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.
Men even curse themselves and even the creation around them. In fact, you can’t walk down the street without hearing someone cursing something because the heart of man is bound in sin and they don’t even know how to communicate without cursing something.
Romans 3:15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Paul’s view of the condition of the human heart continues here by saying that it doesn’t stop with just words, but the sin in the heart of man also shows its power through the things we do.
The heart devises sin, the mind works on the thoughts of the heart, the mouth speaks it forth and then the body begins to move to fulfil what the heart has devised.
The Book of James tells us that every man sins because he is drawn away by his own lust (his own ego and selfish desires), and then that sin brings forth death.
James also says that the tongue is an unruly evil that no man can tame. It’s only by the Grace of God that we as Christians don’t bite and devour one another sometimes too. Oh Wait! We are guilty of that sometimes too!
Men are always so quick to engage in fighting and destroying one another over anything, even the most trivial of matters. I’ve seen people almost destroy one another verbally over something that just amounts to nothing.
Malice and hatred are locked in the heart of sin and people are killed all around the world over the slightest disagreement. Life itself becomes cheap when God is left out of the heart!
Romans 3:16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
Romans 3:17 And the way of peace have they not known:
Romans 3:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Man is a miserable, deadly and destructive creature without God’s presence in his heart. He can know no peace because he does not know the Prince of Peace. Though we may claim a time of peace in which there is no war, yet there is never a true and lasting peace for man cannot help but ever be at war over something. Man doesn’t even know what true peace is without Jesus.
Yet, in spite of all of his sinfulness, and the judgment that awaits him, mankind has no fear of God in the sense of worshipping him, or even acknowledging God’s existence as a holy, beneficial Being because they don’t know him.
They also do not fear the judgment of God because they can’t see it coming! Life just goes on, day after day, as the whole of mankind heads for the edge of the cliff that falls off into judgment and destruction, but he never gives it a thought because he is so blind in his sin.
Now, taking all of this into consideration, let us look back quickly at verses 5 and 6 of Chapter 3.
Romans 3:5 … Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance?
Romans 3:6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
All of this was stated by the Apostle Paul to the saints at Rome just to make a point that God is Just in all that he does.
Though men may think that God is wrong in judging him for his sin, God is right in doing what he must to judge mankind. It is man that is evil and corrupt and the Righteousness and Holiness of God must prevail. Therefore, it is the duty of our Holy God to judge and condemn and pass sentence on all who will refuse to accept Christ.
God has made a way of salvation and all men are invited to accept his gift, but those who will not cannot then blame God for what will happen in the Day of Judgment. The Righteous Judge must make all things right in the end, whatever the cost!
Romans 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
What law is Paul talking about here? Is it just the 10 Commandments? Is it the 613 laws that found in the Hebrew context and established throughout the Books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus?
I think the “law” referred to here is all of that to some degree because all of the law is there for a purpose, to let us know how impossible it is to be in complete obedience to all of it. But I believe that the law goes much deeper than the set of rules laid down under the leadership of Moses.
The law that Paul refers to here is what we could refer to as the “Moral Law”.
The Moral Law is not named as such in the scriptures but it is established by the Word of God. The Moral Law appears throughout the Bible, both in the Old and the New Testaments. The whole counsel of God’s Word establishes the way that man should live in the earth. Every soul is bound to observe God’s Word, and every soul is born a transgressor of the Moral Law and then continues to disobey that Moral Law our entire life.
The Moral Law teaches us about sin, tells us what God expects, how we should act, think, love, have compassion, worship and live sanctified lives with a pure heart even a Christ did while he walked this earth as a man.
When we see all of the instructions concerning life in God’s Word, it is telling us that we are under the requirements of that Moral Law, and there are no exceptions to the rule. God sets the ways of righteousness and then it’s our duty to read, hear and obey, but we don’t have the ability within ourselves to do so.
The Moral Law serves to condemn all of mankind as transgressors. Even those who are called the Elect of God, his own adopted children in the earth, who have accepted Christ, are still affecting greatly by this Moral Law. There are a lot of Christians who think that obeying the Moral Law, they can somehow become righteous enough to enter Heaven. But man cannot fulfil that law within himself, whether he is a Christian or not.
Our only hope in being delivered from the condemnation of the law is to rely upon Jesus. He fulfilled the Moral Law for us and took our transgression upon himself at the. There, on that cross, our sin was overcome and wiped away by his blood and righteousness. Therefore, by His righteousness, we are made righteous, not by our obedience to the Moral Law.
We can say nothing but to confess that we are all guilty of offending the Moral Law. We can claim no right to righteousness by our own works for even those are few in number and always stained with imperfection. We cannot take any glory for what we do. We can only lean on what Jesus has done.
Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
There can be no justification before God by the law, since it stops the mouths of men, and pronounces them guilty: this includes works done in obedience to it, as performed by sinful men, which are very imperfect.
That word “Flesh” is God’s view of mankind, which is created from the dust of a cursed earth, and therefore is corrupt and carnal, existing in rebellion against God who is pure and holy. The law teaches us just how far short of purity we fall. It teaches what is right and pure, and we fail miserably at fulfilling its requirements. We know we have sin in us, but we can’t get rid of it ourselves. Only through Christ.
Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Paul has now proven that all men are unrighteous, and that no man can be justified in the sight of God by his obedience, either to the law of nature or of Moses. The Apostle now begins to refer back to Chapter 1, verse 17.
Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
All of the requirements of God’s law that have been revealed through the Pentateuch, (The Books of Moses), and the prophets, are written to testify of the coming of a Messiah and the birth of Christ, who through his obedience, sufferings, and death, and resurrection, purchased for man the way to life and righteousness, that men may recognize who Jesus is and place their faith in him.
Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
It is faith in Christ alone that brings righteousness on all that will believe in Him. There is no differences among men that will negate the power of the blood to make them righteous if they exercise faith in Jesus.
Just as there is no respect of persons in the judgment that is coming, there is also no respect of persons in who may come to Jesus in faith. Nationality, age, gender, condition of the heart, weak or strong – it doesn’t matter. All are justified by the blood of the Lamb in the sight of God.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Just as all men have sinned and no one can claim to be holy and righteous through their good works of the law, so are all men justified freely by the Grace of God. Jesus extends his grace and gives those who have faith in His Righteousness, a robe of righteousness, which is all the Father in Heaven sees when he looks upon those who live by Faith in Jesus.
Grace is defined as “unmerited favor”.
Someone asked the question to Rev. Joseph Prince, when he was preaching on this subject. Their question was, “If we must exercise faith in what Jesus did at the cross in order to obtain salvation and are required to live by faith, how can we say that grace is then unmerited? We have to do something to obtain that grace. It seems like we must “do a work of righteousness and faith” to earn that grace.”
Let me just answer this way. I don’t know what Joseph Prince would have said, but I’m sure it would have gone something like this.
Through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for our sin on the cross, we surely obtain salvation. We can only have eternal life through faith in him. But our faith and acceptance doesn’t “earn” us anything. Even our faith and acceptance comes from a heart that is dead in sin but is coming in repentance to obtain mercy.
Only by faith that Jesus will give us that mercy and wash away our sin, and create within us a clean heart, will that mercy be shown. Grace cannot be bought through repentance. Grace and mercy are free gifts of God alone. Though we must enter in by faith, our faith doesn’t purchase anything. It’s all still of Grace. If it were not for the Grace of God to give us salvation, all of our repentance and all of our faith would be for nothing because it’s still rooted in a heart of sin. Faith gives us no legal right to force the hand of God. Faith only opens the door so that God can freely grant salvation to our souls. Grace has no price but is freely given. Therefore, it is unmerited favor – a gift of Christ.
Romans 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
God sent forth his only Son, Jesus, for one purpose – to make a way for man to return to God in full relationship and communication. God wanted children to bring into his household, and Jesus had to make that possible by paying the price that was required for it happen.
Thus Jesus became our propitiation – first by redeeming us though the shedding of his innocent blood upon the altar of sacrifice of the cross, taking upon himself the guilt and shame of our sin. He was our blood sacrifice, fulfilling he requirements of the shedding of blood for the forgiveness and cleansing of sin.
Secondly, through his sacrifice, Jesus also made the way that we may be reconciled back to the Father in Heaven through the plan of salvation by repentance, accepting Jesus as our substitute, and then exercising faith in what he did for us. Then, by grace, the door is opened and we are able to boldly enter into the very Throne Room of God to obtain mercy in times of need.
In in far greater fashion, Jesus became the “Mercy Seat” where the Shekinah of God could come and meet with the souls of mortal men and accept the sacrifice of Christ’s blood so that our sin could be taken away. Just as the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies once a year, to sprinkle the blood of the lamb upon the Mercy Seat, and God’s presence would appear as a shining, glorious light above the Mercy Seat to show that he had accepted the sacrifice after all the Law was fulfilled, so do now have the privilege of entering into the Holy of Holies in Heaven, in the spiritual realm, and there have Jesus’ blood applied to us making us acceptable to the Father. Jesus did it all!
Jesus death on the cross did not turn the hatred of God for fallen man into a love for saved man. No – God loves all men all of the time. There is no hatred of sinful men in the heart of God. God is Love – He is perfect, eternal, unchanging love and he loves all men the same whether they are lost or saved.
But even though God loved all men, there was an impossible barrier between man and Holy God so that men could not experience or know God’s great love. What Jesus did was to open the door, take away that obstacle, and allow all men to pass on to being in the very presence of that great Love! The way is open and now God awaits man’s response to exercise his faith in Jesus to approach God’s Glory and be accepted.
Romans 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Paul declares that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and the application of Christ’s righteousness is now in effect for all who will come. We are in the Gospel dispensation where the grace, mercy and goodness of God are made manifest and free to all who will live by faith.
God will justify all who believe in Jesus and continue to exercise that faith. That faith is shown to have life when we live as true Disciples of Christ, doing the will of God.
