If I’m a Good Person, Why Do I Deserve to Go to Hell?
Intro:
1. Many don’t become Christians because they don’t see any need to.
a. They have a good life - things are going pretty good for them.
b. They behave pretty well morally & ethically.
c. But whose standards do they use?
d. You look pretty good if you choose the standard - if you compare yourself only with people who are not as good as you are.
2. The question is: If I’m so good - Why do I deserve to go to Hell?
Romans 1:18-32
I. v18-23 - Because God Has Revealed Himself & His Will
A. God is the only One Who has the right to set the standards & judge you by them.
1. Because He was the One Who created you. (Gen 2:7)
2. Because He created you in His image - made you a free moral agent suitable for being judged.
(Gen 1: 27)
3. God executed that right in the Garden of Eden when He sentenced Adam and Eve to death (Gen 3:19)
4. Because He, through Lord Jesus, paid the price for your redemption from sin.
B. God has shown you His nature & power through nature.
1. v19 - God revealed His nature in our very bodies. Gen 1:26 - Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.
a. You can tell something about the manufacturer by the product that is produced.
b. You can tell something about God by the beautiful bodies He created.
2. v20 - God revealed His power & nature through “invisible” qualities.
a. His power - the force of a tornado can pick up a train & whirl it through the air or drill a piece of straw through a 2X4 board.
b. His nature - through His natural law.
(1) You break the Law of Agriculture & your crop fails.
(2) You break the Law of Architecture & your house collapses.
(3) You break the Laws of Health & your body suffers & you die early.
(4) You break the laws of God & your body & soul die. Rom 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
3. However - notice how the revelation of God through nature is considered by the world.
a. It is ignored. Ps 14:1 - The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.
b. It is distorted.
C. God has shown you His righteousness & love through the gospel. Rom 1:17 (Living Bible) - This good news tells us that God makes us ready for heaven, makes us right in God’s sight, when we put our faith and trust in Christ to save us. This is accomplished, start to finish, by faith.
II. v24-32 - But the World Has Not Responded to God’s Revelation
A. v21 - God presented Himself as absolute Lord - but the world doesn’t serve Him.
1. Instead, they have corrupted the body & mind He gave them.
a. v26 - Shameful lusts (πάθη ἀτιμίας) = a corrupted mind conditioned by constant unnatural sexual activity.
b. v27 - Inflamed with lust (ἐξεκαύθησαν ἐν τῃ̂ ὀρέξει αὐτω̂ν) = so wrapped up in sexual appetite that they can’t discern the difference between the genders - homosexuality at it’s worst!
c. v28 - They have shut God out of their minds.
2. v29 - Instead, they mistreated one another - the precious creations of God He built in His image.
Matt 25:40 - The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
B. v21 - God presented Himself as provider of everything the world is & has - but they never thank Him.
C. v23 - God presented Himself as King of the Universe - but they have dishonored Him by substituting images in His place.
1. Images made to look like mortal man were the Roman gods.
2. Images made to look like birds & animals & reptiles were the Egyptian gods.
3. Our substitute images today are science, the media, medicine & government!
III. You are as Guilty as Dirt - But Washed White in the Blood of the Lamb!
A. God would be justified to condemn this sinful world - but God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. - Jn 3:16-17.
B. So - Lord Jesus went to the cross to satisfy the justice of God - to become sin - so you & I could become righteous. II Cor 5:21 - God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
C. When you respond to the Lord by surrendering your life to Him . . .
1. You are washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. - Rev 7:14.
2. You are forgiven & can start life all over again.
D. As a new creation, you can be confident that you are saved & will go to heaven with Lord Jesus when He comes again. Rom 5:9 - Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
Even though you deserve God’s wrath - He loved you enough to suffer & die for you. Respond to Him now by surrendering your life to such a loving God.
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