Chapter 3:9-20

COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

By Dr. John R. Stone

Rom. 3:9-20

3 9What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; 11there is none who understands; there is none who seeks for God. 12All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good; there is not even one. 13Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they keep deceiving; the poison of asps is under their lips; 14whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 15Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16destruction and misery are in their paths, 17and the path of peace have they not known.18There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God; 20because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:9-20 NASB).

All Mankind Is Guilty Before God

Overview:

Paul is writing to the church at Rome to give them a deeper explanation of Christianity. He explains to them the most basic truths in this new religious movement that has grown out of Judaism. The first among these foundational truths is the doctrine of salvation. Paul explains that all mankind is sinful and separated from God. Both the Jews with all their religious activity and the Gentiles in their spiritual darkness are guilty before a holy God, but God has provided a way of salvation through Jesus Christ. Salvation is offered as a free gift to any who will ask God to forgive them because of what Jesus did on the cross. Paul has some unpopular things to say about the nature of man and the inability of the Law to provide any hope of salvation.

(Vss:9-18) Can I accept what God says about mankind?

People like to think of themselves as basically good, that people want to do the right thing, and that it is just a few people that are bad and commit crimes against others. In this passage, Paul says mankind is basically sinful, and that every person is desperately wicked in the core of his being. Look at verses 10-12 and notice how many times Paul says “none” in describing how many are righteous or good or are sincerely seeking God. In verses 13-18 he describes the kind of thing that is in the heart of every person. Paul does not mean that every person acts like this openly, but that without the restraint of moral influence, the sin in each heart would soon become public. All mankind is utterly unable to please God regardless of how hard one might try. It is true that everybody has a conscience and is capable of genuine love, even noble sacrifice for others. Paul is not saying that people are as bad as they can be in their behavior toward others. He is saying, whether we like to believe it about ourselves or not, that each of us is capable of doing the worst thing we can imagine. Because of the sin in each heart no one is able to please God; no one is acceptable to God no matter how religious that person might be. We are utterly and absolutely unworthy in God’s sight. We have inherited Adam’s guilt, and we are born with a heart that is corrupt because of what we inherited from Adam and Eve. If what Paul says is true, things look pretty bad for the religious man, the superstitious man, and for the totally secular man.

(Vss:19-20) Will I accept the truth about salvation?

In verses 9-12 Paul declared that all are sinful. In verses 13-18, he described them all as useless to help themselves. In verses 19-20 he says they are all accountable.

Paul’s message is that a man should be desperate to find an answer to his sin problem. He says in verse nineteen that no one can avoid God; no one can hide from Him; no one will talk back to Him. Every mouth will be closed; every head will be hung in shame. If the most religious are not acceptable because of their rituals and activities, and the most effective public servant is not acceptable because of his most generous gifts and beneficial leadership, what hope does anyone have for salvation?

Paul wants his reader to feel a sense of hopelessness, even despair. We are sinful. Trying to be good people cannot help us with God, because we are too sinful. The Law cannot help us because it only makes us see how sinful we are. The Law of Moses and the Ten Commandments were given by God, not to save us nor to make us good, rather to reveal the sin in our hearts and to point us to Jesus Christ. Our only hope is what Jesus did on the cross for us. He will save us if we ask Him to forgive us for our sins.

Top of page >

Chapter 3:1-8 >

Chapter 3:21-31 >