Unashamed of the Gospel
Mankind: The Final Verdict
Romans 3:9-20
Turn to Romans 3. Last week, we saw that the advantage of the Jew was that they had the oracles of God, the Old Testament Scriptures. Certainly, an advantage, as they had such an insight into the work of God that others did not. And after considering the advantage of the Jew having the Scriptures, and considering as well, the regular guy without the law, Paul concludes (vs 9), “What then? Are we [speaking of the Jew] better? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin.” This goes back to Paul’s teaching and overall conclusion that all men and women are sinners, whether they are Jew or Greek, or whether they had the Law or not. So, yes, there is an advantage in having the Law of God, as it does bring a greater knowledge of God, but (vs 9) there is no advantage in salvation or advantage in your position of being under the wrath of God because all men and women are under sin. And this is our position, that we are under sin, or sometimes, as the Bible says, we are under the Law.
And it is good to know that the Bible never speaks of salvation or God’s wrath in terms of how good someone is, but it is in terms—as we will learn in the coming weeks—of someone being under sin or under grace, as everyone is either under one category or the other, there is no in between. We are not talking here about what a person does for a living or what good things a person has done today, or if you have worked hard or been lazy, whether you are rich or poor, or have been faithful in your marriage or not. The bottom line is a person’s position spiritually, not all the other details. And for now, before we get to grace, (vs 9) places all of us under sin. This is the truth of everyone who has ever been born into this world since the fall of man. Now, Paul has already alluded to this problem in Romans 1:18, that the wrath of God has already been revealed against us because we are unrighteous. So, let’s examine the problem facing all men and women.
“[A]s it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one.’”
Romans 3:10 (LSB)
Now, there are a few things that need to be noted about this statement. We need to get a clear picture of what Paul is actually saying, for there are people sitting in all kinds of churches this morning who have completely missed this truth of the Bible. And the problem, if you do not get this, is that you miss the gospel. For this is not only part of Paul’s teaching of the gospel, which he began in Romans 1, but it is really the starting blocks of much of the truth of man. And Paul will begin by teaching that none of us is born in a neutral state. We are all born as “children of wrath” (Eph 2:3). The psalmist wrote:
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.”
Psalm 51:5 (LSB)
When we might talk about a person being a good person or a bad person, remember we are simply talking about our perspective of them and how they may treat others or show themselves in the world, but this has no eternal value in respect to salvation. And it is also just relative to the goodness or badness of people. It is merely a comparison with other human beings. But this has nothing to do with our position eternally or our position before God. God is not comparing anyone here. His “blanket” statement is that no one is righteous, not one. And there is no discussion around this, or no talking points. But just a bottom-line truth statement from God that no one is righteous. We also must understand that prior to this, Paul was teaching “how” various people groups were sinners. Some ignored creation, some looked down on others, and some had the Law, but they did not obey it. Yet this statement does not explain “how” men and women are sinners or what they did; it simply states that they are unrighteous without explanation. In other words, all the ways that a man and a woman may demonstrate their sinfulness and lostness before God at this point doesn’t matter, as Paul is no longer separating different kinds of people but speaking about all Jews and non-Jews. And not saying what they do to show their true colours, but he is now saying who they are, they are unrighteous.
And as we get into this passage, he will not only say, you are not righteous, but will also say, you do not understand, you do not seek after God, you have turned aside, you are worthless, you do no good, not one of you, not even one. And man, this cuts into our North American self-esteem a little, doesn’t it? Our reaction might want to be, but, but, but. Or Mommy has always said I am her favourite. And I was always Mrs. Lang’s—my grade 4-5 teacher—teacher’s pet. But the problem is that any understanding we have of goodness comes from within or from other humans, whereas this truth is revealed by God. And we must understand this truth before we can understand the truth of the gospel. Remember Paul’s definition was that the gospel was the power of God. Why does the gospel have to have such power? Well, all we have to do is look at the condition of the human heart from God’s perspective to understand that this is not simply, Lord, I need to try harder. There is no swift kick in the pants to get us moving in the right direction. No, the gospel is a miraculous transformation of a sinful person, the kind of person described here that obviously requires a great deal of transforming power.
And we also must remember that back in Romans 1, Paul has said that the wrath of God has already been revealed against all unrighteousness. It is not like anything that I am going to change, for the fact that God’s wrath is against me has already been stated. And just because the statement was made in Paul’s day, it does not excuse you and me or anyone born 1,000 years from now, God’s wrath has already been revealed. Now, it does not mean that it has been applied yet in its fullness, but it has already been shown to be against ungodliness and unrighteousness, and nothing will change that. This is God’s pronouncement and is God’s determined position concerning the sin of mankind.
Now, the world will view this from a different perspective. And will see sin—not as sin—but as sickness or merely a struggle. And therefore, the world will try to do its best to help someone recover. How to get off a drug, how to recover from being an alcoholic, how to improve your marriage relationship, how to get off the addiction to pornography, how to become a more responsible parent, how to pay back what you have stolen. Or even someone who drops out of high school and is trying to go to college as an adult, or someone who went into great debt, is working tremendously hard to get out. And those are all good and worthy things, and I am sure we would truly cheer on anyone who would honestly attempt to get help in any of these areas, but there is a much greater concern, massively greater, as this has to do with our eternal standing before God. And it does not require a counsellor, or a parole officer, or a financial advisor; it requires a miracle, it requires power, it requires a transformation, it requires God to act. So, let’s begin by looking at the description, the result, the actions, and the cause of the sinner’s life.
- The Description of the Sinner’s Life (vs 10-11)
“[A]s it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God.’”
Romans 3:10-11 (LSB)
There is none righteous. What does it mean to be righteous? Well, it means to be upright in both the condition of the heart and in actions. And I suppose we could say in respect to God, and man, and in all of life. It means more than just our perception of being good or being nice, for it takes into account not just actions, but thoughts and motives. I mean, I am sure we can all think of times when we did something “good” for someone, but we didn’t necessarily have the right motives inside. No, we did it because we knew that others might have expected this from us, or we did it to simply look “good,” or we just knew it was the right thing to do, but our heart certainly was not in it. But no, being righteous means being absolutely “blameless.” It means living a complete life that is in harmony with all that God desires from us and demands of us. And it has nothing to do with man versus man, in other words, how I compare myself with Mr. Jones, no, it is in relation to God and His commands, and therefore, ever since the fall, God says, there has never been a righteous man. So, this is not about where you have come from; it does not matter if you have just committed the worst of sins, or if you are the most respected guy in town, you are not righteous. And this is God’s description of the sinner, every human being, none are righteous.
And then Paul will continue the description (vs 11), there is none who understands. Therefore, no one has wisdom. True, God has created us and has given us a brain. And we can thrive tremendously in intelligence and know-how in many areas. But no wisdom in the sense of spiritual wisdom or understanding, that conclusion resulted because the Bible says that we did not acknowledge God, as we closed ourselves off from His divine wisdom. When Adam sinned, that relationship was taken away, so that even when man sees truth, he does not acknowledge it or understand it. Therefore, there is no attraction between him and God, for it is not natural for someone without spiritual wisdom to be drawn to the Creator, though he sees creation. Why? He has no understanding of wisdom, and therefore, he misses the need for God.
Also, he has no understanding of his own sin, as he tries to merely rationalize his sin, even if his conscience bothers him. He has no understanding of his own nature. I mean, how can he, when he thinks that he has evolved from an animal? Generations before Darwin at least thought about a Creator, but man does not even believe anymore that he was created, but has just evolved. Most of us did not grow up with that, but that is a massive deception that most of the world lives with today. And why would you really think you are accountable or sinful if you merely evolved from an animal? Also, man does not really even know what will make him happy, as he simply goes from one excitement to the next, but it brings no lasting joy. Solomon collected for himself riches and land and women. He became great and was greater than any who came before him, and he enjoyed whatever he wanted. Solomon worked hard and was rewarded for all his labour and concluded:
“Thus I turned to all my works which my hands had done and the labor which I had labored to do, and behold, all was vanity and striving after wind, and there was no advantage under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 2:11 (LSB)
But at least Solomon realized this in his lifetime. But most today will not, as most will die still striving after the wind. And one of the things I have noticed that we talked about with our men’s group is that man has little conception of his eternal soul, or at least little care for it. Men and women will do everything they can to live to 95, instead of 75 or 85, but really give very little thought to the day after they die, for there are none who truly understand
Next, (vs 11) there is none who seeks after God. Notice again that those who find themselves in this category are all people, for “none” seek after God. What does that mean exactly? Well, it means that no one desires God, no one knows God, no one enjoys God or worships Him, or seeks Him in prayer, or seeks to do the will of God. Paul wrote (Rom 8:7) that the mind set on the flesh is at enmity toward God. The human heart is at odds with God. Now, some may say here, Paul, you have gone too far on this one, for there must be some who seek after God. Well, the Greek word translated “seek” here is ekzēteō, which means to inquire after or to seek out diligently. Most of your Bibles use the term, seeks for God, a striving after Him, a thirsting for Him. It is not “seeking” in the sense of some merely intellectual interest in God or even praying to God, for seeking means that you are really looking for something. The desire to be in God’s very presence, to seek His glory, to desire to have God in the very center of your life and the core of your thinking. And therefore, Paul concludes that no one does this, that no man by nature, left on his own, truly seeks after God. Yet if you and I can claim that we are seeking God presently, there must be some other explanation, possibly that God sought after us. Because left to ourselves, we would never seek Him. Therefore, this is the description of the sinner, every man and woman, not righteous, no understanding, and no desire to seek after God. So, what is the result of that?
- The Result of the Sinner’s Life (vs 12)
“All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
Romans 3:12 (LSB)
All have turned aside, notice again “all.” What does that mean? Well, it simply means that everyone is on the wrong path, everyone is lost. When Anne and I had been married for a couple of years, we went camping in Myrtle Beach. And we arrived just after supper, set up the tent and headed down to the ocean. And we did not have any kids yet, but we had Ted #1 (our dog) with us. And when it got dark, there were a bunch of firecrackers going off. And Ted—who was terrified of the noise of the firecrackers—took off into the woods in the black of night. Now, we had walked around this road, around the outside of the campgrounds, and unfortunately, Ted ran straight into the woods. Well, we were new to the campground and had no idea of where to even begin looking, and so we ran back to our campsite and sitting in front of our tent was Ted. To this day, we have no idea how he found his way. But in relation to sin and life, the Bible teaches that man is not that smart, and therefore, is absolutely lost spiritually. Isaiah 53:6, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way.” True, we do follow others, but it is really just a result of going our own way. We might blame the guy our children followed, but someone else likely followed our kids. So yes, they may have followed someone, but the Bible views it simply as a stubborn heading off on our own way.
Then, they have become worthless (some of your Bibles say unprofitable or useless). The word here is the same used for milk that has become sour. So, it has become useless, in other words, what use is sour milk? And we might want to ask, is this a little extreme, Paul? Maybe Paul did not think that this would be read by our culture, words like worthless and useless. Yet this is not from the standpoint of secular morality. This is not us saying to someone you are worthless or useless. No, this is from the standpoint of God. Finally, there is none that do good, not one. Again, goodness from God’s perspective, not man’s, as man falls entirely short of what he was created for. So, Paul has stated the description of the sinner’s life and the result of the sinner’s life. Now, he will address:
- The Actions of the Sinner’s Life (vs 13-17)
“Their throat is an open tomb, With their tongues they keep deceiving, The poison of asps is under their lips; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; Their feet are swift to shed blood, Destruction and misery are in their paths, And the path of peace they have not known.”
Romans 3:13-17 (LSB)
Paul begins by addressing their inclination to deceive and to hurt. That word translated deceive illustrates a “smoothness,” someone who is good at twisting the truth and yet making it sound so good, and at the same time keeping their own elevated position or standing. This, of course, in a very practical way, is something that we must avoid like the plague, the practice of praising someone out of one side of our mouth and then cursing from the other. The Apostle James had much to say about this:
“But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”
James 3:8-10 (LSB)
We don’t have to look too far to know the bickering and hurtful remarks said about people today. I mean, our world is a very cruel place, as it will praise someone one day and speak terribly of them the next. Just listen to the criticism given towards celebrities or anyone in the spotlight. I noticed that some of the American baseball players were criticized for not singing during the
- S. national anthem before their game against Venezuela. Yet they would have been criticized by some if they did sing. And I thought, some of them likely never sing, as they may like just standing at attention and enjoy the anthem. But our world is full of criticism, bickering, and dislike. And their mouth is full of cursing, words that are said or even withheld, that reveal a bitter and hateful heart. Words that are pronounced verbally, or comments posted in a blog or on Facebook, that exemplify a hatred that Christ spoke about when he said that even when you hate someone in your heart, you murder. And even the very act of murder itself, the real taking of a life. As we live in a society and a time when there are far more deaths in war and crime than ever before in the history of the world.
And we certainly know that we live at a time when there is no peace. I often think that if I were the Prime Minister or the President of a country, I would have absolutely no idea how to control the swift feet today that desire to shed blood. Truly, Paul is right (vs 17) when he says that the path of peace, they have not known. The actions of the sinner’s life, fourthly:
- The Cause of the Sinner’s Life (vs 18)
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Romans 3:18 (LSB)
The cause of all this. There is no fear of God (vs 18). We could say this is the cause of it all. In other words, why is all this true, the terrible condition of the human heart? No fear of God. This statement by Paul comes from Psalm 36:
“Transgression declares to the ungodly within his heart;
There is no dread of God before his eyes.”
Psalm 36:1 (LSB)
It is interesting that Solomon said (Prov 1:7) that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And the psalmist said (Ps 16:8) I have set the Lord always before me. Yet here we are told that all men and women have no fear of God. Now this does not mean that some unbelievers are not fearful of what God may do to or do to them. But this “fear” in Romans 3:18 is referring to a reverential fear or an awe of God. A good fear because a person knows that God is the Judge of all the earth, and because He is a God of holiness. And therefore, we certainly must have the fear of God, a fear of His wrath and fear of His punishment. And I have called this section, the cause of the sinner’s life, for Thomas Schreiner wrote this:
“Thus Paul reminds the reader that the root and basis of all sin is the failure to fear and reverence God.”
Thomas R. Schreiner, Romans: Baker Exegetical Commentary
of the New Testament 167
John Calvin wrote that “all wickedness flows from a disregard of God.” Understand that our disunity and clashing amongst humans is due to a rejection of God and the failure to fear and honour Him. Now, we might think that we clash with someone, but why? Because they are so obnoxious. But think of it, all men and women have been created in the image of God, and we clash and fight and disagree with others whom God had created. And the root cause of that is our disassociation with God. So, how do we conclude all this?
The Final Verdict (vs 19-20)
“Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are in the Law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God.”
Romans 3:19 (LSB)
All the world is accountable, so that every mouth may be shut. The issue is that we have not found God, yet we continue to speak. Yet remember Job wanted to speak to God and plead his case. And then when he found himself in the presence of God, he wished he had not spoken.
“Then Job answered Yahweh and said, ‘I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too marvelous for me, which I did not know.’”
Job 42:3 (LSB)
Psalm 46, be still and know that I am God. Why? Because all the world is guilty. It is not just that you and I have done something wrong, and it caused some problems in our life. In other words, our wrong choices and sinful actions have caused some kind of heartache. It is way more than that and much more serious than that. It is not simply, you snooze, you lose. But we are liable to God. In other words, there is an eternal consequence to our every action. Romans 1:18, the wrath of God is revealed against us. That is not a threat; that is a reality.
You know, we might ask, what is the primary need of man? That man needs to be better, live better? No. I mean, that is a need obviously seen from our time this morning, but that is not the primary need. Maybe that man requires some kind of help to get him out of poverty or out of the problems that he may be facing. No. Sure, great to help someone, but that is not man’s primary need. Maybe that man just needs to get rid of himself. In other words, he needs to take his focus off himself and become less selfish and focus more on others. Again, that might be a great step, but no, that is not man’s primary need. Maybe, man needs more education, or have a better marriage, or a more fulfilling job. No. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote that the first and foremost need of man is that he needs to get rid of all this guilt, because that is the result of his sin. Because all men and women must answer for their guilt and sin before God. And therefore, all men and women must know how to be just before God.
“[B]ecause by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”
Romans 3:20 (LSB)
See, when you and I stand before God someday, the Bible says that there are no works that can save us. And God’s Law will determine that everyone is a sinner. And there will be nothing that you and I will be able to say, there will be no pleading our case. Solomon wrote:
“Who can say, ‘I have kept my heart pure, I am clean from my sin’?”
Proverbs 20:9 (LSB)
No one. So, the final verdict? The wages of sin is death. Not a falling off into non-existence, but death, separation from God forever in hell. Paul, in our study this morning, has described the sinner. As the Bible describes the sinner’s life, describing the sin nature of man. And yet man has denied that sin nature, believing that with the right opportunities, he would be okay. The Bible also gives the result of the sinner’s life. But man has denied that destiny, not really believing anymore in a false heaven, but really focusing entirely on the present life and failing to acknowledge the afterlife. The Bible then gives the actions of the sinner’s life. But man has denied those actions, mostly by justifying them or by excusing them. Then the Bible gives the cause of the sinner’s life: that man has no fear of God. How can he? For man has denied the very existence of God. And lastly, the Bible gives the final verdict of the sinner’s life that all the world is accountable to God and that all the world is guilty before Him. But man has chosen to disbelieve that truth and therefore denies the very gospel that would save him from that truth.
So, this is the condition of man outside of God. Without the Lord’s intervening in the heart of man. This is what man looks like if he were left alone. But God did not leave us alone, as God broke into the very world that He created, and lived among us. And through Christ, God revealed His righteousness, the very righteousness that could save us, a righteousness that was not our own. And because man was so lost in the woods in the black of night, when man realizes the loud noise, the firecrackers of God’s judgement, his salvation required the power of God to act on man’s behalf. And when we come to Christ in faith, when we believe, we actually do not deny the truths we have spoken of this morning. For we acknowledge the desperate condition of our lives. We acknowledge that after this life comes the judgement. We acknowledge the sin that we have committed before God. We acknowledge God Himself, and we fear Him. And therefore, we embrace the gospel because it provides the power to save us.
You know, there is a bit of an intimidation in our culture today to use such words as sin and hell to warn someone that if they do not receive Christ, they will go to hell, is the kind of language that we can tend to shy away from. And I am not sure why. But it could be because Christianity is not nearly as accepted as it once was, and therefore, its truth may sound more stark to our culture than it ever has. We want to be careful of that, as we want to make sure that we are very “comfortable” with everything about the gospel message and everything it teaches, that there is nothing about it that would cause us to hesitate or feel ashamed about. Let’s pray. Lord, two things we need to ask of You this morning. One, may we gain a greater confidence in the gospel, so that, like Paul, we could boldly say, I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God, for it must be to have saved such sinners as we. And two, if there is anyone here this morning who is not sure where they stand before God, the good news, the gospel is open to you, and is available for all those who would believe. Be sure to make that decision certain in your heart this morning. Lord, it would be hard to hear this message of hope considering our desperate standing before God and walk away from this invitation to believe. And for us who know and love Christ, may we see the worthlessness of our lives without Christ, and then realize the joy it is to be known and loved by an eternal Father. And all God’s people said, amen.