Romans 1:16-32
Big Idea: Religious People Need The Gospel Just As Much As Unreligious People
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”
- Romans 1:18
The Self-Righteousness Detector:
1) Am I looking down on others or getting low in repentance? (v. 1-5)
2) Am I pursuing my own glory or God’s glory? (v. 6-11)
Fruit of a heart right with God (v. 7):
1) Patience and persistence in well-doing
2) Seeking the glory of God
Fruit of a heart not right with God (v. 8):
1) Seeking the glory of myself
2) Persistence in disobedient and unrighteous living
3) Am I just hearing God’s Word or am I obeying God’s Word? (v. 12-16)
4) Am I anchoring my identity in a religion about God or a personal relationship with God? (v. 17-29)
“In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.”
– Colossians 2:11-12
3 false hopes for salvation for the religious:
1) My birth certificate (v. 6-11; 17)
2) My theological information (v. 12-16; 17-24)
3) My spiritual resume (v. 17-24)
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
– Matthew 7:21-23