Sermon 2: Romans 2

  The first chapter of Romans, after its introduction, can be summarized as the condition of man without God and how he gets in that condition.  The cause of this condition can be stated in one word--unbelief.

  Coupled with unbelief is self-exaltation; with faith, humility.  They lost God, "because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened."  Verse 21.  They attributed everything to themselves and as self was advanced, faith in God decreased, till they were in the darkness of idolatry.

  Men, in the day of Plato, Seneca, and Marcus Aureleus, taught what they called moral science; Confucius taught moral precepts.  But what they all lacked was to tell men how to do what they taught to be right.  Even these men who taught moral science and virtue were themselves practicing the things they condemned, and coming far short of doing what they set forth as moral duty.

  While those teachers tell us what to do but fail to give us power to do it, the religion of Jesus Christ not only makes known what is right but gives us ability to perform that which is good.  Thus when Christ is not woven into the teaching, the very effort to teach morals is simply the old pagan science of morals, which is immorality.

  All admit that the State should not teach Christianity, but some say we must teach morals without it.  Moral science aside from Jesus Christ is immorality; it is sin.