kind of behind closed doors in terms of the motives. But it looks like they're ready to strike, doesn't it? This is a picture of a deadly serpent coiled up and ready to go at its victim.

James says, but the tongue can no man tame. It is as unruly or unstable of an evil, full of deadly poison. Now, the tongue is the mechanism to express oneself. But keep in mind, the tongue can be clamped and not be expressive. But yet the heart of man is still evil. So it's really hard, I think, to really judge behavior in brief encounter.

But I think we need to think about this, is that believers themselves can manifest the same truth of James 3.8, can't they? I doubt if anybody in here has ever lost their patience. Oh, really?

Anyway, so our tongues can be deadly poisons even as believers, but we have that great opportunity to confess before the Lord and to our brother and sister that we've erred in the way of the sinful nature and the flesh. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. This comes from the Psalms. In fact, a lot of things that follow now are direct quotes out of the Old Testament. We'll look at those.

In Psalms 10.7 it says, his mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud, under his tongue is mischief and vanity. The cursed, who are they? Is it God who's being cursed? Or does it go beyond God? Does it extend to parents and to siblings and to employers and to teachers and neighbors and governors and even presidents? Who's being cursed here? All of the above? Just recently, I think on a day-to-day basis almost, don't you hear people use God's name in vain just constantly? I mean, they don't even think anything about it. But we know that's just a reflection of the open suffoker, isn't it? It's not necessarily anything they're doing to be purposely cursing, but it comes up all the time.

And it's funny the way a society or a culture accepts certain terms as acceptable and certain terms as unacceptable. There are terms that young people use today that 30 or 40 years ago when I was in high school would never have been used publicly. But yet it's accepted. It's common language and I think people don't even think of what they're saying. But the initial interpretation of these words 40 years ago was entirely inappropriate to be used in a mixed audience or publicly. But yet to some extent explains what cursing really means. But here I think we're really looking at the language and behavior that reflects the separation of man from God.

And that same type of behavior extends to all of his creation in every sphere of life. This is an attitude, and it may not be expressed publicly, but down deep, The death and decay and stench of the open suffocator never changes. I think the world really has a big problem reflecting on this truth. And to tell again someone who believes man is basically good would deny that this is even a principle of the unbeliever.

But yet, this is what the scripture tells us. Luke said, a good man out of the treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil, for the abundance of his heart his mouth speaketh. And again, I would add to that, then what about those words that are not spoken? Is that heart the same heart as one, in fact, who expresses his or her bitterness and curses? And the answer to that is yes, but it's just not made public.

Jeremiah said that thine own wickedness shall correct thee and thy backsliding shall reprove thee. Know therefore and see that it's an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God and that the fear of me is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts. Nice, isn't it? The fear of me is not in thee. And when we get to verse 18 in a few minutes, we're going to look at the fear of God in much more detail, what that means and how we interpret the fear of God.

But for the believer, what's different about the believer whose tongue may be like that gasp, ready to strike, or uncontrolled, and hurtful and harmful to people around us? We've all been there. And James says, out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. He's talking to believers. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. So, nice statement, James.

We all have our areas that are particular weaknesses in terms of the way we feel about something or things that bother us. And that may be different for Harry than it is for David or for Barbara. I mean, we all carry kind of our own areas that are really vulnerable.

And when those areas show up, we can decide to work harder on this so our human behavior may reflect that we're really triumphing over this. But I don't think that's an answer of grace, is it? I mean, keep in mind, whenever we try to work harder on something, we've in fact made our own legal yardstick to assess our behavior. And we reward ourselves of having accomplished something by intellectually saying, I got a problem. I'm going to work harder on conquering it.

The Christ life is above all of this. And when we have right theology and our souls and hearts are grounded in truth, that life, when it shows up, no longer makes this something we're working hard at. I mean, it's by great grace that we walk through the valley of the shadow of death and see no evil. I mean, and that's living above. All these things, we can list them and scratch them off on the refrigerator list as we think we're conquering them, but we're all capable of this behavior.

James said it shouldn't be. That believer who's walking by grace in the Lord Jesus Christ is not allowing these cursings to be, in fact, coming out of our mouths. We don't even consider it. As long as we're in these earthly bodies, we're going to learn in Romans 6 in great detail that this old man is crucified, but he never goes away.

That sin nature is still fully capable of all of the behavior that it was once used to before salvation. And in fact, I might even say this, and we can argue or talk about this if you want, as you grow in grace, and I'm not saying how we measure that. Let's let the world around us measure that. But as we grow in grace, our sin nature becomes even more evident to us in terms of what it's all about. I don't know about you all, when you first got saved, I mean, you're saved from your sins, right? That eternal penalty for our sins has been removed by the cross. But learning about Adam being co-crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ and having that sin nature crucified and walking by grace from above is a concept that takes us a lifetime to really understand and figure out.

Most of Christianity, I would claim, works by the principles of paying God back for His great love for us. And although that may be working for a time in a lot of people's lives, it ultimately is probably a life that is maybe not at the same level as one in which the Christ life shows up and walks through us. So this is a principle that is going to mature itself as we continue through Romans. But James recognizes the believer can curse or bless, can do both. And so what's the issue here? The issue is that old man is still fully capable in each and every one of us.

Verses 15-17, their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known. Nicely phrased, and I should have quoted where I got this from, I apologize for that, but a mission of murder in the inhabitants of the feet. How's that for a nice little statement? So do we really believe their feet are swift to shed blood means that everyone who's not saved is intent on murdering?

Nobody's saying anything! Absolutely, we're all under sin and guilty before God, right? We're not saved yet according to Romans. I mean, remember Paul knows who he's writing to and he's believing that we is the church, but yet he's putting the church back into the same position.

Right, David? Absolutely. So we're all capable of shedding blood. Swift to shed blood. Yes, Carol. I think we all know wonderful people, and we have a couple we've been friends with for 35 years who are just absolutely wonderful people. And they don't know the Lord, and that's the greatest hardship. But you wouldn't see a mission of murder in their watch. Right. I mean, do any of us think that people we know and work with and actually sometimes get together socially with are unsaved or swift to shed blood?

Don't you think that Paul is really just saying here that the sin nature is fully capable of that? Under the right circumstances, any of us in the sin nature is murdered, no matter who we are. I think that little mom could do that, but mom, don't take our mom. But in the sin nature, what he's saying is that anyone in the Isn't it common to respond to something that's adverse in terms of a person's impact on our lives and kind of quickly say, gee, I wish they were out of here?

I mean, I don't know. I've responded that way. I mean, that's totally of the flesh. But you just may not be there. They wouldn't have said what they did or whatever. I mean, that's it's not like you're going to pull out a gun and shoot them. But I mean, the idea of them being out of your life and eliminated is something that we do quickly grasp and move on with. Right.

Proverbs says, for their feet run to evil and make haste to shed blood. And in Isaiah we see another example, 59.7. Their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, wasting and destruction are in their paths. Obviously in context, Isaiah is putting this in the setting of the Jewish nation in terms of the behavior that he's witnessing and ultimately being prophetic about in terms of the future. But nevertheless, these verses here in Romans really reflect Old Testament truth. The next statement is destruction and misery in their ways. Destruction means complete ruin. This is the only New Testament usage of this term.

Matthew 7.13, enter ye in the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and look at this, and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And many there be who go thereat. What do you think of when you think of the gate being narrow and the path to destruction broad?

What concepts come into your thought process? And I think this verse is perfect for what we're studying here right now in our discussion that we've had today thus far. Barb? When I think of that, I think about how it's always, you know, if it's normal, if everyone's doing it, then it's okay to do it. like that's the broad gate, everybody's going through it, and you kind of have to make a stand to go through it and be different than the crowd, which isn't what we usually want to do, to go through the narrow one that only fits maybe a few people. Does that mean, I agree with your concept, does that mean that we kind of have to work a little harder to go through the narrow gate? A little bit. Like the other things we're saying, If you're not a Christian, if you're not walking in Christ, especially if you're not a Christian, you don't really have a choice.

You have the sin nature and you go that way. So that's the broad path, right? That's the broad gate. The easy path of destruction. And by the way, that's the path of destruction. Total ruin, complete ruin, is the path that all of us are perfectly comfortable and natural in. Now keep in mind, we have to put this in context. These are the Beatitudes, right? And Christ is really writing to kingdom truth here.

This is Matthew 7.13. But the principle stated here, I think, is valid for all times. And narrow as the gate is the Lord Jesus Christ. Is it not? I mean, He is very narrow. It's not a lot of conversation about who He is and what He's done. And that is our view. It's not the world view.

But I think if we turn it back to the world view in the context of the Jewish nation looking forward as the Beatitudes did, the narrow view is that working hard enough to please God in terms of getting all your works right is a very narrow gate. I mean you could broadly interpret it as a works nature is very, very difficult to get to the point where you're pleasing God, maybe almost impossible.

The purpose of me citing this verse here is not to discuss Matthew 7.13 in terms of the attitudes and the interpretation, but the fact that the broad gate leads to destruction, and that's the natural path for all of mankind. Misery means wretchedness and calamity.

We see this nicely shared in a verse you all know well, Romans 7.24. O wretched, same Greek word, man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" So this is the term that's been translated here, misery, wretchedness. Pretty strong term.

And it also goes on to say, the way of the peace they have not known. So that's a quote from Isaiah, the next verse, 59.8 from the one noted at the top of the slide. The way of peace they know not, and there is no judgment in their goings. they have made them crooked paths, whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace."

So my question to the class today is, what kind of peace is the Holy Spirit talking about here? Well, let's look at the list I've tabulated for you. Is this a state of national tranquility? Is the United States at peace today? No, we're in war in Iraq and there's still stuff going on in Afghanistan that raises our concerns. We're concerned about Iran and North Korea. This is not an atmosphere of peace we live in, although our day-to-day lives here are reasonably peaceful. But are we in a nation at peace? I don't think so.

So is that a possible interpretation here? What about peace between individuals, harmony and concord? the things that we like to feel warm fuzzies about with all our neighbors and friends. How about peace describing an atmosphere of security, safety, or prosperity? These are all, by the way, potential interpretations from the Greek word peace. How about peace with God? What do we think of when we think of peace with God for us as a church? Well, we're going to get to this probably in about four months or maybe four and a half or three.

Anyway, here we're told in Romans 5.1 that therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you think that's the kind of peace that we're talking about here in Romans 3.17? I don't think so.

How about the peace of God and when I was thinking about the peace of God, I kind of thought that that related to the walk. The peace of God as believers we have on our walk. Exemplified by John 14, 27, Peace I have with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives you, give I unto you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. What a tremendous uplifting verse, isn't it? Peace I leave with you, not as the world giveth." Boy, I love that verse. Philippians 4, 7, and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Another uplifting verse for the believer. Do you think this is the kind of peace that Paul's talking about here in Romans 3, 17? Maybe. How about that peace that's the blessed state of the believer after death?

You know, I tried to pin this down in scripture, and although the Greek term relates to this as a possible interpretation, I could never find death or heaven connected to peace in the same verse. Now, you could kind of build a case for that if you wanted to, but there wasn't... I can't turn to a verse to show you that after we're with the Lord that that's an atmosphere of peace, although we sure know it is. But that can be a possible interpretation.

What about the peace, talking to the Jewish nation or perhaps to the believer in terms of the future, what about the peace of the millennium and the new heaven and the new earth? What about that peace? Is that what we're talking about here? I'm going to give you a final option.

How about Proverbs 3.17? Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. What does that peace reflect? What's Proverbs often talking about, particularly in the early Proverbs? Wisdom. Right, Carol. So, for the Old Testament believer, for the unsaved believer, remember, we're all under sin. How would wisdom provide peace?

Okay, and from the beginning of time, what are all men accountable to, in terms of their response to God? That's right, and the truth has been progressively revealed, right? So, Jim, we have the full record, right? But during the time that Proverbs were being written, there was only a certain amount of knowledge that had been revealed of God, of who He was.

And the wisdom, and I'm going to paraphrase here, I suspect that wisdom is best related to peace when we incorporate what God has revealed about Himself and believe in that truth. So, in terms of all these options, I think some are more possible than others. Some are ridiculous, honestly. But the last one really does fit. Because over all of mankind's history, God has revealed himself either by creation, conscience, the written word, up until the completion of the text in the late first century AD.

So, we today have the opportunity of playing out Proverbs 3.17 by having the wisdom that relates to Calvary and all that it's worth. But when Paul was addressing this audience, unsaved and saved, many people could care less, but they are still accountable to what God has revealed. So I think throughout history, man can have peace with God if he and she has believed in what God has revealed.

Romans 3. Yeah, I'm sorry. Good point, Jim. That Jim returns us to chapter 1, even though they knew about God, they chose to ignore his principles. That's right, no peace. Now the last verse brings up this interesting concept of the fear of God. And Paul, through the power of the Spirit, says there's no fear of God before their eyes.

Psalm 36.1, the transgression of the wicked saith within my heart that there's no fear of God before his eyes. Fear, phobos, alarm or fright.

Is not this true of many today? We were talking about this a half hour ago at the beginning of the class. Who in fact believes that they in fact do not fear God? They're the educated, the liberal, the agnostic, the atheist, the self-righteous. There's no fear of God before their eyes. So this is, according to Psalms, the transgression of the wicked. This is their principle of operation.

They're not fearful of God and the world system, as all of us were before we came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not fearful of Him. I guess occasionally people get saved because of fear, don't they? I guess you hear these people come to the Lord because of hell and what it really perhaps represents. something like this, and we can give that plenty of room to operate, but in general, the fear of hell is not what brings people to salvation. I mean, that ultimately gets incorporated. But is that... Even people who don't believe in God will then just cry out to God. I mean, it's pretty amazing.

How about the man on the cross? Do you think that was kind of a desperate last-minute, say, Christ forgive me? I think maybe it was a little more than that. Just not the fear of what was to follow, but he saw the Lord Jesus Christ for who he was. And this, I think, was... Christ said to him, and today I'll be with you in paradise, right?

I mean, that was a terminal, true conversion, according to the words of our Lord and Savior. But these last, you know, minute, death-sparing confessions may or may not be adequate. I mean, only God can judge that. So how should this fear of God be manifested? I'm going to give you a few options.

Romans, Proverbs 8.13 says, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Good start. A second is, by mercy and truth iniquity is purged, and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. It's not only hating evil, but departing from it. That's an exemplification of the fear of God. Proverbs 23, 17, let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in fear of the Lord all the day long.

How many times do you find yourself trying to identify with some worldly figure for some attribute, either the way he or she looks, or their intellect, or their athletic abilities, or their musicianship, or whatever else? Get out of there! That's not a domain for us. We're uniquely created to glorify Him, and God will choose the way, in fact, that glory takes place. How about 2 Corinthians 7, having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. And we're going to come to this in a second as to what that perfecting really means.

Philippians 2.12, Wherefore, my beloved, as you've always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Is this a frightful fear that we're going to get slapped down and our eternal reward is going to be influenced by our behavior? Absolutely not. What is our fear? First John, ultimately, I think, summarizes it near the end of the New Testament and says, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear hath torment, and he that fears is not made perfect in love.

And I think Schaeffer did a great job with this, and we're going to close with this quote from Louis Sperry Schaeffer. According to Schaeffer, to fear God consists in having such a due sense of the majesty and holiness and justice and goodness of God as shall make us thoroughly fearful to offend him." For each of these attributes of God is proper to raise a suitable fear in every Christian's mind.

We have such oneness with the Lord, that's why perfect love casts out fear. Because when we have that oneness, we don't offend. And our fear shouldn't be through the penalty that God will give us because of our mistakes or our sin, but in fact that we have a holy God that we're truly bonded to as sons, adopted sons, and it's like a young man, a young lady who's walking in truth, not wanting to offend their father or mother in their life or what they do. And that's our concern about fear. Our fear of the Lord is that we've offended a holy God who's been so gracious and so capable to die on the cross for our sins, our sin nature, and give us peace in eternity now and forevermore.

Amen? Let's close in prayer. Father, we're thankful for the words of Romans, and there's always room for discussion. Everything is not perfectly clear, but the stage is set that there's nothing in our own power and strength that brings merit or your favor. But as believers, we walk in a blessed manner, fully engaged and capable to have the Lord Jesus Christ manifest himself in our lives. May we, as we approach the verses and chapters to follow, may we now see the foundation by which your great grace has been put forth. And may we, in fact, as taking a sip of water over Victoria Falls, grasp the great love and grace that you give us for each and every day. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.