Exposition by Max A Forsythe
Christ Covenant Reformed (PCA)
Recently
a major magazine devoted its lead article to the thoughts, emotions and thinking
of animal life.
I chuckled as I looked it over, but did not take the time to read the
arguments.
Some of our fur-righteous friends actually go all the way with this
nonsense and protest the eating of fellow “sentient
beings” within
the animal world.
Then there are the extreme tree-huggers who want to extend the pale of
sentience to the plant world as well.
I’m not certain what these people intend on eating if their
pan-theistic nonsense is ever taken seriously.
Already, the fur-righteous want to follow up their success at eliminating
fur as clothing by protesting the consumption of Big-Macs!
But then there are those who believe that we have too many cows belching
methane into the air and contributing to a rise in average temperatures around
the world.
So we see that it is impossible to make all of the people happy even part
of the time.
Now
you could have probably lived a full and happy life not knowing about any of
this nonsense, but it was John Calvin who encouraged me to start with this
thought today that Paul describes in our passage today!
Namely, that all men, wherever and whenever they live, have some
knowledge of the One True God in their hearts.
Why else is there the universal desire to worship something “other”?
The Pan-theists, and evolutionary imitators who believe that all of life
is one and the same, do not appreciate how man is set apart in the created order
to know something of the image of God in his heart.
Here
in our text today, Paul assures us that the knowledge of natural law is
inclusive of every tribe and nation.
And as our Westminster Confession declares, there is no excuse for
mankind to ignore the God of heaven, His just laws and His revelations.
Paul begins this section with the observation we closed with last week.
“God
does not show favoritism.
All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and
all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.”
Now
let us consider the implications here.
If a German motorist drives on I-270 according to European habits, he
would quickly be picked up and arrested.
You see, in Germany there are no upper speed limits on the Autobahn.
Could the German plead ignorance in our court of law?
Could he justifiably claim that by his understanding, he was driving
safely?
A citizen would have a tougher time defending his actions, because of a
life-long affinity for the laws and regulations of society and the rules of the
road.
Years ago, when I was in Germany, my Chaplain was pulled over and given a
ticket because he was going too slow.
He was amazed with his guilty predicament!
In
the same way, those who know not the revealed law of God might claim that they
should not be held accountable because they did not know it.
However, we know that even the light of nature is sufficient to inform
the conscience of even the most primitive peoples.
Paul would argue that point here.
Even further, he chides the people of God, the Jews, who by the meaning
of their name were set apart to praise the Lord of heaven.
The Lord’s own people, who know the principles of law, have a solemn
duty to obey the revealed words of God Almighty.
Those who could keep the law completely might then be declared righteous.
By
the same token, those without the law, who could keep the law,
would be as righteous as one who knew the law and kept it.
In fact, we might even be able to argue that such a gentile might be
superior in diligence.
The argument could go this way:
A Jew or Christian might obey the law simply out of the fear of God.
In his heart, the praiser of God might earnestly desire to break the law
of God.
Compare such a fearful creature to the
“righteous” gentile
who enjoyed the fruits of morality and a good name.
Who has the right spirit and attitude?
Now
attitude is very much an “in”
thing in some quarters these days.
Very many people responsible for hiring employees take attitude more
seriously than competence.
Thank goodness I grew up and acquired my first jobs by competence rather
than mere attitude.
Years ago, when my first boss questioned my refusal to give any money to
the United Fund, I refused on as many moral grounds as I could muster.
He finally realized that he wasn’t going to have one hundred per cent
participation and gave up.
Later he told me that it was a good thing that I was such a valuable
employee, or he might not have been able to put up with my intractable attitude.
When I finally left that company after twelve years, he paid me the
highest compliment when he hired three new employees to cover the assorted jobs
I had been doing.
In
today’s job market, I do not think I could do as well.
Attitude is a much more valuable commodity in the job market.
It doesn’t matter that it might take more employees to accomplish a
given task.
Just as long as they give to the approved community offerings, agree to
work on Sunday, and be cooperative friends with the most degenerate fellow
employees, everything will be fine.
Well,
unfortunately to our way of thinking,
The Lord also takes attitude very seriously!
And this is the point of our passage today.
Why do you obey the law of God? Paul asks the Jews of his time.
Look at verse seventeen and those that follow after it.
Luther comments that “after
the Apostle has shown that all heathen are sinners, he now, in a special and
most emphatic way, shows that also the Jews live in sin, above all because they
obey the Law only outwardly, that is, according to the letter and not according
to the spirit.”
To
demonstrate what Paul means here, let us suppose that any one of you might find
a briefcase filled with a million dollars in cash.
I have no doubts that none of you would ever rob a bank or break into a
home.
But, what if you found that briefcase?
A
former worldly Baptist had some fun one day talking with a fellow employee.
He wanted to know if the other party would commit adultery for a million
dollars.
This was ten years before the worldly popular movie with the same theme.
The other person thought that that might be a sufficient sum!
The Baptist then offered a hundred dollars, only to be met with disgust.
“What
do you think I am?” was
the tart reply.
The Baptist observed that the million dollar offer which had been
accepted had already exposed what the other person was.
All that was being done now, was a simple haggling over price!
Would
you -- could you -- turn in a million-dollar briefcase?
Perhaps you could.
But can you live without sin of any kind?
Can you honestly keep the law of God?
There are many people who think that the ten commandments are simple
enough that they could keep them.
In fact, very much of Christianity supposes that there was a special
dispensation to the Israelites, who earnestly kept the commandments.
However, the whole sorry history of Israel shows us a different record.
In fact, the whole ancient world may have accorded some respect and awe
to God because of his power and His loving mercy for putting up with His people.
But God’s pig-headed, self-righteous and elite band of “saints”
were not so well respected.
In fact, we read in many places
that the heathen rejoiced in the troubles of God’s own people.
How
does the world regard you today?
In the words of Paul, we might well ask: “You
who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?”
You know the doctrinal answer, don’t you?
After all, we are working our way towards the essential theme of Paul in
this section -- that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
If you are convinced of this revelation, then you know beyond a shadow of
doubt that God indeed shows no favoritism.
By one and the same means, every person -- Jew or Gentile, Christian or
pagan, everyone -- must stand before the God of creation equally, with the
knowledge that they have fallen short of obeying the law of God.
Those
people who earnestly believe this essential fact of sin are well on their way to
knowing that God has a plan of redemption to cover over our fallen human nature.
May we praise Him for His gift of Jesus Christ, who by God’s mercy
atones for our sins and makes it possible to have our hope in heaven.
Resources Used: The Holy Bible, New International Version
Places Preached:Bruce, F.F. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Romans. Mackenzie, R. Calvin's New Testament Commentaries: Romans. Mueller, J.T. Luther: commentary on Romans. Olyott, Stuart. The Gospel as it Really is.
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America) Post Office Box 13926 - Columbus, OH 43213-7926
Rom02b.htm 04 June 95
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