The Need For God’s Righteousness (The Problem of Sin) -

Sermon on 25 May 2025 by Pastor Justin Chia

Romans is one of the most important epistles from Apostle Paul. When you read the four gospels, you understand the words of God and the works of Jesus. In Roman’s, we read the majestic declaration of the redemptive plan of God on salvation. The keywords in the book of Romans is the righteousness of God. It is a consistent theme in the book of Romans. The key verses are Romans 1:16-16 and Romans 3:21-26. The 3 focuses are the revelation of God’s righteousness (Romans 1:8), vindication of God’s righteousness (Romans 9:11), and application of God’s righteousness (Romans 12-16).

Romans 1:18-32 - “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”

The problem of sin is moral decay and separation from God. The wrath of God is upon those who are unrighteous and ungodly. Sin of omission is where you do the wrong thing. Sin of commission is where you know it is wrong but you continue doing it. Things that you know are right but you don’t do is sin.

James 4:17 - “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”

Romans 14:23 - “But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.”

Sin leads to moral decay. The person is not able to discern between right and wrong. They cannot tell that it is wrong and not pleasing to God. When someone sins, the presence of God is separated. When a person continues to sin, God will stop listening to their prayer. The Bible says that My eyes are on the righteous and My ears are attentive to the prayer of the righteous. It is not just a moral decay and separation, but it’s against the order of the creation. It is so serious that divine intervention is needed. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven to the ungodly, like those who turn away from the truth and continue to sin (Romans 1:24, 26, 28)

Romans 1:18 - “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”

John 3:19-20 - “And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.”

The seriousness of rejecting God’s truth and the resulting consequences.

2 Timothy 3:13 - “But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.”

Principle of divine retribution. The wrath of God is upon the ungodly and unrighteous. This is the hard truth but we need to be aware of it. God will not hear the prayer of a sinner. God heard the fervent prayer of the righteous.

Romans 1:24-25 - “So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.”

Galatians 6:7-8 - “Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.”

Isaiah 59:2 - “It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.”

1 Peter 3:12 - “The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.””

John 9:31 - “We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will.”

Sin is not merely a personal failing; it is an offence against God’s order.

Romans 5:12-18 - “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.”

Genesis 2:16-17 - “But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.””

Romans 1:17 - “This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.””

Romans 3:23 - “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

Romans 6:23 - “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 5:19 - “Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.”

1 Corinthians 15:21 - “So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 - “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

Understand the problem of sin and the need for God’s righteousness. Start from our families. Discipleship begins with you in the family.

Romans 1:16 - “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 - “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

1. Understand that we are sinners

Some people say that they have no sin because God died for us on the Cross and He has forgiven us from our past, present, and future sins. This statement is right but you cannot bring it to the extreme. The Bible also said in Philippians 2:12 that we have to build our salvation with fear and trembling. We are all sinners. The gravity of our sins requires the glorious sacrifice of Christ.

1 John 1:8 - “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.”

Romans 3:23 - “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

2. Understand the weight of our sin

We are not saved by corruptible things, but the incorruptible like the blood of Jesus.

Hebrews 9:22 - “In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”

1 Peter 1:18-19 - “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.”

‭‭3. Understand which area you are prone to sin

The devil will draw near to someone with a broken heart. If we are walking in darkness, we are attracting the unclean spirit. God has given us the authority

1 John 1:9 - “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

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James 4:7-8 - “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”

4. Understand the need to stand your ground

Most warfare begins in the family. If it’s not handled properly, we will fall out of grace. The battle that we fight is not between flesh and blood, but a spiritual warfare against the principality.

Ephesians 6:10-12 - “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”

Ephesians 4:27 - “for anger gives a foothold to the devil.”

1 John 5:18 - “We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.”

There is always a spiritual consequence of rejecting God’s truth. Saying I don’t know is a dangerous statement. The solution lies in the need for a saviour and God’s righteousness in our salvation and sanctification.

Acts 4:12 - “There is salvation in no one else! God given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.””

Romans 6:23 - “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 1:16-17 - “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.””

The power of God is for you to walk and live it out. The gospel is the power of God. In this gospel, it’s revealed to you from the faithful God. The just must walk in faith and not by sight. Live in an attitude of continuous sanctification. Say no to sin and yes to an abundant life in Christ for your family, church, ministry, career, finances, and health.

Amen.