None Righteous! Not Even One! (Romans 3:9-20)
Rev. David Huffman, August 25, 2024Part of the Series On Romans series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
Has the concept of sin disappeared from our society? If we mention sin, do we do it in other words that minimize or excuse the seriousness of sin? Sin pertains most to our relationship with God. Lawlessness is a good synonym for sin. Our actions are rebellions against God. Sin is universal; all are under judgment. Jews are not better off (vs. 9). God's promises to His people of the Redeemer and salvation would come to pass. These promises were blessings to the Jews, who knew them of old. However, knowing these blessings did not save them from judgment. Their disobedience brought them under punishment. Paul makes a case as God's prosecutor. Being under sin has legal connotation. We are under the dominion of sin. We bear the wage of sin on our shoulders. We need to hear this bad news first to be ready to receive the truth of the gospel. We are either under sin or under grace. Vss. 10-18 prove the universality of sin. First (10-12), everyone is a sinner, as written in Psalm 14: 1-2. This is God's assessment of us, every one. Thus, being a good person in our estimation will not save us. We are unrighteous, and we don't naturally seek the fount of righteousness, God almighty. Heart hardness blinds us to seeking truth, we are blind by our own choice. Seeker churches therefore are based on a false premise. People only seek God if they are born again. God is holy and majestic. Yet the unrighteous will not seek holiness. Our words are as an open grave, yet our language was intended for praise of God. Our hearts are far from Him. Words can cause great harm. Man has bloody hands, especially as we see in the last century. We embrace war, abortion and "mercy killing." The natural man has no fear of God. Yet we cannot claim ignorance of the law. In our disobedience, we cannot claim to be justified by our concept of law-keeping. If we read the law, we cannot help but be convicted, since the law gives us knowledge of our sins and our sinful nature.
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| « Covenant Community Advantage & God's Righteousness | None | Righteousness by Faith Alone » |
Romans 3:9–20 (Listen)
9 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, 10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 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. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
(ESV)