January 23, 2018
A WRETCH LIKE ME
Romans 2:1–3
Meredith Knighton
Central Truth
Whether you see yourself as the dirtiest of sinners or the purest of believers, you’re wrong. God’s righteousness is our standard, and we ALL fall equally and devastatingly short of it.
Romans 2:1–3
God's Righteous Judgment
1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?
Dive Deeper | Romans 2:1–3
I vividly remember the night when I accepted Christ as my Savior. Although at age 6, I did understand what it meant to accept Jesus, it took me many years afterward to fully understand the personal depravity from which I had been saved.
In Romans 1, Paul describes some of the ways that the Gentiles have forsaken God. He references sins such as sexual immorality, murder, and even inventors of evil. Then, in chapter 2, he interjects a message aimed toward those of us who have ever thought, “Well, at least I’m not as bad as those guys!” The mindset that Paul is addressing here is the very one that I carried for next 15 years of my life. I saw myself as superior to others because I didn’t party, smoke, cuss, etc. The problem with my mentality? I was blind to the truth about my sin, feeling like I had somehow attained a special righteousness all my own.
James 2:10 tells us that “whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” Did those last three words register with you? All. Of. It. Murderers are guilty of sin. The sexually immoral are guilty of sin. Thieves, liars, cheaters—all guilty of sin. And so am I.
It’s like this—there are no different levels of death, right? When our time comes, no matter how we get there, we all will just . . . die. In the same way, all sinners are equally “dead in the trespasses and sins . . . . But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:1, 4-5)
There came a time when the Lord graciously dropped a truth bomb in my face to reveal my depravity, and I’m so thankful that He did. Praise Jesus that He is faithful in that way, and that by His grace, a wretch like me can be made ALIVE in Him!
This month's memory verse
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
– Romans 10:9–10
Discussion Questions
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Can you think of a time when you looked down on someone else or thought to yourself “at least I am not as bad as that person”? Take time to confess that to the Lord.
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Satan tempts some of us to believe that we are “too far gone” and tempts others to believe that we are successful in doing good with no need for repentance. Do either of these temptations strike a chord with you? Whom do you have in your life to remind you of Truth in these moments?
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One of the most troubling things about self-righteousness is that it gives others a wrong view of Christianity and the Church. I cringe when I consider how many times I may have pushed people away from Christ as a result of my judgment. Colossians 4:5 tells us: “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time." How are you doing in drawing others toward Christ? How do you treat those who may not yet have the Holy Spirit guiding their lives?