There is None Righteous
Scripture: Romans 3:10-11Devotional Series: Emmanuel
Teaching: Emmanuel pt. 1 (SUN_AM 2023-12-17) by Pastor Star R Scott
Glory to God! God is good; amen? And His mercies endure forever, hallelujah! What a great time, always, to rejoice in the goodness of God. And that free gift we have in the Lord Jesus. Isn’t it great to be in His presence? And to know His great lovingkindness and this great free gift that we have in the Lord Jesus.
We want to talk a little bit about the Christmas story and the great Christmas message that’s found in Romans, the fifth chapter. Because the reality, what Christmas is all about, is our redemption. Amen? The Bible says in Romans, Chapter 3, that all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It makes it very clear in that same third chapter that, in this position of man’s depravity, he says that there are none that seek the Lord, no, not one. You know, we seem to think that sometime there are people, that are initiating out of their own hearts a pursuit of God, and somehow these people are motivated internally in that direction. And that’s not the case; they are being drawn in that direction; amen? Nobody’s seeking the Lord; thank God He sought us. And as we see in this fifth chapter, He not only sought us, but sought us while we were sinners, He loved us and died for us in the very condition that we were in. Can you say, “Praise God” for that? This love of God—this condition of man that has left him in total depravity—that means that there’s nothing within man that desires, delights, or is capable of appeasing God. It doesn’t mean that we’re as evil as we can possibly be, it means that there is nothing in us—the day that that fruit was partaken of, man died spiritually. He was alienated from God; he became a god unto himself which is what he desired. And very frankly, every unregenerated man on Earth today desires to be god and to self-govern. And even all religions—that same desire to be a god or to be in power over our own lives is seen in every false religion where they pursue God by works. And somehow thinking that there is some merit in us, that we can merit the love of God, the mercy of God. And man is incapable—the Bible says that the best we can produce—our righteousness—is as filthy rags in God’s sight.
So, we find ourselves destitute, we find ourselves in eternal peril. “There is none righteous,” verse 10 says in this third chapter, “…no, not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” (verse 10-11). Christmas is God seeking us. Amen? Christmas is the expression of that prevenient grace that we’ve shared so often, prevenient grace being—and a way of saying that is God initiates it. Everything originates in God. He’s made all of the provision for us in the sacrifice of Jesus. The Bible makes it very clear that this is something that started with God. John the Baptist is baptizing people, and all of a sudden, he looks up and Jesus is walking by, and he tells everybody around him—remember, he was baptizing them in a baptism of repentance to sin. Repentance, a turning away from sin, but they had no power, they had no ability, to turn from sin. So, he looks, and he says, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29); amen? God first. The Bible, as we just saw, while we were sinners, God first loved us and gave Himself for us.