Sermon25-48 Rom3 Guide

Rom 3:1-12 theme verse Rom 3:4

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this forty third Sunday of 2025, on Pentecost Sunday, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and also the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, we looked at Christ’s death and redemption through it as the second doctrine of Canons of Dort, yet this week, we would like to look at the Human Corruption as the third doctrine of Canons of Dort together.

1)    The first article of the Third doctrine of Canons of Dort confesses that "In the beginning, human beings were created in the image of God, and were furnished in mind with a true and sound knowledge of the Creator and things spiritual, in will and heart with righteousness, and in all emotions with purity so that the whole human being was holy." And also Heidelberg catechism Q&A 6 confirms further that, "God created human beings good and in his own image, that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that they might truly know God their Creator, love Him with all their heart, and live with God in eternal happiness, to praise and glorify Him."

2)    However, these holy human beings, tempted by the serpent (Satan), ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden, and fell into corruption. And they lost outstanding gifts God had given them. Rather their intellect became blinded and engulfed in terrible darkness and futile and distorted in their judgement. And their will and heart became perverse, rebellious, and stubborn and all their emotions became impure. And also this corruption spread to all humanity.

3)    Therefore, first, Romans 1:21-31 says that although people knew that God exists, they neither honor Him as God nor give thanks to Him. Instead, their hearts became darkened and foolish, they worshipped idols, and also because of their lusts and shameful desires, they became to be filled with impurity and sensuality. And because of their depraved minds, they committed all kinds of immorality. And then following paragraph, Romans 2:1-3:8 says that this miserable human condition is manifested in the actions of all humanity. For Gentiles, who do not have the Law, this manifests in the form of breaking God's law written on their consciences. And even Jews, who were entrusted with the Law, have been dishonoring God by breaking the Law. So Romans 3:9-18, which is the today’s text declares that “there is no one righteous on earth, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is no one who does good, not even one.

4)    Regarding this human corruption, the Third doctrine of the Canons of Dort, Article 1, states that in the beginning, God created human beings in His image, possessing the knowledge of God and things spiritual in intellect, purity in emotions, and righteousness in will, so that they were holy. However, by the temptation of Satan, human beings fell, losing the good gifts God had given him. So their intellect became darkened and foolish, their emotions became impure, and their will were filled with rebellion and stubbornness. And Article 2 further states that this corrupted nature was passed on to their offsprings, with the exception of Jesus Christ, who was holy being conceived by the Holy Spirit. And then Article 3 states that those conceived in sin and born as children of wrath are incapable of any good deeds that would save them. Rather, they are inclined toward evil, and are not only dead in sin but also slaved to it. So without the grace of the Holy Spirit, who regenerates human nature, they are totally incapable of turning to God, by reforming their corrupt nature, or correcting themselves. However article 4 continues that even after the fall, God greatly increased His common grace, so that some light of nature remains in human beings. So they possess some knowledge of God, nature, glory, and shame, and try to act morally to some extent. However, this light of nature cannot lead people to know God, attain salvation, or return to Him by themselves. Even in natural and civic matters, people can not use it properly. Instead, whatever light it may be, people pollute and suppress it in various ways, becoming inexcusable before God. And article 5 also applies the same principle to the Ten Commandments given to the Jews. Human beings cannot live in the law by themselves. Rather, the Ten Commandments reveal the weight of sin and make people more aware of their guilt, but they do not offer correction or provide the power to escape. So as Romans 8:3 says, the law, weakened by the flesh, imprisons those who break it, rather than bringing them salvation. Therefore article 6 states that what the light of nature or the law cannot do, God saves those who believe in His pleasing will through the Word which is the Gospel of the Messiah, with the power of the Holy Spirit.

5)    But, regarding this human corruption, Arminius said that a) Original sin in itself is not enough to condemn the whole human race or to warrant temporal and eternal punishment. b) The spiritual gifts or the good dispositions and virtues such as goodness, holiness, and righteousness could not have resident in the human will at creation and therefore could not have been separated from the will at the fall so it is able to will or choose whatever good is set before it or else not to will or choose it. c) Unregenerated humanity is not totally dead in sin or deprived of all capacity for spiritual good but is able to thirst for righteousness & to offer the sacrifice of a broken. d) Corrupt and natural humanity are able gradually to obtain a saving grace as well as salvation by good use of common grace or of gifts remaining after the fall. e) The faith by which we first come to conversion and from which we receive the name “believers” is not a quality or gift infused by God, but only a human act.

6)    So regarding these errors of Arminius, the Counsel of Dort condemned since a) the claim that original sin is not sufficient for condemnation contradicts the Bible, “Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned (Rom 5:12)”. b) The claim that virtues such as goodness, holiness, and righteousness could not be separated after the fall contradicts the Bible that “The heart id deceitful above all things and desperately sick (Jer 17.9)”. c) The claim unregenerated one is not completely dead conflicts with the Bible “every intention of the thoughts of heart was only evil continually (Gen 6:5)”. d) The claim that natural human can attain salvation through common grace and remaining gifts conflicts the Bible “In past generation He allowed all the nations to walk in their own way (Act 14;16).” e) The claim that faith is not God’s gift conflicts the Bible “I will put my law within them, and write it on their hearts (Jer 31:33).”

7)    By the way, I think that we need to reflect how we perceive ourselves in this doctrine. I mean, there are three views of religions and philosophies on the salvation: Pelagianism, Semi-Pelagianism, and Calvinism. Here Pelagianism holds that, although humans are fallen into sin, the light of their nature has not been extinguished so that through their own efforts, will, and good deeds, they can still choose God, please Him, and attain salvation. Yet, Semi-Pelagianism holds that humans are totally depraved and unable to come back to God on their own, but since God provided prevenient grace, so that they could be led to God and have desire for salvation. I mean, it holds that salvation is achieved through the cooperation of God’s gracious first step and human response and effort. But Calvinism emphasizes the total depravity of humanity and God’s mere grace so that since human beings are totally depraved by sin and totally incapable to come back to God or doing good on their own, salvation is granted solely through God's unconditional election and irresistible grace, and yet human beings respond to God's grace with life of gratitude to live according to His pleasing will after. In short, Pelagianism is human-centered, and Semi-Pelagianism is human-God collaboration, while Calvinism is God-centered. So, in this perspective, I hope we could think about how we look at us deeply in our heart. According to my experience, even though Adam and Eve were created in the perfect image of God, possessing knowledge of God in their intellect, purity in their emotions, and righteousness in their will so that they were holy, yet if they ultimately fell into Satan's temptation and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then even though I was regenerated by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, I cannot say that I am perfect not to slip into the error. So realized that I cannot help but confess that I am still totally depraved and unable to live in God’s pleasing will without His grace. That’s why the Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 114, to the question that ”But can those converted to God obey these commandments perfectly?" answers that "No. In this life, even the holiest have only a small beginning of this obedience. Nevertheless, with all seriousness of purpose, they do begin to live according to all, not only some of God’s commandments.” Furthermore, the Heidelberg catechism Q&A 115, in response to the question that ”Since no one in this life can obey the Ten Commandments perfectly, why does God want them preached so pointly?" answers that “First, so that the longer we live, the more we may come to know our sinfulness and the more eagerly look to Christ for forgiveness of sins and righteousness. Second, so that we may never stop striving and never stop praying to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit, to be renewed more and more after God’s image, until after this life we reach our goal: perfection.”

8)    And also that’s why our Lord said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am humble and gentle," teaching us that humility and gentleness are what we have to learn, because only when we realize that we possess nothing good within ourselves and totally depend on God's grace, we truly strive for God's grace through which we can stand on that path. Therefore, I pray that giving thanks to our Lord who shed His precious blood for our salvation, we may live in His pleasing will as our life of gratitude, empowered by His grace for glory of God.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, we became to know that after realizing that human beings are in the misery of total depravity and total inability so that we could not save us by ourselves so that the grace of Christ’s death for us is so great. So, after meditating on our spiritual status and His grace and thinking about what benefit this grace gives us, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And also, our Lord said us to learn His humility and gentleness, since the humility which makes us depend on God totally leads us to His salvation. So after reviewing our lives and how much we learn His humility, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.