In Romans 3 v 1-20 Paul begins a diatribe to set his argument about God's faithfulness to his plan of salvation. Although it looks like Paul is sweet talking the Jews his focus is completely on God's goodness. Our unfaithfulness to God does not null and void his covenant promise of salvation.

Moving on Paul then addresses humanity's condition. No single one of us is good or righteous. Our sins will be judged by God, the impartial judge. But there is hope. Paul details our problem so that we can find peace and assurance in the righteousness that comes from God.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find our more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

I don't know if So, my reading of Romans 3 was the first time

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you've come across that passage recently.

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But I'm going to be honest with

you, whenever I first read it again,

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uh, at the end of last week, um,

I was petrified, petrified in the

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English, never mind anything else.

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And if I'm honest, it takes you

three or four times to read this

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passage to actually even try and

figure out what, what Paul is

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trying to do with the language here.

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And we'll come to think about that in

a moment of what he's trying to do.

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But we need to understand chapters 1

and 2 to fully understand chapter 3.

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And I do call you back to last week.

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Do you remember that

question about the Jews?

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There was an arrogance with them.

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In fact, their arrogance had led

people to call them hypocrites.

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And so he wants to, he wants to level the

playing field a little bit this evening.

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And he does that through a series of

questions and a series of answers.

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And if we were to kind of take a stop

at verse 20 of Romans 3, as perhaps

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we've read it over these past number of

weeks, I imagine that you would agree

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with me, I'm forcing you to agree with

me, that it's been pretty hard going.

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Hard going in that, yes, Paul doesn't

write the way we would like him to write.

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He's hard in his writing, he is.

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We were talking about this in the

prayer meeting before the service.

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Paul's an old man.

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Everything he is saying

is, yes, divinely given.

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But through that divinely given word,

He has a lifetime of experience,

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both as a Pharisee, a zealous Jew,

the most faithful of all, to that

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moment of meeting Christ and planting

churches around the Mediterranean.

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And so we have really the full

knowledge and wisdom and divine word

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from Paul and from God as we read

Romans 3 and these, certainly these

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first number of chapters together.

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And what chapter 1 did for us was

to give us an introduction of Paul.

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What Paul says, who he is, and the

gospel that it is he proclaims.

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Because remember, this is a

church that doesn't know him.

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He's introducing himself, and in

introducing himself, he wants to

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make sure that they understand where

he's coming from with the gospel.

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And so he makes it very clear

of the gospel that he proclaims.

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And he may not give them a

textbook answer of, you know,

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three points of what the gospel is.

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He actually displays

his heart of the gospel.

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And as we will go through to June

next year, these verses will come

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up again and again because they

are the verses of Paul's heart.

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Because in Romans 1 and verses

16 to 17, he says, For I am

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not ashamed of the gospel.

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It is the power of God for

salvation to everyone who believes.

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To the Jew first, and also to the

Greek, for in the righteousness

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of God is revealed from faith

to faith, as it is written, the

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righteous shall live by faith.

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He tells them here,

opening up his very heart.

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His heart is crying out for what the

gospel is, not the textbook three points.

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He says, I'm not ashamed of it.

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If you're not ashamed of

something, you know it to be true.

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You know it to be right, and you know

it to be the conviction of your life.

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Paul says all he needs to say in

saying that he is not ashamed of the

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gospel, but he gives us more because

he says it's not his power, it's

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not his eloquence of words, it's not

his cleverness of turn of phrase.

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By the way, Romans 3, I do

not particularly think is a

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cleverness of turn of phrase.

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It's, it's difficult, it's

hard, but he says that it is

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God's power that is at work.

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That it is the power of God for

salvation to everyone who believes.

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And he makes no distinction to the

Jew first and also to the Greek.

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And now that we've gone through

to the end of chapter 2, we

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understand why he says that.

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Because right there at the end of chapter

1, he said God shows no partiality.

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Or, sorry, halfway through chapter

2, God shows no partiality.

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And so neither does Paul.

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He says the gospel's for everyone.

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For Jew and for Gentile.

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Or Jew and Greek.

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And so the very reason why he

is writing is because the gospel

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message is so powerful that

it's actually changed his life.

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If you remember back last year,

whenever we were looking at the Acts

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of the Apostles, and whenever we

were thinking of Paul's conversion,

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people were afraid of him.

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They knew him.

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He had a reputation.

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And it wasn't a good one

in the eyes of the church.

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But now, a much older Paul

isn't arguing to begin with.

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What he's saying is the

gospel is all we need.

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And ultimately the gospel is all we have.

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That is what he places his confidence in.

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But it's also a gospel that is

to be shared with the whole world

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so that they too will come to

a living faith in Jesus Christ.

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And he does that because the

world needs the gospel message.

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Paul knew that in his day

as much as we know that our

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world today needs it as well.

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And it's because human beings have

turned their backs on their creator who

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made them in his image and are already

living under his judgment, as we looked

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at in, in the last couple of, uh,

chapter, or in the last chapter, that

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actually God has given them over to that.

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Paul's saying this is the

consequence of the fall.

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We've actually been given over

to our sinful ways because none

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of us, not any single one of us,

is naturally inclined to love.

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God.

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That's why no one's born a Christian.

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That's why baptism as an infant

doesn't make you a Christian.

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Because we are not naturally inclined.

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We have to understand who

God is so that we can believe

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and trust and know salvation.

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Chapter two moved us on

to think of judgment.

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The moralist, those who judge others

according to their own standards,

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will ultimately face God's judgment.

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And he tells a few things about

what this judgment will be like.

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And he concludes the chapter by

showing how being religious won't

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save you from God's judgment.

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It won't.

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It can't.

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No matter who we are, we will be judged.

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Remember?

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God shows no impartial,

or God is impartial.

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He shows no partiality.

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And I think it's fair to say that in these

first two chapters, and indeed the first

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half of chapter 3, without giving too much

away of what's coming up, Paul is painting

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for us a picture of what true humanity is.

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We are fallen and we need a Savior.

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But let me give you a glimmer of hope,

because the next time we come back to

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Romans on the 29th of October, the picture

looks a lot brighter for what is the hope.

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It gets better.

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But for one more time tonight, let's

think about what is the human condition.

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And let's think of how

sinful and fallen we are.

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And we're going to look

at this in two parts.

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We're going to look at verses 1 to 8

of chapter 3 first and then we're going

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to look from chapter 9 through to, or

sorry, verse 9 through to verse 20.

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And I do encourage you to have your Bibles

open as we make our way through this.

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And Paul starts with a question.

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in verse 1.

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He asks the question, then

what advantage has the Jew?

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Or what is the value of circumcision?

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Now remember where he's come from.

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He's just been speaking about the Jews.

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He's been talking about how, how they

think they're better because they, it was

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revealed to them God's plan of salvation.

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And what, why is he

mentioning circumcision?

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Because circumcision was the sign

and the seal of the covenant.

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It's like a handshake.

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That's what it signifies.

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God makes a covenant and, and

that covenant has to have a

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visible, a visible agreement.

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And so circumcision, in the Old Testament,

for the children of Israel, and then

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for the Jews, that is the sign and the

seal of the covenant promises of God.

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And so Paul's already told us, from his

perspective, what it means to be a Jew.

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We're thinking then just now about what

it means to practice circumcision all

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the things that they were supposed to

do And you know, we would expect Paul

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now to answer having asked the question

then what advantage is it to be a Jew?

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We would expect him to say none at all.

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We think that should be his

answer because is there any value?

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He's just told us that they

shouldn't rely on their tradition.

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They shouldn't rely on their heritage But

Paul gives us a very different answer.

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He tells us And the passage records

to us that there is great advantage in

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being a Jew and in being circumcised

because these people, the Jews,

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have been entrusted with the very

words, with the very oracles of God.

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Now, Paul is not saying

that this saves them.

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We'll come to that in a moment.

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Paul's not saying that Jews

are automatically saved.

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They're not.

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But what he is saying is there is

advantage to them for the knowledge

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that has been entrusted to them.

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Israel, out of all the nations of the

world, were God's chosen nation, not to

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be set apart and special in a way that

alienated them from everyone else or set

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them above everyone else in their own

minds, but they were to be the carriers,

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the hosts of what God's message was.

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And this message was not just for them.

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The message of salvation was to

always be for the whole world.

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Whenever eventually we'll get into what it

says in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, we will

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see that God made clear that they were

to welcome the alien and the stranger.

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That anyone who had living faith

in the one true God could become

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a member of the covenant family.

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God's message and good news

has always been for the whole

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world, even in the Old Testament.

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The problem wasn't with the message.

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The problem wasn't with God.

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The problem was with

those to whom the message.

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had been entrusted.

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They had been entrusted with this

precious message of the gospel that we

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know throughout all of scripture, but

they did not honour it as they should.

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You see, they were entrusted to

deliver this precious gift, but

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they failed miserably in the task.

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They were entrusted with carrying on

this message of proclaiming to the

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nations the good news that God was

bringing salvation for the whole world.

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But instead, they kept it for themselves.

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They didn't want to share it.

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They thought that it was

for them and them only.

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They were so privileged to be God's

chosen people that no one but a

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true born Jew was entitled to this.

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That's what they thought because

only God had chosen them.

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They had missed what the

purpose was to be carriers.

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of that entrusted message.

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The messengers had failed to carry

out the task that they had been given.

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And this is the story of Israel.

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This is the reality of Israel.

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But Paul quickly moves

on as to how this looks.

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Because from the outside looking in,

well, what does God look like then if

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this is how the people have treated this

message that they've been entrusted with?

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You see, from the outside, as people

look in on the Jews and, and what

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they've been entrusted with this word

and the oracles of God that they've

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been going for centuries of living

and proclaiming to be God's people.

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Well, the view of the outside world

isn't a very positive one of them.

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The Jews, verse 5 tells us, portrayed God

as a cruel and exclusive God rather than a

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God who was loving and who was embracing.

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It was they who excluded

everyone else, not God.

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They were the ones who took what was

God's pure law and added to it the extra

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mile to make sure that everyone was kept

safe and well within the law because they

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believed that the law would save them.

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But the law could never save them.

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The truth is they missed completely what

the law was all about and Paul will reveal

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that to us towards the end of our passage.

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But the question has to come, because

of their failure to carry the message,

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does this nullify God's faithfulness?

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Does the one who gave them the message

now have no foundation to stand on

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because his people were unfaithful?

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And verse 3 asks the

question, just like that.

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And Paul comes back in verse 4 to say,

By no means let God be true, though

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every one were a liar, as it is written,

that you may be justified in your

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words and prevail when you are judged.

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And in case you're thinking that this is

a very strange way for Paul to write, now

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I come to explain why he's writing the way

he's writing in these first eight verses.

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It's what is called a diatribe.

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This is something, a practice

that was written in those

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days, a legal form of writing.

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With the miles that would be needed

to get people together, and even

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simply communicating of when to

meet, you couldn't quite literally

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be face to face and have an argument.

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So it had to be done in writing.

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And so Paul writes, uh, uh, he, he puts

down a question that he believes the

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person will ask, and then he answers it.

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But then he, he puts another

question immediately after, as

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he believes the person will ask,

and then he'll give the answer.

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So Paul comes straight back, because it's

a to ing and fro ing way of writing, by

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answering and saying that, not at all.

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And in the original language,

it is a strong not at all, for

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he's saying here, no, not at all.

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Because God is truth.

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God's, God's existence, God's gospel,

does not depend on how good or bad.

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His covenant people are.

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God's gospel good news, He has

said, will go into all the world.

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And it will, because it is

His message to proclaim.

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And so from the foundation of the

world, God has been revealing who He

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is and bringing about His promises,

fulfilling them in every way.

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And there has been nothing that

has caught him off guard, even

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the unfaithfulness of the Jews in

being entrusted with this message.

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God knew they wouldn't be a people who

would live by the way that he wanted them.

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He knew that.

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But he was making a commitment

to prove that he can be trusted.

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We don't judge God based on how good

or bad the children of Israel are.

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We trust God for what he

tells us about himself.

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And the full truth of God's message

will be heard by every people from every

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tribe and every language and every nation

as Revelation 5 and verse 9 tells us

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and gives us that wonderful picture.

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God was never caught off guard by the

unfaithfulness of the children of Israel.

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His plan of salvation, that wonderful

message that he entrusted to his

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people would always be fulfilled.

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And to understand this argument of the

unfaithfulness of the people affecting

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the testimony of God, the next few verses

will help us to see what that means.

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But it's really verse 8 that we go to,

to help us see what he is saying here.

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Because in verse 8, and he says,

Why not do evil that good may come?

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As some people slanderously charge us

with saying, Their condemnation is just.

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So what are the Christians.

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Well, in the verses before verse eight,

the Christians are being talked about

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by those around them in their world.

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And notice the word he uses of

how they're being spoken of.

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Slander.

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The definition of slander hasn't changed.

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Slander is speaking bad or ill

of someone to their detriment.

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We slander their name.

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We don't speak truth, or it may be truth,

but we will want to capitalise on it.

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And so there are people who

are out there bringing charges

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against the Christians in Rome.

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They're saying wrong things.

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They're making things up.

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The charge is that we, that we

learn, that we learn is that they

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have come to believe that they have

free reign to do whatever they want.

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And they can justify it because

it all makes God look good.

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This is what the charge

against the Christian Church

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is, as Paul is writing to it.

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That they're doing this, and they're

doing this with no regard to the

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law, no regard to the ways of God.

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I wonder, has anyone

ever made you look good?

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I often think our, our three

children make us look good in public.

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If you were to come to the manse at

some time, you might be surprised.

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They don't make us look just as good, and

I think that's the same for any parent.

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But do you see what they're trying to do?

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They're trying to make God look good.

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And they think they can do

that by sinning all the more.

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Did you ever hear anything so

ridiculous in all your life?

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But don't be too quick to judge,

because do we treat God likewise?

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You see, they say that it's all

in His name, because it makes

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Him, that is God, look good.

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It makes Him all the more loving

and gracious and merciful.

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And whenever we stop and think about

it, the essence of what we read in

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verses 5 to 7, there is truth in there.

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Because we know and we realize and see

in the world that the greater the debt,

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the greater the act of forgiveness.

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In other words, the more we sin, the more

we show that mercy and that grace of God.

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And throughout the history of the world,

we have seen great acts of forgiveness.

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Let me give you one case in

particular, it's the case of Gordon

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Wilson, whose daughter, Mary, was

killed in the Enniskillen bombing.

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That very night, that Sunday evening,

he was straight onto BBC Radio, saying

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how much he forgave the people who

had killed his daughter that morning.

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And we all looked at that, and we thought

that that was a great act of forgiveness.

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Look at the greatness in this one action.

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But that one great act of forgiveness

did not make what happened in

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Enniskillen that morning right.

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Nothing can ever justify wrong and sin.

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So our sin is never right.

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By sinning more, yes, we show the mercy

and grace of God, but God hates sin.

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In John chapter 8, verse 34, Jesus

is talking to a group of Jews,

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believing Jews, people who have

trusted in him as the Son of God and

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the Savior of the world, and he's

talking to them about being set free.

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This, this new faith in Jesus sets them

free and they want to, uh, they come

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back and say to Jesus, Well, how can we

be free when we have never been slaves?

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And it's in verse 34 of John 8

that Jesus answers them, Truly,

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truly, I say to you, everyone who

practices sin is a slave to sin.

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Being a slave to sin means

that we are not God's children.

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That's how serious sin is.

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We're not free to have a

relationship with Him because

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there is this barrier between us.

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So there's no way that

we can justify sinning.

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Sin does not make God look

good, because God hates sin.

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And if we are His people, we will

desire to do what is right, to do

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what He wants us to do, and live in

relationship with Him and His people.

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In these first eight verses, we have

thought that our unfaithfulness does

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not nullify God's faithfulness and

that greater sinning is never right.

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And we would be very quick

and could be very quick to

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say that we have free pardon.

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That we can do whatever we want and

God's way will still come through for us.

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That God's grace is greater

than any act we carry out.

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But that's not the way of God's people.

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That is not the way

that God has set for us.

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Let me say it again.

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God hates sin.

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God desires of us a relationship

that will want us to reveal who

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he is as we are in communion and

relationship and fellowship with him.

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Not to go the way of the evil one and

do as much sinning as we can so that we

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think God looks good in his forgiveness.

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God desires us to be his people,

people of truth, of integrity, of

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honesty, so that he can use us as

his vessels to show to this world

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and to reveal to it what he is like.

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Even though the Jews were unfaithful

in many ways, God still found a

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way to be true to his promises.

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Jesus, as Israel's representative.

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has offered the faithful obedience which

Israel should have offered but did not.

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The Messiah is the messenger who

finally delivers the message, the

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message that we so need to hear.

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And there are two reflections from

these first eight verses for us.

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First, we have been entrusted with

a message that needs to be shared.

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This is what we call covenant.

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We know that God made a covenant

with Abraham and this is what brought

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about the people, the children of

Israel, the Jews being entrusted with

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the message to bring to the nations.

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God would make them his people

for that purpose of revealing

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to the world who he is.

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And in Jesus Christ, we have the New

Covenant, where the covenant is extended,

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not just to the little group of Jewish

people, but to everyone in all this

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world, so that we should share the

gospel that we have been entrusted with.

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And how do we do that?

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What does it look like tomorrow morning?

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Well, where will you be tomorrow morning?

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Who will you be with?

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And what opportunity will you have

to share the good news of the Gospel?

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Rather than sitting back and waiting for

something to happen, can you be proactive?

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Can you think through an opening

sentence tonight and tomorrow

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morning, and then have the opportunity

to share the goodness of Christ?

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We have a message that we

cannot keep to ourselves.

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It is a message that needs

to go beyond these walls.

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It's a message that needs

to go beyond our homes.

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It is a message that needs to go into

our community, so that they, like us, can

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say, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for

it is the power of God unto salvation.

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And the second thing from these verses

is that all of God's promises will be

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fulfilled, and with that comes hope.

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And it also brings something that

we feel uncomfortable with because

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God has also promised judgment.

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That's what Paul has started

with at the end of chapter

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2, leading us into chapter 3.

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God has said that sin must be punished.

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And he has promised that

the judge will rule.

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Whether we are found guilty or not,

we will receive what we are due.

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And if we are guilty, as the judge

finds us in sin for not having

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received Jesus Christ, we will

be punished eternally for that.

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And if we are found guilty for having

sinned, but trusting in Jesus Christ, then

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the punishment will be put on Him, and we

will go into the eternity of His presence.

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God has promised much,

and it will be fulfilled.

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We have the testimony and the

witness of that in His Word.

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We can see it in history.

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And his day will come to fulfill

the salvation plan when he will come

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to judge the living and the dead.

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And so these first eight verses of chapter

3 leave us with these two thoughts.

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We have a message that we need to share

and God will fulfill all his promises.

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But let's move on and look at

those last verses from 9 to 20.

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It sounds a lot, but it's not

the way that it's written.

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And these verses address

the issue of righteousness.

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Once again, Paul addresses the

human condition verses 10 to 18.

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Say, none is righteous.

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No not one.

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No one understands.

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No one seeks God.

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All have turned aside.

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Together they have become worthless.

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No one does good.

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Not even one.

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Their throat is an open grave.

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They use their tongues to deceive The

venom of ASPs is under their lips.

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Their mouth is full of

curses and bitterness.

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Their feet are swift to shed blood in

their paths, are ruin and misery, and

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the way of peace they have not known.

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There is no fear of God before their eyes.

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Paul's gathering a lot of Old Testament,

uh, passages here from the Psalms.

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And what he's doing is he's

summing up the human condition

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and it isn't a pretty picture.

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And in these verses we see three things.

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The first thing we see is

the ungodliness of sin.

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Because these quotes from the

Old Testament start and finish

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with people not seeking God.

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People don't care about the glory of God.

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They don't care about

giving their lives to him.

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They have so little regard for him.

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That's why we say that sin is

ungodly, the ungodliness of sin.

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There's no fear of God before their eyes.

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There's no recognition

that God is the judge.

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So from these verses we do

realize the ungodliness of sin.

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Second, we see the pervasiveness of sin.

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Sin affects every part of our bodies.

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Bodies that were made

for the glory of God.

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And this passage mentions throats,

tongues, lips, mouths, feet.

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All instruments given to humanity,

so that we can bring glory to God

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through our actions and how we live.

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But yet as we read here, they're marked.

427

Sin affects every part of our bodies.

428

And thirdly, the universality of sin.

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Sin affects everyone, no matter who

you are, no matter your status in

430

society, no matter your education, no

matter your wealth, sin is universal.

431

Every human being is affected by it.

432

Because each one is born in

sin and shaping in iniquity.

433

And so in verse 19, Paul

addresses the law again.

434

Paul has already stated that the

Gentiles are guilty before God, because

435

remember last week, it's imprinted on

their hearts, the natural law of God.

436

Now Israel joins the rest of

the world standing in the dock.

437

Because to a Jew it would have looked like

chapter 2, that it was the Jew who was the

438

judge and everyone else was in the dock.

439

Paul changes it and it's not just the

Gentiles who will be judged but he's

440

pulling the Jews straight in beside them.

441

In Paul's day if you were on trial

and had nothing to say in your defense

442

you'd simply put your hand up over

your mouth as a sign, a sign that there

443

was nothing more to come from you,

that there was nothing more to say.

444

In verse 19, Paul says, Now we know

that whatever the law says, it speaks

445

to those who are under the law, so that

every mouth may be stopped, and the whole

446

world may be held accountable to God.

447

Standing before God, don't

think you can give a defense.

448

That's what this is saying.

449

Don't try and argue with God.

450

Don't think you can justify

sin because you can't.

451

You really can't.

452

It doesn't matter whether you think

it's a big sin or a little sin.

453

You can't justify it.

454

And by the way, don't look at the

sins of anyone else in the building.

455

Look at your own sin, because you're

only accountable for your own sin.

456

You will only be judged on your own sin.

457

You can't stand and say to

God, Oh, but, but look at them.

458

You can't do that.

459

Whenever we stand in the dock before

God, our mouths are automatically

460

covered because we cannot make a defense.

461

We needn't even try.

462

The whole world is guilty and we

must face the judgment of God.

463

Everyone will face the judgment of God,

and when we think about it, well, that's

464

all rather very sad and depressing.

465

And in this passage, there

doesn't seem to be much hope.

466

And unfortunately, I have

to stop at verse 20 tonight.

467

It's already 8 o'clock.

468

In fact, it's two minutes past.

469

But let me just be the BBC and ITV

for just one moment to give you a

470

quick 15 second glimpse of what's

coming up in the next episode.

471

Because in verse 21, Paul shares the news

that there is a righteousness from God

472

that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

473

The news for humankind is that

Jesus is the one who takes

474

the punishment instead of us.

475

And so in two weeks time, we will

delve into the rest of chapter 3 and

476

receive the hope that God offers us.

477

But for tonight, we pause.

478

We need to think of our human condition.

479

Because throughout the history

of Israel the law was in place

480

so that we would become conscious

of sin, but the law never saved.

481

And the law never saves.

482

And Paul's point must not be missed.

483

Anyone who imagines that they stand

before God and appeal to works of the law

484

as a reason for a final justification,

that is, for a favourable verdict at

485

the last judgement, is, in the words of

Tom Wright, Barking up the wrong tree.

486

If we think that we can follow a

law and that in some way gain us

487

extra favor with God when it comes

to that day of certain judgment, we

488

are truly barking up the wrong tree.

489

And I'm going to be honest with you

and say that I have reflected on these

490

verses over this past week and I have

had to look at my own life and I have

491

had to ask the question, is there

anything within me that is law keeping?

492

That in observing something of a good

thing to do, something that we're

493

commanded to do, I simply do it because

I think it gives me favor with God.

494

And I'm ashamed to say that I

came back and said, yes, there is.

495

I don't believe it in a conscious way

where I'm living by rules or practices,

496

thinking that they will save me.

497

But it's still a way that

affects how I do things.

498

And don't get me wrong, I think habits

are good and habits will help us.

499

But for me, the habit of spending time

with God because I think that it will

500

do me good in His eyes, rather than

doing me good because it's His goodness

501

towards me, can so easily overtake me.

502

Where it's a quick five minute

reading of the Bible and

503

then rushing on into the day.

504

I think that's going to be enough

because it satisfies what is expected

505

and commanded of the people of God.

506

But whenever you go back to God's

Word, it doesn't tell you that.

507

It says meditate.

508

It says, think through

what you're reading.

509

That's one example.

510

Please don't think that by doing a

particular holy habit, as good as it

511

may be, you can earn brownie points.

512

She can't.

513

Nothing.

514

Nothing but Jesus Christ, the

righteousness that that comes through him,

515

that the rest of chapter three will speak

about nothing but that will get us to God.

516

No works.

517

No laws, no regulations, but only

trusting completely in Jesus Christ.

518

And Paul knows this because he told

it to the jailer in Philippi when

519

he said in Acts 16 and verse 31,

and they said, believe in the Lord

520

Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

521

Paul very clearly in these first

chapters of Romans tells us our

522

condition, and it doesn't look good.

523

But we are on the verge of

looking at something greater

524

than the human condition, and

that is God's righteousness.

525

We trust in that as we desire

to move forward with Him, taking

526

His message, His word that He has

entrusted to us, and living completely

527

for Him in a relationship with Him

without trying to earn a living.

528

our way into eternity.

529

Don't think you can earn

it because you can't.

530

Simply come open handed to God, know

His forgiveness, His restoration, and

531

His love both now and for all eternity.

532

Let's pray.

533

Our Father God, we thank you

for your word, as difficult at

534

times as it may be to understand.

535

Help us to respond well to it, that we

will know it to be true, that we will want

536

to actively live well, that we will want

to put away the sin that is in our lives.

537

We'll stop trying to justify

our actions that are not of you.

538

Lord, you're gracious, you receive us.

539

So help us not to be so pride

filled that we won't come to

540

you and seek that forgiveness.

541

Help us to know the joy of

salvation and that restoration

542

that can only be found in Jesus.

543

And we ask this in his

name and his name alone.

544

Amen.