Text: Romans 1:16-32

• Theme of Romans: The righteousness of God (1:16-17)
• Gospel
• Not ashamed
• Power to save
• For all (Jew and Gentile)
• Election (only to him that believeth)
• Outline in a nutshell
• Unrighteousness of man
• Righteousness imputed
• Righteousness imparted
• Righteousness vindicated
• Righteousness practiced
• How to be righteous
• "THE righteousness of God" = "a righteousness from God"
• Imputed
• By faith
• Not our own
• Is. 64:6 "...filthy rags…"
• Rom. 3:10, 23; Eph. 2:8-9
• To be righteous enough to go to heaven, you must have the righteousness of God or from God, not your own righteousness.
• McGee quote after speaking of the theme being the "righteousness of God": "It is a message that I have attempted over the years to proclaim. And it is the message, by the way, that the world today as a whole does not want to hear, nor does it want to accept it. The world likes to hear, friend, about the glory of mankind. It likes to have mankind rather than God exalted. Now I am convinced in my own mind that any ministry today that attempts to teach the glory of man¾ which does not present the total depravity of the human family and does not reveal that man is totally corrupt and is a ruined creature, any teaching that does not deal with this great truth¾ will not lift mankind, nor will it offer a remedy. The only remedy for man’s sin is the perfect remedy that we have in Christ, that which God has provided for a lost race. This is the great message of Romans."

1. The Woeful Condition of Man
1. Present Position: Sinner
1. Argument of ch. 1-3
1. Gentiles (ch. 1)
2. Jews (ch. 2)
3. All (ch. 3)
2. Sinner by nature
1. Illus. Snake "strikes" by nature
2. Thief steals because he is a thief already by nature
3. You can’t do something that is actually against your nature. You can’t steal, lie, cheat, cuss, unless it is already in your nature to do it. God doesn’t sin, because it is not in His nature to do it. We sin ultimately, not because of outside temptations, but because we are by our very nature, sinners.
3. Sinner by choice
2. Downward Progression

The devolution or "devil"-ution of man.

1. "Hold the truth in righteousness" (v. 18)
1. "hold" = "suppress"; willful, purposeful suppression of truth
2. "ungodliness" = sins against God
3. "unrighteousness" = sins against man
2. "Don’t glorify God" (v. 21)
1. Supreme purpose for man’s creation
2. 1 Cor. 10:31
3. At this point, not that they rejected God, only that they didn’t glorify Him
3. "Neither were thankful" (v. 21)
1. Ingratitude is a sign of a heart apart from God
2. Grateful for:
1. Salvation
2. Life
3. Family
4. Who God is
4. "Vain in their imaginations" (v. 21)
1. Wrong thinking
1. Evolution
2. Polytheism
3. Pantheism
2. Rationalization
1. Legitimize sin
1. Illus. Sodom & Gomorrah
2. President’s defenders
5. "Professing themselves to be wise" (v. 22)
1. Pride: Educational, Social, Financial
2. Psalm 14:1 "The fool hath said in his heart there is no God"
1. Atheism is the most insane viewpoint
2. Atheist and agnostic is so proud of his learning that He thinks he is too smart for God. As we said last week, those who reject God do not do it as a result of the evidence, but in spite of the evidence. They do it as a result of a prior commitment to a "godless" universe, a materialistic viewpoint of life.
6. Re-made God in their own image (v. 23)
1. Assyrians, Babylonians, and Egyptians made god like the animals
2. Greeks and Romans made gods in man’s image
3. Today we do the following:
1. "The man upstairs" frivolity
2. Covetousness which is idolatry
3. Man-made conceptions of God today
1. God is love grandfather. He forgives everything. There is not a wrathful or vengeful "bone" in His being.
2. Cosmic Zapper who doesn’t love His creation but only sits around just waiting for us to do wrong so that He can "zap" us.
3. Vending machine God: Name it and claim theology; put in the right amount, push the right buttons, and you can have anything you want.
1. God was not made to do our bidding; we were made to do God’s bidding.
2. Any preacher or teaching that promotes a health, wealth, and prosperity message, which is so enticing to affluent Americans, is peddling a man-made conception of God. He has changed the "glory of the uncorruptible God…"
4. Careful of icons and images
1. Note: this is not only a Catholic problem
2. Danger of pictures
1. Note: temper with proper use for teaching and pre-resurrection concepts.
2. If we saw the glorified Christ we would fall at His feet, not frame His picture for the wall. No image or picture can do Him justice.
3. The danger in pictures even for those with sincere motives is that is may subconsciously bring Jesus down to man’s level in your mind. You put His picture on the wall alongside little Billy’s and Grandmas when He is much more than that.
4. Note: Not against great art like Michelangelo’s "The Last Supper" just leery of some of these more modern images and icons.
5. Note: I personally do not have any pictures in my home except in books or teaching materials.
7. Changed the truth into a lie (v. 25)
1. Truth about God
2. Truth about sin
1. Old immorality became the new morality
2. Sinful perversions became indiscretions
3. Adultery and divorce became entitlements, something you deserved if things weren’t going right.
4. Personal "happiness" was placed above our kids
5. Homosexuality became an alternate lifestyle and gay
6. Pre-marital sex became unwise or wrong without "protection" but not wrong in itself.
7. Lying about sex is OK
8. God is too loving to send anyone to hell
9. Truth became subjective, defined by each individual
10. Absolutes were jettisoned in favor of "doing your own thing"
3. Illustrations
1. Homosexuality: The truth vs. the lies
2. Sexual Immorality: The truth vs. the lies
3. Adultery & Divorce: The truth vs. the lies
4. Creation vs. Evolution: The truth vs. the lies
5. Universalism vs. Narrow road: The truth vs. the lies
6. Psychological theories on child rearing vs. The Book and the rod: The truth vs. the lies
7. The list could go on and on
8. Served the creature more than the Creator (v. 25)
1. Build our mansions and never give a dime or dollar to the church or missions
2. Take care of our business but not the Lord’s business
3. Our will is more important than God’s will
2. The Willful Suppression
1. Ignorance is not our problem, willful ignorance
1. We suppress the truth because we don’t want to be changed by the truth.
2. Ways we suppress the truth
1. Alcohol
2. "Busy" ness
3. Believe the lies of the devil
1. One sin won’t hurt
2. You don’t have to go to church, be a fanatic, etc.
4. Deny the truth
2. Verses
1. (v. 18)
1. "Is revealed" or "is continually being revealed"
2. "hold the truth"
2. (v. 19)
1. "is manifest"
2. "hath showed it"
1. through conscience ("in them")
2. through creation ("for the invisible things…")
1. Creation reveals both God’s power and Person
2. Bible is sometimes called "special" revelation while creation is called "general" revelation. It is sometimes said, "creation reveals that there is a God, the Bible reveals Who He is."
3. However, Paul tells us that creation tells not only that there is a God, but that we can know from creation about His Godhead.
4. Bible tells us what He did and who He is. Creation tells us that He exists and Who He is. Both testify to who He is because that is the most important truth in the universe.
3. (v. 20)
1. "clearly seen"
2. "being understood"
3. Suggests that man purposely rejects the evidence and a proper understanding of the evidence.
4. Illus. Clinton defenders willfully misconstruing the evidence or the consequences attached to the evidence to promote their own agenda. Man does the same thing. God declares who He is through creation and Scripture that we are "without excuse" but we willfully reject the evidence and the ultimately consequences that the evidence points to.
4. (v. 21)
1. "They knew"
2. Again, their problem was not ignorance, but not acting on what they know
3. Knowledge brings responsibility
4. Each one here is very responsible because of the truths that you are now privy to.
5. Dangerous for you to go out of here half-hearted, only giving lip-service to God. With what you now know, you are in a position of great responsibility and must answer to God for how you live your life and whether or not you are bringing "glory" to Him.
5. (v. 32)
1. "knowing the judgment"
2. Do wrong I spite of knowing the consequences
3. Illustrations
1. Smokers smoke in spite of the consequences
2. Immoral do so in spite of the consequences
3. Alcoholic drinks in spite of the consequences
4. God will judge all sin
3. The Wonderful Provision
1. No matter how you suppress, you must realize that God will judge your sin.
2. Two choices
1. Face the judgment yourself in your own righteousness
1. Which is like filthy rags
2. Which is insufficient to get you into heaven
3. Which will cause you to "fall short"
4. Which will cause you to "be condemned"
2. Face the judgment with "a righteousness provided by God."
1. Imputed from Christ
2. Only His righteousness is sufficient to get you in
3. Adam and Eve had garments provided by God, not themselves

• Illustration:
• Cases of willful ignorance in this auditorium
• Someone willfully ignorant of the only way of salvation
• Someone willfully ignorant of the consequences of sin
• Some Christian willfully ignorant of his or her responsibility to glorify God in every area of your life.