Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

God's Wrath and Our Only Hope

Bryan Schneider · April 25, 2026

Romans 3:9-20

sharonrpc.org/sermons/god-s-wrath-and-our-only-hope

Summary

Romans 3:9-20 brings every person (Jew and Gentile) under the same charge: all are under sin, and no group possesses moral superiority before God.
Sin is not merely a collection of bad actions; fallen humanity lives under sin's guilt, power, and condemnation, with no righteousness of its own to offer God.
Paul assembles Old Testament testimony to show sin working through the whole person: our throats, tongues, lips, feet, and eyes reveal the corruption of the heart.
God's law is good, but it cannot justify sinners. It exposes our guilt, silences our excuses, and removes every hiding place for self-righteousness.
Jesus Christ is the only exception to the universal charge: he was tempted as we are yet remained without sin, always seeking and obeying his Father.
The believer's only defense before God's judgment is Christ, who bore the punishment of sinners and clothes those who trust him with his own righteousness.
Because justification rests in Christ rather than self-defense, Christians are free to name their sins honestly, confess them, receive forgiveness, and pursue changed lives.

Where are you tempted to compare yourself with someone else instead of measuring yourself by God's righteousness?
What is the difference between committing sins and being 'under sin' as Paul describes it?
How do your words, reactions, desires, and habits reveal the condition of your heart?
What excuses do you most often use to soften or rename your sin?
Why can God's law expose and condemn sin but never justify a sinner?
How does Jesus answer both the guilt of your sin and your need for a positive righteousness before God?
Why does justification by faith make honest confession safer rather than less important?
What specific sin do you need to stop defending and bring to Christ for forgiveness and reform?

Universal condemnation: God's verdict that every person by nature is guilty and under sin, regardless of background, privilege, or comparison with others.
Depravity: The corruption of fallen human nature by sin, affecting every part of the person without meaning that everyone is as evil as possible.
Self-justification: The exhausting attempt to excuse our sin, defend our goodness, or establish our own right standing before God and other people.
Law: God's righteous standard, which reveals his will and exposes our sin but cannot provide the righteousness guilty people need.
Justification: God's gracious declaration that a sinner is righteous through faith in Christ, based on Christ's righteousness rather than personal merit.
Imputed righteousness: The righteousness of Christ counted to believers so that God receives them not in their own moral record but in the perfect obedience of his Son.
Practical atheism: Living as though God were absent or had no authority, even when a person may verbally claim to believe in him.
Confession: Agreeing with God's truthful judgment about our sin and bringing it to him in reliance on Christ's forgiveness.