God’s Righteousness and Man’s Unrighteousness

Romans 3:5-8; 11/24/2024; BCBC/IOUC; Rev. Paul Wang

Introduction

Today’s message will talk about two important concepts, one is God’s righteousness, and the other is man’s unrighteousness.  It is easier to understand human unrighteousness, because humans are born with unrighteousness, and everything they think, think, say, and do every day is full of unrighteousness. Unrighteousness is wrong, it is sin, it is evil. But, what about righteousness?  It seems a bit abstract, right?  We can say that righteousness is the opposite of unrighteousness,   but we do not know its extent and measure.  Therefore, we cannot do without God’s revelation.  Look at the first point: 

God’s righteousness is revealed in unrighteousness

Paul’s logic is the same, facing the understanding of God’s righteousness.  He offers a special perspective to help us understand God’s justice.  First, righteousness is revealed in unrighteousness.  John received revelation from God and said: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5)”  God is light and there is no darkness at all in Him!  The incarnation of Jesus Christ is God’s righteousness coming among unrighteous people to demonstrate God’s righteousness.  When we preach the gospel, we are also bringing light into darkness and bringing God’s righteousness into an unrighteous world.  Every detail of the daily life of God’s children is a testimony for the Lord.  Every one of our testimonies is looking to our Lord Jesus Christ, our author and finisher.  This testimony transcends human life and death and still speaks by faith.  Just as God’s righteousness exists in man’s unrighteousness, the gospel of God’s righteousness is spoken in order to save the world.      

Secondly, people are speechless in righteousness.  In God’s righteousness, people can’t say anything except thanks and praise!  What’s this?  This is why we worship and praise!  Why should we sing and praise every Sunday during worship?  Because apart from praise, people are speechless before God’s justice.  When the twenty-four elders in Revelation worship with the four living creatures, the Bible says: “And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great. (Revelation 19:5)” Therefore, being speechless is the highest form of worship and praise to God!  Here, I also encourage our brothers and sisters in the International Online United Church to stand and praise God during weekly worship!         

Finally, God reigns in judgment.  When God’s righteousness is revealed in man’s unrighteousness, God is in control.  The encounter between righteousness and unrighteousness is judgment!  The standard of judgment is in the Bible, the words spoken by God.  For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.  Whether you are saved or perished depends on a word from God’s mouth.  When the Lord taught his disciples to pray, He said: “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. (Matthew 6:13)”  The sovereignty of our Lord is the basis of our faith.  No matter what happens to us, we will not be afraid.  For the Lord who loved us reigns and has the first place in the end of life, and has the final say.  Although I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, the Lord we believe in does control tomorrow.  Let’s look at the second point:

 God’s righteousness is based on righteousness

This sentence is a bit confusing.  God’s righteousness is based on righteousness, which means that God is the God who exists from eternity!  He is the Lord of righteousness, and His righteousness needs no explanation, no argument, no doubt!  First of all, it is based on faith and leads to faith.  If even faith comes from God, what else do people have to boast about?  Paul said: “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17)”  For God’s children, believing in Jesus is a matter of course and there is nothing to boast about.  God’s righteousness shows that He is the only Lord worthy of glory and praise, and directing our faith towards Him shows that this is the right thing to do.  In the eyes of those who believe, faith is a matter of course and completely righteous.  In the eyes of unbelievers, it is something out of place.  Even a weird thing.  For those who are blind, deaf, or spiritually ignorant  of course cannot know God!

Second, glory will prevail over lies.  Glory belongs to God alone, but is coveted by the world.  In Paul’s logical selection, people even tried to use human lies to more and more reveal the glory of God.  The absurdity seems to be saying, you see, every time I tell a lie, I reveal God’s righteousness, so that God is glorified.  It doesn’t matter if I don’t get the glory, then I’ll settle for the next best thing and seek honor.  As a result, many honorary titles have appeared in the world, such as honorary chairman, honorary general manager, honorary doctorate, and even Pastor Emeritus have entered churches and people’s hearts. But, so what?  Once a person robs God of His glory, it is like eating a mouthful of rice that is full of sand and difficult to swallow.        

Finally, the sinner will be justified by faith.  It is easier to return to God’s righteousness and act according to God’s law of faith.  Wise people simplify complex things, while fools complicate simple things.  Faith comes from God and is the only way God gives to man.  People may have many different reasons or experiences when they believe in the Lord, but in essence it is because of God’s righteousness.  Therefore, believing in the Lord is the way of the wise!  The simpler your faith is, the more grace you will receive.  How blessed are those who hear and believe!  After Thomas touched the Lord’s nail-marked hands, Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. (John 20:29)” From then on, Thomas became a wise man and was faithful to death in preaching the gospel.  Let’s look at the third point:

Man’s unrighteousness stems from sin

Man’s unrighteousness stems from sin, which is the core of biblical revelation.  Because the wages of sin is death, man is powerless in the face of sin.  Therefore, God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to become flesh and specifically come to cleanse us from our sins.  First, ignorance is the cause of sin.  How does ignorance drive sin?  The Bible says: “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. (Romans 1:21)”   Adam and Eve knew that God is their Creator, but they knew God’s command and deliberately turned against God.  Solomon was the same,  knowing that his father David’s relationship with God was better than anything else in the world.  Therefore, he seeked wisdom from God that is better than the glory and wealth of the world.  However, he could not withstand the temptations of the world,  followed the customs of far and near, worshiped idols, stayed away from God, and fell into ignorance.        

Secondly, judgment is due to righteousness.  Judging all things is God’s ultimate mission, and it is also determined by God’s own righteousness.  In the revelation that John received on the Island of Patmos, God said to him: “Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” (Revelation 22:11)”   This person is saved and that person is perished, everything comes from God!  As long as God’s righteousness exists, God will “keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation. (Exodus 34:7)”   It’s not that God doesn’t want to repay it, it’s that the time has not come yet.  We don’t have to feel resentful because the wicked are still at large.        

Finally, the end of injustice is destruction.  One of the great pains in life is to see the wicked doing evil things, but there seems to be no retribution.  David also said:  “I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree. (Psalms 37:35)”  Especially when we see that the Antichrist and his followers are still showing off their power in the world today, and it seems that they are still continuing to be arrogant.   Will we feel grievance?  One day, these evil people will be removed by God, and they will be seen by us.  Maybe one day, when we are still thinking about those evil people in our hearts, we pass by and find that the evil people are gone!  Where did they go?  We don’t know, and we don’t need to know!  Because even if we look for them, we can’t find them.  The reason is simple: the end of injustice is destruction. 

Conclusion

Well, dear brothers and sisters, the greatest righteousness of God is that Christ laid down his life for sinners!  The greatest unrighteousness of man is not believing in the great salvation that God has accomplished for man.  May God help us and give His mercy to us so that we can associate with God’s righteousness and walk with God in humility!        

Let us pray……         

 

Romans 3:5-8

5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) 

6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world? 

7 But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 

8 And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.