Introduction
I came across a list on the internet of things that “almost every person in the world wants.” Here are the top 10 items off that list:
1. To love and to feel loved.
2. A career or other kind of vocation that is meaningful and utilizes your talents.
3. Healthy and happy relationships in all areas of your life.
4. To have your perspective and beliefs respected.
5. To be seen as a human being, first and foremost.
6. To be healthy and in shape.
7. To eat whatever you want and maintain a healthy and in-shape body.
8. To have friends who are always there when they’re needed.
9. Adequate amounts of sleep.
10. To go anywhere at anytime without worrying about cost, schedules, etc.
I could boil this list down to 3 items: health, respect, & satisfaction. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with any of these desires. God will often give these desires to His children as good and precious gifts. I want all of these things for my life, but a problem begins if a desire for health or respect or satisfaction becomes the most important thing in our lives. Take a look at this graph.
The mindset of the world and the mindset of the person who is a radical disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is so different that the two are completely incompatible. The secular mindset begins with placing man in the middle and relating his desires and his wants and his needs to man as the center of his own life. The secular mind starts with man and interprets everything in the world according to man’s pursuit of his wants and expectations and rights.
Most people in our culture do not rule out the existence of God. Many would even claim that, in principle, the Bible is probably true. Some might even say it is a good thing to live according to the principles of the Bible and even to be a part of a church. They would believe it is a good thing because it might help you get what you really want. The problem is not so much in the denial of God, but in the placement of God. In the secular mindset, man is center and God is on the outskirts. God is only acknowledged when the secular man thinks God is the best means for getting what he wants.
It sounds great to be healthy and respected and satisfied with life, but there is a fundamental conflict with Biblical Christianity when we make the desires for health and respect and satisfaction the foundation of our lives.
When something is in conflict with a secular person’s health or respect or satisfaction, then they have a huge problem on their hands. Success, for them, is the attainment of health and respect and satisfaction and anything short of those goals is a failure to be overcome.
This secular thinking is the mindset that we are all born with. It takes good things and turn them into objects of worship. This mindset is reinforced every single day in the world we live in. It is so much a part of the world all around us that many here in this room don’t even realize that a biblical mindset and a secular one are at odds with each other… that is until the two collide. (and when the two collide, it often leaves secular people very confused).
Like when someone spends an entire lifetime accumulating wealth and the bottom falls out of their investments. They ask, doesn’t God want me to be satisfied? (instead of asking, “how is God going to show Himself as my faithful provider).
Or when someone spends years in the gym and then gets the news from the doctor that they are dying. They ask, doesn’t God want me to be healthy? (instead of saying, I’m excited to see how God uses this trial for His glory… and I can’t wait to meet my Savior)
God’s plans for you are totally different than the worlds. He does not build His plans for you merely on finding health, satisfaction or respect in the things of this world. He knows that our ultimate satisfaction is only found in a pursuit of Him. His ways are much higher and His plans will come into conflict with the mindset of this world. Paul calls the secular mindset, the “mind on the flesh.” Here is what he says about secular thinking over in Romans 8:6…
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot
So how is the secular mindset different from the mind set on the Spirit? The biblical mindset is not one that simply includes God. The Biblical mindset does not just admit that the Bible contains truths. Many secular people try to add God to their lives while keeping themselves at the center.
The biblical mindset is radically unlike the world’s mindset in that it has an entirely different starting point. The foundation is made out of an entirely different substance. It begins with acknowledging that God is the center of the universe and I’m not.
- God is the author of life, the creator and the center of reality.
- Everything we know to exist would not exist if God had not commanded it to exist.
- As the creator, God makes all the rules.
- He has all the authority.
He is the only one entitled to rights. (He’s God and I’m not. He’s always right and I’m often wrong. He’s always good even when I don’t understand what He’s doing)
Creation was made by God as a demonstration of His glory. God has goals for the universe and those goals center around the display of His perfection and His perfect character and His glory. The universe is about God and not about me. The biblical mindset begins with God at the center.
A Biblical mindset begins with God at the center – v 21-22
With a biblical perspective in mind, now let’s read together the beginning of today’s text. Look at Romans 3:21-22(a)
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe…
The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. How has it been manifested? Through absolutely everything that He created. When you begin with God and His goals for the universe, you see the world much differently than the secular world does.
When we begin with God at the center, now we are concerned with God’s goals, God’s expectations, God’s glory, and God’s righteousness. AND… then we ask, how do I fit into God’s agenda? What is my role as God is unfolding His glory throughout eternity? How can I be a part of what God is doing?
The disciple of Jesus sees problems in the world that a secular person would never identify. A person who is focused on God’s goals and God’s glory, is concerned – even consumed with – God’s will and the praise of God’s glory. Philippians 2:13 recalls the goals that God has for us. Paul says, “13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
The goals that God has for the universe are very different from the goals worldly men have for themselves.
The biggest question in the mind of a worldly person is: How can I get what I want and solve my problems? (that’s why self-help books are the #1 best sellers)
The biggest question in the mind of a Christ-follower and a God-worshipper is: How can I make a bigger deal out of who God is? How can I display more of God’s perfections for other people to see and celebrate? What this world needs is not fewer problems but more worshippers!
The display of God’s perfections is the purpose of creation – v. 21
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it
The universe, mankind, the Law and everything the prophets wrote was intended to be a showcase for God’s righteousness. God formed creation so that we could see the wealth of his glory. God gave us the Law so that we could see the perfection of His righteousness. In His creation, God displays His holiness and power and wisdom and justice and righteousness and wrath and goodness and truth and love and grace and glory for His creatures to witness with astonishment! When you start with God at the center, it changes everything!
The biggest problem for the worshipper of God has nothing to do with the pursuit of pleasure or power of position for himself. The biggest problem in the mind of Christ’s disciples is: how can God be known more? How can more people come to worship and adore God? How can God be even more glorified with my life? When I see God’s perfection, I know that My God is worthy of my worship and adoration and service! If my job as a God-worshipper is to make much of God, then sin would get in the way of that pursuit. Sin is the act of either ignoring God’s commands or acting in outright rebellion against them… Sin works directly against the goals that God has set for his worshippers. So how do we deal with the facts of Romans 3:23? It says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” What happens when the God-follower gives into the power of sin? How could I be a worshipper of God, if I still struggle with sin? King David was a Good king and a worshipper of God. Turn with me to 2 Samuel 11:2-4, we pick up the account: 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. As the events unfolded, she became pregnant that night so David arranged for her husband to be killed. Then, he desperately tried to cover his sin. The Lord finally send the prophet Nathan to confront David for his sin. When the sin was finally exposed, Nathan says, “Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?” (2 Samuel 2:9) When David sinned, and God does not ask, “why did you sin against Uriah?” God does not ask, “why did you sin against yourself?” He asks, “Why have you despised me?” To God, David’s sin was bigger than what happened to Uriah. It was an indictment against God’s glory. Sin causes us to fall short of God’s glory David could have said, “what are you talking about? I wasn’t despising You. I wasn’t even thinking about You. All I was thinking about was that woman I saw taking a bath. And then all I could think about was being scared to death that anybody would find out what I had done. But, honestly Lord, You weren’t even in my mind. To that, God could have pointed out that He is the designer of marriage, the creator of life and the very one who appointed him king. David was not thinking about God at all – that much was probably true. At that moment, David didn’t care one bit about who God was. David didn’t care that he was working against the very thing he was appointed to do. David didn’t care that his sin would be a stain against the glory of God. In David’s indifference toward God, he despised God and God’s word. All sin is a despising of God’s glory. Sin is a preference for the fleeting things of this fallen world over the everlasting joy of fellowship with God. Every time you and I sin, we are saying, “I love this sin more than I love Jesus.” David does not argue with God or try to excuse himself. Cut to the heart, David feels the rebuke of the Lord and responds in verse 13, “I have sinned against the Lord.” To David’s confession, without skipping a beat, Nathan responds, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Immediately, the sin of adultery and murder are forgiven. They are passed over. God holds back His righteous wrath. God’s forgiveness of sin is what is being referred to when Romans 3:24 speaks of God’s divine forbearance. Look at verse 23-25: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. He forgave “former sins” like Kings David’s murder and adultery. God is kind and He’s merciful and gracious. Here’s the problem from a Biblical perspective: His perfection in kindness is good news for us, but it creates a huge problem for God and challenges His perfection. God’s kindness and forbearance calls into question his justice and even his goodness. Here’s what I mean: When God passes over sin, it makes His justice look incomplete. Let me illustrate it this way: Suppose there is a man who decides one day that he is going to kill our president. He finds a secluded corner of a building and as the president passes by, he fires off several shots. He kills several of the secret service agents around the president, but the president manages to escape. The secret service catches the man and brings him to trial. At the trial the man says, “Mr. President, I’m really sorry and I’ll never do that again. I promise.” What would the world think of our president if he let the man off the hook? If the president let the man go free, it would communicate that the lives that were given to protect his life were cheap and both the presidency and the leadership of this nation are cheap as well. We expect the president to protect his position of authority and the dignity of his office. We would expect the president bring to justice the man who committed the highest act of treason. God’s position is much higher than the position of the president. If someone were to act in betrayal against God’s authority, His justice would dictate that the full weight of his wrath should immediately be brought down against them. Wrath and justice for sin is fair and expected so that the dignity of God is not brought into question. However, God passes over sin. Psalm 103:10 says, “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.” How does God forgive sin and not cheapen His righteousness? How does God let guilty men go free and not betray His position of divine authority? God will not let sins go unpunished indefinitely. God’s forbearance of sin was temporary. God was holding off the judgment of sin until Jesus came onto the scene. Jesus came to settle the score. The death of Christ was meant to solve the fundamental problem that God’s forbearance of sin created. God withheld pouring out His wrath against His people’s sin, but instead, He poured our His wrath against sin on His own son. God sent Jesus to die for the sins of mankind in order to demonstrate His righteousness. Propitiation, in the Bible, means to satisfy the demands of God’s wrath. The problem created when God passed over sins was solved in the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. Look at verse 25 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. In God, there is both perfection in justice and perfection in mercy. When God’s kindness came into a perceived conflict with God’s wrath, this most basic problem was solved by the death of his son. God saw that His glory was being belittled by sinners and His name was being dishonored by His own people. He could have chosen to rightly pour out His wrath on them. He could have destroyed all of His people and sent them off to be rightly and eternally punished for their offenses against Him. But instead, He decided to pour out his wrath on Jesus. In that way, God’s perfect justice and God’s perfect mercy met at the cross. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. God never negotiates His righteousness. God would never lay aside His holiness to save us. In being perfectly just, God demands that sin is punished. In being perfectly merciful, he chose to punish His Son instead of punishing us. That’s why the cross is so important to us. That’s why it is the universal symbol of Christianity. Sin had to be punished. More specifically, my sin needed to be punished. God did not pass over sins and just forget about them. God did not set aside justice when He extended forgiveness. God remains just. God does not set aside His own righteousness; he insisted on it. The glory of the cross is that God’s justice is satisfied in the sacrifice he provided. God forgave the penalty of an impossible debt by pouring out His wrath on his own son – who was of infinite worth to Him. Our redeemer is perfectly righteous. Without Christ’s righteousness, we could never have paid our own debt. That’s why verse 27 says, “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded.” I could never do enough good works to earn my way into God’s favor. I was drowning in sin and Jesus jumped in and pulled me out. I can’t boast because I let Jesus save me when I was drowning. Jesus did all the work. But I can boast in the ability of my Savior, though. I can yell out to other swimmers sinking in the sea of sin that Jesus has jumped in with us and has made every provision to pull out all that would cry out to him and say, “Lord Jesus, save me. I am a wicked man (or woman) and I need You, desperately, to change my life.” A Biblical mindset begins with God at the center – v 21-22 The display of God’s perfections is the purpose of creation – v. 21 The problem with sin is that it despises God – v. 23 God’s perfect justice and God’s perfect mercy met at the cross – v. 26The problem with sin is that it despises God – v. 23
The Cross demonstrated God’s righteousness – v. 25
God’s perfect justice and God’s perfect mercy met at the cross – v. 26
Life Application: My only boast is in Jesus
Teaching Outline
The Cross demonstrated God’s righteousness – v. 25
Application: My only boast is in Jesus – v. 27
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