Romans Chapter 3 Verses 9-13 - Messages In Romans – As It Were; Stinking Sour Milk And Putrid Rotting Fruit - Message 9 Series

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.”}}