Why religion can't save you

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. - Romans 2:1‭-‬29 ESV

Rev Charles Han

God's Universal Indictment

The Jews are thinking that sinners are the pagans. They consider themselves morally superior. Jews believed themselves on the side of good because they were God's people. They had the law of God and they had been circumcised. This was how they distinguished themselves from the world. But Paul accuses them of self-righteous hypocrisy. They boast of having the law, but they also break those same laws. They boast of circumcision, but it is only physical and not spiritual.

Religion can make us feel better. It can hide ugly, twisted hearts. It can deceive us as to our true state. We are called to repent, not only flagrant sin, but also our righteousness.

Our inane judging nature speaks of the law. Why are we so judgmental of others? Because there is a law. If we weighed our lives by our own standards, we would find ourselves lacking. Even if we didn't have God's law, we would still find that we fall short of any standard. We are all morally bankrupt both Jewish and pagan.

God's Universal Sentence

So what comes after? God's judgment. The eternal wrath of God. Hell. This is an essential part of the gospel. The word of God does not treat judgement in a timid or embarrassed manner. It is spoken in a straightforward and even rejoiced over.

God's wrath is part of God's love. He created all things. So when we think of all the human atrocities, would God dote on the perpetrators of these crimes? No, wrath comes because He loves. His desire for justice and love for His creation can only be answered by wrath.

So then once we understand the appropriateness of God's wrath. We must consider that this wrath is not just for others. Look into our own hearts and know that we are not only victims of sin, but perpetrators as well. We are under God's wrath as well.

God's Universal Gracious Invitation

So then why does the ground not swallow us? Why are we not struck down? Because he desires repentant hearts. He does not use coercion, he invites us to full pardon and grace. Not fear driven religion, but loving obedience to God. He desires softened hearts. He invites us with kindness and grace.

We have a Great High Priest

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hebrews 4:11‭-‬16 ESV

Pastor Charles Shin

The necessity of perseverance

During a time of testing, we are called to stand firm in our faith. We are called to endure to the end. Where does the power to endure come from?

The penetrating nature of God's word

Why does the author suddenly start talking about God's word being living and active? It seems like some sort of trivia. But this fact is linked to perseverance. The words of man are considered and we decide and judge them. Not so with the word of God. It pursues and challenges us.

God's word examines us. It strips us naked before God. It shows us our true nature and our need for salvation.

Our great high priest

Where do we turn when we find ourselves exposed? Jesus, the son of God, who became a man. He is both God and man. He has passed through the heavens. This means he has come to earth and also gone back to heaven.

Priests mediated between God and man. They act on behalf of men to plead their case before God. Jesus is the mediator for all believers. How does he do this? He sympathizes with us in our weakness. He has been tempted like us. He experienced the full range of human weakness. He knew suffering, affliction, loneliness, betrayal...

Let us hold fast to our confession

How do we work with our great high priest?

1. Persist in confident prayer (confident in Christ;not self-confidence)
  A. In our time of need, we should pray. 
  B. When we feel our weakness, we should pray.
2. Keep Jesus in mind. Meditate on his life, suffering, and resurrection.

Gospel transformation

This is how we apply the gospel in our lives.

What is your idol?

What things do we make ultimate? What is it that gives us identity outside of God? Expose the false promises or lie of the idol.

What gospel truth speaks to that idol?

What does God have to say about that idol? What does the gospel say we have already received? How does God lift us up from these things?

What spiritual practices fights the idol?

What practical ways can we acknowledge the truth in the gospel? Spiritual disciplines or practices that make this truth real about us.

What is the fruit?

What is the change or transformation? What comes from the practices? What does the final destination look like?

Six steps to find your personal gospel story

1. Be honest about your idols (Emotions can be good indicators, both positive and negative)

2. Repent of the idol (identify and expose the false promise of the idol)

3. Repentance in faith (what do you need to believe about Jesus to reject this idol)

4. Ask the Holy Spirit to apply that gospel (illuminate and reveal God to us so that we can see and taste that God is good... )

5. Bring the means of grace to bear (spiritual practices and disciplines, accountability, and do it. )

6. Share your stories (give God the glory)

Union with Christ: What difference does it make?

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. - John 15:1‭-‬8 ESV

Rev. Paul Park

We are changed

We are not batman. He's strong and has some training. We are superman and Spiderman. We are no longer just human. There is supernatural power.

It is like marriage

We are no longer separate but one. It is not just two persons. It is a new identity. There is some level of intimacy and intertwining between the spouses. So this is also of our union with Christ. Jesus says it is not just me and you.. It is we; it is us. It is a divine, intimate relationship. Marriage is not the ultimate relationship. It is a shadow of our union with Christ.

A way to think about our subjective experience

God is with us. The curtain in the temple delineating the holy of holies was torn upon the death of Jesus. Not just in the temple among his people, but with us. The spirit of God lives in us.

Another was to look at this is the vine and the branches. Are we plugged into the power supplied by God? Or are we shriveling and dying? It's not asking if we are reading the Bible, going to Sunday service, or praying regularly. It is asking if we are plugged in to Jesus.

Union is a lens to see. We are called to consider ourselves dead to sin. Paul is telling us that we are dead in Jesus' death. Paul prays that we would see what we have. Not that God would give believers more, but that believers would see what God has already given.

Our union in Christ is not only the goal, it is also the tool for us. It gives us encouragement and hope. It is not only our justification, but also a tool for sanctification.

The Exchange

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. - Romans 1:18‭-‬32 ESV

Rev Dwight Yoo

The reality of God's wrath

We often forget the wrath and anger of God. We try to sanitize the Bible of things like hell. We think it is impossible for a loving God to also be angry and full of wrath. But anger can be the fruit of love. If God loves what is good and pure, then it is normal to be angered by evil. God created all things and His fingerprints are found throughout creation. But people do not treat God rightly; they deny Him because they are rebellious and do not wish to submit to God.

The reason and result of His wrath

If we don't worship God, we will worship created things. We will worship all sorts of things: relationships, spouses, career, and sex. We derive our worth from created things instead of God. In rejecting God, we eventually end up rejecting the natural order. God designed sex to happen between men and women in marriage. But society looks at that as unnatural... How constrained and unfulfilling it must be! Humanity just wants sex with anyone and everyone. So what is natural is seen as unnatural.

The Gospel challenges us in our perceptions, our lifestyles, and our very identity. This challenge is for both believer and unbeliever.

So how does God's wrath show? God gives them up to their idolatry. They desire these things rather than God, so God allows them to have their way. That is what God's wrath looks like. He gives us up to these twisted and messed up desires. It is both God's charge against us as well as a punishment. We become slaves to our desires and experience perpetual disappointment as our idols fail to deliver on it's promises.

The remedy for His wrath

God sends his son Jesus, to save these prodigals. Jesus is sent from the heavenly home to retrieve us from a life of sin. He exchanges our lives of idolatry for a life reconciled with God, fulfilled by Jesus' death and a perfectly lived life.

The Power of the Gospel

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."- Romans 1:1‭-‬17 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

We cannot love Jesus and not love His word. It would be like saying you love your wife and asking her to never speak. It betrays the spirit of love.

Paul's call

Paul takes a little bit of time to introduce himself. Paul did not plant the church in Rome. They don't know him and they have never met. He calls himself an apostle and slave of Christ. His authority comes from the resurrected Jesus. He is a representative of Christ. He is not speaking his own opinions or will. He has a responsibility to both Greek and non-Greek. There is a deep sense of duty. But this is not a begrudging obedience, but rather a sense of joy. He is eager to preach. His posture accurately reflects how Christians should be. We should have a sense of delightful duty. We are not to neglect either duty or delight.

The context of his ministry

Paul is writing to the church in Rome. It was likely planted by Jews who moved there and preached the Gospel. Rome was seen as the city of the world. Not only an intellectual & cultural epicenter, but also the most decedent and outrageous of activities. It would be like saying the Gospel was spreading through Las Vegas. He is writing of a harvest... among believers. What? The Gospel is not only for unbelievers, but also the believer!! The Gospel is also for those who already believe. We never outgrow our need for the Gospel. What does the Gospel do? It empowers and changes us. It produces obedience in faith.

So then, church, do you see an area in your life where the Gospel is both changing & challenging?

If you cannot identify an area in your life, then maybe you do not get the Gospel. Or maybe the Gospel has not really grabbed you. It has not gripped you. Your faith is too comfortable.

The content of the Gospel

Believers struggle with the foolishness of the cross. A cosmopolitan and elite city like Rome would have made the Gospel look so foolish, laughable even. The Gospel is antithetical to the values of the world. It is just applicable now as it was then.

Our sin is separated from us. But not only that, but God supplies the righteousness that He demands. It is by the life of Jesus. And we receive this by faith. We must believe, not just intellectual agreement, but to trust and stand on Jesus. To bank our very lives on Him. To rest your eternal fate, hope, and dreams on the back of Jesus. This is the only way to be saved. It is a very exclusive claim. But it is also very expansive and inclusive, anyone can be saved. Both the religious and irreligious have salvation offered to them. Paul knew this personally. Remember that He was a murderer. He hunted Christians and had them jailed and killed. God's power can save even those who hate and persecute Christians.