Before you can understand grace…
you have to understand the problem.
Before you can rejoice in salvation…
you have to see why it’s needed.
Romans 1–3 lays it out plainly.
Not gently.
Not vaguely.
But truthfully.
▪️THE WRATH OF GOD REVEALED
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…”
— Romans 1:18 (KJV)
God is not indifferent to sin.
He is not overlooking it.
He is not adjusting His standard.
His wrath is revealed—
Not because man is ignorant…
but because man rejects truth.
“Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator…”
— Romans 1:25
This is the issue.
Not lack of light—
but rejection of light.
▪️WHEN MAN IS LEFT TO HIMSELF
Romans 1 shows a downward spiral.
Step by step.
Choice by choice.
And three times we read:
“God gave them up…”
• To uncleanness
• To vile affections
• To a reprobate mind
Why?
“They did not like to retain God in their knowledge…”
— Romans 1:28
They didn’t want Him.
So God let them go their own way.
And it didn’t lead upward—
It led downward.
So far down that:
“Who knowing the judgment of God… not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
— Romans 1:32
Sin doesn’t just corrupt behavior—
It corrupts thinking.
It corrupts desire.
It corrupts identity.
▪️NO ONE ESCAPES THE VERDICT
By the time we reach Romans 2—
Man starts pointing fingers.
Judging others.
Comparing himself.
But Paul cuts through it:
“Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest…”
— Romans 2:1
Whether Gentile without the Law…
Or Jew with the Law…
The conclusion is the same:
All are guilty.
“There is none righteous, no, not one.”
— Romans 3:10
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
— Romans 3:23
Religion doesn’t fix it.
Morality doesn’t erase it.
The Law exposes it.
▪️THEN COMES THE TURNING POINT
After all the darkness—
After all the failure—
Two powerful words appear:
“But now…”
— Romans 3:21
Everything changes here.
Not man reaching up to God—
But God providing righteousness to man.
“The righteousness of God without the law is manifested…”
— Romans 3:21
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
— Romans 3:24
This is the Gospel.
Not earned.
Not deserved.
Not achieved.
Given.
Freely.
▪️RIGHTLY DIVIDED TRUTH
In this present Dispensation of Grace—
God is not dealing with man based on Law…
But through grace revealed to and through the Apostle Paul.
The bad news is total:
• Man is ruined
• Man is guilty
• Man is without excuse
But the good news is greater:
• Righteousness is provided
• Justification is free
• Salvation is by grace through faith
▪️PRACTICAL REALITY
Sin degrades.
It always does.
Downward…
deeper…
darker…
But grace restores.
Upward…
new…
alive in Christ.
▪️FINAL ENCOURAGEMENT
Don’t skip the first three chapters of Romans.
Read them slowly.
Read them honestly.
Because until you see the ruin—
You won’t fully rejoice in the rescue.
Man’s ruin makes grace necessary.
God’s grace makes salvation possible.
Stand in it.
Rest in it.
Preach it.
