A Lawyer's Look At Romans

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the

Apostle Paul said, But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.

By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes, as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her

King. Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. It's great to be here, and I appreciate the invitation, and it's a great honor to be here with people of a kindred spirit and like mind, and was really blessed by the message this morning, and the fellowship, and the encouragement of all the people, and looking forward to opening

God's Word tonight. I'm an advocate by profession in regards to being a lawyer, but I enjoy being an advocate for my

Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and I'm looking forward to opening up God's Word to you tonight from the book of Romans.

A little bit about myself, I'm married. My wife's name is Debbie. We have three kids, Lauren, Abby, and Will.

If you take our initials, it's JD Law. A lawyer receives a Juris Doctorate, and they practice law, and it was inevitable, apparently, that I was going to be an attorney.

So, we didn't know that until about 10 years after the fact when my mother -in -law was sitting there doing something, knitting something, and putting our initials on something, and noticed the correlation.

So, it must be. In regards to my practice, you know, it's come a long ways.

I've been practicing for 30 years, and I remember my first trial, and just as a funny note,

I was given a case kind of at the last minute by an attorney that I worked for, and he hands me the file, and he tells me

I have to be in court in three days and get ready for this case, and I had never tried a case before at that point in time in civil court.

So, I ran over to the library, and of course, the book I found was Your First Trial, Where to Stand, and What to Say, so I put that in a folder, so I go to court, and it's in this red rope folder, and I'm in the courtroom, and it's sitting at the table, and I'm with the client, and they're all there, and the bailiff comes in and says,

All rise, and we do, and as I stand up, I knock that folder over, and out slides that book right in front of the client.

Your First Trial, Where to Stand, and What to Say. So, thankfully, they were very gracious people, and we did, actually, so I knew where to stand and what to say.

You know, it's like, it was good providence. Well, Mike has asked that I take the time to give you the lawyer's perspective of the book of Romans.

I began to look at that, and that seemed to be somewhat of a daunting task, so I'm taking some of the highlights out of the first eight chapters tonight, and we're going to be looking at some of these things where we see

Paul the lawyer at work. I enjoy the Apostle Paul, because the Apostle Paul is very linear and logical in his thinking, and what

I mean by that is that he goes from point A to point B to point C to point D, and he walks you through the argument that way, and he draws a conclusion based upon the argument and the evidence that he's compiled and put together as part of his case, and we clearly see that here in the book of Romans on several occasions.

Paul was a logical thinker, and he's dealing with a very serious topic here, of course, and that is salvation from God's wrath, and he wants to make certain that people understand the issue related to why that is so very, very important.

One of the things that I think is important, too, is Paul's style of argumentation. It's polemic in nature, and what

I mean by that is it's argumentation or an argumentative rhetoric that is intended to support a specific position by aggressive claims and undermining of the opposing position in regards to the assertions that are being made.

The rhetoric, of course, is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the uses of figures of speech and other compositional techniques, which we'll see here as well in the book of Romans.

And so, Paul here, beginning in Romans chapter 1, we're going to look at this, and again, this is a legal approach to the book of Romans, so I'm going to look at the book of Romans in three parts, basically, chapters 1 through 3, and then, of course, chapters 3 through 11, and then the concluding part, but the focus is going to be on 1 through 8, primarily.

Paul breaks the book down into three categories that we talked about, and Dr. Clark mentioned them, too, guilt, grace, and gratitude, or law and gospel, basically.

And he renders a profound and significant indictment against mankind, both

Jew and Gentile. And we begin to see Paul putting that argument together right out of the gate, and so he makes an introduction, of course, we know he's an apostle, he's speaking with authority, and beginning with verse 16, he makes the following comment,

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes, to the

Jew first, and also to the Greek. So we know right now that Paul's thesis, his issue is the issue of salvation, and salvation, of course, is important because it's salvation from something, correct?

We oftentimes, I think, forget about that, but Paul is concerned about the idea that there is a necessary salvation from God's wrath.

The defendants in the case are the Jews and the Gentiles, which in essence is all of mankind, as we understand that.

And so Paul wants to make certain that there's an understanding, a grasping as to why they need this salvation.

And Paul begins the issue first and foremost with the idea of who we are, and why there is condemnation, and why there is wrath, and why there is need for salvation.

Paul then identifies the rule that has to be applied in regards to the obtaining of this salvation in verse 16, where he says,

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, But the righteous man shall live by faith.

When we were in law school, we were taught a methodology for analyzing cases, and it was called the

IRAC method, Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion. And you can see this evident here in what

Paul is doing as well. He's identified the issue. The issue is salvation. The rule is justification by faith alone in Christ alone.

And we'll see that argument develop as he lays out this issue. And so Paul then begins to lay forth for us the significant facts.

And one of the things I like that Paul does as well is the way he uses the evidence, and the way that he uses his witnesses.

You know, one of the things that we have to do in court is we have to disclose our witnesses to the other party. You know, this idea of getting to blindside people like you see on TV, it never happens.

I wish it were that fun, but it rarely happens that way. But Paul here has a witness list that's very, very impressive.

Creation, human conscience, mankind, both Jew and Gentile, the law and the prophets.

Abraham is going to be his expert witness, the curator of the Jewish National Archives, because he's going to even point to the writings, the oracles, as he refers to them.

Aaron, with regard to the issue of propitiation, and of course, Jesus Christ himself. So here

Paul begins to lay this out. He doesn't use any circumstantial evidence. This is not based on hearsay. He doesn't assume facts that are not in evidence.

He doesn't even lead the witness. The witnesses condemn themselves. We'll see that as we work through the passage.

So this evidence that Paul presents is convincing, it's probative, it's direct evidence. And that's what you always have to do in a case.

You have to present your case based upon probative, direct evidence. We don't like circumstantial evidence in cases, because it's not really convincing of anything.

It doesn't prove much at all. And so Paul here deals with the issue now in Chapter 1 with the issue of guilt.

Why is man guilty? What is the issue with regard to this wrath?

What has happened in the context of a need for salvation? Well, even in the context of the law, guilt is important.

And guilt is based upon four elements that you typically see, and we'll find those here in Romans Chapter 1.

You have a voluntary act, which is referred to as the actus reus. You have a culpable intent, which is referred to as the mens rea.

You have a concurrence between the mens rea and the actus reus. You act out what you think.

And then there's causation of harm, which in this instance is sin. Man is sinful.

And Paul's going to point that out in a very clear and powerful way.

Well, let's consider what happens here. I'm not going to be able to digest or to break apart the entirety of Chapter 1, but let's begin with 18.

Paul now begins to explain why salvation is necessary. And so he says in verse 18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them.

For since the creation of the world, his invincible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse.

Now that's important too in the context of a legal argument. They can't have an excuse, and they're without excuse.

Look at verse 21, for even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened.

Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and of forfeited animals and crawling creatures.

Well, it goes on, and we know the balance of that text. But what happens here is important.

In verse 18 and verse 19, Paul uses a word that's significant that goes to the idea of what's going on in man's mind.

He is acting out in accordance with the intent. He is suppressing. And when we suppress something, that means to forcibly put an end to it or hold it down.

They don't want to see this thing. The image that comes to my mind is from the Christmas carol when the ghost of Christmas past comes to Scrooge, and at the end of what happens between the two of them, there's this bright light and Scrooge tries to squelch out the light by putting a cone or a cap over that ghost in order to keep the light from shining because the light was revealing what was wrong with Scrooge.

Well, men do the same thing in the context with God. They suppress the truth in their unrighteousness.

They hold it down. They suppress it. And Paul condemns them for this.

This is the action. This is the beginning of the act that leads to the guilt. This is the acting out of the intent that is in their heart.

Paul says that it's evident. Of course, this is evidence that demands a verdict, right? It's meaning it's clearly seen in verse 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them.

They suppress something that they know. And Paul will go on to explain that nature, creation, all of these things display this.

Of course, Paul here is speaking primarily to the Gentiles, about the Gentiles here in chapter 1, although this is applicable to everybody in general.

This is something that's clearly seen. The universal character of this revelation and the clarity of it leave men without excuse for rejecting it.

One commentator notes this, men cannot charge God with hiding himself from them and thus excuse their irreligion and their immorality.

Paul wants again to make certain that there is no excuse. So he points to an action that leads, a mindset that leads to an act that results in them not having any excuse.

You know, the issue will ultimately come up later in the book of Romans that somehow God is unfair, perhaps.

And Paul wants to make certain that those types of arguments are undermined by the facts. See, facts matter, don't they?

And these facts are very important because you and I need to understand the facts, right? These facts help me understand why salvation is important and why

God is wrathful against sin, why there is a wrath context to this. We oftentimes forget that.

People don't want to talk about wrath, do they? I mean, that's not something that you typically want to engage a person in a conversation about.

Oh, by the way, do you understand that you're under God's wrath? Well, how's your day going? Do you have something else we can talk about?

You know, people don't want to hear that, but that indeed is the message. That's the import of the message. We want people to understand that.

You know, something else that's significant here is verse 21. I really like this verse because it speaks to an issue that's so very important for us.

Look what happens in verse 21. For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks.

Mere mental assent is not saving faith. You know,

James would even speak of the idea that the demons know, right? In that context, they know something, but that knowledge in and of itself is insufficient.

Spurgeon would say this. Will you kindly notice that according to the text, knowledge is of no use if it does not lead to holy practice.

They knew God. It was no good to them to know God for they glorified him not as God.

So my theological friend over there who knows so much that he can split hairs over doctrines, it does not matter what you think or what you know unless it leads you to glorify

God and to be thankful. Again, Paul is making certain from a factual standpoint that he's dealing with all the aspects, all the various shades, all the different issues.

He knows what the objections are going to be. And like a good lawyer, he anticipates them. He goes into the courtroom fully prepared, anticipating his other side's case.

Oftentimes what I spend my time doing is actually learning the other side's case, their strategy.

We do something called discovery. We take depositions. We issue interrogatories. We subpoena documents.

We do document requests. We learn the other side's case. Paul knows the other side's case very, very well.

And he's putting together a compelling fact pattern that is going to become irrefutable and overwhelming.

And as I said, evidence that demands a verdict. Paul here is making reference, of course, to the wrath of God throughout this portion.

We'll see it throughout chapter one, chapter two, and portions of chapter three. And here the thing is important.

Paul's goal is not to proclaim the good news, but to demonstrate the absolute necessity of the good news of salvation from God's righteous wrath.

That's what he's doing right now. He gets to the good news, but he's got to lay the foundation for the good news.

And foundations are always important. The wrath of God is not revealed in the gospel, of course, but in the facts of human experience.

And that's what Paul was speaking to here. He goes on with this laundry list of things, and it becomes more despicable and more deplorable as we go through it.

You get to the end of the chapter one, and you're thinking to yourself, my goodness, what on earth is happening to men and women?

What has happened to mankind? Look at verse 29. He says, "...being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful."

And although they know the ordinance of God, there's that knowledge again that those who practice such things are worthy of death.

They not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. Paul's indictment is serious and it's complete.

You know, one of the things that's profound to me, too, is that when you consider the list of those things, isn't it amazing that disobedience to parents is included with wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, and strife?

I think oftentimes we in our own minds kind of break things down into categories, the really bad things and the not so bad things, right?

But Paul says all of these things are the product of people who suppress, people who act against the things of God.

Well, he continues with this line of thought. He moves into chapter 2. And chapter 2 is unique.

It's kind of written for the Jews. Many commentators think that. But it's also for the moralists, the people who think to themselves after reading chapter 1, well,

I'm not like those people at all. I would never do those things. But Paul wants to make certain that everyone understands that they're guilty.

You may say to yourself, I'm not in chapter 1. I would never do those things.

And a lot of people think that, don't they? I'm a good person. I take care of my neighbor. I'm kind to my pets.

I'm a good employee. I don't tell very many lies. But here

Paul is dealing with the Jews who would kind of claim that. They're never like anybody else. They're separate. In Romans chapter 1 here,

Paul pointed out the sin of the most notoriously guilty, of course. He now speaks to those who are generally moral in their conduct.

Paul assumes that they are congratulating themselves, that they are not like the people described in Romans 1. Again, he understands the case.

He understands the argument. He knows what they're going to object to, so he deals with it right out of the gate.

Many among the Jewish people of Paul's day typified the moralist. And of course, these words in chapter 2 can have a broader application.

Look at chapter 2 with me here briefly, beginning in verse 1. Therefore you have no excuse, every one of you who passes judgment.

For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things.

And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you suppose this,

O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?

Or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath, there's that word again, for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

And so Paul here wants to make certain that the moralist, the pious person who's taking pride in the things that they're not doing, and of course the things that they are doing.

It's stated that some ancient rabbis taught that God showed partiality towards the Jews. And they would say this,

God will judge the Gentiles with one measure, and the Jews with another, more lenient measure.

Paul again is destroying everything, all of their arguments, all of their assertions.

And he attacks them where it ultimately hurts. The point is made clear.

And this has the idea of according to the facts of the case. According to what you do, according to what you say, according to how you act,

God will judge and condemn the moralist on the basis of the facts, the same that he will do with the person in chapter 1.

There's no escape. Paul is closing off all the doors. The moralist is just as guilty as the obvious sinner.

How will they escape the judgment of God? And again, this is what Paul is dealing with in the first three chapters, this issue of guilt, the coming judgment,

God's wrath. William Newell, an Ohio boy from Worcester, Ohio, spelled correctly, by the way.

Overruled, counselor. Summarizes Romans chapter 2 with seven principles of God's judgment.

And these are the things that Paul is pointing out to the readers of Romans. He wants them to understand on the basis on which

God is going to judge. And I think these are important. And to try to summarize, and I know time is precious.

So we see in verse 2 that God's judgment is according to truth. We see in verse 5 that God's judgment is according to accumulated guilt.

We see in verse 6 that God's judgment is according to works. We see in verse 11 that God's judgment is without partiality.

In verse 13, we'll see that God's judgment is according to performance, not knowledge. We'll see in verse 16 that God's judgment reaches the secrets of the heart as well.

You see Paul's not leaving any stone unturned. There's nowhere for these people to go.

And we see in verses 17 through 29 that God's judgment is according to reality, not religious profession.

Paul will deal with the issue of circumcision, uncircumcision. The Jews are taking pride in these things.

They're claiming certain status, symbols. Oh, because of this?

Paul says no. Well, and just to make sure that the

Jews are clear about their state, about their condemnation, about the judgment, in chapter 3,

Paul calls one of his witnesses to the stand, the curator of the Jewish National Archives.

He's going to talk about the oracles of God, the writings, the word of God, all the things that they've been given that give them direction.

Because what you want to make certain is that there's no escape, kind of like Paul here is leading them.

Well, isn't it a fact that you have the Old Testament, that you have the law, that you have the prophets?

Later on, Paul will call the law and the prophets as witnesses to establish that righteousness is not obtained through the law, but through faith in something else other than themselves,

Jesus Christ. And so Paul wants to make certain, you know, you read these chapters, look what

Paul says in verse 3, what then, then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

Great in every respect. I mean, this is kind of like that situation where you read chapter 2, and you're looking at this, and you get into the first part of chapter 3, and the

Jews, he's responding to objections, he's anticipating their arguments, there's objections that are being made, and it's kind of like that situation where the accused purse snatcher defending himself says, did you get a good look at my face when

I took your purse? And that type of situation, they're judging themselves, they're giving evidence that shows and demonstrates that they are indeed guilty.

They're pointing to things that ultimately condemns them. The law, the prophets, all of these things, the things that they would claim for their own righteousness.

Well, the Jews, of course, had the oracles of God, and Paul makes certain that that stands as a proffer of evidence that stands to condemn them.

They ignored those things, didn't they? They ignored the prophets, they ignored the writings, they ignored the instruction, the warnings.

What prophet didn't they kill, right? They came to them, they told them. They stand condemned.

Well, just to make certain that we don't leave anybody out, Paul continues in Romans chapter 3 this way.

Look at verse 9, where he says this, what then? Are we better than they?

Not at all. For we have already charged, we have already charged that both

Jews and Greeks are all under what? Sin. This is what

Paul is speaking to. All of these things are violations of God's laws, God's principles.

And that's sin. And because of that, God's wrath is being poured out, and is going to be poured out.

They stand condemned. They are unrighteous. He refers to that in verse 18 at the beginning of chapter 1, ungodliness, unrighteousness.

They are under sin. And this is a powerful phrase. It speaks of our slavery to sin, and Paul is going to play that out and demonstrate it very clearly, beginning in verse 10.

This phrase literally means, sold under sin. And both

Jew and Greek are slaves to sin. Matthew Poole, a nonconformist pastor from England, would say it this, there's a sense under which, under the power of sin.

We see that, right? We see that in chapter 1, there's the power of sin. Men are acting in accordance with their desires.

It's sinful. We saw a list. Chapter 2, they're moralists. That's part of their desires.

There's that power of sin. But what Paul is speaking of here primarily is they're chiefly under the guilt of sin.

There's power, of course, but the issue here is guilt, right? Because there's condemnation.

There's going to be justice given in response to what they do. So that's what they're dealing with.

And so now Paul begins to move into the idea of the natural state of things with regard to mankind.

The case turns ultimately to what is true of everyone, beginning in verse 10, it says, as it is written, there is none righteous, not even one.

There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become useless.

There is none who does good. There is not even one. Look at the comprehensive nature of this.

Here Paul is just presenting this litany of, again, facts, facts about mankind, whether they're

Jew or Gentile. Their throat is an open grave. With their tongues they keep deceiving. The poison of ass is under their lips.

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their paths.

And the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Get those people in heaven. How are you going to do that? How does that person enter into the presence of God?

No matter how you cut it, no matter how you slice it in terms of these people, every avenue is cut off.

There is no escape. And that's Paul's point. The guilt is overwhelming.

It's complete. It's comprehensive. Of course,

God's wrath is being poured out against us. Verse 19, now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.

Accountability. You have to give an account. You have to give an account for all those things that are listed. Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight.

For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. The knowledge of sin.

So now we've completed part one. We've seen the first and second indictments.

Paul indicts the Gentiles in chapter one. He indicts Jews and Gentiles in chapter two.

And he indicts everybody in chapter three. The indictment is complete.

The grand jury has met, so to speak. And they've considered the facts and they've issued these indictments.

And now you stand condemned. You're brought to the court and you're going to be tried.

And who's going to stand in your stead? Well, Martin Lloyd -Jones once said that he loves the butts of the

Bible. And verse 21 is one of those. Where he's where Paul says in verse 21, but now, but now apart from the law, this is so beautiful.

The righteousness of God has been made, has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.

Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe, for there is no distinction.

See, there is no distinction for all have sinned, right? And fall short of the glory of God.

That's the summation of Paul's argument in chapters one, two, and three. So far, we're all sinners.

We all stand condemned and rightly so. Whether you're the flagrant sinner in chapter one, whether you're the moralist in chapter two, whether you're the one who ignores all the things that God has provided in his writings and his words.

And by nature, you are a sinner. Our entire being is permeated with this.

We can't get away from it. And so we fall short and falling short. We're under God's wrath and there has to be a reconciliation.

There has to be a rescuing. And this is where the issue of justification, which also comes into play in the context of a legal issue.

That's a legal word and it's a significant legal word. And we're going to talk about that.

Paul going on in verse 24 says this, being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus, whom

God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness because in the forbearance of God, he passed over the sins previously committed for the demonstration,

I say, of his righteousness at the present time so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Well, as I noted, the butt in verse 21 is a wonderful declaration out of the darkness into the radiant light of God's glory and grace.

We stop. It's been very dark, hasn't it? Chapter one, chapter two, chapter three. Those are dark passages.

You get to verse 21. It's a radiant explosion. Paul now begins to give hope. He begins to address the remedy, the remedy to address

God's wrath. And this is still a legal argument. It becomes perhaps even more so because now he begins to deal with the issue of justification.

He again calls upon his witnesses. The law and the prophets are referred to as we see verse 21.

But now, apart from the law or legalism, the righteousness of God has been made, has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.

On this passage, John MacArthur notes, the Jews had great reference for their scriptures, but most of them failed to realize that although divinely revealed, those scriptures in themselves had no power to save.

Even Christ would say in John 539, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life.

And it is these that bear witness of me. The scriptures bear witness of Christ, and that's where our salvation is.

Our justification stands in the finished work of Jesus Christ and God's declaration, his placement of us in him in that regard.

And that's ultimately what Paul will get to. So Paul calls the law and the prophets to testify that all along their singular purpose was not to show man how to achieve his own righteousness, but rather pointed them to Jesus Christ who himself would provide the righteousness that God demands of men.

Although the full revelation of salvation through Christ was not given in the Old Testament, that had always been the way of salvation to which the

Old Testament pointed. You know, some say today that we need to come unhinged from the

Old Testament. I think Paul would think that we need to keep hinged to it, stay attached to it, because of course it points us ultimately to what we need.

I think it's interesting, too, that Paul then moves into this idea of a scapegoat.

Well, don't all the condemned want a scapegoat? You know, you go to court. I used to be in the prosecutor's office, and people were always looking for ways to get out of what they'd been accused of.

They didn't want to bear the penalty, the just penalty of committing the crime. And they would blame somebody else, or they would make excuses or whatever else.

And here, Paul talks about the fact that there is one who takes the penalty, who bears the wrath.

We know from Leviticus chapter 16, verses 8 through 10, we have the picture of the two goats. And the scapegoat carries away the wrath.

It's taken out of camp. That's taken away. That's a legal consequence.

And Paul makes certain that we need to understand that. So, he goes on to say, in verse 27, "'Where then is boasting?

It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.'"

To prove this, then, ultimately, Paul calls his expert witness Abraham. And in chapter 4, we see a demonstration of what

Paul is speaking to when he speaks of the idea that the just shall live by faith, that salvation is by faith alone and Christ alone.

And he uses this powerful story of Abraham and Sarah, and he demonstrates through the facts of those events that Abraham was not justified by his works.

Abraham was told that he was going to be the father of an innumerable group of people.

And he thinks to himself, I'm old. How is that going to be physically possible? I can't have children.

Sarah's old, too. But he believed what God said. He had faith in what

God said, that God would perform what he had promised. We read Genesis 15 this morning in church.

And that was credited to him. That was accounted to him as righteousness. Abraham didn't do any work.

He simply believed. He trusted what God said. Well, that's the same case for us, is it not?

We have to follow Abraham's example. That's what Paul is saying. Paul is explaining to us the fact that justification, our faith, the result of our faith in the context of justification flows from and is connected to something else other than ourselves.

Abraham couldn't produce this mighty nation on his own. That had to come from God. And so what

Paul is making certain is that we understand that our justification, the escape from this wrath, our salvation is dependent upon the actions and the conduct of someone else.

And that someone else is Jesus Christ, of course. This is the legal result of justification, then, as a consequence of someone else's actions, trusting in those other actions.

Like Abraham trusted God to do what he promised to do, we trust in what Jesus Christ has done, and that's credited to us as righteousness.

That's given to us by God. Again, that's a legal issue, is it not? Justification makes a declaration.

You're a sinner, you're then justified by God on account of what Jesus Christ has done, and because of that, you're removed from the guilt, the condemnation, and the wrath of God, and you're placed in the right relationship with him.

It's significant that the word that's used for justification here by Paul is a word that speaks to making things right.

It was a legal word. It was a courtroom word. And people would go to court in order to get justice, to have something made right that was wrong.

Well, the relationship between man and God is wrong, correct? There's a problem, there's an issue, and it needs to be made right.

And Paul's point is that it's not made right in adherence to the law. That doesn't do anything. It's not made right because you're a

Jew. It's not made right because you're a moralist. It's not made right by anything that you do.

It's made right by God's actions, and that's the point and the whole argument that he makes in the latter part of chapter 3.

There is a legal consequence, a legal action that is taken. The hope that I have in that, then, is this.

Nobody can unwind that legal declaration. No one can appeal it. There's nowhere to go.

Who's going to appeal God's legal declaration, right? It's a non -appealable final order.

One of the things that we have in law is this. You can go through a process, you can get a verdict, or you can get a judgment, and you can have that judgment rendered in the context of not being appealable.

There are certain judgments that are never appealable. This is one of those. And that's significant for us because in that we have hope and confidence, and we can rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

In chapter 5, Paul says this, Therefore, having been justified by faith, faith in Jesus Christ, we have peace with God through our

Lord Jesus Christ. And look what Paul tells us, what's happened here. Through whom also we have obtained, so we're given something, something that we didn't have, our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand.

That's the judgment. That's God's declaration. We stand in that. We stand complete.

We stand united with Christ. And because of that, he says, and we exalt in hope of the glory of God.

Justification by faith alone in Christ alone according to God's grace.

If you go back to verse 27 in chapter 3, we see that Paul makes certain that there's not going to be any boasting.

This is going to be a reveling in the wonders of God's grace. And that's ultimately what he does in chapter 8, doesn't he?

At the end of chapter 8, he will say to us, Who can separate us from the love of God? Who can ever take away the consequences of this legal declaration?

This position that is never movable, never changeable. No one can unwind or unpackage the

Supreme Court, the Hague, the tribunal, no tribunal, the common police court. There's nowhere for anyone to go to ever take away what

God has legally declared to be your position. You're no longer the person in chapter 1, chapter 2, and chapter 3.

You're now a person who has been brought into a right relationship with God. It's been made right.

See what happened in the garden messed that all up, right? Adam sinned. We needed a second

Adam. Paul will ultimately talk about that. We don't have time to get into that, but you have this amazing picture of Christ, the second

Adam coming. And because of what he has done, he fulfills everything that God requires.

And that's credited to my account. Christ's righteousness is imputed to my account.

Well, in closing, we can look quickly at what Paul does in Romans chapter 6 through 11.

He anticipates questions about salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. In chapter 6, verses 1 through 14, he asks the question, shall we continue in sin that grace might increase?

I mean, this is freeing, isn't it? You get to this place and you say to yourself, wow, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm good.

Everything's right. And there were some people who then took license with that and they began to say, well,

I'm just going to go ahead and just sin like crazy. And Paul said, well, no, you're not going to do that.

And he talks about the issue of being baptized into the slavery and baptized into Christ.

And as a consequence, you're not going to want to do those things. You're going to want to delight in what God has done. In chapter 6, verses 15 through chapter 7, verse 6, he talks about this issue of sinning because we're under the law, but because we're not under the law, but under grace.

In chapter 7, he talks about how is the law sin. In chapter 7, moving into chapter 8, and who's going to set me free from this body of death?

Well, it's Jesus Christ. As we look at chapter 8, in conclusion, we read the familiar words beginning in verse 31.

And again, this is a legal argument that Paul is making. He's, he's, he's arguing like a lawyer.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who could be against us?

Who's going to unwind everything that God has done? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all.

How will he not also with him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect?

God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is he who died.

Yes, rather, who was raised, who was at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ?

Will tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword, just as it is written for your sake, we are being put to death all day long.

We were considered a sheep to be slaughtered, but in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us.

For I'm convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels or principalities, nor things present or things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depths, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our

Lord. It's amazing to me, and it's really compelling.

In chapters 1, 2, and 3, there's no escape from that condition. And in the new condition, there's no escape from that.

Isn't that beautiful? There's condemnation. There's nothing but judgment.

But then all of a sudden, it all changes and there's no longer any condemnation.

There's no longer any context of wrath. There's no longer any context of guilt because of what

Jesus Christ has done and what God initiated. We have been justified, and that's it.

And at that point, the gavel would slam down and the judge would say, the case is over.

There's nowhere else to go at this point. But to rejoice in what God has provided to us and to celebrate what

God has done for us and continues to do for us through his Son, Jesus Christ. God is for us.

The perpetual legal consequences of justification. That's a beautiful place to be, and nothing can ever take that from you.

Well, I appreciate your time tonight. You've been very attentive, and I've enjoyed having the opportunity.

There's so much more here, of course. We could spend a very, very long time. But Mike asked me this morning, how long should a preacher preach?

I think we're at that point. So I'll pray and we'll be concluded. Lord, we love you.

We thank you for what we've been provided by you and through you. How you've resolved the dilemma of our sin, the consequences of our sin.

We've been relieved from your wrath. We've been placed into the right relationship with you. We've been given something outside of ourselves.

We're so grateful for that. Thank you for the salvation that we have through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

May we be people who are very grateful for that. May we revel in the thought of the fact that this is a legal determination that no one can ever, ever take away from us.

We look forward to that day when our faith will become sight and we will spend eternity with you.

Thank you for the fine folks here at Bethlehem Bible Church, and thank you for their hospitality. Thank you for their faithfulness, their witness, for their proclamation of the word.

May your hand be upon them. May you bless them and keep them. And may they glorify Christ in all they do and say.

In Christ's name we pray. Amen. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.