Its common for people today to excuse their faults with the attitude, “He nobody’s perfect!” True enough. People can only be expected to be human which means fallible. Unfortunately, though, few people take that reality seriously enough. Indeed when it comes to their standing before God, all too many people take a different stance: they may not be perfect but they’re “good enough.” This is nothing more than spiritual arrogance. The question is, Are they good enough for God? Romans says they are not. That’s what Paul means when he writes, “all are under sin” (Romans 3:9) and then cits a number of OT passages to back up his claim (3:10-18). It’s not that people are evil through and through, or that they never do any moral good. Quite the contrary. People are capable of impressive acts of courage, compassion and justice. But in light of God’s holy (morally perfect) character, which is the ultimate standard against which people’s goodness is measured, people are indeed far from perfect. Their good behavior turns out to be the exception rather than the rule.
Paul concludes his indictment of mankind with this summary: Jew and Gentile alike stand guilty before God.
Romans 3:9, “9What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.”
Are we better? We refers to the Christians in Rome who will receive this letter. Christians do not have an intrinsically superior nature to all those Paul has shown to stand under God’s condemnation. Under sin as was discussed refers completely enslaved and dominated by sin. This question means “Do we Jews have an advantage over the Gentiles?” (v.1). In other words, “Is there anything we can cling to for protection?” The answer is no, since all are under sin.
Paul in vs. 10-18 is proving that are all under sin Paul quotes without formal introduction a number of different verses from the OT. The collection of citations can be divided into two parts. The first half is made up of negative statements emphasizing humanity’s deficiencies (vv.10-12); the second half mainly exposes human depravity (vv.13-18).
Romans 3:10, “10As it is written:
"There is none righteous, no, not one;’”
The common introduction to Old Testament quotations (1:17; 2:24; 3:4; Matthew 4:4, 6,7,10). The tense of the Greek verb stresses continuity and permanence, and implies its divine authority. None righteous: Man is unversially evil (Psalm 14:1). This quotation comes form Psalm 14:3.
Romans 3: 11There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.”
Man is unable to unable to comprehend the truth of God or grasp His standard of righteousness (Pss 14:2; 53:3; 1 Cor 2:14). Sadly, his spiritual ignorance does not result from a lack of opportunity (1:19-20; 2:15), but is an expression of his depravity and rebellion (Eph 4:18). None. Seeks comes from Psalm 14:2. This verse clearly implies that the world’s false religions are fallen man’s attempts to seek his own interests (Phil 2:21), but his only hope is for God to seek him (John 6:37,44). It is only as a result of God’s work in the heart that anyone seeks Him (Psalm 16:8; Matthew 6:33).
People do not understand spiritual truth (1st cor 2:14) nor do they diligently seek after God. At best, people are satisfied with externals, with “religion”.
Romans 3:12, “ 12They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one."”
Once again Paul is bringing the argument back to Psalm 14:3. This word basically means “to lean in the wrong direction.” It was used to describe a soldier’s running the wrong way, or deserting. All men are inclined to leave God’s way and pursue their own (Is 53:6). Turned aside: This means turning away from God’s way. Unprofitable refers to useless to God or His good purposes. Good: Apart from God people lack true goodness and kindness. While some unbelievers are gracious and kind, these acts ultimately have no value because they do not come from believing hearts that seek to glorify God (1:21). Even a good person can be rebelling against God and seeking his or her own welfare through goodness.
Romans 3:13, “13"Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit";[c]
"The poison of asps is under their lips";”
Open tomb goes back to Psalm 5:9. Tombs were seated only to show respect for the deceased, but to hide the sight and stench of the body’s decay. As an unsealed tomb allows, those who pass to see and smell what is inside, the unregenerate man’s open throat-that is, the foul words that come from it-reveal the decay of his heart (Prov 10:31-32; 15:2,28; Jer 17:9; Matthew 12:34-35; 15:18; James 3:1-12). Asps: Goes back to Psalm 140:3; Matthew 3:7l 12:34).
In showing humanity’s total depravity, Paul quotes passages in the Psalms that describe the evil that can come from the throat, tongue, lips, mouth, feet and eyes. The heart is compared to a tomb, for buried in it is the seed of death. The throat reveals the corruption inside, the spiritual decay. The lips are like the fangs of an asp; they contain deadly poison.
Romans 3:14, “"Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."”
This is quoted from Psalm 10:7 where it refers to wanting the worst for someone and publically expressing that desire in caustic, derisive language. Bitterness is often the public a expression of emotional hostility against’ one’s enemy (Psalm 64:3-4). Humans apart from God are not blessing others; they are often cursing them. They are not loving they are bitter.
Romans 3:15-18, “15"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17And the way of peace they have not known."[f]
18"There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
This is taken from Is 59:7-8. Destruction and misery refers to man’s damages and destroys everything he touches, leaving a trail of pain and suffering in his wake. Way of peace refers not to the lack of an inner sense of peace, but man’s tendency towards strife and conflict, whether between individuals or nations (Jer 6:14). Fear of God goes back to Psalm 36:1. Man’s true spiritual condition is nowhere more clearly seen that in the absence of a proper submission to and reverence for God. Biblical fear for God consists of: 1) awe of His greatness and glory, and 20 dread of the results of violating that holy nature (Prov 17:1; Prov 9:10; 16:6; Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor 11:30).
Fear of God is an often Ot expression for respect and reverence for God, and is said to be the very beginning of knowledge (Job 28:28); Proverbs 1:7). Because people without God are spiritually dead, they produce only deceit, damage, and destruction.
Romans 3:19, “19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”
Under the law refers to every unredeemed human being. Jews received the written law through Moses (3:2) and Gentiles have the works of the law written on their hearts (2:15), so that both groups are accountable to God. Every mouth.. stopped… guilt: There is no defense against the guilty verdict God pronounces on the entire human race. The last time someone accused you of wrongdoing, what was your reaction? Denial, argument and defensiveness? The entire world will be silent before Almighty God. No excuses or arguments will remain. Have you reached the point with God where you are ready to hang up your defenses and await his decision? If you haven’t stop now and admit your sin to him. If you have, the following verses are truly good news for you.
Romans 3:20, “20Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
Justified is a legal term means declared righteous. No one will be declared righteous by doing what God requires in the Law. This is confirmed by the fact that the Law was not given to justify sinners but to expose sin.
Deeds of the Law: Doing perfectly what God’s moral law requires is impossible, so that every person is cursed by that inability (Galatians 3:10,13). By the law is the knowledge of sin: The law makes sin known, but can’t save (7:7). In 3:20 and 3:11, we see two functions of God’s law. First off it shows us where we are going wrong. Because of the law, we know that we are helpless sinners and that we must come to Jesus Christ for mercy. Second, the moral code revealed in the law can serve to guide our actions by holding up God’s moral standards. We do not earn salvation by keeping the law (no one except Christ ever kept or could keep God’s law perfectly), but we do please God when our life conforms to his revealed will for us.
Pastor David Jenkins
