Romans 3:1-20
In Hans Christian Andersen's story of The Emperor's New Clothes the Emperor parades before his whole populous without any clothes on. He had been convinced that he was wearing clothes which were invisible to everyone but the wise and pure in heart. The people, not wanting to appear stupid, joined together in praising his beautiful new clothing - until a child was heard to say, "The Emperor has no clothes!" Then the truth was known, and it was an embarrassing truth indeed.
That story could be a parable representing the current condition of humankind. The situation as it stands in our world today is one in which people believe that they are OK, when in fact they are not OK. In fact, no one is OK. We try to cover ourselves with many excuses and arguments concerning why we are doing just fine. We reason with others and with ourselves in order to excuse our behavior and situation. And we may even be able to convince many people by our arguments. But God knows the truth and, like the little child in the story of the emperor with no clothes, our condition will soon be clear.
If one thing is clear, from the book of Romans, it should be that everyone stands guilty before God. Not only are those who reject God found guilty, but also those who acknowledge God and live by high religious standards. Why? Because we have all sinned. We cannot live even by our own standards. And so, the entire human race stands condemned.
Do you find yourself making excuses for yourself for not trusting God? Have you heard others making their own excuses for not trusting Christ? Our arguments may convince others, as we hold them up to the light of God's word, they lose their substance.
Paul anticipates a number of arguments which might come up from the Jews who would read his letter. Paul deals with their faulty thinking one by one. In the end, all arguments are disposed of, as God's righteousness is revealed.
The first issue that is dealt with is the idea of religious privilege. The Jews reading this letter would see clearly that even Jews were lost. Their complaint was that if the Jews were lost - what advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? They were wondering what good all of this religious teaching, outward compliance with the Law, and exposure to the word of God would do them.
Did they have any advantage at all? Paul says, Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. The Jews were not like other people who had lived their lives in darkness and ignorance. The Jews had been entrusted with God’s word. They had the Scriptures. And this gave them a tremendous advantage over people who had never been exposed to the revelation of God.
In this revelation of God we find the truth about God and about us. The Scriptures show God in all of His majesty and eternal splendor. The Bible discloses who God is and how He has reached out in love to every single one of us. In addition, this revelation of God reveals to us who we are. It reveals how we are alienated from God and in need of a supernatural intervention. A supernatural intervention that only Jesus Christ could accomplish. It also reveals that we cannot make ourselves good by trying to be good, by trying to do good work. It reveals that our lives should have meaning and purpose and can only find that meaning and purpose in God Himself. So, having the very words of God is in itself a great advantage. It was for the Jews, and it is for us today.
The next issue is God's faithfulness. God made promises to the Jews. He made a covenant with them. Could they then question God's reliability to honor the covenant because of their lack of faith?
What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?
Has God suddenly changed in the way He deals with us? Is it possible for us to make Him responsible for our failure to be faithful to Him? This is an argument that can be very easily made today. When we fail, we look at God and ask Him why He didn't protect us . We say to God, “Where are you,” "What's wrong with You God? Why didn't You do something to keep me out of this situation?" But this is faulty reasoning. Notice what Paul says next:
Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge."
God's nature is not influenced by our failure. If every single one of us were found to be liars, God would still be true. He will never forsake His promise to us. He will never forsake His covenant with His people. But He is not responsible for our sin. He does not force us to refrain from sin or manipulate us as if we were mindless automatons. We have the freedom to choose to either obey or disobey Him. God is not accountable for our sin, we are.
The next argument comes from a warped logic. These Jews reason that if their lack of faithfulness only served to prove the faithfulness of God and their sin only served to prove His righteousness, then they would be justified in sinning all the more.
But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.)
If their sin only served to magnify God by proving that He is righteous and holy, then how can he blame them for committing sin, when they were glorifying Him by their sin? Didn't their sin prove that He was right after all? How could He judge them for doing the very thing that He said they would do? Was God unjust in judging them? This was their reasoning.
Indeed, this is the kind of reasoning that some even employed today. If God is in charge of everything including our lives, then how can He judge us for being what He created us to be? He has allowed us to be created with a sinful nature which we inherited from our first parents. How can He condemn us for doing the things that we naturally do? After all, He has allowed it to be so. Paul said that God is not being unfair.
Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, "If my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?" Why not say - as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say - "Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is deserved.
Paul exposes their argument as. Again, the answer is that God is not responsible for their sinful choices. He is righteous and above sin. Our sin does not prove God is right, God does not need to be proven right. He is right. God is not righteous because we are unrighteous. He is righteous because He is righteous. God is not truthful because we are untruthful. He is the embodiment truthfulness. God does not compare Himself with us. He does not need us looking bad in order for him to look good. When we sin, we stand accountable to God for that sin. God can judge the world because He is righteous and just and holy. His ability to judge us depends on who He is, not on who we are.
So we have no excuses we can make or no arguments we can put forth that will exonerate us from our responsibility before God. God did not cause us to sin, nor is He accountable for our sin. We choose to disobey Him and stand guilty before Him for that disobedience. All arguments are silenced.
Paul gives the bottom line for everyone, regardless of their situation in life or their religious privileges.
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.
The bottom line of it all is that every person is sinful before God. Everyone is guilty. If you do not live under the law, you are guilty. If you live under the law, then you are still guilty. If you live a blatantly Godless life, you are guilty. If you live a mostly moral life, you are still guilty. If you are irreligious, then you are guilty. If you are religious, then you are still guilty. This is the bottom line.
Paul takes special effort to show that no one escapes condemnation. In verses 10-18, Paul strings together six Old Testament sources to compose a powerful argument for the universal depravity of everyone.
He says, "There is no one righteous, not even one." This is a strong indictment of every person. He emphasizes this point by saying that not even one has obtained righteousness.
Look at verse 11: "There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God." Understands what? No one understands the true righteous nature of God. No one understands the depravity of man. No one understands the seriousness of sin. And, furthermore, no one even seeks after God. It is God who seeks after us. Oh, we might call out to God when we are in a difficult situation, illness, broken down car, broken down relationship. But this is not enough. At the core of humanity is a selfishness that keeps us focused on ourselves. Even when we call out to God, we are calling out to Him so that He would help us.
Verse 12 says, "All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." Just as Adam and Eve turned away from God, just as Jonah fled from God, Just as Judas betrayed the Christ, so the whole human race has turned away from Him. Confronted with the choice to follow God or serve ourselves, we have chosen to turn away from Him. Even our pathetic efforts at doing good works is done with mixed motives, usually so that we can feel good about ourselves for a short while, or be recognized by others for our wonderful selfless act.
Paul pulls out all the stops in Verse 13-14, "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
Our sinful depravity is revealed by our speech. Jesus said that our speech reflected what was in our heart. So, if our lives are unwholesome and unhealthy, so our speech will also be laced with deceit, poison, cursing, and bitterness. Of course, the reason is that our hearts are full of deceit, poison, cursing, and bitterness.
Finally, verses 15-18 put the final nail in the coffin: "Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes."
When people have not made peace with God, they can never make peace with one another. They exist in a perpetual inner struggle. Since they have no peace, they cannot tolerate others to have any peace. They become those who spread strife and discord, constantly nipping at other around them, intent on spreading discord. And even though they know that they should not be doing these things, they cannot control themselves, for they do not fear God.
This assessment of the human condition is devastating. Every person is under sin. None are exempt. That is the bottom line.
Paul makes a conclusion, he sums up the final outcome of the human condition.
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
The outcome is simple. It is straightforward. When we stand before God, there will be no arguments made. All mouths will be silenced then. We will not be able to offer anything in our own defense. And, furthermore, the whole world will be held accountable to God. All of us will be accountable. This should be obvious to us. The very fact that we have the word of God should make it obvious. You see, by understanding the requirements of God, we also should also understand that we cannot meet those requirements. Knowing the law means that we know that we have broken the law. The law reveals to us our sin. Therefore, every single one of us will stand before God with no other plea to make than "Guilty as charged."
So, what should our response be? What is God saying to us and to the world from our text? You should see several obvious implications from our text. One implication is that every person is hopelessly lost. Another implication is that none of us can save ourselves. Another implication is that all of us need a Savior. Another implication is that we have such a Savior in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the only solution to sin and the only hope for any of us. And the final implication is that we must all turn our lives over to Him today, if you have not already done so today would be a good day for that, since we have no guarantee of tomorrow, today is the day of salvation. God desires to condemn no one. He desires that we come to Christ while there is still time.
