Set Free: Escaping Rules (Romans 2:1–11) Sermon Notes

03 Oct Set Free: Escaping Rules (Romans 2:1–11) Sermon Notes

Posted at 07:55h in Blog, Sermon Notes by

4 Undeniable Facts We are All Feeling in our Conscience (Rom. 1) & seeing Creation (Rom. 2)

  1. Something has gone terribly wrong (social media makes this amplified)
  2. There is an urgent global problem that is only getting worse
  3. Something needs to be done to fix our problems and pains
  4. Someone needs to do something to stop all the evil/unrighteousness/unjustice

You Are Part of the Problem, Not the Solution 

Romans 2:1 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.

  • There is a universal human longing for righteousness
  • I see sin in people and institutions, but am blind to my own

When Sinners Sit in God’s Judgment Seat

  1. Autonomy: I like to be in authority, not under authority
  2. Pride: people should be like me (standard)
  3. War: I want to win my cause & defend my reputation
  4. Hypocrisy: Law for you, grace for me
  5. Deceit: Rename, recategorize (not stealing/reparations; not
  6. Blameshift: Excuse as a victim (I win I earned it; I lose you cheated)
  7. Character Attack: worst days, case build, label (ist) – I’m more righteous
  8. Negative Narrative: Everything filtered, truth nonexistent
  9. Self-Righteousness: whatever we need to do to defeat them is just by our cause
  10. Unholy Alliance: recruit others to join the fight & defend one another

A Culture of Judgement (family, church, race, business, political party, nation)

  • Pride not humility
  • Good/bad people not God/sinners
  • Mistakes not sin
  • Conflict not peace
  • Division not unity
  • Entitled not thankful
  • Critics not coaches
  • Perfect or worthless
  • Works not grace
  • Beat down not build up
  • Hiding not owning

God is the Judge of all the other Judges

Romans 2:2 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? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

  • God alone judges rightly (not you)
  • God judges everyone, no one judge anyone
  • God is patiently kind giving people ample opportunity to repent & avoid judgment
  • Storing up wrath vs treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:19 same word)
  • Be more concerned about you than them

How Will God’s Judgment Go for You?

Romans 2:6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

  • You do not earn your salvation, but you do earn your rewards
  • Rewards – internal, external, eternal (anointing/blessing on obedience)
  • Judgmental social justice warriors are not bringing Kingdom, but judgment of King
  • Be more concerned about you than them

The Prophetic Fulfilment of Romans 2 Today

Phase 1 – Critical Theory: Heaven Without God 

  1. Traditional Theory – how to build something (hard)
  2. Critical Theory – criticizing what someone else built (easy)
  1. Deconstruction – dismantle everything others made before us
  2. Reconstruction – remake Utopian society w/o God by us

= like a virus that mutated (physical & cultural infections)

-1914-1918 WW I left Germany crushed economy & psyche. 3 million Germans killed, 15% of men. Treaty of Versailles blamed Germany, demanded reparations $270 billion today, took 92 yrs to repay

-1923 Inst. For Social Research 1st funded Marxist think tank seeking utopia “Frankfurt School” or “Critical Theory”. Jewish academics anti-capitalism want justice & equality by reconfiguring gov’t, gender, family, religion, education – counterculture radicals

-appeals to hurting/suffering, feeling injustice, poverty, oppression, loss

-1933 Hitler Chancellor, Nazis closed Frankfurt school, moved to Geneva, then Paris, then Columbia Univ. in NY

-1934 Hitler Fuhrer

-1939-1945 WW II (invasion Poland)

1). Power: structures created by powerful to privilege themselves

2). Critique: find the flaws/problems in all systems of thought & institutions

3). Justice: dismantle oppressive ideas & structures, redistribute power and wealth for equality (e.g. no private property ownership, onerous taxation).

4). Government: The counterfeit kingdom replaces God with government as sovereign

=Jews punished for being privileged = dismantled & redistribution by gov’t

Phase 2 – Postmodernism: Deconstruction

-1960’s-1970’s – philosophical pomo

  1. Relativism (truth not objective from God, but subjective by us (facts to feelings)
  2. Rejection of metanarrative e.g. Bible (storytelling & personal stories)
  3. Deconstruction – like a conspiracy theory seeking to expose & oppose power to remake gender, marriage, family, church, theology

Phase 3 – Social Justice: Reconstruction

-upstream at universities

-1980’s-2010 CT popular curriculum – Women’s studies, Transgender Studies, Queer Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Fat Studies, Native American Studies, Black Studies

-Affirmative Action and  Politically Correct Speech Codes entrenched on campus

-Push for LGBTQ added to Civil Rights, Gay Pride & Gay Marriage

My Journey

-1989 – College – saved, studied philosophy

-1993 – started w/college students & POMO CT

-1996 – church plant, young leaders call

-1998? The Flight from God #1 “tape”

-Emerging Church

-CT and critique of me for 2 decades publicly

-Class at UW

-Deconstruct/Dismantle

-Cancel Culture

-Now – a voice in the desert free to preach a prophetic & independent message

-Woke Social Justice Warriors reject Jesus & judge others =increase judgement

Phase 4 – The Cult of Wokeism as Secular Religion

-“Social Justice” – 200 yr old term re hidden biases & systemic wrongs

-“woke” – like born again, “I was blind but now I see” = conversion to new religion

-2010’s Social Justice Scholarship pulled all disciplines under Critical Theory

-Exchanged the truth of God for the lie of man

-Social Justice is the new TRUTH & gospel for Heaven on earth

-Atheist calls it “new religion”, we can call it a “cult”

  1. Trinity – 1. Critical Theory 2. Pomo Philosophy, 3. Social Justice Activism
  2. Bible – social justice studies
  3. Original Sin – you are born unrighteous (male, heterosexual, white, rich)
  4. Accuser – not Satan but accusing each other
  5. Demonic – invisible unseen forces of bias and privilege
  6. Spiritual Warfare – Matt. 12:30 for us or against us (not Him)
  7. Victim – not Jesus for your sin, or others for your sin, you the victim
  8. Righteousness – the more a victim you are (intersectionality)
  9. Repentance – you don’t repent to God, they repent to you publicly
  10. Heretics – if you disagree you are sexist, racist, homophobic & shunned
  11. Born Again – woke (I was blind now I see)
  12. Evangelists – activists take to the street
  13. Justice – in the court of public opinion we judge you
  14. Crucifixion – cancel culture (crucify your reputation & career)
  15. Pharisees – microaggression, language pronoun missteps (emotional safety)
  16. Kingdom – we distribute power and wealth to rule over others
  17. Jihad – imposition not proposition
  18. Judgment – judge everyone but themselves & everything but their cult
  19. Heaven: we are making utopia on earth w/o God
  20. Hell – if you don’t convert, life will be hell & flames will burn your world down

7 Prophetic Perceptions

  1. The principle of 7 demons
  2. The issue is not us vs them w/gov’t mediator; but us vs God w/Jesus mediator
  3. Only God’s Kingdom gives us the blueprint for a just society
  4. God needs to change your heart/nature before you should change any structure
  5. Grace outruns justice
  6. The longing for righteousness comes not through self-righteousness but gift-righteousness from Jesus Christ

Romans 1:16 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. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

  1. The longing for judgment can only be fulfilled in Jesus Christ who brings not just social justice between people, but Cosmic justice between people and God

HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST!

Romans 2:11 God shows no partiality.

Rom. 2 – longing for 1). Righteousness 2). Judgment 3). Justice

Option #1 – look down on others, judge them as the problem and ignore your sin

Option #2 – look up and see your part in the problem, look up to the cross for judgment, repent, and bring God’s Kingdom down

  1. We need a judge who is righteous – HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST!
  2. We need a judge who is impartial – HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST!
  3. We need a judge who is all knowing – HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST!
  4. We need a judge who is perfectly righteous – HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST!
  5. We need a judge who is willing to be our victim – HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST!
  6. We need a judge who gives us grace – HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST!
  7. We need a judge who can bring Heaven – HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST!
Mark Driscoll
[email protected]

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