Book of Romans
2-1-2012 Vol. 6 Part 12
Psalms 57:1-11 NKJV To the Chief Musician. Set to "Do Not Destroy." a Michtam of David When He Fled from Saul into the Cave. Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me. He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. My soul is among lions; I lie among the sons of men Who are set on fire, Whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They have dug a pit before me; Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth. Father we praise you, we give you all the glory. We ask that you reveal yourself to our loved ones, and to those around us, that they be drawn to your son Jesus our saviour. In the name of Jesus we pray! Amen!
Romans 3:9-20
Romans 3:9-20 NKJV What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. 10 As it is written: "there is none righteous, no, not one; 11 there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after god. 12 they have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one." 13 "their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "the poison of asps is under their lips"; 14 "whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." 15 "their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 destruction and misery are in their ways; 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, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Depravity, that condition which makes man wholly unable to glorify God in and of himself is the subject of this lesson. Where is the evidence of sin and depravity in the lives of those who do good and generous deeds for others? Do they really need a Savior? Paul makes it plain that, regardless of actions, man's spiritual condition is plainly one of separation from God.
Everyone is familiar with the Mafia. These so called crime families, both in this country and around the world, generate and control huge sums of money through various types of businesses some corrupt, some legitimate. We have all seen on TV documentaries about Mafia bosses and the lives they led at home and in their business. People who lived by them had good things to say about them. This behavior is apparently a characteristic of the lifestyle. It might be suspected that Mafia bosses really were tenderhearted family men. But under the surface, however, is evidence that the family ties are maintained as a means to an end, that of gaining and strengthening control for the purposes of profit. The structure and ethical code of the family is created only to enhance their own well being in violation of the law and at the expense of other people.
Remember last week’s lesson when we talked about justifying our actions of good to do evil like abortion. The above example is stating the same. We don’t know what a book or a person is all about until we read the book or spend time around a certain individual. A person can appear and say all the right things in public to win favoritism for himself, but inside the person is totally different. In other words we can appear to be a good person based on human standards, but according to God’s standards we are all corrupt, every single one of us and everyone is in need of a Saviour, Jesus Christ!
To bring this all home so we can relate to what is going on around and with us; how does the scene of our political debates, election year campaigning, state of the union (state and federal) speeches, and most recently the conduct/lifestyle of Illinois ex-governor Blagojevich fit in? Are not these people in these examples trying to convince us they are good/better than their opponent? Who are they comparing themselves to? It certainly isn’t God!
This condition of man to have even his good tainted by sin is what theologians call total depravity.
In the first three chapters of the book of Romans, the apostle Paul has functioned as a prosecuting attorney to bring the whole world before God in judgment: the Gentile world 1: 18-32; the pagan moralizers 2:1-16; and the Jewish religionists 2:17-3:8.
In these verses of the third chapter, Paul brings his summary statement: The whole world is guilty the entire human race! What we have in these verses is the most explicit description of the total depravity of mankind in all of Scripture.
Total depravity is a misunderstood term. It does not mean that man is as bad as he could be, because we all know many people who do good things, but it is the measuring of one person by another person to see who is good or bad. The doctrine of total depravity says that all men and women are measured next to God, and all are as bad off as they could be. All have failed to measure up to the standard of the glory of God.
“What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.” (9) Two questions in verse 9 make Paul's point. The first question, "What then?" meaning what more can I say. The second question, "Are we better than they?" which is answered, no race is more guilty than another. All mankind is under the pull and domination of the principle of sin. All are under sin's condemnation. Tribe, race, religion, culture, heritage, etc. has no bearing on human depravity, for we all are sinners in God’s eyes. In order to prove that all humanity is depraved and in need of God, Paul enters into the closing arguments by stating five times, “there is none righteous, no, not one”. He uses Old Testament passages to drive home the point of human depravity.
Verses 10-12; The Religious Character of Human Depravity:
| · “There is none righteous, no, not one”: (10) Mankind is unrighteous, there is no exceptions. There is no one, not even one, who could be classified as righteous in the eyes of God. Man is incapable of doing that which is right in the sight of God. As proof of his accusation, Paul quotes part of Psalm 14:3 ….."They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one." Psalms 53:1-3 NKJV The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good. 2 God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. 3 Every one of them has turned aside; They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one. |
| · “There is none who understands”: (11a) Mankind is unreasonable, all that are apart from God cannot understand spiritual things. Paul makes this point clearly in 1 Corinthians 2:14 " ... the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." Ephesians 4:18 NKJV having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart. |
| · “there is none who seeks after god”: (11b) Mankind is unresponsive; to seek means to go after with determination. No one apart from the Holy Spirit's prompting will seek after God. Unless the Holy Spirit is stirring a non-Christian to investigate Christ, he won’t diligently seek after God on his own. Psalm 14:2 "The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God" Psalms 10:4 NKJV The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts. |
| · “They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one": (12) Mankind is unrepentant; instead of turning around (changing direction; repenting), men turn to their own way, going further astray in the process. Isaiah 53:6 NKJV All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. |
Verses 13-18; The Human Conduct of Depravity: Paul reveals parts of the body in verses 13 & 14, the throats, tongues, lips, and mouths of man, and in verses 15-18 reveals the depraved actions of the feet and eyes of mankind. What God has given us to give praise Him and a body as a temple for Him to reside within us, we use for our own glorification and pleasure.
| · "Their throat is an open tomb"; with their tongues they have practiced deceit": (13 a) What an expressive way of depicting the corruption of human speech! Is it my imagination or do you feel the same way I do. Forty years ago you would not hear the language in public like you do now, or even on TV. What comes out of the throat via the heart is unclean, unkind, untrue utterances of man, despiteful, and deceitful. The offensive stench exhaling from an open sepulcher is due not to the grave itself but to the rottenness within the body. Psalms 5:9 NKJV For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; Their inward part is destruction; Their throat is an open tomb; They flatter with their tongue. |
| · "The poison of asps is under their lips"; "whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.": (13b-14) The sting of a poisonous snake is what our language is to our fellow human beings and toward God at times. The fangs of a deadly serpent ordinarily lie folded back in its upper jaw, but when it throws up its head to strike, those hollow fangs drop down, and when the serpent bites, the fangs inject a sack of deadly poison in the wound. We were born with moral poisonous venom like this. Psalms 140:3 NKJV They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips. Psalms 34:13 NKJV Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. |
| · “Their feet are swift to shed blood”: (15) Paul is alluding to the character of the nation in the time of the prophets. Isaiah 59:7 NKJV Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood;…... It also ties directly in with the previous verse and what comes out of our heart through our mouth. 1 John 3:15 NKJV Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. Is this happening today? You bet it is, just listen to the news. Not only in our communities, cities, and middle east, but what about those that are persecuted and killed because they have given their heart to Jesus. Remember the pastor that was in the news during the fall, he is back on trial and they are trying to kill him again. Here is a test for you! If you were held captive because of being a Christian, would you deny Christ to save your life. A true Christian will not deny Jesus Christ and will die for Him. |
| · “Destruction and misery are in their ways”: (16) The ways of destruction, the very word "destruction" itself brings to mind the cruelty and pain that human beings inflict on one another (reputation, happiness, and peace of others). Misery that people inflict on fellow human beings to ruin and destroy them, will ultimately be the demise of these individuals. The depraved way these people live, and the path they are walking, is a broad path that lead to destruction. Spiritual death and eternity in Hell. The one thing that comes to mind in current times is the life style of gangs. Isaiah 59:7 NKJV ………Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths. Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. |
| · “And the way of peace they have not known”: (17) The way of peace is referring to the division/separation from God that our inherited sin nature causes. Not all human beings are drunkards, felons, adulterers, or murderers. Total depravity is about the extent, not the degree, of our sinfulness. In other words, while our depravity does not make us as bad as we could be, it does affect us in every area of our being, and our relationship with our Creator. Isaiah 59:8 NKJV The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. |
| · "There is no fear of God before their eyes": (18) The cause of human depravity is because there is no fear of God. This eliminates the possibility of any right relationships beginning with the foundational relationship of knowing God. Why isn’t there any fear of God today? Is it because churches are preaching all the good things in the Bible like love, compassion, good feelings, hope, giving, etc.? Psalms 36:1 NKJV An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. Proverbs 8:13 NKJV The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate. |
Verses 19; “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Human depravity renders all the inhabitants of the earth, without any exception, inexcusable before God and without any possibility of defense. So man stands before God, condemned because of the things he has done that he should not have done and also because of the things he should have done and failed to do. He is condemned because of his open and rebellious sin and also because of his private secret sin. He is guilty because of what he says, because of what he does, and because of what he is.
Verses 20; “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Paul concludes the most devastating analysis of the human condition found anywhere: "No flesh will be justified in His sight". We too stand before God speechless and condemned. Wow, Paul really has shown us what is inside of us and it isn’t nice. We think we are good, but in God’s eyes how can he ever forgive us and adopt us into His family? He does though, all we have to do is swallow our pride, admit how corrupt we are, repent, and ask Jesus to take up residence in our heart.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes,
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Unless you are Born Again, you cannot enter into Heaven, the Kingdom of God."
Bill
Last Week’s Trivia: Do you remember the story about Elijah, the lady, and her son and there was just enough flour and oil for one last meal, 1 Kings 17:11-16. What do you harvest from this story?
Answer: 1 Kings 17:11-16 NKJV And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." 12 So she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." 13 And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.' " 15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah. Here is what I learned. Elijah represents God. The woman put her faith in what Elijah said (She trusted in God to provide.). The woman tithed all she had and God rewarded her for that (We can’t out give God.) Malachi 3:10. The woman put herself last and God first in her life (She wasn’t an idolater.).
This week’s Trivia: What are frontlets?
| Verse List: |
| Ecclesiastes 7:20 |
| Colossians 1:21 |
| Psalm 53:2 |
| Hebrews 11:6 |
| James 3:2 |
| Proverbs 12:19 |
| Proverbs 12:22 |
| Proverbs 19:9 |
| Proverbs 23:17 |
| Acts 13:39 |
| Galatians 2:16 |
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