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[0:00] Let's take our Bibles tonight and get prepared to hear a sermon that is not Christmas, not a Christmas sermon.

[0:20] ! We're going to get back to Romans chapter 3 tonight. Tonight in my series of preaching through the book of Romans, we're getting to what we would call, I guess, the good part.

[0:38] Romans chapter 3 and verse 21 is where I'm going to begin reading, and I think I'm going to go ahead and read all the way through to the end of the chapter, though we're not going to get that far tonight.

[0:48] This section of chapter 3, all this goes together, and we're going to work our way through it. But starting with verse 21, But now, and I might just pause there a minute, and if you're in the habit of underlining things, you ought to underline those two words right there.

[1:08] But now. Major change here, major shift here, and so, but now. The righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed.

[1:22] 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 is no difference.

[1:34] 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.

[2:07] Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No. But by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

[2:24] Or is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. Since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith, do we then make void the law through faith?

[2:44] Certainly not. On the contrary, we establish the law. All right, we'll stop right there. And tonight I'm going to focus really, or going to cover, only the first three verses of that block of text that I just read to you.

[3:05] Now, I'm not going to go all the way back and give a review, but maybe set us up again, the context, set it up in this way. The first several chapters of Romans, chapters 1 and 2 and on into 3 all the way up to verse 20, in that part of Romans, the first part of Romans, we have been looking at a very black picture of humanity.

[3:32] That's been the focus. The sinfulness of humanity and therefore why God is justified in His condemnation of the sinner. And we've looked at all of that, and it's very black, very bleak.

[3:45] It's all about God's judgment. As one preacher put it, how heavy are the storm clouds of judgment. And that's what we have in the first several chapters of Romans.

[3:57] Heavy storm clouds of judgment. And he went on to say, how frightening are the lightning flashes of God's holy wrath. And that just pretty much describes what the first two and on into chapter 3 of Romans have been to us.

[4:14] Every one of us have seen an approaching storm, haven't we? You know, where the sky is very, very black, almost blacker than black, and it may even be in the middle of the day.

[4:28] We're kind of frightened by that, and we see that approaching storm. And as it gets closer, sometimes you'll see those clouds churning, you know, in the sky.

[4:39] And, you know, especially here in Oklahoma, that gets us pretty nervous. But it would anywhere. And those clouds seem to be flying so low, you know. Just kind of so low that it seems as though you could reach up there and just touch them.

[4:53] That they would be so low. And you can even begin to hear the rumble of thunder. And you'll see occasional flashes of lightning. And so, right off, you are bracing yourself for a storm.

[5:11] An all-out thunderstorm. And it hangs kind of heavy over your head. And you feel that. And you're kind of frightened by that. And there seems to be no way, obviously, no way of stopping it.

[5:22] And there seems to be no way of escaping it. Though maybe sometimes we wish that we could. And then, this has happened to me on occasion. Then you'll look and see a break in the clouds.

[5:37] You ever seen this? I mean, just black. And then suddenly there'll be a break in the clouds. And the sun just kind of barely peaks, begins to peek through and shine. And then you pretty much know you've been spared.

[5:51] Spared a horrendous storm. That the storm has somehow been abated, you know. And now everything is calm. And it's kind of an interesting feeling.

[6:02] Kind of an odd sensation, isn't it, when that happens. I mean, you're just sure. And you're bracing yourself for a major storm. Maybe even a tornado or two. And then it just breaks.

[6:15] And it's all over. And you've been spared. Now, I use that illustration. Because that's really what verse 21 represents.

[6:26] Here in chapter 3. A break in that storm. And if you really think about it and focus. And tune your hearts in.

[6:36] Into this part, portion of Romans. Then you're going to experience somewhat of the same sensation. A sensation of a passing storm. Now, the break in the clouds.

[6:50] Again, comes here in chapter 3, verse 21. And we begin to experience the sensation. Of this break in things.

[7:01] This abatement of the judgment. We begin to experience that through these two words. That I had you. That I pointed out to you. But now.

[7:13] But now. As one man put it. Just as great doors swing on very ordinary hinges. Even so, dramatic changes in scripture.

[7:26] Often hinge upon common. Very common words. I can't tell you. And in your study of scripture. I'm sure that you know this.

[7:38] And have noticed this about scripture. How many times. Those little words. Like but. And. Or but now. In this case.

[7:49] Little bitty words. Almost insignificant. You would think. In the English language. You know. And yet. Used. In scripture. Certainly. To make a significant.

[8:02] Transition. Or change. In focus. And in this case. To open up. Good news. Good news. After all of these. Words about God's.

[8:13] Judgment. So. But. Now. But now. So there is a. Rift. Rift. Of blue sky. In the storm.

[8:24] That's the idea. That's the imagery. That I want you to. To have in your minds. And that rift. Of blue sky. Is God's plan. Of salvation. God's redemption.

[8:37] And it's free. And I want us to see. Then several things. About this salvation. That is free. And the first major thing. And we'll focus on this.

[8:47] Tonight. Is the revealing. Of that plan. The revealing. Of God's plan. Of salvation. And I want to remind you. At the outset.

[8:58] Here. That. The plan. God's plan. Of salvation. This plan. Of salvation. Is not a product. Of human reasoning. It's also. Certainly. Not an accomplishment.

[9:09] According to human effort. God's. It is God's plan. God's plan. And it's his plan. From beginning to end. And it is. Number one. And I'm going to point out.

[9:20] Two things here. Under the revealing. Of his plan. It is number one. Thoroughly scriptural. As. I'm sure you know. And.

[9:31] Great confidence in that. That this plan. Of salvation. Is. Is thoroughly scriptural. We. Man did not. Reason this out. And. And. Come up with some kind of.

[9:42] Formula. And. And. Discoveries. On his own. Here. And there. And putting things together. Kind of like. Two plus two equals four. This plan of salvation.

[9:52] Is revealed in scripture. And it's thoroughly scripture. And it's right there. For everyone to see. And verse twenty one. Is. Is. Where we understand this.

[10:05] Verse twenty one. If you look there. At your Bibles. Says. But now. The righteousness of God. Now let's stop right there. The righteousness.

[10:17] Of God. What's all that about? Well. That's what we need to be saved. In order to be saved. The righteousness of God.

[10:30] That's a big thing. It is absolutely crucial. There is no salvation apart from it. No hope. Of you and I being saved. Without having the righteousness of God.

[10:42] Because. Our righteousness. As the Bible says. In other places. As filthy rags. Even the best of us. The best of what we are. And what we can do.

[10:53] Our own righteousness. No matter how perfect. And good it may look like. Is to God. As filthy rags. And so. Paul. Is describing.

[11:04] Our. Has already described. Our righteousness. In chapters 1, 2. And on into chapter 3. And guess what? We haven't any. We haven't any.

[11:16] And so. What do we need? We need someone else's righteousness. We need divine righteousness. But let's move on.

[11:27] The righteousness of God. Apart from. That's how it reads in my translation. New King James Version. Apart from.

[11:38] I believe. The King James says. Without. The law. So. He says. The righteousness of God. Apart from. Or without.

[11:49] The law. Is revealed. Or. Manifested. I think most. Trans. That would cut. That would. Handle most translations. Either revealed.

[12:00] Or manifested. So. Apart from the law. This is the righteousness of God. It's. Apart from the law. Or. Without the law. That righteousness of God.

[12:10] Apart from the law. Is. Manifested. It's. Revealed. It's revealed. Now let's stop right there. What does that mean?

[12:22] The righteousness of God. Apart. From the law. What does that mean? Well it means that it's separated from the law. That's what. The word.

[12:33] Would literally. Mean. If we were to translate it. That way. King James says. Without the law. Other translations. Apart from the law. Basic meaning. Is separated from the law. But does that help us?

[12:44] What does that mean? Well. Let's get. A little more literal. In the meaning of the word. That is used there. Choris. Is the. Greek word. But that doesn't matter.

[12:56] What does it mean? Literally. It means. Without any. Law. Or. No law. Now let's put that.

[13:06] Into the translation. And here's the meaning. God's righteousness. Is a. No law. Righteousness. What does that mean? Trying to lead you.

[13:18] Along here. See. I like to speak in mysteries. You just kind of. A little bit of it out here. And some of you are saying. Why don't you just cut to the quick. And tell us.

[13:29] The means. Well. It means. That law. Has. No part. In salvation. Now why didn't you tell us. That. At the very beginning. Law has no part.

[13:41] In salvation. Law. Has. No work. In righteousness. Put it another way.

[13:52] Law. I'm talking about. God's law. Law. Law. Has. No. Ability. To give life. None. Whatsoever. There's not a single.

[14:03] Verse. In this book. Here. Not a single. One of the laws. That are contained. In this book. That can. Impart. To you. The righteousness. You need. To be saved.

[14:16] Now that's significant. Because a whole lot of people. Think just the opposite. That the way. To salvation. Is by keeping.

[14:26] The law. But the law. Righteous. God's righteousness. Is a no law. Righteousness. Now. Let me. Make sure.

[14:37] We don't misunderstand. Or you don't misunderstand. Me. The righteousness. Of God. Is not contrary. To the law. Now that's important. To note. God is not a law breaker.

[14:49] He didn't break. The law. To save me. Or you. God. God didn't. You know. Disregard. His own.

[14:59] Law. To save us. And Paul is. Going to eventually. Show us that. We're going to see a little bit of that. In the verses. We're focusing on. And we'll see more of that. As we get on in.

[15:10] Further into chapter three. But. So Paul's going to. To show us. That the righteousness. Of God. Is in perfect harmony. To the law. For now.

[15:21] Let's move on. In this verse. We're just kind of taking this. Piece at a time. We'll put it all together. And so Paul said. But now. See the storm.

[15:32] Is over. At least. For some of us. And there's a rift. In that storm. And the blue sky. The sun is shining through.

[15:42] But now. The righteousness. Of God. Apart. From the law. Is revealed. It's. Manifested. It's revealed.

[15:54] Or. More literally. Has been revealed. Though it doesn't come out that way. In our English text. It has been. It's a. Perfect tense. Verb.

[16:06] Meaning what? What Paul is saying here. Is that God's provision. Of righteousness. Has been accomplished. It's. It's done. There's nothing left to be done.

[16:17] With that. It's all done. It was accomplished. In the past. We know. When that was. It was at Calvary. So it was accomplished.

[16:27] In the past. But this accomplishment. Has. Present. And future. Benefits. In fact. We could say. Ongoing. Benefits. And so he's saying.

[16:39] That this righteousness. Of God. Without the law. Has been. Accomplished. In the past. And it has. Ongoing. Wonderful. Results.

[16:50] Of course. That's. Salvation. In fact. We could make a case. Right here. For eternal security. It's ongoing.

[17:01] There's no ending to it. It was accomplished. It's. It's a perfect tense. It's. Accomplished. And ongoing. Wonderful. Results. That do not end.

[17:13] But let's move on. The righteousness of God. That's what we're talking about here. It has been revealed. It has been revealed. It's.

[17:24] Ongoing results. And then he says. Being witnessed. By the law. And the prophets. Now generally.

[17:34] When you see the law and the prophets. Put together in scripture. And. This is the case here. It's a reference to the Old Testament. Of course. That would be the only. Testament that Paul had. When he wrote.

[17:46] So. It's a reference to God's word. Complete word. The law and the prophets. The law of Moses. And all the rest of it. It's God's word. It's. And so.

[17:56] This righteousness of God. Without the law. Apart from the law. Has been. Revealed. And it's witnessed. Testified to.

[18:07] Verified by. Substantiated by. Two. Witnesses. The law. And the prophets. The law and the prophets. So God's plan of salvation.

[18:19] Does not. Does no violation. To his law. Because it's witnessed. By the law. There's no violation. To the law. It's not contrary to the law.

[18:30] God's not. Breaking his own law. The law. Demanded what. For. For. Atonement. Or for. The forgiveness of sin. It demanded. A blood sacrifice.

[18:42] Demands that. And Jesus. Was that sacrifice. That's why. A little bit later. In the chapters. I read a moment ago. God could be the just.

[18:54] Justifier. Because Jesus. Accomplished. The demands of the law. For us. So it's witnessed.

[19:06] By the law. Jesus was the. Perfect. Satisfied. Satisfied. He perfectly. Satisfied. Rather. The righteous. Demands.

[19:17] Of God's law. Paul says. That the law. Was a witness. And it was. And every year. Every single year. Throughout the Old Testament. Sacrificial system.

[19:28] The. They. Would have to. Offer up. A blood sacrifice. For sin. And. The blood of goats. And the blood of bulls. And. And. And this was.

[19:38] Very ceremonial. But this ceremonial law. Was a witness. To something. That's the idea here. Was a witness. To something better. Something more sure. Something. That.

[19:49] Would accomplish. Once and for all. A sacrifice. For sin. A better way. Of cleansing. Because the way. Of. The blood.

[19:59] Of bulls. And goats. Could never. Accomplish. Permanent. Forgiveness. Of sin. And. And establish. A permanent. Relationship.

[20:10] Between. The sinner. And. God. Blood of bulls. And goats. Could not do that. And so. It witnesses. To a way. The way. Of the cross.

[20:22] Calvary. Supernatural. Eternal. Sacrifice. Of God. But he said. God's plan. And salvation. Was also. Witnessed. By the prophets. And it was.

[20:33] In Isaiah. Chapter 53. And verse 6. Here's the. The. Testimony. Of.

[20:45] The prophets. All we like. Sheep. Have gone astray. We've turned. Everyone. To his own way. And the Lord. Has laid on him. That is his Messiah.

[20:56] And we know his name. Now. It's Jesus. Has laid on him. The iniquity. The sin. Of us all. He was. Oppressed. And he was. Afflicted.

[21:06] Yet he opened. Not his mouth. He was led. As a lamb. To the slaughter. And as a sheep. Before its. Shears. Is silent. So he opened. Not his mouth.

[21:17] He was taken. From prison. And from judgment. And who will declare. His generation. For he was cut off. From the land. Of the living. For the transgressions. Of my people. He was stricken.

[21:28] And they made. His grave. With the wicked. But with the rich. At his death. Because he had done. No violence. Nor was any deceit. In his mouth. Yet it pleased.

[21:38] The Lord. To bruise him. He has put him. To grief. When you make. His soul. An offering. For sin. He shall see.

[21:49] His seed. He shall prolong. His days. And the pleasure. Of the Lord. Shall prosper. In his hands. He shall see. The labor. Of his soul. And be satisfied.

[22:00] By his knowledge. My righteous servant. Shall justify many. For he. Shall bear. Their iniquities. We could find many other places. In the prophets. They give testimony.

[22:12] The witness. To the righteousness. Of God. It's revealed. You see. Revealed. And so. God's plan of salvation. Is thoroughly scriptural.

[22:24] Second. And this will be the second. Then. Of just two points. I want to make tonight. In this section. Not only thoroughly. Scriptural. It's thoroughly.

[22:35] Suitable. That is. It's just what we need. It. Suits us. That is. It suits us. Not. In our opinions. And how it makes us feel.

[22:45] It suits us. According to our desperate need. The righteousness of God. Our case. You see. Apart from Christ.

[22:58] It's hopeless. It's hopeless. It's not that we just can't seem. To find another way. There is no other way. And apart from Christ.

[23:09] Our case is hopeless. And Paul has already shown us that. That's what we spent. I don't know. Untold numbers of weeks. Looking at. In chapters 1. 2. And on into chapter 3.

[23:20] Because we're lost. Lost in sin. Apart from Christ. And under God's. Just judgment. And so. If we're going to be saved. It must be.

[23:31] In a way. That suits. Our hopeless condition. Second. Samuel. 14. 14. I want you to listen.

[23:42] To this passage. You can look it up later. If you want to. For we will surely die. And become like water spilled on the ground.

[23:53] Which cannot be gathered up again. That's a testimony to our hopeless state. Man's hopeless state. Yet. There's another one of those. Great little words.

[24:05] Yet God does not take away a life. But he devises means. This is. This is tremendous. That is he. Devises a way.

[24:17] Devises means. So that. Now listen to this. So that his. Banished ones. Are not. Expelled. From him. That's an incredible.

[24:29] Verse of scripture. This is what he has done for us. So. He has provided a way. A way.

[24:41] A way that was not there before. A way. That we could not create for ourselves. He provided a way.

[24:52] So that his. His. Banished ones. Who are they? Those lost in sin. His.

[25:04] Banished ones. Are not expelled. That is. Separated. Eternally. From him. That's a tremendous.

[25:15] Truth. And what is that way? Well of course. That way. That he. He devised. That way. Is Jesus. It's Jesus.

[25:27] Our crucified Lord. But now. Don't. Come away. From that verse of scripture. As some have. And come up with a doctrine. Of universalism. That somehow.

[25:38] That would include. All of lost. Humanity. It's not included. It's not universalism. Here. That he is speaking of. God is not the father of all. He's not.

[25:50] And the world cannot say. We're all God's children. As some of them do say. There's a qualification here. So we've got to go back to Romans. Find out what that is. Faith.

[26:00] The qualification is. That the sinner must respond in faith. Faith. Verse 22. Back in Romans chapter 3. Even the righteousness of God.

[26:14] Through faith. In Jesus Christ. To all and on all. Who believe. For there is no difference. Faith.

[26:25] Faith is the key. I mean. I remember. Years ago. Learning that. Massive. Complicated.

[26:36] Outline. For evangelism. Explosion. Some of you may have. Gone through EE. In years past. You know. And. We say. Faith is the key. And we pull out of our pocket. You know.

[26:47] Our keys. And I have a number of keys here. And I've got car keys. And other keys. And. And. But there's only one key. That fits the door to my house. There's only one key.

[27:02] One response. For salvation. And it's through faith. There's no other way. Faith is the key. Not the law.

[27:15] Or the keeping of the law. Not works of righteousness. Not works of righteousness. Not works of righteousness. Oh. How we cannot seem.

[27:26] To get away from the idea. That it's works of righteousness. It's not. It's faith. Faith. The universalism.

[27:39] That is involved in salvation. Is. Simply that every person needs it. Verse 23. That leads us to verse 23.

[27:52] For all. Have. Sinned. And. Fall. Short. Of the glory of God. That famous verse. If you've ever learned. A.

[28:02] The Roman road. Approach. To sharing. The gospel. And that's one. Of the major ones. In fact. That's usually the beginning place. For all have sinned. And.

[28:13] I learned it in the King James. And come short. Of the glory of God. Or literally fall short. A better. I think a better. Way of understanding. Is to fall short. Fall short.

[28:24] Of the glory of God. And we're going to get on into this verse. And find out really. A more literal understanding. Of what is being said here. Just think for a moment. About this verse of scripture.

[28:34] I mean. We all. All of us here. In this room. Know some people. Who live. Wicked lives. Even if we don't know them personally. We know of them. You know. We could identify them. Maybe we could.

[28:45] Even name them here tonight. Maybe. Actors. And politicians. And other. You know. World leaders. That are wicked. Wicked. People. Who live. Unabashed. Wicked lives.

[28:57] And in our minds. They certainly fit this verse. For all have sinned. And come short of the glory of God. Well. I have any problem. Applying. Those people.

[29:08] To this verse. But what about. Those people. We know. Who live clean. And moral lives. Who have the same values.

[29:19] That you have. If you've got the right ones. Hopefully you do. I don't think you'd be here. On a Sunday night. If you didn't have them. But what about those people. Who live those kind of lives.

[29:30] Have same kind of values. And have a belief in the. Quote. Almighty. You know. A lot of people like that. Aren't they? And they're kind people. And generous people. And gracious people.

[29:40] And loving people. What about them? Are they humble people? Yes. Are they helpful people. When they know. Someone is in need. Yes. Give you the shirt off their back.

[29:53] Are they big hearted people? Yes. And so. What about them? They're people of integrity. And honesty. And their word is their bond.

[30:04] And we know people like that. Don't we? And they believe abortion is a. Is sin. And gambling is a moral evil. And alcohol is also a social evil.

[30:15] A moral evil. And they are shocked. And disgusted. By any and all forms of pornography. And so. What about those people? Is God referring to those people here?

[30:27] In verse 23. You know. You know the answer to that. And yet. Sometimes we do need to stop and think here. Stop looking at our world.

[30:38] The people of the world. Through our own point of view. And to see humanity. Through the eyes of scripture. And the word of God.

[30:49] And the fact of course is. That a man or a woman. Can have all. Have all of these fine traits. And attributes. And character traits. That I've mentioned. There a moment ago.

[31:00] And they can have all of those. And can even be more faithful. To their church. Than many of us are. At times. And they can have that. But if these people. These quote.

[31:11] Good people. Have never. Placed their faith. In Jesus Christ. Lost. As their only Lord. And Savior. Then. They're lost. Lost.

[31:24] And condemned. And just as condemned. As any rank heathen. I mean the very most. The most sinful person. You could imagine. And think of. Just as lost.

[31:34] As that one. Apart from faith in Christ. Why? For all. Have sinned. And fall short.

[31:46] Of the glory of God. Someone might argue. Well let's just suppose. Hypothetically. That someone. You know.

[31:57] Might be able. To keep. The law. Might be able. To live. Life. Live his or her. Entire life. Free of any sin.

[32:08] Let's just suppose. Hypothetically. What then? Ever heard anybody. Try to. Frame an argument. That way. Well what if. Pastor. Someone could.

[32:20] Keep all the law. And never sin. You know. Maybe. You know. If I could go. An hour without sin. Then maybe I could go. A day without sin. And if I could go. A day without sin. Hypothetically speaking.

[32:31] I could go. A week without sin. And hypothetically speaking. Maybe a month. Maybe a year. Maybe ten years. Maybe. Just hypothetically. I could go. And. My entire life.

[32:41] Without sin. What about me? Does this verse apply to me? Well in the first place. That would be impossible. And this verse proves it.

[32:56] How? Well. In several ways. First. By the word. Sin. Sin. All right. Just take that word.

[33:07] Sin. Or. All. Have. Sin. Have. Sin. That. That. That. That's one word. In the. Greek text. Hamartion.

[33:18] Is. One of the most common words. There's some other words. In the Greek. Quite a few of them. In the Hebrew. That are translated sin. Hamartion. Is the most common word.

[33:29] That's the word here. Have. Sin. Is the form. Of the word. Now. I don't want to bore you. But.

[33:40] All. Verbs. Have. Tense. And it. And. We have to understand that. In order to translate. From the original language. Into English.

[33:52] All verbs have tense. And the tense of this verb. Hamartion. And you don't need to jot this down. It is the. Aorist.

[34:02] Tense. Spelled. A-O-R-I-S-T. Aorist. Tense. And. Oddly enough. Aorist.

[34:13] Literally means. No tense. Is this important? Yeah. It is. Because you see. In the English. We have past and present. And future tense.

[34:23] But the Greek. Aorist. Tense. Is the closest. Is very close to past tense. But it is really no tense. And so. If I might just use myself. As an example here.

[34:34] To illustrate this. Have sinned. Is not talking about. Some activity of sin. That I've been involved in. In my life. But rather. It is a reference.

[34:44] To. The historical fact. Of sin. Of the sin. Of my life. The reality. That. That. That. Not. Not just that I have sinned. We're going to get to that. But that.

[34:55] I am. A sinner. Is speaking of the nature. The nature of me. And even more than that. Paul.

[35:07] Is referring here. To the. Historical. Fact of sin. The. Adamic. Nature. Or sin. Nature. That is in me.

[35:17] And by the way. It's in you too. You and I are no different. In this. The Adamic. Nature. What is that? Coming from Adam.

[35:29] You see. The fall. Of the human race. In the garden of Eden. When Adam. The head of the race. Sin. That's what. Paul is talking about here. When he says. Have sin. The historical.

[35:41] Fact of it. Now. See. Therefore. That Adamic. Sin. Is in me. And it's in every. Human being. I am condemned. Then. Because of. Adam's sin.

[35:52] I'm culpable. So. You know. Someone might say. That's not fair. Well. It is fair. For a number of reasons.

[36:04] But let's just. Notice. The second. Point here. Second part. To my answer. To this. Hypothetical. What if. A person. Could live. His or her. Entire life. And never sin.

[36:15] With that. This verse. Applied to them. That hypothetical. I say. That's impossible. And. For a second reason. From the text. He said.

[36:25] All have sinned. Again. That's the. Adamic sin. The sin nature. That's passed on. To all humanity. The sin. Guiltiness. Passed on.

[36:35] To all humanity. All have sin. But now. Let's go on. And. Fall. Short. Short. Of the glory. Of God. Do you know.

[36:47] What that means? It means. Not only. Are. We. All. Sinners. Because of Adam. But all of us.

[36:59] Continue to sin. Now. That's the activity. Of sin. That's what he says. Fall. Or. Come. In the King James.

[37:10] Come short. Fall short. Now. I mentioned. The aorist. This is present tense. And it means. We continue. To fall short.

[37:22] We continue. To do that. Present tense. In the Greek. Always refers. To a continuous action. And so. The fact is. We are sinners. By nature.

[37:34] Because we're sons. And daughters. Of Adam. And we are sinners. By choice. We. Continue to sin. We are sinners. And we do sin.

[37:46] Continually. So we could translate. Kind of in an expanded way. Like this. For all have sinned. And continue to sin. And continue to sin. And keep on continually. Falling short. Of the glory of God.

[37:56] God. That's who we are. And we cannot help it. And that identifies. Or leads us to the third reason.

[38:07] Why that little hypothetical. That what if. Could never happen. This little verse. Is not only a theological basis. For God's condemnation. Of sinful humanity.

[38:18] But it is also a clear. Definition. Of the word sin. Sin. The nature of sin. What sin is. The word sin. Again. Is hamartion. And it is.

[38:31] It means. To miss the mark. Some of you have heard that before. You know. All of the great theological words. That we have in scripture. That we like to.

[38:41] Preach on. And talk about. And many of them. Beloved. Theological words. Rich. With. With. Spiritual meaning. And eternal meaning. All of those words. Started as just.

[38:52] Common everyday. Words. They did not always have. A theological significance. And this word. Hamartion. Was a. An archery term.

[39:05] And it pictured. You know. The archer. Shooting the arrow. At the target. And his desire. Is to hit. What we would call. The bullseye. What he would call.

[39:15] The mark. The bullseye. And. So it pictures. The archer. Shooting the arrow. And missing. That mark. And he continues.

[39:27] To shoot. And he continues. To miss the mark. Now sometimes. He might get real close. And. But he still misses it. Or what it. Seems to be close to him. Now. That illustrates.

[39:38] You carry that over. Into its. Theological significance. God. Is the bullseye. He's the mark. Or to put it. In a different way.

[39:50] He's the standard. Not that he has just set the standard. He is the standard. He is that standard. And Paul identifies it. As the glory of God. In this verse.

[40:04] And that we fall short of it. We fall short. We miss. The mark. We miss. All that God is.

[40:14] And requires. His righteousness. His perfection. His holiness. That's the standard. Now. Adam and Eve. They met that standard.

[40:25] When they were in the garden. The Bible says. They walked with God. In the cool of the day. They were perfect. In every single way. They were sinless. In every degree.

[40:37] Until. They rebelled. And disobeyed God. And when they did. They fell short of God. That's how it all got started. Because. When they fell short of God.

[40:47] With them. All of humanity. Fell short of God. All humanity. After them. Including all of us here. The Bible says. In Adam. All die. First Corinthians.

[40:58] Fifteen. Twenty. Twenty. Twenty. Twenty. And. Today. Then. We continue. To miss the mark. That's. That's the idea. Behind this word. Hamartion. We miss the mark.

[41:09] We keep on missing it. And missing it. And sometimes. It appears. We get real close. And we might be able. To identify a person. Who gets real close. And seems to. On a consistent basis. Get real close. To that mark.

[41:19] And yet. They missed the mark. They'll never hit the mark. On their own. Never. Never ever. Miss the mark. So no matter. How close.

[41:31] We come. We continue to miss it. And in all the. Personal goodness. You can muster up. You still cannot. Reach the glory of God. You can't reach it. And there's only one way.

[41:43] To reach it. One way. And that is. To have it. Placed. In. You. In us. A divine righteousness.

[41:56] The righteousness. Of God. And if you and I. Are going to meet. God's standard. We must. Have his righteousness. That brings us. Full circle here. We must have.

[42:08] His righteousness. And how are we going to have that? How are we going to have his righteousness? How can we. Have the righteousness of God? That is your only hope.

[42:20] Is to have the righteousness of God. Keeping the law. Won't do it. God's righteousness. Remember. Verse 21. Is a no law.

[42:31] Righteousness. And so how. Then can we have. Through faith. Through faith. In Christ. Second Corinthians.

[42:47] Chapter 5. And verse 19. Another one of those great passages. And. It's difficult to. For me to decide.

[42:57] Where to begin to read. But I'm going to start with verse 19. Just listen to this. That is. That is. That God. Was in Christ. Reconciling the world.

[43:09] To himself. Not. Imputing their trespasses. To them. And has committed to us. The word of reconciliation. Now then.

[43:20] We are. Ambassadors. For Christ. As though God. Were pleading through us. We implore. You. On Christ's behalf. Be reconciled to God.

[43:32] For. He made him. That's Jesus. Who knew no sin. To be sin. For us. And doesn't stop there.

[43:42] There's no period there. That. That. We might become. You know the rest of it. The righteousness of God.

[43:53] In him. That's what God has done. To put all that together. All that we have read. Thus far. And looked at.

[44:04] In Romans 3. But now. The righteousness of God. Apart from the law. Is revealed. Being witnessed by the law.

[44:17] And the prophets. Even. The righteousness of God. Through faith. In.

[44:27] Jesus Christ. To all and on all. Who believe. For there's no difference. For all have sinned. And fall short.

[44:38] And keep on falling short. Of glory. Amen. Amen. Amen. What a tremendous. Passage.

[44:49] Thank you.