#15 HCBC 1-21-07 AM
No One Is Righteous
Have you ever received a letter which so annoyed you that you were tempted to throw it aside without even reading all of it?
The wrath of God against all mankind. 1:18 – 3:20
The grace of God in the gospel 3:21 – 8:39
The plan of God for Jews and Gentiles 9 - 11
The will of God for changed relationships 12:1 – 15:13
The wrath of God against all mankind. 1:18 – 3:20
Depraved Gentile society 1:18-32
Critical moralizers 2:1-16
Self-confident Jews 2:17 – 3:8
The law v. 17-24
Circumcision v. 25-29
Some Jewish objections v. 1-8
The whole human race 3:9-20
Last time:
What advantage in religious surroundings? vs 1-2
What about God’s faithfulness? vs 3-4
What about our sin? vs 5-8
No One Is Righteous: Romans 3:9-20 The hopeless condition of man apart from salvation!
All Are Under Sin… “hupo harmartian” vs 9
Rom 7:14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
Gal 3:22 But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was
promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who
believe.
Jn 8:34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
Rom 7:14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
Rom 7:25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind
am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Rom 6:6-7 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might
be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone
who has died has been freed from sin.
Rom 6:15-23
Paul’s point here as in 3:9 is that all are under sin!
No One Is Righteous… dikaios (79) vs 10
This does not mean that man is a bit less righteous than he needs to be to please God and
somehow get to heaven!
What Paul means when he says : “there is no one righteous,” is that from God’s point of view,
human beings have no righteousness at all.
And God’s point of view is the only one that ultimately matters!
Our perception of righteousness is so far from God’s righteousness!
We think that if we can just accumulate enough human goodness, we can please God!
It’s like thinking that we can buy our week’s worth of groceries using Monopoly money!
Monopoly money is not the real currency in God’s domain!
We do not have any of the real currency!
It can only be imputed to our account by the death of Jesus Christ!
When it comes to the entrance into heaven, divine righteousness is the currency, and we have
none!
The Bible says: “Abraham believed God and it was credited as righteousness.”
No One Understands… sunion = understand experientially = get it vs 11
This is a lack of spiritual perception, not merely a lack of human knowledge.
Paul wrote to the Corinthian church to explain to them that their Greek philosophy and
their human understanding never led anyone to know God!
He makes to points:
1) Human wisdom has shown itself bankrupt so far as coming to know God is
concerned! 1 Cor 1:18-21
2) Spiritual matters can only be known by the enabling of God’s Spirit! 1 Cor 2:14
No One Seeks God… ekzeton (7) pursue vs 11
It is not that the doctrines of God are difficult to understand, but that in an unsaved state we do
not want to move in the direction these doctrines lead us.
So, as Romans 1 says, we suppress the truth of God, refusing to glorify God or give thanks to
Him, and we do not seek Him!
Being under sin, in our deadness, in our lack of understanding, we do not pursue God!
Psalm 14:1-3
All Have Turned Away… pantes = all exeklinan = deviate, wander, depart vs 12
The right way is outlined in Romans 1:
Recognize God’s eternal power and divine nature;
Glorify Him
Thank Him
Worship Him
Serve Him
This is the way from which we have deviated!
Instead of seeking God and worshipping Him in thankful service,
We have suppressed the truth about Him and gone our own way!
Isa 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The problem is that we have not only not gone God’s way, but each of us has turned to his
own way!
All Have Become Worthless… achreiothsan (1) corrupt or useless vs 12
Mt 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made
salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and
trampled by men.
From the studies of John MacArthur we read that the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek term
used here as useless, was often used to describe milk that had turned sour and rancid,
thereby becoming unfit to drink or to be used to make butter, cheese, or anything else
edible.
Apart form a saving relationship to Jesus Christ, a person is a spiritually dead branch, totally
unable to produce any fruit.
Fit only to be thrown into the fire.
In an unsaved state, we were useless to God!
How drastically that has changed for every person who has been brought into a right
relationship with God!
We are no longer useless to God because of our former corruption.
We have been made new, fit for service to God!
But Paul goes on, in verse 12…
No One Does Good… vs 12
This is about as blunt, and direct, an straightforward as you can get!
No one does good!
Gen 6:5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every
inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
This verse says not only that we do not do good, as God counts goodness; but we do just the
opposite!
The sinfulness of unsaved man is internal, pervasive, and continuous!
Internal in that it is the inclination of the thoughts of the heart!
Pervasive in that it is every inclination is only toward evil!
Continuous in that it is all the time!
The conclusion that man does not do good is not only that of Moses or of Paul!
What about Jesus? What did He think and say?
He spoke of man as a corrupt tree that is bound to produce corrupt fruit!
He spoke of man as being evil.
He spoke of man is an evil and adulterous generation!
Jesus is the One who said that out of the heart of man comes murder, adultery, and evil!
He spoke of men as having hard hearts!
And to the Rich Young Ruler He said that there is none good but God!
Paul goes on to demonstrate the ways in which man is without righteousness:
Speech Is Affected… vs 13-14
Paul gave his own summary description of the depravity of man in Rom 1:29-31!
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.
They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.
They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful;
they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Here in verses 13 to 18, Paul uses five Old Testament passages to give God’s summary
description of the depravity of man! Doing it in three categories:
The effect of depravity on our sppech.
The effect of depravity on our actions.
The effect of depravity regarding the fear of God.
First, in 13-14, wicked words from wicked men:
Ps 5:9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.
Distrust – destruction – death – deceit!
Ps 140:3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's; the poison of vipers is on
their lips.
Piercing – poison!
Ps 10:7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his
tongue.
Hurt – hate – harm!
Only once we have been redeemed in Jesus Christ does the process of sanctification begin to
make the meditations of our hearts and the words of our lips acceptable to God!
So much of the process of sanctification has to do with our speech!
The war of words recognizes that God has spoken, the Devil spoke too!
Because of our relationship to Adam, we came into the world amid the war of words!
We are in the process of putting off unwholesome speech and putting on speech that
edifies other!
We are in the process of learning to speak redemptively –
Husbands to wives!
Dad’s to children!
Children to parents!
Brothers and sisters to one another!
But apart from a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, Paul says our speech cannot please
God!
Not only wicked words from wicked men, but also violent acts from violent men!
Actions Are Affected… vs 15-17
Isa 59:7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways.
8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
no one who walks in them will know peace.
To see the progression, we need to look at these three verses in reverse order:
Vs 17 “…the way of peace they do not know.”
As they are in themselves apart from God, people do not know peace!
Isa 57:20 says that the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest,
Whose waves cast up mire and mud!
These people are not at peace with God, they are at war with Him!
They are not at peace with one another, they hate and attack one another!
They are not at peace in themselves, they are restless and distressed!
The only way to know peace is to come to the Prince of Peace!
Vs 16 “ruin and misery mark their ways,”
This is something wicked people experience themselves!
This is something wicked people bring upon others!
Boice: “Without a changed nature, human beings naturally labor to destroy and ruin one
another…”
Vs 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;”
Their end is death!
Not just physical death, but spiritual death as well!
Death means separation!
Physical death is the separation of the soul and spirit from the body.
Spiritual death is the separation of the soul and spirit from God!
It is forever, for those who are unsaved!
Now for the reason for all of wickedness in speech and action!
No Fear of God… vs 18
Psa 36:1 An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
Fear of God = A right and reverent frame of mind before God!
Pro 9:10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
The world is full of fear… but there is no fear of the Lord!
There is the fear of the future, the fear of the neighbors, the fear of disease, and the fear of a
host of other dangers, but no fear of the Lord!
Why would we fear all these things which will one day pass away,
And not fear the Lord to whom we will one day give an account?
Because this is the description of an unsaved person, he can do no different!
In the closing verse of his proclamation of the desperate condition of man, Paul states:
No Arguing with God… vs 19
Every argument will be silenced and the whole world will be accountable to God!
Paul’s final point here is that whether man had the law or he didn’t,
no argument will stand up to the judgment of God against sinful man!
If you were to die today and stand before God, and he would say to you:
Why should I let you into my heaven?
What would you say to Him?
Will you say: I have been a good husband?
Will you say: I have been a good mother?
Will you say: I did the best I could?
Will you say: I think the good outweighs the bad?
If you say any of these, God will say to you: “Away from me, I never knew you!”
Because..
No Justification by Works… vs 20
Therefore…
No one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law!
MacArthur:
There is no salvation through the keeping of God’s law, because sinful man is utterly
incapable of doing so.
He has neither the ability nor the inclination within himself to obey God perfectly.
So, there it is! Paul’s proclamation: the wrath of God is against all men!
The wicked sinner!
The moral sinner!
The religious sinner!
The whole human race!
But, we have the gospel!