Is God Right?

I would like for us to look at a fundamental question that is asked and answered by every human being. But before we look at this question, we first must correct a fundamental misconception that we can easily fall into as Christians in today’s culture. And that fundamental misconception is to believe that we are living in a time and culture that is dark and devoid of spirituality.

To say that our culture is devoid of spirituality is inaccurate. On the contrary, we are living in a very spiritual culture. If you do not think this is the case, just go into any bookstore’s religion section. There you will find shelves that are filled with books on spirituality and various religious systems. You will find books on Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Universalism, Pantheism, New Age Spirituality, Scientology and transcendental meditation, just to name a few. America is a very diverse culture economically, ethnically, culturally, and spiritually.

And because we live in such a spiritually diverse culture that is filled with many different religious systems, people are confronted with this question: which religious system is right? Some people try to answer this question by hedging their bets and approaching a relationship with God like a buffet line where they can pick and choose what they like from various faith systems in the world and choose to ignore the parts of the faith systems of the world that they do not like.

The problem with this approach to spirituality or a relationship with God is twofold. First, while one may believe that all religious systems are similar, the reality is that when you lay out their beliefs about who God is and how you can have a relationship with God, it becomes very clear very quickly that all paths do not lead to the same place. Second, every religious system claims to be the only correct religious system. Therefore, there are only two possible solutions: either every religious system is wrong or one religious system is right.

And what is so interesting is that almost every human being inherently recognizes that there is something beyond this earthly existence. I mean that is why we have funerals, isn’t it? No one approaches a casket at a funeral and say, “oh, so that’s what happens, I get it. You just die and are buried in the ground”. No one does that at a funeral because every human being has an inherent sense that there is something beyond this life. And it is this inherent sense of something beyond this life that leads to the question that remains “which religious system is right?” More specifically, the question that is often debated and discussed in our culture is this: “Is the God that is described in this book right”? So, is the God that is portrayed in the Bible right? Are the claims of Christianity right?

Now this is not a new question. As a matter a fact this question is the subject of an entire letter that is recorded for us in our Bibles, called the Book of Romans. This letter was written to a church that was located in the center of the most powerful empire in the known world. Now Rome was not only the capital city of the Roman Empire; it was also the cultural and intellectual center of the known world. Rome was so influenced by Greek culture and thought that they were often referred to as Greeks. To give us a little perspective, if we were to take New York City, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles and combine the characteristics that mark these cities into one city, you would have Rome.

In addition, the Rome was an extremely diverse city ethnically and spiritually. The city was filled with a wide range of religious and philosophical systems, including, Judaism, and Greek and Roman polytheism. And as Christianity began to take root and spread in the midst of this diverse intellectual, cultural, and spiritual society, a question began to be asked by the residents of Rome: Is the God that is portrayed in the Bible right? Are the claims of Christianity right? And it is in the midst of this situation that this letter was written to this early church. And in the beginning sections of this letter, we see the timeless answer revealed for us when it comes to the question as to whether or not God is right, beginning in Romans 1:16:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

Paul tells the members of the church at Rome, and us today that the reason why he was driven by a passionate desire to engage and proclaim the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel was due to the fact that he was not ashamed of the gospel. You see, Paul was not concerned or worried about the possibility of losing status or position or prominence because of his proclamation of the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. Paul was not concerned or worried about the possibility of rejection, ridicule, criticism or condemnation because of his relationship with Christ and his role in God’s kingdom mission.

But notice why Paul was not concerned or worried about the impact that his relationship with Jesus and his role in proclaiming the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel would have on his status or position or prominence in the eyes of others. In Romans 1:16-17, we see Paul provide two reasons what he was not ashamed of the gospel. First, in verse 16, Paul was not ashamed because the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. The Apostle is revealing for us the reality that he viewed the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel as the means by which all of humanity could be rescued from their selfish rebellion and sin and restored to the relationship with God that they were created for. The gospel is God powerfully opening a door that only He would open; a door the leads to forgiveness; a door that leads to rescue; and door that leads to restoration and healing.

And that salvation, that rescue is available to everyone who believes. Now the word believe is the same word that is also translated faith in our Bibles. To believe is to entrust oneself to someone in complete confidence. Paul’s point here is that the message of the gospel is God’s powerful way of providing the opportunity for all humanity to receive the forgiveness of sin and enter into the relationship with God that they were created for by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

Second, in verse 17, we see that Paul was not ashamed because for in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. Let’s take a minute to define some terms here so that we will be able to fully wrap our minds around what Paul is saying. When you see the word righteousness in the Bible, this word refers to the quality or state of being right. When Paul states that the righteousness of God has been revealed, the word revealed means to cause something to be made fully known. As we have seen earlier, the word faith refers to a state of devotion to Christ based on a confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel.

Now with all these definitions in mind, if Paul were writing this letter today in the language of our culture, this verse would sound something like this: "I am not ashamed of the gospel because the gospel makes it abundantly clear that God is right. He is right because salvation from selfishness and sin always only has been and always only will be obtained by placing your confident trust in the message of the gospel by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader".

And it is in this verse that we receive the timeless answer to the question is God right. And that timeless answer is this: the message of the gospel reveals the reality that God is right. God is right. God always has been right; God always will be right. And the extent that we are right when it comes to our relationship with God is directly related to the extent that our heads, hearts, and hands line up with what God believes is right, because God is right.

And this reality is revealed to all humanity through the message of the gospel. The message that that while all of humanity was created for a relationship with God and one another, all of humanity selfishly chose to reject that relationship, instead choosing to love our selves over God and others. And it is out of our selfishness that we do things that hurt God and those around us, which the Bible calls sin. The message that reveals that God responded to our selfish rebellion and sin by sending His Son Jesus, God in a bod, who entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. The message that reveals that Jesus died on the cross, was buried in a tomb dead as a door nail, and was brought back to life as a result of the Holy Spirit’s transforming and supernatural activity in order to be our Lord and Savior. The message that provides the opportunity for all humanity to receive the forgiveness of sin and enter into the relationship with God that they were created for by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

Paul then reinforces this reality by quoting a section of a letter in the Old Testament called the book of Habakkuk. In Habakkuk 2:4, we read God respond to the prideful arrogance of the Babylonian King, by stating that the righteous will live by his faith. Paul quotes this Old Testament verse to reinforce the reality that the person who is right with God is right with God because they have faith in God and live their life by faith in God and His promises.

Now you might be questioning and pushing back against the idea that the message of the gospel reveals the reality that God is right. You may be thinking “well how does the gospel prove that God is right? You seem to be telling me that I have a problem that requires me to be rescued or saved and that only faith in Jesus can do that. Well I don’t know if that is true. I’m not sure that I buy the idea that I have a problem when it comes to God. I am not sure that I have a problem that can only be resolved through faith in Jesus”.

If those thoughts are running through your mind, I just want to let you know that those are great thoughts to be wrestling with. Does humanity have a problem? How do we know if we have a problem? And does that problem have a solution apart from Jesus? For the next five weeks we will spend our time together at a section of the Bible that gives us a glimpse into a trial that occurred 2,000 years ago. This trial involved a case that was brought against humanity by God. And in the next five weeks we will see evidence that will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt whether we are guilty or innocent when it comes to whether or not we have a problem when it comes to God.

Because Paul proclaims that the message of the gospel reveals that reality that God is right. What do you think? Is God right? Do we have a problem? And if we do have a problem, is the message of the gospel the only answer?