The Gospel in Romans part 7

Romans 3:9-20

Scripture Text:

Romans 3:9-20 ESV:
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:

"None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they
have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one."
"Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive."
"The venom of asps is under their lips."
"Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.


Study Notes:

Verses 9
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
Well, what do you think Paul has been saying all along? Are Jews any better off than Gentiles? If not, then why not? The reason given for why Jews are not better off than Gentiles, was that both are under sin (v9). The Jews thought that because they had the outward sign of circumcision and the covenant, the Law (the O.T. Bible), that they were better than all the other people of the nations. They thought the Gentiles were the trash of the world fit only for hell, but they themselves were the elect and destined for heaven because they were Jews and had the Law. Paul tells them, "No way; think again. Both Jews and Gentiles are under sin (both are sinners)." That would cause a gasp of terror for any self-righteous Jew to be called a "sinner." Yet that is what Paul said. They are sinners just like the Gentiles. "Under sin," that is, under the power and control of its evil influence; under the guilt of sin; and worst of all, under the condemnation and wrath of God against sin.

Verse 10
"None is righteous, no, not one;
How many are righteous? What does it mean to be righteous? To be righteous is to be morally good; doing right; you cannot be accused of sin or guilt, because you do whatever the Law commands. It says no one is like that. Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, "Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins."

Verse 11-12
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they
have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one."
(This is why no one is righteous).
What do you think they don't understand? What are they supposed to understand?
What about seeking God, why does it say no one seeks for Him? How should someone seek for God?
What does it mean to "turn aside"?
How have they become "worthless"?
What does it mean to "do good"? Why do you think it says no one does good, when we could look around and say, "I think people do good all the time, just look at the hospitals and charities and releif workers... Of course people do good!"?

No one understands. Romans chapter 1 said that there are certain things people are supposed to understand about God (1:19 ). They should understand, but they don't. The reason is because sin corrupts the mind (Titus 1:15). Their understanding has been darkened because of sin (Eph. 4:17-19).
No one seeks for God. It also says that "no one seeks for God." To seek God has to do with humbling yourself to His authority and seeking Him on His own terms (2 Chron. 7:14). No one does that. We all would rather seek God on our own terms (if we seek Him at all). Our hearts have become so self-serving, that we even approach God in whatever way we feel is best, rather than in humble repentance, forsaking our sin and hypocrisy, hating ourselves and turning to God in whole-hearted obedience to whatever He commands. Our proud and self-sufficient natural hearts cannot submit to such humbling terms. That is why it says, "no one seeks for God." Jesus said He came to "seek and save the lost." God seeks sinners.

All have turned aside. Instead of staying on the right path and going toward God, everyone has turned aside and gone their own way. No one walks the right way. (See Isaiah 53:6).
Together they have become worthless. Isaiah 64:6 says, "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment." A polluted garment is good for nothing, "worthless." Together everyone has become worthless as far as doing anything good or upright or righteous before God. Even the "good" things we do are sin - they are not good at all, because Romans 14:23 says, "whatever does not come from faith is sin." And Hebrews 11:6 says, "without faith it is impossible to please [God],..."

No one does good, not even one. Plain and simple. Man testifies about himself/herself that they are good and do as much good as they can. God testifies about man saying, "Not even one of them does good."

Verses 13-18
"Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive."
"The venom of asps is under their lips."
"Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
These verses describe 1) their speech, 2) their deeds, and 3) what they lack. 1) They speak deceitful, deadly, poisonous words with curses and bitterness. 2) They are quick to kill, and to cause harm and misery. 3) They don't know how to have peace, and they don't fear [honor, respect, tremble before] God. They may "outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness" (Matthew 23:27). Jesus said that about the scribes and Pharisees who were very outwardly religious; he said, "So you outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (v28). So we see that even the people who appear to be good are not.

This leads us to the conclusion of why no one can be saved by keeping the law, or by being a good person (which is the point of all that has been said so far).

Verses 19-20
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
1. Why was the law given?
2. What does the law do (what is the purpose of the law)?
First, the law was given "so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God." Since God's standard of righteousness is perfect, and His justice is right and fair, then do you think anyone standing before Him according to the law could object to His judgment? Or could anyone say they didn't know, when God has made it known to them (Romans 1:19,21)?
Second, the reason for the law is not to justify anyone, but to give the knowledge of sin. Anyone who hopes to be justified because of the good things they have done, or because they have obeyed part of the law will be condemned, since the law can only expose how far short they have fallen. And when they stand before God, it will be clear as day that they have never once obeyed the law from the heart out of sincerity, since the law demands absolute and perfect obedience with love and joy (Deuteronomy 5:29,32-33; 6:5; 28:45,47,58; Galatians 3:10).

Conclusion:
Knowing the Law makes it easy to look at other people as void of all righteousness, but it is much more difficult to receive the "knowledge of sin" and view ourselves as totally depraved of all goodness. How hard is it to honestly acknowledge that the best deeds you have ever done are sin, and that they only amount to "a polluted garment," nothing more than filthy rags (see Isaiah 64:6)? What do you think it takes to bring us to the point where we can acknowledge and agree with God that we are not good people? The gospel is only good news to those who have no righteousness of their own and no goodness in themselves. The reason is that Jesus came into the world not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). Are you a guilty, hell-deserving, unrighteous, no-good, worthless, straying, lost and condemned sinner? If you consider yourself to be such, then the rest of Romans three contains GOOD NEWS for you! There is pardon, there is forgiveness, there is righteousness for those who believe in God's Son, Jesus Christ. Will you repent (turn) from trusting in yourself and all that you do, and trust in the only Savior of sinners? Jesus says to those who are weary of their own ragged righteousness, "Come unto me..." (Matt. 11:28; 1 Tim. 1:15).