Our heart keeps showing through (Nod to Joe Diffie)
- Wes Sink
- Oct 14, 2020
- 7 min read
Updated: Mar 19, 2021
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood, to be received by faith. Romans 3:20-25
A few years ago... well, it seems like just a few years ago- but it was actually about 20 years ago- I took a trip to Nevada with a few of my closest friends. One afternoon, my buddy Charlie and I decided to take on the challenge of eating a 5 pound burger. If you finished it all, you got your picture on the wall. Twenty years ago we weren't too savvy on social media, so it was kind of a big deal to have your picture on the wall on the other side of the continent. (It's like an everyday occurrence now.) Anyway, we went into a restaurant called "Bill's" and accepted the challenge. We ordered two "William's", all the way with fries on the side.
(The burger was too big to just be called the 'Bill'.)
When the burger came out, it literally hung off the side of our plates. At first glance, it was daunting, but we took it one bite at a time and made our way through. We ate every scrap of meat, lettuce and tomato and we even polished off our fries. We totally overloaded and I'm not sure that I really appreciated the beauty of the burger because I was more determined on finishing it then I was on enjoying it. It was overwhelming.
The picture below is not an actual pic of 'The William'... but it matches the memory in my mind...
Romans 3:20-25 is Paul's version of "The William". This passage is
H-U-G-E! It can literally change the course of our lives. This passage is a solid foundation for all scripture. If we were building a tower of scripture, this would be one of our building blocks. This passage would be a cornerstone because it's about THE cornerstone, Jesus. In fact, this passage is one of those that could change your life- but how do you see it in a light that's overwhelmingly incredible but not impossible to digest? Sometimes, with things as weighty as this passage, it's best to bite off a little bit at a time and enjoy the ride.
Let's start with verse 20. To be perfectly honest- this one may go down with a little bit of heartburn.
But sometimes you have to realize just how awful the bad news is so that you can discover how incredible the good news is!
Let's look at 3 different interpretations just so that we can land on the same page. Romans 3:20 says:
ESV- "For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin."
NIV- "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin."
KJV- Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
When we look at any singular verse in the Bible, its always important to ask, "What happened before and/or after this verse?"
In the chapters and verses leading up to verse 20, Paul spelled out an extensive and detailed, (not to mention a painful and personal) list of our sinful behavior.
ugh... it's pretty rough... because it's totally true.
Paul details how God's children had rejected God and then parks us right in from of the undeniable, indisputable fact that we are all guilty of sin.
He goes on to point out that we have not taken God seriously in our lives.
We have rejected His ways, ignored His Glory and, at the end of the day, it's no small matter- we are now subjects of God's wrath. Yup. Wrath.
We have not just slipped up and ignored a couple of items on God's list, we have not just forgotten something that God said... but, in fact,
We have rejected God. (again... ugh.)
Our actions, and more importantly, our hearts are evidence to the fact that we simply have not regarded God as.... GOD! Yikes, not great.
Paul begins in Chapter 1, verse 18 and he sends a high fastball right under the chin all the way through Chapter 3, verse 19.
He is like a prosecuting attorney delivering the evidence of his case and the evidence points clearly and indisputably to our guilt. Paul does not spare anyone in his prosecution and it gets downright uncomfortable.
Those who don't believe in a creator are in the same boat as those whose ancestors received the ten commandments. Those who believe in God but refuse to follow him are in the same boat as professed followers who cast judgement on non-believers.
In summary, we (the human race) are all in the same boat, and we are pointed full-steam-ahead toward an iceberg.
Paul follows up his filibuster on our self-imposed crash course with a statement of fact:
"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin." (Romans 3:20, NIV)
Why on earth would Paul follow up this list of accusations that put us front and center as law-breakers with a statement that says, 'you will never make it by trying to follow the law'???
If you thought the whole point of 1:18 - 3:19 was to say, "Do better & Try Harder.", then this is where you should pay very close attention: It's not just that we didn't follow the rules... it's that we can't follow the rules!
No matter how hard we try, we are incapable of getting it all right. Our sinful selves will always come to the surface. No matter how much "good" that we appear to do... our hearts are just messed up! Any Joe Diffie fans out there? "Paintin' over it ain't no use, there ain't no paint in the world that'll cover it, the heart keeps showing through". Yup. Our hearts keep showing through. No hiding 'em.
And if your hope is that you will simply get more things right in your life than wrong in your life, then you should also pay close attention. Because Paul has been very clear that if you get one thing wrong, then you are in the same boat as the person who got it all wrong.
If the standard is perfection- what's the difference between one imperfection and 100?
They are all imperfections and therefore short of the standard. Also- hats off to you if you've only had one 'imperfection' so far in life. (May be time for a reality check.) And Jesus was clear that if you think about it in your heart, then you are just as guilty as the person who did it. There's the heart again. And again... "Yikes."
So Paul says, in essence, "You will never make it by just 'trying harder.' He says that the law simply makes us conscious of our sin... it gives us knowledge of our sin.
In other words- the law simply helps us recognize sin. When we look at the law, and take it seriously, we are immediately reminded of the ways that we broke it. Maybe you didn't murder anyone, but you may have coveted this week. (Let's be clear here: Did you wish you had something that wasn't yours this week? Yup- you coveted. You're a coveter... you're full of covet-es-ness... spelling?) Maybe you didn't pull out a carved image and bow down to an idol this week, but you may have made something else in your life more important than God... and thereby worshiped that person or thing over God... which makes that an idol.
Hey... can I say it again, "Yikes!" If the law is perfection- (and it is)... then the law points out our sin.
Therefore, "through the law we become conscious of our sin." (NIV); we have knowledge of our sin. (ESV, KJV)
OK, we're guilty, so what does that mean? I mean really, is that so bad? It just feels like we're all in this together. We're all sinners and we know it. So what does it mean to be guilty and to know that we're guilty. Paul spells it out pretty clearly and it's not great news:
"Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in God's sight." (NIV), "... no human being will be justified" (ESV); "no flesh be justified." (KJV).
If you were justified or if you have been declared righteous, that would indicate that someone would be pleading your case, someone would be defending your cause and ultimately, you would be acquitted, you would be found innocent. It would mean that from this point forward, you would be righteous... in right standing, having done no wrong.
The issue is... "Who is presently pleading your case?"
Paul says, that this justification, this innocent verdict is not the case for the person who is trying to plead his or her own case based on his or her own merit. If you are trying to earn your way into right standing with God based on getting more things right than wrong... or by being better than some other people you know... heck even if you are better than most people you know, You are still guilty.
ugh. (again.)
Nothing that you can do will save you. Not your church attendance, not your contributions, not your kind service, not your sweet family- nope. None of it. You broke the law and you are guilty.
If your hope of life and acceptance is in your performance record on earth... you lose. Good luck with that.
If it's up to us, all hope is lost. Lucky for us, it's not up to us. God showed up in the most unexpected way... in the only way that could save us. Through the only advocate who could plead our case.
Stay tuned for verse 21 and God's response to our broken hearts.
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