God's Righteous Demand

Minister:
Date: AM
Text: Romans 9:20; Lord's Day 4
Psalters: 374, 147, 146, 242
  1. The complaint.
    1. We try to escape responsibility by saying that God is not fair to demand of us what we cannot do.
    2. The specific complaint is that God may not demand of man what he cannot do.
      1. Every human is totally incapable of doing what God demands (Psalm 58:3-5; 10:4).
      2. In the light of our inability, is God just to demand of us what He knows we cannot do?
    3. This complaint is our judging God and condemning Him.
      1. We think God should be satisfied with the best we can do, if cannot perform His demands.
      2. We want to be delivered from the results of sin without repenting, without the cross, without Christ
  2. Answer: God is just to demand obedience.
    1. First, “Who art thou, o man, that thou repliest against God?” (Rom. 9:20) Let every mouth be stopped.
      1. Let God be God.
      2. God is the Creator, which makes Him worthy of fear, worship, and glory.
      3. God is also The Lawgiver, Who has the right to the standard for His creatures.
    2. Second, God created man able to keep this demand.
      1. Man’s inability cannot be blamed on God, but on our own wilful disobedience.
      2. The result is that man (all mankind) fell.
    3. God is only maintaining Himself as God in His demand of obedience and perfection.
      1. First, notice that the question is concerned about our rights being violated, not whether God’s are.
      2. Second, do we want a God who drops His laws, saying, “You no longer have to love Me.”
      3. Third, when one incurs a debt, is the creditor wrong to demand payment?
  3. Comfort is found in the fact that answering this question we are driven to the right conclusion.
    1. Comfort is found in our humble confession of our total inability.
    2. Comfort is found then in looking to God.
      1. As in Adam all died, so in Christ are we made alive.
      2. By the righteousness of One did the free gift come upon all who believe unto justification of life.