All People Are Sinners
Romans 3:9-18…NLT
9 Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. 10 As the Scriptures say,
“No one is righteous—
not even one.
11 No one is truly wise;
no one is seeking God.
12 All have turned away; all have become useless.
No one does good, not a single one.” {Psalm 14:1-3 & 53:1-3, Septuagint}
13 “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.” {Psalm 5:9, 140:3}
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” {Psalm 10:7}
15 “They rush to commit murder.
16 Destruction and misery always follow them.
17 They don’t know where to find peace.” {Psalm 59:7-8}
18 “They have no fear of God at all.” {Psalm 36:1}
Introduction
Last Wednesday night our message lacked clarity and I do not want that to happen again. Today’s message may be brief but I do want it to be clear and simple.
As I stated in the last Message, the Jews were convinced that they were exceptional and there are in a sense but not in the way that they think. They did not see themselves as “sinners.” They had no problem recognizing the sins of the Gentile world but they did not see their own sin. Neither did they believe that they would be judged. Paul dispels these myths.
–All men are sinners, Jew and Gentile alike
–All men will stand before Christ in Judgment, no exceptions
–All men, humans are born under the curse of sin, all are subject to sin, it is our nature, inclination, default setting.
–All men are totally depraved which means lacking in righteous. We have no righteous, none, nil, nada, zero, zilch or in plain English, “Not a bit.” I was in my late 20’s before this fact dawned upon me. None of us want to believe that we are depraved. We are convinced that there is some good in us. God had to convince me Himself–You have none!
Transition
I. FIRST OF ALL, LET ME ILLUSTRATE THIS TRUTH
Glass of hot water and a tea bag. Original sin tainted our entire human nature. We are cursed with a self-centered, vain-glorious pride that runs from the bottom of our feet to the top of our head. We are capable of doing good things such as obey the law, like the Jews BUT we are not capable of doing good things for the right reasons. Our motives are impure: we want credit, we want praise and recognition. Luther says that outside of grace we are motivated by two factors, [1] fear of punishment and [2] hope of reward.
II. DEPRAVITY MEANS WE ARE NOT ONLY VOID OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, WE ARE INCAPABLE OF PRODUCING ANY THAT GOD WILL ACCEPT
Adam and Eve were the first to sin. When they did, they attempted to cover their shame and guilt with their own works, industry, rationale, techniques, etc. They made themselves fig-leaf aprons. God said, “Unacceptable.” He sacrificed and innocent animal and covered them with the skin or fleece.
You cannot manufacture righteous, not any that is not tainted, not any that God will accept. Cain came along and tried the same thing and God gave him the same answer, “NO.”
You are not going to heaven because you are good…You are not good. No one is good except God and of course, Jesus was God.
III. IF YOU ARE NOT CONVINCED: LOOK AT WHAT MAN’S RIGHTEOUSNESS PRODUCES
[1] The first thing on the list is PRIDE and God hates pride. Every moralist, every do-gooder, every Pharisee you know is filled with pride. They are proud of their accomplishments, record, their reputation. Self-righteous is productive, it produces pride.
[2] Spiritual Blindness: the self-righteous always think of themselves as being righteous and they focus on their righteousness. The truly righteous, according to Luther, never see themselves as righteous. [I correct people, kindly, when they refer to me as being good. You are encouraging idolatry when you allow people to believe that you are good.
[3] Ignorance of GRACE. Until you understand and confess your depravity, you will not understand or experience God’s grace, not in full measure. Folks, I am telling you, everything is GRACE.
[4] As long as you do not understand GRACE, you will be critical of others and ungrateful toward God. Follow me here: You must first see your DEPRAVITY, then you will begin to understand GRACE and Grace will make you THANKFUL.
[5] When you become THANKFUL, you will become happy and content.
Conclusion
Luke 15 AND the story of the two sons is a perfect illustration.
[1] Both were sinners–rebelled against their father
[2] One came to realize his sin and error but the other did not
[3] One was satisfied to serve his father, the other became increasingly unhappy with his father.
[4] One is enjoying fellowship with his father and the other is angry with his father.
What made the difference? The Father’s love? No, it was the repentance of the younger.
If you are unhappy, ungrateful and angry with your brother there is a reason for it: YOU NEED TO REPENT.
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