Reviewing Romans

[0:00] This speaks about the blessed person whose delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.

[0:11] ! He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season whose leaf does not wither whatever he does prospers.

[0:22] And so the Bible says that there is a blessing for those who meditate in God's law, in his word, in the daytime and in the evening.

[0:35] And we're in the evening time and so we're going to think together about God's word and we ask him that he would grant us that blessing. So let's make that a prayer as we come together.

[0:47] Lord, we need the irrigation that the tree needed to be planted by the water.

[0:59] We long, Lord, to be fruitful like that tree. We long to have the resilience that we don't dry up in difficult times but that we keep being fruitful like the tree described.

[1:15] And you have said that as we meditate in your word those blessings will be ours. So we ask you, Lord, to make those blessings ours this evening as we come before you.

[1:31] Give us listening ears and responsive hearts and lives that are able to be changed by you into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

[1:44] These are big prayers to ask, but we ask them in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Let us... We got into about chapter 5.

[2:15] But what I thought we would do this evening is simply to try to summarize what we studied. If we can try and summarize up to chapter 5 in three goes, one of which is this evening.

[2:31] That's what I'd like to try and do. So I think if we may, we will simply read those first three chapters. And I would like, because my throat is a bit wobbly this evening, I would like to ask all of us, or as many as possible, to share in reading that.

[2:51] If we go to Romans chapter 1, verse 16, I think we're going to abbreviate a little bit. This is Paul, once he's got into his stride, telling the Romans the main bulk of his message.

[3:09] So we're in Romans chapter 1, verse 16, and Julia has a microphone so that if we're sitting and reading, if we just switch that on, it will make sure that everybody can hear.

[3:23] So I'm looking for a volunteer in this part to read us some. You will? So it's right at the bottom, right underneath, there's a little switch that you move from one side to another.

[3:37] A little red light comes on. Right, could you read us... How far would you like to... Could you prepare to read 16 to the end of the chapter? Yeah? Excellent.

[3:48] This is chapter 1, from verse 16, and Julia is kindly going to read it to us. I'm not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

[4:01] First for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last.

[4:12] Just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

[4:26] Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

[4:46] For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

[4:58] Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

[5:10] Therefore, God gave them over in their sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served created things rather than the creator, who is forever praised. Amen.

[5:28] Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.

[5:46] Men committed indecent acts with other men, who received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done.

[6:03] They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossip, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful.

[6:18] They invent ways of doing evil, and they disobey their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless and ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice them.

[6:39] Thank you very much. Now in a moment we'll read chapter 2. Let me tell you what I had in mind.

[7:00] I thought we would try to summarise these chapters. If we could do it in 20 minutes we'd do very well. I thought we'd say, what does this, how does this leave us?

[7:13] What are the implications in terms of mission, in terms of outlook, in terms of individual devotion, and anything else that comes to mind? I think there is a key verse, which goes something like that, and you might like to think what the blanks are, which says, something have sinned and fall short of something of God, and are something freely by something, through the redemption by something.

[7:41] And I've got some other things as well, so let's come back to that in a moment. So we need to continue to read, if we may. So is there a volunteer in the middle?

[7:52] Ray, Ray's volunteering. Thank you very much. So could you read us, I think, chapter 2, all chapter 2.

[8:04] Could you do that? Chapter 2. You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else. For whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

[8:22] Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them, and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?

[8:37] Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you towards repentance? But because of your stubbornness, and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

[9:00] God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who, by persistence in doing good, seek glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life.

[9:15] But for those who are self-seeking, and who reject the truth, and follow evil, there will be wrath, and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

[9:32] But glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.

[9:42] All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law. And all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

[9:55] But it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Indeed, when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences, also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.

[10:29] This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. Now you, if you call yourself a Jew, if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God, if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law, if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, you then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself?

[11:12] You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

[11:27] You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written, God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.

[11:41] Circumcision has value if you observe the law. But if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?

[11:59] The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you, who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

[12:12] A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly, and circumcision is circumcision of the heart by the spirit, not by the written code.

[12:36] Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God. Thank you very much. We've now come to chapter 3 and I'd like us to read up to verse 24.

[12:58] So is there any, we've got a volunteer over in far corners? Right. Yep. Thank you. Chapter 3 up to and including verse 24.

[13:24] What's there, what advantage then is there in being a Jew? Or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

[13:40] What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? Not at all. Let God be true and every man a liar, as it is written, so that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.

[14:02] But if our righteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us?

[14:13] I am using a human argument. Certainly not. If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, if my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?

[14:35] Why not say, as we are being slanderously reported as saying, and as some claim that we say, let us do evil in that good may result?

[14:47] Their condemnation is deserved. What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all. We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.

[15:01] As it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away. They have together become worthless.

[15:14] There is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves, their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.

[15:27] Their feet are swift to shed blood. Ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

[15:39] Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

[15:51] Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law. Rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

[16:03] But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

[16:19] There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

[16:33] God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.

[16:49] he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

[17:00] Thank you very much. Thank you. Right, those are the chapters and we took quite a while to go through them previously so the question is can we review those chapters in 20 minutes in a useful and helpful way.

[17:18] Let's pray that we might be able to do so. Lord, help us as we seek to meditate on your word and encourage one another in your word so that we may better love you and serve you.

[17:31] Amen. Well, perhaps we could first of all tackle this which I think is a key verse because it does tend to summarise everything that has been discussed.

[17:47] it says something have sinned and fall short of the something of God and are something freely by his something through the redemption by something.

[17:59] Does anybody spot any of the all, all, all have sinned and fall short. So he's saying all have sinned and fall short of something of God.

[18:12] glory. Glory. The idea of glory is an important idea in Romans.

[18:23] The opposite of glory is shame. And one of the things that he talked about was exchanging the glory of God. God. See if we can find it.

[18:36] So in 121, although they knew God, they didn't glorify him as God. And in verse 22, they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images.

[18:48] And Romans is how those he chose, he justified, those he, no, those he called. justified, those he knew.

[19:10] Those he predestined, he also called. Those he called, he also justified. Those he justified, he also glorified. So glory is part of the agenda, you see.

[19:23] So he says the problem is that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So going back to this key verse, and are something freely justified.

[19:38] Another key word, justify, to be made righteous or to be dealt with as righteous, to be counted righteous.

[19:51] A very, very important idea in Romans. how can people be counted right with God?

[20:02] How can you or I come to pray and know that God is not saying get out of my sight, but is saying, I'm listening, speak on.

[20:14] How can we know that we are right with God? And that's the word, to be justified freely. Now, we're getting towards an answer to this, justified freely by his something.

[20:29] Grace. So that's another key word, grace. Grace is when God does not deal according to what we deserve, but deals with us generously, despite the fact we don't deserve.

[20:45] deserve. And this is another key word in Romans, how God deals with people in grace. Where is his grace to be found?

[20:55] How do you access God's grace? How do you encounter God's grace? And I think the answer is pretty much found in the next blank. We're justified freely by his grace through the redemption which comes by Christ Jesus.

[21:13] Jesus. So where is this grace?

[21:23] Where is the activity and the sort of focal point of God's gracious dealings? Answer, it's in Jesus Christ. Redemption is found in him.

[21:35] So that's all within one verse and it does bring together quite a lot of the threads in the three chapters. Let's see if we can have a go at the whole three chapters in a couple of leaps.

[21:48] So I want to go back to the all, because I think he's been talking actually about all in two main groups, which more or less corresponds to the people he was talking about in chapter one and then more or less corresponds to the people in chapter two and three.

[22:07] so I've got some more blanks there. G, R, something, something, K, and R, something, M, something, something, and then another group, J, something, something, so two big groups of people.

[22:26] the Greeks or the Romans and the Jews. So he's talking about the two big divisions, two big groups, the Jew who is in a certain particular position and really everybody else by which he refers to as the Greeks, meaning the people in the Roman Empire at that time, meaning just about everybody else.

[22:59] And these two groups sort of stand for people in the position who are either totally spiritually ignorant and totally spiritually irreverent.

[23:18] So that's the Greeks. Although they're very sophisticated, this is how Paul would see them, as being basically pig ignorant about the things of God. And on the other hand, the Jewish nation who I've said are knowledgeable about the things of God.

[23:40] So these are the two groups that he's been talking about. And when he draws his argument towards its conclusion, he says, I've said something about the Greeks, the Romans, that lot.

[23:54] I've said something about the Jews. And at the end of the day, you can put them all together and say they've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And if they're going to be saved, it's the same, just as they're the same in sin, they have to be the same in salvation.

[24:12] salvation. If they are going to be saved, they're going to be justified freely by his grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. It's the same across that great divide.

[24:24] Does that make sense? So sin is the same across that divide and so is the way of grace. So now I've got some other blanks to fill in. For the Greeks and Romans, there is revelation.

[24:39] revelation, God does reveal himself to them via something. For the Jew, there is revelation via something. For the Greeks, there is a typical response.

[24:52] For the Jew, there is a typical response. I think Paul talks about some typical behaviour of the Greeks and some typical behaviour of the Jews.

[25:04] I think he talks about God's action and indeed his reaction towards the Greeks and he talks about God's action and reaction towards the Jew and he against all of this he has what you would actually call an axiom which an axiom is just a way of saying something that you don't prove it just is the case.

[25:32] You can't prove it you don't prove it it's just one of the things is given and I've put that there. God will definitely something the world in a something way and I've left space for a conclusion so can we fill in those blanks in no particular order put them in an order if you so wish but we're trying to summarise we won't be able to put in everything that's in all those chapters but I think we could have a go summarising it so would you like to start us somewhere shall we start here with revelation what is the revelation towards the Greek and Roman world the natural order of creation and conscience now could you tell us Ray where it says that verse 20 for from or since the creation of the world

[26:47] God's invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made so that they are without excuse and again it says in verse 18 wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness since what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them so that's saying that the revelation towards the world in general is via the created world including the human makeup so and let me ask you the question is that revelation of

[27:49] God biffy a bit dodgy a bit unsure or what no it is not and how and why do we know that okay there's something yes yes that's true there's another thing that we could bring into the yeah where does it say God has made it plain yeah so it is plain and clear okay it's plain and clear revelation yes well it could for example you could say when you look at the stars you look at the stars isn't it obvious that there's a grand creator of all these things yeah

[28:57] I think yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yes okay so there's a there's a so if I put a conscience yeah which is what actually Ray said yes yes yes yes and they still see the same creation as I see they do indeed and still they don't it's not plain and clear to them is it well they don't they don't say it's plain and clear and I think there's an explanation of that in the text isn't there yeah what he's saying is verse 18 they suppress the truth so what

[29:57] Paul wouldn't say okay here's the idea that the person says it's not plain or clear to me I can't see this and Paul would say to that person no you're wrong it is plain and clear but the reason you're not convinced about it is that you in yourself are if you like you've decided you don't want to believe it you've got a built-in bias against believing it you know that as soon as you admitted there is a God you'd open yourself up to all sorts of problems and challenges so you just shut that off in denial I think is the word that's the way Paul would say it it'd be quite difficult to say that to somebody in a conversation but and it might not even be helpful to say that!

[30:55] but that's what Paul is saying the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their irreverence for what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain so it's very interesting isn't it because we're surrounded by people who say I can't see any evidence for God and clever people who say that and what the Bible is saying is well they may be clever and they may say they're not convinced about God but God has given them all the evidence they need and it goes on to say in verse 21 although they knew God they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him but their thinking became vain empty pointless useless unreliable unserviceable and their foolish hearts were darkened although they claimed to be wise they became fools

[31:57] I think that's a very appropriate description I mean not sure whether I'd have the courage to say that to anybody's face but this is what Paul is saying isn't it that you Jeremy Paxman or you John Humphreys or you Professor Dawkins you who don't honour God and don't give thanks to God and you claim to be very wise you are in fact extremely stupid spiritually speaking that's what it says isn't it they became fools that's what it says it's illuminating isn't it shall we go across to this side to the Jew what revelation does the Jew have the law yeah that's what what he he keeps on saying the

[32:59] Jew has the law interesting what is the best understanding of that word I'm going to suggest and it is only a suggestion that law includes within it I'm only saying this because I read this in a book that I was reading this week so I'm still trying this idea on for size law doesn't only include the thou shalls and thou shalt not it includes the stories of scripture doesn't it so you know in the law in the five books of Moses you get quite a number of things not just the ten commandments but you get yeah all the narratives and Chris Wright's idea of law is that it is that whole thing that constitutes God's guidance to humanity now having written that I'm wondering whether that makes it a little too weak anyway we'll try that on for size

[34:03] I put that in inverted commas so the Jew has a particular revelation a revelation in words a revelation in the scripture a revelation with particular ethical content could anybody give us a verse just so that we're quite clear about that yeah yeah thank you chapter 2 verse 17 now you he's talking to his second group if you call yourself a Jew and you rely you rest on the law you rest on this body of scripture you rest on you know the fact that you have a bible you rest on the fact that you know correct ethics whatever it may be you rely on the law and boast brag in

[35:13] God you say and I've got this knowledge I have God and nobody can take that away from me and I'll argue with you if you try and tell me I haven't etc ok so we've got these two revelation from conscience and the created world and revelation in actual the words of the bible yeah yeah yes he's saying that we've got the law written down for the Jew but the conscience in some sense so I put that little squiggle to mean there's an approximate connection with the law so that yes as Julie was saying we know right and wrong inwardly and it's just there yes correct yes there was no

[36:22] Torah there was no in you yes yes so there's something hardwired into the way we've been created which matches up to the revelation in words that the scriptures contain ok good let's go on to the responses so I've put room for a typical response and typical behaviour in each case although it might not be as neat as that so response to revelation by the world in general according to this suppression yeah suppression is in verse 18 yep so ok so if I put a refusal there so they don't glorify god and they don't give thanks to him whereas christians do glorify god and do give thanks to him these refuse to do that and there's another word that crops up a few times yes thank you there's an exchange that he refers to so instead of there being nothing that is worshipped and honoured something else is put into that place so where do we get this we've got it 23 they exchange the glory of the immortal god for images made to look like mortal man and birds etc and then you get the same thing in verse 25 they exchange the truth of god for a lie verse 23 they exchange the glory verse 25 they exchange the truth of god for a lie so this is the typical large scale response to god's revelation to suppress it or refuse it or to swap it over to exchange and where god ought to be responded to in a certain way then an image is put in that place it's an interesting question as to whether we're surrounded by a society which more or less claims not to believe in god and not to have any god at all is that a true statement that's the impression i get the census that we were told about a few weeks ago didn't it say 40% said they were christians and 60% said they had no god was it how it worked so yeah yeah was it it yeah i know there's 40% in there somewhere yeah it's an interesting question as to whether if you say you have no god whether that's really a correct diagnosis because i think that everybody makes a god out of something even if it's something very mundane sorry yes well that's to make a god out of oneself isn't it yes yeah i don't think human beings are capable of living apart from for some greater

[40:23] thing than themselves and to put one's trust in something to make something that be all and end all is to make a god even though people wouldn't put it down on the census you know my god is whatever it is football or to be successful or to be cool or whatever it is yet that in effect functions as a god yeah that's a very good question and the answer is no what can be seen is his eternal power and divine nature such that humankind is without excuse so he's not saying there was enough in creation for somebody to be saved but there's enough in creation to say if you don't turn to god and worship god if you make idols you are blameworthy there's enough to make people inexcusable there isn't enough to save them does that make sense there is enough so that god can say you should have worshipped me you should have sought me you should have been seeking me and you should have made it your job night and day to find a way to get to know me and find a solution to your pardon yes should have acknowledged me yes yes yes yes yes and you get that in acts 17 where it says god has disposed what does it say ordered the place where each one of us should live that somehow we should seek him and find him though he is not far from each one of us so that sense that god has not sort of hidden himself but actually made himself very accessible and the problem is within us that we fail to capitalize on that people who were seeking the lord and perhaps in a dream or something like that and the lord brought them into contact with people who had the scriptures because you have to have the scriptures to be saved you can't be saved without that does that fit in with anecdotes from sort of muslim people yes thank you very much okay so the typical response of the the

[44:24] the pagan if we can use that expression we've just looked at suppressing refusing exchanging what would be the typical response of the jew if does he point out anything that does he put his finger on some response that the the jew tends to have or certainly the jew that he's thinking of in his imaginary debate with the jew ready!

[44:56] ready! ready! ready! ready! ready! ready! ready! Okay, Ray's saying reliance on the outward, the outward sign. Yep, could I put that in one word? I'm not sure whether I can.

[45:14] Yes, self-righteous, it's self-righteousness, the sense that having these things makes me right with God, self-righteousness. Anybody like to add to that?

[45:33] Yep, so as a sort of boasting, anybody like to take that any further? Yes, I think the way he puts it is boasting in God via the wrong route, but it's boasting that's linked with ritual and indeed the law.

[46:09] I was thinking of looking down on other people actually. Does he do that? He looks down, you who pass judgment on somebody else. Chapter 2, verse 1, there's a sort of superiority. I'm sorry?

[46:25] There's a delusion on the front, aren't there? You know, delusion into thinking he's okay. Yes, there is a delusion into thinking one's okay. It's a different sort of denial, isn't it?

[46:36] It's being in denial about one's own sin, one's own shortcoming. So here's a typical response which is produced by knowledge, religion, and yet it isn't grace.

[46:58] And I think you can find that not only in the Judaism of his day, but in many religions in general.

[47:10] I was just commenting at tea time that there is a sort of nominal Christianity, which is a Christianity based on perhaps that you are christened, based on the fact that there is a church that you go to occasionally, perhaps based on the idea that you take communion or go to Mass or something like that.

[47:31] And if you say to that person, but that doesn't make you a Christian, you can get a very sharp answer from them back. They say, how dare you? How dare you question me on that? That's totally out of order.

[47:43] You know, you can get quite a sharp response. And I think this is what Paul has in mind here. But it's the Jew. What on earth was I doing?

[47:54] Was I doing typical... No, I wasn't. I was still on typical response, wasn't I? Yeah. So, yes. Self-righteousness. Shall we go to behaviour?

[48:05] Are there any behaviour patterns that fit with these? May or may not be the case. Or maybe just another way of saying what we already have said.

[48:16] Well, those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those of those it stops people linking up with each other in a happy and loving way. So it is not very easy to link up socially with people who are slanderers, disobedient, senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. It makes relationships pretty hard work, pretty difficult. So you've got that side of things. And you also have this behaviour that he points out, which is crossing barriers of sexual behaviour that shouldn't be crossed. So the normal... I'm sorry? Yes, yes. What am I trying to say? I'm not trying to use the word barriers. Am I trying to use the word distinctions? Boundaries is the word I was looking for. There are boundaries.

[49:49] Yeah. Well, the boundaries get crossed or not recognised. Come in. And the vocabulary that he uses, it doesn't come across in the NIV particularly well, is a strength of desire.

[50:12] So he talks about being inflamed. He says there's a strong desire at work here. And he also has a vocabulary of shame. And he says that what ought to be sort of noble and pure is actually goes into the realm of something which is shameful. Verse 26, God gave them over to the opposite of glory. Shameful. But these people don't recognise it as that. And whether he's saying this is a particularly bad form of behaviour or whether he's saying that this is a particularly indicative form of behaviour that shows that a society has lost the sense of the boundaries of who is God and who isn't. And this just gets reflected in the inner workings of that society. So people are, have no conscience, have no sense that there's anything that God would not be pleased with because they're not interested in what God is pleased with. So morality gets put onto a completely different footing to what God has planned. So I think that would be, as a matter of fact, we plan to spend an evening in March coming back to that subject. So I'll just leave it at that, at that point, if that's okay with everybody. And say, is there a typical behaviour for the Jew?

[51:47] When I wrote that down, I can't remember what I was thinking of, so maybe the answer's no. Yes. Yes. We would call this hypocrisy, I think.

[52:23] Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy in the Bible is not, generally speaking, a difference between the inside and the outside.

[52:42] It's a difference between what you do sometimes and what you do other times. That's what hypocrisy in the Bible is. It's interesting. By all means, look it up and prove me wrong.

[52:55] But we tend to think hypocrisy is the difference between inside and outside, so that our motives are not what they should be or something like that. But in the Bible, it's an inconsistency between what you do sometimes and what you do other times, which, of course, is exactly what an actor is.

[53:12] An actor is King Lear from 3 o'clock to 6 o'clock, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and then from 8 o'clock till 10.30 on Saturday and Sunday, and then the rest of the time he's somebody else.

[53:31] It's a difference between what you are some of the time and what you are the rest of the time. Anyway, so the Jew here is, on the one hand, saying, well, I know the law, I've got the law, I could repeat it to you, I could praise God for it.

[53:45] And on the other hand, not doing what the law says. So that's, I don't know whether, does he say hypocrisy or have we just put that to it? Yes. No, it's just in 20, 20 on this, you've got, you who do such and such.

[54:05] Yes. You, what's the same? You have poor idols, do you rob tentacles? Yeah. You brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

[54:17] Yeah. So I'll say the same one thing and do it as one. Yes, yes, yes. Okay, so hypocrisy will do. God's action and reaction.

[54:27] Shall we do this quite quickly to the Greek Roman society? What does God, what is God's action or reaction?

[54:38] He gave them over to the other characters. Yes. He gives over. He gave over. He hands over. He puts them in that place.

[54:51] He gives them over to that and says, well, if that's the way you want to behave, I will just let you do that. That's the way you want to do it. I will let you do it. He gives them over to sin.

[55:03] Verse 24. And it says it somewhere else. Verse 26. And it says it in verse 28. So God gives people over to that.

[55:14] And for the Jew. Can I bring chapter 3, verse 2 into play for the Jew?

[55:29] Yeah, they're unfaithful.

[55:45] But God has been faithful to them. God has given them many things that they have not lived up to.

[55:56] So perhaps I could put in here, God's action to the Jew is that he has blessed them. And it's a blessing that's been refused or suppressed or something.

[56:09] And Paul goes on to say, you know, circumcision is not nothing. It's not just something to trip over. It's of much value in every way. And the law is not something just which makes the Jew more blameworthy.

[56:24] But actually, there's great blessings in God's guidance and his revelation. And later on, he will say, look, the Jew has got all these things that are fulfilled in the gospel. They've got the temple worship.

[56:36] They understand the character of God. Theirs is the sonship. Theirs is the Christ. From them is the Christ who is God, who is blessed over all. So he's saying there's huge blessing for the Jew.

[56:49] Let's move on. One of the things that he was assuming all the way through was, this is the axiom, isn't it? God will definitely something the world in a something way.

[57:02] Something begins with J. Judge. Judge. Judge the world in a righteous way, in a fair way.

[57:15] If I put fair, meaning to say just. Not vindictive, not favoritism, but one for one.

[57:28] What you sow, you reap. You get what you deserve. God will judge the world in a fair way. And he says this is absolutely fundamental. And that means that there's a problem for the Gentile who will be judged fairly.

[57:43] And a problem for the Jew who will be judged fairly. And that leads us back to the beginning, I think. All have sinned.

[57:54] This proves it, doesn't it? All have sinned. All, perhaps in their different ways, but all fall short of the glory of God. And if they're to be saved, they need to be justified freely by the grace that comes through the redemption of Jesus Christ.

[58:13] It pushes everybody towards the cross of Jesus. We won't finish just yet, but we will sing. Let's sing number 433. That took longer than 20 minutes, but let's sing about the redemption that's in Christ Jesus.

[58:31] 433, Man of Sorrows. We sang it this morning. It's about Jesus Christ as the focus that we are driven to, whether we are Jews or Gentiles.

[58:43] Does this have any implications? Well, it does have many implications, doesn't it? Perhaps worth spelling out a little bit. In terms of mission, in terms of the way we look at the world that we're in, and in terms of individual devotion and any other things that come to mind, anybody like to suggest these implications?

[59:14] It doesn't have implications. Implications is what follows from it, or how I respond to it, what it means we should think, what it means we should do.

[59:29] Well, that we should be shocked. Yeah, in the world, because it's been like that since then, and probably before. And that we should help people without Jesus.

[59:43] Oh, well, yes. Yeah. Yeah. The other thing, which is a key word, is that all have saved in fellowship.

[59:57] So we're not superior. Yeah. We're not, you know, there are parts of our degrees of gold. Yeah. So we need to approach the only thing.

[60:11] Yes. Yeah. So our son was saying that we all have sinned. That includes us. We can't be looking down on other people. We should be humble and grateful for the grace that's been shown to us.

[60:25] And Julia was saying, we shouldn't be shocked by sin. I wonder whether we quite agree with that. We should tell other people about Jesus.

[60:38] Does it say we should be shocked or we shouldn't be shocked? Yes. Yeah. Oh, well, absolutely.

[60:48] Yeah. I'm going to be there in humble gratitude for grace because I was a sinner. I'm wondering whether it's actually showing to us that the world thinks sin isn't shocking.

[61:00] But we should say, well, it is. Do you see what I mean? Yeah. It doesn't even be wrong. In another sense, it's like, you know, we know what sin is.

[61:14] So we shouldn't be shocked. I'm surprised. I'm surprised. I'm shocked in a way of what I meant was we shouldn't be, oh, we didn't. Look at that. Yes.

[61:25] We should say, is that how it is? Yeah, that's how it is. Unless these people start to know God or acknowledging God, then it's going to be good. Yeah, but we have a different time.

[61:36] So we need to know God. Yes. So I put, there's a realism. It gives us a realism about the state of the world. We shouldn't, we shouldn't, I think what we shouldn't have is a false confidence in human nature.

[61:49] Do you know, I remember somebody saying such and such shook their faith in human nature and therefore they couldn't be a Christian anymore or something like that.

[62:00] I thought, well, that's daft. Because the whole idea of being a Christian is we didn't have faith in human nature. We used to, but now we don't have faith in human nature. We have faith in God and his grace.

[62:11] And realistically, we say that actually humanity, for all the wonderful gifts that God has given and his wonderful grace, human beings are in a right pickle.

[62:24] And... Why don't you know that? What? I'm a bit of shock. Yes. Well, wait a minute. So I'm saying there's a realism, but there's also, we should have a sensitivity to sin that other people...

[62:41] Ought to have, but don't have. So I don't know, perhaps we're trying to use the same word to mean two different things, but there's a realism that sin is in the world. Yeah, it is. But, so, I think we are shocked when people take the Lord's name in vain.

[62:59] Yeah? We say, that's wrong. But other people say, it doesn't matter, I'll just say that. So, it's telling us, we should be shocked.

[63:11] Yeah. There's some senses in which we should be shocked. Yes? I think when you become a Christian, you can be astonished that other people can't see the difference in the world.

[63:24] You just think, how can you see that? It's astonishing. Yeah. Yeah. You know, even the light on the natural world, and, you know, that's the way we're made, and even the heart, even the intelligence, even the intelligence, it's astonishing.

[63:42] You can just come in and out of the creative and other, astonishing, I'm sure. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I think what Christian faith does, it brings us out of denial into realism, doesn't it?

[63:57] One or two people would like to say a prayer, and then we'll sing and close. I'll leave that up on the screen.

[64:08] Thank you.