1. “Heritage Counts For Something” Romans 3:1-8 June 20, 2010

2. I. Our spiritual heritage does have value (1-2). Being a Jew had value because they had been entrusted with the very words of God. Being a Jew had value because they had been entrusted with the very words of God. –The Jews had been given the message of salvation. –The Word of God has been preserved throughout history by the church.

3. I. Our spiritual heritage does have value (1-2). Being a follower of Jesus Christ has value because we have been given a tremendous responsibility. Being a follower of Jesus Christ has value because we have been given a tremendous responsibility. –We have an obligation as Christ-followers to carry out the message of the gospel. –We have been given a mandate to fulfill.

4. Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…”

5. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 “God... reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation... And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us...”

6. James 1:6 “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

7. James 4:2b-3 “You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.”

8. Psalms 145:13b “The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.”

9. Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

10. II. Our spiritual deficiency does not negate who God is (3-8). Our lack of faith does not nullify God’s faithfulness. Our lack of faith does not nullify God’s faithfulness. –We suffer because of our unbelief. –God is always faithful to His promises. Our unrighteousness clarifies God’s righteousness. Our unrighteousness clarifies God’s righteousness. –God is not unjust judging the world. –God’s justice demands it.

11. Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie...”

12. Titus 1:2 “... a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, which does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.”

13. II. Our spiritual deficiency does not negate who God is (3-8). Our falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness. Our falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness. –Our sin condemns us apart from grace. –Doing evil so that good may result validates that condemnation is deserved.

14. Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By not means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”