In Hans Christian Andersen's story of The Emperor's New Clothes the
Emperor parades before his whole populous without any clothes on. He had been convinced
that he was wearing clothes which were invisible to everyone but the wise and pure in
heart. The people, not wanting to appear stupid, joined together in praising his beautiful
new clothing - until a child was heard to say, "The Emperor has no clothes!"
Then the truth was known, and it was an embarrassing truth indeed.
That story could be a parable representing the current condition of humankind. The
situation as it stands in our world today is one in which people believe that they are
just fine, when in fact they are not fine at all. We try to cover ourselves with many
excuses and arguments concerning why we are doing just fine. We reason with others and
with ourselves in order to excuse our behavior and situation. And we may even be able to
convince many people by our arguments. But we will never be able to convince God. He knows
the truth and, like the little child in the story, He will expose our nakedness.
If one thing should be clear, so far in our study of the book of Romans, it should be
the fact that everyone stands guilty before God. We have seen that not only are those who
reject God found guilty, but also those who live by high moral and ethical standards. Even
religious people are guilty before God. Why? Because we have all sinned. We have failed to
live even by our own standards. And so, the entire human race stands condemned.
Do you find yourself making excuses for yourself? Have you heard others making their
own excuses for not trusting Christ? Sometimes we can become rather creative in our
arguments. But while our arguments may convince others, as we hold them up to the light of
God's word, they lose their luster.
In making his case, Paul anticipates a number of arguments which might come from the
Jews who would read his letter. In dealing with each of their arguments, he unmasks their
faulty thinking and reveals it to be defective. In the end, all arguments are silenced as
God's righteousness is revealed.
The first argument that is advanced is the argument from religious privilege. The Jews
reading this letter would see clearly that even the Jews were lost. They could then argue
that if the Jews were lost - what advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what
value is there in circumcision? In other words, they were wondering what good all of
this religious teaching and exposure to the word of God would do them.
Did they have an advantage? Much in every way! First of all, they have been
entrusted with the very words of God. In other words, they were not like other people
who had lived their lives in darkness and ignorance. The Jews had been entrusted with the
words of God. They had the Scriptures. And this gave them a tremendous advantage over
people who had never been exposed to the revelation of God.
You see, in this revelation of God we find the truth about God and about us. The
Scriptures reveal God in His majestic and eternal nature. The Bible discloses who God is
and how He has reached out in love to every single one of us. In addition, this revelation
of God reveals to us who we are. It reveals that we are alienated from God and in need of
a supernatural salvation. It also reveals that we cannot make ourselves good by trying to
be good. It reveals that our lives should have meaning and purpose and can only find that
meaning and purpose in God Himself. So, having the very words of God is in itself a
great advantage. It was for the Jews, and it is for us today.
The next argument centers around God's faithfulness. God made promises to the Jews. He
made a covenant with them. Could they then call God's faithfulness into question because
of their lack of faith?
What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?
Has God suddenly changed in the way He deals with us? Is it possible for us to make Him responsible for our failure to be faithful to Him? This is an argument that can be very easily made today. When we fail, we look at God and ask Him why He didn't keep us from failing. We say to God, "What's wrong with You God? Why didn't You do something to keep me out of this sin?" But this is faulty reasoning. Notice what Paul says next:
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."
God's nature is not impacted by our failure. In other words, if every single one of us
were found to be liars, God would still be true. He will never forsake His promise to us.
He will never forsake His covenant with His people. But He is not responsible for our sin.
He does not force us to refrain from sin or manipulate us as if we were mindless robots.
We have the freedom to choose to disobey Him. God is not accountable for our sin, we are.
The next argument comes from a warped logic. These Jews reason that if their lack of
faithfulness only served to prove the faithfulness of God and their sin only served to
prove His righteousness, then they would be justified in sinning all the more.
But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.)
If their sin only served to magnify God by proving that He is righteous and holy, then
how can he blame them for committing sin, when they, in fact, were glorifying Him by their
sin? Didn't their sin prove that He was right after all? How could He judge them for doing
the very thing that He said they would do? Was God unjust in judging them? This is the
kind of reasoning they employed.
Indeed, this is the kind of reasoning that some even employed today. If God is in
charge of everything including our lives, then how can He judge us for being what He
created us to be? He has allowed us to be created with a sinful nature which we inherited
from our first parents. How can He condemn us for doing the things that we naturally do?
After all, He has allowed it to be so. Is God being unfair?
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?" Why not say - as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say - "Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is deserved.
Paul exposes their argument as one of faulty or warped logic. Again, the answer is that
God is not responsible for their choice to sin. He is righteous and just apart from their
sin. Our sin does not prove God is right, God does not need to be proven right. He is
right. God is not righteous because we are unrighteous. He is righteous because He is
righteous. God is not truthful because we are false. He is the embodiment of all
truthfulness. God does not compare Himself with us. He does not need us in order to look
good. So when we sin, we stand accountable to God for that sin. God can judge the world
because He is righteous and just and holy. His ability to judge us depends on who He is,
not on who we are.
So we have no excuses we can make or no arguments we can put forth that will exonerate
us from our responsibility and accountability before God. God did not cause us to sin, nor
is He accountable for our sin. We choose to disobey Him and stand guilty before Him for
that disobedience. All arguments are silenced.
Next, the great Apostle moves on to the evaluation of their situation. Here he gives
the bottom line for everyone, regardless of their situation in life or their religious
privileges.
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.
The bottom line of it all is that every person is sinful before God. Everyone is
guilty. If you are without the law, you are guilty. If you have the law, then you are
still guilty. If you live a blatantly unrighteous life, you are guilty. If you live a
relatively moral life, you are still guilty. If you are irreligious, then you are guilty.
If you are religious, then you are still guilty. This is the bottom line.
He goes on to show that no one escapes this condemnation. In verses 10-18, Paul strings
together six Old Testament sources to compose a powerful argument for the universal
depravity of everyone.
He says, "There is no one righteous, not even one." This is a strong
indictment of every person. Lest anyone misunderstand what he is saying, he repeats it and
clarifies it by saying that not even one has obtained righteousness.
Look at verse 11: "There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God."
Understands what? No one understands the true nature of God. No one understands the
depravity of man. No one understands the seriousness of sin. And, furthermore, no one even
seeks after God. It is God who seeks after us. Oh, we might call out to God when we are in
a difficult situation. But this is not enough. At the core of humanity is a selfishness
that keeps us focused on ourselves. Even when we call out to God, we are calling out to
Him so that He would help us.
Verse 12 says, "All have turned away, they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one." Just as Adam and Eve turned away
from God, so the whole human race has turned away from Him. Confronted with the choice to
follow God or serve ourselves, we have chosen to turn away from Him. Even our doing of
good works is done with mixed motives, so that we can exalt ourselves.
Verse 13-14 continues, "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."
Our sinful depravity is revealed by our speech. Jesus said that our speech reflected
what was in our heart. So, if our lives are unwholesome and unhealthy, so our speech will
also be laced with deceit, poison, cursing, and bitterness. Of course, the reason is that
our hearts are full of deceit, poison, cursing, and bitterness.
Finally, verses 15-18 put the final nail in the coffin: "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."
When people have not made peace with God, they can never make peace with one another.
Indeed, they are in an inner struggle. Since they have no peace, they desire no one to
have any peace. They become those who spread strife and discord. And even though they know
that they should not be doing these things, they do not fear God.
The evaluation of the human condition is devastating. Every person is under sin. None
are exempt. That is the bottom line.
Our text concludes with the verdict. Here the Apostle sums up the final outcome of the
human condition.
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. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
The verdict is simple. It is straightforward. When we stand before God, there will be
no arguments made. All mouths will be silenced then. We will simply not be able to offer
anything in our own defense. And, furthermore, the whole world will be held
accountable to God. All of us will be accountable. This should be obvious to us. The
very fact that we have the word of God should make it obvious. You see, by understanding
the requirements of God, we also should also understand that we do not meet those
requirements. Knowing the law means that we know that we have broken the law. The law
reveals to us our sin. Therefore, every single one of us will stand before God with no
other plea to make than "Guilty as charged."
So, what should our response be? What is God saying to us and to the world from our
text? You should see several obvious implications from our text. One implication is that
every person is hopelessly lost. Another implication is that none of us can save
ourselves. Another implication is that all of us need a Savior. Another implication is
that we have such a Savior in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the only solution to sin
and the only hope for any of us. And the final implication is that we must all turn our
lives over to Him today, if we have not already done so. Since we have no guarantee of
tomorrow, today is the day of salvation. God desires to condemn no one. He desires that we
come to Christ while there is still time.
We simply cannot afford to be like the Emperor, wandering around in self-deception
thinking everything is just fine. We cannot afford to allow those in the world to do that
either. We must see the truth ourselves and then share the truth with others. That is what
the truth is for.
Copyright (C) 1996 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property of the copyright holder and may be copied only in its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above copyright notice.
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