Michiana Covenant Presbyterian Church

[Sung Psalm: 14] I once met a man who openly declared that he had broken at least nine of the ten commandments (taken strictly in a literal sense!), and yet he proclaimed that he was a good man. What would Paul say to such a man? Sometimes we seem to think that we need to prove that he is not a good man. And we point to Romans 3 – "there is no one who does good." But remember that in the previous chapter Paul said that "when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things of the law...they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts." (2:14-15) In other words, sometimes even unbelieving Gentiles "do the things of the law." So I think Paul would say to this man, "I do not doubt that you love your wife and your children. I do not deny that in many respects you are a good and honorable man, but according to your own testimony, you have admitted that you are under the power of sin, after all, your conscience is already both accusing and defending you." Paul's point is not that fallen human