Introduction

A couple of young guys came walking through my neighborhood last week selling in home security systems.  Most of you have been to my house and you know that I live on a pretty quiet street.  I explained to them that I was not really in the market for a security system.  I showed them my ferocious, 25 pound Brittany spaniel and said, “I think we are going to be ok.”

They said that statistically, Cottonwood’s crime rate in on the rise and now is the time to defend your home against the really bad people who live a few blocks over.  I explained to them that I did not really want to incur the expense of a security system right now.

They said that even if I was not concerned with my things being stolen, I needed to think about the safety and security of my children.  They said to me, “Sir, is there any price that is too much to pay for the security of the ones who you love the most?”

Longing for Security is Intrinsic

They were playing on a longing for security that we all intrinsically act upon.  We all have a desire for economic security and national security and job security and marital security and health security and yes, even home security.  At our house, we lock the doors and barricade the windows so that our family is secure.  (Especially at night time when those crazy neighbors 2 blocks away start walking the streets)  It is all part of our nature to preserve ourselves, but we know there is a higher form of security that most people are struggling to find…

Most people have a gnawing fear that their sin will be judged and that one day they will be held accountable for the way they had lived.  So, people need a way out.  They need spiritual security.  They need to figure out a way to escape God’s impending judgment.

Let’s review 3 facts from our study of Romans so far…

#1 – In Romans 1, Paul has declared that everybody has realized something about God’s attributes.  Romans 1:20-21 says,

²⁰ For

#2 – All people know that to one degree or another, they are not able to live up to God’s standards and are worthy of God’s wrath. Here’s my paraphrase of Romans 1:32a,

…they [unbelievers] know God’s righteous decree that those who practice [sin] deserve to die…”

#3 – Last week we saw that every person, whether they are religiously minded or not, has a God-given conscience and are able to determine right from wrong.  Romans 2:14-15 says,

¹⁴ For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵ They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

Even an atheist who throws out the whole notion of an afterlife, still lives according to the law {that is} is written on their hearts to one degree or another.  They are capable of love and compassion.  They believe that kindness is better than hatred.  Many would consider themselves good people.  They might insist that there is no God and the idea of heaven and hell and divine justice is stupid and only for the simple-minded.  At the same time, there is a force of conscience that bears witness against their sin.  Paul calls that God’s law that it is written on the heart of every person.

Every person wants assurance that they are not going to be punished for the bad things they have done.  Either consciously or unconsciously, people are devising ways to shore up their spiritual insecurities.  They are looking for spiritual security.

When the door to door security salesmen came claiming that crime is on the rise in my neighborhood, the very first thing I thought was, “I’m going to check that out on the internet.”  In our culture when we don’t know about something, we educate ourselves.  I figured if they were right that I would be able to check their statistics from an official source, investigate the best way to deal with the crime in my area and then find the absolute best deal on a security system if I really needed one.

I could probably even install it myself if I watched a You Tube video.  How many of you have ever watched a You Tube video to figure out how to do something?  My brother has a doctorate in instructional design for online learning.  He told me that You Tube is the 3^rd largest search engine in the world.  People are looking for answers to virtually every question in the world on the internet right now, including answers to their spiritual questions.  I’ll warn you that a spiritual security based solely on an internet education is pretty dangerous.

Relying on education for salvation or for sanctification is idolatry

Education is highly valued in our country.  Americans tend to think that the more a person knows, the better off they are.  Education is considered wisdom in our culture.  We have a Greek way of thinking.  The ancient Greeks believed that wisdom was the acquisition of more facts.  Our view of education is different than the ancient Hebrew mindset.

The ancient Hebrews, who lived during the Old Testament times, believed that wisdom was living in accordance to the knowledge that you had available to you.  Wisdom was living out what you know.  By the New Testament time, the Hebrew culture was beginning to make a shift away from the traditional Hebrew way of thinking and (like many Americans today) they began to adopt a Greek way of thinking.    They believed that the possession of knowledge about the Bible is what helped them to get right with God.

Take a look at verse 17

¹⁷ But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God ¹⁸ and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law

Imagine if I stood up here are recited to you from memory the entire book of John.  That would be impressive, wouldn’t it?  You might hear me do that and think, “Pastor Mark must be a really righteous man…”

Some religious men in Paul’s day men would memorize large sections of the scriptures and would publically recite them by memory as a display of piety.  On the surface, verse 17 may look like a commendation.  However, the next few verses makes it clear that their vast knowledge of the scripture is not a commendation but an indictment.

Someone might know the Bible, but if they don’t live it out, it is as worthless as not knowing it at all.  Some religious people were proud and self-righteous about their trivial knowledge and scripture memory displays, but in the area of obedience, they fell terribly short.  The scripture itself became an idol to them.

It was education without application.  They knew a lot about the Bible, but obeyed a little.  Many Christians make the same error.  Biblical education and Bible studies is a good thing, but spiritual education does not provide spiritual security.  If we rely on education (or even Bible study participation) for our salvation it turns education into an idol.   Turning a good thing into a god-thing is idolatry.

While some people were relying on education for salvation, others were relying on rituals and ceremonies to make themselves right with God.  For example, if we skip to the end of chapter 2, we see that many religious people in Paul’s day were relying on circumcision for their justification.

When it came to circumcision, some Hebrew people had an almost mystical understanding of that ritual.  These ritualists believed that circumcision meant instant salvation to any circumcised Jewish male.

This belief fell apart, though, when circumcised Jews began to live in opposition to their own law.  Paul raises this important question about circumcision.  If someone who has performed that ritual begins living like an unbeliever, are they really worshipper of God?Skip down a couple of verses to verse 25.  It says, “²⁵ For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes un-circumcision.”

Relying on outward signs for salvation or for sanctification is idolatry

Consider this, every Jewish man that put Jesus on trial was circumcised.  There is no outward sign that makes any of them (or us) right with God outside of the saving work of Jesus Christ.

We might ask this question in the American church: If a person is baptized, but is living like an unbeliever, are they saved?

Christians make the same assumption today about outward signs of faith like Baptism.  Some people believe that once a person is baptized, it automatically assures that they have a right standing before God.

I had a lady contact the church several months ago to tell me that if I don’t teach our church that Baptism is required for salvation that I am leading all of you astray.  She was turning baptism into an idol.

Let me speak very clearly:  Baptism is a sign of the new covenant, but it does not save.  Baptism is an outward sign of what God promises to do internally.  Baptism was never meant to be worshipped.  Circumcision was never supposed to be anything more than a symbol.  At the final judgment, the only thing that will matter is what we did with Jesus.

Relying on Baptism for salvation is idolatry and provides false security.  For the Jews, relying on circumcision for salvation is idolatry and also provides false security.  In the same vein, some religious people take another misstep by worshipping the morality of the scripture itself.  They operate under an assumption that if they are more moral than other people, then they will be right with God.

Entire secular philosophical systems and entire false religious systems have been devised over the years to turn good morals into a system of salvation.  Here are 2 of the most common ones today:

• Some people believe that they are basically good people who just take an occasional misstep.  Certainly God would not judge them for an eternity because they made a few little mistakes.  They rely on God’s goodness and assume that a good God would not allow a good person to go to hell.  Good people go to heaven.  Bad people, like Hitler, go to Hell.
• Some take that philosophy to the next step and think that God (or some other celestial being) uses a cosmic scale to weigh our good works and our bad works.  If the good outweighs the bad, then they will be judged as good and allowed to go on to the next life in some kind of improved form.

These beliefs are so common (right here in the Verde Valley) that people can always find a large groups of other people who believe these things.  They are reassured of their belief because lots of other people jumped to the same wrong conclusions.  The sheer number of people who follow one of these common systems provides a sense of false spiritual security.

The problem with these commonly held views of the afterlife is that they do not align with the scriptures.  Morals are good, but without Christ, morals are ineffective against God’s judgment.  Relying on morals for eternal life leads to nothing but eternal death.

Relying on moralism for salvation and for sanctification is idolatry

There might not be a big difference in the words “morality” and “moralism,” but there is a huge difference in meaning.  Morality is result of following God’s law. It is a good thing.  Moralism is turning morality into the savior and into a means of salvation.  It is relying on good morals rather than on Jesus for salvation.  Turning a good thing into a god-thing is idolatry.

Look at verses 19-20:

^19 …and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth…

The foolishness of idol worship was crystal clear to the religious people during Paul’s time.  Praying to a man-made statue and thinking that it had any real power seemed ludicrous to them.  It would seem ludicrous to us too.

• They clearly saw the errors of the gentiles and accurately spoke out against idolatry.
• They claimed that they worshipped the one true God who created the heaven and the earth and not some silly statue.
• They were generally moral and would generally do more good works than the gentiles.
• The problem was that they still fell far short of obeying God’s commands.

They relied on a few good works for their salvation and as a result they were just as guilty of the sin of idolatry.  They relied on some good deeds rather than on Jesus alone for their salvation and spiritual growth.

They would criticize the idol worshippers and they claimed they were better than they were.  The truth was that, despite their religious appearances, they were still continuing in unfaithfulness to God.  They were living in disobedience to His Word.  Their lack of obedience disqualified these religious people from being effective examples and teachers to the unbelieving nations.  Verse 21a asks, “you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself?”

In a word, they were hypocrites and idolaters as well.  Verse 21 goes on to say, “^21b While you preach against stealing, do you steal? ²² You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?”

One rabbi who lived during Paul’s time wrote that during this period there was an increase in murder, adultery, sexual sin, commercial and judicial corruption, sectarian strife and other evils among religious people.  This scripture implies that specifically, theft, adultery and the vandalism of pagan temples were common sins among the religious people who were supposed to be examples to the unbelieving world around them.

Instead of being examples to those who were worshiping idols, they were exposing the fact that they were worshipping an idol as well.  They worshipped the idol of moralism. Moralism was then and is today the biggest religion in the world.  It is a religion of people who compare themselves to others and conclude, “If there really is a God, he will see my good works and certainly He will accept me because I am a good person.  I’m a much better person than they are.”

Worshipping good works rather than worshipping Jesus is nothing short of idolatry.  How do we know if you or I have slipped into moralism?  It is evident any time that we brag about what we have done rather than what Jesus has done through us.  Anytime we feel a sense of spiritual security before the Lord based solely on our good deeds, then we are functioning as practical moralists.

Moralists always fall into hypocrisy.  If we base our salvation on being better than somebody else, then the only way we can be saved is by tearing down the others around us.  If other people look better than we do, we might not earn heaven.  It turns into a cut-throat contest with heaven as a prize.  Ironically, the process of making ourselves look good is founded upon pride and is founded upon unloving indifference toward other people – two of the sins that God despises the most!

In trying to make ourselves look better to God, we are condemning ourselves by our pride and unloving attitude toward others.  Then worst of all, hypocrisy is a sin against the unbelieving world and a sin against the glory of God.

Hypocrisy robs God of glory

Religious people can easily fall into hypocrisy if we don’t obey the commandments that are in God’s Word through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Hypocrisy is dangerous and it is condemning.  Our passage says in verse 24, “²⁴ For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”  So how does hypocrisy blaspheme God?

When people, who call themselves followers of God, are either openly sinful or are exposed as being privately sinful, shame and ridicule and mockery is brought upon God and His Word.  Hypocrisy is a more serious sin than we realize.

• It is shocking to me to follow some of my friends from Bible college on Facebook.  We used to stay up late at night memorizing scriptures and theological positions for the tests at school, but now in their adult lives, some of those friends are living in a way that is in direct opposition to what we learned.  Memorizing verses, knowing Bible facts and memorizing pages of systematic theology textbooks does not mean a thing if you and I don’t act on the things that we know.
• Right here in the Verde Valley, how many pastors and church leaders have fallen? Too many men have stood up in a pulpit like this one and proclaimed the truth about who God is only to fail their families during the week.

And then how easy it is for me to respond to the sins of my friends of my colleagues with hypocrisy and moralism myself.  How easy is it for me to convince myself that their sin was bad, but my sin is OK when the fact of the matter is that my sin is just as ugly in the sight of a holy God.

As soon as I think I have anything to offer God, I’m no longer trusting in Jesus, but in myself.  If I was good enough to work myself into heaven, then why did Jesus need to suffer?  God is glorified in us when we come to him with totally empty hands.  God is exalted when we humbly bow before Him and say:

• “Lord I have nothing to offer you.
• I’m a sinner without hope.
• I desperately lost and unable to do anything to save myself.
• Jesus, I need You to do it all, and if You do, I’ll give you all the glory.
• I won’t take an once of credit for myself.”

A hypocritical man, the ritualist and a moralist looks at a friend who is struggling with sin and says, “O God, at least I’m better than he is.

A humble man, who knows that he was saved by grace alone, looks at a friend who is struggling with sin and says,:

• “That man is my equal.
• I struggle with sin too.
• But, O the grace of God that saved and delivered a man like me.
• I know…I know that He is more than enough to deliver you from your sin as well.
• Let’s go to the cross together”

Life Application

Spiritual security is found in Christ alone

• It does not depend on the information we know
• It does not depend on the rituals we’ve performed
• It does not depend on how many rules we’ve followed

There are many moral, self-righteous people who on their way to Hell.  They are sadly and tragically relying on their knowledge, their rituals or their good work to make them right with God.  Don’t think you’re better than they are.  Don’t think you are better because Jesus gave you the gift of salvation that you in no way deserved.  That would be hypocrisy.  BUT, let your heart break for them.  Invite them to the cross.  There is no greater act of humility and service and kindness and love than to come along side another man and to show him the way of salvation.

Teaching Outline

Relying on education for salvation or for sanctification is idolatry – v. 17-18

Relying on outward signs for salvation or for sanctification is idolatry – v. 25-28

Relying on moralism for salvation and for sanctification is idolatry – v 19-23

Hypocrisy robs God of glory – v. 24

Application

Spiritual security is found in Christ alone

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