Romans 3:9-20

                                                                 Romans 3:9-20

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.”

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. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

 

Sin is like a pandemic because it spreads across all barriers and infects all people everywhere.  There are no people or no places that are immune to its influence.  Sin has taken mankind captive and dominated us in a way that is impossible to escape by our own power.  Some people trust in their race, heritage, social status or influence; thinking they will be able to avoid sin’s consequences.  They are mistaken.

 

EVERYONE IS CONTROLED UNDER SIN’S POWER: Paul wants to make it clear that both Jews and Gentiles are under the curse of sin.  While the Jews had advantages because of having the Law of God revealed to them; it is not having the Law that makes a difference but keeping the Law.  Since no one has ever kept the Law, the only advantage it provided was knowledge of God’s requirements, but this only serves to make them responsible.  The fact remains that they were, just like the Gentiles, under the control of sin.  There is no nationality or people group who has escaped from being under the control of sin.  We don’t have the strength or discipline to keep the Law and even if we did, we are born under sin.

 

EVERYONE IS CONTAMINATED BY SIN’S PRESENCE: Sin permeates and contaminates us in every aspect of our lives.  No one seeks God, instead, all have rejected God and turned to other forms of worship and sinful corruptions.  By way of summary, our worship, words, works and wills are all sinful.  Our speech, like our view of God, is corrupt.  Every part of the body involved in making words is contaminated by sin.  Our bodies are also violent, and we are quick to hurt others who were made in God’s image.  Murder and making war with one another have been the history of the world.  People fight and kill because they are contaminated by sin. Instead of living to please God, we have no fear of him, but our wills are bent to seek our own good and love ourselves.

 

EVERYONE IS CONDEMNED IN SIN’S PENALTY: The result of all of this is simply that man is condemned eternally before God because of his sinful state.  It does not matter if the person is a Jew who was given the Law or a Gentile that simply has the Law written on their conscience, we are all condemned before God.  There is no defense to be made and we stand without any argument or hope of reprieve.  All men everywhere are condemned by our sin and corruption.

 

APPLICATION: The plight of mankind must motivate us to share the Gospel with others.  We need to beware of the corruption of our own sinful hearts and understand that we are under great risk of giving in to the corruption that is in us.  Only the Spirit can set us free.