EPISODE 95 ROMANS CHAPTER 3 " The Priceless Pearl"

Thank you for joining us for this edition of Share the Word, the podcast that explains the big ideas of the New Testament chapter by chapter. In Romans chapter 3, the apostle Paul continues to show that we are all without excuse and are infected with sin. Ask yourself one question: Do you know the true value of Christ and what He offers and why? Romans chapter 3: The Priceless Pearl. I just read a tragic story, then watched a follow-up video account on CNN that as many as a thousand Muslim pilgrims died this past week in the 120-plus degree heat of the Saudi Arabian desert. They were trying to fulfill their religious obligations.

In the Muslim religion, the Hajj pilgrimage, as it's called, is one of five religious obligations they need to fulfill in their lifetimes. It's a trip to Mecca, which they call the House of Allah, where they must visit holy sites like the birthplace of their prophet. They wear special clothes, they fast, they make sacrifices, they walk long distances to pray at special shrines. They do this over a three- and four-day ritual period. This year, almost two million Muslims came to Mecca for Hajj from all over the world, fulfilling their pilgrimage obligation. And this year, it cost many of those worshipers their lives, including a couple from Maryland, where we record our podcast.

So terribly sad. I'll come back to that at the end today as it touches on things Paul wrote about in Romans chapter 3. Romans, remember, is a letter written to early Christians meeting in the capital city of the Roman Empire. It was not intended to be read by them a couple paragraphs at a time, by the way, as it's broken down by chapters in our divisions of our Bible now. Imagine getting an important letter you've waited on for a long time. Would you read it a couple paragraphs on Monday, then put it aside and read a couple more paragraphs on Thursday, week after week until you finally read it all?

Highly unlikely. So although we have to move at that pace for our podcast, it does no doubt hinder the overall effect of the apostle's message. What do I mean by that? Well, in chapter one through the middle of chapter three, where we are today, Paul has deliberately and relentlessly given his readers nothing but bad news. He's been warning them about the wrath of God that is coming for sinners. And what's more, we're all sinners.

I imagine some people tuning in to Share the Word for the first time over the last couple episodes hearing this, thinking, Well, this is uplifting, and clicking away to some other site. That'd be understandable, actually. But this part of the letter is not uplifting. It's reality, though. People who might claim they are ignorant on Judgment Day, Paul's been telling us, are in fact without excuses because God has revealed Himself, both in His creation around us and our moral conscience within us. Religious people who might imagine they can claim they were more moral than others, Paul says they're going to find out the standard is not what others have done; it's the law of God.

And even the chosen people, the Jews, who were given the oracles of God, as Paul says here in the opening lines of chapter three, and by that he means the written Old Testament. Although that's a big advantage, just being a Jew and having that special heritage will not be enough to exempt them from God's righteous judgment either. That's why he insists at verse nine. Should we conclude that we, meaning we Jews, are better than others? No, not at all, he says, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. In verses 3 through 8, Paul anticipates some other objections and deflections people might raise, and he shoots them down.

He contends that no matter who we are, we are infected with sin. We commit sin, and we are headed for judgment and the wrath of God without divine intervention. If you feel like you don't deserve that, Paul's answer here is, Let God be true and every man a liar. Wow. Even if every man in the world disagrees, he is saying, disagrees with these terms, it wouldn't matter because God is God and we are not. In the next verses, 10 through 18, he quotes several Old Testament texts about the fact of universal sinfulness.

The preface, It is written, not only points to these as Old Testament quotations, but also underscores their authority as God's very word. And he begins with, It is written, no one is righteous, not even one. And then he continues that kind of indictment on through verse 18. We've done this exercise before, but if you still get your hackles up at this thought that you are being called a sinner, just open up the Ten Commandments and consider how many of them you have broken time and time again. This is important to get. The apostle Paul himself came to understand that the purpose of the Old Testament law, the purpose of God's commandments, was never to save anybody through our efforts at trying to keep them.

Rather, he says here, it was to hold them up as a perfect standard and in that way show us we really need help if we're going to be saved, if we're ever going to be accepted by a holy God. At verses 19 and 20, he says, Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be accountable before God. For by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes the knowledge of sin. That's it, the knowledge of sin. The law's purpose is to lift up our Creator's standard of right and wrong and show us how far we fall short of that standard. When we look at the law, we should immediately think, Man, I am a sinner, and I'm in trouble.

God's righteousness is revealed through the law, but can't be received through trying to keep the law. No human efforts at religious law-keeping can infuse us with righteousness. We learned that in Galatians, didn't we? I think too often when Christians try and share the gospel, we start in the middle of the story. If you approach the average person you know and say, I'd like to tell you what God has done to save you, their response is probably going to look at you funny, and if they respond at all, say something like, Save me from what? or Why do you think I need saving?

This is why in Romans, Paul doesn't start there. He starts at the beginning by telling his readers bluntly that they are all sinners and in a broken relationship with their Creator. He warns that the wrath of God is coming against all unrighteousness of men. And then proceeds to dismantle any excuses, any ideas people might hold about there being exceptions, exposing those excuses as foolish, underscoring that all of us sinners are in the same boat. We've all sinned. We've all fallen short of God's righteous standards.

Verse 23. By the way, you should put sin on one of your definition cards if you've been a serious enough student to have been making those. The word means missing the mark. In our case, the mark is God's expectations, and we can miss the mark by violating any one of His laws. Sin is the violation of the law, 1 John 3:4 says, or by failing to do good when we have the opportunity. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin, James 4:17 says.

So we are sinners coming and going. Some of our failures are sins of commission, and others are sins of omission. But we're guilty all the same. We're guilty of both, probably every day if we're honest. Returning to the key words, I already suggested you make flashcards to learn. We talked about righteousness, which means perfectly conformed to God's will and character, which none of us are.

And now we've added sin, which means missing the mark by breaking God's laws or failing to do good when we have the chance. Looking honestly at just those two realities, the truth is God's righteousness and our sinfulness are badly incompatible. That is why Paul is underscoring that all the world is deserving of the coming wrath of God. Wrath, remember. God's righteous anger against sin and rebellion. All this is the necessary first part of the gospel message, the part that too often gets skipped over.

It shouldn't, though, because people who don't realize they are lost don't feel any need to be found. People who don't realize they are heading for judgment don't feel any need for a Savior. That's why Paul, in these first paragraphs of his important letter to a church he didn't plant and to people in Rome he hadn't taught, makes sure he starts at the beginning with man's sinful predicament before a holy God. We are all under the power and curse of sin, he's emphasizing. On our own, no one will be declared righteous in God's sight, he is saying. Don't tune me out.

If hearing this makes you feel bad, leaves you kind of disturbed, let me tell you, that's the exact right response. That's exactly what Paul was trying to accomplish. But now, every good translation of Romans 3:21 begins with those two little words. Now that you've heard the very bad news, now that you understand your serious predicament as a sinner before a holy God, Paul in the next few verses shares the best news possible. Here is the way the modern New Living Translation gets at these big ideas in Romans 3:21 through 25. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ, and this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard. Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty of our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His own blood.

Wow, that is the good news. Remember when Paul wrote in chapter one, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it's the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. This is it. This is the gospel. God has made a way for us sinners to be made right with Him, apart from our trying to keep religious rules. We can be made right with Him by placing our faith—remember that means trusting in, relying on—placing our faith in Jesus.

Why? Because Jesus made a way for us to be freed from the penalty of sin. How? By becoming a sacrifice powerful enough to atone for them. One very literal version puts it, God displayed Him, that's Jesus, publicly as a propitiation in His blood. Boy, that's graphic.

But that's what happened. That's how God made a way possible for us to be saved apart from our deserving it. He made Jesus our atoning sacrifice, Jesus, the sinless Son of God, the only perfectly sinless man who's ever walked the planet, on a hill outside of Jerusalem. God publicly displayed Him as a sacrificial atonement for our sins. His precious blood became the actual payment for our sins. This is what God was willing to do to make reconciliation with us possible.

This is what God was willing to do to save undeserving sinners like me and like you. At verse 26, Paul explains, What happened at Calvary demonstrates God's righteousness because it enabled God to remain just while justifying those who would put their faith in Jesus as Savior. God's character requires Him to remain just and holy, which means sin really had to be paid for. Justice demanded that. But God's brilliant yet costly plan enabled Him to really judge and punish sin, but to do so at the expense of His own Son, who took the place of sinners. God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we could be made righteous through Him, Paul writes in another place.

This is the genius of God's plan for our salvation. What an exchange God has made possible. Jesus, the Holy and Righteous One, taking my sin on Himself, suffering the wrath of God I deserve, so that I, a sinner, could by faith in Him be given His righteousness and thereby become acceptable to God. It's because of that, and only because of that, that I am saved. Paul asks at verse 27, Can we boast that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, he says, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law; it's based on faith.

So we are made right with God through faith, he says. That's trusting in and relying on Jesus. Not one person in heaven one day will even be thinking, much less boasting, I certainly deserve to be here. And no one will be thinking on the day unbelievers are judged, they are getting what they deserve, who's not also trembling in the awareness they are getting what I deserve as well, were it not for God's grace. Grace. Remember that term.

Grace, receiving God's favor we cannot merit and do not deserve. Yet God, Paul wrote at verse 24, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight through Christ. Which takes me back to that tragic news story about the several hundred or more Muslim pilgrims who died this past week during Hajj. It's not just tragic on a human level; it's even more tragic on a spiritual level because, sadly, they died trying to impress their God by their religious fervor, by their extreme devotion, all in an attempt to earn His favor and their ultimate salvation. When I read that account, it brought to my mind a story I heard long ago about a Christian missionary in the early 20th century who lived and worked in a coastal town along the Arabian Gulf among Muslim people.

One older man in particular had become a friend of his and always listened to the missionary's gospel message, but ultimately rejected it as just too good to be true. For him, God's forgiveness and salvation certainly had to be earned. That's what his religion taught him. This man had never been able to make the great pilgrimage to Mecca himself because he was a poor fisherman. But now, as an old man and in failing health, he decided he needed to do that no matter what it would cost him. When the time came, he called the missionary friend to his home, saying he needed to ask him a very important favor.

Of course, the missionary came, and when he did, he was told by the old man that he had something very valuable to give him because he was not sure he would return from such a long and taxing journey. He disappeared into his room for a moment, and when he came back, he was holding a small velvet bag. He opened it and emptied out a large, perfect-looking pearl into his palm. The missionary knew that men dove for pearls along this coast, but he had never seen anything like this one. The older man said, This is what I wanted you to have before I leave for my pilgrimage. Oh, no, no, the missionary said.

I could never take such a gift from you. That pearl must be priceless. But I want you to have it, the old man insisted. You've been a real friend to me for years now. I value our friendship very much. I have no one else like you.

Seeing he was determined, the missionary felt moved by the Holy Spirit to say, How about I pay you for it? What would be a fair price? I'll see if I can raise the money. And at that, the old man's demeanor shifted. Pay me for it? No, no, no.

Let me tell you about this pearl, my friend. Do you know how I've come to have it? The missionary had no idea, of course. I had a son once, the old man said. It was before you came here. My son dove with the other young men for pearls, but he was found dead one evening on a shoal.

When they called me and I came and saw his body, I found that he was still clutching this large, beautiful pearl tightly in one hand. His friend said he must have stayed underwater too long trying to secure it, this magnificent gem. So my son lost his life to get this. There's no possible price anybody could put on it. After a moment, the missionary said, Man, I'm so sorry, friend. I understand now.

There's no price anybody could pay you for something so precious. I'm sorry, I didn't understand. But that's exactly what I've been hoping you'd understand about God and His Son too. God's Son, Jesus, gave up His life to secure something so precious for us: forgiveness and eternal life. Will you not also see there's nothing you could do to possibly pay Him for that? Reaching out his hand, the missionary said, I'll accept this beautiful pearl from you, although I could never deserve such a gift.

Thank you for your love and kindness. And will you now accept God's gracious gift of salvation He's offering you through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ? It was as if a light suddenly went off in that man's heart and mind. The old man's eyes brightened. I, I do see it now. Some things are too priceless to be bought.

I will receive God's gift, and thank you for your love and patience to keep telling me about this so many times. Remember our lesson: the problem with religion. Religion misleads people into thinking they can buy God's favor and forgiveness by observing laws and participating in church rituals, that we need their clerics to dole out God's grace to us as we earn it. And that's not limited to faraway places or to belief systems that seem foreign to most of us. Just as the Muslim religion has their five pillars that good Muslims must strive to complete in their lifetime in order to please God and hopefully find salvation, religions like the Roman Catholic religion has its seven sacraments, which they convince their members are necessary to faithfully follow in order to have a chance at earning God's favor, His forgiveness, eternal life.

In fact, official Roman Catholic doctrine adopted at the Council of Trent declares it this plainly, and I'm quoting, If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain God's grace in justification, let him be anathema. Council of Trent, Canon 9. Anathema means cursed. Their stated doctrine is that if anyone teaches that faith in Christ's finished work for us on Calvary is enough, let them be accursed. That's exactly what Paul says in Romans 3, though. So we do our best to point this out because it's the difference between all man-made religions and biblical Christianity.

It comes down to whether we will believe, and remember that means rely on, trust in, what the Word of God plainly says, as when Paul writes here, God has shown us a way to be made right with Him apart from keeping laws, whoever's laws, even God's laws, then assures his readers, We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ, and this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who you are. That is biblical doctrine, and I hope you believe exactly that. If you never have before, I'd urge you to repent of sin today, which separates you from your Creator, and put your trust, your reliance in Christ alone. Accept God's priceless gift, His offer of salvation, no matter what the clerics of any religion may say to the contrary. That, friends, is like the priceless pearl, something so incredibly precious it would be insulting to God Almighty to imagine we could pay Him for it.

This has been Paul for Share the Word. Thanks, Paul. God's grace, the most precious gift. Grace, God's riches at Christ's expense. Have you come to understand the value of Christ, and have you accepted Him as your Lord and Savior? If you've recently decided to become a follower of Jesus, we'd especially love to know that.

Email us at info at sharetheword.org. All of us at Share the Word are passionate about what we do, and we pray that you help us share the good news. As always, I want to remind you that everything we produce for Share the Word is free for you to use and share. From all of us at Share the Word, our blessings and prayers go out to all of you.