Thank you, Mark, for leading us this morning. It's last Sunday of the month already, which means it's almost November. Of course, November might not be as bad as October this year, I'm not sure. But we're having our communion service this morning as we do the last Sunday of each month. 

We've been working through the book of Romans, and we're finishing up today the section on the bad news, the condemnation of all men, a powerful section of Scripture. Now there are two types of people in our world, only two really, those who believe Jesus and those who do not. And in general, it's quite easy to determine what type of person, what type of person is by short visit with them, by talking with them, because there's such a contrast, such a dichotomy, that the spiritual state of a man is evident in short order. 

I was thinking about 2nd Corinthians 5; I was going to turn to 2nd Corinthians 5 at verse 14 as we begin. Such a tremendous Scripture that explains this truth of the recreation, the regeneration of the one who believes Jesus. 2nd Corinthians 5:14, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all died. And he died for all that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him."

This text explains very succinctly the dichotomy between believers and unbelievers. It's one of many in the scriptures, but it's very clear. You see, the man in Adam and the man in Christ are actually two different creatures. They have a different nature on the inside. The man in Adam, lost and dominated by sin, controlled and influenced by the world system of Satan and all his ministers, is dead in trespasses and sins, is dead in his spirit; by his very nature, he's that of a sinner. And thus everything in his life manifests this nature in him who he is. 

This is what Jesus meant when he said it's not what goes into a man that defiles him, but what comes from the inside. It's what's on the inside of a man that drives his outward behavior, his continual and utter sinfulness. So the problem is not an external one. It's not one of environment or influence or circumstance, although these things certainly can exacerbate the problem, but the problem is on the inside. Walt Kelly famously said, "We have met the enemy and he is us." And this is really the key to understanding, to coming to salvation. 

Until we realize that the enemy is us, that the problem is me, is in me, then we cannot come to a point of understanding of our sinfulness and our need and a point of repentance, turning to the only Savior, Jesus Christ. And we see the systems, the religions of Satan, the philosophies of men, the wisdom and cures of the world, all working in unison against this foundational, this crucial, this indispensable truth. All the systems of Satan say that the problem is outside of me, that the problem is someone else, that I am a victim leading me down the wrong path. 

All the religions of the world teach that the problem is external and that the answer is external. If I can just do enough good, if I can quit doing bad, if I work hard enough, do enough works and rituals and religious exercises, I can become good enough and work my way to righteousness. But the man in Christ, the man who has been conveyed from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love, the one who has passed from death unto life, been recreated, given a new heart and a new spirit and the Holy Spirit living in him, this new creation knows that the problem is an internal one, is one of the nature of man, of a need for a new birth, a new spirit, a quickening, a regeneration, which can only come by faith in Jesus Christ. 

And so we see this great dichotomy in our world because of the great divide between the two types of creatures, the natures of the unbeliever and the believer. We see the system, the religions of men versus the truth of God and His Word. And my brothers and sisters, we must judge all things on this basic truth, this understanding of good versus evil, of truth versus error according to the Word of God. 

And this begins with a basic understanding of the nature of the man in Adam and the truth of the condemnation of all men, this very bad news. Let's look at verse 9 in our text. Paul says, "What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written, there’s none righteous, no, not one. There’s none who understands, there’s none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside, they have together become unprofitable. There’s none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues, they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. 

I've given you five points on our outline this morning for our text. First, we’re going to see all under sin. Second, a true assessment. Third, no fear. Fourth, a false hope. And then last, we’ll look at the good news briefly, looking forward to our next section. 

Well, I've been continually fascinated with the truth that all thinking, all philosophy and religion, even political affiliation and platform really boils down to one question: Is man basically good or is man basically evil? The prevailing wisdom of our world is that man is basically good, that in him is some sort of goodness, some light, some flame that must be fanned into a burning fire of goodness dispelling the evil. This is humanism. This is really the old mystical Gnostic heresy going back to the religions that influenced Ephesus and Colossae. And most importantly, it is a misunderstanding and a false defining of the condition of man and the solution to his eternal problem. 

It's been taught in many ways and with great perseverance in the face of all reality that every man has an inherent goodness, a divine spark in him. This is the essence of New Age, of the Oprah Winfrey doctrine of psychology and of most religion. The idea of a divine spark, most common in Gnostic and mystical religions, is that every human being possesses either a connection with God or a part of God in him. The goal of life then is to allow the divine spark to influence us toward love and peace and harmony, and upon death that divine spark returns to God. We are mostly good and we just need to focus on our goodness and foster it and fan it into a fire that consumes and dominates our outward living, influencing us toward love and peace and harmony. 

This is where the great self-esteem movement originates, and it has been an evil message of hopelessness our entire lives. Think about the self-esteem gospel. People are suffering. People are sinning. They have no power, no ability to overcome the sin that dwells in them and dominates them in Adam, and they are hopelessly trying to be good, to do better. But they know in their hearts that they're not good, that they do bad, and that they are largely miserable with their state of being. 

And what does psychology and the doctrine of self-esteem tell them? You're good. You're just fine. You just need to love yourself more. There's nothing wrong with you. And sometimes there's even a religious spin on this. I remember when I was a kid we had those t-shirts that said, "God doesn't make junk." Remember that? 

My friends, this is a horrible message because it leaves people in the miserable sinful state in which they exist. If the lost man in Adam with his sinful nature, his sinful life, and all the problems that are a result of that is just fine the way he is, if he's inherently good and just needs to love himself more and affirm his goodness, fan the spark of divinity in him, then I tell you this is a hopeless doctrine. Leaving that poor man where he is with no solution, no hope, and only able to blame everyone and everything else for his problems and struggles. 

What the lost man needs is an honest assessment. What we all need is to understand who we are, our true nature, and our true need. What we need is the truth about man and the hope that we can be changed, that we can be recreated, made new so that we might live a new life of hope and righteousness and fruit with the promise of eternal life. 

And that's what we find in our text this morning. A truly brutal text. You remember that this section of Scripture beginning in Romans 1:18 and running through our text this morning is all about the condemnation of man. We began in the first section through the end of chapter 1 with the pagan, the sinners of the world, the truth of their sinfulness and condemnation before a holy God. Then in chapter 2, we saw that the self-righteous religious man is no better off, perhaps worse. He too is a sinner and deserving of condemnation for the things for which he judges the sinner, he practices the same. 

And we see that stunning statement at the beginning of chapter 2, "God judges according to truth." I have to share with you, my brother yesterday posted a meme on Facebook and it had a picture of Pope Francis and it said, “If you think Pope Francis is too liberal, wait till you meet Jesus.” You, God judges according to truth. How do you know anything about Jesus? Anything. How do you know anything about Jesus? Only by His Word. What does His Word say? That there's sin, there's things that are wrong. And when a man believes, when he becomes a new creation, he wants to do right. And not only does he want to do right now, but he has the power to do right because God has dealt with the sin that lives in him and produces righteousness through his life. 

Maybe think of 2 Corinthians 11:3, another Jesus, Paul says, right? That's another Jesus they're talking about. So the pagan and the religious are equally guilty. The bad people and the good people of our world are both deserving of judgment because they are sinners just the same. And that's the first word of our text this morning. In this section, Paul gathers up all men and makes sure no one thinks he has escaped the honest assessment of his condition in Adam. Look what he says in verse 9, “What then, are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.” If you're not a Jew, you're a Greek, you're Gentile. He's gathering up all men. All men are under sin, and this is the key phrase here, under sin. 

This is the foundational truth of the Bible. All men are born in Adam and thus all men are sinners by nature, deserving of the wrath of God, all men. There's no difference between Jew and Greek, between the prostitute or the preacher. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God because all men are sinners and their nature corrupt on the inside as natural men born in Adam. Turn over to Romans 5 with me, verse 12. This is a familiar text to us but so important in establishing the problem and the solution. Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of him who was to come. 

But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense, many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned, for the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. Even so, through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience,” this is Adam's sin in the garden, “many were made sinners. So also by one man's obedience, Jesus' death on the cross, many will be made righteous.” 

This text explains that the basis for condemnation is found in the sin of Adam, the first man, the federal head of all mankind. Every man is born in Adam, he's made a sinner in Adam. He is condemned in Adam. Notice that it says there was no law from Adam until Moses. God gave Adam a law, don't eat the tree, right? He broke the law, he transgressed. There was no law of God to transgress, no command given, such as was given to Adam in the garden or in the comprehensive law given to Moses at Sinai. 

Nonetheless, death reigned all those years when there was no law. The reason that men are condemned and death reigns is because of the condemnation that comes through the sin of Adam. All men were made sinners in Adam. So this is an internal problem. This is an inner corruption, manifest by outward behavior. And since the problem biblically is the sin of one man in the garden resulting in this condemnation for all men, the answer is not for man to do good to become good because he is not good. The answer is the one act of the one man, Christ, on the cross. And it's only by His one act on our behalf, through faith, that we can be made righteous. All men have been found to be sinners. 

And that's why in our text we see an honest assessment of mankind. Look at these words again in verse 10. “As it is written, there's none righteous, no, not one. There's none who understands. There's none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There's none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. The way of peace they have not known, and there's no fear of God before their eyes.” 

Jesus made clear in His teaching, His ministry, that the requirement to enter His heaven is righteousness, in fact, perfect righteousness. Paul says right off here in verse 10 of our text, “There's no one. There's not one who is righteous.” He's explained the condemnation of the sinner, the pagan in chapter 1. He's explained the condemnation of the religious man in chapter 2. And here He gathers up anyone He might have missed, the one in the back of the room who's still thinking, “Yeah, these people are a bunch of bums, but I'm okay.” He says, “No, not you either. There's none righteous, no, not one.” 

And I can imagine at this point, some might be thinking in their minds, “Well, people are not all bad. I mean, they do good sometimes.” There’s a lot of good in humanity. What Paul's teaching here, and what we must understand if we are to get the good news of verse 21, is that man in his heart, in his spirit, is a sinner by nature. He's dead in trespasses and sins, and before God, he falls short of the standard of righteousness. Every man falls short of the standard of God's righteousness. 

There is such a thing as relative human goodness. All men are not as bad as they could be. I used to run a charter boat down at Black River Harbor, and I thought of it this way. Imagine if we could gather all of humanity up in the parking lot down in that harbor. And we all got ready, and we stretched, and we warmed up, and we're going to run across the bridge, over the river, down the shore, to the end of the break wall, and we're going to all jump to Michigan Island, many miles out in Lake Superior. This is the goal. This is the standard. We want to jump, and we want to land on Michigan Island. The point is that every man would fall short of the standard. 

No one would reach Michigan Island. Some people maybe would jump 15 to 20 feet out into the lake. Others would trip and fall on the rocks. Some may not even make it out of the parking lot. But the point is this. Every man would fall infinitely short of the standard of jumping to the island, or in the spiritual sense, of living a life of perfect conformity to the law of God. So there is a relative human goodness. Some men are better than others in a relative way. There are differences in degree, but there is no difference in kind. The condition of man is universal. He is confined under sin. He's a sinner by nature, deserving the wrath of God, and there's nothing he can do to change that truth through works, through religion, or positive thinking.

Look at verse 10 again. “There’s none righteous, no, not one. There’s none who understands. There’s none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside. They have together become useless or unprofitable. There’s none who does good, no, not one.” As we saw in Romans 1, men reject, they suppress the clear truth of God and His revelation of Himself to us, and they turn instead to the created gods of their religions framed after their own image, the corrupt image of man. The reason for this is pride, is self-satisfaction, self-exaltation. 

Man wants to be the master of his own destiny. He wants to be good enough to work his way, and he at the same time demands to satisfy his own lusts and wants and desires. Aldous Huxley is a good example of the intellectual of the 20th century who furthered the cause of humanism and the doctrine of macroevolution, precisely as Romans 1 describes. And sometimes these humanist intellectuals are surprisingly honest. 

Listen to this quote from the renowned writer Aldous Huxley. He said, “I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning, and consequently assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics. He's also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do. For myself, as no doubt for most of my friends, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom. The supporters of this system claimed that it embodied the meaning, the Christian meaning, they insisted, of the world. If there was one admirably simple method of confuting these people and justifying ourselves in our erotic revolt, we would deny that the world had any meaning whatsoever.” 

Men as a whole do not seek after God, but rather suppress the evident and obvious truths of God displayed in creation and conscience. It's a willful suppression of the truth and an embracing of lies so that they might persist and justify their sinful lifestyle and inherent unrighteousness. They've turned aside. They have gone their own way. They have become useless as to God's intention in creating man. 

Man was to walk with God. He was to have a relationship with God. He was to worship and love God, being a fruit-bearing vessel with a God-given abundant life for His glory. Mankind has gone his own way, rejecting the truth of God, exchanging it for the humanist lie and has become useless as to the grand purposes of God. Look at verses 13 and 14 with me in this honest assessment of man. "Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." 

This again speaks of the internal corrupt condition of man. Jesus said in Matthew 23 of the religious leaders of His day, “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you're like a whitewashed tomb which indeed appears beautifully outwardly, but inside is full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.” Their throat is an open tomb, letting forth the rot and stench of the deadness of their soul. And with their tongues they have practiced deceit. 

Men are liars and they are treacherous, deceitful. I always think of this; I remember when I was working for APHIS and we'd blow up beaver dams with dynamite all the time, and all you had to do was lock the truck and lock a box and inside another box was locked. I always told my boss, “He's unlocking all, boy, it'd be nice if men weren't corrupt, eh?” We wouldn't have to have all these ice; we went and got ice every day and the guy at the gas station was all upset because he had to get the keys and go out and unlock the ice chest. We wouldn't have to do that if men weren't sinners and liars and thieves. They're like an asp. An asp is a snake, a venomous viper. 

The idea here is deception. The asp has his fangs folded back in his mouth, behind his lips; Paul says, “the danger hidden but when you approach him, he opens his mouth exposing his fangs and strikes his victim.” I heard an illustration many years ago that really stuck with me on this verse. It was a true story of a prominent businessman in Los Angeles. This man was married with a wife and children; he was a pillar of the community, a respectable man. 

And one night he went down to the wrong side of town and sought a prostitute to hire. He pulled up alongside a young lady standing on the corner and he led her into his car and he went and parked in a secluded place and when he leaned in to kiss the woman, she exposed a razor blade she held in her teeth and cut the man's face to pieces. This is the picture of the deception of man, of his superficial appearance of good and promised pleasure or satisfaction, only laying in wait to strike and do harm to others. Paul continues, “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness,” and what a truth this is. 

I don't know if you've had coffee with any Youper men lately, but it's the best illustration of this. Sometimes a man in the UP can curse the Lord's name three times in one sentence. It's amazing, really. And the bitterness of man, we see this all around us, especially in this day and age where we see the fruit of humanism coming into full bloom, where everyone is a victim and all their problems are the result of some oppressor. 

And there's a profound bitterness expressed in their hate and anger and willingness to do violence, which leads to Paul's next honest statement on the condition of man. Look at verse 15, “their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways and the way of peace they have not known.” It's an absolutely stunning thing to look at the history of man, of nations, of wars and murder and killing that has been the norm for our world, for mankind. Since Cain and Abel in the beginning, man has been a murderer in his heart. Lest we think otherwise, Jesus explains in the Sermon on the Mount that if you've been angry with your brother without cause, you have committed murder in your heart. This is the sinfulness of man. 

Just look at recent history, the 20th century, where man developed a better and better technology in order to more effectively kill each other. A hundred and eight million people died in wars and slaughters of the 20th century. In the killing fields of Cambodia from 1975 to 79 alone, over a million people were exterminated by the communist government. In Russia, estimates of death from communism beginning in 1917 up through 1987 are estimated at 61 million. And what do we see today in our country, in our culture, in our education, in our entertainment? A push toward socialism, toward communism. Forty-four percent of the younger generation in America today is in favor of socialism. 

Free stuff, social justice, a utopian state—all the same old promises that end in the same dead bodies every time in history. Why? Because the heart of man is desperately wicked and deceitful, above all things. Man is corrupted on the inside, and if he is given ultimate power, he will not act benevolently, but selfishly, and tyranny will reign. That's why the founders of our country understood the great need to limit the power of government and the need to decentralize government as much as possible, and thus they designed the system that we have enjoyed our entire lives that has brought prosperity to the world. 

It's a matter of the basic understanding of man, and unfortunately the wisdom of this world has mostly superseded biblical truth in our culture and world, and thus men are looking to deliver the oppressed by overthrowing the oppressors to correct the social injustice of our world, not understanding the nature of man and the results of concentrated power in the hands of a few sinful men. “Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. The way of peace they have not known.” 

This is an honest assessment of mankind. And next we see Paul's summary statement in verse 18; this is the heart of the issue, “there is no fear of God before their eyes.” Psalm 111 verse 10 says, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” But the lost man in Adam, in his sin and pride, believes that he is good, that he is able, that he can do it. And this is a rejection of the truth of not only who he is but who God is. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it's not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. Romans 5 tells us that we are in Adam enemies of God. 

We were against God. We were suppressing the truth of love and mercy and grace of God, and thus the carnal man despises God in his heart and mind. He does not fear God. He does not reverence God, but hates God and His truth and His Savior. This is obvious in the history of the church, in the world, and in our lives. Religious men have persecuted the church since Christ. Humanist, atheist governments have killed and tried to eliminate Christians and Christianity and the truth of the Word of God. 

There’s no fear. And therefore there is a rebellion against God and His truth. And the essence of that rebellion is a works-righteous system of men, based on the divine spark, the good in men, the humanist philosophy. This truth is the essence of religion as men reject God's way, God's salvation, God's Son, and seek their own way, their own means to earn their way to heaven. And this is the false way. This is a false hope. 

Look at verse 19 of our text. “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” If we only had verse 20, that would be enough to say all the religions of the world are wrong. No flesh shall be justified in His sight by the works of the law. A proper understanding of salvation starts with a proper understanding of the condition of man, the condemnation of all men, and it also starts with a proper understanding of the purpose of the law. 

Why did God give the law? What is the purpose of the law? Remember, from Adam all the way to Moses, there was no law. Why did God give the law? The answer is very clear in the Scriptures. The law entered that the offense might abound. In Galatians 3:19, Paul asks the question explicitly, “What purpose does the law serve?” He says it was added because of transgressions. He says, “Is the law against the promises of God? Certainly not. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law, but the Scripture has confined all under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” 

The purpose of the law is to show us our sin. This is what Paul says explicitly here in our text, “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” It was given to shut every mouth, to leave men hopeless, understanding their sin, knowing their need for a Savior. The law was not given for us to earn our salvation to be good; the law has no power to deliver from the penalty or the power of sin. If there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 

So what does this mean? What does this mean for all the religions and the religious people of our world? It means that any and all who teach works righteousness or works plus faith salvation teach a false way and a false hope. This means that if a religion teaches that you need to keep the law to be saved, to do good works, or you need sacraments to impart salvation, that there’s some process you go through, some religious work or rite or ritual, even if it’s in conjunction with Jesus, it's a false gospel. 

Because either Jesus and His one-time death on the cross, His burial, and resurrection are sufficient or they're not. My brothers and sisters, the condition of man in Adam is a sad, tragic story, a story of sin and condemnation, certain judgment from a holy God. The fact that man is corrupt on the inside, a sinner by nature, and the truth that this is continually manifest outwardly through his life and actions is bad news, my friends. 

I don't want to leave it there because in the midst of this bad news world, there is good news, there is great news, and we find it in verse 21 of Romans 3. After this long, depressing section of the truth of the condemnation of all men, we finally get to the good news of God's great plan of salvation for all who will believe in Romans 3:21. Follow along. “But now, the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there's no difference, 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 in order that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” 

The bad news is that we cannot establish our own righteousness through law or religion. The bad news is that I'm a sinful man and Adam and there's nothing I can do about it; I deserve the wrath of God for my sins. The good news is that God did something about my hopeless estate. These are the contrasting words, “but now, but now, the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed,” not in conjunction with the law, apart from the law. The righteousness of God how? Through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. This is amazing good news. 

We cannot earn our own righteousness; we are not righteous; we are sinful, but because of what Jesus has done, because Jesus took my sins on Himself on the cross and paid the full debt, satisfying the wrath of God because of Jesus alone and His work on my behalf, I can have His righteousness imputed to me. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us.” Why? My buddy told me the other day, “Jesus just opened the door. He just opened the way; we have to press through by our works and our...” Is that what He did? 

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us; why? “That we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sins. Romans 4:5, “To him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” I have no righteousness of my own; I do not contribute to my righteousness for salvation, but rather I received the very righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is a gift from God, a free gift through faith alone in Jesus alone, and this is the great truth we're going to consider in depth at the end of chapter 3 next time. 

We're here this morning to celebrate this truth, to remember what Jesus did for us, to proclaim His death until He comes. We come in thankfulness; we come in worship for the one who died for us and we now make it our aim that as those who died with Him to now live for Him in righteousness by His grace and power. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we're so thankful, so thankful for Your Word, Your truth that You've revealed to us, Your Son, Your way of salvation, the truth about who man is, and the truth of the sufficiency, the propitiatory death of Christ on the cross and our place for our sins. Help us to bring this message to the world. And Lord, we pray that You would use us for fruit to save many, all those who would believe in Jesus. In His name we pray, Amen.