No One Is Good
February 28, 2019
Commentary
Paul has already charged that both Jews and Gentiles are guilty before God. Now he declares that all men are sinners and he seeks to prove it with references from the Old Testament. “All are under sin” (v. 9). This sin reaches into every area of life:
- Our character – “There is no one righteous, not even one” (v. 10)
- Our mind – “There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God” (v. 11)
- Our heart – “All have turned away, together they have become worthless” (v. 12)
- Our speech – “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit” (vv. 13-14)
- Our feet – “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways” (vv. 15-17)
- Our eyes – “There is no fear in their eyes” (v.18)
Paul declares that “Every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (v. 19). While it is true that God’s standard is perfect, and that obedience to it would secure Divine blessing, the fact remains that in actual life no one is able to keep it (v. 20). Sin has infected and affected every part of our being. But to say that, is to say nothing more than the historic Protestant doctrine of Total Depravity. It means that sin has affected every part of man’s being; his mind, his emotions, his will, his intellect, his moral reasoning, his decision making, his words and his deeds. There is an evil seed inside each of us which may lie dormant for years and pop up without warning.
Application
Even though I am totally depraved, God still loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life.
Romans 3:9– 20 (NET)
9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 10 just as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one,
11 there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”
13 “Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 ruin and misery are in their paths,
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 says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.