Thou Art Inexcusable. O Man
A Sermon on Romans 2:1
Originally preached Oct. 5, 1956
Scripture
1Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
Sermon Description
Does sin really condemn all people? In this sermon titled “Thou Art Inexcusable, O Man,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones introduces Romans 2 by connecting the theme from Romans 1 which tells of how God has provided a righteousness by faith for humanity. The Jews listened to Paul preach, but thought he was only condemning the Gentiles to which Paul declared that they were missing the whole point. The Jews thought they were already saved based on their works and today’s humanity can fall into that same trap. Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out that sin can lead to many consequences when interpreting the Scripture. Dr. Lloyd-Jones outlines the various ways sin skews the view of Scripture and ends with a warning to all. The Christian should never be so wrapped up with knowledge and the studying of theology that they miss the repentance at the heart of the gospel. Learning the Scriptures draws the Christian closer to Christ so that their daily practice matches their position as a child of God
Sermon Breakdown
- The apostle Paul is addressing someone who misunderstood his message in Romans 1.
- There are two main views on who Paul is addressing: Gentiles who thought they were morally good or Jews who condemned Gentiles.
- Paul is likely primarily addressing Jews who condemned Gentiles, given the emphasis on judgment and Jews seeing themselves as separate from Gentiles. However, his message applies to anyone with a similar attitude.
- The Jews and anyone else with this attitude misunderstood two things: 1) Paul was not condemning Gentiles simply for being Gentiles and 2) Jews were not exempt from God's wrath simply for being Jews.
- Paul deals with three Jewish arguments in this chapter: 1) They were right with God simply by being Jews (verses 1-16), 2) They had the Law (verses 17-24), 3) They had circumcision (verses 25-29).
- We must examine ourselves in light of this passage to see if we make similar errors. Sin can introduce prejudice, cause us to categorize ourselves, apply truth to others but not ourselves, deny justification by faith alone, separate doctrine and life, defend ourselves, and study Scripture academically rather than applying it.
- We must apply Scripture to ourselves, not just analyze it. We should ask what it says to us and about us, not just what it says about others.
- We must pray for grace to apply God's Word as it comes to us.
The Book of Romans
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.