Bill Acton :: Romans 1:17 - The Righteousness of God

Sermon Outline for Romans 1:17

The Righteousness of God

1. God’s Righteousness Demands Perfection
   1. In regard to holiness – “Be ye holy for I am holy”
   2. Through conscience – Conscience gives us the fact of morality
   3. Through law – Law gives us the content of morality
   4. The law cannot save because:
      1. We have a fallen nature opposed to God’s law – Rom 8:5-7
      2. The nature of the law
         1. The law is a unity
         2. One violation breaks the whole law – Jas 2:10
         3. Righteousness by law (works) means total obedience and perfect goodness.
         4. Righteousness by law means permanent obedience, not temporary – we must keep the whole law all of our lives
      3. We are already sinners
         1. We are already condemned – Jhn 3:18
         2. If we lived perfectly from now on it would not take care of our past
   5. Self-righteousness is not acceptable to God – Tit 3:5
2. God’s Righteousness Demands Punishment
   1. The nature of sin
      1. Sin is selfishness
      2. Sin is rebellion
   2. The punishment for sin
      1. Physical death – eternal
      2. Spiritual death – eternal
   3. The results of sin
      1. Separates us from God
      2. Renders us spiritually dead
      3. Opens our life to evil
3. God’s Righteousness Is Revealed
   1. Through His law
   2. Through His Son – Rom 1:17
      1. The sinless life
      2. The sacrificial death