ROMANS CHAPTER 3 VERSES 9-13 - MESSAGES IN ROMANS – AS IT WERE; STINKING SOUR MILK AND PUTRID ROTTING FRUIT - MESSAGE 9
We continue these messages in the third chapter of Romans. Paul reveals many unpalatable facts but it is God speaking so we must heed what God says! Always heed what God says or you will miss out.
[A]. NOT ONE IS RIGHTEOUS - JEW OR GENTILE
{{Romans 3:9 “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin,
Romans 3:10 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one.”}}
We need to recap here so that we can move on with this next part. The start of verse 9 says, “What then?” It is a question stemming from what Paul had just been writing. Let us remind ourselves of what he had just stated - {{Romans 3:7 “If through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?” Romans 3:8 Why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.”}}
This theme of good and evil is what Paul is launching into, for the great fallacy that good comes from evil is what is presently motivating the world. The evil pervading the political systems; the legislation against biblical morality; the promotion of all manner of deviant behaviour are all being done by the most wicked and deceived people who would tell you they are doing good things. Therefore, in their minds, good proceeds from evil actions, but they do not perceive them as evil actions.
As Christians we know that to be utterly wrong but there were those trying to attach that evil behaviour to Paul. From verse 9 onwards the Apostle exposes the whole activity and mindset of the world, and that is an underlying disease of the vilest wickedness. By the end of the chapter, the verdict has been reached. Not one inhabitant of planet earth can stand morally before God. All are totally bankrupt in any righteous morality whatever. Each person is condemned.
Once Paul has reached that point of the utter helplessness of man to remedy his own salvation, or better still, his own justification and righteousness, only then, does Paul introduce faith, hope and justification in later chapters.
Let us look at verses 9 and 10 in more detail. Paul asks the question, “Are we (any) better than they?” There are a couple of possibilities for who might be considered as “they”. Firstly I think Paul could have been suggesting the Jews – “Are we Jews any better than the sinners of the Gentiles?” In that case Paul is identifying with his ethnicity and that is Jewish, but he quickly hastens to say that he has already shown that ethnicity does not count in a standing before God in how a man shapes up according to sin. Yes, all are under the condemnation of sin.
There is a possibility Paul is asking if “we” are any better than those who are claiming that by doing evil, good will come. Any sin makes an individual a sinner so at the judgement bar of God condemnation must be passed to all, for all have sinned. The ultra self-righteous may think they are morally acceptable so they are in a position to judge others, but it is nothing more than self-delusion.
When he arrives at verse 10, Paul, from that point onward, is quoting scripture to confirm the position he has been espousing. When a man is proclaiming the word of God, and teaching others, IF he is being led by the Holy Spirit, he will have a message rich in scripture. I think it is woeful when a man saturates a message with his own opinions and stories and does not appeal to scripture for confirmation. A preacher is not in the arena of entertainment but some think they are. In all his writings Paul had this appeal to scripture, which was the Old Testament. Of course, through the great work of the Holy Spirit, Paul was writing scripture.
In verse 10, the words, {{as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one,}} have to be understood as a reference to the natural man and not to Christians. A Christian has the appropriated righteousness of Christ, but in the natural state – the old man – ALL are sinners and therefore not even one is righteous. We were all born into sin and iniquity.
The prophet Isaiah covered the same matter in using imagery for man’s sinfulness – {{Isaiah 1:4-6 “Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they have turned away from Him. Where will you be stricken again as you continue in your rebellion? THE WHOLE HEAD IS SICK AND THE WHOLE HEART IS FAINT. FROM THE SOLE OF THE FOOT EVEN TO THE HEAD there is nothing sound in it, only bruises, welts, and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil.”}}
Yes, the unconverted man is sick – sick with the sin of his being, like a cancer, in the sight of God. This world is sick. We have all been physically sick from time to time, but we were all born spiritually sick. As a body can be sick or seriously sick, then our world has entered into the seriously sick condition of sin. It is stinking and corrupt. It is not hard to justify that, as we move very close to the end of the Church age with the Rapture on the horizon. We only need to look around us.
The Commentator, Matthew Henry put a comment on this chapter rather succinctly – [[“Here again is shown that all mankind are under the guilt of sin, as a burden; and under the government and dominion of sin, as enslaved to it, to work wickedness.”]]
In verse 10 Paul says, “as it is written,” and F B Meyer has a noteworthy comment about the way Paul has arranged his quotations – [[“They (the citations) are taken from the LXX., though for the most part with variations, partly due to quotation from memory, and partly intentional, for the purpose of defining the sense more precisely. The arrangement is such that testimony is adduced for - FIRSTLY, the state of sin generally (Romans 3:10-12); SECONDLY, the practice of sin in word (Romans 3:13-14) and deed (Romans 3:15-17); and THIRDLY, the sinful source of the whole (Romans 3:18).”]]
Most of the content of this chapter is firstly directed at the Jew with Paul trying to show that they have failed, and uses their own scriptures to do this. However what is true for the estranged Jew is true also for the estranged Gentile. We will see the expression in the Psalms that God looks down on the sons of men. So, this chapter, relates primarily to the Jews but universally to all in application.
[B]. NOT ONE, NOT ONE, NOT ONE!
{{Romans 3:11 “There is none who understands. There is NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD.
Romans 3:12 All have turned aside. Together they have become useless. THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD. There is not even one.”}}
In these two verses – actually for Romans 3:10-13, Paul is quoting from the Old Testament (see the note above from F B Meyer) and draws on {{Psalm 14:1-7 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” THEY ARE CORRUPT. They have committed abominable deeds. THERE IS NO ONE WHO DOES GOOD. Psalm 14:2 THE LORD HAS LOOKED DOWN FROM HEAVEN UPON THE SONS OF MEN TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY WHO UNDERSTAND, WHO SEEK AFTER GOD. Psalm 14:3 THEY HAVE ALL TURNED ASIDE. Together they have become corrupt. THERE IS NO ONE WHO DOES GOOD, NOT EVEN ONE. Psalm 14:4 Do all the workers of wickedness not know, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the LORD? Psalm 14:5 There they are in great dread for God is with the righteous generation. Psalm 14:6 You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted, but the LORD is his refuge. Psalm 14:7 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores His captive people, Jacob will rejoice. Israel will be glad.”}}
Also Paul is quoting from {{Psalm 53:1-6 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt and have committed abominable injustice. THERE IS NO ONE WHO DOES GOOD. God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after God. EVERY ONE OF THEM HAS TURNED ASIDE. Together they have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one. Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge, who eat up My people as though they ate bread and have not called upon God? There they were in great fear where no fear had been, for God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you. You put them to shame, because God had rejected them. Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores His captive people let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.”}}
Did you realise how very similar those two passages from the Psalms are? Verse 12 is the one I want to think more into. It is simple enough – “THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD. There is not even one.”
I want to consider this word “good” because to think of it as we understood “good”, is to miss what the word and passage is really saying. “Be a good boy.” OR “He did a good deed by changing the neighbour’s tyre (tire).” Is that the way to position goodness? Is that the way the bible understands goodness? What is “good” as it is used in the bible? How closely is goodness associated with rightness, or righteousness?
May I suggest good is not so much related to deeds and actions, but rather to standing and state. Why is the Christian acceptable to God? Let me give two lines from a hymn, “On Christ the solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.” We stand on the Lord Jesus Christ and NOT on our own basis, for we are sinners though saved by grace. We could never stand on our own righteousness or goodness because we have none. Ours is appropriated righteousness.
Do you recall this incident from scripture – {{Matthew 16:16-18 and Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.”}}
The Roman Catholic church claims the Church is built on Peter but this is so wrong because, like all of us, Peter is a fickle, and prone-to-sin individual. There is no way the Church could be built on a frail sinful man, even though that man is redeemed. In fact the Greek words for Peter, pebble (petros) and Rock, (Petra) answer any doubt. The Church is built on Christ Himself. Our standing is not on Peter! It is on Jesus Christ, the omnipotent God!
Let us look further into this word “good”. Verse 12 says there is none who does good. It is this – there is not one who is right or doing goodness in the sight of God because his standing with God is bad. Not good, is bad. Not one has a good standing with God. Forget about all the things an individual does that the world might say is good. That is man’s assessment.
Maybe the very worst and vile criminal in the world might go to the assistance of a frail woman who has fallen in the street because she reminded the criminal of his mother. Onlookers may say, “That is a good act,” or they might say, “What a good man.” In God’s sight it is not a man’s deeds but a man’s standing that matters.
When God say not one person does good, He means that not one person does good because his standing is not good. It is all about the state of being. Though this is not the subject for today, acts of kindness and mercy and “human goodness” done by the unsaved will have a bearing at the great white throne when the books are opened and the unsaved are judged by those things written in the books. Look out you abortionist murderers, and legislators against God-instituted marriage, and those who trash justice. Your deeds have been noted.
[C]. THE MILK HAS BECOME SOUR AND THE FRUIT ROTTEN
In Romans 3:11 we are told that no one understands and no one seeks God. Just to add to that fallen state of mankind we have this in verse 12 – “Together they have become useless.” The Hebrew meaning of this is applied to milk that has become sour and looks and smells putrid. The word is used also for fruit that has become rotten and offensive. They have become corrupt like stinking, rancid milk and maggot-ridden fruit.
What is this understanding that no one knows in verse 12? Realise this that the natural man – the unsaved man – has no proper understanding of God. The natural man is so estranged that his spirit dwells in the blackness of hell and the light of God is shut off. He gropes in the darkness trying to find meaning to life. By his own efforts he will not find it. However, the sad thing is that he does not want to take God into consideration and stubbornly resists any efforts to reach him from concerned Christians. Why would that be so? It is because he sees no benefit for him in the “religion stuff”, and sees his life impeded by any concession to it. That is the problem when he does not want to see the glory of God. Only the Holy Spirit can break through that with conviction leading to repentance.
Allied to the lack of understanding is the truth that no one left to his own devices will seek God. It can’t be any clearer. That is what God said here and in the Psalms – {{Psalm 14:2 “THE LORD HAS LOOKED DOWN FROM HEAVEN UPON THE SONS OF MEN TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY WHO UNDERSTAND, WHO SEEK AFTER GOD. Psalm 14:3 THEY HAVE ALL TURNED ASIDE. Together they have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.}} The Lord looks down from heaven and He sees not one person who understands or who seeks for God. This can not be explained away. One can not make excuses or try to twist the passage.
I want to remind you of a very important verse here – {{John 12:32 “and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”}} God is merciful and loving, not willing that any should perish. The Lord draws men and women to Him and I think that is the operation of the Holy Spirit, but the action is drawing, not forcing or bribing. Many are called (for salvation) but few are chosen for salvation, because the “many” resist and refuse and rebel against God, and don’t end up as part of His choosing.
The Lord Jesus is the Light of the world, and the Holy Spirit draws people to this light so they can see and gain understand and begin to appreciate what true goodness is. Even Christians need light to walk before God.
{{Romans 3:13 “Their throat is an open grave. With their tongues they keep deceiving. The poison of asps is under their lips.”
Romans 3:14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
Romans 3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood.”
Romans 3:16 “Destruction and misery are in their paths,”
Romans 3:17 “and the path of peace have they not known.”}}
[D]. THE WHOLE BODY AND EACH PART PARTICIPATES IN SIN
For this message today, we will end with verse 17. It is the description of the depraved creatures, us humans, who have fallen from fellowship with God in Eden, to a degenerate position in the world. Do you want to know why this world is so bad? Read Genesis chapter 3. Once the vital link in the chain of dependence and fellowship with the Lord God has been broken, man then is adrift in his own generated turmoil. The Lord calls it sin. Sin will always cause separation initially, but then it spawns itself in many, many, ways. There are hundreds of these sinful ways, and no sin is too great for man to commit. Mao Zedong of China murdered 80 million people and Putin has many millions of deaths on his account. Abortionists delight in dismembering unborn babies and sucking them out, some still alive.
This world is evil and sinks in further corruption. For how long will it keep sinking? We are at the very end of the Church age, and to close the Church age the Lord returns for His Bride, the Church, in the Rapture. However in describing that time right at the end, Paul begins 2Timothy 3 this way - {{2Timothy 3:1-3 “Realise this, that in the last days difficult times will come, for men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good . . . .”}} Then in verse 13 we have – {{2Timothy 3:12-13 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”}}
That is where we are today! Evil men and imposters seem to rule the world now. The outcome for the USA is very serious indeed. Australia’s back is being broken by Marxist governments and Europe is in disarray. Evil is rapidly increasing.
When people turn their backs on God and His precepts, then all they have to look forward to, is to the hatching of their sin with corresponding horrible results.
In the next message we will continue with Romans 3:13-17. May the Lord bless you all and if you have not given your life to the Lord in repentance, then do so because the wrath of God is hovering and about to fall in the Great Tribulation, and you will not want to be there.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
