The Total Depravity of All Mankind, Part 2

Romans 2

Preached November 23, 2008, Grace Family Church of Americus

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 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. 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 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.(Romans 2:12-16, ESV)

 

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Snippets from the sermon transcript:

Let us turn to verse 6 – According to what He has done…..The question that must be answered on the day of wrath by every man, both Jew and Gentile is not what sort of family are you from, were you circumcised (for the Jew), or baptized or confirmed, or member, or zealous, or how many fish stickers did you have on the back of your car….the only question will be "did you obey the Law of God?"

It is important to note here in these verses….that Paul is not teaching how to be saved, for no one is saved by any measure of works. So there must be reasoning for these ideas here. The reason is simple….he is not expounding the Gospel, but He is expounding the Law. Paul is doing what every true evangelist is gifted to do. No, Paul is not dimming down the lights, and beginning to play soft music. He is not hypnotizing the sinners to believe the idea that Jesus is standing at the door of their heart, with no doorknob on the outside, begging to come in. Paul is not teaching how to engineer the slope of the aisle so that sinners naturally gravitate toward the altar call. And he is not preparing the choir to sing "The Savior is Waiting," and then fourteen verses of "Just as I Am." No, Paul is not showing how Jesus is wringing His hands because He can't bear to punish sinners…..No, Paul is doing the work of the evangelist here….he is expounding the Law of God in such a way that shows his hearers (readers) that there is no possible way for them to escape the wrath to come; Paul is giving them Law, showing them their utter ruin, so that they will appreciate and appropriate the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!

The Total Depravity of All Mankind, Part 1

Romans 1:21-2:4

Preached November 16, 2008, Grace Family Church of Americus

Though they know God's decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:32)

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Snippets from the sermon transcript:

I will wear this quote out from this pulpit, because it is of utmost importance…..The very first sentences of John Calvin's "Institutes of the Christian Religion" reads:

"Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves........ "[The] infinitude of good which resides in God becomes more apparent from our poverty. In particular, the miserable ruin into which the revolt of the first man has plunged us, compels us to turn our eyes upwards; not only that while hungry and famishing we may thence ask what we want, but being aroused by fear may learn humility."

Man has one big problem. The Scriptures clearly state that man knows about God. He knows the character and nature of God from Creation, and from Conscience. Now, that knowledge is not theological knowledge (which is actually what Calvin speaks of above, where the children of God attain Wisdom)….but revealed knowledge that is sufficient to cause a man to question his state before this Creator God. So the part about knowing enough about God to come to Him is not man's greatest problem. It is not to be laid upon God the blame that men go to Hell. God has shown Himself to them. All mankind knows God good enough to know that there is wrath to come for disobedience. Man's greatest problem is not a lack of knowledge of God….but refusal of the knowledge of self. The nature of man was so corrupted in the Fall, that all men in their fallen state assume that their disobedience will somehow be overlooked by God, or that their disobedience is not deserving of His wrath. And so the great predicament of man is summed up in Romans 3:18….there is no fear of God before their eyes. Fallen man does not fail to fear God because we do not know God…..we fail to fear Him because we do not…or rather we will not know ourselves.

Here Meet Righteousness, Wrath, and Salvation

Preached November 9, 2008, Grace Family Church of Americus

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. (Romans 1:19, ESV)

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Snippets from the sermon transcript:

It is not as if God has hidden in a closet, and revealed Himself so that no one can know Him. Those attributes which would have otherwise been invisible are made visible to all men. It would be apparent from creation that God is a God of great power, that He must be omnipresent, to uphold things as they are; that He must be good and kind, to provide sustenance for all creatures in such diverse ways; and even perhaps a God who is unapproachable by men.

The attributes of God did not begin to exist in Creation. They have existed always. But because God cannot display His mercy to Himself, or among His Godhead (the Persons of the Trinity), He must have something else to display them to. And that is why He created the world……(Jonathon Edwards wrote a book about this; 'The End For Which God Created the World')…… God created the world in order to display all of His attributes to a world that would fall into sin, that He might display His mercy, grace, and patience to them, according to His pre-arranged plan. In displaying His attributes, He is God.