No One is Righteous

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.” 

 Romans 3:9-18

Since the Jews had distorted the Old Testament in claiming their advantage over Gentiles, Paul broke down their argument by extensively quoting the Old Testament. He uses at least six passages in Psalms to explain to the Jews that everyone is completely dominated and enslaved by sin.

Paul first cites Psalm 14:1-3 and 53:1-3. Not only is there no one who is righteous, there also is no one who is even capable of understanding the things of God. The disease of sin is so debilitating that it effects our very comprehension of truth. Because of that, there is no one who seeks after God. All other religions and value systems which seek truth apart from Scripture are merely man’s attempts to escape God, not to seek Him. The Scottish theologian John Murray notes, “As respects well-doing, there is not one; as respects evil-doing, there is no exception.” Man cannot seek after God unless enlightened by the Spirit. It is an attribute of the disability of sin which prevents any search for truth. Sin is blinding.

Paul next cites Psalm 5:9, 10:7, and 140:3 in describing how sin effects the mouth. Those who seek truth apart from Christ have throats which reveal the stench of their depravity, lying tongues, poisonous lips, and blasphemous mouths. These are people who are openly hostile toward the gospel, spewing bitterness and hate toward the things of Christ.

Not only do the mouths of the unrighteous spew bitter hate, but according to Isaiah 59:7-8 their feet quickly tread the path of violence. They leave nothing but a trail of destruction and suffering in their path. Indeed, they do not and cannot know peace. They will always be in a state of strife and conflict.

After beginning this portion of his letter describing the eyesight of the wicked, he closes this portion by quoting Psalm 36:1, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” This is the biggest problem for the unrighteous person. This is the root of all their evilness. They do not fear God. They refuse to submit to and honor the Lord of heaven and earth.

As I read this portion of Paul’s epistle and write these words in this blog, I am reminded of what Paul told the Corinthians after listing a plethora of heinous sins of which the Corinthians had been guilty: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (I Corinthians 6:9-11). Thank the Lord for His mercy and grace, calling His elect out of enslavement in unrighteousness and into a life of freedom in sanctification and justification.

God Upholds His Righteousness

"Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,

'That you may be justified in your words,

and prevail when you are judged.'

But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just."

Romans 3:1-8

 

After having just read that Jewish ethnicity and circumcision are not means of justification, the Jewish reader may have asked himself, “Then what’s the point of being a Jew and getting circumcised?” Paul writes that Jewish pride is still important because it was through the Jewish people that God had chosen to write His laws and reveal His Word.

            But many of the Jewish people were unfaithful to God, choosing to break their covenant with Him. In case the reader jumped to conclusions regarding God’s faithfulness to His people, Paul cites Psalm 51, written after David’s sin with Bathsheba, as proof that God is true to His people when they repent of their sin.

            But why would I want to worship a God who punishes unrighteousness just to prove His own righteousness? This was the rhetorical question Paul asks in verse 5 in probable anticipation of argument. Paul writes that this logic only proves the unregenerate state of the minds of man. If God, being righteous, condoned sin, then He would not be a just judge. Even the most corrupt human judge would agree that there must be a punishment for crime and that that punishment must fit the crime. Sin is so opposite to the very essence of the attributes of God that it must be dealt with by a punishment fitting the crime: death.

            False teachers had been perverting the gospel, accusing Paul of preaching a doctrine that encouraged its people to sin. But nothing could be further from the truth. The gospel reveals a true knowledge and understanding of one’s sinful condition. Such attributes as grace, justice, and mercy cannot be truly understood apart from the lens of the gospel.