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, 10 as it is written:
“ None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “ Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“ The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “ Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “ Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “ There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 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. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Paul has spent half of chapter 1, all of chapter 2, and the beginning of chapter 3 explaining the foundation of the gospel message: the sin and depravity of man and mankind’s inability to live up the standards which God has set forth. That inability to attain righteousness that God demands puts us in a position where we are the recipients of God’s wrath as a punishment for our unrighteousness. Paul covers several groups of people and demonstrates how every member of these groups is under the condemnation of God. Even the Jews, God’s chosen people, have a number of advantages, responsibilities, and possessions that God has graciously provided for them, but these advantages do not exempt them from the wrath of God in they do not meet and keep God’s standards of righteousness. In Romans 3:9 – 20, Paul sums up all of his previous arguments from Romans 1:18 – Romans 3: 8 in one of the best and clearest explanations of the doctrine of total depravity of mankind and the doctrine of sin in all people. In this section of Scripture, Paul will make it clear that everyone is in a situation that puts us at odds with God, and that we all need salvation from the wrath of God. Read the rest of this entry »
