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romans Chapters 1 - 5.

1. THE COURT HOUSE OF GOD …….
 Here we see GOD’S WRATH, 
His condemnation and the miracle of Justification is explained.

            romans CHAPTER THREE. 

Although we are still in the Court House of God the whole scene has become drastically changed. No more evidence being given, no more excuses being listened to, no more declarations of guilt to be weighed up, that has been handled in chapters one and two. Now the Judge, the Lord Jesus Christ, has His own sum-up pronouncement. As though a judge in an ordinary court of law should reach the stage where he tells the condemned criminal standing before him exactly what he thinks of him/her.

The judge in a secular court might say,

“the evidence against you has shown without doubt your guilt! You are an evil man, your conduct shows the wicked intents of your heart, such actions cannot be overlooked if justice is to done, and if justice is to be seen to be done! Take him down!” 

THE JEWS.  

Romans3 Verses 1-8.

1. "What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit [is there] of circumcision? 
2. Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. 
3. For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? 
4. God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged

5. But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say?  [Is] God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man) 

6. God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world? 
7. For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?

8.  And not [rather], (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just. "

   Paul writing, Jesus Christ the Judge, who has inspired him, starts by summarizing God’s case against Israel, the Jews. They had seen themselves as a chosen nation of God, true enough, but they had added to this a superiority of race and a self-righteousness, which was based on their religious oral beliefs, which issued forth in the erroneous Babylonian Talmud, and their tradition and custom under the Law. Paul states that they had a national advantage over the Gentiles, for a season, but no religious advantage whatsoever. 

   Romans 3:2.
   2. “Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.”

   Israel had rejected their Messiah, Jesus Christ, but God would not give up on them! 

   God’s promises would come to pass, despite the horror of the rejection of Jesus Christ by the majority of the Jews. 

   See also II Timothy 2:13
   13. “If we believe not, [yet] he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.”

   compare with II Timothy 3:3,4. 
   3. "Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,  
   4. Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; " 

   Their “unrighteousness” had “commended the righteousness of God” – it had shown how fair, pure and just God is – now in a clearer light! God now will judge them along with the uncircumcised Gentiles. 

   Romans 3 Verses 9-20.
   9.      What then? Are we better [than they]? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 
   10. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 
   11. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 
   12. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable;there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 
   13. Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit;     the poison of asps [is] under their lips: 
   14. Whose mouth [is] full of cursing and bitterness: 
   15. Their feet [are] swift to shed blood: 
   16. Destruction and misery [are] in their ways: 
   17. And the way of peace have they not known: 
   18. There is no fear of God before their eyes. 
   19. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law:    that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 
   20. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin. 

   Then the Judge speaks out in His SUMMATION.

   “both Jews and Gentiles…are all under sin.” (Romans 3:9). 

   Next we see the whole summary being brought from the Jews own Old Testament teachings!

   No use for them to say that Christianity in Christ Jesus is a “new” religion, which contradicts their God-given Scriptures, as many Jews are still doing today. 
   The whole of Romans 3:9-20 has been drawn from the O.T. Scriptures, 
   which we will examine now: 

   Romans 3  Verses 10-12 …
   10. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 
   11. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 
   12. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.  

   Came from … 

   Ecc. 7:20;
   20. “For [there is] not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”

   Look too at...

   3. Psalms 14:2,3 
   2. "The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, [and] seek God.
   3. They are all gone aside, they are [all] together become filthy: [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one."

   And Psalms 53:2,3;  
   2. "God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were [any] that did understand, that did seek God.
   3. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one." 

   Romans 3 Verses 13-18 …
   13. Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit;      the poison of asps [is] under their lips: 
   14. Whose mouth [is] full of cursing and bitterness:  
   15. Their feet [are] swift to shed blood:  
   16. Destruction and misery [are] in their ways:  
   17. And the way of peace have they not known:
   18. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

    Are from … 

Psalms 5:9; 
“For [there is] no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part [is] very wickedness;
their throat [is] an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.”

Psalms 10:7;
7 “His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue [is] mischief and vanity.”

And Isaiah 59:7,8.
“Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts [are] thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction [are] in their paths.”  
8.  “The way of peace they know not; and [there is] no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.”   Matthew 11: 20-30.

  The Judge’s Summation shows that not only is the whole of mankind, Jew and Gentile, guilty of wrong but they are ALL depraved in character. This means you and I, all are in this summation, no one is exempt. A number of very interesting things come out as we consider what God is showing us here:

1. No one is exempt, not even Mary the mother of Jesus Christ! The Roman Catholics falsely declare she is the “Immaculate Conception” – she is said to be not only sinless, but to be have been born without the stain of the genealogy of sinners!

The Encyclopedia Britannica states in the 1978 edition:
“ Immaculate Conception. …the mother of Jesus was preserved free from the effects of the sin of Adam…in the first instance of her conception…”

Yet, the Bible shows ALL have sinned,

see Luke 1:46,47.
46. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,  
47. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 

Mary needed a Saviour from sin. 

2. NONE sought after God! This is what the Lord has said, and He cannot lie. The bible is not a book about men seeking after God, it is a book about GOD yearning for and chasing after us, He is the Hound of Heaven, never giving up.

Isaiah 1:18;  
18. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.  

Isaiah 55:1.  
1. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; ome ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  

3. ALL had forsaken the right way, we ALL wanted to get there by our own works!

Isaiah 53:6.  
6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  

4. ALL of us had become “unprofitable.”

     In the Greek this refers to something that had become moldy, or rotten, or sour. Like moldy bread, rotten meat or sour milk.

Isaiah 1:6.  
6.     From the sole of the foot even unto the head [there is] no soundness in it; [but] wounds and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

How do we show our “unprofitable ness”?

By being UNrighteous,

By being UNreasonable,

By being UNresponsive, and

By being UNrepentant – towards God. 

5. The whole of mankind is sinful, and we all have in a natural sense depraved conversation.

(Romans 3:13,4)
13. Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps [is] under their lips:
4. God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written,
 
So horrible is this conversation to a pure and holy God that He likens it to the sting of a serpent and the awesomely repulsive stink of the sepulcher or grave – a dead body smell!  

6. Mankind is also found to be depraved, corrupt, dissolute, in conduct.

The natural man without Christ and the new birth is capable of murder, everyone is!
And worse,   he MOCKS HIS CREATOR!

(Romans 3:15-18).
15. Their feet [are] swift to shed blood:  
16. Destruction and misery [are] in their ways:  
17. And the way of peace have they not known:  
18. There is no fear of God before their eyes

GOD HAS SUMMARIZED JUSTLY!  

The case is utterly proved against ALL.

Then we see again the SENTENCE and the MIRACLE:

  SENTENCE –

Revelation 20:11-15.  
11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13. And the sea gave up the dead, which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.  

MIRACLE – 

Picture the Judge summarizing,
He closes His book of judgment, all is just and correct.
He removes His judicial gown, His judge’s wig, lays down His heavenly gavel,
and goes out alone to DIE for the three convicted defendants. In their place.

He dies for THE HEATHEN, 
THE MORAL HYPOCRITE and THE RELIGIOUS PERSON.

No other way to salvation is possible.

We must receive “justification” before God, this is the ONLY WAY that a guilty sinner can possibly be “justified” or declared “not guilty.”

Reject such a glorious sacrifice and you must suffer for your own guilt and sin! 

CLOTHED IN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST.  

What is “righteousness” really all about? 

The Bible says, ( I Cor. 6:9).

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?… “

So, we have to be “righteous” to enter the kingdom of God. People often imagine that their own righteousness is meant here, but the Bible shows us clearly what the righteousness of God is: 

RIGHTEOUSNESS:

The demonstration of the righteousness of the Judge Who died for us is found in

Romans 3:25.
25. Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 

This is THE CROSS OF CALVARY. 

RIGHTEOUSNESS:

(i) the witnesses to this righteousness are shown in

Romans 3:21.
21. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;  

(ii) The Mosaic law demanded two witnesses to attest to any fact

(Deut. 19:15).
15. One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. 

There was a foreshadowing by the Law, where sacrifices and offerings were given for sin by the priesthood. Here again we see that the TWO WITNESSES, the Law and the Prophets, show Israel had no excuse for their rejection of Christ Jesus as Saviour and Messiah.

His righteousness in offering Himself in our stead was foretold by the prophets of the O.T. 

In their writings

(Isaiah 53. 

Compare with

Luke 24:25-27;  
25. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
26. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?  
27. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 

John 5:46;

46. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.  

1 Peter 1:10,11).

10. Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace [that should come] unto you:
11. Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

RIGHTEOUSNESS – THE COST!  

Freely given, but infinitely costly.

Such an unspeakable gift of God excludes all boasting in ourselves,

Romans3:24-27.  
24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:  
25. Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26. To declare, [I say], at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.  
27. Where [is] boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.  

RIGHTEOUSNESS:

God is a just God, how could He let go free the guilty and still be just?
Only by giving His Son to take our place in our punishment.

Romans 3:26  
26. To declare, [I say], at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Shows us the glory of this just God.

TWO MIGHTY WORDS – “REMISSION” and “FOREBEARANCE.”

Romans 3:25.  
25. Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 

“Remission” refers to God, in Old Testament times, letting something PASS BY.
He let “pass by” the sins of the Old Testament people. 

“Forbearance” refers to God HOLDING BACK something. He “held back” in O.T. times His wrath against sin. Jesus Christ had not yet died for the sin of the world, although potentially He, the Lamb of God, had died from the foundation of the world!

(Revelation 13:8).  “…of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” 

See Psalm 50:16-23;
16. But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or [that] thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?
17. Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.
18. When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.
19 .Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.  
20. Thou sittest [and] speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son.
21. These [things] hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether [such an one] as thyself: [but] I will reprove thee, and set [them] in order before thine eyes.
22. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear [you] in pieces, and [there be] none to deliver.  
23. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth [his] conversation [aright] will I shew the salvation of God.  

Acts 17:30.
30. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:  

There was a great problem yet to be solved when the O.T. closed. How could the Lord God reconcile His holiness and righteousness with His mercy and grace???

See how Christ Jesus solved the problem in Himself. 

This is a key verse in Romans, an important declaration from the Almighty:

( Romans 3:25)  
“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”

THE MIGHTY MERCY SEAT.  

What does “propitiation” mean? It shows a wonderful fact, it means “satisfaction.” Jesus Christ died to “satisfy” the holiness of God, to preserve and vindicate the righteous JUSTICE of God. The O.T. Mercy Seat foreshadowed Christ’s “propitiation.” It was a place, which satisfied the Justice of God and showed His mercy in His justice. The O.T. priest sprinkled the blood of a lamb upon the golden seat in order to separate the wrath of God from man’s sin.

( I John 2:2;
2. And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the whole world. 

I John 4:10;
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us,and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins.

  Hebrews 10:11,12)
11. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices,      which can never take away sins:
12. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;  

THE RESULTS OF CHRIST’S RIGHTEOUSNESS.  

We have “redemption” in Christ Jesus.

Romans 3:24.  
24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:  
This means to BUY BACK. Such as to buy back a slave and to set him free. 

Galatians 3:13;  
13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree:

Galatians 4:5.
5. To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 

THE SCOPE OF THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.  

“…UNTO ALL…”

Romans 3:22.
22. Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 

There is no limit to the scope, just as all are found guilty in sin, ALL can find redemption in Christ, the Saviour. 

THE DELIVERY OF THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.  

This wonderful righteousness of Christ can be delivered to all, bestowed upon them.
But, there is a limit in delivery, only those who “believe” can receive! 

Romans 3:22.
22. Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:  

THE NEED FOR THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.  

Who needs this righteousness of Christ? ALL need it, no one is exempt. 

Romans 3:23.
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

ALL IS MET IN THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ALONE.

Romans 3:28.  
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law”

Romans 3:30.
“Seeing it is one God, which shall justify…through FAITH” 

ETERNALLY SECURE IN CHRIST’S RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR US.

  Can we ever be “un-justified” again?

Never, for Christ Jesus’ righteousness can never fail us, His Blood always avails. We have many glorious promises of this eternal security of the believer, including this: 

( John 10:28,29).
"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall NEVER PERISH, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which GAVE THEM ME, is greater than all;“

NOTE: [man] has been inserted in the translation.

Some say that no man can pluck us out, but we can pluck ourselves out! But the Greek reads, “neither shall any pluck them out of my hand…” This includes you, yourself. The promise is we will “never perish” never! We belong to Jesus now, God has given us to Him, we have been BOUGHT with the price of His Blood! He has paid the full price – PAID IN FULL.

A QUESTION FOR YOU.

Whom/What was the price paid to ….. Satan …. God ….?

This is what the book of Romans is all about.  

Galatians 3:13;
13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree:

Galatians 4:5.
5. To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Romans 8:1.
1. [There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,  who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

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