All Have Sinned Series

3:9

“What then? Are we better than they?”

Therefore, what? I’ve just shown you that, in spite of their sin, God chose Israel and gave them a very specific advantage, namely the words of God Himself! What have I proved?

That we are better? Please note that the words for “than they” are not in the Greek. That’s why “than they” is in italics. Paul simply asks, the Jews have an advantage, but are we better? Paul is a Jew and seems to include himself in the question. Are we better, even with this advantage of having Scripture, better than the Gentiles?

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Think of it yourself. The people who know the most Bible, are they intrinsically better, I mean when you look at their heart? Is knowledge of the Word the basis for acceptance with God? Jews had and knew the Scriptures. Are they better?

“Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.”

Where did he do this previously? In 1:18, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” All. 2:8, 9, “… indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek…”

Notice “previously charged” or “proved already”. That’s a legal term. Paul is making a case here. I have proved my point, Jews and Greeks are equally guilty, they are all under sin.

“Under” sin. Sin is on top, dominating, controlling, directing. Like in a wrestling match, you weigh 120 pounds, your opponent is 150. He floors you, and sits on you. You are going nowhere. This is sin. An opponent you cannot defeat. You are under him, going nowhere. There’s only one possibility for Jew or Gentile, and Paul is getting ready to share it with his readers, but first an appeal to Scripture to back up his case even more strongly: Psalm 14.

Note that he has already appealed to the creation and its fall, the history of evil men, the idea of conscience, the equality of Jews and Gentiles, the ineffectiveness of the law and circumcision and heritage, and he keeps coming up with the same conclusion: men are sinners. Still don’t believe it? The final court of appeal, “It is written,”

3:10

“As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no not one;”

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Macarthur refers to this section as an indictment, a multi-count indictment against fallen man. The first indictment is that sinfulness is universal.

He quotes a Spirit-filled King named David as his authority. This is Psalm 14, a Psalm remarkable in that it is repeated almost word for word in Psalm 53. As Paul quotes the first three verses here, I will give the fuller quotation side by side, so you can get the depth of the meaning David heard from God.

The entire quote of Psalm 14:1: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have done abominable works,” and then the point Paul is trying to make, “there is none who does good.” None. Paul adds the “no not one” to be sure we get the point.

God’s standard is perfect righteousness. To get near God you must be as righteous as He is. He accepts nothing less. Paul will tell us later how to get that righteousness added to our account, but fallen man knows nothing of this. They will all freely admit, Well, no one is perfect. And that’s the problem. Not perfect? Then, lost forever. One unforgiven sin keeps you out of heaven. Only one. The very best of men have sinned. The very worst of men have sinned a lot. But it’s all the same to God. Sin keeps us from God and heaven.

Macarthur imagines a jumping contest between serious athletes. They are all located on a south seas island, and the idea is to jump over the water to the United States. Some jump ten, fifteen, twenty-five feet. Some not in shape hardly jump at all. None of them make it to the American mainland. Does it matter how much better one athlete is than the other?

You say, what a ridiculous analogy. Yes, the analogy if insufficient to show how ridiculous it is to think we can get to heaven by being a good moral athlete. Sin puts a wide gulf between us and God. Some might be those 25-feet people but so what? We all fall far short, as Paul will conclude later.

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Psalm 14 goes on in verse 2, “The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God.” And the implication is there aren’t any in either category, so Paul summarizes that verse as you see it in verse Romans 3:11.