Peter Barnes | Romans 2:17-24
SERMON NOTES
ARE THE JEWS ANY BETTER?
(Romans 2:17-24)
– Sheldon Vanauken sad that the best argument against Christianity is Christians.
1. The Jews rely on the law.
– 2:17-22; he is not criticising the law as such (see 7:10, 12)
– but they misuse …
Peter Barnes | Romans 2:12-16
SERMON NOTES
GOD’S LAW IN EVERY HEART
(Romans 2:12-16)
1. We are judged with or without God’s written law.
– 2:12, 16; ‘my gospel’ (v.16) includes bad news!
– this refers to Jews and Gentiles
2. What matters is not possessing God’s law but obeying …
Peter Barnes | Romans 2:9-11
SERMON NOTES
NO PARTIALITY WITH GOD
(Romans 2:9-11)
– John Chrysostom called Romans 1-2 ‘a most rueful shipwreck’. All are condemned by works, yet works give evidence of a true faith.
1. We will all know either trouble and distress forever or glory, honour and …
Peter Barnes | Romans 2:6-8
SERMON NOTES
GOD’S JUDGMENT ACCORDING TO WORKS
(Romans 2:6-8)
– ‘Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’. Not so, God judges all things.
1. We will be judged by our works.
– 2:6; often neglected by evangelicals who wonder how it fits in with justification …
Peter Barnes | Romans 2:1-5
SERMON NOTES
WE JUDGE OURSELVES
(Romans 2:1-5)
– ‘Practise what you preach’ is something we all struggle with
– to Jews (Schreiner, Lloyd-Jones, etc), to moralists (F. F. Bruce) or to hypocrites (Calvin)? Paul is general – hence ‘O man’ in 2:1, 3. But he …
Peter Barnes | Romans 1:26-27
SERMON NOTES
THE APOSTASY OF THE HOMOSEXUAL CULTURE
(Romans 1:26-27)
– ancient Greek and Roman culture was infused with homosexuality. Julius Caesar, for example, was a homosexual.
1. Homosexuality is indecent.
– 1:26-27; Nero had two homosexual ‘marriages’
– Lev.18:22; 20:13
2. Homosexuality is unnatural.…
Peter Barnes | Romans 1:24-25, 28-32
SERMON NOTES
ABANDONED TO WICKEDNESS
(Romans 1:24-25, 28-32)
– some textual variants but there are something like 21 vices listed in verses 29-31. Paul is not saying that all Gentiles did all these things all the time, but this is where idolatry heads.
1. …
Peter Barnes | Romans 1:21-23
SERMON NOTES
THE WICKED FOLLY OF IDOLATRY
(Romans 1:21-23)
– context of Rom.1:20. Calvin sees wonder in our fingernails. We have no defence.
1. All people know God in a sense.
– 1:21; see Acts 14:17; that is why the atheist can be so virulent…
Peter Barnes | Romans 1:19-20
SERMON NOTES
KNOWING THE CREATOR THROUGH THE CREATION
(Romans 1:19-20)
– ‘This is my Father’s world’ (Maltbie Babcock); hence Psalm 104
1. The creation reveals the creator.
– a watch reveals a watchmaker (William Paley)
– Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris see no design in …
Peter Barnes | Romans 1:18
SERMON NOTES
THE WRATH OF GOD
(Romans 1:18)
Romans 1:18-3:20 prepares the ground for Romans 3:25-26
1. God’s wrath is revealed in history.
– the Four Spiritual Laws begin with ‘God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.’ That is precisely where …
