# 29 - Piper - The effect of Hypocrisy - Romans 2:17-24

This is another great message.  There is much to quote and think about, but I felt like this the entire message was summed up in one paragraph that I didn’t want to see overlooked and thus will include only this paragraph (broken into shorter paragraphs):

 

The Gospel is the good news that God has sent his Son, Jesus, into the world to set this condition right—in three ways.

 

1) Jesus came to vindicate the worth of God’s glory by living for it with all his might (John 17:4) and by dying to show that it is worth the greatest possible sacrifice (John 12:27–28; Romans 3:25–26).

 

2) Jesus came to rescue us from the wrath of God against all that dishonors his glory. He did this by dying in our place and by becoming for us a righteousness that we could never achieve on our own (Romans 3:24; Philippians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 5:21)—the righteousness that we have in union with Christ by trusting him (Romans 3:21).

 

3) Jesus came to change us into the kind of people who value the glory of God above all things and who live to show his worth (Matthew 5:16; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 1 Peter 4:11).

 

So, the reason I included this paragraph from Piper  is because it is the key to understanding where we have come so far. The issue from Romans 1:19-3:20 is God’s glory.  It has been ruined by both the gentiles and the Jews.  And it all leads to Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 

 

And, so I will end with this Piper thought to summarize this message:

 

That is where we are this morning. No one in this room loves the glory of God the way he should. We have all fallen short. We have dishonored God. We have exchanged his glory for images. He is not cherished and treasured and admired and loved with a fraction of the fervor that he deserves. So we have fallen short. We are under the power of sin. And we are guilty before God.  Our only hope is that Christ came to change that. To vindicate the God we have belittled. To clothe us with a righteousness that we cannot provide on our own. And to change us into the kind of people who delight in the glory of God and the honor of God above all things.

 

 

 

 

Steve Allen

ACTION Zambia

www.aliveinafrica.com