From follow up the last message, I just wanted to quickly clarify what I meant to say, on the subject of salvation for those who do not turn to God in faith for salvation from their sin.  The whole point of Romans 1-3 is to lay out the charge that there is no one righteous, none good; there is no one who seeks after God.  That is true of the person in Africa who never hears the gospel, and that is true of someone in the American church who does hear the gospel every week.  Everyone knows God through creation, and rejects God – 100% of us.  God in His mercy (NOT OBLIGATION) saves some according to His good pleasure.  People have this feeling as though God has “wronged” the person in Africa who rejects Him because they never hear the gospel.  God hasn’t wronged them at all.  They knew God through creation (Romans 1:18-20) and rejected Him.  God never wrongs anyone.  He gives them what they want.  This is the message we hear – John 3:19 – “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”  If you look at all the messages I’ve written in Romans 1 recently and going forward through Romans 3, there is going to be a picture of man before God, and by God’s grace we will see that we are dead – hopeless, guilty in our sin before Him.  I am burdened for those who do not hear the gospel, as all Christians should be, but let us not assume that God will lower his standard of righteousness for anyone.  We are told He does not.  Nahum 1:3 – “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.  His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”  He has ordained that one is justified (declared not guilty) by faith in Christ as the means by which one is saved, therefore, I believe the person who does not hear the gospel will die in their sins, be declared guilty in the judgment of God, and be justly damned by God.  This is why you should be eager to preach the good news of Christ to all – faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

I do have a personal belief (not shared by all) that those who are mentally incapable of understanding God through creation (read as infants and mentally challenged) are in some way covered through Christ.  I get this from the flip side of Romans 1:18-20 – “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.”  Thus if God’s attributes cannot be clearly perceived due to mental inability, I would say they would have an excuse and in some way the blood of Christ covers them.  I don’t have an issue with this not being explicit in the Bible, because if it were you’d have a lot of horrible “Christians” (name only) running around trying to murder muslim babies.  I just take that this is part of God’s providential hand in electing some unto salvation, and trust God in that.  Thus you could make an argument for the salvation of all babies and those mentally challenged, but not a Biblical argument for the salvation of the pagan in the wilderness who does not turn from their sin looking to salvation from God.  That said, I do not hold to a specific age (like adolescence), nor a specific mental ability to perceive God (like IQ level) as a “threshold” for salvation through Christ.  Therefore it is immensely important to raise your children in the Lord from an early age, pleading with the God of mercy to let them see the light of the gospel of the Glory of God in Jesus Christ.  Those who are mentally challenged should likewise be raised in the Lord, and have the gospel preached to them.  To have the faith of a child is praised by God – sometimes I wonder if their faith is greater than our own.  Hopefully that is helpful.

On to today’s message… a 2 for 1 deal today!

Romans 2:17-24 – “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.”

This is a message we should all be able to relate to if we have spent any amount of time in the church.  Do you practice what you preach?  Certainly we could all think back over the years and come up with some examples of very hypocritical Christians, who preached the truth of God, but neglected it in their own practice.  Certainly we know some people like that.  How did that make you feel?  Could you see how hurtful that might have been to those outside of the church who knew that this person claimed to be a Christian, yet lived a life of debauchery, or cheated on his/her spouse, or was deceitful in their business dealings?  Many make the argument that the problem with Christianity is the Christians.  They say the most unbelievable part about a God who redeems people from sin, is that there is no visible redemption.  A good response that I’ve heard to those who claim that all Christians are hypocritical, is in asking the question back to the person – who is more hypocritical?  The person who acknowledges their sin and a need for a savior, or the person who sins and denies their need for a savior?  Today is not about other people, however.  Today is about you as an individual.  Could it be said of you, that the name of God is blasphemed by how you live your life?  What about the gospel of Jesus Christ?  Are you a self-righteous person who leans on your good works for assurance of your salvation rather than the grace extended to you through the finished work of Jesus Christ?  Naturally, many of your defense mechanisms are no doubt going off right now, thinking about all the good things you have done, and how you do not fit into this mold of a blasphemer.  My friends, we all are blasphemers.

Paul here is not trying to change behavior merely, although we should all strive to live out the righteousness of God in our lives.  No, Paul is exposing (again) how even those who claim to know God’s law and follow after Him fall short.  He does not make light of this sin, and neither should we.  So my question to you, as the reader – How does your life reflect the gospel – that Jesus Christ is Lord, conqueror of sin, and we are righteous in Him.  Does your heart burn for the fellowship with Christ, away from sin?  Does your hope for salvation rest in your ability, or does your hope for salvation have a name, Jesus Christ?

If you are distant from the Lord today, be encouraged that all Christians struggle:  Hosea 6:1-3 – “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.  After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.  Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”