Morality is not Christianity

Romans 1:14-32

I. MORALITY IS NOT CHRISTIANITY

A. If Satan were allowed to have his way today, what might a city, state or a nation look like with him in charge? (see Michael Horton’s excellent article, “Christless Christianity” in Modern Reformation; May/June 2007 Vol. 16, pp.10-16).

1. Satan doesn’t care whether you are “moral” or “immoral.”

2. Ever since Adam and Eve were cast from the Garden of Eden, Satan’s warfare has not been against morality but against Jesus Christ and the Gospel.

3. The difference between morality and the Gospel is so great that it is an eternal difference.

B. Moralism is:

1. the belief that we can become better people and live satisfied lives apart from faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

2. the belief that change comes from inside of us rather than from the outside.

C. We are justified by faith alone and not by works. Faith is extrinsic and not intrinsic. Faith does not in any way look at my righteousness, but only at the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16-17; 3:21-31).

1. Moralism looks inward, faith looks outward.

2. Moralism looks at self, faith looks only to Jesus Christ.

II. WE ARE ALL MORAL BEINGS

A. We all know that God exists (Romans 1:20-21).

“We stay on target by making Paul’s example our resolve. Christians today also must maintain the focus on Jesus and His sacrifice for sin. The church is about “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” As important as are the issues of morality and government, whenever these issues become divorced from the cross the church does not merely promote a partially biblical message, it promotes an anti-Christian message. As odd as it may sound, amidst the din of cultural Christianity, we recognize that foundationally Christ’s people are not about family values, traditional values, the Judeo-Christian ethic, or any other standard of morality (as highly as I regard such standards). When we are faithful to our mandate we are about the failure of any standard to make us right before God. Righteousness apart from the cross is the message of every other faith, but not ours. Our message is that people have standing before God only when covered by His righteousness alone. We are the people of the cross. The standards of Christ and the need of His crucifixion are wed in our testimony, and when they come apart the message is no longer of Christ” (Bryan Chapell, “Prelude To Revival: A Christian Response to Culture Wars”; Reformation and Revival Volume 3, p.43).

B. We all have a sense of justice and know that those who practice immorality deserve death (Romans 1:32).

C. We all have a conscience and God’s law written on our hearts (Romans 2:15).

D. We all have a deep sense of morality because we are all made in the image of a holy and just God.

E. Christians do not have a monopoly on morality.

1. “Be lamps unto yourselves” (Buddha).

2. “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others” (Confucius).

3. “Nothing is sufficient for the man to whom the sufficient is too little” (Epicurus).

4. “Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values” (Dali Lama).

5. “For in him we live and move and have our being” (Epimenides [6^th century B.C.] also quoted by Paul in Acts 17:28).

6. “We are his offspring” (Aratus [c.315 BC-240 BC] also quoted by Paul in Acts 17:28).

7. “Bad company corrupts good morals” (Menander [c.342-291 B.C.], quoted by Paul in 1 Cor.15:33).

8. “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons” (from Cretan poet Epimenides quoted by Paul in Titus 1:12).

III. CHRISTIANITY IS NOT ABOUT OUR WORKS BUT THE WORK OF JESUS CHRIST ALONE (solus Christus or solo Christo)

“‘All we need is love’ and ‘All we need is law’ make exactly the same point” (Michael Horton).

A. Law/morality is not a Christian answer to the problem of sin and God’s wrath. The only answer is faith alone in Christ alone.

B. Woe to the Christian who tells the sinner to look inward!

1. Many people can stop sinning in a particular way through will power.

2. Will power cannot save us from sin’s guilt and God’s wrath.

3. People who change sinful habits are often worse off than when they began (Matthew 23:15; Luke 11:24-26).

C. The only message that we have for this dying and sin cursed world that is under God’s wrath is Jesus. If there is no Jesus then there is no Christian message. It is immoral to replace Jesus with moralism!

D. In certain contexts the world forbids Christians from sharing/preaching the Gospel.

1. There are times when we as Christians are to remain silent and wipe the dust off our feet (Matthew 10:14; Luke 23:8-12; Acts 13:50-51).

2. There are times when we to preach and share Christ even when we are commanded not to (Acts 4:19 20; Acts 5:29; cf. Exodus 1:17; Daniel 1; 3; 6).

3. There is NEVER a time when we are to agree to the conditions of the world and preach moralism instead of Christ (1 Cor.9:16).

E. It is unbiblical for Christians to replace Jesus with law/moralism.

1. It’s better for Planned Parenthood to “rule the schools” than for Christians to go in and share moralism.

2. It’s better for Muslims, Mormons or Hindus to speak/preach in the National Cathedral than for a Christian who is forbidden to Name Jesus.

IV. GOD GAVE THEM OVER (Romans 1:24,26,28; cf. Josh 24:20; Is 63:10; Jer 19:13; Ezek 20:39; Acts 7:42; 1 Cor.5:5; 1 Tim.1:20)

A. When the world tells Christians to shut up, we aren’t handing them over by wiping the dust off our feet; rather, God is handing them over.

1. “God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts” (Romans 1:24)

“If we want revival, if we want change, if we want restoration of Christian values, then we must be willing to say with the apostle, “We resolve to be about nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Christ alone—sola Christus—must be the cry of our reformation if we are to be true to the values of the Reformers we say we respect.

“Our churches gain nothing of eternal value if they make of secondary priority or lesser emphasis the message that Jesus died for sin and that sinners are lost eternally without faith in Him. Consider this: If we were to achieve social and political goals that promote morality without an awareness of the need for atonement, we could actually create a society farther from the cross than we are at present. Self-righteousness is no nearer to revival than immorality—and may actually be far more resistant to the Gospel. If our society were more moral without any more dependence on the cross, then it would be no nearer to revival than were the Pharisees!” (Bryan Chapell, “Prelude To Revival: A Christian Response to Culture Wars”; Reformation and Revival Volume 3, p.44).

2. “God gave them over to degrading passions” (Romans 1:26)

3. “God gave them over to a depraved mind” (Romans 1:28)

B. Satan is just as happy with Salt Lake City as he is with Las Vegas. One takes pride in its morality and the other in its immorality, but both are under God’s wrath.

1. The Pharisees hated Jesus! Jesus lumped the Pharisees into the category of “unrighteous” and “sinner.”

2. Jesus didn’t preach God’s imminent wrath on pagan Rome. Jesus preached God’s imminent wrath on Jerusalem.

V. WRATH AND WEEPING

A. Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44).

B. Paul wept over the Jewish rejection of Jesus.

1. “I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race” (Romans 9:1-3).

2. “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved” (Romans 10:1).

C. Do you weep?

QUESTIONS FOR SABBATH DISCUSSION & MEDITATION

Take what you have learned this morning and make it into a prayer. Pray that God would enable you to weep over the condition of the lost as Paul and Jesus wept.

What was the title of this morning’s sermon?

Explain in your own words what Paul is arguing in Romans 1-3.

If Satan were allowed to have his way today, what might a city, state or a nation look like?

What is moralism?

Do Christians have a monopoly on morality? Explain.

What makes Christianity different from moralism?

How does faith differ from moralism?

Why were the converts of Pharisees twice as much a sons of hell?

In what ways does the world forbid Christians from sharing/preaching the Gospel? What are some biblical responses? What are some unbiblical responses?

Is a moralistic message better than no message at all?