Under Sin

About this sermon

Introduction: Advantages don’t equal advance. Opportunity provided doesn’t equal opportunity realized. God gave advantages to the Jewish people, chief of which was the possession of the Word of God. But did that mean that the Jewish people had any less need for salvation than Gentiles? Did that mean that the Jew was morally superior to the rest of mankind? Did the possession of these blessings mean the salvation of each and every one of these people? Not at all, and that is the misunderstanding that Paul had to address. The Jewish people had taken the gracious advantages that God had given them, and come to the conclusion that it was a commentary on THEIR goodness, instead of a demonstration of GOD’S GOODNESS. They had taken God’s forming of their nation, God’s giving to them His Word, and God’s covenant with them, to be the proof of salvation, instead of seeing that these things spoke to them of the need for salvation, the promise of salvation, if they would follow these graces to Jesus. It was not God rejecting the rest of the world; it was God using this unique people as a WITNESS to the world. Paul has stated this, and now he will defend it. THE QUESTION What then? Let’s bring this to a conclusion. Let me summarize what we have found. Are we Jews any better off? What exactly does that question mean? The answer is found in the response. “No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin.” The question has to do with Jewish advantages regarding the issue that Paul has raised — a sin issue, a wrath issue. Do these advantages mean that the Jew has an advantage over the Gentile when it comes to the problem of sin? Does the Jew have an advantage over the Gentile when it comes to the matter of God’s wrath? Does the Jew have an advantage over the Gentile when it comes to the need for salvation; is a Jew less in need of salvation than a Gentile? THE ANSWER No, not at all, is Paul’s answer. But he isn’t just going to give an answer; he is going to offer Biblical proofs. He is going to give them a list of Old Testament proofs that demonstrate that ALL ARE UNDER SIN.

Topics

• Repentance