ROMANS 3:10-20

This medley of Old Testament quotes summarize what Paul has just concluded in verse 9 - that all men are under sin. Remember that up to this point, Paul has not yet revealed how to be saved from God’s wrath, so he is talking about natural, unsaved men.

In these verses, Paul describes man starting on the inside, and then spreading to his deeds, words and ways. Corruption comes from the inside, not from outward circumstances. Jesus said, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts...........All these evil things come from within and defile the man." Mark 7:21-23

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:

16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:

17 And the way of peace have they not known:

18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

(Vs 10,11.) Man’s inner nature and thinking process is wrong, (the opposite of "right-eous", Jer 17:9; Gen 6:5). Man has no understanding of God (ICor 2:14), and has all the wrong values, (Luke 16:15). Left on our own, would anyone seek God? (But what power does God use to seek and save men? See I Cor 1:17,18,21; Rom 1:16)

(Vs 12) The condition called "unprofitable" in Romans, is called "filthy" in Psalms 14:1-3. Motivated from a filthy inner nature, nothing man does is good in God’s sight, (Rom 8:7,8; Is 64:6). How about people like Mother Teresa and others who have dedicated themselves to "good" causes? Do you get the idea in this passage that God is not impressed by differences between people?? We all fall so far short of His standard that there is no difference, Rom 3:22,23..

(Vs 13,14.) Man’s words reflect his deceitful nature, (remember John 8:44?) so they may sound wonderful but cannot be trusted, (Ps 5:9&10:7; Rom 16:18; James 3:6-8). Man’s speech shows his inner attitude of bitterness and resentment. (No wonder Paul tells saints to reflect our new nature, Eph 4:29-32!)

(Vs 15-17.) Man’s ways are completely opposite to God’s. (Is 55:8,9; Gal 5:17-23) Man is by nature selfish, so men are swift to harm others (vs 15,) and are miserable themselves. (Is 57:20,21; & 59:7,8)

(Vs 18.) People do not fear God’s judgment. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge", Pr 1:7. So unsaved people are helpless to improve themselves because they lack any respect or knowledge of God. (If God didn’t use His word to seek us, we would be hopeless.)

Paul has proven that man is in very bad shape indeed before a righteous God, and next spells out exactly what God’s law was for.

19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

The purpose of God’s law: Could it justify anyone or save them from God’s judgment? It pronounced them guilty. Deut 31:26 says it was a witness against them. The law pointed out sin and condemned it, (Rom 7:7,13). People sinned before the law, but they were not convicted of it, (Rom 5:13,14), just like a person in our society can be guilty of a crime but is not held accountable until the law catches and tries him. So God’s law was a curse because it condemned people when they didn’t keep it, (Gal 3:10,13). But the law was also a gracious warning of sin’s coming penalty. God used it to prove man’s guilt so that men would see their need for a savior. "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ,...." Galatians 3:24.

Now look more closely at verse 19. To whom was God’s law given? And to whom did it speak? Read Deut 4:1,2,5-8 If the law spoke to Israel, then how does it stop every mouth? And prove the world guilty? Ever since the tower of Babel in Genesis 11, the Gentiles had been given up to go their own way as described in Romans 1:20-32. In Gen 12:1-3, God called Abraham and his decedents (Israel) to be His channel of blessing to them. So if Israel was guilty and condemned, so was the whole world, for their only way to God was through Israel in that program. Remember Rom 3:2; Ps 147:19,20 and Eph 2:11,12? Only Israel had God’s word in time past.

Eph 2:15 says the law of commandments has been abolished. Gal 3:25 says we are no longer under that schoolmaster. Rom 6:14 says we are not under the law, but under grace. Then how should saints today use God’s law, if at all?

I Tim 1:8-10 says, "But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man (a saved man), but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;"

The only legitimate way to use God’s law today is to show unsaved, unrighteous people that they are guilty before God. It should in no way be applied to saved people today as rules to live by, as we will see in coming chapters. Next........

21 But now........ Paul is about to explain the solution to our sin problem that had never been revealed by anyone before him.

M. Dent

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