The Basic Premise
Romans 3: 23-26 (NKJV) states “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
This is one of the best and most succinct statements of the gospel in the scriptures. I like Romans a lot (in case you couldn’t tell) so I may be a little bit biased but this is my story and I’m sticking with it. Really though, I could kind of stop this series right there but I want to PREACH preach so we’re going to go through this journey together, little by little acquainting ourselves with THE good news. The reality of sin, the ingenuity and grace of God and the obedience of Jesus unto death by which we are now saved.
For today, I want to start with the basic premise which is at the beginning of the scripture I’ve quoted, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..” A popular refrain much quoted without the significance of everything that comes after it. But it’s true, today we start with man’s sin, the Law of Moses and its inability to deal with sin.
Let God be true and every man a liar - Sin
Google defines sin as “An immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.” I’d say that’s accurate and a good description of how sin is generally seen. I want to make one thing clear right out the gate, God makes the rules. Many people think they cannot be convicted or condemned to hell by God for sin because apparently He has no right to tell us humans what is wrong or right. It is apparently unfair for Him to set a standard and collar us for not abiding by it. I rebuke that lie in the name of Jesus. I can say in no uncertain terms that you did not make yourself and therefore your idea of right and wrong cannot govern you. You, a human being are God made and therefore the standards of God govern you. He gets to say what is sin. He gets to tell us what displeases Him and is bad for us His creation. We, in large part, do not because we are not God or Lords over ourselves. Let God be true and every man a liar (Romans 3:4 NKJV).
Amen