Romans 3.10-The First Charge in a Thirteen Count Indictment Against Mankind
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday October 14, 2007
Romans: Romans 3:10-The First Charge in a Thirteen Count Indictment Against Mankind-There is None Righteous
Lesson # 81
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 3:1.
As we have noted in the past, Romans 1:18-3:20 constitutes the second major section of the book of Romans and deals with the universal need of the righteousness of God.
This section is divided into three parts: (1) The unrighteousness of the Gentiles (1:18-32). (2) The unrighteousness of the Jews (2:1-3:8). (3) The universal unrighteousness of men (3:9-20).
Therefore, Thursday, we began a study of the third part of the second major section of the book of Romans, by noting Romans 3:9, in which Paul writes that both Jew and Gentile are under the power of the old Adamic sin nature and thus under eternal condemnation.
Romans 3:9-20 can be treated like a court room trial and can be divided into four parts: (1) The Arraignment: The entire human race is brought before the Supreme Court of Heaven to answer to the divine indictment (Romans 3:9). (2) The Indictment: The entire human race faces the charges of crimes against a holy God (Romans 3:10-17). (3) Motive: The motive for man’s crimes against God (Romans 3:18). (4) The Verdict: The entire human race stands condemned before a holy God (Romans 3:19-20).
In Romans 3:10-20, the apostle Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit employs six Psalms and Isaiah 59:7-8 to present a thirteen count indictment against the entire human race, which demonstrates that they are enslaved to the old Adamic sin nature and thus totally depraved and thus in need of salvation in the eyes of a holy God.
The first six charges that appear in Romans 3:10-12 emphasize the depraved character of the accused (the entire human race).
The seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth charges that appear in Romans 3:13-14 emphasize the depraved character of the accused from the standpoint of their conversation with each other.
The eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth charges that appear in Romans 3:15-17 emphasize the depraved character of the accused from the standpoint of their conduct with each other.
This thirteen count indictment against the entire human race presents a holy God’s viewpoint of the human race.
It reveals that every aspect of human life is dominated by sin, his thoughts, his words and his actions.
This indictment reveals the total depravity of mankind in that no one has any merit with God.
It reveals the universal need for the righteousness of God since man’s righteousness does not measure up to the righteousness of a holy God.
This indictment reveals also of course that man is in need of salvation and in need of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
This morning, we will study Romans 3:10, which contains the first charge in a thirteen count indictment brought against mankind by God.
Let’s read Romans 3:1-18 and then concentrate on verse 10.
Romans 3:1-18, “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, ‘THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.’ But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world? But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), ‘Let us do evil that good may come’? Their condemnation is just. What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin as it is written, ‘THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE. THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE. THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING, THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS. THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN. THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.’”
Let’s look at Romans 3:10 in detail.
Romans 3:10, “as it is written, ‘THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE.’”
“Just as it is written” introduces seven Old Testament passages of Scripture (six from the Psalms and one from Isaiah 59:7-8), which support Paul’s assertion in Romans 3:9 that both Jew and Gentile are under the power of the sin nature.
Romans 3:10-12, taken from Psalm 14:1-3 and 53:1-3, emphasizes the point that all of humanity without exception are unrighteous in the eyes of a holy God.
Psalm 14:1-3, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.”
In Romans 3:10-18, Paul is utilizing the “sword of the Spirit” by employing these Old Testament Scriptures to validate his accusation in Romans 3:9 that both Jew and Gentile are under the dominion of the sin nature.
Ephesians 6:17, “Also, I solemnly charge all of you to take hold of your helmet, which is your salvation as well as your sword that originates from the Spirit, which is, as an eternal spiritual truth, God’s Word.”
Romans 3:10, “as it is written, ‘THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE.’”
The statement “there is none righteous, not even one” means that each and every member of the human race without exception is considered by God to be unrighteous.
“Righteous” is the adjective dikaios (divkaio$) (dik-ah-yos) whose meaning is emphatically negated by the emphatic negative adverb ou, “none.”
The adjective dikaios describes the state or condition of possessing righteousness.
As we noted in our studies in the book of Romans, the noun dikaiosune (dikaiosuvnh), “righteousness,” which was used in classical Greek and the LXX (Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) as a general term for “virtue” and “integrity” of character, thus, adikia is the state of possessing no virtue or integrity.
Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines “integrity”: (1) Soundness of and adherence to moral principle and character; uprightness; honesty (2) The state of being whole, entire, or undiminished (3) A sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition.
Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines “virtue”: (1) Moral excellence; goodness; righteousness (2) Conformity of one’s life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness, rectitude.
Therefore, the emphatic negative adverb ou, “absolutely none” and the adjective dikaios, “righteous” describe the state or condition of the entire human race as having “no” integrity in the sense that their character is “not” sound and does “not” adhere to the will of God.
Thus, they are “not” upright, honest, perfectly whole and are “diminished,” and “unsound,” and “impaired” and in “poor” condition.
The emphatic particle ou and the adjective dikaios describe the entire human race as having “no” virtue in the sense that their character has “no” moral excellence, “no” goodness, and their conduct does “not” conform to the will of God.
Also, the adjective dikaios describes the state or condition of a person who has fulfilled his obligations to both God and men, which is to love God and your neighbor as yourself.
Therefore, the emphatic negative adverb ou and the adjective dikaios describe the state or condition of each and every member of the human race without exception as not fulfilling their obligations to love God and one’s neighbor as himself.
There are other passages of Scriptures that address the issue of man’s total depravity.
Job 14:1-4, “Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil. Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain. You also open Your eyes on him and bring him into judgment with Yourself. Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one!”
Job 15:14-16, “What is man, that he should be pure, or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in His sight; How much less one who is detestable and corrupt, man, who drinks iniquity like water!”
Job 25, “Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, ‘Dominion and awe belong to Him who establishes peace in His heights. Is there any number to His troops? and upon whom does His light not rise? How then can a man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of woman? If even the moon has no brightness and the stars are not pure in His sight, how much less man, that maggot, and the son of man, that worm!’”
The Lord Jesus Christ is the only member of the human race who is righteous.
1 John 2:1, “My little children, I am providing information in writing at this particular time concerning these things for the benefit of all of you in order that all of you might not enter into committing an act of sin. Now, if anyone does enter into committing an act of sin, then we possess as an Advocate with the Father, Jesus who is the righteous Christ.”