Classic Christianity – Book of Romans P4 (10-28-19)
Synopsis
Bob George continues sharing from the book of Romans. Bob beings by providing a background of the culture of Rome, a booming city, a place to be in that time in history, with art, literature, mighty army, the greatest nation on the earth at that time, but also a city filled with pagan idolatry and emperor worship.
Bob then spent most of his time on one verse, Romans 1:17. Bob explains the meaning of common terms, such as gospel and salvation. What is the gospel? What is the power of the gospel? Paul went to Rome to proclaim the gospel. Bob explains that the gospel went first to the Jew and then the Gentile. So the gospel is for everyone, not just for the Jew. That was a new concept in those early days, after Jesus rose from the dead. Bob explains that there are only three groups of people; Jews, Gentiles, and the Ecclesia, the body of Christ, the born again, made up of Jews and Gentiles. This could really be divided into two groups, the lost and the saved. There are lost Jews and lost Gentiles just as there are saved Jews and saved Gentiles.
Bob elaborates on the power of the gospel for salvation. The power unto salvation is the same mighty power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Bob elaborates on this power of the gospel, the gospel that Paul is not ashamed of. Why? It is the power of God for salvation!
Bob elaborated on what many misunderstand what salvation is. He contrasted religion with what Jesus came to do. Jesus never came to establish a religion but to give all people new life, a personal relationship with God. Salvation is not getting sins forgiven but the receiving of new life. You do not ask for something you are already have, forgiveness of sins, for that would not be living by faith. Yet, in religions today, in the Jewish, Catholic and Protestant religions, people ask God for the forgiveness of sins. To the Jew, you had the sacrificial system of sacrificing bulls and goats. To the Catholic, you have the confession booth and penance. To the Protestant, you go direct to God. In all those examples, Bob explained how that is not walking in faith. Jesus took away the sins of the world when he died on a cross. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Jesus is not going to shed his blood again. It was done once and for all.
Bob also elaborated on what salvation is. Salvation is the receiving of new life. When Adam was created, he was created with the Spirit of God living in him, with the ability to live in a trusting relationship with the living God. That life was lost when Adam sinned. The Spirit of God left Adam when he sinned, as God warned would happen when he chose for himself what is right and wrong, good and evil. Since that time, every man born was born without the Spirit of God in him, born dead to God spiritually, born in the image of sinful man. So salvation is receiving the Spirit of God, that was once in Adam, to come and live in you, to communicate with the living God. The only man born into the world with the Spirit of God in him is Jesus. Jesus is God in the flesh so he is the only one who has a life to lay down and a life to give. Being God, his life is eternal life, and the only life and the very life that man needs.
The gospel is good news. But in order to understand the good news, man must recognize his condition of death. Jesus came to walk on the earth to show us His righteousness, so that by seeing His righteousness, we see our unrighteousness. Each person must come to realize that he or she is a sinner, doomed to death, and therefore, seeing what a wretched man he is, is now willing and ready to come to Christ for life.
The message of the gospel is in the proper understanding of what Jesus death, burial and resurrection accomplished for you, and from that understanding, receiving eternal life in Christ Jesus. Jesus died to take away the sins of the entire world. He was buried to prove his death. He was raised to new life in order to offer new life to all men.
At the cross, your sins and my sins were taken away from the eyes of God before we were even born. Salvation is not getting sins forgiven, for if it were then that would be universal salvation. If Jesus did not take away the sins of the world, then the next time man would sin, he would die again. So the cross was preparation for Jesus to do something that solves his real problem. Sin is what caused man, you and I, to die, but man’s most critical problem is that he is dead and in need of life. Jesus shed his blood to take away sins forever, eternally, the cause of death, which is sin, for all men. He will not shed his blood again, and, the writer of Hebrews states that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. The price of Jesus shed blood was sufficient to take away, eternally, every word, thought, and deed of every man who was ever born and yet to be born from the eyes of God.
Being spiritually dead, man needs life. Death can only be solved by life. The only life available to man is the resurrected life in Christ Jesus. So the cross was preparation, preparing man to be able to receive new life. For until sin is taken away eternally from the eyes of God, eternal life could not be given to man. Now that the wages of sin, which is death, was paid by Jesus shed blood on a cross, Jesus can be raised from the dead, having no sin of his own.
Jesus was raised from the dead in order that that life that raised him from the dead will raise you from the dead also. Now, man, recognizing his condition of death, is now able to receive an offer of new life. Do you want that new life? That life is a personal relationship with the living God, the Spirit of God living in you, and is eternal life because God is eternal and lives forever.
Transcript
If we will turn to the book of Romans. Last week we introduced the book of Romans, a phenomenal book. We were talking about the fact of how the apostle Paul identified himself as an apostle, which basically has the connotation to it as an ambassador. It is an assignment given by God to a man for our benefit. The gift of apostleship, the gift of a prophet, back in those days, the prophet-teacher, an evangelist, is a gift from God and the person is the gift. If you have a pastor-teacher that was sent by God, he is the gift to the body of Christ. It is not a gift of evangelism. The evangelist himself is the gift. A preacher of the gospel does not have the gift of evangelism. Such a person has an evangelistic gift to the body of Christ. The same thing was true of the apostles.
In order to be an apostle, you had to be a person who had been with Christ, or at least observed his baptism, his birth, death, burial and resurrection, unless you were named one by God, as the apostle Paul. Paul was set apart by others, but uniquely met with Jesus as he was converted on the road to Damascus. We have to understand the truth of that. We have to understand how the apostle Paul was called out specially by God, especially by God. We have to understand the truth of this.
Romans 1:14-17
14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Paul was a called out man, called out by God for a specific purpose, and that was to spread the gospel to the Gentile world. In so doing, the apostle Paul certainly did not ignore the Jew. He said the gospel was first for the Jew, then the Gentile. We have to get a clear picture in our mind that there are only three categories of people from God’s vantage point. There are not all these races God is talking about. There are only three categories; Jew, Gentile, and then the Ecclesia, the body made up of both Jews and Gentiles. God divided up the world into the Jews and then the rest of the world was the Gentiles. It did not matter what race or color or background you were, you are a Gentile. Some of you are Jewish by natural birth. When you come to Christ, you are a new creature in Christ. The early gospel went only to the Jews. First to the Jew then to the Gentile.
In Acts 10, we read about could possibly be the first Gentile convert. If you recall, both Cornelius and Peter had a vision from God. Peter’s vision, although strange to us today, was about God sending Peter to proclaim the good news of the gospel to Cornelius. Cornelius believed the message and received the Holy Spirit just as some Jews did. That was astonishing news to them in their day, for a Gentile to be converted. Today, it is just the opposite. It is astonishing to see a Jew come to Christ.
Acts 10:1-2,44-45
1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles.
Cornelius as far as we know was the first Gentile convert. From God’s vantage point, He divided the world up into the Jew, the Gentile, and the Ecclesia, the church of Jesus Christ, made up of Jews and Gentiles who have the Holy Spirit in them. Unlike a Jewish person, who would think that the opposite of a Jew is a Christian. No, the opposite of a Jew is a Gentile. You have lost Gentiles and you have lost Jews. Then you have saved Gentiles and saved Jews. That latter is called the church, the Ecclesia. One of the things vitally important for Jewish people to get in their minds is that the opposite of a Jew is not a Christian. The opposite of a Jew is a Gentile, both of whom are lost and need salvation through Christ Jesus.
Romans 1:14-15
14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
Now, the apostle Paul wrote to the church of Rome, the gospel had spread into Rome. As all of us know, Rome was the center of culture. In Rome, you had all of the pomp of Rome. It was the mistress of the world. It was where everyone came to see what is going on. It was the center point of humanity. You had your emperor in Rome, who were worshiped, many times as Deity. You had all of the luxuries of Rome, all of the abundance of Rome, all of the war victories that was Rome. Rome was the most powerful nation on the face of the earth. So you have all of these things that were taking place in Rome. It would be like Washington, D.C. even though even more so. If any of you have ever been to Rome, you see one of the most magnificent cities you will ever encounter in your lives. Some of the most magnificent buildings, the coliseum, the beauty of Rome, the artist of Rome, the musicians of Rome. It was the center of culture. It was a phenomenal, advanced society.
Romans 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God
Now in that society, and in that pomp, in that culture, and we are the Romans, was pride galore. Paul stands up and says “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ”. The reason that I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ is because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone. He says that this is the power of God. So when you are looking at the gospel, it is called the power of God. Now, it tells us in the scriptures that the gospel is what saves us.
1 Corinthians 15:1-8
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
We are saved by the good news. That is what gospel means; Good News. That was the good news of the gospel. The good news of the gospel has to start with bad news. In order to have good news, you have to have bad news. You have to have something to compare it with, do you not? What was the bad news as far as we were concerned?
Jeremiah 17:9
9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Ecclesiastes 7:20
20 Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.
Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Romans 3:20
20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
1 John 5:12
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Our hearts are wicked above all things, who can know them (Jeremiah 17:9)? There is none righteous, no not one (Ecclesiastes 7:20, ). All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). No man will ever be declared righteous in the sight of God through obedience to the law (Romans 3:20). Without the Son, you do not have life (1 John 5:12).
What is the good news? With the Son, you do have life (1 John 5:12). Now the bad news is for us. It is to show us our condition. Because if I do not see my condition, how am I ever going to live in appreciation for his provision? If I do not see myself as a sinner, the cross means nothing, does it? Jesus died for my sins. So without understanding, a person would say, “Well, good. I hope someone sins sometimes, for do not look at me”. That is what people sometimes say, “do not look at me”. So many people have the idea, ’I am okay. You are okay.” Bob jokingly says, to make a point, “I am going to write a book, ‘”I am not okay. You are not okay. But that is okay’”. Jesus has a solution for us, to make us right in Him, which is what righteousness is. Jesus is saying to us, “I have made you okay”. But that is from God, not from here. I have to see my condition of spiritual death to see where I am before I am ever going to have an appreciation for this gospel that Paul says, “I am not ashamed of”.
I am not ashamed of the gospel for people in Rome, the people in Washington, or the people in Dallas, with all our money and cars. Amy and I were driving in, and I saw this fish on the back of the car with the initials “WWJD”, an abbreviation for “What Would Jesus Do”, and it was in a big Lexus. And I said, “What would Jesus do? Would he be driving a Lexus? What would Jesus do?” He would be on a donkey walking. So if you are going to do what Jesus did, then you would get out of the car and walk. What Jesus did is he did what His Father told him to do. We should do what God tells us to do.
Romans 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes
But we have got all those kinds of things going around. It is a nice thought, but when you put it down into reality, it does not make sense. So Paul said he is going into this society, the most advanced society of the world. I am going to tell you, I am not ashamed of this gospel I am preaching to you. You may have all of the riches of the world, and you may have had victories, and you may have defeated every enemy you may have come into contact with. You may have powerful armies. You are powerful people. You have culture. You have pomp. You have religion. But you do not have life.
John 10:10
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Jesus came to give you life. I am not ashamed of this. You may have all of the riches that the world has to offer but you are as dead as a hammer inside. Jesus is saying, “I came to deal with what is going on in the inside, not the outside. The world can take care of the outside. I came to take care of the inside. What is going down under the skin where you really live, where people cannot see, but you know what is going on, and so does God”.
Romans 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes
So the apostle Paul is saying, “I have got good news for you, guys. I am not ashamed of what I am going to talk to you about. I am not ashamed of this gospel of Jesus Christ”. So he says, “this is the power of God”. Why is it powerful? Because it can do something that no one else can do. What did it do? First, of all Jesus said, “I came to take away your sins. I came to walk on this earth for some 33 years and to show you in my walk on this earth what pure righteousness is in me, in Christ Jesus. I am not here telling people how righteous I am. I am not out bragging how good I am and what good deeds I am doing. I am just going through life. But when you see me, you are going to see what God’s righteousness is all about. When you look at it, you are going to see how unrighteous you are. I came to do two things. I came to be who I am, righteous, and to show you who you are, unrighteous”.
Now we are ready for salvation. The whole purpose, folks, that you will see in the teaching of the gospels, which is not New Covenant, is how unrighteous we are. I talked to you before about the fact that the New Covenant did not go into effect until the day Jesus died. So the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is not New Covenant. The book of Acts is New Covenant. Every thing from the book of Acts forward is the New Covenant. Jesus was still alive in the gospels.
Hebrews 8:7-13
7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said:“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
9
It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
10
This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11
No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12
For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
Hebrews 9:15-17
15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.16 In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.
The gospels are a record of the life of Christ Jesus here on this earth, prior to going to the cross, and in so doing, ushering in the New Covenant in which we live today. So when you are studying the bible, you must keep that in mind, that Jesus taught under the Old Covenant. He taught under the law. He showed us what the law was. He showed you what the wages of sin under the law is, which is death, and now I am ready for the cross. He had to prepare the religious world for the cross. Jesus is saying, “I am going to a cross to die for the sins of the world. If you do not recognize you are a sinner, you are not going to come to me for forgiveness. I am going to be raised from the dead in order to give you life.”
You cannot get life through religion. The pope cannot give you life. John Calvin cannot give you life. Martin Luther cannot give you life. I cannot give you life. Nobody can give you life except the living one, and that is Christ Jesus, the only one raised from the dead for the purpose of giving you life. You are dead.
What is so often taught today is a half gospel. Half a salvation, in my opinion, has been preached long enough. We continually, continually are hearing on radio and television, “Come to Jesus to get your sins forgiven”. I got news for you. Your sins were forgiven before you ever came to Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:19
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.
Romans 5:10
10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. When? When you were enemies. While you were yet enemies, God reconciled you through the death of his Son. What does it mean you were an enemy? You are lost. You were born into this world a forgiven person. You were born that way, born unto the consequence of the cross, which is the taking away the sins of the world. No one will ever be condemned by God for his sins. Jesus says, “I have taken those away”. The only sin attributable to man is the rejection of the Son who took away the sins of the world and was raised from the dead to give you life. That is the only sin that will ever be asked by God. “What did you do with my Son? Did you ignore him? Did you say, ‘I do not need him? Or did you recognize that I told you about yourself. The reason I told you about yourself is so that you will be prepared of what I am going to tell you about my Son. Did you come to him for life?”
1 Corinthians 15:19-20
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
What we have done is to put the cross as the focal point of our ministry instead of the resurrection. Paul said that without resurrection we are to be pitied of all people and are still in our sins. Someone says, “I thought the cross took care of the sins”. That is true, but it is only received in the resurrected life of Jesus. What was provided by him then is received in him now. So you come to Christ for life. You come to Christ for Him, not just what He did for you, but for Him.
Ephesians 1:7
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
When you are in Christ, you have possession, redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Are you in Christ? Then what do you have? Redemption. What else do you have? Forgiveness of sins. You do not get forgiven. You are forgiven. If that is a truth, then you spend the rest of your life thanking him for what he did instead of asking him to do something he already accomplished. You are not walking by faith by asking God to do what he has already done.
That would be like Christmas time giving so customary among many. Your dad gives you a bicycle and then the child says, “Hey, can I have a bicycle?” “What do you think is over in the corner?” “Well, it is a bicycle.” “Well, can I have one?” I think this child has mental problems and needs some Prosaic. Do you understand that? When you have something, you do not ask for something.
What have people done? Well, man created religious systems. One came out of Rome. We have confession booths. What do you do there? Confess your sins. Then what do you do? Have some penance. Is that scriptural? No. Are you in Christ? God was in Christ, taking away the sins of the world. Then the Protestants come along and say, “That is not any good. You do not have to go through a priest to get forgiveness. You can go direct. So these Protestants are all down here going direct, and so proud of themselves. We go direct but they have to go to a priest. God is up in heaven saying, “It is finished. When are you knit-wits going to get it in your head? It is finished. It is over. It is done. I am not going to hang on a cross again. When I died on a cross, I died once and for all. I even cried out from the cross, ‘It is finished’”. What do you suppose that means? It is finished. What does that mean in the Greek? It is finished. It is over. It is done. Put that aside. It is what is called entering into the Sabbath rest. Go rest from your works as he did from his.
Hebrews 4:8-10
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.
There is no more you can do to get forgiveness. You are a forgiven person. Jesus is saying, “Now having been accomplished, I went into a grave, but I was raised from the dead. The reason that I was raised from the dead was so that that life that raised me from the dead can raise you from the dead because you are dead”. If you do not recognize you are dead spiritually then what would his life mean to you, except just as an example, what would Jesus do. He said, “I came to give you life”. That is the power of God.
That is the power of God that Paul says “I am not ashamed of this gospel”. It is the power to raise you from the dead. It is the power of God to bring salvation. What is salvation? Being saved from what? The consequence of sin. There is sin and a consequence, isn’t there? What is the consequence of sin? Death. What is the solution to that? Forgiveness? No! Life. Salvation is the receiving of life.
In order to give you eternal life, what did he have to do with the cause of spiritual death? Take it away. Had he not taken away every sin that you and I have ever committed, if he had forgotten one, and gave you life, and you did that one, what would happen to you? Are you with me? What would happen to you? You would die. Is that eternal life? No. How was he able to give you eternal life? By eternally taking away the cause of death, which is what he did at the cross. Jesus is saying, “I took the entire sins of the whole world upon myself. Not one did I forget. There I died. I paid the price for you. I paid a debt I did not owe for you, who owed a debt that you could not pay. I did it volitionally. I did it joyfully, although I was not real excited about taking the sins of the world on myself. That is why I cried out, ‘Not my will, but your will be done. If there is any other way to take away sins, do it. I am not interested in being a junky, but it is not my will. It is yours.’” So every thought, word and deed, everything we ever did, he took upon himself. Every curse word we ever said and every bad thought we ever had, he took upon himself.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
He who knew no sin became sin for you and me, so in that resurrected life of Jesus we could become the righteousness of God. Where? In Him. That is the power of God! That is the power of God for salvation! People before are always interested in miracles and more miracles. As it was in the time of Christ so also still today.
John 4:48
48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
Matthew 12:39
39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
If someone cut my leg off and God grew it back the next day, it would not even come close to the miracle of the day I was saved back in 1969. Going in one direction as fast as you could, then come to Christ and then going the other direction as fast as you could. There is no miracle that you would ever see. Jesus told the Pharisees and teacher of the law, ”You are an adulterous generation, always looking for a sign”. You have denominations today, and all they are doing is looking for a sign. Jesus is saying, “I will give you a sign. Take a look at the resurrection. Do you want to see a sign? Look at the resurrection. If you are not willing to come to me for that sign, then you are not willing to come to me, because I made somebody walk that could not.
Yet, we have people today, that is all they talk about – be healed, as if there are no well Christians. All they are talking about is healing, healing, healing. What do those who are well do? Sit around waiting to get sick. The power of God for salvation is that internal new birth that comes when you and I come to life in Jesus. I have got somebody to talk to where I do not bounce prayers off the ceiling. I have a best friend that is closer to me than my own breath. I have someone I can talk to and love and loves me. It is a relationship with Christ.
It is not religion. Observing the religious world today, one sees a table, and the reason for the table in there is to make it look like they got religion. I hate religion but I love Jesus. The word “religion” is a return to bondage. I did not how religion got to where it is today. It is amazing how we acknowledge these things with people walking around in funny looking hats and robes, with collars on backwards, which shows you are walking in the wrong direction. All those kinds of pretenses. What do those things do that make you look kind of funny? Why are they always dressed in black? Maybe it is darker than we think. All of that is religion, folks. All of that is religious stuff.
Jesus is talking about having a relationship with Him that if you were the only person on the face of the earth you two could be rejoicing in the love for each other. If that table over there was the only born again person in the world, they would just enjoy Christ in one another. He did not come to build big buildings. Constantine did that. He ruined the whole concept that Jesus put into effect. Constantine made a state religion out of Christianity and ruined it.
So Paul is going into that type of environment, saying guys, “I am not ashamed of his gospel. It is the power of God for salvation, first of all to the Jew but also to everyone who believes”. Now, he is going to define humanity. First, he is going to the Jew. Then he is going to the Gentile. So that included everyone did it not? No one missed in that. Jew and the Gentile.
Romans 1:17
17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
If you mark your bible, mark that term, “a righteousness from God”. This is what we are talking about, a righteousness from God. What other kind of righteousness is there? Self righteousness. How does self righteousness manifest itself? Pride. What do you have to have to be self righteous? What would you be having to grab a hold of to be self righteous? You would have to have some laws, rules and regulations, and then say, “I do all those things. You don’t.” When you get down to a point where you have a bunch of things that you have to do, and you are going to do them, then there is only two things that can occur. I am going to compare myself. When you compare yourself with somebody else, only two things can happen. One says, “I am better than they are”, and that is pride. Or, “I am worse than somebody else”, and that is self condemnation. And both of those things are out of the pit of hell. So have to have rules and regulations.
So if a Jew, you grab a hold of the law. The law was given for civil obedience. That was the reason God gave the law to the Jews. The Gentiles never had it. They just came over and stole it. God gave the law to the Jews after they left Egypt and they were going to roam in the desert. And there were millions of them and they were strong. They had been slaves. So in order for them to not murder each other and to have any kind of civil obedience and not to have total anarchy, He gave them laws to live by, the ten commandments.
