Continuing in Isaiah 59, verse 5, they hatch viper's eggs and weave the spider's web. He who eats of their eggs dies. And from that which is crushed, a viper breaks out. Their webs will not become garments, nor will they cover themselves with their works. Their works are works of iniquity. The act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed innocent blood. There it is again. They make haste. to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. Wasting and destruction are in their paths." When Paul was Saul and he consented to the death of Stephen, his feet were eager to run to evil and he was making haste to shed innocent blood. When he read this, the Apostle Paul read this, he knew that he was this before the Lord brought him alive and made him alive to know his truth and his righteousness. And so Isaiah goes on to describe what Isaiah would have been before he was a believer, and Paul would have been when he was the Pharisee Saul, and that we were before we were born again. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. Wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace, the way of peace with God and with neighbor, they have not known. And there is no justice in their ways. There is no justice in their ways. No justice for God. There's no justice for them in their ways. They have made themselves crooked paths. Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. Therefore, justice is far from us. See? Naturally, justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us. We look for light, but there is darkness. For brightness, but we walk in blackness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes. We stumble at noonday as at twilight. We are as dead men in desolate places. We all growl like bears and moan sadly like doves. We look for justice, but there is none. For salvation, but it is far from us." It's interesting that the only one who could write this and understand what they're writing is one who is no longer in that state. And someone who's in that state of of death, that state of blindness, they would never say about themselves for salvation, we look for salvation but it's far from us. They would say, oh no, no, I have salvation. Oh no, no, I am forgiven. But when you're in the light and you look back, you see what that is and you know you can assess yourself when you were there and you can assess others. And you know that you looked for justice back then but there was no justice, no true justice. You look for salvation but that salvation was far from you. and far from me. For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us. For our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them. In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood, justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off. for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey." You know, it matches up with verse 20. of Romans 3, where it says, for by the law is the knowledge of sin, which is talking about unnatural knowledge. It's just all that the law can do without a regenerate heart and mind, without being born again. All the law can do is entice one someone to sin all the more. And so he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man in all of humanity, there was no man who could, you could say, fix this, and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore, his own arm brought salvation for him, and his own righteousness it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head." And this, of course, happened in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies. The coastlands he will fully repay." Now, other places it says, the coastlands shall hear. So clearly he's talking about some or most of the coastlands he will fully repay. That is the nations. The coastlines represent the nations. They were the Philistines in the day. So they were the nations. But there were some of the nations that would hear. So here is talking about those who would not hear, those who are his enemies. Recompense to his enemies, the co-saints he will fully repay. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. That's the standard of the gospel. That's the truth against him. The Redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob." That means they were born again. They know for the first time the conviction of sin and righteousness and judgment. John 16. So the Redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob. He will come to the elect, and the elect will be regenerated, and they will turn from transgression, says the Lord. As for me, says the Lord, speaking of these regenerate elect, and not the wicked, but speaking, not the wicked that do not, are not regenerated, but the elect. He says, as for me, says the Lord, this is my covenant with them. not the others, but with them. My Spirit who is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your seed, or your descendants, Nor from the mouth of your descendants says the Lord from this time and forevermore." And the idea of your children and your children's children is the idea of fullness. It's the idea of the entirety of the posterity. The entirety of the household. And so it's saying all of God's household will be brought in and will be given the Spirit. And that Spirit, that truth will be, His words will be put in our mouth. They come out from our heart. They shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants, says the Lord from this time and forever. And so the Lord here with Isaiah and the Spirit is also making such a contrast as we've seen in the minor prophets and everywhere. as we read in Psalm 5 and everywhere of a contrast between the Israel of God and the rest. And that is the contrast that we've been thinking about these last number of weeks as we were in and we'll return to 1 Timothy chapter 4 Let me go there. 1 Timothy chapter 4. And the point, as I said over and over again, but the underlying point that Paul is making is that God shows no partiality based upon the flesh, based upon what a person is or what they can produce or what they can bring or whatever, according to natural generation. But God shows partiality based upon His will His work and that partiality, that favor that is called grace, that mercy and grace He gives to those that He has chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. We've turned over now to Romans 2 and now we're in Romans 3, and we've been considering Romans 3 because Paul, the same writer as 1 Timothy, Paul is driving this point home in so many ways in the early part of the book of Romans. where he says that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. And verse 18 of chapter 1, having just declared the gospel, that the gospel is the power of God and the salvation for all those who believe, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. He's making it there too. You see that? The gospel is the power of God for all those who believe, meaning that's not a condition they meet. That's an indication that they are of those for whom the gospel is the power of God. And of course the gospel is Jesus Christ himself. So Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation. So Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, our Savior, the one who meets all the conditions where we are concerned, where God is concerned as a human being in the flesh, meets all the conditions for life and blessing, and that is given to us through Him. And so that gospel has been revealed in the coming of Jesus Christ. It's revealed in a couple ways, which we'll talk about, Lord willing, maybe today or another day, but we'll get there. And then he goes right into the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. Well, we see that everywhere. There's death everywhere. There's decay. There's chaos. There's death. There's weeds. There's disasters, there's earthquakes, and famine, and pestilence, and all these things are the beginning of sorrows. All these things are indications, even down to weeds, and thorns, and thistles that grow up. These are all indications that the creation groans for the revealing of the sons of men, and the creation you could say, wants to be released from the effect of sin on the very creation itself. God will recreate the world in righteousness and so forth. He's driving home the point that that the wicked hate the truth. They hate righteousness. In chapter one, I'm really going back, but in chapter one, he brings out some of the most heinous kinds, you could say, kinds of crimes. And they're obviously contrary to the truth. But then he comes into chapter two, and he basically says, you Jews, by nature, even though you're Jews, you're no different. Even though you're religious, you're no different. You're just like them before God. Now, is there an advantage to being a Jew? Is there an advantage to being in the context of the promises and of the oracles of God and all the rest? Well, there is because that's where salvation occurs. God saves people by the power of his word. And so in that sense, there is an advantage, but there's no advantage at all, in and of themselves, that they are just as equally, totally dead in trespasses and sins, the natural Jew is, as a natural Greek, or a natural Gentile, or barbarian, or free, or male or female, whatever the distinctions are that people would make according to the flesh. mean nothing where God's salvation is concerned. They don't meet any requirements or any conditions whatsoever, even to the point of, you could say, intellect. Whether someone's really smart or not so smart. Or zeal. What about someone who's really, really concerned about being saved and really, really zealous for searching out and wanting to be justified? That doesn't make a difference where God is concerned. He shows no partiality in regards to whatever the person is according to natural generation. And Paul is driving this point home. He is just, to the point where we've been in three, And he says to the Romans, you've heard this from the religious people, particularly from the religious Jews. You've heard the arguments against the truth, he's saying, in the early part of chapter three. And he says, well, you've heard this. He says in verse three of chapter three, for what if some did not believe? What if some of the Jewish people, in fact, most of the Jewish, what if they didn't believe the gospel? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Is the faithfulness of God dependent upon the belief of the sinner? No. No. Most of them don't believe that doesn't mean that the faithfulness of God is without effect because the faithfulness of God has an effect Irrespective of the sinners it doesn't need and doesn't require and in fact cannot require the agency of the ability, the contribution of the Jew or the Greek or the male or the female or the smart or the not-so-smart or the zealous or the not-so-zealous. Paul was, as a Pharisee, he was extremely zealous for the traditions of his fathers, which was from the Scriptures. He thought he was on the right track. So is the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not. Indeed, let God be true, but every man a liar. Meaning, what God, no matter what, we saw this in the first hour, no matter what the appearance is, no matter what's going on, the truth is that the promise holds and there will be those who believe. And they will be of the nations. as well as of Jewish descent. Which where he goes in chapter four, you know where he goes. He goes what? Did Abraham believe after he was circumcised or believe before he was circumcised? Did he believe when he was a Jew or when he was not even yet had received circumcision? You see the point. He's driving this home again and again and again. And then in chapter three, he goes, well, and you've basically heard this, this argument. He's talking to the Romans when he's writing to them. And he says, you've heard this argument, verse five, chapter three, verse five. You've heard this from religious people when they hear the gospel and they hear the fact that salvation is entirely of the Lord and all the implications of what that means. Here's what they say. They say something like this. But wait a minute, Paul. If my unrighteousness, if my unbelief, If my sinfulness, if my deadness, that I can't correct, demonstrates the righteousness of God, well then, isn't God unjust, who inflicts wrath? How can He hold me responsible for something that He has made me to be, in a state that He has caused me to be in? That would make him unjust, the creature says to the creator. And that's what Paul says. I speak as a man. Is God unjust? He's the creator. Certainly not. Absolutely not. No, no, may it never be. Very, very strong. Absolutely not. Essentially, I said this before, it's the creature imposing the standards of the creature upon the creator and therefore elevating themselves as the standard bearer of justice. Isaiah 59, sound familiar? There is no justice. When Isaiah says there is no justice in Isaiah 59, he's not just saying there is no justice to human beings. He's saying there's no justice for God. In the mind, in the depraved, in the sinful, dead, wicked mind of every natural human being, there is no justice for God. God is like them. He is, their God is a figment of their imagination. subject to their standards, to their rules. They create the God they worship, which is ultimately themselves. They worship a God of their own image. That's why he says, certainly not, for then how will God judge the world? Meaning, well certainly not, it's not unjust for God who inflicts wrath. God has already said that he will judge the world. So there must be those that are created that will come under judgment because you can't have a redemption without there being judgment. Well then, then the sinner says, then the wicked mind says, and you've heard this argument before, this is where they ultimately go. Well, wait a minute, verse seven. If the truth of God, hold on a minute. You're saying, this is what God has purposed all along. And He judges those whom He has created for that purpose, and He has caused them to sin, ultimately caused them to sin the way they sin. And by the way, that is replete through, if that's the right word, that is everywhere in the scriptures. We read it this morning. God, what did He say about the, during Jehoram's day, that God caused the Philistines and so forth to come against Jehoram and his army. Wasn't that sin? Wasn't it sin for the Philistines to come against the Israelite army? Yeah, God caused that. So the argument you hear from the natural mind, because they hate God, They hate the very thought of a creator and a judge, and one who is sovereign over all things, and has appointed everything that ever occurs, or everyone that ever is created. You hear the argument. Well, if the truth of God is increased through my lie to His glory, you see, this argument would not come up if free will were free will, if that was true. This argument would not come up if Jesus Christ's redemption was made available to every human being. So you know that those things are a lie because this argument does come up. Well, wait a minute. What you're saying is, God has created me this way and he's going to judge me if the truth of God has, therefore, if the truth of God has increased through my lie to his glory, Well then, why am I also still judged as a sinner? I'm benefiting God, but I'm still judged as a sinner. And why not say, let us do evil that good may come? And Paul says, as we are slanderously reported, as if Paul were preaching and teaching, sure, just go do evil that the glory of God may abound. Chapter six of Romans. Remember? Chapter six of Romans. Applying it to the, what shall we say then? Should we continue in sin that grace may abound? Hmm. The truth of God is increased through my lie to his glory." Well then, the opposer says, why am I also still judged as a sinner? Why not say, let us do evil that good may come? And Paul says, as we are slanderously reported by them, by the one who's coming up with this opposing argument, and they affirm that we say this. They say, we're actually saying this. That's not true, we're not saying that. We're not saying that, we're not encouraging people to disobedience and to opposition to the truth. We are imploring, we are preaching repentance. We're saying repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That command goes out to everybody who can physically hear. So we're not affirming that. And what does he say then? He says, when they make that kind of argument, they demonstrate they hate God. They hate Him. I hated Him. I don't even remember making that argument, because I had not ever heard the truth So I never got to the place where having heard the truth, thankful by the grace of God, but had I heard the truth and had not been born again, I would have made that argument right there. I would have said, wait a minute. Well, if the truth of God is increased through my lie to his glory, then why am I, why am I held accountable? Why am I judged? Why will I receive the wrath of God? That's not right! That's not right that you would create me this way and then judge me for being what I am. That's not right. If that's not right, then God is not the Creator and the Redeemer and the Judge and the Destroyer And all of His attributes. He's not who He is. If that's not right, God is killed or destroyed. You see? The reason why they say that is because they hate Him. And He has created them as vessels of wrath. Being prepared for destruction. Romans chapter 9. You see how all of Romans is in these early chapters? And he says, their condemnation is just. That's just. For God, that is just. And for humankind, that is just because we are creatures. The proud says there is no God. But the poor in spirit shall inherit the earth. See? The meek. That's what it means. When one is converted by the power of the Spirit, we love God. We say that is right. This is not our world. This is not our creation. We are not of our own making. We are what we are because of God. And everybody is what they are because of God. It's His creation. And He does whatever He pleases in heaven and earth. And we pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We are in agreement with the works, the judgments, the statutes, all of the judgments of God, we are in agreement. Just like Psalm 5. Just like Psalm 130. Just like the other passages we read today. Just like, remember what David said in Psalm 5? What David said in that other psalm that we read, Psalm 140. Okay. Just a few more minutes. So then what then? Okay. Their condemnation is just. Well, what then? What do we say about these things? What do all these things show? What is the point that Paul's driving at? Well, here's the point. What then? Are we the Jew by nature? Are we better than they? Is the Jew by nature better than the Gentile by nature? Is the Jew by birth better than the Gentile by birth? What's he say? This is the point, not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. We have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under the dominion of sin by natural generation. As it is written, And this is why I say, what we read in Psalm 5, Psalm 140, last week we read, or two weeks ago, Psalm 14, all these Psalms, he taps into, Paul does, you could say, taps into, is maybe not the right way to say that. But he's saying that what the scriptures say about the unregenerate human being, is true and God has said it before and here's the truth. As it is written, that means as God has said, there is none righteous, no not one. What does that mean? Because there are certainly those who are just. The just shall live by faith and there are those who live by faith and they are righteous. So when it says there is none righteous, it means there is none by natural generation righteous. No, not one. Be they Jew, or be they Greek, or be they whatever they are, there is none righteous according to the flesh. There is none who understands. There is none by natural birth and capacity, by human wisdom, by intellect, by even the putting together of logical propositions. There is none who understands spiritual things. There's no natural man that understands spiritual things. No, not one. There is none who seeks after God in their natural state. Believers seek after God. Absolutely. First time we seek after God is when we're made alive. But there's none who seek after God in their natural state. They have all turned aside to a wicked way. They have together, they have together, both Jew and Greek, they have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, by their wisdom or by their working." Do you hear that? That's why we read 1 Corinthians 1.18 through the end of chapter 2, two or three times. There is none who does good by their wisdom or by their working, by their willing, by their running, by anything. No, not one. So there's none who does good. No, not one. Their throat is an open tomb. It's deaf. With their tongue, they have practiced deceit. They speak out of both sides of their mouth many times. We could go on about that, but we won't at this point, but you see what it's saying. The poison of asps is under their lips. We read that, Psalm 140. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. The emphasis here is their mouth is naturally full of cursing toward God and bitterness toward God. Their mouth is full. That means their heart. When it says their mouth, they speak from the heart. When they hear the truth, they're like the opposers in verse 5 and verse 7 of chapter 3. They're full of cursing. You put this mark on me, Cain said. It's too much for me to bear. He's railing against God, Cain is, after he murdered his brother. Because God did not accept Cain, and he did not accept his offering. And God put a mark on Cain, a mark of condemnation. and that he would be threatened by, he would find no peace on the earth and ultimately eternally as well. And he says, this is too much for me to bear. What is he saying? You're not right. I curse you God. Their mouth is naturally full of cursing and bitterness of God and toward God. Meaning of, meaning about God and toward God. Now look at this. Their feet are swift to shed blood. The force here is what we read in Isaiah 59.7. That's what Paul's driving at. Their feet are swift to shed innocent blood as they have done in crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ. As they did to the prophets. As they did to me, so they'll do to you. And they have done to you. Eternal destruction and eternal misery are in their ways. It reads, destruction and misery are in their ways. It means eternal destruction, eternal misery. Listen, there's many wicked who are billionaires, or who live luxuriously. Many, many, many in the United States of America, frankly, live luxuriously. We live, physically, we live luxuriously. We have running water. We have hot showers. We have plenty of food to eat. We have plenty of clothing. We have cars to get around. We have, we have so much more physically, temporally than even you go back even 50 years, a hundred years. We have electricity. We have, my goodness, we have, uh, opportunity to earn income we have leisure time we have on and on entertainment we have we have so much it's not talking about that it's not talking about you know, as if, as if for the wicked in temporally in this life, there's always destruction and misery in their ways. No, most of the time, or many times in the wicked, there's anything but, naturally speaking, destruction and misery in their ways. So it can't be talking about what people experience in this life. But it's talking about eternal destruction and eternal misery are in their ways. Be they Jew or Greek, that's continually emphasis. And the way of peace with God they have not known, nor can know in and of themselves. The way of peace they have not known, the way of peace with God they have not known, nor can they know it. That's exactly what 1 Corinthians 2 says. And we know that because we know ourselves. What we know, what we believe, we could not possibly have brought about by ourselves. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now verse 19 through 20. Now these are very misunderstood. Paul says, now we know, we the believing ones, We know that whatever the law says, whatever the scriptures say, and particularly the five books of Moses, ten commandments, and all the rest of the commands of God, the righteous requirements of God, whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law. What does that mean in this case? Who are under the law? He's talking about those who have a familiarity with the law. They have a context where the law has addressed them. They've read the scriptures. He's talking about natural human beings, unregenerate, human beings who are familiar with, in some manner, by hearing, by reading, by context, whatever, of the righteous requirements of the law. So now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, and here he's speaking particularly about Jews, because in their context, and God-fearers who would have been familiar with the scriptures, in their context, they know from the law that they need justification. But the natural man always pursues that by means of their flesh, by means of their wisdom, by means of their zeal, by means of their sincerity, by means of any ways that they possibly can. So we know that whatever the law says, it says those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world, both Jew and Gentile," again, that's the import. Remember, the whole context is leveling the playing field, you could say, that both Jew and Gentile, when it says, may become guilty before God, it's really saying that it might, it's not that the law makes them guilty, I mean, there were guilty people before the law was given, for example, from Sinai. What the law does, it makes manifest that they already are guilty. So when it says, may become guilty before God, it means that it would become evident. It would become, be made manifest. So we might read it that every mouth may be stopped and all the world might be made manifest to everyone who comes under the hearing of the law. It becomes evident to them, even in their blindness, even in their deadness, in the natural state that they are guilty. Now, I gotta pause for a moment. Have you ever heard of what's called The Roman Road to Salvation? Some of you may not. I see ones that are older that come out of the false church, you know, nodding your head. Angie's nodding her head and Jen was nodding her head. The Roman road of salvation is a technique developed by, or at least first proposed, I think, or at least identified, you could say, or somewhere in the 70s. I was reading this morning about this. And basically, it is a method to get people to salvation. It's a way of bringing them to the place where they recognize their need and they accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And what do you think the first thing is on the Roman road to salvation? What's the first step? What's the first statement that they use? There's five steps. What do you think the first one is? And I'll ask that rhetorically. Don't answer. And here it is. Well, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Well, how do we know that? Well, you know that from the law. See, the first thing you have to impress upon people is that they are guilty. And how do you impress upon the guilty? Well, they're lawbreakers. Show them the law. Show them the righteous requirements of the law. And you're on your way! You see, because they'll acknowledge, you know what? I really am a sinner. I mean, I knew I did certain things this way and that way, but when I get more familiar with the righteous requirements of God, when I get familiar with the law of God, which is not only addressed to the outward human being, but really is a matter of the heart, I'm such a wicked sinner. I'm terribly wicked. There's no reason why God should have any mercy on me. And I know now, in hearing of the law, that I need salvation. Well, it says. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. They may become understanding they're guilty before God. But it's not talking about regenerate understanding. It's what the law addressed to human beings naturally, what it produces. So it's ironic that the first thing, the first step, this first method, first thing in this method is to make sure they know that they're all guilty. And by the way, it completely perverts Romans 3.23, which we'll get to eventually, Lord willing, which is right here, you know, later on, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But wait till we get there, because that doesn't mean all head for head, person for person, everybody in the world. whoever lived. It doesn't mean that. But nonetheless, that's the first step. See? All of sin. Second step is, the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's Romans 6. And they pull out that verse. They say, well look, yes, you're a sinner, and the wages of sin is death, and what you deserve is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And so, Step three, God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, Romans 5. And they pervert that verse. So far, every verse has been perverted. And then verse, the fourth step rather, look at this, Romans 10, they pervert this. And so, God loves you, you're a sinner, He loves you like He loves everybody else. That's his step three. God proves His own love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, and the us, of course, is everybody. And so God proves that He loves you, and He doesn't want you to stay in this. And so He's provided for you the opportunity to be saved. He's provided for you a redemption that you can access. He's provided for you a way out of this mess that the law has exposed. So if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. And so there you go. Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead. Listen, the council knew that God had raised Jesus from the dead. Right? They bribed the soldiers. They said, don't say that. Don't tell anybody that. They knew that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Anyway, I won't go on with this because we're running out of time, but the point is when we're here in verses 9 through 20, here's the point. That what he's talking about is a natural, is what the law does to the natural person. What the law does is it exposes them as a sinner, but it does not provide a remedy and it cannot provide sight and life. It cannot. It's not living. The law is a standard. It testifies to the righteousness of God, but it can't reveal the righteousness of God. Only the Spirit reveals the righteousness of God. So when it says, therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. It's not saying by the law is the spiritual knowledge of sin. It's not saying that. What it's saying is, therefore, by the deeds of the law, meaning by natural human willing and working, right? By any conditions that we could meet, no flesh will be justified in this sight. For by the familiarity of the law, by the hearing of the law, by being made understanding naturally as an unregenerate, dead, spiritually dead person, in the hearing of the law, for by the hearing of the law in the flesh is the natural knowledge of sin." That's what it's saying. For both Jews and Greeks. And we'll leave this for next time, but then it says, but now. But now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed. Apart from the power of the law, apart from any working of the law, it's by God Himself in the Spirit. The righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed, being witnessed by the Spirit. the law and the prophets and he goes on from there because there is a revelation of Jesus Christ physically in that he came and people saw him and he was raised up before the nations and crucified and so forth. But there is a revealing of him spiritually that only comes by way of the Spirit. John 16 says, the Spirit will convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. The law does not convict savingly. The law only brings about the natural understanding of guilt and there is no remedy. Only the spirit saves in the preaching of the gospel, in the knowledge of the promise of God of salvation based on His work and solely done by Him. So we'll pick it up next time here at verse 21. I want to reemphasize that where Paul has driven us is even when you go to the law, even when you go to the scriptures as a blind person, whether you be religious or irreligious, no matter what your natural descent is, Jew or Gentile, on and on, that there's no salvation, there's no regeneration there It is not produced by the knowledge of the law to the human mind, but regeneration, but knowledge, but wisdom, but revelation of God's righteousness is given by the Spirit of Living God. And that's the partiality. That's a manifestation and an outworking of God's partiality based upon Him. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. And that's where Paul goes right now in 21. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you for your instruction to us and for the beautiful, beautiful words of faithfulness and blessing that you have given and truth that you've given to your people by your Spirit. We pray, Lord God, that we would increasingly walk in the Spirit, live in the Spirit. I'm talking about, Father, that you would cause love to abound in us toward you and toward one another. that we would live for the sake of your name and for the sake of Jesus Christ and for the sake of our brethren. We thank you for creating this worship of your great name here at this place and for the grace and partiality that you have displayed. To you goes all the glory. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.