Romans 3:9-20

Introduction

Over the last few weeks we have been mainly discussing the Jews. They believe because they are God’s chosen people they are ethnically elite and cannot be condemned because condemnation is reserved for the Gentiles. The condensed version is that Paul tells them that they are wrong. It is only by man’s deeds that he will be judged not his ethnicity. So tonight this comes to a head and Paul tells his readers that it is not only the Jews but all people are unrighteous because of their own doings. Paul paints a similar picture in when he states that all men are dead in their trespasses and that is what we will be going over this evening.

Effects of Sin (9-18)

Paul gives a list of symptoms that sum up the condition of sin. This is not a category for just some people because his statements are in absolutes. He says no one not some people are not righteous. This is what some theologians call the doctrine of Total Depravity. This does not mean that everything is as bad as it can be but that sin affects every aspect of life. As J. I. Packer put it, “On the one hand, no one is as bad as he or she might be, while on the other hand, no action of ours is as good as it should be.” Sin is the reason there are natural disasters, school shootings, terrorist attacks, and other horrendous manifestations. Sin does not directly correlate to these things meaning that if something like this happens to someone it is because they have sinned. Obviously in the event of someone killing innocent people like what happened earlier this week in Charlotte, NC; or the bombings that took place in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. These are a result of someone’s sin but that is the sin of those who commit these actions. Instances like tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes; are results of nature being effected by the fall of sin. So a certain area being affected by a natural disaster is not due to punishment for their sins but instead a result of sin being in existence.

on the one hand ‘no one is as bad as he or she might be’, while on the other ‘no action of ours is as good as it should be’

Stott, J. R. W. (2001). The message of Romans: God’s good news for the world (p. 101). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. Sin is the reason there are natural disasters, school shootings, terrorist attacks, and other horrendous manifestations. Sin does not directly correlate to these things meaning that if something like this happens to someone it is because they have sinned. Obviously in the event of someone killing innocent people like what happened earlier this week in Charlotte, NC; or the bombings that took place in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. These are a result of someone’s sin but that is the sin of those who commit these actions. Instances like tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes; are results of nature being effected by the fall of sin. So a certain area being affected by a natural disaster is not due to punishment for their sins but instead a result of sin being in existence.

Effects of Sin in the Mind. (10-12a)

The first way that Paul addresses sins affect is of the human mind. Paul says that there is no one righteous or some versions say good. Then he says that there is no one who understands or seeks God. What Paul is communicating is that no one is good or righteous in the way that they think because ultimately the human mind is created to know God and to know the ways of God. But in the sinful state people are in, they lack the ability to know God. Not only are people prohibited from knowing God while in their sin, sin affects the way people think even after they know Jesus. This manifests itself in certain conditions of the brain. Mental illness is becoming a bigger and bigger problem and in a lot of instances it takes place because of the way they were raised. Especially in the developmental phases of a child’s life. This would mean that in cases where mental illness develops because of someone’s upbringing, it would be a result of their parent’s sin not their own. Well that is not fair, they did not choose the way they were brought up. The way sin affects people usually is not fair because people other than the one’s who commit the sin, reap the consequences of the sin. Too often people fall into the false belief that their sin only affects them and that is just not the case.

Effects of Sin in Actions. (12b)

While sin affects the heart and mind of men actions are where sin ultimately manifests itself. Sin of the heart and mind can be hidden but actions are public so it can be seen by anyone and everyone. However, in the life of most believers the most heinous of actions are done in secret while no one watches.

Effects of Sin in Words. (13-14)

While sinful actions can be done in secret speech is where even the best people stumble.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 3

2 For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is mature, able also to control the whole body.

What James is saying is that if you can avoid sinning with your words, you are perfect. Paul gives descriptions of how people sin with their mouths: their throat is an open grave, deceive with their tongues, vipers’ venom is under their lips, their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Now all of that can be really difficult to comprehend but ultimately what Paul is getting at is there are for the most part two ways to use your mouth. You can speak life or you can speak death. Even in cases where it does not seem like what is being said is hurtful. Look at one of Jesus’s teachings in the gospel of Matthew.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 12

33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit will be good, or make the tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. 35 A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil. 36 I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

I could have referenced just verse 36 but the overall context lets us know exactly what Jesus thinks about the way people talk and we see the same thing here with what Paul is teaching. Jesus said to either make the tree good and its fruit be good, or make the tree bad and its fruit will be bad. Paul says that you are either speaking life or death. That is tough for people like me who say a lot of things that just do not need to be said they are not necessarily hurtful, but at the same time they are not beneficial to me or anyone else.

Effects of Sin in Direction. (15-18)

In verse 15 Paul says that their feet are swift to shed blood. We can gather that is a reference to murder but this does not mean that Paul’s readers who do not know Christ are all murderers. Jesus said that if you have hatred in your heart you have already committed murder. So hatred is the base of this. Hatred, malice, jealousy, is at the root of those who are lost. What Paul is getting at is those who are lost just seek to prevail in life. Every human is created with the desire of a purpose higher than themselves. In the life of a believer this purpose is recognized as the pursuit of God and His glory. In the life of a lost person they seek their own glory. The problem with this is it ends up taking them in a list of different directions because as they set a goal and reach this goal it does not bring them the joy they thought it would so they begin searching elsewhere in an unending pursuit of something they will never find on their own doing.

You may be thinking that this is really depressing. You may also be asking the question, “Why is Paul telling them how evil everyone is and is there any hope?” Well I am glad you asked because he answers this question in the next two verse by giving the Romans the answer everyone seeks and to their surprise it is not found in the law that the Jews have spent years memorizing and trying to follow.

Purpose of the Law. (19-20)

What Paul is telling the Romans is not that they are lost without hope, trapped in their sins with no way out. What he is saying is, “Hey you’ve got it all wrong, you were never supposed to uphold the law. The law is not what saves you, the reason I gave you the law was so you could see that you could not fulfill it.” The purpose of the law was never that man could uphold it because if upholding the law was what saved man they would naturally do it without having to know what the law is and if they carried these things out without having the law written down for them then it was pointless for it to be written down. But that is just it, no one upheld the law before the law was written down for them so the law was written down for them so they could read it and see they fell short so they would know they need a savior.

Application

Whether you struggle with sin in regards to your mind, your actions, your words, direction of your life, or all the above; you either struggle with sin or live in sin. You may be lost and you have spent your entire life doing the church thing thinking that God is pleased with that. God is not pleased with acting He wants you to follow Him even though it requires sacrifice. If you are not willing to sacrifice anything in your life in order to follow Jesus and are only wanting to follow Him on your terms then you are looking at this from the wrong perspective. Jesus gave His life so that we could have communion with He and the Father so any sacrifice we make in life for Him is more than worth it even up until the point of losing our own lives. You could also be a follower of Christ and one of multiples of these aspects of sin just plague you. It does not seem like you can ever get to the point where you cannot quit doing that certain sin. You have asked repetitively for Jesus to take this sin away and it keeps showing its nasty self. If this is you you may wonder if you are even saved because you hear people say all the time that someone who is in Christ cannot continue in sin. While this is true there is a difference between struggling with a sin and living in that sin. The fact you want it gone in the first place shows that you are on the same page as Christ because if you were not you would try to find ways to justify it so you could experience that sin more and more because unlike being like Jesus no one has to tell us to sin nor do they have to give us an explanation of how to do it. Just like the text we have read these things come naturally. God speaks to us through His Word to teach us that this is not His way and we need Him to show us His way.