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Title: The Standard of God
I. We can learn from Paul’s style
v1 (read) Here we see Paul return to his familiar method of rhetoric. He takes the position of the opposition (something today we often call “Devil’s Advocate”) in order to answer all objections.
This is a method that Paul was a master of, and it is something that we should develop in our own discipline as well. Paul wasn’t being showy or sarcastic in his question asking. What he is doing here is pondering what the response or objection will be from his audience and then answering that objection in advance. There are several great teachers today who still employ this method.
In 1997 I had the opportunity to hear Richard Owen Roberts preach a two hour sermon that seemed like it was about 20 minutes long. Why? Because Richard Owen Roberts had spent his lifetime studying two things: The Bible, and the art of Rhetoric. He once said that when he gets ready to prepare a message, he writes out his main exegesis, points, and sub points, and then he closes his eyes, sits back in his recliner and thinks of the objections that the Doctor in his congregation will have, the objections that the Lawyer in his congregation will have, the objections that the backslider in his congregation will have, the objections that the grizzled old congregant who’s never missed a Sunday of church, but is no more like Christ today than the day he was saved, will have. The objections that the atheist will have. He then goes back into his message and addresses those objections.
Also Today, John Piper, a name that many of you are more familiar with, usually ends his sermons with a section that he calls objections and answers. He finishes his message and then will say, “Okay before I close us today, I’d like to raise the three most common objections to my message and answer them for you.”
I too, am trying to master the art of anticipating what the questions, objections, concerns, and disagreements will be, so that I may be a clear, concise, direct speaker of the Gospel.
So what’s my point with all of this digression? There is one, and it’s a huge point.
Paul knew his audience.
In order for him to understand what their questions were going to be, even before they asked them, Paul had to know who he was speaking to, what their mind set was, what their objections were going to be, the key points that they’d struggle with.
For example, I have several good friends that are very receptive to the Christian message, particularly they like seeing the gospel as it relates to meeting the social needs of a society. They like seeing Christians feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, and opening their homes as a place of respite. But when it comes to the exclusivity of the Gospel, they struggle.
And because I know them, because I’ve spent years harvesting friendships with these people, I know that the main reason they don’t like hearing that Jesus is the only way to Heaven is because they have devout Muslim friends, devout Jewish friends. And if Christ is the only way, it means that all of these other “good” people are wrong. Well if I know that information going into my dialogue with them, if I know what their objections might be, I know how to talk to them, which points to emphasize, like the Holiness of God, the price of sin, the words of Christ himself who said how hard it is to get to heaven.
I have to know who my audience is to know their objections. I have to know their objections to know how to most effectively communicate the Gospel to them. This was Paul’s line of thinking, it should be ours as well.
II. The Jews understood Light, the Gentiles had to be taught.
V2 (read)
So Paul answers his own rhetorical question with an emphatic “Yes, there is a huge advantage in being a Jew! The main advantage is that you have in your history the Old Testament scripture!”
When I was in high school I had a headlight go out on my beautiful 1984 Chrysler LeBaron. I was way too proud to ask my stepfather for help. So I dismantled the grill of my car and found this weird looking little holes that held the screws for the headlights. I drew a picture of these holes and then went to my stepfather’s work bench and took at least 45 minutes to find the right type of device to fit in those holes.
(Now, I could have saved all that time by just asking my stepfather, and he could have taken one look at the holes and said, “You need an Alan Key wrench”) But I was way too proud for that. Now once I found that octagonal Alan Key it fit perfectly into that hole and everything was simple from that point on.
That was the Jew who understood Christ was the Messiah. All His or Her life, he Jew studied to understand the Law and Prophets. They studied to understand the need for a blood sacrifice, the need for a return to the Prophets, and the mythical messiah that was to come and grant fulfillment and understanding unto the Law. For the Jew that accepted Christ as the messiah, the Key fit perfectly into the hole, and the Truth was poured fourth. Why do you think Paul and Peter are so energized in their writing? Why was John so eloquent and poetic in His Gospel? Because they were excited! They’d discovered the key to understanding, the key to peace.
Now it was an entirely different story for the Gentile. For them, to change my headlight, you had to first explain what light was. Then you had to explain why light was necessary. Then you had to make them understand that without light you were destined to run off the road, and die. Once all of that was understood, then you could say to them, “Are you now ready to learn about the key to get to that light?”
III. What are the conditions for God to be faithful?
V3-5 (read)
Then Paul asks another very striking rhetorical question. He essentially says, “If any man does not believe in God, is God obligated then to fulfill His promises to them?” What a powerful, powerful question.
Paul’s answer is never in doubt, “Absolutely.” The reason that God is still obligated to hold his promises, even to those who refuse to believe in Him or acknowledge Him is this: God is the only standard that God can be measured by.
God is the ultimate standard of faithfulness.
God is the ultimate standard of Truth.
God is the ultimate standard of Love.
If God were to promise something to the Jews, and refuse to fulfill that promise, for any reason, then God become a liar.
We’ll get to this more next week, but I’ll provide a teaser. God’s righteousness is demonstrated when he is faithful to us, despite our unfaithfulness to Him. Because God’s love is not conditional. If he loves you, he loves you.
And Paul’s citation for this concept is very interesting:
Psalm 51:4
Against you, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in your sight-
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.
These are the words of the repentant sinner. This sinner says, I know God, that it is against you alone that I have sinned, Because your perfection is the standard by which everything is judged. When you judge me and forgive me, your mercy and righteousness prevail because when your wrath is passed over in favor of the blood of Jesus, you are keeping your promise to me. And I am receiving exactly what I do not deserve from you.
I know these are heavy, heavy concepts we are wrestling with. But they are very important steps to realizing the complexity and vastness of the gift of salvation in Christ. There are many things in the Christian life that are conditional. You cannot be living the life of a sinner and then claim to God that you want him to bless you. But one thing that is never conditional is this: God will be God, whether or not we acknowledge Him. He is faithful to us, while we are yet sinners.