A Study Of The Book Of Romans Lesson #9 Series

Book of Romans

Lesson # 9

Romans 3:13- 26

By Rev. James May

We ended our last lesson in Romans at Chapter 3, verse 12. In that lesson we were speaking of how that God is going to be justified in bringing judgment upon sinful man because of man’s rebellion against God. Man has forgotten God days without number, no man sought after God, but every man was going that which was right in his own eyes. Yet there was no righteousness in the deeds of men, even in those deeds which most men would consider to be good deeds. All of the good deeds that men do are nothing but filthy rags in the eyes of God. For no good deed serves to save the soul, and no good deed which is born of a heart of sin can be considered as works of righteousness before God.

In fact, all men are lost in sin by default, and we all need a Savior.

Paul continues describing the spiritual condition of all men who have not been Born Again, and even though we may be Born Again, there are many of the things that Paul describes that can be seen in Christians as well.

What does that mean? It simply means that no matter how sanctified we may become in the flesh, and no matter how holy and pious we may appear to be, yet our only hope is in the righteousness of Christ. It’s only by His righteousness that we can be considered as righteous, for we have not the capacity within ourselves to attain unto that perfect state. Though we are Christians, yet we are dwelling in these bodies of flesh that are affected by the fall, and we are corrupt even in our best efforts. Thank God that he sent his Son, Jesus, that we might have righteousness, and Lord help us to walk in sanctification and holiness that we can made acceptable to our Holy God.

Let us now continue to examine the words of Paul to the saints at Rome as he describes in even more detail, the true corrupt nature of fallen man.

Romans 3:13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

The Bible tells us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks! People love to talk, but how often are the words we speak like daggers to the heart of someone else? Or how often are our words, not words of faith and edification, but words of condemnation, judging one another and cutting down or tearing apart?

With words men tear one another apart, devour one another, destroy another’s reputation through gossip, and the worst part of it is that so much of the time the talking becomes like a feeding frenzy of sharks upon a wounded fish. The talk gets worse and worse and there is in an insatiable desire to talk ever more, until there is utter chaos and destruction. Our tongues are untamable according to the Book of James, and a world of iniquity.

When the lips part, and the air passes through our vocal cords on its way out to create a sound, it’s as though the air is coming from a deep, dark and foul smelling grave where death reigns. That which comes forth is so often filled with death and destruction, like death pouring from an open grave!

With the tongue we kill! With the tongue we give false flatteries and deceitful lies. With our tongue we cause mischief, and with the tongue we mislead others to get our own way! The tongue carries a poison of a viper even though it may appear at times to be as sweet as sugar. Oh the power of the tongue to build and to tear down is beyond measure! May God help us to control it because we certainly can’t do it on our own!

I’d love to say that this only pertains to those who are still lost in sin, but sadly, we all know that it pertains to us who are in the church as well. In fact, I sometimes think that Christians are even more capable of speaking words that hurt and kill more than people of the world .

Romans 3:14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

These words are taken from Psalms10:7. Cursing here sometimes means that men are cursing God. Sometimes that cursing is in the heart, and sometimes it comes forth from the lips. Men have no reason to curse God, but they do anyway, and it serves only as a deeper condemnation of the soul.

There is also a cursing of other men such as bosses, as parents, politicians, leaders, kings, and governors; which never serves to do any good and generally just leads to bad consequences.